Above: Anna Waters in 1973 (left) and an age-progressed image to 49, circa 2016 (right)

Anna Christian Waters

Last seen in Half Moon Bay, California on January 16, 1973

Vital statistics: White female. Born on September 25, 1967. Blond hair, brown eyes. She has a mole on her cheek and facial dimples. Last seen wearing wearing a blue and white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black rubber boots. Was five at the time.

Circumstances: Waters was last seen playing in the backyard of her family's home on Purissima Creek Road in rural Half Moon Bay, California on January 16, 1973. She had arrived home from her kindergarten class at Alvin Hatch Elementary School at 1:00 p.m., changed her clothes and went outside to play. Her mother and stepfather were both at home and inside the house. At 2:20 p.m., Waters's mother noticed she was no longer in the yard. The police were informed at 3:00 p.m. after her mother's search proved to be in vain. The authorities sounded a siren in the neighborhood with the hopes of attracting Waters by the noise, but she has never been heard from again. A creek ran through the Waters family's property and was in the flooding stage in January 1973. However, an extensive search of the creek turned up no sign of Waters. Purissima Creek Road is not a major thoroughfare and few cars travel on it. A friend of the Waters family reported he saw two men in a white panel truck on the road just minutes before Waters vanished, but the men have never been identified. Classified as a Non-Family Abduction.

Theories: The case of Anna Waters is similar to many other missing person cases. There are no witnesses to her abduction, although she was almost certainly kidnapped. The reported sighting of a truck on the road she lived on must be seen as important, since the road she lived on was not heavily trafficked. In most missing person cases it is important to have an idea of why the person was taken as well as who did it. But with over thirty years having passed since Waters’ abduction, we can only speculate as to the motives while we continue to search for Anna herself. No less should be done for her or any of the lost.

If you have any information on Waters' wherebouts, please e-mail For The Lost at this address. Or you may contact the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office at 650-364-1811. All tips sent by e-mail will be kept confidential.


Information used to compile this case file comes from the following resources:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Charley Project
The Doe Network
California Missing Persons Registry
Texas Department of Public Safety
Searching for Anna
NamUs National Missing Persons Data System

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