Overview

Last seen: May 16, 1972
Last known location: Coronado Avenue and Broadway, Long Beach, California
Age: 15
Nickname: Sonny
Status: Endangered missing; foul play suspected
Possible movements: May have traveled with or to meet a male companion, attempted to hitchhike toward Los Angeles, or traveled to the Borrego Springs area.
Key issue: Sherry disappeared without a confirmed subsequent sighting and has never been located.
Current status: The case remains unresolved in publicly available records, with Sherry still listed as missing.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Sherry Jean Pickle: The 1972 Disappearance of a California Teen

More than five decades after 15-year-old Sherry Jean Pickle disappeared in Southern California, the question of what happened to her remains unanswered. Known by the nickname “Sonny,” Sherry vanished on May 16, 1972, and has never been seen or heard from again.

Her disappearance is classified as an endangered missing-person case, and foul play is suspected. Sherry remains listed with state and national missing-person organizations.

Who Was Sherry Jean Pickle?

Sherry Jean Pickle was born September 14, 1956. At the time she disappeared, she was 15 years old, approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed about 100 to 110 pounds. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes and a freckled complexion.

Several physical characteristics could potentially help distinguish Sherry. She had a scar on her right foot caused by bicycle spokes and had previously fractured one of her ankles. Contemporary case information also describes her teeth as being in excellent condition.

Sherry was also known by the nickname “Sonny.”

Sherry Pickle Disappears in Long Beach

Sherry was last seen on May 16, 1972, at or near the intersection of Coronado Avenue and Broadway in Long Beach, California.

What happened immediately afterward has never been firmly established.

Information released about the case indicates Sherry may have planned to meet or travel with a male companion. Another possibility investigators have considered is that she attempted to hitchhike toward the Los Angeles area.

There is also a longstanding reference to Borrego Springs, roughly 150 miles southeast of Long Beach. Some missing-person databases list Borrego Springs as the location from which Sherry disappeared, while more detailed case accounts state that her last known sighting was actually in Long Beach and that she may have traveled to the Borrego Springs area afterward.

No confirmed sighting of Sherry after May 16, 1972, has been publicly established.

Why Authorities Suspect Foul Play

Very little has been publicly disclosed about the original investigation. There is no publicly identified suspect, and available official case summaries do not explain what evidence first led authorities to believe Sherry may have encountered foul play.

Nevertheless, both longstanding case information and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children continue to state that foul play is suspected.

The possibility that Sherry was traveling with a male companion has remained part of the publicly available account, but the man’s identity, whether investigators ever identified him, and the original source of that information have not been publicly clarified.

Sherry has therefore remained an endangered missing person rather than a confirmed homicide victim. Although some secondary sources describe authorities as believing she was murdered, no recovery of Sherry’s remains or official determination of her death has been publicly announced.

A Case That Has Remained Open for Decades

Sherry’s case has continued to appear in modern missing-person databases long after her disappearance.

She is listed by the California Department of Justice under West Covina Police Department case number 7206881. She is also represented by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which has published an age-progressed image showing what Sherry might have looked like at approximately 59 years old.

Her identifiers include NamUs case MP6528, NCMEC case 604028 and NCIC number M291278972.

Modern databases are particularly important in a case as old as Sherry’s because unidentified remains discovered across the country can be compared against long-term missing-person cases using physical characteristics, dental information and, when available, DNA.

Recent Developments and Possible Matches

Public discussion of Sherry’s case produced a potentially significant development in February 2025.

A contributor to the Websleuths case discussion reported receiving information suggesting Sherry should be compared with unidentified-person case NamUs UP17490, also identified by the Doe Network as case 1525UFCA. The contributor said a comparison request was submitted to the Doe Network and law enforcement was contacted.

That information initially represented a possible lead rather than an official identification and needed to be treated cautiously.

A subsequent May 17, 2025 update in the same discussion reported that information from the Doe Network indicated both Sherry and UP17490 were represented in CODIS and did not match. Because this information comes through a public case discussion rather than a published law-enforcement announcement, it should be regarded as a reported development rather than an independently confirmed official statement.

Another July 2025 discussion update reported that Sherry’s NamUs record had been updated in June and contained 20 exclusions, meaning multiple unidentified-person cases had reportedly been ruled out as Sherry.

Members of the public have continued proposing other unidentified remains for comparison, including a September 2025 suggestion involving NamUs UP13916, an unidentified female whose partial skeletal remains were recovered from a shallow grave in a vineyard in Arvin, California. That suggestion is public speculation; no reliable source located for this article establishes UP13916 as a confirmed investigative lead or match to Sherry.

As of September 2026, no publicly available authoritative source located for this article reports that Sherry has been found, that her remains have been identified, or that anyone has been arrested in connection with her disappearance. California’s current missing-person database continues to list her with the West Covina Police Department.

Why Sherry Pickle’s Case Still Matters

Sherry would now be 69 years old. More than 54 years have passed since she disappeared, but the passage of time does not eliminate the possibility that information still exists that could help investigators.

Someone may remember the person Sherry intended to meet, whether she was hitchhiking, where she planned to go, or who she was with during the hours surrounding her disappearance. Old photographs, letters, diaries and conversations that once seemed insignificant could also provide context that investigators did not have in 1972.

Advances in DNA testing and the continuing comparison of missing people with unidentified remains also provide investigative possibilities that simply did not exist when Sherry disappeared.

Anyone with information should contact the West Covina Police Department and reference case number 7206881. Even information that seems minor may be worth reporting rather than assuming investigators already know it.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last seen: May 16, 1972
Last known location: Coronado Avenue and Broadway, Long Beach, California
Age: 15
Nickname: Sonny
Status: Endangered missing; foul play suspected
Possible movements: May have traveled with or to meet a male companion, attempted to hitchhike toward Los Angeles, or traveled to the Borrego Springs area.
Key issue: Sherry disappeared without a confirmed subsequent sighting and has never been located.
Current status: The case remains unresolved in publicly available records, with Sherry still listed as missing.