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The Basin's Unsolved: Just a Normal Girl

Carmen Croan was last seen at Graham Central Station in 1981, but her cold case has lived on for over four decades.

Marcus Risen

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Published: 6:02 PM CDT June 6, 2023
Updated: 6:02 PM CDT June 6, 2023

Carmen Croan was your everyday 18-year-old.

"Anybody that you talk to that knew Carmen and just talks about what a nice, sweet girl she was," Odessa Crime Stoppers CEO Susan Rogers said. "I mean, you know, there's no drama."

"She was happy. She was charming," Carmen's brother Marc Croan said. "She was just a very cheerful, very optimistic, very friendly person."

"And she was just one of those quiet, petite, real sweet, young girls," Rogers continued. "I mean, she was really quiet."

She had a loving family, including her older brother Marc.

"She was a couple years younger than me," Marc said.

"I actually went to school with Carmen and her brother," Rogers said. "She was a year younger than me and he was a year older than me. A great family."

"But we did have a lot of good times together," Marc said. "We would go camping a lot. And I was in Boy Scouts and stuff and did backpacking and stuff, and so anytime we would go camping, [I] always kind of had to kind of watch out for [her] and let her know little things like 'watch where you step,' and 'try and look ahead and be aware of your surroundings,' and stuff. So I guess it was always kind of a protective thing."

She was just a normal girl... living a normal life... in 1981.

She had just graduated from Permian High School, with her whole life ahead of her...

That is, until — someone took that all away.

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