OR MARIA KILMER: Missing from Stayton, OR - 28 March 2026 - Age 28 *Found Safe*

Salem woman missing after running out of gas along Highway 22

A person who was with Maria Kilmer, 28, told Oregon State Police she got in the car with someone who'd stopped at the scene, leaving her belongings behind.

www.kgw.com

Salem woman missing after running out of gas along Highway 22​

Police and family members are looking for a Salem woman who disappeared last week after running out of gas along Highway 22.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer was picking someone up in Lyons and ran out of gas along Highway 22 on the way back to Salem, according to Oregon State Police. They stopped near milepost 15, just outside of Stayton.

The passenger who was with Kilmer told OSP that Kilmer left the car and got into the vehicle of an "unidentified motorist" who'd stopped at the scene. Kilmer left behind her keys, purse, ID and phone.

A family member told KGW that Kilmer had called for a pickup, even dropping a pin for her family to come get her. By the time they arrived, she was gone.

"Kilmer has not been seen or heard from since and has been entered into law enforcement databases as a missing person," OSP said.

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/04/oregon-woman-ran-out-of-gas-accepted-a-ride-and-then-vanished-police-say.html

Oregon woman ran out of gas, accepted a ride and then vanished, police say​

Oregon State Police are searching for a 28-year-old Marion County woman who vanished after her car ran out of gas on Oregon 22 near milepost 15 on Saturday.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer left her vehicle at approximately 9 p.m. while traveling to Salem from Lyons with a passenger.

According to the passenger, Kilmer departed with an unidentified motorist who stopped to help. She left behind her keys, purse, identification and phone.


Media - MARIA KILMER: Missing from Stayton, OR - 28 March 2026 - Age 28

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Soooo, she got into a car, with a stranger, and didn't take her cell phone or identification?
Her passenger didn't think to get the contact info, or make/model/plate of the vehicle that stopped?

 

[Kimster]

Soooo, she got into a car, with a stranger, and didn't take her cell phone or identification?
Her passenger didn't think to get the contact info, or make/model/plate of the vehicle that stopped?

Well, I was thinking that maybe she was with a friend and they stopped and somebody stopped to “help” them and she went over there and they said “get in the car” and then they just shut the door and took off? Before the friend that was riding with her could do anything?

I hope they figure this out soon because I know that highway, and I go up and down it once in a while and this is kind of freaking me out.

 

[Guess Who]

Soooo, she got into a car, with a stranger, and didn't take her cell phone or identification?
Her passenger didn't think to get the contact info, or make/model/plate of the vehicle that stopped?

How was she going to get gas without anything to purchase gas with?

 

[Kimster]

I was suspicious that she was even at that location, but it says she dropped a pin for her family to come there so I’m hoping it was a phone call and not a text.

 

[Guess Who]

I was suspicious that she was even at that location, but it says she dropped a pin for her family to come there so I’m hoping it was a phone call and not a text.

Generally even you drop a pin, it's in a text. Hopefully that happened after an actual call. It still makes no sense that she would leave all her methods to fix her problem and take off with a stranger. Not sure I'm buying that story.

 

[RoundPeg]

There are several gas stations off 22 at Stayton. My point being, at age 28 not that far to walk.

Any idea who this friend/passenger is? I'm wondering if she was actually in the car when it ran out of gas.

 

[RoundPeg]

I was suspicious that she was even at that location, but it says she dropped a pin for her family to come there so I’m hoping it was a phone call and not a text.

It's usually a text. You click on the pin and it opens up your maps app with directions right to your location.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I saw her mom also post on Facebook that Maria texted her later that night.
From her phone...that was left in the car... ????
Unless she had it connected to imessage or something, that'd be pretty hard to do.

 

[Guess Who]

I saw her mom also post on Facebook that Maria texted her later that night.
From her phone...that was left in the car... ????
Unless she had it connected to imessage or something, that'd be pretty hard to do.

And wouldn't you especially make sure you take your phone if you are getting into a vehicle of an unknown person? How was she going to get gas? Yes, I'm looking at this "passenger" sideways.

 

[Kimster]

Something is hinky about the info released.

Another thing to consider, this highway is a major travel road, with people from all over the place going up and down it. The stranger danger really can be a "thing".

 

[Guess Who]

Something is hinky about the info released.

Another thing to consider, this highway is a major travel road, with people from all over the place going up and down it. The stranger danger really can be a "thing".

Which makes her leaving her phone and other stuff behind bother me so much.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/04/family-pleads-for-return-of-oregon-woman-missing-after-running-out-of-gas-catching-ride-from-unidentified-motorist.html

Family pleads for return of Oregon woman missing after running out of gas, catching ride from ‘unidentified motorist’​

Family members of a woman who disappearedfrom the side of a Marion County highway on Saturday are searching for answers and offering a few new clues about what happened.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer, 28, has been missing since her car ran out of gas on Oregon 22 around 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oregon State Policesaid. Kilmer’s family has been told she got into an unidentified person’s car and left her friend and belongings behind, despite knowing family members were on their way to help her, they said.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” sister Jasmine Humeland said Thursday. “My sister’s not the kind of person to just leave somebody on the side of the road, and I don’t think she would have just gotten into a stranger’s car.”

Kilmer and a friend were driving from Lyons to Salem around 9 p.m. Saturday, Oregon State Police said, and stopped near Stayton when they ran out of gas. Kilmer called her stepmother and one of her sisters, who live in Oregon, for help, Kilmer’s mother Carmen Bitzer said.

When Kilmer’s stepmother and sister arrived, they found Kilmer’s friend alone, said Bitzer, who lives in Washington. Bitzer and Humeland both declined to share the friend’s name, saying police told them not to disclose it.

The passenger said Kilmer had left with another driver who stopped to help, Oregon State Police said. She’d left behind her phone, wallet and keys, Oregon State Police said. She also left her glasses and her medications, Humeland said.

“She can’t see without her glasses, she doesn’t leave them anywhere,” she added.

Humeland said she can’t figure out where her sister has gone.

“We know all the same people,” she said. “So it’s just kind of weird.”

Humeland said when Kilmer still hadn’t texted her by Sunday, she knew something was wrong. The pair, who live in the same apartment complex in Independence, normally checked on each other daily. Humeland said Kilmer would always tell her where she was going and that she was safe.

Bitzer doesn’t know the friend who was with Kilmer, she said, but she believes they met after Kilmer moved from Washington to Independence last fall. Kilmer told her they were “really good friends,” Bitzer said.

“We have a big family,” Humeland said. “Everybody’s worried sick. We’re all just trying to figure out anything.”


Kilmer moved to Oregon in October after going through a divorce, her family said.


The Marion County District Attorney is working with Oregon State Police on the case, which remains an active investigation, spokesperson Brendan Murphy said. He declined to share additional details of the investigation. Oregon State Police did not respond to questions about how they are searching for Kilmer.

 

[Guess Who]

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/04/family-pleads-for-return-of-oregon-woman-missing-after-running-out-of-gas-catching-ride-from-unidentified-motorist.html

Family pleads for return of Oregon woman missing after running out of gas, catching ride from ‘unidentified motorist’​

Family members of a woman who disappearedfrom the side of a Marion County highway on Saturday are searching for answers and offering a few new clues about what happened.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer, 28, has been missing since her car ran out of gas on Oregon 22 around 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oregon State Policesaid. Kilmer’s family has been told she got into an unidentified person’s car and left her friend and belongings behind, despite knowing family members were on their way to help her, they said.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” sister Jasmine Humeland said Thursday. “My sister’s not the kind of person to just leave somebody on the side of the road, and I don’t think she would have just gotten into a stranger’s car.”

Kilmer and a friend were driving from Lyons to Salem around 9 p.m. Saturday, Oregon State Police said, and stopped near Stayton when they ran out of gas. Kilmer called her stepmother and one of her sisters, who live in Oregon, for help, Kilmer’s mother Carmen Bitzer said.

When Kilmer’s stepmother and sister arrived, they found Kilmer’s friend alone, said Bitzer, who lives in Washington. Bitzer and Humeland both declined to share the friend’s name, saying police told them not to disclose it.

The passenger said Kilmer had left with another driver who stopped to help, Oregon State Police said. She’d left behind her phone, wallet and keys, Oregon State Police said. She also left her glasses and her medications, Humeland said.

“She can’t see without her glasses, she doesn’t leave them anywhere,” she added.

Humeland said she can’t figure out where her sister has gone.

“We know all the same people,” she said. “So it’s just kind of weird.”

Humeland said when Kilmer still hadn’t texted her by Sunday, she knew something was wrong. The pair, who live in the same apartment complex in Independence, normally checked on each other daily. Humeland said Kilmer would always tell her where she was going and that she was safe.

Bitzer doesn’t know the friend who was with Kilmer, she said, but she believes they met after Kilmer moved from Washington to Independence last fall. Kilmer told her they were “really good friends,” Bitzer said.

“We have a big family,” Humeland said. “Everybody’s worried sick. We’re all just trying to figure out anything.”


Kilmer moved to Oregon in October after going through a divorce, her family said.


The Marion County District Attorney is working with Oregon State Police on the case, which remains an active investigation, spokesperson Brendan Murphy said. He declined to share additional details of the investigation. Oregon State Police did not respond to questions about how they are searching for Kilmer.

I would definitely say that police do not believe the friend, either.

When Kilmer’s stepmother and sister arrived, they found Kilmer’s friend alone, said Bitzer, who lives in Washington. Bitzer and Humeland both declined to share the friend’s name, saying police told them not to disclose it.

 

[RoundPeg]

According to this Facebook post, her passenger is a male. Makes even less sense. He actually replies in the comments. For clarification, Amber Brecht is her stepmother.

 

[Guess Who]

According to this Facebook post, her passenger is a male. Makes even less sense. He actually replies in the comments. For clarification, Amber Brecht is her stepmother.

while I had access to fb, I thought I would post this

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[Kimster]

while I had access to fb, I thought I would post this

Facebook

www.facebook.com

Without her GLASSES, even?

Hinky. Very much so.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Welp...was not expecting this. But very good news!

Missing Marion County woman found safe days after Highway 22 disappearance, OSP says

Oregon State Police said a missing woman has been found safe several days after she was reported as missing from a Marion County highway.Maria Linda Jade Kilmer

katu.com

Missing Marion County woman found safe days after Highway 22 disappearance, OSP says
Oregon State Police said a missing woman has been found safe several days after she was reported as missing from a Marion County highway.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer went missing on the night of March 28 when her vehicle ran out of gas on Highway 22 between Salem and Lyons. Kilmer's passenger said she had accepted a ride from a stranger that stopped where their car ran out of gas.

On Friday, April 3, state troopers said Kilmer was safe and unharmed. They did not offer any further details about the situation.

 

[Kimster]

Welp...was not expecting this. But very good news!

Missing Marion County woman found safe days after Highway 22 disappearance, OSP says

Oregon State Police said a missing woman has been found safe several days after she was reported as missing from a Marion County highway.Maria Linda Jade Kilmer

katu.com

Missing Marion County woman found safe days after Highway 22 disappearance, OSP says
Oregon State Police said a missing woman has been found safe several days after she was reported as missing from a Marion County highway.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer went missing on the night of March 28 when her vehicle ran out of gas on Highway 22 between Salem and Lyons. Kilmer's passenger said she had accepted a ride from a stranger that stopped where their car ran out of gas.

On Friday, April 3, state troopers said Kilmer was safe and unharmed. They did not offer any further details about the situation.

She just takes off with a random person without taking ANYTHING along? There's got to be a LOT more to this story. At least she's okay, though. That's the important part.

 

[RoundPeg]

Welp...was not expecting this. But very good news!

Missing Marion County woman found safe days after Highway 22 disappearance, OSP says

Oregon State Police said a missing woman has been found safe several days after she was reported as missing from a Marion County highway.Maria Linda Jade Kilmer

katu.com

Missing Marion County woman found safe days after Highway 22 disappearance, OSP says
Oregon State Police said a missing woman has been found safe several days after she was reported as missing from a Marion County highway.

Maria Linda Jade Kilmer went missing on the night of March 28 when her vehicle ran out of gas on Highway 22 between Salem and Lyons. Kilmer's passenger said she had accepted a ride from a stranger that stopped where their car ran out of gas.

On Friday, April 3, state troopers said Kilmer was safe and unharmed. They did not offer any further details about the situation.

Wow.

If her passenger was complicit, he needs to be charged with obstruction.