The Patterson House: Vanished! Haunting History of a Texas Mystery

Photo byHeather Shade/Lost El Paso Paranormal

There’s a home in a relatively quiet upscale neighborhood in west El Paso that hides a haunting past. Those who follow local lore or have more than a passing interest in the paranormal still know it and refer to it as "The Patterson House."

The home is the site of one of the nation’s most enduring missing persons mysteries: the March 1957 disappearance of Margaret and William Patterson.

The couple vanished so abruptly under what many agree to be very suspicious circumstances that it has given rise to many theories, wild tales and urban legends.

The sudden disappearance of Mr. and Mrs. Patterson has baffled law enforcement for over half a century.

The house was found in disarray, with dishes unwashed, underwear and a pair of Mrs. Patterson's stockings on a bed, and other indications the Pattersons did not know they were leaving for a long time. Tommy, the yellow-and-white cat that was Mrs. Patterson's most precious possession, also was left behind. Their automobiles were left at their house. There was no sign of a struggle" - International Center for Unidentified and Missing Person”

1950s photo of Margaret and William PattersonPhoto byInternational Center for Unidentified and Missing Person

Heather Shade, founder of Lost El Paso Paranormal and the author of Weird Texas, has long been captivated by the history and mystery of the Patterson’s disappearance.

“The investigation took many twists and turns, from the revelation of Mr. Patterson having a young mistress in Juarez, to the suspicion that a business associate may has committed foul play for financial gain,” Shade wrote in a recent social media post.

Motives began to emerge. But still nothing could be proven. There was also evidence that was brought forward by a witness many decades later, that suggests that a bloody crime scene inside the garage had been cleaned up at some point in time. But due to the passage of the years, this information was impossible to verify.”

Wild Theories and Speculation

Theories on what may have happened to them have ranged from they were kidnapped, to they were Russian spies who fled back to their Motherland, to they were murdered and their bodies buried somewhere on the grounds or in the foothill of the mountain it butts up against.

The latter is why to this day many locals believe the house on the hill is haunted by their former residents.

Ghost Stories and Urban Legends

In a story published by the El Paso Times in January, 2005, the buried-on-the-property theory that likely set off the rumor the house is haunted was put forth by a detective in the early investigation.

Frank Manning, a former chief sheriff's deputy, was in charge of the earlier investigation in the 1950s. Former El Paso County Sheriff R.L. "Bob" Bailey told the El Paso Herald-Post that "at one time Frank thought maybe the bodies were buried right there in or under the house, but he could never find any evidence of it." – El Paso Times

In January of 2020, Leon Baker, owner and lead investigator with El Paso Ghost Tours, interviewed a former occupant of the house who is convinced the Patterson’s never left because their spirits still occupy their old house on Piedmont.

In 1972, Elizabeth and her family were the first to live in the house after the Patterson’s disappearance, according to Baker’s account. Her father, who worked with the railroad, was transferred to El Paso and knew nothing of the home’s haunting backstory.

Soon after moving in, Elizabeth noticed that something was wrong with the house. "I saw a cat sitting on the counter, his tail wrapped around his legs, moving slightly at the tip," she said. "He looked like he was waiting to be fed." The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that the cat had no real color, like it was behind a sheer veil. "I wanted to pet him, so I reached out, and he was gone. He just disappeared," she said.

She also recounted the time she saw a woman “wearing clothes you would see in the 50s” who “looked as solid as any other person” but looked as if “she was standing behind a sheer curtain.”

The family experienced other things they couldn’t explain such as shadows, footsteps, and certain smells that would waft through the house.

"My father had a great sense of smell, and he would complain that he could smell a cat in the house. He could smell pipe smoke, and the scent of a man," she explained.

They moved out after only 3 months.

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