Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences.
Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host Mark and I'm Courtney and this is Mountain State Mysteries.
Today we want to tell you the story of a couple who was enjoying a date night out in Charleston,
West Virginia. A night that would sadly be the last time anyone would ever see them.
This is the story of the disappearance of Maisie Mae Sigmund Palmer and the murder of Jay Farley.
On Saturday, July 14th, 1979, 25 year old Maisie Mae Sigmund Palmer and 18 year old John
Eric Farley, better known as Jay, so from here on out we're going to call him that,
we're enjoying a date night in Charleston, West Virginia. The two had been seeing each other
for a little over a month and were doing what most of the young crowd in Charleston would do
on a Saturday night. They were going to different nightclubs and bars. They were seen
leaving the Roaring Twenties nightclub on Hill Street. They walked together through a parking lot
behind what used to be the Holly Hotel on Courier Street. Not too long after, the two got a ride to
the King. Not too long after, the two got a ride to the Kings and Nightclub on Charleston's West Side.
Maisie Mae Sigmund Palmer was born on November 24th, 1954 in Sismville, West Virginia. In 1974,
she graduated from Sismville High School and later married Kenneth Wayne Palmer. Unfortunately,
we could not find out much about their marriage, but we do know that just three months before her
disappearance, the two divorced in 1979. Anyone who knew Maisie would say she was always friendly
and very outgoing, that she was a free spirit but could sometimes be naive. Anyone who knew
Maisie said she was always friendly and very outgoing, that she was a free spirit but could
sometimes be naive just wanting to see the best in everyone in every situation. Maisie grew up in
Sismville, but during the time of her disappearance, she was living with Mr. and Mrs. Ira Huber at
901 Main Street in Charleston, West Virginia. John Eric Farley, also known as Jay, was born in
Hurican, West Virginia in 1961. Around the age of seven, his parents would get divorced. Around the
age of seven, his parents would get a divorce and his mother moved to Antioch, California.
It was originally planned for Jay to join his mother and brother in California, but in 1970,
Jay had a bicycle accident where he broke his arm and it was decided it would be best if he stayed
in West Virginia. Jay lived with his grandmother, Desi Farley, in Dunbar, West Virginia. During the
summer of 1979, Jay's father recalled that Jay applied for a few different jobs and someday
wanted to join the Navy. In early June of 1979, Jay and Maisie would meet for the first time,
either at the former Boulevard Recreation Center or the Roaring Twenties nightclub. We aren't sure
what they labeled each other. By July of 1979, but from our research, they were dating.
According to Jay's father in an interview from 1982,
that Jay and Maisie had been dating for several weeks, but he wouldn't describe it as going steady.
You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries.
On Saturday, July 14, 1979, the day started as any typical day for Jay. He spent some of the
day with his father and stepmother. He went out for a little bit and returned home around 9 p.m.
So he could change his clothes. According to his grandmother, he changed into a pair of blue denim
jeans, a pink, blue and white blood shirt with brown hiking boots. She asked him if he needed
any money for the evening and Jay told her no. Around 9 30 p.m. Jay was picked up at his grandmother's
home in Dunbar by his friend Kevin Withrow. They drove to Charleston and went to the Roaring Twenties
nightclub that was located on the second floor of a building on Hill Street. Around 10 p.m.
Maisie was dropped off at the Roaring Twenties by Ira Hubert. Hubert said Maisie was dressed
in blue jeans, a pink blouse, long earrings and had a small blue purse. According to Jay's friend
Kevin, he said that Jay went to the Roaring Twenties just to see Maisie. Just an hour later,
around 11 p.m. Maisie and Jay were seen in Hill Street just outside of the Roaring Twenties nightclub.
According to a friend of Jay's who was parked nearby, he asked if he could get a ride home
to Dunbar. His friend said that he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. After that, Jay and Maisie
crossed Hill Street and started walking east to Dickinson Street. A friend watched the two
walk through an empty parking lot to Dickinson Street. To another empty parking lot, the Ham
Walk used to be the Holly Hotel. The time was between 11 p.m. and midnight. Maisie and Jay would end
up getting a ride with the man named Bill Cottrell who drove them to the King's Inn, which was another
nightclub which was located on Charleston's west side at 1608 Second Avenue. Cottrell recalled
that when he was pulling into the parking lot at the King's Inn nightclub, Maisie made the comment,
oh, he's in there. Cottrell had no idea who she was talking about. To us, we believe this comment
was made about her ex-husband. Cottrell believed that she did not feel the presence of this person
to be any kind of threat as the three of them entered the nightclub. When Maisie entered the King's Inn,
she talked to a friend from high school named Karen Carpenter who was leaving the club as they
were walking in. Karen later said that she didn't feel like anything was different about Maisie's
demeanor and described her as being her usual self. The three entered the club and took a table
on the ground floor after ordering a round of drinks. Maisie excused herself and said that she
was going to the upstairs bar to talk to someone. Jay and Cottrell stayed at the table. We can't
help but wonder if the person she was going to talk to was the he that she mentioned before going
into the nightclub. After finishing his drink, Jay also excused himself from the table and went to
the upstairs bar and went to the upstairs bar. Cottrell remembered this happened at midnight
on July 15, 1979. From what authorities put together, this was the last time both Maisie and Jay were seen alive.
You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries.
Jay and Maisie didn't return home the next morning. The Huberts weren't too concerned in the beginning
because they knew that Maisie would often spend the night with friends after going out. Jay's family,
on the other hand, were worried and alarmed from the beginning. Jay's friend said that he was very
close to his family, in particular his grandmother, and that it was not like him to be gone for a length
of time without a phone call to someone. When Jay did not return home by the morning of July 16,
his stepmother contacted the Dunbar Police Department to report that her stepson was missing.
Not too long after, Maisie's parents would do the same thing by contacting the Charleston Police Department.
Jay's father said that him and Goldie, Jay's stepmother, had trouble convincing the Dunbar
Police Department that his son was just not another runaway. In an interview with the Charleston Gazette,
he said a missing person report was not filed until July 25, 11 days after Jay went missing.
He also said the Dunbar Police never contacted him, that he had to do all of the calling to inquire
if any progress had been made in the investigation. But Dunbar Police Chief,
W.W. Wallace, said, quote, it was not a Dunbar Police case. Really, since he disappeared in
Charleston, there was no way they could have assigned a man full-time to the case, end quote.
Since Jay was last seen in Charleston, the Charleston Police Department also became involved
in the investigation of the disappearance of Jay. Charleston Detective Frank Fidler was assigned
to the case. Frank said in an interview with the Charleston Daily Mail, quote, the youth of a
recent graduate of Dunbar High School was last seen in downtown Charleston late July 14. Fidler said
he is six feet four inches tall, weighs 155 pounds, has light brown shoulder length hair,
and blue eyes. He was wearing a pink, blue and white plaid shirt, blue jeans, and brown suede
shoes when he disappeared. Fidler said that Jay was a good kid with no problems from what we can
determine. He had no reason to leave, end quote. The investigation into the disappearance of Maisie
was assigned to Deputy John Seymour of Canal County Sheriff's Department. Although both
Maisie and Jay disappeared on the same night and were both reported being last seen in the same
place, there was no connection between the two cases that were noticed by law enforcement until
January of 1980 when both of their names entered into the National Crime Information Center. At
first, authorities felt like they might just be looking at a simple case of two runaways. However,
if that was the case, there would have been a major stumbling block from the very beginning.
Neither Jay or Maisie owned a car. Maisie did have a driver's license, but Jay did not. You may
remember that we said Jay's grandmother asked him if he needed any money and he said no.
Police also found out that $200 to $300 that belonged to Jay's younger brother wasn't touched.
It was made clear that Jay knew about the money because he and his younger brother
both shared a room. So Jay would have had access to it if he had wanted to take it.
A question that came up for both of us while doing the research on this case is that if Maisie and Jay
were going to run away together, why did he pass up these chances to get the money? During the
investigation, the public and authorities were divided on their opinions. Some thought that
both Maisie and Jay both met without play that night and the other believed that they simply
ran away together to start a new life somewhere. Soon, a rumor would become an anonymous tip to
Jay's dad stating that his son had been killed by members of the Dunbar police department in
effort to prevent Jay from telling what he knew about a case of police brutality he was said to
have witnessed. According to Dunbar's chief of police, W. W. Wallace, in 1982, this rumor apparently
came from an incident where officers at the Dunbar police department were required to use force
against someone who was being uncooperative, who was being escorted into the Dunbar City Hall
on a drug-related charge. The altercation reportedly ended with the person receiving
atlaseration on their head. However, according to Wallace, no brutality suit was ever filed
by the suspect, and therefore there was no trial where Jay could have testified. Despite this,
Jay's father said that he felt like the Dunbar police department had been both slow and negligent
in their investigation. Chief Wallace said that the Dunbar police department had no say in the case
because it happened in Charleston. Jay's father said that he felt drained following these disheartening
incidents, and he took to wandering the streets of Charleston at 3 and 4 a.m. searching for some
small piece of information in his son's case. Despite both cases being linked in the eyes of
the law, each investigation ended up going cold. You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries.
A May 10, 1984, nearly five years after the disappearance of Jay and Maisie,
and just 30 miles away, a security guard for Mar-Sin's Coal Company was making his usual rounds
along Canalton Hollow Road. Concerned with several coal trucks due at the site had failed to arrive,
the guard ventured from his normal routine to see if any of the trucks were stopped at the
entrance or stuck on the road. It was near the entrance of a side road roughly 20 yards from
the company's main road, where the security guard came up on a badly weathered set of skeletal remains.
Even before a positive identification could be made, the Charleston Daily Mail reported,
skeletal remains found Thursday in Fayette County are those of a man who may have been dead as long
as five years. Dr. Irwin Sofer, Chief Medical Examiner, said the skeleton was that of a man aged
from 20 to 24 and approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall. The man had been dead one to five years,
so for said the only piece of clothing remaining a red and blue plaid shirt and a pair of orange
and green athletic socks. The medical examiner would not comment whether there was evidence of
foul play, saying such information appeared to be no damage to the skeleton.
State Police Trooper D. R. Moore of the Gully Bridge Detachment said the skeleton was found
between 6.30 and 7.00 a.m. Thursday, Canilton Hollow. On the surface by a road used as a secondary
route, a security guard for a nearby coal company, coal mine operator Marsense Corp
discovered the remains. Moore said nothing that we've had locally fits a description or ties
the dead man with any pending area cases. Moore said. After reading this, J. Stepmother Goldie
got in touch with state police and provided them with a set of J's dental records. On May 12, 1984,
West Virginia Medical Center, Irvin Sofer announced that the remains had been identified
as John Harry Carly. Sofer estimated that J had been dead between one to five years.
Authorities noticed that the shirt found with the remains was identical to the one J had been
seen wearing on July 14, 1979, as it was manufacturer of a polyester cotton blend.
So J's shirt had not deteriorated over time. Police determined that J was either killed
on or near the night he disappeared. Police were able to determine that J's hands were taped behind
his back and that his death had occurred as a result of a shotgun wound. A single bullet slug
was under the remains. However, the make and caliber, well known to the authorities, has never been
made public. A search of the area where J's body had been found turned up no more evidence
or the body of Macy May's Sigmund Palmer. While J's remains were found across the county lines
in Fayette County, the case passed to the West Virginia State Police. Just like everyone else,
we've wondered how J got to Fayette County from Charleston, which is a distance of 30 miles and
about 45 minutes. We know that J couldn't drive, so how did he get there? We think he was more than
likely driven by his killer. But if this was the case, we can't help but wonder why.
With evidence found at the scene where J's body was found, authorities were able to construct
a number of plausible scenarios and moved ahead with a renewed investigation.
With everyone thinking the discovery of J's body would help solve his murder and help find
where Macy was, both cases turned as cold as a West Virginia winter again.
J's father never gave up hope that one day his son's case would be solved. Sadly, in 1996,
John Farley passed away. For the family of Macy May, Sigmund Palmer, the story was just a sad.
Macy's father, Vernon Sigmund, passed away on October 1, 1994. Her mother, Thelma Pearl,
lived another 24 years before passing away on June 8, 2018. Today, the investigation into
J's murder and the disappearance of Macy May are still cold. With the cases being cold,
authorities have not given up the hope that one day maybe the clue they've been searching for
will appear. For nearly 44 years, the families of John Eric Farley and Macy May, Sigmund Palmer
have been searching for answers as of who killed John Eric Farley and what happened
to Macy May, Sigmund Palmer. Someone out there knows the truth. We believe that one day,
the cases of these two innocent people will be solved. If you have any information on the murder
of John Eric Farley, please contact, please contact Michael Dickerson at the Gully Bridge
Detachment of the West Virginia State Police at 304-779-2161. If you have any information on
the disappearance of Macy May, Sigmund Palmer, please contact Michael Dickerson at the Gully
Bridge Detachment of the West Virginia State Police at 304-779-2161 or Crime Stoppers of West
Virginia at 304-255-7867. You will remain anonymous if you provide any tip whatsoever to help solve
these two cases. So Courtney, do you have any final thoughts on this case? There's always
something heartbreaking about a disappearance. I mean, I hate to say it, but I feel Jay's family
got a little bit of closure knowing that his body was found as opposed to Macy's family who still
do not have a clue what happened to their daughter and her parents died not knowing whatever happened
to her. Do I feel that her ex is involved in this a little bit? I do, I honestly do.
Honestly, you can see someone walking down the street and everything look perfect,
but you don't know someone's home life. You don't know what someone has dealt with in their home
life. And a lot of times people keep everything quiet and it's just disheartening. And honestly,
I think Jay was an innocent victim. I think he was at, they're both innocent victims, but he was
literally at the wrong place at the wrong time. I think that's really, that's my opinion about this.
Mark, do you have any final thoughts? I like you fully believe it was the ex-husband.
I fully believe that Macy might have saw him on the second floor, felt like she needed to go talk to
him. Jay might have felt like she was gone too long, went up there, stood next to her, started
talking to her. That ex-husband could have been drunk, started an argument, something like that.
Then he could have killed Jay in the back of his car or something. Because to me, with his arms
being duct taped, who's to say he wasn't in the back of a car or gosh? Well, where they mentioned
his hands were taped together, he was definitely killed execution style. My father was a Marine and
he always taught me where the kill points were on someone's body. He said you always want to aim
directly towards the heart. The friend of the skull right here, right in the center, in the very back
of the skull. Those are the three kill points. If you're thinking about doing that, don't do what?
Please don't do that. My father was a Marine. Okay. This actually popped into my head while you were
reading your part. Kanoa Falls isn't really that far from where Jay was found. If I'm thinking
correct, I could be completely wrong. I'm not good with maps, directions, anything. It's actually
Kanoa Falls is actually up above Smithers. So you have to drive past a little bit. Honestly,
it's not that far from there though. I want to say maybe about 10, 15 minute drive. That's what I
was thinking because we've done this drive before coming from Charleston, not knowing about this
case really. But it literally just popped into my head the set of female remains that were found
at Kanoa Falls. Could they be Maisie? I don't know if they've ever been identified or whatnot,
but to me, there could be a good chance they could be Maisie because it's in that area.
Also too, it makes you wonder if anybody is canned to her is still alive to where they could possibly
provide some DNA, do a 23andMe, just something. I'm not sure. I want to say she was an only child.
I mean, I don't know if her parents had any siblings or anything to where they could possibly get
some of the DNA from to see, but it'd be very interesting if they did something like that.
And I can say when we were writing down the list of our season two, Courtney and I had no idea
that Maisie and Jay were even connected. We saw on Crime Stoppers just Maisie. We really didn't see
anything about Jay. Then we got researching this and we're like, oh my god, this is so much bigger
than we actually thought it was. And we just knew that we had to tell their story because it's such
a sad story. And we really just want closure for Maisie's family just like Jay's family got it.
I mean, it wasn't the perfect closure. No. Justice wasn't brought forth.
But it was a little bit of closure. Is the stepmother still alive?
I want to say possibly. I tried to, I looked up on Find a Grave and I want to say she possibly is
still alive because I didn't see her name in there anywhere. But I'm not sure if it's him and his first
wife or him and his second wife that are buried next to each other. Because I do want to say him
and Goldie did split up for a little bit, but they got back together during all of this.
Next time on Mountain State Mysteries, we're going to tell you the story of a man whose battered body
was found in his home in Sismville, West Virginia. If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State
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