Phyllis Lorain Powell
Missing for 61 years.
Phyllis Lorain Powell (5) lived with her family in Woodland North Carolina with her family. They lived on a dirty road called Back Street, now called Ashe Street, surrounded by houses belonging to family and close friends.
There wasn’t much traffic on that road in 1963, and if there was traffic most people knew it belonged to the only two men who owned vehicles. I know that is hard to believe today but the people who lived in this area were poor hard working families. Cars were unattainable for more people than you would think during that time.
“Most of the men who lived there would walk to work at the casket companies or the basket mill that operated back then in Woodland and George” — William “Buddy” Powell, Phyllis’s brother
As the oldest sister Joyce had chores to do and, on that Friday, there was laundry that needed to be washed. The Powell’s didn’t have a washer, but their friend Molly Lassiter had one and that is where the two girls went. Phyllis got bored and asked her sister if she could go outside to play. Joyce said yes and off Phyllis went. There is a little more information out there about that day. Her brother doesn’t mention…
