Dawn Michelle Holt, a 20-year-old resident of Southern Maryland, was last seen on April 25, 1996, in a room at the Howard Johnson's motel in Waldorf, Charles County, Maryland. Holt had spent the preceding several weeks staying with her sister in Florida; her family, based in St. Mary's County, Maryland, was not aware she had returned to the state, and it has not been established how she traveled back. On the day she disappeared, Holt telephoned her estranged husband from the Waldorf motel and told him she planned to come see him and their two young children, then approximately two and three years old. She never arrived and has not been seen or heard from since. Holt is a white female, 5'4" tall, who weighed approximately 110 pounds at the time of her disappearance, with blonde hair and hazel brown eyes. She has a scar above her left eye, a small tattoo of a bird on her left wrist, a heart-shaped tattoo bearing the name "Sam" on her right shoulder, pierced ears and navel, and a previously fractured (healed) collarbone. She was last seen wearing a large red winter jacket and white sneakers, size 8 1/2. Holt's mother filed the missing-person report on June 12, 1996, roughly eight weeks after the disappearance.
The Maryland State Police is the lead investigating agency; the case is classified as Endangered Missing, and authorities suspect foul play. Investigators have said Holt had acquaintances involved in drug activity and reportedly told others she was afraid of them; she had gone out of contact for shorter stretches in the past but had never before been away this long. Her estranged husband has not been considered a suspect.
