Police in St. Charles are seeking the public’s help in cracking a cold case involving a missing 13-year-old girl who disappeared in August 1979 and was in the Cabool area at one time.
Tammy Surdam vanished after leaving a youth facility on Jefferson Avenue called “Youth in Need.” She checked out, as teen residents were allowed to do, but didn’t return before curfew. The next day she was declared missing.
Detective Sgt. Shawn Hoselton said Surdam called the youth facility the next day and said she was with friends in the Powell Terrace neighborhood and she was fine. Through their investigation, detectives know that the girl was in Cabool during a period after she disappeared from St. Charles.
“The St. Charles Police Department is determined to bring resolution to any open cases,” Hoselton said. “We’re here for the families and will never stop.”
April Fowler said her baby sister frequently ran away but always returned after a period of time. And she said there was nothing about their home life that would lead her to believe that Surdam would leave and never have contact again with anyone in the family.
“I just can’t imagine anybody leaving their family forever,” Fowler said. “Never a phone call, never a card, never a letter.”
Fowler is the last immediate living relative. She said she’s grateful for the work of the St. Charles Police Department and she hopes their efforts bring her family closure.
“I’d like to be able to at least have her home with the family where she belongs, regardless of which way,” Fowler said.
Anyone who has information about the disappearance of Surdam is asked to call the St. Charles Police Department at 636-949-3300 or the Texas County Sheriff’s Department dispatch at 417-967-4165, option 1.