It was the 30th of July, 1983 in the riverside town of Parkersburg, West Virginia when 20-year-old Leslie Diane Marty was abducted at gunpoint and never seen again. At the time she was in a deteriorating relationship with a man named Mark Francis Hanna. Theirs was a liaison between frequent arguments and domestic violence, which Leslie had grown weary of. She had met and began seeing another man, Dwight, and was ready to end things with Mark.
According to court documents (per testimony of Mark) on July 29th, he spent the night with Leslie. The following day she told him that she had plans to meet Dwight and go waterskiing, Mark wasn’t happy and an argument broke out between them. He ended up dropping Leslie off at Dwight’s home at around 1:00 pm. They were still arguing as she approached, and Mark made a smartass comment to Dwight about Leslie being upset because he had kidnapped her. Once Mark left, Leslie told Dwight that she never wanted to see him, Mark, again.
Leslie and Dwight spend the day together before returning to her home at around 6:00 pm. Soon thereafter Mark showed up with flowers and a card:
“Dearest Leslie,
“I have had a lot of time to think today about how I feel about you. I realize now that I have been smothering you. I know now that you need room to breathe. Leslie, I still love you, and I want to be yours. [Unintelligible] have your love, I would let you have the freedom you want and I would let you have whoever friends you want, including Dwight. Please just give me another chance to show you I can love you and you could still have your freedom. I love you with all my heart, and I am sorry I ruined your afternoon. No matter what you have decided about us, if you would just have a talk with me, I would appreciate it very much. Please call me at the Frontier.
“Your friend always,
“Mark
“P.S. I would do anything if you would at least talk to me.”
Leslie told Mark to stay out of her life. At around 9:00 pm she and Dwight returned to his home for the remainder of the night…
At around 9:00 PM Mark returned to Dwight’s home, I’m guessing after he discovered she wasn’t at her own. He proceeded to kick down the locked front door. A heated argument ensued where he told Dwight and Leslie that they were “dead meat” because he had taken out a contract on them. Leslie ran to the bedroom and locked the door. An enraged Mark then pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Dwight and demanded that Leslie come out and speak to him. Dwight told Leslie what was going on and she reluctantly opened the door and stepped out, she was then whisked away by Mark leaving all of her belongings behind. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since that night.
Mark told detectives a pretty delusional story about what happened after he and Leslie left that night. You can take a look at the court document here. Basically, he spouted about how he and Leslie spent the night together and then went shopping in Ohio the next day. I think we all know what happened to her. Mark is full of crap and he killed her whenever she continued to spurn his attempts to reconcile.
He was subsequently found guilty on the charges of burglary, kidnapping, and abduction with intent to defile. However, Leslie’s remains have never been located despite efforts from law enforcement. I wish he’d just go ahead and tell her family what he did with her body.
UPDATE: Leslie’s remains have been recovered.
Parkersburg Police Department 304-424-8440
