She disappeared with her passport and left behind everything else. Now, key clues point to murder

A 22-year-old Oregon woman never returned from a fateful sales call in 1993. Now, more than two decades later, her mysterious disappearance remains unsolved.

Katheryne “Katie” Eggleston inexplicably disappeared on August 2, 1993, after her first day “in the field” selling long-distance services herself for her new job.

Decades later, her case returned to the spotlight after key clues pointed to a murder, including one that bore eerie similarities to Eggleston’s disappearance.

The then recent graduate of Oregon State University had just started a job at Allnet Communications – a telecommunications company based in Lake Oswego – when she was given several sales appointments throughout the day.

After a morning sales meeting, Eggleston went to lunch at a Burger King near the Lloyd Center — 10 miles from her work — where employees remember seeing her. KOIN6 reported.

Eggleston, wearing a dark purple blazer, white blouse, black skirt and white stockings, then stopped by a sales appointment at the former Port of Portland building just three blocks away.

A patron in the building reported seeing the 22-year-old woman exiting the elevator next to a “young man in a blue blazer.”

Five witnesses in the building said she looked “worried and preoccupied.” CharleyProject.org reported.

The “young man” – who may have been the last person to see her – was described as having dark hair and a dark complexion, but he was never identified.

Shortly before 5 p.m., a witness saw a silver-gray Volkswagen Golf, similar to Eggleston’s, parked in the Port of Portland parking lot, according to the CharleyProject.

However, Eggleston’s supervisor was supposed to meet her in Lake Oswego at 5 p.m., but she never arrived at the meeting.

Later that evening, after the new employee failed to return to her Gresham home, which she shared with her sister, Eggleston’s family and friends became concerned.

Eggleston’s disappearance was then immediately reported to Portland police, prompting an extensive and panicked search involving friends, family, neighbors, police, helicopters and K9s.

Around midnight on August 3, a security guard discovered Eggleston’s vintage Volkswagen in the parking lot of an industrial complex in the 12000 block of northeast Airport Way, ten miles from her last known location.

The vehicle was unlocked, the windows were rolled down and the keys were in the ignition.

Eggleston’s purse and its contents were in the front seat and her workout clothes were in the backseat, but strangely her passport was missing.

Although there was no indication that a struggle had taken place, Eggleston’s family believed something sinister had happened.

Investigators came up with several theories about her disappearance, initially suspecting that the young woman had fled of her own accord to avoid testifying against her sister, who was fighting a tax evasion case.

Taking into account Eggleston’s missing passport and her car being parked at the airport, the theory initially made sense.

However, it was later discovered that her sister had already accepted a deal and no one had to testify.

Another theory pointed to Eggleston’s boyfriend, but police later confirmed that his alibi got him out of town at the time of her disappearance.

For years, police clung to the theory that Eggleston left town of his own accord, until another young woman, similar in description to Eggleston, mysteriously disappeared from nearby Corvallis in 2004.

Nineteen-year-old Brooke Wilberger was last seen cleaning light poles at Oregon State University on May 24, 2004.

Wilberger’s family insisted the young girl was not the type to “disappear on her own,” prompting a massive search for the missing teen. ABC News reported in 2009.

Five years passed without any trace of the 19-year-old student, leading local investigators to reconsider the circumstances surrounding Eggleston’s 1993 disappearance.

However, in 2009, as part of a plea deal, then 43-year-old Joel Patrick Courtney admitted to the kidnapping, rape and murder of Brooke Wilberger and led authorities to her shallow grave deep in the Oregon woods.

Investigators then began looking into Courtney — who had a long history of criminal offenses, substance abuse and possible mental illness — as a possible suspect in Eggleston’s case.

Authorities believe that Courtney harmed other women in addition to Wilberger, and Eggleston is considered a possible victim.

Eggleston had just graduated from Oregon State University, where she had been in a fraternity, and Wilberger was a sophomore at Brigham Young University.

Both women had blond hair and blue eyes and were about the same age.

However, no hard evidence was ever found linking Courtney to Eggleston, who police now believe did not flee of her own volition.

Eggleston had no history of mental illness or runaway behavior and she was close to her family, including her parents, three sisters and four cousins.

Her passport was never found.

Foul play is suspected in Eggleston’s case, which remains unsolved.

“We have no updates to provide on this case. The unsolved case remains profiled on our websitewhich includes information on how to provide information to investigators,” a Portland Police spokesperson told DailyMail.com.