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Writer's pictureHeidi Reilly

Mother Stabs Son - Daughter Still Missing Since 1987

It was between 3:00 and 3:30 pm on April 16, 1987, in a place in Tennessee known as Union City. A young girl by the name of Marlena Childress was playing outside while her mom was in the kitchen. Pam Lynn Bailey had heard tires squealing outside her house so she went outside to check on her daughter Marlena and she was nowhere to be found. Her step-brother Jerry had seen her talking to a man with Kentucky plates. Marlena was last wearing a purple and white checked shirt, purple pants, and pink jelly shoes at the time of her disappearance.





Bailey ended up calling the Police and reporting Marlena missing at 4:15 pm. Hundreds from the town searched for her for days but no luck.


A few months went by and the unthinkable happened. On June 8, Pam Bailey had confessed to being responsible for her daughter's murder. She was being interviewed by Stan Cavness, who was a private investigator that was hired by Marlena's family. She claimed that he coerced her into saying that she killed her daughter. She had admitted that Marlena's body was at the bottom of the Obion River. This caused a search of that river and there was no trace of her body.


In addition, there were other stories that Pam had come up with to cover up by making excuses for everything the investigators asked.

Regardless of nobody finding Marlena's body, Pam was charged with second-degree murder.

This case went to the Grand Jury l, but with no evidence against Pam, the jury had not indicted her.

Eventually, Pam moved to Kentucky, where she had another son by the name of Casey. Allegedly, Pam had told her son Casey that she had a surprise for him and had taken him to a cemetery. Here, she had stabbed him three times and thankfully he was able to get away.


Pam was arrested for attempted murder. She had another excuse that she had blacked out and didn't remember the incident at all. The final outcome was that she received a 10-year prison sentence for pleading no contest to a second-degree assault.


Of course, this made police think that maybe she had a connection to Marlena's murder again, so they reopened the case. To this day, Pam still maintains her innocence by not being a part of her daughter's murder.


Following this reinvestigation of Marlena's disappearance, Unsolved Mysteries put a one-hour show on her disappearance. It caused a lot of controversies. For example, there was an alleged sighting of Marlena at a hair salon six days after she went missing. The final conclusion of the allegation of knowing that that could've been Marlene at the hair salon was false. So, then Marlena's grandfather, LaWade Strickland, started his own investigation answering phone calls and traveling to check out crime tips on Marlena's disappearance. He is not stopping until the family gets answers. In conclusion, the family asked Unsolved Mysteries not to air the show again.


Another detour that could have been an alleged sighting was by Amy Spoon. She thought she had seen Marlena in a department store. This little girl who looked like Marlena was very reluctant to go with the mom. This was not a match either.


DNA advancements were also used by putting her DNA in a national database. Hopefully, something will come out of this.


Marlena's family still thinks she is alive.


What these families go through when they think there is a positive lead! We cannot fathom the hope they hold onto in hopes that their children come home.


If anyone has any information on Marlena Childress, please call the Union City Police Department at 731-885-1515.


Written By: Heidi


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