My mother, Lonene Ray Rogers, also known as “Lonnie”, vanished between 2 and 3 am on January 7, 1981 after an argument with her husband, Clinton “Bud” Rogers. She has never been seen or heard from since that night. Lonnie was deaf but she read lips and used American Sign Language to communicate, had sandy brown hair, gray eyes, a freckled complexion, and pierced ears. She left behind her hearing aids, purse, medication, car, car keys, and her two small children whom she loved dearly.

Over the last forty-three years, law enforcement has reported that they have been actively working the case, however, in four decades they have been unsuccessful in moving the case forward. Each phone call made by Lonnie’s family results in detectives communicating there is nothing new to report. These words are often followed by how busy they are solving other cases, and a reminder that my mother’s case is an add-on to their already overwhelming workload.

Sadly, years have gone by and the only information the family has received is “we are working on it.” The Pennsylvania State Police can not and will not share what, if anything, they are doing to solve the case of missing woman Lonene Rogers. The family is simply told “we can’t share information because it is an active investigation.” There is no way of knowing what, if anything is truly being done and there is zero accountability to prove they are indeed moving the investigation forward.

Over the years, family members, including myself, have requested access to the case file in an effort to partner with the existing, overworked and overwhelmed investigators. Our family believes there may be an opportunity to collaborate and add helpful information if we were able to view the case file. Law enforcement has denied our request and refused to offer any portion of the case file to our family, citing it is an open and active investigation and against Pennsylvania State Police policy to share the file outside of a law enforcement agency, regardless of how many years have passed without answers. 

Unfortunately, time is not on our side. The people involved in the disappearance of Lonene Rogers are aging and nearing the end of their lives. It is essential that action be taken quickly so that witnesses, accomplices, and suspects do not pass away before there is justice for my mother. I wish that we were alone in this horrible nightmare, but unsolved cases grow in number every single day. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons (NamUS) database, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 600,000 people go missing annually. Approximately 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered each year. Nationwide, there are roughly 6.5 missing persons for every 100,000 people.

The petition for the release of Lonene Rogers’ case file to the family has been taken through several Pennsylvania courts and on March 9, 2023 (No.1481 C.D. 2021) it was taken all the way to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The family asserts that the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law (RTKL) should be adhered to and records should be released to the family. The case was filed as a “Civil Missing Persons Case” in 1981, and has never been escalated to a criminal case, therefore the RTKL should be observed (RTKL does not apply in active criminal cases). The Pennsylvania State Police asserts that the case has the “potential” to have criminal intent. While the family fully believes that this is true, there has never been a formal suspect charged or any evidence of criminal wrongdoing, therefore the case is still a civil matter and not criminal. There should be no legal reason that the file, after 40+ years, should not be released to the family. Yet, the courts ruled that the simple potential of becoming a criminal investigation is sufficient evidence to reject the request for access to the file. 

The court also stated:

“Although we are empathetic to Rogers’ family members and their desire to learn more about Rogers’ disappearance, this Court is bound by statutory law and precedent protecting criminal investigative materials from public disclosure.

We recognize the love in this family as evidenced by a brother-in-law authoring a well-compiled pro se brief and zealously advocating for his sister-in-law, who is the daughter of the missing person. This Court simply does not have the power to circumvent the law.”

One can easily infer that the spirit of the courts’ words is one that understands the desires to obtain access to the file by the family, but is bound by the law. With that said…. Clearly, it’s time to change the law and that is the reason for this petition. 

It is my strong belief that after 40+ years of unsuccessful investigative work on this case, it is more than just for the family to be provided with what police “actions” have been taken to solve this case. Law enforcement has had the privilege of hiding behind a sealed file all these years, thus the case has not made any forward progress. Therefore, in an attempt to bring justice to my mother and other cold case victims, I would like to create “Lonnie’s Law.”

Lonnie’s Law would propose that a case file may remain sealed and withheld from the family of a victim for a period of twenty years. After twenty years of active investigative work with no successful resolution to the case, Lonnie’s Law would then require law enforcement to allow the family an opportunity to read the case file in a secured setting. It would also state that no portion of the file may be removed or altered in any way, however the family would be permitted to take private notes. 

There is nothing active about an unsolved crime after twenty years. Lonnie’s Law would offer families the right to understand what has been done to solve their loved one’s case. It also offers the family the possibility of making connections that otherwise may not have been known. Essentially, Lonnie’s Law offers a new set of eyes for a case that has been cold for far too long and it provides a sense of comfort to the grieving family that the case has been given proper investigative attention. The loss of a family member, under such circumstances is hard enough and forbidding the family to view the case records after twenty years is excruciating and prolongs the unfathomable pain of ambiguous loss.  This opportunity also provides a checks and balance or a full transparency step in unsolved cases.

Please sign this petition in support of Lonnie’s Law which offers families the RIGHT TO KNOW what has been done to solve the mystery that took their loved one from their life, forever.