Holly Alcott White was 49 years old and living in Taos, New Mexico, in 2016. She went missing just a few months before her 50th birthday. Holly had been the manager at the Taos Center for the Arts for 22 years but was preparing to relocate to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her husband, Jeff White, had just started a new job there, and Holly was about to start one as the office manager at a dentist’s office.
Holly Alcott White (Find Holly White FB)
On Thursday, May 5, Holly came home after work, greeted her neighbor, and spoke to her husband and best friend, Jill Gustafson. Jill said that although Holly seemed stressed about the move, she was still her cheerful self. Holly stayed up until 10:30 p.m. that night playing the online game Words with Friends and using the in-game chat feature to talk to an acquaintance.
The next morning, on May 6, Holly was scheduled to meet a close friend, Cynthia Arvidson, to go on their daily morning walk with Holly’s dog, Rosie. The two had walked together every morning for eight years. However, Holly failed to show up that morning. Concerned about her whereabouts, Cynthia, who had keys to Holly’s house as she often house-sat for her when she was away, went to Holly’s house. Inside, Cynthia found Holly’s purse and cell phone in the kitchen and Rosie sitting inside waiting to be walked. The only thing missing from the house was Holly’s car.
None of it made any sense. Holly always had her purse with her. And she would never leave her dog. That dog Rosie, she was like her child.Cynthia Arvidson, friend of Holly Alcott (NBC News)
Later that day, her blue Ford Escape was found parked at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge parking lot, which is 10 miles west of Taos and spans the entire Taos Gorge. Her keys were still in the car’s cup holder, and a vendor at the bridge said the car was already there when she arrived at 6:15 a.m.
A week after Holly’s disappearance, law enforcement, with the help of a dive team and river raft guides, searched 12 miles of the Río Grande Gorge. They found no body but did find a woman’s black Skechers shoe floating in the water. Some of Holly’s friends said the shoe belonged to her, but theories have also surfaced that someone may have hurled it into the river to confuse investigators.
Jeff was not considered a suspect in the case, as he was in Albuquerque that night, passed a polygraph test, and their marriage, by all accounts, seemed to be stable and happy. Holly and Jeff had been together for 27 years and married for 20 of those years.
Holly White and her husband Jeff White (Santa Fe New Mexican)
The family and all of Holly’s close friends maintained that she would not have committed suicide without leaving a note or left without telling anyone. If she had jumped from the bridge, her body would have been found by divers, as an extensive search was done after her disappearance.
New Mexico State Police pulled fingerprints from Holly’s car, one from the rearview mirror and one from the passenger side door, but both were insufficient to lead to any identification.
Holly’s father, Ray Alcott, has hired the family’s own private investigator, Elaine Graves, to look into Holly’s disappearance. She is still actively working on the case with her partner.
Update - May 8, 2024
The family’s hired private investigator, Elaine Graves, stated that there are two pieces of evidence that have yet to be tested for Holly’s DNA because the New Mexico State Police lab lacks the equipment to scan them. One is a lock of hair that matches the hue of Holly’s hair, and the other is a blue shoe found that matches Holly’s shoe size. Trying to get these items tested in a private lab has proved difficult, as there is no longer an officer working the case, and attempts to secure these items from state police have not been successful.
Source: Eight years later, PI still searching for Holly White
