A Mother, a Daughter, and a Night That Ended Without Answers
On June 7, 1992, something happened inside a quiet Springfield, Missouri home that has remained unexplained for more than three decades.
Forty-seven-year-old Sherrill Elizabeth Levitt disappeared from her home that night. But she was not the only person who vanished.
Her daughter, 19-year-old Suzanne Streeter, and Suzanne’s friend, 18-year-old Stacy McCall, also disappeared.
None of the three women has ever been found.
What makes the case especially unsettling is what they left behind. Their cars were still at the house. Their purses and keys were inside. Personal belongings remained where they had been left. Even the family dog was still there.
There was no obvious sign that the three women had planned to leave.
Sherrill’s Life Before the Disappearance
Sherrill Elizabeth Levitt was born on September 1, 1944, in Los Angeles, California. In 1964, she married Brentt Streeter, and the couple eventually welcomed a daughter, Suzanne, in March 1973.
The marriage ended soon afterward.
Years later, Sherrill married again. In 1980, she and Suzanne moved from Washington State to the Springfield, Missouri area. That marriage also eventually ended, and by 1992, Sherrill was living independently with her daughter.
In April of that year, mother and daughter moved into a house on East Delmar Street that Sherrill had purchased.
Sherrill worked as a cosmetologist at New Attitudes Hair Salon on West Sunshine Street. According to the source, she had built a large clientele and was regarded as a dependable employee.
At 47, she had established a routine and a life of her own.
Nothing about the days leading up to June 7 suggested that she was preparing to disappear.
The Last Night
The evening of June 6 began with a celebration.
Sherrill attended Suzanne’s graduation ceremony at the Hammons Student Center in Springfield. Afterward, mother and daughter returned home and ate pizza together.
Suzanne had plans for the night. She intended to go out with her friend Stacy McCall and expected to spend the night in Branson before visiting White Water the following day.
Later that evening, however, the plans changed.
At approximately 10:30 p.m., Suzanne called her mother and explained that she would no longer be going to Branson. Instead, she planned to stay at her friend Janelle Kirby’s house.
About 45 minutes later, Sherrill spoke with a friend by telephone. She was at home working on furniture, painting a chest of drawers and refinishing a chair for her bedroom.
It was the last known conversation anyone had with her.
During the early morning hours of June 7, Suzanne and Stacy apparently changed their plans as well. Rather than staying elsewhere, they returned to Sherrill’s home, arriving separately in their own vehicles.
Then, sometime after that, all three women disappeared.
An Empty House
The following morning, Janelle Kirby became worried when she could not reach Suzanne or Stacy. The friends had expected to spend the day together at White Water in Branson.
Shortly after noon, Janelle went to the Levitt residence.
The house was unlocked.
Inside, however, there was no sign of the three women.
Their vehicles were still there. Sherrill’s blue Chevrolet Corsica remained in the carport. Suzanne’s red Ford Escort and Stacy’s Toyota Corolla were parked in the driveway.
The keys were inside the house.
Their purses were together near the stairs leading down toward Suzanne’s bedroom.
Other personal belongings had also been left behind. Sherrill and Suzanne, both smokers, had left their cigarettes and lighters inside. Stacy’s migraine medication was still at the house.
The family dog, Cinnamon, was also there alone.
Police did not find evidence of an obvious struggle. The only damage noted was a broken cover on the porch light.
The television remained on.
The details suggested something had interrupted an ordinary night rather than a planned departure.
The Investigation
Stacy’s family reported the three women missing on June 8.
As investigators began looking into the case, reports emerged of a man with long hair and a full beard who had allegedly been seen around the neighborhood before the disappearance. Police later released a composite sketch of the unidentified man.
Another account came from a waitress at George’s Steakhouse, one of Sherrill’s favorite restaurants. She told police that she believed she had seen all three women there during the early morning hours of June 7.
According to her account, Suzanne appeared intoxicated while Sherrill was trying to calm her.
Whether this sighting was connected to the disappearance was never established.
Then, in January 1993, an anonymous caller contacted the television program America’s Most Wanted. The caller appeared to have information about what had happened to the women, but the conversation ended before the information could be passed along to Springfield investigators.
The case continued to generate theories, but no definitive explanation emerged.
Robert Craig Cox
One of the names that eventually became associated with the investigation was Robert Craig Cox.
Cox was a former Army serviceman who was incarcerated in Texas for aggravated robbery. At the time of the disappearances, he had lived in Springfield and worked as an underground utilities worker. He had also previously worked as a mechanic alongside Stacy McCall’s father.
Cox initially told authorities that he had spent the morning of June 7 attending church with his girlfriend. Investigators later determined that parts of his account were untrue, and he eventually changed his story.
He continued to deny involvement in the women’s disappearance.
In 1996, however, Cox made a disturbing statement to a Springfield journalist. He claimed that Sherrill, Suzanne, and Stacy were dead and buried somewhere around Springfield.
But he would not say where.
Cox had previously been convicted in connection with the 1978 killing of a 19-year-old woman in Florida, although that conviction was later overturned by the Florida Supreme Court because of insufficient evidence.
He has never been charged in connection with the disappearance of Sherrill Levitt, Suzanne Streeter, or Stacy McCall.
Authorities have continued to regard him as a person of interest.
A Mystery That Has Never Been Solved
The circumstances surrounding the disappearance have led investigators to suspect that the women were victims of foul play.
There has been no confirmed evidence that any of them voluntarily left the house and began new lives elsewhere.
The fact that three women disappeared together, while their cars, keys, purses, cigarettes, medication, and other belongings remained behind, has made the case one of Springfield’s most enduring mysteries.
In 1997, Sherrill’s family and Suzanne’s family went through legal proceedings to have the two women declared dead. A memorial bench was later placed in the Victims Memorial Garden at Phelps Grove Park in Springfield.
A substantial reward has also been offered for information that could lead to the women’s whereabouts and the prosecution of those responsible.
More than thirty years later, however, the central question remains the same.
What happened inside the house on East Delmar Street that night?
Sherrill Levitt was a mother, a cosmetologist, and a woman who had spent years building a life for herself and her daughter.
On one summer night in 1992, that life simply stopped.
Sherrill, Suzanne, and Stacy walked into a mystery that has never been resolved—and none of them has ever been found.
Anyone with information about Sherrill Levitt’s disappearance is asked to contact the Springfield Police Department at 417-864-1810.
This story is based on publicly available information and reported facts. It has been independently written and presented for informational purposes. Images, if any, belong to their respective owners.