Trail To The Truth: What happened to Patoria?

Unanswered questions, almost two years later.

SALISBURY, Md. – Funny, caring, fashionable. Those are just some of the words loved ones use to describe 34-year-old Patoria Giddens.

Patoria’s mom, Pamela Cutler said her daughter had a sense of style like no other. You could always find her in the hottest pair of shoes; she was a die-hard sneaker collector.

“She’d go to the mall, and she didn’t want nothing but shoes. She didn’t want no clothes, no accessories or nothing, just shoes and socks– Nike socks, Nike or Adidas– that’s what her go-to was,” Pamela said.

Those were the good memories she had of her daughter. But one of the worst memories Pamela has happened on May 26th, 2024, Memorial Day weekend.

“I was in the kitchen washing dishes and the knock came,” Pamela remembered. It was the police.

“He said, ‘we found your daughter’. I said, ‘OK, is she in the hospital? Do I need to go see her, you know, sign for her, something like that?’ He’s like, ‘ma’am, no ma’am. We found her, she’s deceased.’ I said, ‘no. No,” she said.

The Month Before 

Just a month earlier, everything was normal in Pamela’s life. She ran her errands and spent time with her three kids and her grandkids. Monday April 29th, 2024, was no different. She and Patoria ran to the Dollar General to pick up some groceries for her grandson.

“She said, ‘mom, you OK, you good? I got the pampers, I got him some sandals.’ I said, ‘yes, I’m fine.’ She said, ‘OK, I’m going out for a little bit; I love you.’ I said, ‘I love you too’, and gave me a hug.

That was the last time Pamela saw her daughter alive. She didn’t return home that night which made Pamela’s mother’s instinct kick into overdrive. After two days of searching, Patoria’s family decided to report her missing to the Salisbury Police Department.

“That moment I was like, this can’t be happening,” Pamela recalled. “I’m going out looking for a child that normally comes home every morning, every night, picks up my phone call. You’re not picking up my phone call. What’s going on? Then I’d be like, ‘where you at baby girl? Answer mommy, call me.’ [I’m] leaving messages and the phone stopped ringing, so I said, ‘OK, this is serious now.”

Hindsight is 20/20 now, but what Patoria’s family didn’t know then was that she was already gone.

A Body in an Abandoned Unit 

A month after being reported missing, police found Patoria’s body in an abandoned unit at Merrifield Apartments in Salisbury. By that time, her body was already badly decomposed.

The Office of the Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide, but Corporal Kyle Braightmeyer with Maryland State Police said that 30-day period between when she was last seen to when she was finally found presented challenges in this case.

“No case is cookie cutter, every case has its different challenges and different things and being that she was found nearly 30 days after what we believe is her death, that has created very challenging case for this,” Braightmeyer said.

At first, Braightmeyer said they were able to get some information from people in Patoria’s circle that shed some light on who she was and her whereabouts. But a year later, the leads have fizzled out.

“Whether that is because they don’t have the information or because they don’t want to be involved with cases, which we run into a lot, and I try not to hold that against people, however, it is a challenge that we face every day with these cases,” Braightmeyer said.

A Mother’s Plea for Justice 

Life hasn’t been the same for Patoria’s family since May 26th, 2024. Yes, over a year has passed since then, but in a way, time froze for Pamela. She and her sister, Tylisha Hagood have been the biggest advocates for justice in Patoria’s case. The message is the same from the both of them: If you know something, say something.

“I want her name to be known; I don’t want her to be in a box, on a shelf, as a cold case, for years to come. I want her case to be solved,” Tylisha said.

“We need help,” Pamela added. “I’m not never going to give up, I’m not. That’s my child and if it was your child, wouldn’t you want to do the same?”