Lucy Meadows

Three-year-old Lucy Meadows was last seen on July 25, 1996 in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Background
At the time she went missing, Lucy lived on a farm in Clarksville, Tennessee with her mother, Yong Meadows, her 11-year-old brother, Danny and Yong's friend, a woman named Hyong "Tammy" Dy. Initially, Dy was supposed to stay with the Meadows for a few weeks since her husband was deployed in the Air Force, but she ended up staying for months.

Yong was separated from her husband, Tom Meadows for a year and lived apart. The couple was reportedly in a custody dispute and Tom was granted full custody of Lucy and Danny.

Tom said that Dy had a "devastating influence" on the family; she would allegedly leave Danny home by himself for extended periods of time and one time, neighbors discovered Lucy wandering outside by herself. Tom tried to evict Dy a few weeks before Lucy disappeared.

Disappearance
Lucy was last seen on July 25, 1996 in the parking lot of the Rivergate Mall in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Yong told the police that she let Lucy leave their car's back seat on the driver's side. Then, Yong walked over to the passenger side of the car to get packages and when she turned around, Lucy was gone.

Immediately, the mall's security team was alerted to Lucy's disappearance. The mall's parking lot and surrounding area was searched by the police. Witnesses reported seeing a brown or champaign-colored mini van in the parking lot which may be connected to Lucy's disappearance; however, the van has never been identified.

In November of 2004, a male witness (who was 12 years old at the time) came forward, saying that he had seen Lucy at her parents' home the night before she went missing and appeared "as if she could have been dead." At least two adults (including Yong Meadows) were present at the time. The witness said that the adults appeared to be in a panic, asked for a bible and shouted Lucy's name repeatedly.

The witness didn't come forward sooner because he didn't realize the significance of what he had witnessed at the time. He has passed a polygraph test and investigators believe his story. 

Yong Meadows is no longer cooperating with the police about Lucy's disapperance. Authorities tried to start a grand jury investigation about Lucy's disappearance in Montgomery County, but nothing much has been heard about this.

Lucy's case is classified as an endangered missing person.