jun 9, 1978 - Connie Gail Minchaca DISAPPEARANCE

Description:

Connie Gail Minchaca was last seen either at her home in Napa, CA, or in the late afternoon on Friday, June 9, 1978 after a family friend drove her to a western clothing store where she was supposed to meet a friend. She planned to attend a party the night she disappeared, though friends claim that she never arrived to the party. All of her personal belongings were left behind at the home she shared with her father. Her father, Wesley R Faulk, is listed as living at 2280 Brown St, Apt 9, in Napa, CA in the city directories for 1977, 1978, and 1979.

At the time of her disappearance, Connie was "dating" a 25-year-old man, and her family did not approve of the situation. She was having problems with her family as a result. She would often sneak out of her bedroom window at night to meet with the man. Every time that her room was discovered empty, her family would call the police, and officers would pick Connie up while en route to her boyfriend's house. Connie is reported to have run away at least six times in the months before her disappearance. She also purportedly had affiliations with local gangs, though any elaboration on this has not been made public.

In the weeks after Connie disappeared, her mother received numerous anonymous, threatening, mysterious phone calls. Sometimes the caller was male, other times female. The callers claimed that they knew what happened to Connie. Sometimes they said that she had been kidnapped, and other times they said that she had been murdered. The callers have never been identified.

Connie is a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes who was 17 years old when she went missing. According to CA DOJ, Connie was 5'6 and 130 lbs at the time, while NamUs (and other sources) state that she was 5'5 and 120 lbs. She was last seen wearing a black leather jacket, blue Levi's jeans, and a pink blouse. Some sources spell her middle name "Gayle." Her date of birth is October 5, 1960; if alive today, she would be 64 years old.

It's still unclear what happened to Connie after her disappearance, but investigators don't believe that she will be found alive. Her family doesn't believe that she ran away, as she left all of her belongings at home. She is classified as Endangered Missing on both the Doe Network and the Charley Project.

Connie's DNA and dental x-rays are available; according to the Doe Network, she had several fillings in her teeth. Her fingerprints are not available for comparison. While NamUs states that she has thirty UID exclusions, one of these is a repeat; in reality there are 29 UIDs on Connie's exclusion list, including Arvin Jane Doe 1978, Valencia "Older Doe" 1980, Placer County Jane Doe 1980, and Newhall Jane Doe 1980.

Anyone with information regarding Connie should contact the Napa Police Department at (707) 257-9223 (according to NamUs) or (707) 253-4451 (according to NCMEC). The agency case number is 780612097. The NCMEC and NCIC case numbers are 829432 and M662594490.

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Connie's parents are Carren Andrew and Wesley Ray Faulk. At some point when Connie was growing up, her parents separated, and her mother (Carren) married a man named Rollo Minchaca, who became Connie's stepfather. Connie may use the last name "Faulk Minchaca" as a result. Her surname at birth was Faulk. At the time of her disappearance, she was living with her father, Wesley Faulk. Her middle and last names may be alternatively spelled "Gayle" and "Menchaca", respectively. Her father, Wesley, passed away in Napa on Apr 16 1993 at age 59. Carren died in Napa on July 26 2017 at age 78. Neither Connie nor Carren are mentioned in Wesley's obituary. Furthermore, neither Connie nor any of Carren's husbands were mentioned in Carren's obituary; however, Carren's other daughter, Florenda Minchaca (b. Feb 11 1964), as well Florenda's children, are mentioned as surviving Carren. In the 2003 obituary of Connie's maternal grandmother, Myrtle C Talbott, Connie (as well as Connie's half-sister, Florinda Minchaca) is listed as surviving Myrtle.

In 1965 Carren & Rollo Minchaca were living at H1401 Tallac St in Napa. They had married in Carson City on May 24, 1964. On April 11, 1969, The Napa Valley Register listed "Carren P. Minchaca vs. Rollo Minchaca on grounds of extreme cruelty" in the "Complaints for Divorce" section.

Rollo Minchaca also has multiple records (primarily concerning marriage) on Ancestry.com:
February 1 1963: Rollo (33yo) marriage to Nanette M Pampell (19yo) in Napa

April 15 1963: "Charges of assault with intent to do bodily harm were amended to battery against two youths by Napa Justice Court Judge Wade N Shifflett Jr. Preliminary hearings were held for Larry Francis Keegan, 20, and Jimmy Dean Oswley, 19, both [of] 167 Randolph St. They were accused of beating Rollo Minchaca of Napa, but the judge felt the lesser charge of battery better fit the case. Both pleaded guilty to this."

1963: directory lists Nanette Minchaca, nursing serv Napa State Hospital, living at R1437 4th St, Napa; Rollo Minchaca (Chan U Chan), Rollo Bel Aire Beauty Salon, H Rear 1745 3D St, Napa; Rollo Minchica (Chan V Chan), Rollo Bel Aire Beauty Salon, H2176B Shurtleff Ave
- Carren Talbott, R1090 1st Ave; owns Carren Talbott Studio of the Dance at 1131 Brown St
- Wesley R Faulk (Carren P), Carrier PO, H1401 Tallac St

May 24 1964: Rollo marries Carren in Carson City
February 1969: Rollo Minchaca & Carren P Talbott of Napa listed in Divorce Index
March 9 1977: Rollo Minchaca & Patricia Ann Gambone, both of CA, are married in Reno, NV
March 20 1977: Carren P marries Robert Dean Andrew in Napa, CA

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CONFIRMATION OF COMPLETION DATE: May 31, 2025
LAST UPDATED: June 12, 2025

Cases mentioned above that are also/will be present on this timeline:
Arvin Jane Doe 1978, Valencia "Older Doe" 1980, Placer County Jane Doe 1980; Newhall Jane Doe 1980
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LUNAR PHASE: waxing crescent
ZODIAC SIGN: gemini
DAY OF WEEK: Friday

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