GA GA - Carlene Tengelsen, 16, Macon, 21 June 1972

[PGHJW]

Today marks 51 years since Carlene's disappearance. I'm not big on the posts marking anniversaries/birthdays etc. here, but Carlene was so failed that I think it's the very least that can be done.

 

[PGHJW]

Did anyone else notice the social media post from the Where's Carlene? accounts yesterday? It's a thank you to those who have reached out with information. I am hoping that someone actually did have some info from back then and it isn't just armchair detectives with "Sidney Serial Killer was seen 142 miles away but it could be him!" This case has seemingly been hopeless for so long.

 

[dogperson]

Did anyone else notice the social media post from the Where's Carlene? accounts yesterday? It's a thank you to those who have reached out with information. I am hoping that someone actually did have some info from back then and it isn't just armchair detectives with "Sidney Serial Killer was seen 142 miles away but it could be him!" This case has seemingly been hopeless for so long.

I had not seen that. I follow the page but it didn't come up in my newsfeed. I hope it's information that will be useful. It's so strange how it seems like nobody from that time ever offered up anything that the police could go on. If anybody she knew abducted her, you'd think somebody from school might have seen or heard something to make them suspicious about a particular person. Of course, if this was a stranger abduction, it would make sense that none of her acquaintances had any ideas or theories about what happened.

 

[MysteryRoad]

Just hearing about this case for the first time today due to an AJC article. Its so sad and a very poor reflection on the local law enforcement.

Its behind a paywall at the AJC.

Family receives old storybook owned by Georgia girl who vanished from Macon in 1972

On June 21, 1972, Carlene Tengelsen, a 16-year-old from Macon, in middle Georgia went to go pick up her younger sister from day camp and was never seen again. More than 50 years later, Carlene's sister received an unexpected package from a stranger in Florida who found the missing girl's...

www.ajc.com

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

It's a very nice article with a good summing up of known info about Carlene and her case. The book isn't believed to be connected at all with her disappearance, just a book she had owned while the family lived in FL.

On a rainy afternoon, in a kitchen that overlooks the living room where Joan Tengelsen had prayed for Carlene and for those lost children she never knew, Joanette grabbed some scissors.

She snipped open one end of the postal pouch and reached inside.

She picked up the 100-year-old book, wrapped in clear plastic, and stared at its cover. She glanced at its spine and sobbed.

Peeling away the last of the plastic, she gripped the brown book in both hands. “It’s really old, isn’t it?”

As she opened it, her thumb landed inside of the front cover, just beneath the initials “C.S.T.”

The letters penciled above them, the name they stood for, were in the careful hand of a child: “Carlene Sessions Tengelsen.”

Sessions was Joan Tengelsen’s maiden name.

“Yep,” Joanette said, “that’s her handwriting.”

A lifetime of not knowing what had become of her sister came gushing back. This was the childhood signature of her own flesh and blood. A schoolgirl had left her mark in pencil, as if to say, “Carlene was here.” In that instant, she had, via graphite portal, made her way home.

Joanette, choking back tears, said, “I feel like it’s 1972 again. It’s not 52 years ago.”

She wondered if she had ever allowed herself to grieve, that maybe grieving meant abandoning hope.

She stared down at the collection of stories that now, if you think about it, included Carlene’s.

Joanette held out the tome like an offering.

Then she pulled it close in an embrace and patted it as if it were a newborn, hugging it hard.

“This is Carlene,” the kid sister said. “She’s right here with me.”

 

[madamx]

My name is Holly, and I'm from Athens, GA, about 2 1/2 hours North of Macon. I'm a criminology student and currently researching the Carlene Tengelsen case as a side project. I requested any newspaper articles from the Washington Memorial Library archives in Macon. Only 2 articles were found, but I believe I have made a discovery. One of the articles sent to me was an article on three missing Macon women, including Carlene Tengelsen. The other two women were Mary "Maggie" Shaw and Peggy Chapman along with Peggy's 4 year old daughter Ruby Kirshner. These 4 all went missing within a month and a half of each other. Carlene and Peggy/Ruby all went missing from Westgate Mall. Carlene on June 22, 1972 and Peggy/Ruby July 22, 1972 . Mary went missing from South Plaza Shopping Center on June 5, 1972. Both of these places are on the same street (Pio Nono Ave). Westgate Mall and South Plaza Shopping center are only (according to google maps) 1.3 miles from each other. This is very strange to me and seems like there's a possible connection. We know Carlene has never been found, but I can find no other information anywhere on the internet of whether Peggy/Ruby/Mary were found. They are not mentioned anywhere on the internet or in missing persons databases I've searched. I hoping someone here can answer this. I've attached a copy of the whole newspaper with the date, and a zoomed in copy of the article on the 3 women. Any further information is much appreciated.

Wow this is very Interesting. I wonder if it was the same person and also wonder if there were others In surrounding areas a little further that went missing around that time frame.