Nicole Bryner now missing 24 years--Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pictures: Nicole around the time she disappeared; two different possibilities of what she might have looked like at age 26.
Nicole's Charley Project profile and photos:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: March 11, 1982 from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of
Birth: February 20, 1979
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 2'6, 35
pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair, brown eyes. Some agencies
may spell Bryner's middle name "Lynne."

Details of
Disappearance
Bryner's mother, Melody Thomas Childs, told authorities that
her daughter was abducted from a shopping cart on March 9, 1982. Childs claimed
that Bryner was sitting inside a cart at a Giant Eagle supermarket store on the
south side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She stated that when she turned around
for a moment, Bryner disappeared. An extensive search yielded little evidence at
the time and Bryner's case became cold.
Childs's former boyfriend, Timothy
W. Widman, confessed to Bryner's murder four years later in May 1986. He was
imprisoned on burglary charges at the time of his claims. Widman said that he
hit the child and she died as a result of her injuries in March 1982. He claimed
that he and Childs buried her body in a wooded area along Timberland Road in
Brookline, Pennsylvania. A search was conducted in the region for Bryner's
remains, but nothing was located.
Widman was charged with Bryner's homicide
shortly after his confession, but the charges were dropped in 1987. Prosecutors
stated that there was not enough evidence against Widman to support a murder
charge. Childs was arrested in June 1986 and charged with hindering prosecution
and providing false reports to the authorities in connection with her daughter's
disappearance.
The missing child's report date is listed as March 11, 1982,
although Childs claimed Bryner was abducted on March 9. Her case remains
unsolved and continues to be listed as a Non-Family Abduction.

Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case,
please contact: Pittsburgh Police Department 412-255-2888

You can print a poster of Nicole here. (Note: The poster features the shopping cart story and the second age progression.)