What happened to Glenda Peterson that sweltering July afternoon? It’s a question that continues to haunt her loved ones.
“It’s frightening that someone can just disappear and never come back,” Brandy Morton, Glenda’s niece, told Dateline. “Truly terrifying that something like this can so easily happen.”
Glenda, 40 at the time, was attending the Independence Day celebration on July 4, 1997 at Lake Thunderbird in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. With her was her youngest daughter, who as 16 at the time. Glenda was recently divorced from her husband of 15 years and was “trying to have fun,” family members say.
There are many holes in what happened after Glenda, who had a cast on her leg from a broken leg, and her daughter left to head home that evening. What is known, is that Glenda and her daughter got a ride home with a man they reportedly met at the festivities.
But while driving along Highway 9 in the man’s dark-colored pickup truck, Glenda had the driver pull over and she got out of the truck. She handed her purse to her daughter and left her without explanation, family members said. That was the last anyone saw of her.
“Did she know she was in danger, so she wanted to keep her daughter safe? We don’t know,” Glenda’s niece Brandy told Dateline. “There are so many holes in the story, so we just don’t know.”
The Norman, Oklahoma Police Department took over Glenda’s case in 2000. Glenda’s niece Brandy also decided to push harder herself in the case. She has been spearheading a social media campaign to get Glenda’s photo in front of as many people as possible, with the hope someone will know something.
The coverage over the past few years has generated several substantial tips, authorities confirmed. Several searches have been conducted, including ones with cadaver dogs, Brandy said. However, the mystery of what became of Glenda continues to plague her loved ones, especially her four children.
“Just seeing the pain it’s caused her kids, her sisters. It’s heartbreaking,” Brandy said. “I just watch them struggle as the date passes every year. I get emotional because it’s just been so hard.”
As the anniversary of her disappearance once again arrives, there is still hope some type of answers can be found. Glenda, who had one grandchild when she disappeared, is now a grandmother to 11. Brandy hopes one day maybe she can meet the rest of them.
“After 19 years, we do still have hope. Even if it’s just bringing her home in some way, that’s all we want,” Brandy told Dateline.
If you have any information regarding Glenda’s whereabouts, you are urged to call the Norman Police Department at (405) 321-1600.