ADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — On the night of Deanie Peters’ disappearance, Ariadyne Herbert, a family friend, felt something was wrong.
At her son’s wrestling practice at Forest Hills Central Middle School, she had walked into the gym to see Deanie, whose younger brother was also at the practice, walking out.
To this day, Ariadyne remembers what she said.
“’I’ll be right back. Talk to mom.’”
As she often did, Deanie had planned on keeping an eye on the Herbert boy during what was a busy night at the school. An aerobics class, band practice and night classes were all happening in the building, in addition to the wrestling practice. But upon Ariadyne’s earlier than anticipated arrival to the school, Deanie hoped to be relieved of her duties so she could be brought to the library: “I’ll be right back. Talk to mom.”
As time passed in the gym, though, and Ariadyne discussed the night’s plans with Mary Peters, Deanie’s mother, Deanie did not promptly return as promised.
“Mary looked at me and said, ‘Something must have happened,’” said Ariadyne, recalling the fateful conversation from decades ago.
“I said, ‘Why are you saying that?’”
“She said, ‘She would never let you stand here waiting. That’s one thing she would never do.’”
Forty-five years later, Ariadyne and Mary remain without a reason as to why Deanie never returned. When she walked out of the gym, neither of them ever saw her again.
“Unbelievable,”Ariadyne said. “It was the last thing in our minds that somebody would take her or something bad would happen.”
“But we knew when shewasn't there. We knew,” she said. “We knew, because she would never do that to us. She wasn't that type of a kid.”
When doubts about Deanie’s whereabouts turned into the dread of a disappearance, Ariadyne and her husband, David, helped Mary with a search. They walked through the hallways of the school, drove around town and made phone calls to ask if anyone had seen Deanie or knew where she went. No one had. No one knew.
Later, when deputies arrived at the school, they took notes and talked to a number of people in the building but, as was common in a time when teenagers could go several hours without parental supervision, they did not immediately classify the situation a missing persons case.
Then, at an event at the high school later that night, an announcement came over the intercom: “Has anybody seen Deanie Peters? Please come to the podium.”
“We knew right then and there that there was a problem,”Ariadyne said.
That night, Ariadyne, David and another adult couple stayed at the Peters’ house. A night turned into a week as they frantically followed every lead they could find.
“We never left. I didn’t go to work,”Ariadyne said. “We looked for Deanie. We never found anything.”
In continuing to share her story, a night that has remained at the forefront of her mind for four and a half decades, Ariadyne hopes Deanie may be found, may be able to receive a proper burial.
“The only reason I’m doing this interview is because I want to keep Deanie’s name alive,” she said. “I want people to think back. I want people, if they know something, to please come forward.”
Submit a tip
The Kent County Sheriff's Office is actively pursuing any information in the disappearance of Deanie Peters. If you have a tip, you are encouraged to contact detectives through the methods below.
- Call: (616) 632-6125
- Online form
- Silent Observer: (616) 774-2345 or online form
WATCH: FOX 17's full report on Deanie Peter's 1981 disappearance
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