Missing: Mary Margaret Begay
Let’s talk about Mary Margaret Begay—because apparently, in 1957, the standard response to an employee vanishing off the face of the earth was to fire them and pack up their belongings instead of, you know, calling the police. And if that sentence already has you rubbing your temples, buckle up, because this one is a wild ride through incompetence, apathy, and yet another Indigenous woman lost to the cracks of a system that never cared enough to begin with.
Mary was just 20 years old at the time of her disappearance, from Leupp, Arizona, and working at the Bright Angel Lodge in the Grand Canyon National Park. On August 8, 1957, she finished her shift and hung out in the employee housing, where she and some coworkers decided to head to the Grand Canyon Inn for drinks. Unfortunately, Mary split from the group for one reason or another, and a friend saw her getting into a vehicle with three men, described only as Hopi men. That was the last time anyone saw Mary Margaret Begay.
Now, in a rational world, someone would have reported her missing right away. But this was 1957, and instead of raising an alarm, her employers just fired her when she stopped showing up. Because clearly, when a reliable employee disappears without a trace, the only logical conclusion is that she quit without telling anyone and abandoned her life overnight. No need to check in, no need to make sure she’s okay, just box up her stuff and move on.
It wasn’t until Mary’s family made a trip to the Grand Canyon to visit her that they realized something was horribly wrong. They reported her disappearance to Navajo Nation authorities, but it took an entire year before Coconino County law enforcement even became aware that she was missing. One. Whole. Year.
That was in October of 1958, when skeletal remains were found near the Grand Canyon, and suddenly, authorities decided they were interested in Mary’s case. The body was wearing a white blouse and pedal pusher pants—just like Mary had been last seen in. But before anyone could get ahead of themselves, forensic examination revealed the remains belonged to a much younger girl, about 14 years old. This unidentified girl became known as Little Miss X, and in a tragic plot twist that would be laughable if it weren’t so infuriating, she was buried, exhumed, and then lost. As in, no one actually knows where she ended up in the massive Citizen’s Cemetery in Flagstaff. So even now, with modern DNA technology, they can’t test her remains against Mary’s family. Authorities do think there’s a chance they could get DNA off the necklace found with Little Miss X, but given their track record, let’s just say I’m not holding my breath.
To make matters worse, there were whispers—nothing solid, just speculation—that Mary might have left on her own. Some people claimed she had run off to Los Angeles, while others thought she had settled down in Oregon with a husband and kids. But let’s be real: Mary was close with her family. She had no history of running away, and she had every reason to stay in touch. Police didn’t think a voluntary disappearance was likely either. But when you’re an Indigenous woman in 1957 (or, let’s be honest, 2025), people would rather believe you disappeared on purpose than admit something awful might have happened to you.
And Mary wasn’t the only one. She’s not even the only Indigenous woman to go missing under eerily similar circumstances from the Grand Canyon. Ida Mae Lee, another employee at the park, vanished under suspiciously similar circumstances. Both women worked in hotels within the park. Both went missing from the exact same hotel, and both cases were left to gather dust while their families were left with nothing but questions.
Mary Margaret Begay was 20 years old when she vanished into the abyss of systemic negligence. Her case remains unsolved, lost in a web of bureaucracy and indifference. She deserved better. They all did.
This story will be told on TikTok and Youtube as well, voiced over the croissant video. Check out @WhiskYouWereDead on either platform.