CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video contains discussion around four Cold Cases from Central Pa.
The disappearance of Oklahoma native Karen Denise Wells in 1993 has continued to baffle family members and investigators.
Wells, 23, was on her way to visit a friend in Bergen, New Jersey on April 12, 1993. From Haskell, Oklahoma, Karen's drive was roughly over 20 hours long.
Just under 200 miles away from her destination, she decided to check into the Pike Motel, located along the 1100 block of Harrisburg Pike in Carlisle.
According to The Charlie Project, Wells had been in contact with her friend, Melissa, whom she planned on meeting up with along the way. Karen told Melissa that she was planning on grabbing some McDonald's and would return to her motel room for a nap.
The women made arrangements to meet around midnight, on Wednesday, April 13, 1994, inside Karen's motel room.
After speaking with Melissa at 8 p.m., Wells went to the front desk of the motel and asked a staff member for directions to the nearest McDonald's. Staff reported seeing her enter her rented white 1993 Plymouth Acclaim with Oklahoma license plates and drive away.
It would be the last reported sighting of Wells.
William "Willy" Wells was 16 months old when his mom made her final stop in Cumberland County.
"I don't ever remember having my mother [around]," Willy said. He was raised by his grandparents, who said Karen was "handling her life well and loved her child."
Just after midnight on April 13, Melissa arrived to meet at the motel as planned. However, when there was no answer at Karen's door, a clerk with a master key was summoned.
Inside the room, Melissa and the motel clerk were presented with all her belongings, including the room key. The pair found Karen's suitcase sitting open on the bed, with some of her clothes lying beside it. There was a magazine with a pack of cigarettes on the bedside table, but the bed itself did not appear to have been slept in.
Alarm bells were raised, but it wasn't until Karen's rental car was found at 5:30 that same morning that it became apparent something had happened to the 23-year-old.
The car was found abandoned in a rural stretch of Route 274 in Perry County, near Tuscarora State Park, 35 miles north of the Pike Motel. According to reports, the car appeared to have stopped "in its tracks" along the westbound lane.
The driver's and passenger side doors were open, the car was out of gas, the hazard lights were switched on and the battery was dead. According to investigators, the car was mud-splattered and scratched, suggesting it had been driven off the road at one point.
Inside, investigators found empty soda bottles, a pair of shoes, maps and some trash from a fast food meal. It's been reported that there was a small amount of marijuana in the car, as well as unspecified "indications of criminal activity."
Karen's change purse, which held a small amount of cash, was later discovered in a nearby ditch.
To this day, many questions have remained unanswered for Wells' family.
"It bothers me because it's harder to find some[one] so far away," Willy said.
He told FOX43 that police originally kept contact with the family. But as the years passed, the updates decreased. "About ten years ago, they did a DNA mouth swab," he recalled. "I haven't heard [anything] else since then."
Arguably the strangest observation of Karen's disappearance centers around her odometer. Authorities continued investigating the car and discovered it had been driven 600 to 700 miles that "couldn't be accounted for."
"All the podcasts I've watched have said something about an extra 700 miles on her vehicle, [it] doesn't make any sense," Willy said. "I do feel like there was possibly someone else with her. The investigators say there was nobody else in the car, [but] I've also questioned [if] she's the one that left the car there. Maybe someone else had it. I'm not sure but I've sat and thought a lot about it"
Wells was declared legally dead by her family in 1994. In Oklahoma, a gravestone bearing Karen's name marks empty ground.
Even though Willy may not remember his mom, the Haskell community continues to spread her legacy. "There's a lot of people that I didn't know were good friends with my mom," he said. "Whenever I find out, I ask a few questions and listen to the stories and memories [of her.]"
And as the 31st anniversary of Karen's disappearance approaches, hope can still be found, but not without hardship.
"My grandparents will always have hope that [investigators] find something out, but they get a lot of hope built up and then it's a false alarm. It takes a toll on them."
Police haven't formally named any suspects in Karen's case. She's described as 5'6" and weighed 120 pounds at the time of her disappearance. Karen often wore glasses and had blonde hair and bluish-green eyes.
Anyone with information has been asked to contact the Carlisle Police Department at (717)-243-4121 or Pennsylvania State Police - Carlisle at (717)-249-2121.