NC MARY RACHEL BRYAN & LEILA BRYAN: Missing from Carolina Beach, NC - 10 May 1941 - Age 4 & 36

[KareBear]

Mary Rachel Bryan

Female, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact
May 10, 1941
Missing From
Carolina Beach, North Carolina
Case Information
Demographics
Missing Age
4 Years
Current Age
83 Years
First Name
Mary
Middle Name
Rachel
Last Name
Bryan
Nickname/Alias
--
Sex
Female
Height
3' 0" (36 Inches)
Weight
40 lbs
Race / Ethnicity
White / Caucasian
Circumstances
Date of Last Contact
May 10, 1941
NamUs Case Created
April 11, 2011
Last Known Location Map
Location
Carolina Beach, North Carolina
County
Bladen County
Circumstances of Disappearance
Lelia and her only child, Mary Rachel, were last seen in their hometown of Carolina Beach, North Carolina on May 10, 1941. Lelia took Mary Rachel and left home at 9:00 p.m. Some accounts say she was going out to buy groceries at a store two blocks away; another story says she took $2 and was going to buy a new brassiere at the dime store. Height, weight, and birth date are approximations.

Physical Description
Hair Color
Brown
Head Hair Description
dark brown
Body Hair Description
--
Facial Hair Description
--
Left Eye Color
Brown
Right Eye Color
Brown
Eye Description
--
Distinctive Physical Features
No Known Information
Clothing and Accessories
No Information Entered
Additional Case Info
Transportation-
1935 Ford Model A
Style-
Coupe
Color-
Black
State-
North Carolina
License Plate-
219-056
Expiration Year
--
Comments
--
Source:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Media - MARY RACHEL BRYAN has been missing from Carolina Beach, #NorthCarolina since 10 May 1941 Age- 4
Media 2 - LEILA LEWIS BRYAN & her 4 year old daughter have bee missing from Carolina Beach, N C since10 May 1941


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[KareBear]

Leila Lewis Bryan

Female, White / Caucasian

Date of Last ContactMay 10, 1941
Missing From Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Case Information

Demographics
Missing Age 36 Years
Current Age 115 Years
First Name Leila
Middle Name Lewis
Last Name Bryan
Nickname/Alias--

Sex Female
Height 5' 7" - 5' 8" (67 - 68 Inches)
Weight 120 - 125 lbs
Race / Ethnicity
White / Caucasian

Circumstances
Date of Last Contact May 10, 1941
NamUs Case Created April 11, 2011
Last Known Location Map
Location Carolina Beach, North Carolina
County Bladen County

Circumstances of Disappearance-
Lelia and her only child, Mary Rachel, were last seen in their hometown of Carolina Beach, North Carolina on May 10, 1941. Lelia took Mary Rachel and left home at 9:00 p.m. Some accounts say she was going out to buy groceries at a store two blocks away; another story says she took $2 and was going to buy a new brassiere at the dime store. Birth date is an approximation.
Circumstance Notes
all records lost in hurricane in 1952

Physical Description
Hair Color- Black
Head Hair Description--
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye Color- Gray
Right Eye Color- Gray
Eye Description--
Distinctive Physical Features
No Information Entered

Clothing and Accessories
Item
Description
Clothing
A summer print dress and a green turban

Footwear
Brown and white shoes

Additional Case Info

Transportation
1935 Ford Model A

Style Coupe
Color Black
State North Carolina
License Plate 219-056
Expiration Year--

Source:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Cold Case Files: The disappearance of Mary and Leila Bryan

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (WNCT) — On May 10, 1941, Mary Rachel Bryan and her mother, Leila, left home at 9 pm to buy groceries. They were never seen again. Mary Rachel Bryan was born on July 14, …

www.wnct.com

by: Mekaela Muck
Posted: Jul 4, 2023 / 04:52 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 4, 2023 / 04:54 PM EDT

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (WNCT) — On May 10, 1941, Mary Rachel Bryan and her mother, Leila, left home at 9 pm to buy groceries. They were never seen again.

Mary Rachel Bryan was born on July 14, 1937. She was 3 years old at the time she went missing.

The disappearance occurred 82 years ago and investigators have been left with more questions than answers.

Leila was driving her husband’s black 1935 Ford Model A coupe the day they disappeared. The vehicle was also never found.

Investigators had two leading theories, Mary’s father and Mary’s mother.

Mary’s father, Edis Clarence Bryan, was a lead suspect in the case but was never charged. Edis died in 1976. Police thought that Edis killed his wife and daughter and then buried them beneath his beach cottage on Raleigh Avenue. Leila’s nephew, Lewis Smith, told police that his uncle poured concrete flooring in the basement at the time of the disappearance.

Investigators dug up the basement flooring in the cottage in 2009 to look for bodies but ultimately came up empty. The house was crossed off the list as a potential burial site.

Investigators believed that maybe Leila killed her daughter and then killed herself. There has been no evidence found to support this theory.

Both Mary and Leila were legally declared deceased in 1948.

If you have information about this case or any unsolved case in North Carolina, please contact the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, (800) 334-3000.