KILLEEN, Texas — This week marks 34 years since 13-year-old Deanna Merryfield disappeared in the middle of the night in Killeen in 1990. For her family, that's 34 years of living with unanswered questions.
"It's been really hard not having answers... just not knowing," Melissa Twardowski, Deanna's youngest sister, told 6 News. "And as we get older, you know, you're just like... are we ever going to know?"
One thing is for certain, however. The Killeen Police Department said this is their only runaway case on record that they've never solved.
Who was Deanna Merryfield?
From the outside looking in, Deanna was your typical 13-year-old girl.
“Deanna was, I would say, a free spirit,” Twardowski recalled. “When she was younger, we all called her ‘prissy’ because she was very, very girly.”
Deanna also loved listening to Def Leppard, White Snake and Ozzy Osbourne, her fraternal twin sister, Rebecca 'Becky' Merryfield, told the Killeen Daily Herald back in 2012.
"She was fun. She was loud, obnoxious, wild and only nice to me," Becky told the Herald. Twardowski added that Deanna and Becky were very close.
Twardowski recalls Deanna being "more rebellious" when she became a teenager. However, when it came to her baby sister, Twardowski said Deanna was "very protective over me."
The sisters also had a troubled family life.
“There were some allegations of sexual abuse in the family, and so her and her siblings were separated,” said Detective Kevin Laudensack with the Killeen Police Department's Robbery and Homicide Unit.
Twardowski said she lived with their mother, Deanna went to live with their grandmother in a neighborhood on Alamo Avenue in Killeen, and Becky stayed with their uncle less than 10 minutes away in Oak Springs Estates Trailer Park on Dimple Street -- where Deanna was last seen.
Last seen
On July 21, 1990, Deanna is said to have spent the night watching movies with her grandmother until she went to bed around 1 a.m. Being the rebellious teen that she was, Deanna decided to pay a visit to Becky shortly after.
KPD stated Deanna didn’t show up outside of Becky’s window until hours later around 3:30 a.m. on July 22, 1990.
“She knocked on the window and talked to her sister, but the uncle ended up waking up,” said Laudensack. “And when the uncle woke up, she left.”
Becky told the police she saw her sister get into a bronze or brown four-door vehicle with two older male teens inside, Laudensack said.
That would be the last time Becky ever saw or heard from her twin.
Twardowski recalled being home later that day when the phone started ringing. Her mother answered it.
“[Grandma] didn’t call very often,” Twardowski remembered. “And so I asked my mom, ‘what was that about?’ and my mom said, ‘You know, Deanna didn’t come home last night and grandma was going to file a missing person's report.'”
The investigation
Runaway to missing person
Police initially considered Deanna as a "runaway" because it was reported that Deanna left that night voluntarily. However, when she turned 17, her case turned into a missing person's report due to police protocol.
“She appeared to have left voluntarily from what we were told, so that's why she was reported as a runaway initially," Laudensack explained. "And then it was switched over to a missing person. But the process for investigating is very similar."
Who is Tony?
In an interview with police, Becky discussed her brief conversation with Deanna. Deanna reportedly told her that one of the two older teens in the vehicle was "Tony" and the other was Tony's little brother.
"I remember Becky saying that she didn't recognize the people," Twardowski said.
Police tried to locate a Tony that was living in the area at the time, "but we've been unable to find a good match so far," Laudensack said.
Dead leads
In 1992, Becky reportedly received a collect call from someone who identified herself as "Deanna" to the operator, but when Becky accepted the call, no one answered.
Laudensack said the call traced back to a city in Kentucky, where the Merryfield sisters reportedly had family.
"They do have family there, but Deanna wasn't close with those family members to cause her to go down there," Laudensack added.
Then, in 1995, Hurst Police conducted a traffic stop and ran Deanna's name and date of birth through a police computer, Laudensack said. However, nothing came from that lead.
Between 2000 and 2002, an out-of-state relative reportedly got a visit from Deanna, who told the relative she wanted to remain hidden. The relative also shared that Deanna had several tattoos, which are described on the Bell County Crime Stoppers website.
Police were never able to confirm this information because the relative never cooperated with police, Laudensack said.
At this point, Deanna's case went cold.
Efforts by family
It wasn't until 2007 when Twardowski reached out to KPD about her sister's case.
"She was 11 when her 13-year-old sister went missing," Laudensack said. "You know, she's gotten older and started to ask questions and wanted to touch base with us to see how the investigation was going and that kind of reactivated it."
Twardowski also created a Facebook page, hoping web sleuths could help her find her sister, she said.
"Once I started trying to get her name back out there and trying to find answers, it opened the door to a lot of crazy people online, which made it even harder," Twardowski admitted.
"I think it is hard to heal because I really wish we had asked these questions before our mom died," Twardowski added. "I think maybe the case would look a little different."
Police also collected Becky's DNA to see if there was a match in police databases. There weren't any matches.
Then, between 2007 and 2011, the Texas Rangers tried to hypnotize Becky in hopes they could learn something new about the night Deanna disappeared.
"I do remember her calling me after the hypnosis, and you know, she was very, very upset...." Twardowski said. "But she said that she did remember stuff from that night."
No new leads came from that, Laudensack said.
Did she run away or was it 'something more sinister'?
Due to Deanna's troubled childhood, some theorize she ran away and doesn't want to be found.
"How does a 13-year-old child leave with absolutely nothing and manage to live to adulthood?" Twardowski asked. "I don't know. And then not want to be found? I mean, maybe, maybe it's possible."
If Deanna was alive, then why wouldn't she reach out to her siblings, Twardowski pondered.
"She was really, really close with us and especially her twin sister," Twardowski said. "There's no way she couldn't find us if she wanted to, you know?"
If Deanna is alive, Laudensack hopes she will reach out so that she can give her family closure.
"I say if she's alive and doesn't want to be found, I hope that she would come forward and let us know that she's ok so we can verify that... give closure to her family...," Laudensack said. "She does have family that is still very worried about her, still looking for her after all these years."
Laudensack explained that because they exhausted all leads they had, they can't rule out the possibility that something "more sinister" could've happened to Deanna.
"If it was something more criminal, that person's still out there and that person could have victimized others," Laudensack said. "And it's very important that we find that person to make sure this doesn't happen to somebody else, if that's what happened."
Laudensack said if that's the case, KPD's investigation isn't going to stop.
"It doesn't go away," Laudensack said. "And you know, it's time to come forward and do the right thing and give the family closure."
Story continues below
Deanna would be 47 years old if she is alive today. She's described to have blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar on her upper lip, according to the Charley Project.
If you have any information regarding Deanna Merryfield, you can call the Killeen Police Department at 254-501-8830 or submit a tip on Bell County Crime Stoppers.
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