George 'Allen' McCraney was Debora Howard's boyfriend at the time. He denies knowledge of her whereabouts.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Last seen in 1976, Debora Howard’s family is hoping to finally find some answers and get some closure.

Howard, 20 at the time, disappeared Sept. 24, 1976, after going to the Rock Lounge in Lake City with her boyfriend George “Allen” McCraney and two of their friends.

McCraney told Howard’s mother the next day that after passing out he woke up to find Howard and all of her stuff gone.

SCSO Investigator Jake Brooks said in talking with Howard’s sisters and other family members, that whenever Howard would leave McCraney, she always returned home to her mother’s house.

But when her mother got off work that day, Howard was not at the house.

“Everybody I’ve talked to said she was really close to her mother,” Brooks said. “She would call her every day.

“That’s why when he initially went to her mama and said she left, mama assumed she’d be home when she got off work. When she got home, she wasn’t there.

“She just never turned up.”

But when one of Howard’s nieces contacted Brooks about her missing aunt, he discovered that Howard had never been declared a missing person although she was legally declared deceased in Suwannee County court in the 1980s.

Brooks has since entered Howard as a missing person and with some assistance a DNA profile for Howard has been entered into the national Combined DNA Index System.

“She was never…there was never really a case,” Brooks said. “The family just always knew she was missing, just never had a case.”

Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John also said he wasn’t totally certain why she was never declared a missing person, but that statutes involving missing people have become stricter since the 1970s.

“She was an adult when this all occurred,” he said. “You’re an adult, you can come and go as you please. But why? That’s kind of an unknown.

“I know it was looked into, but not sure how in-depth.”

It likely also didn’t help investigators at the time that McCraney moved out of state shortly after the disappearance.

The two had had an abusive relationship, according to Brooks.

McCraney, who has spent most of his adult life in and out of prison, has denied knowledge of Howard’s whereabouts.

“I sat down with him and said I wanted to talk about a case in Suwannee County and he said, ‘I don’t know where she’s at and I want my attorney,’ Brooks said.

McCraney is currently serving a life sentence at the Union County Correctional Institution for robbery with a deadly weapon. He also has served time for attempted second degree murder, attempted sexual battery with a weapon or force, aggravated battery and grand theft.

Brooks said the family has always suspected McCraney, but now they just want to find their loved one.

“I don’t even think they’re looking at punishment for the suspect,” he said, adding he is still hoping to talk to a few other witnesses. “They just want to find Debbie and bring her home.”

Anyone with information about Howard’s disappearance can call the SCSO at 386-364-3785.