Missing Since 1963: Where is Venita Holzman?

On January 1, 1963, 22-year-old Venita Holzman finished her shift at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and disappeared. That’s the last confirmed moment we have. There are no clear details about what she was wearing, what time she left, or who last saw her. 

What we do know about Venita paints a complicated and, at times, difficult picture. She married at just 16 years old after a relationship that began when she was even younger, and within months, she filed for divorce, citing extreme cruelty. She had her first child at age 15, and was pregnant a second time in March of 1957.

By her early twenties, she and her two young children had made their way to Las Vegas, likely trying to start over. On the day she vanished, her children, just 5 and 3 years old, were waiting for her at daycare. She never came back for them. They were ultimately raised by their grandmother, Venita's mother. 

Despite searching through newspaper archives and public records, there is almost no reporting on Venita’s disappearance. No clear documentation of an investigation, no media coverage that we could find, no public narrative that followed her case.

It wasn’t until 2025 that a NamUs case was even created for her, more than 60 years later.

Venita was 22 years old, a young mother, and a person whose life had already been shaped by instability and survival. And yet, like so many others, her story slipped through the cracks.

In this week’s episode of Sins & Survivors, we talk through what little we know and why cases like hers still matter. If you have any information, you can contact Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at (702) 828-2907. Because even after six decades, she still deserves to be found.