In 2003, 66-year-old June Goodman was a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother known for her cheerful and positive personality.
“The most important things to mom were her faith, her family, and her friends. She was a solid citizen and a warm person who everyone liked,” recalled June’s eldest daughter, Donette.
At the time, June lived in Snowflake, Arizona, worked for the US Postal Service, and was gearing up for retirement, a new chapter in her life that she was extremely excited about.
So after she vanished from the quaint town on March 28, 2003, her family and the greater community were left shell-shocked.
The Day June Disappeared
March 28, 2003, started off normally, and in the evening, June met up with Pat Fawcett, her sister, to enjoy dinner together. The pair spoke about June’s upcoming retirement plans, which she was thrilled about, and spent time together until around 8:00 p.m.
At that point, June decided to head home, but not before stopping at Ed’s Market to purchase candy. She ultimately bought four chocolate bars and left the store at 8:25 p.m.
It’s believed that afterward, June traveled to her ranch-style home, which sat at the end of a quarter-mile dirt road. She was a widow and lived there alone.
Upon arriving at her residence, June supposedly sat down on her recliner to watch TV. Then, at some point that night, she vanished.
June never showed up for her shift at work the following morning, which was completely out of character for her. She was regarded as a reliable employee, and her coworkers were extremely concerned.
They tried calling June but got no answer, so they contacted her sister, Pat, who immediately traveled to June’s home.
The scene at June’s house was puzzling, as Pat found a sliding glass door, which led to the backyard, had been left open halfway. June’s work van was also still sitting in its normal parking spot.
June would typically turn off the outdoor lights each evening, too. Yet, Pat found the lights had been left on overnight. So was the TV, despite no one being home.
The peculiar findings pushed Pat to report June missing to the Snowflake Police Department.
An Investigation Is Launched
June’s disappearance was investigated by both the Snowflake Police Department and the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office. There was heightened pressure to solve her case since she was related to two politicians in Arizona’s GOP, although her familial relations were quickly dismissed as playing any role in her disappearance.
Investigators also ruled out robbery, as nothing was taken from June’s home. Her valuables, including her wallet, purse, and jewelry, were left behind. Plus, her shoes were all there.
Police analyzed the crime scene and put together a possible timeline of events. They suspect June was relaxing on her recliner and watching TV leading up to when she vanished.
The recliner had a clear view of the dirt road that led up to her house, which pushed authorities to suggest that June might’ve seen headlights approaching her home. At that point, she may have opened her sliding glass door to step outside and say hello to someone.
And because the glass door remained half open until the following morning, when Pat arrived, police thought June never made it back inside her home.
This theory is supported by the fact that there were no indicators of a struggle inside or outside her residence. June may have willingly entered a vehicle to talk or go somewhere.
A large search that spanned miles was promptly enacted, including search teams on foot, canines, and helicopters. Nonetheless, these efforts turned up no clues.
Abduction Is Theorized
Just days later, investigators announced their belief that June was abducted. They went on to interview over 300 people, and over the course of this process, authorities learned about one man named Patrick Michael Conn.
Patrick was 43-years-old and had been June’s postal customer for years. He resided east of Snowflake and became disgruntled by a new US Postal Service policy.
Essentially, postal workers began declining to deliver any mail to customers if they didn’t use the designated address that had been assigned to their residence.
Patrick was angered by this and repeatedly refused to use his designated address. In turn, June continued to not deliver his mail.
June and Patrick eventually had a heated confrontation, and June filed a formal complaint about him with her supervisor. Still, Patrick’s behavior escalated. He ultimately visited the post office and supposedly told June’s coworkers that he was going to kill her.
June reportedly told her sister, Pat, that she was extremely afraid of Patrick. And in February 2002, he’d also become a prime suspect in another murder case involving a man named Donald Sewell.
Donald was shot 13 times with a semi-automatic rifle off of Highway 77, and his slaying shook the town of Snowflake, which hadn’t witnessed a homicide in decades.
Patrick reportedly attempted to sell a similar gun not long after Donald was murdered, which is why investigators suspected him as the killer. He supposedly left Arizona after Donald’s murder, and police thought he’d returned to his hometown, located in Ohio.
Conversely, authorities realized it was possible that Patrick had remained in Arizona and possibly carried out June’s abduction.
He was eventually found in Columbus, Ohio, in September 2003 and extradited to Arizona to face charges in an unrelated child abuse case. Patrick was reportedly never charged in Donald’s murder.
Additionally, it was concluded that Patrick hadn’t been in Snowflake when June disappeared, so he wasn’t charged in her case, either. Rather, he was sentenced to 21 years behind bars in the child abuse case.
Over Two Decades Later, And Still No Resolution
Since June went missing, her loved ones have worked to ensure her story isn’t forgotten. They’ve offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to finding June alive, as well as $40,000 for information that sheds light on what happened to her.
Moreover, billboards were placed around Snowflake to continue raising awareness about her disappearance.
Unfortunately, while her case is still open, it has run cold, and what exactly transpired over 21 years ago remains a mystery.
Due to a lack of witnesses, police are unsure whether June was abducted or if she voluntarily left that night.
“We have had all kinds of tips from the public. A lot of them came from people in the jail who just wanted to get out of jail on the pretense they knew something. But we haven’t gotten anything that helped us solve this,” detailed Snowflake-Taylor Lt. Bobby Martin.
Investigators reportedly received more than 5,000 leads over the years, none of which ever panned out. Donnette claimed that her family received countless tips from community members, too, and they all hit dead ends.
June’s family has not forgotten her case, though, or her uplifting nature.
“At every family event, she is in our memory,” Donette said.
“She always made other people happy and always put everyone else first. She was always cheerful, bubbly, and always had a great outlook.”
June was five foot two, weighed 130 pounds, and had brown/grey hair and green eyes.
Anyone with information regarding her case is urged to contact the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department at (928) 536-7500.