POSTED: 7:30 am CDT July 12, 2002

UPDATED: 12:55 pm CDT July 12, 2002

MADISON, Wis. -- She vanished in Montana, now Dane County detectives believe that little Nyleen Kay Marshall may have been raised right here in Wisconsin by her abductor -- never knowing she was a kidnap victim.

If she's alive, Nyleen is now 23 years old. The picture at right is computer generated and shows what she would look like today.

"We're operating under the premise right now, it's probably a hopeful premise, that maybe she is alive and maybe she still is in the area," said Dane County Detective Kevin Hughes. Marshall was abducted June 25, 1983, in Montana's scenic Helena National Forest when she was 4 years old. Investigators believe she was taken after straying from a family picnic.

There was no trace of her until 1986 when Montana detectives called counterparts Wisconsin.

"I just happened to be the person who picked up the phone," Hughes (pictured) said. He learned that two long letters had come in from someone claiming to have picked up a girl he called "Kay." The letter included details that were not known to the general public. "He was privy to things that a normal person would not have access to," Hughes said.

The writer of the letter claimed to have a nice investment income, the he worked at home, taught Kay and often traveled.

"I realize how much her family must miss her, but I love her, and I have her," the letter read. "I just can't let her go."

It's believed Nyleen was being held in the Dane County area because the letters have Madison postmarks.

In addition, an anonymous caller claiming to have penned them phoned in to a New York child find network several times.

The calls were traced back to several area phone booths, including one inside an Edgerton pharmacy. Documents obtained by News 3 show that for Kay's protection this was treated as a "silent case." However confidential information was widely distributed to area doctors and dentists with hopes someone may have provided services.

Now, nearly 20 years since her daughter's disappearance, detectives are reopening the case here, hoping Nyleen or "Kay" might even recognize her own photos. "A 4-year-old might have been told a story by somebody, and this man might have taken her as his own, and she believes that that's her father when in reality she was abducted," Hughes said. Dane County Sheriff Gary Hamblin hopes this case might ring a bell with someone -- someone who might be able to provide information and help bring a long lost child home.

9.19.2007