Alicia Markovich lived with her mother Marcie in Windber, Pennsylvania. The 15-year-old freshman was a member of the track team. She loved reading Agatha Christie novels and was known for her spunky personality. Alicia had a boyfriend and a tight-knit group of friends who adored her.
Alicia’s parents divorced in 1981 and she often visited with her father John who lived in the nearby town of Blairsville. On April 26, 1987, at 9:45 am, John picked Alicia up to spend the day together. Since Alicia had school the following day, Marcie wanted her home by no later than 9 pm.
Sadly, she never saw her daughter again.
At 1 am, John called his ex-wife and said, “Marcie, she’s gone!” He claimed that he was washing the dishes at 3 pm when he got into a heated argument with Alicia over her choice of friends, her boyfriend, her grades, and the fact that Marcie had requested a $100 monthly increase in child support payments.
Alicia allegedly stormed out of the house and told her father that she was headed downtown to see a friend. John told her to return by 8 pm so he could drive her home. According to John, Alicia never came back.
When 9 pm came and went, Marcie called John’s landline several times, but no one answered. John told the authorities that when Alicia failed to return, he called several of his daughter’s friends but no one had seen or heard from her. He didn’t explain why he waited until 1 am to call Marcie.
A year later, John’s 1987 Red Subaru was found burned out in the nearby town of Saltsburg. He claimed that it had been stolen from his driveway.
In October 2000, John received a haunting letter in the mail postmarked from New Bedford, New Hampshire. The author wrote that Alicia was buried near the Conemaugh River. The area was dug up but nothing was found. Investigators paid a visit to the return address listed on the envelope but the homeowner denied writing the letter or having any knowledge of Alicia. It was ultimately concluded that the letter was nothing more than a cruel hoax.
“What gave me the idea to contact you was when I saw by chance an Old Missing Persons flier posted on the side of a mailbox at the Philadelphia Post Office about three weeks ago. The second time I saw it, it was like everything faded to gray, nothing seemed real for a long time, I had thought it all had been forever buried. I had spent the last 13 years erasing and boarding up the name ‘Alicia Markovich’ in my mind and by seeing that, it had opened up the flood gates so to say, to a limitless sea of remorse, guilt, anxiety, inner sadness and depression.” — Excerpt from the letter
John was named a suspect in Alicia’s disappearance but he has never been charged in connection with the case. He remarried in 2006 and lives in Painesville, Ohio with his wife, Deborah.
“I guess I don’t blame them. Nobody knows that she got to my house that day. Nobody saw her at my house and nobody saw her leave my house. I guess if I were the police, I’d think the same thing. But I never hurt my daughter.” — John Markovich, 1990
Alicia was last seen wearing a white crop top with a red, yellow, and blue stripe, blue jeans, white sneakers, and purple sunglasses. If you have any information, contact Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1–800–472–8477 or the Justice for Alicia Markovich Hotline at 814–290–0090.
