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Encyclopedia Of Arkansas Minute: Maud Crawford

A Camden civic leader’s mysterious disappearance in 1957 remains unsolved. Lawyer Maud Crawford served on the Camden City Council for eight years, was a founder of Arkansas Girls State and served as the president of three women’s civic clubs. An expert on abstracts and title work, she worked in the law firm that U.S. Senator John L. McClellan established.

At 11 p.m. on March 2, 1957, Crawford’s husband returned home from a movie to find their home ablaze with lights, her car in the driveway and her purse on a chair, but no sign of Maud. After driving around Camden looking for her, he reported her missing at 2 a.m. Police gave up the search after finding no clues, and she was declared dead by foul play in 1969.

A series of 1986 articles in the Arkansas Gazette alleged that a member of the Arkansas State Police Commission was responsible for her death after Crawford accused him of cheating an elderly client, but her disappearance officially remains unsolved to this day.

You can read the full Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry about Maud Robinson Crawford at encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/maud-robinson-crawford-2405.

Mark Christ produces and hosts Encyclopedia of Arkansas Minute on KUAR. He is head of adult programming for the Central Arkansas Library System. He previously served as community outreach director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, which he joined in 1990 after eight years as a journalist.