Overview

Reported last seen: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1976.

Date discrepancy: September 21, 1976 is given in widely circulated missing-person information, while February 20, 1976 also appears in some sources.

Age: 22.

Circumstances: Laurie reportedly left with her husband to go to a drugstore and subsequently disappeared.

Classification: Historically reported as an endangered missing person.

Homicide: No publicly verified homicide determination was located.

Major later development: Court and family records identify a Laurie Peccole Bayne—the daughter of William and Wanda Peccole—as alive years after 1976. Publicly available information reviewed for this article does not establish whether law enforcement has officially confirmed that she and missing Laurie Jean Amico are the same person.

Recent development: The Doe Network added Laurie Jean Amico as Florida missing-person case 5100DFFL on April 21, 2025.

Current-status caution: The official status of the original missing-person report should be verified directly with Fort Lauderdale Police.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Laurie Jean Amico: The 1976 Fort Lauderdale Missing-Person Case and the Questions That Remain

Laurie Jean Amico was a 22-year-old woman reported missing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1976. Nearly five decades later, her name remains associated with one of Florida’s lesser-known historical missing-person cases.

The basic account traditionally circulated about Laurie’s disappearance is brief. She was reportedly last seen in Fort Lauderdale while with her husband, Anthony Amico. Published missing-person information states that the two were going to a drugstore, after which Laurie was not heard from again.

But a closer examination of the surviving records reveals significant questions about the case—including conflicting dates and later records involving a woman with Laurie’s maiden name and family connections.

Who Was Laurie Jean Amico?

Laurie Jean Amico’s maiden name was Peccole. Historical missing-person information describes her as a white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, approximately 5 feet to 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds.

She was reportedly the daughter of prominent Las Vegas real-estate developer William Peccole. Laurie was married to Anthony Amico and reportedly had a young son.

Published missing-person information has listed Laurie’s date of birth as March 25, 1953 and her age as 22 when she disappeared.

The Disappearance in Fort Lauderdale

The most commonly circulated account states that Laurie was last seen in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 21, 1976.

According to that account, Laurie and her husband, Anthony Amico, reportedly went out to a drugstore. Laurie subsequently disappeared and was not heard from again.

Very few publicly documented details survive concerning what happened that day. There is little readily available information describing the drugstore, the couple’s transportation, the exact location where Laurie was last seen, when authorities were notified, or what investigators initially learned.

Another issue complicates the historical record: some sources have given February 20, 1976 as the date associated with Laurie’s disappearance, while other missing-person material gives September 21, 1976. The discrepancy should be treated as unresolved unless the original police report establishes the correct date.

What Happened After Laurie Disappeared?

Historical missing-person information states that Anthony Amico later divorced Laurie by approximately 1980 and subsequently became involved in substantial real-estate holdings in the St. Petersburg, Florida area.

The disappearance itself appears to have received comparatively little sustained media coverage, and there is no publicly documented homicide determination in the material reviewed for this article.

Laurie has instead been circulated as an endangered missing person.

That distinction is important. There is currently no reliable public evidence reviewed for this article establishing that Laurie was murdered.

A Major Question Raised by Later Records

The most unusual aspect of the case is the existence of later records concerning a woman named Laurie Peccole Bayne.

Nevada Supreme Court records from litigation involving the estate and trusts of developer William Peccole identify Laurie P. Bayne and the Laurie Peccole 1976 Trust among the parties. Other court material describes Laurie Bayne as Peccole’s daughter and records her testimony concerning events occurring in the early 1990s.

Those records demonstrate that a daughter of William Peccole named Laurie was alive decades after 1976.

Additional family records add to the question. Wanda Peccole’s 2011 obituary identifies a surviving daughter named Laurie and her husband, Bruce Bayne. Public material concerning James “Bruce” Bayne similarly identifies his wife as Laurie and describes their family.

A 2005 Las Vegas Review-Journal memorial guestbook entry was also signed “Laurie Peccole Bayne” and contained first-person recollections of attending school in Las Vegas.

These records create an obvious question: Is Laurie Peccole Bayne the same Laurie Peccole who was reported missing in Fort Lauderdale as Laurie Jean Amico?

There are substantial similarities in the names and family associations, but publicly accessible records reviewed for this article do not include an official statement from Fort Lauderdale Police or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirming that identification and formally announcing that the historical missing-person case was resolved.

For that reason, the two identities should not be treated as conclusively linked without confirmation from the investigating agency.

Online Researchers Raised the Same Question

The apparent connection did not go unnoticed.

In 2018, participants discussing Laurie’s case on Websleuths located information concerning Laurie Peccole Bayne and questioned whether the woman reported missing might actually be alive.

Those posts represent independent online research and discussion rather than an official investigative finding. Statements made by forum participants about what authorities supposedly believed should therefore not be treated as verified law-enforcement conclusions.

The underlying public records concerning the Peccole family, however, make the identity question significant enough to warrant official clarification.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

One of the most significant recent developments occurred on April 21, 2025, when The Doe Network added Laurie Jean Amico to its database as case 5100DFFL, describing her as missing from Florida since 1976.

That listing indicates that Laurie’s historical disappearance was still being circulated as a missing-person case decades after the later Peccole/Bayne records had become publicly available.

A search of publicly accessible sources through September 2026 did not locate a subsequent announcement from The Doe Network identifying Laurie as a resolved case.

Fort Lauderdale Police currently maintains resources for adult missing persons and cold cases, while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement operates the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse.

However, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement cautions that information appearing in its public missing-person database should not itself be taken as confirmation that a missing-person report remains active. The agency specifically recommends verifying a case’s current status with the reporting or investigating law-enforcement agency.

Consequently, Laurie’s present official status should be confirmed directly with Fort Lauderdale Police before stating that she remains actively missing.

Was Laurie Jean Amico the Victim of a Homicide?

There is no publicly verified evidence reviewed for this article establishing that Laurie Jean Amico was murdered.

The historical circumstances understandably generated speculation because a young woman seemingly vanished and little information was made public. Nevertheless, disappearance alone does not establish homicide.

The later records involving Laurie Peccole Bayne make caution particularly important. Those records may ultimately help explain why Laurie’s disappearance generated so little later investigative information—or they could involve a different person whose similar identity and family associations require clarification.

Only law enforcement or sufficiently definitive documentation can resolve that question.

Why the Laurie Jean Amico Case Still Needs Clarification

Laurie’s case illustrates another problem encountered when researching disappearances from the 1960s and 1970s: old information can continue circulating long after the original records were created, sometimes without later developments being incorporated into public databases.

Here, there are conflicting disappearance dates, sparse information about the original investigation, later records involving a Laurie Peccole who was clearly alive, and a missing-person database entry created as recently as 2025.

Rather than assuming Laurie was murdered—or assuming that the later Laurie Peccole Bayne records automatically resolve the disappearance—the evidence points to a simpler need: confirmation from the agency holding the original Fort Lauderdale case file.

Until that happens publicly, Laurie Jean Amico’s 1976 disappearance remains a historical missing-person case with an unusually important unresolved identity question.

Very Brief Case Summary

Reported last seen: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1976.

Date discrepancy: September 21, 1976 is given in widely circulated missing-person information, while February 20, 1976 also appears in some sources.

Age: 22.

Circumstances: Laurie reportedly left with her husband to go to a drugstore and subsequently disappeared.

Classification: Historically reported as an endangered missing person.

Homicide: No publicly verified homicide determination was located.

Major later development: Court and family records identify a Laurie Peccole Bayne—the daughter of William and Wanda Peccole—as alive years after 1976. Publicly available information reviewed for this article does not establish whether law enforcement has officially confirmed that she and missing Laurie Jean Amico are the same person.

Recent development: The Doe Network added Laurie Jean Amico as Florida missing-person case 5100DFFL on April 21, 2025.

Current-status caution: The official status of the original missing-person report should be verified directly with Fort Lauderdale Police.