The Purse in the Tank: How 36 Years of Lies Unraveled

The Purse in the Tank: How 36 Years of Lies Unraveled

Fear that a lifetime of certainty can collapse in a single discovery: a leather purse upright on the concrete floor of a sealed underground tank, a driver’s license expired in 1988, and $43 in cash - but who placed it there and why? What truth did that purse, found twelve feet below ground, finally force investigators to confront?

In this episode, we walk through the moments and misplaced assumptions that shaped a three-decade disappearance and the concrete evidence that undermined them. Listen to how a gas station receipt, an abandoned Civic, and a rental property note reopen the question everyone thought was already settled.

Person: Lori Bennett Date: December 12, 1987 (last seen) and December 9, 2023 (purse found) Location: Mineral Flat, New Mexico; twelve feet below surface in a decommissioned underground tank Age: 29 at time last seen; born March 14, 1958 Item found: leather purse containing a 1988-expired driver’s license, $43 cash, folded bus schedule

- Lori left the Sonora Bridge office at approximately 6:15 p.m, on Friday, December 12, 1987. - Her tan 1984 Honda Civic was found abandoned on Friday, December 15, 1987, four miles from the Portillo Gate border crossing with keys in the ignition and a quarter-tank of gas. - A gas station receipt logged into evidence in December 1987 was timestamped 6:47 p.m. on December 12 and showed a cash fill-up of more than $22 with a fuel grade that did not match Lori’s Civic. - The purse was discovered by septic contractor Eric Allen on December 9, 2023, sitting upright on the concrete floor of a sealed, decommissioned underground tank. - Lori earned a social work degree from New Mexico State University in 1983 and worked as a case coordinator for Sonora Bridge in 1987.

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