The Disappearance of Debra Theresa Pscholka, June 1971

Debra Theresa Pscholka was born on November 7, 1958 to parents George and Sharon Pscholka (nee Hampton) in San Diego County, CA. According to NamUs, she used the nickname Debbie. She was the oldest of five siblings.

Sometime between 1969 and 1971 Debbie's family moved from LA County to Corona, Riverside County, CA. By 1973, the Pscholka family resided at 19076 Quebec Ave in Corona. According to WebSleuths user glosski, who claims to be one of Debbie’s maternal cousins, at the time of her disappearance Debbie’s family’s home “was located near the library on a fairly major street next door to what used to be a pretty well known mortuary.”

Photo from NamUs.

On Saturday, June 5, 1971, Debbie, who was 12 years old at the time, went to a movie theater with friends on 6th St in Corona. The staff caught her smoking and asked her to leave. Debbie told her friends that she was going to the local park. She was last seen at about 8:25pm, leaving the movie theater. She has never been seen or heard from again.

Foul play is suspected in Debbie’s case. She has no history of running away, and is classified as Endangered Missing.

The movie theater that Debbie was last seen at was the Corona Theatre at either 201 or 211 E 6th St, which was turned into a church in 1982. It was reportedly the only theater in town. According to users on WebSleuths, the owner of the theater later committed suicide at some point. It is unknown if (/unlikely to be) related to Debra’s disappearance.

Debbie’s siblings had her declared dead on September 28, 2017. Her parents, Sharon and George, passed away in 1990 and 2002, respectively, and her younger brother Michael passed away in 2016. Debbie’s remaining siblings are still looking for her.

Debbie was wearing blue Levi jeans and a green & yellow striped blouse when she went missing. At the time of her disappearance, Debra was a 12-year-old, 5’6 white female weighing 125 lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes. A photo from around the time she went missing, as well as an age progression to 52 years old (c. 2010-1) created by NCMEC, is available.

Progression to age 52 (c. 2010-2011). Photo from NamUs.

The status of Debbie’s fingerprints is unknown, but her DNA and dentals — including dental x-rays — are available for comparison. There are 28 UID exclusions on her NamUs page: one each from CO, WA, CT, IL, and NV, two each from OH and OR, eight from CA, and nine from VA.

The UIDs listed in Debbie's exclusions include Swamp Mountain Jane Doe 1976, Newhall Jane Doe 1980, and Corona Jane Doe 1981, as well as three UIDs who have since been identified as Anne Lehman, Mary Silvani, and Arminda Ribeiro.

There are no contemporary newspaper clippings publicly available regarding Debbie or her disappearance. Her NamUs case was created on January 6, 2010, and was last modified on June 10, 2025. Her Charley Project page was last updated on February 5, 2011. Her Doe Network page was created prior to 2011 — likely in 2006 or earlier, based off of her WebSleuths thread — and was last updated on May 18, 2022.

Debbie’s disappearance has been brought up in a Zodiac forum before, which is how I found out about her case. In her WebSleuths thread, users have drawn comparisons to the unsolved murders of Elizabeth Ernstein, Dana Lull, and Cheri Jo Bates, as well as the now-solved disappearance of Cynthia May Hernandez from a movie theater.

Anyone with information regarding Debbie’s disappearance should contact Detective John Garcia of the Corona Police Department at (951) 736-2330, or at police@ci.corona.ca.us. The agency case number is 71-4492, while her NamUs case number is #MP4554.

Sources

International Missing Persons wiki

FindAGrave

Corona Theatre

Corona Theatre Projectionist blog (archived)

ZK Ciphers forum + mention