Katharina Buczek
While Sandra Kay Powell was a student attending Washington High School in South Bend, Indiana, she endured a traumatizing experience. On June 8, 1986, she was a witness in the drive-by shooting of her friend, Wayne Mack.
Three days later, on July 11, 1986, two men were arrested in connection with the murder– Donald Peck and his brother, Bobby Peck.
Deputy Prosecutor Richard Nussbaum led this case, and a few months after the tragedy, Sandra was called to testify at Wayne Mack’s murder trial.
Even before she and other witnesses could take the stand, though, they reportedly received numerous threats. This also continued after Bobby Peck was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison, and the trial ended– with some witnesses being moved into protective custody.
It is still unknown who was sending those threats to Sandra and the other witnesses. Moreover, it is unclear whether or not she was also moved into protective custody.
Then, one year later, on March 11, 1987, Sandra was pregnant and just four days away from celebrating her seventeenth birthday when she mysteriously disappeared.
The puzzling events really began the evening before the 16-year-old disappeared, though. According to a friend of Sandra’s, she had received a phone call from an unknown individual.
However, Sandra’s friend reportedly did not want to “eavesdrop.” So, it remains unclear who the teen spoke to and what was discussed.
The details of what exactly the two teens did afterward are limited as well. Although they reportedly went to a health spa or the YMCA, they became separated and never saw each other again.
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