Catherine "Cathy" Ford left her family's Gorman restaurant in 1988 and was never seen again
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, 1988, 19-year-old Catherine "Cathy" Ford left her family's restaurant in Gorman and was never seen again.
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, 1988, 19-year-old Catherine "Cathy" Ford left her family's restaurant in Gorman and was never seen again.
That day, a man claiming to be a magistrate at Mount Storm called asking her to meet about some checks, and a man posing as an undercover officer called about the restaurant. She drove her Ford Bronco on Route 50 into Grant County, W.Va., and turned onto the Bismark Road. On March 8, the Bronco was found burned and hidden in brush near the Stony River.
Paul Ferrell, who had recently started as a Grant County deputy sheriff, was arrested March 20, 1988. A jury convicted him of kidnapping, second-degree murder and third-degree arson, and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in 1990.
Cathy's body has never been found. She is still listed as a missing person in NamUs (case MP20460), with the Garrett County Sheriff's Office as the investigating agency.
If you have any information regarding this case, please contact us or the Garrett County Garrett County, Maryland Sheriff's Office.
Charges are allegations. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
