PA PA - Mary Ann Verdecchia, 10, Bloomfield, 7 June 1962

meggilyweggily

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The Doe Network has her case here: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1627dfpa.html and I found a bit more info on NewsLibrary; I plan to profile her in the next update.

How does one get a missing child case on the NCMEC? If they're going to profile Karen Tompkins they ought to profile Mary Ann's case too; they disappeared within a year of each other. I wish I could find a better photograph of Mary Ann. It's hard to tell what she looks like in the only one that's available.
 
Mary Ann Verdecchia I have not researched Mary ,Will search around some more today....May be of interest to know that the Karen Lynn Tompkins DOM:Aug.18,1961....Torrance california,
On July 3,1962 Dorothy Gale Brown was reported missing Brown lived only a few blocks from Karen,However Brown was found the next day
and reportly was molested and drowned her dress found stuffed into a beer can found by a couble on a Long Beach,beach.
Do you have a site that has news paper accounts...this much I found in archives {Daily Breeze)....I just found this site and look forward to finding more information Becouse a news paper that ran Aug.17th 2003 that stated that both cases were being looked into....
Tompkins and Brown,both had blound hair and blue eyes....and the same age !
TUFFY
 
According to a newspaper article from 1962, Mary's parents, Joseph and Marilyn Verdecchia were seperated and Mary was living with her Aunt, Mrs. Ruth Riley. Also I don't know if it's connected or not, but Kathy Shea disappeared from Tyrone, PA in 1965 which is about a two hour drive East of Bloomfield. I also found an article about a little girl who had been kidnapped by a man named William D. Hollenbaugh in 1966 from Shade Gap (which I think is the same as Tyrone, PA) and she was recovered alive, police were looking into Hollenbaugh as a suspect in the disappearance of Kathy, they said there was strange "diggings" underneath his house and on his property.The article about Mary's parents told that they (parents) had both taken lie detector tests and had been cleared of suspicion.
 
WIlliam Hollenbaugh, otherwise known as "Mountain Man", kidnapped teen-ager PeggyAnn Bradnick while she was walking home for her school bus stop. Hollenbaugh, leading PeggyAnn by a chain around her heck, took her on a 50-mile trek through the dense Pennsylvania coutryside, and was killed in a shootoout with police. PeggyAnn was safely recovered.
 
It seems to me that the minister involved in this case should have been more thoroughly investigated. If the witness that saw him kill a little girl says this, there must be some reason, why would you make up something like that. I suppose there could be some animosity between this minister and the man witness, but it would have to be some really serious animosity to say you saw someone kill somebody, a child no less.
 
Hollow said:
It seems to me that the minister involved in this case should have been more thoroughly investigated. If the witness that saw him kill a little girl says this, there must be some reason, why would you make up something like that. I suppose there could be some animosity between this minister and the man witness, but it would have to be some really serious animosity to say you saw someone kill somebody, a child no less.
The problem is, you're going to need a lot more than the testimony of one witness's thirty-year-old memory to prove murder. Particularly since the witness was a child at the time, who's to say what he really saw? He could have seen something that he thought was murder, but which actually wasn't. He could be making it up for his own reasons (not necessarily malicious ones, maybe just a desire to get attention). He could have imagined the whole thing.

I suppose the police did the best they could. But there really was no case against the minister. If I were on a grand jury I wouldn't even indict him based on that testimony. There has to be something more.
 
I grew up in Tyrone, Pa., were I graduated with Kathy's youger brother, Todd. Every year, when the date of her disappearence comes around, it causes everyone that lived through it, to relive it. I know that, after her disappearence, when the children, including myself, would ask if we could go someplace by ourseleves, the answer that all of us heard was, "Remember what happened to Kathy Shea!".
But in looking at what I know, Kathy disappeared less than 75 yards aways from the Adams school playground. People saw her walking to school, but no one saw her being taken. It seems to appear that who ever took her, knew where the best place to take her from, becauseof all of the children that were playing on the playground, at that particular time.
I would like to hear more about Mary Ann, and William Hollenbaugh. I think it would be very interesting to look at.
 
meggilyweggily said:
Well, if the minister actually molested the boy, that's good reason for the boy to hate him.
MW,

I first found Websleuths looking on the internet for info on Mary Ann Verdechhia. I am a native of Western PA, born in the same year as Mary ann, and still vividly remember her disappearance. She is remembered in Pittsburgh, still; it is nice to see that others out there have not forgotten her. I am doing some research into the case and will post anything I find.
 
I wonder if the recent news story about a man claiming to have witnessed as a child, his father burying some children that he murdered - might be connected with Mary Ann's case.

-------------------------------------------------------
Mary Ann Verdecchia
Missing since June 7, 1962 from Bloomfield, Pennsylvania
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: August 15, 1951
Age at Time of Disappearance: 10 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Verdecchia was last seen in Bloomfield, Pennsylvania on June 7, 1962. Mary Ann had returned home after a half day of classes at Immaculate Conception School, changed from her uniform and went outside about 12:30 p.m.

She was seen going into the Martinique Apartments on Baum Boulevard. She ran errands for a lady there, and the woman sent her to the store.

She was seen going back into the apartment about 2:45 p.m. That was the last reported sighting of her. About 6 p.m., her relatives began looking for her, and they called police at 10:30 p.m.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Pittsburgh Police Bureau 412-323-7800

Source Information:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Doe Network: Case File 1627DFPA

Link:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1627dfpa.html
 
One news story I linked contained a point I found interesting: One of the other missing persons featured in the article had also gone missing from the same place, the Martinique 3 years earlier. Makes me wonder if there was a handy man type person involved in both disappearances.

I am reminded of past cases where a relative of a building owner would also have access to apartment keys due to helping out sometimes and would victemize a resident once in awhile.
 
it does seem like she disappeared while in the building (although certainly possible that she left the bldg, and was abducted outside w/o anyone seeing). i wonder if LE thoroughly checked into everyone who lived there (if there were any odd men living alone who might have had a strange reputation)..? or, were their any perverts living nearby? although, i know back then there was no such thing as a 'sex offender'. did LE even bother with that kind of thing in those days, when a child went missing? i know they had a massive manhunt, but what i mean is- did they thoroughly check the apt bldg and its residents? anyone who was seen moving any large items out of the bldg in the next night or so, or anyone who moved out soon after?
they could have grabbed her & held her hostage, then left with her (alive or dead) at nighttime when no one was awake.

i just find it strange that she was seen going into the bldg, but then the lady didn't see her come into her apt. so, she disappeared from the hallway, or she turned around and went back out of the building for some reason, before seeing the lady. what was the lady up to that afternoon? was she taking a nap & didn't hear her knock, so mary ann turned around & went somewhere else?
i also can't help but wonder if there's a pervert priest involved in this.
 
Richard said:
I wonder if the recent news story about a man claiming to have witnessed as a child, his father burying some children that he murdered - might be connected with Mary Ann's case.

Richard, do you have a link or citation for that news story? I must have missed it.
 
reb said:
it does seem like she disappeared while in the building (although certainly possible that she left the bldg, and was abducted outside w/o anyone seeing). i wonder if LE thoroughly checked into everyone who lived there (if there were any odd men living alone who might have had a strange reputation)..? or, were their any perverts living nearby? although, i know back then there was no such thing as a 'sex offender'. did LE even bother with that kind of thing in those days, when a child went missing? i know they had a massive manhunt, but what i mean is- did they thoroughly check the apt bldg and its residents? anyone who was seen moving any large items out of the bldg in the next night or so, or anyone who moved out soon after?
they could have grabbed her & held her hostage, then left with her (alive or dead) at nighttime when no one was awake.

i just find it strange that she was seen going into the bldg, but then the lady didn't see her come into her apt. so, she disappeared from the hallway, or she turned around and went back out of the building for some reason, before seeing the lady. what was the lady up to that afternoon? was she taking a nap & didn't hear her knock, so mary ann turned around & went somewhere else?
i also can't help but wonder if there's a pervert priest involved in this.


You are touching on the things that bother me, as well. I was the same age as Mary Ann when she disappeared, and I followed the story every day and never recalled any discussion about the Martinique or the woman who disappeared there. If it's a coincidence, it's a pretty amazing one. I've tried doing a search for information on the missing woman, but nothing turned up on the internet.

Bloomfield is a traditionally Italian neighborhood, and Immaculate Conception, where Mary Ann went to school, would have been the big parish. Everyone would have known that she was being raised by an aunt, which might have made it seem less risky to abduct her.

So glad to see some discussion on this case.
 
pittsburghgirl said:
Richard said:
I wonder if the recent news story about a man claiming to have witnessed as a child, his father burying some children that he murdered - might be connected with Mary Ann's case.

Richard, do you have a link or citation for that news story? I must have missed it.
Yes, here is a link to the discussion on Websleuths.

Thread Title:
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - man remembers past poss. murders

Link:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44085
 
Bumping....It's been 3 years since this sad case was bumped up.

I found an article from the Post-Gazette from July 28, 1962, where a man was questioned in Mary Ann's disappearance. I'll try to post the link but I don't know if it will come through or not. It says that the suspect was witnessed by a cab driver trying to lure 3 little girls into his car. The cab driver summoned the police and the suspect was arrested. But he only lived 3 doors down from Mary Ann. I don't remember reading that before.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...tsNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3787,3639498
 
Fascinating case. How old was the woman that disappeared in the Martinique? Does that building still stand?
 

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