Family Still Coping With Mother’s Disappearance More Than Two Decades After Lynn Pratt Vanished, Her Children Talk About Growing Up Without Her

Twenty-six years ago Friday, Marilyn Pratt, mother of five, a community and school volunteer, disappeared.

She never came back.

Her children, now in their 30s, don’t know if she is dead or alive, whether she was kidnapped or left voluntarily.

Growing up in the shadow of mystery affected their lives in ways they’re still struggling to understand.

West Central resident Marvin Pratt was 11, the oldest child in the family, when his mom disappeared.

“This is the first time I’ve ever spoken publicly about her,” he said, tears welling in his eyes.

“When my mom disappeared, it destroyed my life,” said Pratt, now 37. “It was like aliens sucked her off the face of the earth.

“I was bitter about it for a lot of years,” he said. “I woke up one morning and dad’s there, but mom isn’t.”

On Oct. 10, 1971, Ernie and Lynn Pratt lived on Hartson in the East Central neighborhood.

Ernie Pratt was working as a bartender at the race track. Lynn Pratt was supposed to meet her husband at the track that evening, to bet on a race with him. She didn’t make it, so he placed the bet anyway and lost. He was angry.

They met later with some other friends at a bar. Still angry, Ernie Pratt tore up his wife’s race pass. She left the table. He thought she went to use the bathroom, but she never came back.

According to police reports, Lynn Pratt went to another bar and told the bartender she had an argument with her husband. She drank a beer, made a phone call and left.

No one ever saw her again.

She was declared legally dead in 1979. Ernie Pratt died two years ago.

Her children, looking back, can only guess at what happened.

Chris Pratt, 31, who lives on the South Side, may have been the last person to see her.

The day before she disappeared was his birthday. He was 6 years old. He remembers both days clearly.

He was supposed to be with a baby sitter but wandered away. He saw his mom at home.

“I knew something was wrong. I knew she was leaving - I don’t know how I knew,” he said. “I wanted to do something so she wouldn’t leave.”

He thinks she left of her own free will.

“I don’t know when or if this mystery will ever be answered,” he said.

Chris Pratt remembers only happy childhood times - birthday parties, “gobs and gobs” of presents under the Christmas tree.

Three of the five Pratt children have birthdays within days of their mother’s disappearance. Sister Dawn and Chris had just celebrated birthdays. Lori, the baby of the family, would turn 4 a few days later.

Dawn Burton, who also lives on the North Side, clearly remembers the day her mom disappeared, including what Pratt was wearing.

“She had on a canary yellow pantsuit and white cork sandals. She had a purse and a white sweater and long, long hair,” she said.

“I don’t have a clue what happened, to be honest with you,” she added. “She seemed fine then.”

A couple days earlier Lynn Pratt had brought ice cream bars to her daughter’s classroom for her birthday.

“There wasn’t a lot of love or nurturing in her background, but she was a good mother, and she had a good relationship with my father’s family in Missoula,” said Burton.

She said her dad slept on the couch for a long time after her mother disappeared. He was worried his wife would return home and not be able to get in the house.

“I’ve always had the feeling - intuition - that she is still alive,” said Burton.

Through the years the family and police have followed a number of tips and leads about Pratt.

A few months after Pratt’s disappearance, a woman with a Ouija board told police they’d find the woman’s body in the Spokane River. There were theories that Pratt was one of serial killer Ted Bundy’s victims. At one point, a relative accused Lynn’s husband, Ernie Pratt, of killing her and burying her in the basement.

Police took a call in 1976 reporting that Marilyn Pratt had been found in Helena. According to the report, she was an amnesia victim and had been in a mental institution for years.

If that was she, she never contacted her family.

In 1979 Spokane County Superior Court Commissioner Marcus Kelly declared her legally dead.

“The description of her character indicates that, were she alive, she would have attempted to contact her family,” Kelly said at the time.

Her children still wonder, “Why?”

An envelope full of family pictures from the 1960s show a beaming Lynn Pratt, smiling children and a neat-as-a-pin house.

“To look at these pictures, you’d never think anything was wrong,” Marvin Pratt said.

Marvin Pratt remembers his mom was the den mother for his Cub Scout group and active in the school PTA.

“She read me bedtime stories,” he said. “‘Curious George’ was my favorite.

“I felt it was my fault that she disappeared,” he said. “I wondered what I could have done to be a better kid?”

Pratt, a truck driver, said he’s sure if his mother had been around, his life would have turned out differently.

As a teenager, he was always a step ahead of the police.

“But I never did anything real stupid,” he said.

He had trouble staying in relationships.

“I always figured all the girls I dated would be like my mom and up and disappear on me,” he said.

When he was 18, he decided he’d never have children.

“Parents can up and disappear. No child should have to live through what I went through,” he said.

Instead, he is “dad” to his girlfriend’s children.

“People don’t realize how a parent disappearing can destroy a life,” he said. “When I needed someone, no one was there.”

If his mother should suddenly resurface, Marvin Pratt said he would be angry, but Chris Pratt said he has forgiven her.

“I would welcome her back. I’m not going to lie to you - I’m hurt - but I wouldn’t deny her her grandchildren,” he said.

He has thought of continuing the search for her.

Chris Pratt begs parents thinking of walking out on their families without a trace to think again.

“Please, don’t put your kids through the heartache. It’s just not fair to them,” he said.

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