07/10/2025
31-year-old wife and mother disappears while driving home from work late at night - Where is Audrey Herron?
Audrey Herron was a 31-year-old woman living in Greene County, New York with her husband, Jeff, and three young children. She worked as a nurse at Columbia Greene Long Term Care Facility in Catskill, NY.
In August 2002, the Herron family was moving into a new house about 12 miles west of Catskill, on the golf course that Audrey's father-in-law owned. She had also recently applied to a promotion at the care facility.
The night of August 29th, 2002, Audrey worked her normal night shift at the care facility, from 3:00pm to 11:00pm. She called her husband sometime during that shift to excitedly let him know that she got the promotion. Around 11:00pm, she left work and was seen on surveillance footage from the nearby Cumberland Farms convenience store driving west on what would be her normal route home. It was the last time she was seen or heard from.
Jeff woke up around 6:00am the next morning and realized that Audrey was not home. He called Audrey's mother, who was supposed to be returning from a month-long vacation that day with Audrey's oldest daughter. Audrey was not meant to pick up her daughter until the following day, after a doctor's appointment, but he hoped she had gone early for some reason. She had not.
Audrey's mother called the care facility to see if she picked up another shift. She had not. At that point, she was reported missing.
Jeff notified Audrey's friends and they began searching the area, hoping she was broken down on the side of the road somewhere. Meanwhile, police began searching with helicopters and on foot. Despite this, neither Audrey nor her 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee have ever been found.
Theories
It was rainy and foggy the night that Audrey disappeared. Had she gotten into an accident, it was late enough that nobody else may have been around to see her car leave the road. The drive is fairly rural, crossing Catskill Creek twice, though the creek doesn't look like it would make a car disappear at those two crossing points.
Another theory is that her husband Jeff had something to do with Audrey's disappearance. Her oldest daughter was from a previous marriage, and the couple sometimes argued over how Jeff was more strict with his step-daughter than he was with his biological children. Some people think he seemed uncooperative and he didn't attend the vigils that Audrey's friends held.
However, Audrey's oldest daughter disagrees that his behavior makes him suspicious, and instead believes he has remained private over the years in order to protect his children.
In 2016, investigators received a tip that Audrey's body would be found at a property off Cauterskill Road in Castskill, about 5 miles south of her route home. The property reportedly belonged to someone who had worked at the care facility and may have been romantically rejected by Audrey. The person had a history of r**e and attempted kidnapping, so authorities excavated some ground and drained a pond on the person's property, but the search came up empty.
Beyond that, several lakes, rivers and ditches in the area have been extensively searched. As recently as May 2023, Adventures with Purpose had divers out looking for Audrey's car, but were unsuccessful.
A final theory is that Audrey's father-in-law owed money to a "silent partner" in his golf course, that person had ties to the Russian Mob, and Audrey was killed in relation to that. While seemingly outlandish, policy did initially entertain the idea that Audrey was kidnapped for ransom and kept an officer available at the home for about two weeks in case a call demanding money came through.
Audrey was last seen wearing a blue turtleneck shirt, dark green nurse scrubs, and size 6 white athletic shoes. She wore a gold wedding band, yellow gold necklace with a " #1 Mom" pendant, and a white watch.
