Liehnia May Chapin, also known as Lena Chapin, vanished in 2006 when she was just 20 years old, and according to the episode, family members think Chapin's mom, Sandy Klemp, may have had something to do with it. Chapin wasn't the only missing person in Klemp's life. In 1999, her husband at the time, Gary McCullough, also mysteriously disappeared.
Before Chapin herself vanished, she claimed her mom had something to do with it. In a taped recording, she said that her mom actually shot McCullough to death and forced her to clean up the crime scene. Chapin was actually issued a subpoena to appear and testify in court during a civil lawsuit trial regarding McCullough's disappearance, but Chapin vanished before she could ever do so. It wasn't until March 2012 that she was declared a missing person, since authorities claim no one ever informed them of her disappearance, per The Salem News .
What's especially tragic about Lena's case is that she left a young son named Colter behind. Klemp actually claimed that Lena hadn't disappeared, but that she'd actually run off to Florida with a new man, leaving Colter and Lena's then-boyfriend behind.
But Chapin's family members and friends say she loved her son so much, it is highly improbable she would just leave him behind, something they consider yet another clue that foul play was involved.
One of Chapin's co-workers at the Country Mart, Nikki Guffey, told The Salem News that Lena was trying to turn her life around for Colter. "Lena loved that boy more than anything," Guffey said. "She had her share of troubles, but Lena was a good mother, and she was working to overcome her problems for Colter. She wanted to be the best person she could for him."
Where is Lena Chapin's son, Colter, now?
He's with Chapin's mother, Sandy Klemp, who now goes by Sandy Wink. After Chapin's disappearance, Klemp filed an abandonment case against Chapin and was able to adopt Colter. Klemp still has custody of Colter and is raising him as her own, according to The Salem News .
Chapin's sister, Brandi Petersen, also told The Salem News that Chapin and Klemp were feuding over legal guardianship of Colter before she disappeared, and that Klemp would often ask Coulter to call her "mom" to Chapin's frustration.
Petersen further claims that Klemp was very possessive of Colter. "Theres no way Lena would have left Colter behind. Lena loved Colter more than anything. There is scrapbook after scrapbook which proves it," she told the publication. "She also wouldnt have given Mom the satisfaction of getting Colter. Mom and Lena were always fighting over him. Mom would go to Country Mart (in Salem) and show him off and say he was hers, and Lena would be like, 'Stop saying that, Mom. Hes mine.' One time, Lena and I were going to take Colter to see his father in Arkansas, and Mom called us flipping out saying 'You bring him home, you bring him home right now or I am going to kill myself.'"
Though the theories persist, the details surrounding what exactly happened to Chapin are still unknown. To submit tips, visit unsolved.com .
