WHERE'S MADALYN?

(5 of 9)
The team at its center, however, was growing tighter than ever. Despite Madalyn's retirement, she came in to work seven days a week. Jon was very much a presence, "this screaming madman running around the office, shouting obscenities about everyone and everything," recalls former employee Travis. Robin, who had run the magazine and maintained a valuable library of atheist books, was much quieter and reputedly much brighter, but capable of answering back in kind. During working hours, says American Atheists officer and longtime Murray-O'Hair friend Arnold Via, "they didn't bother one another unless they wanted to get into another's throats," in which case, screaming fights ensued. Inevitably, however, they ate lunch together, dined together after work and returned together to the big house on Greystone Drive. "They were three peas in a pod," says Via, an occasional houseguest. "Jon had no girlfriend, and Robin had no boyfriend, and Madalyn was too far gone to have anything." At home, they would watch the news together before retiring. Their month-long excursions every other year, usually visiting atheist communities in other countries, were taken ensemble.

And then they vanished together. In mid-August 1995, just before they disappeared, the trio picnicked with Via at his home in Grottoes, Virginia. Despite chronic medical problems, Madalyn seemed healthy. Says Via: "They were in wonderful spirits; Madalyn is a wonderful humorist." The Murray-O'Hairs talked about searching the area for records of Madalyn's ancestors, and about possibly moving American Atheists to Richmond. Via snapped some Polaroids, and the trio returned to Austin. Then, on Aug. 28, says Travis, "I went to work and there was a letter taped to the door and it said, 'We've been called out on an emergency basis, and we'll call you when we get back.' And they haven't gotten back, and they haven't called."

1. Why McCain Picked Palin
2. The Palin Pick: Bold or Disastrous?
3. McCain's Surprise Pick: Sarah Palin
4. Klein: Obama's Speech 'Very Tough'
5. McCain's Prickly TIME Interview
6. GM Recalling 944,000 Vehicles
7. Will Women Vote for Palin?
8. The Web's Word: Obama Is Not the Antichrist
9. Narrowing World Health Disparities
10. Russia 'to Absorb' South Ossetia