Sisters Josephine Yvette and Joyce Irene Cogburn were last seen in Norman on October 2, 1983. They have not been seen since.

At the time that Josephine (Known as Vette) and Joyce went missing, they were sixteen and fifteen respectively. They had been living in Norman with a male family friend. This friend had offered to take in the girls and had been given temporary custody of them. The girls’ mother was a single mom of three children, including Vette and Joyce, and lived in Broken Bow with her remaining daughter. She had been attending nursing school and trying to keep a job but was struggling after the death of her husband in 1968. Her oldest daughter was two when their father was killed in a car wreck, and their mom was still pregnant with Joyce.

At first, the girls were split up between family members, with the oldest daughter going to her maternal grandmother, with Vette and Joyce going to their paternal grandparents until 1975. Around this time, their mother had gotten remarried, however the marriage didn’t last long, after the new husband tried to molest the younger Cogburn girls. In 1981, the Cogburn girls were introduced to the family friend that would eventually gain temporary custody of them.

Their mother had been bartending when she met him, stating she had known him for about thirteen years- two years later Vette and Joyce were living with this man. He offered to also take the oldest daughter, who declined the offer. This unnamed man is the one who reported Vette and Joyce missing- and he has never been eliminated as a suspect in their disappearance. He claims that he last saw the girls when they left to go to the library and that he suspected they ran away.

Vette and Joyce’s sister believes this man killed her sisters. Initially the girls were in fact considered runaways, however authorities couldn’t find a single person who had conclusively seen them after they left this man’s home on October 2. There was also no indication that they took any personal belongings with them. According to their older sister, Vette had confided in her that this man and Joyce had been involved in some kind of relationship, but that Joyce had broken things off. This man broke off all contact with the Cogburn family after the girls disappeared and had refused to return their personal belongings. This man is now deceased and the apartment the Cogburn girls lived in with him has been demolished.

There have been several sightings of Vette and Joyce through the years, however none have been substantiated. Their older sister continues to fight for justice and to search for Vette and Joyce.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Josephine Yvette and Joyce Irene Cogburn, please contact the Norman Police Department at 405-321-1444.