Sandra Horwath – 1973 Missing Person – Ann Arbor
Case Information
Name: Sandra June Horwath
Date: October 1, 1973
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
33 year old Sandra Horwath was last seen by her children at their home in the 3000 block of Braeburn Circle in Ann Arbor, Michigan on October 1, 1973.
At 8:30 pm on October 1, 1973, Sandra and her three daughters returned home from the Briarwood mall. She took a phone call from a male friend at 9:30 pm, then put the kids to bed at 10:00 pm.
When the children woke up around 6:00am the next morning, Sandra was gone. Her vehicle and and watch were still at home, but Sandra and her purse were gone. Her daughter began calling around and learned her mother hadn’t shown up for work at the University of Michigan hospital that morning.
She was officially reported missing by the children’s babysitter at 10:00 am.
A neighbor reported hearing a noise outside the rear of her home around 10:50pm, and the flowerbeds outside the home were found trampled. However, police didn’t find anything inside the home that indicated a struggle had taken place.
Sandra’s ex-husband, who was living in Rochester, was investigated and ruled out as a suspect. Their three children moved in with him after her disappearance.
In April 1975, investigators received a tip about a subject named Gary Taylor, a serial killer who was connected to crimes in Florida, Washington, Michigan, and Texas.
In the late 1950’s, Taylor was arrested for shooting at several women in Royal Oak, Michigan, becoming known as “the Royal Oak Sniper” by local press. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Between 1970-1972 Taylor was held at an Ypsilanti psychiatric center. He was deemed not dangerous upon his release, as long as he took his medication and did not drink.
In 1975, while Taylor was in jail for sexual assault in Texas, his wife told investigators that he had killed and buried three women and a man in Onstead, Michigan. Investigators also learned Sandra knew Taylor from working at the university, and that he lived near her house at the time of her disappearance.
Around the time of Sandra’s disappearance, Taylor had stopped attending his outpatient appointments at Ypsilanti State Hospital Center for Forensic Psychiatry and left Michigan.
Upon discovering this information, investigators believed Sandra might be one of the bodies Taylor buried.
Police dug up the site in Onstead and recovered two bodies, two women missing from Ohio who had both been shot. Sandra’s body was not located, but it is believed she may have been buried nearby.
The site has been excavated two more times in search of Sandra’s body, but both searches were unsuccessful.
Taylor is currently serving a life sentence in Washington for murder. He admits to knowing Sandra, but denies any involvement in her disappearance.
Investigators have tried to contact Taylor as recently as 2022 for interviews about Sandra’s case, but he has refused to meet with detectives.
How to Submit a Tip
If you have any information regarding the location of Sandra Horwath please contact the Ann Arbor Police Department at (734) 794-6920, or the Ann Arbor Police Department Tip Line at (734) 794-6939.
News & Media
50 Years of Silence: A Mother’s Mysterious Disappearance and a Serial Killer Connection – MLive
Daughter of Missing Ann Arbor Woman Sandra Horwath Speaks Out For First Time on 50 Year Anniversary of Disappearance – NBC
