Midland’s Oldest Cold Case: She Went To a Bar 42 Years Ago and Hasn’t Been Seen Since [PHOTOS]
Midland's oldest cold case turns 42 years old on February 2, 2022.
According to Crime-Reader.com, Kristy Lynn Booth,19, headed out on the evening of February 2, 1980, to go to one of Midland's most popular nightspots at that time, the now-demolished Dimensions Nightclub at 411 Airpark Drive.
That was the last time Kristy Booth would ever be seen.
She was dropped off at the nightclub by her friend Ron Ferrengberg so he could borrow her 1977 white and maroon AMC Pacer under the pretense that he comes back to pick her up at about 11 pm.
She met with friends at the club who enjoyed a night of dancing and drinks. Ferrengberg would return as he was supposed to at 11 pm only to find no sign of Kristy except her purse, coat, and shoes left at the table that she and her friends had partied at that night. She was seen dancing with a white male, muscular in build, with a goatee and mustache.
She was last seen in a white button-down blouse with a pink dress and Levi's. Since she left her purse, shoes, and coat behind, that gave the idea that she was going to return to the club at some time, but that never happened.
It was a typically cold February night in Midland with temperatures below freezing so there is no reason she would leave the club willingly without her coat.
The Midland Reporter-Telegram would report that Ferrengberg said he drove around looking for her after searching the nightclub until her car ran out of gas on Highway 349 (Rankin Hwy) about a mile and a half south of Interstate 20.
That is where her car was found on February 4, 1980, following an investigation Midland Police discovered the vehicle had 268 miles on it that were unaccounted for after it had been repaired the day before she disappeared.
Ferrengberg became the main suspect until it was determined after questioning and a polygraph that he had no knowledge of where Kristy was and was dropped as a suspect in the case.
Kristy lived with her parents on Monty Ave. and worked as a waitress at The Great Gatsby, where Heavenly Cuts is now located, on Cuthbert. There was no report of problems at home, which lead police to suspect foul play had been involved. Here is a picture of where The Great Gatsby used to be located:
The Dimensions Nightclub and the Airpark Bowling Alley it was attached to were next to the VFW but demolished a couple of years later to make way for the ClayDesta complex. Here is a pic of what the location of Dimensions and the bowling alley looks like today:
Ron Ferrengberg died in October of 1981.
To see a copy of the MRT article a month after her disappearance, go to Newspapers.com.
Her parents have since passed away without ever knowing what happened to their daughter.
If you have any information on what happened to Kristy Lynn Booth, you are urged to contact the Midland Police Department at (432) 685-7108 or the Texas Department of Public Safety at (800) 346-3243.
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