logo
episode-header-image
Aug 20
43m 8s

Maria “Mary Faye” Mendez (Wild Card, Te...

AUDIOCHUCK
About this episode

Our card this week is Maria “Mary Faye” Mendez, the Wild Card from Texas.

Maria “Mary Faye” Mendez walked out of the duplex she shared with her family in Odessa, Texas, on Aug. 2, 1985, and seemingly vanished without a trace. Her sister-in-law watched Mary head in the direction of a local bar after fighting with her husband, who they knew as Arnuldo Mendez. Mary had asked her sister-in-law to watch her 5-year-old daughter, Virginia, while she went out, but she never came home. For nearly 40 years, her family wondered whether she’d walked away from her life and children…or if something bad had happened to her. It wasn’t until a young cold case detective stumbled across her long-lost case file and started digging that clues in a decades-old mystery started to be unearthed. 

  • If you know anything about the death of Mary Mendez, contact Det. Gonzales at 432-335-4926, or to submit a tip anonymously through Odessa Crime Stoppers, call 432-333-8477 or visit 333tips.org and reference case number 84-7988.


View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/maria-mary-faye-mendez

 

Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.

The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. 

Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

 


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up next
Yesterday
Jerene Matta (Queen of Spades, Washington)
Our card this week is Jerene Matta, the Queen of Spades from Washington. During the Yakima Police Department’s annual Christmas party, the news of 62-year-old Jerene’s murder shocked every officer and their plus ones. Jerene’s house was known for its security cameras – there were ... Show More
26m 43s
Oct 1
Ron Harnish (7 of Clubs, California)
Our card this week is Ron Harnish, the 7 of Clubs from California.Twenty-two-year-old Ron Harnish was murdered on the streets of San Diego in December 2006. Almost 19 years later, the police and Ron’s own mother believe they know who’s responsible. But proving it has been a chall ... Show More
24m 8s
Sep 24
Jaklyn Baccoli (5 of Clubs, New York)
Our card this week is Jaklyn Baccoli, the 5 of Clubs from New York.When demolition workers entered a vacant home in Rochester, New York, they expected asbestos—not a crime scene. But hidden inside was the body of 44-year-old Jaklyn Baccoli, a woman whose final moments were marked ... Show More
27m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
MURDERED: Mary Morris
Two women, both in the same county in Texas, are murdered within days of each other. But along with the timing and location, there’s one more big similarity that still puzzles both investigators and their families to this day…If you have any information about the murder of 48-yea ... Show More
48 m
Mar 2024
The Turn of the Windmill: The Disappearance of Debra Ann Wilhite
On October 14, 1974, 19-year-old Debra Ann Wilhite vanished after leaving her job at The Windmill, a truck-stop-slash-restaurant in Evansville, Indiana. Nearly fifty years later, she still hasn't been found. In this episode, The Murder Sheet sits down with Debra's daughter Misty ... Show More
1h 43m
Jul 28
MURDERED: Kristin David
22-year-old Kristin David was missing for over a week before her remains were found in the Snake River. While her murder is often thought to be related to a series of other murders and disappearances in the late 70s and early 80s, investigators think she’s the victim of another m ... Show More
56m 44s
Sep 15
INFAMOUS: The Mulholland Drive Murders
In 2003, an LAPD cold case detective digging through old case files finds a piece of forgotten evidence that belongs to an unidentified woman found murdered off Mulholland Drive in 1969. As he searches for her identity, he uncovers eerie parallels to another young woman killed ne ... Show More
43m 41s
Sep 8
104: MURDER: Dana MacKay and Mary Huffman
On October 2, 1993, 37-year-old Dana MacKay and 49-year-old Mary Huffman were found murdered inside their Las Vegas home. The couple had been shot at close range, likely just after returning home from grocery shopping. The only thing missing from the house was a manila folder fil ... Show More
46m 46s
Oct 6
INFAMOUS: The Murdaugh Family Murders
When Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are killed on their family’s estate in 2021, the investigation unravels a history of privilege, corruption, and suspicious deaths tied to one of South Carolina’s most influential families. But beneath the headlines and courtroom drama are stories of ... Show More
56m 1s
Jul 2023
EP. 118 TEXAS - She Killed Her Best Friend & Stole Her Baby
At the end of 2019, a puzzling crime rocked the community of Austin, Texas. A mother, Heidi Broussard, had gone missing, along with her daughter... and nobody had a clue where she had went. But when the facts of the case began to emerge, an extremely dark picture was painted... a ... Show More
1h 12m
Apr 2025
MURDERED: Solomon Robinson
A young soldier, home on leave, should have been safe in his own neighborhood. Instead, 19-year-old Solomon Robinson was murdered in a park full of people — but no one has ever come forward to say what really happened. Decades later, his family is still searching for justice, and ... Show More
39m 1s
Apr 2025
Case 316: Gilbert Bogle & Margaret Chandler
When the bodies of Doctor Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler were found along the banks of Sydney’s Lane Cove River on New Year’s Day 1963, scandal and suspicion erupted. The two were married – but not to each other – raising immediate questions of foul play. Yet as investigator ... Show More
1h 36m
Sep 22
WANTED: Michael Bullinger
When a pilot murders his wife, his secret lover and her daughter and then vanishes into the Wyoming wilderness, leaving his getaway car behind, a massive tri-state manhunt ensues for the family annihilator. Eight years later, there’s still no sign of Mike Bullinger and questions ... Show More
44m 31s