MD MD - Judith 'Judy' O'Donnell, 19, Baltimore, 30 Nov 1980

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JudysSisterMaureen said:
i just wanted to say thank you -- to all of you -- you can't imagine what your support has meant to me. i'm working with the editor you told me about earlier in this thread, she has been better than fantastic. I'm scared, I'm happy, I'm nervous about what will happen once this pops open, but i'm eternally grateful to each of you for your support. Sometimes going on is hard to do - it's easier for some to simply accept not knowing. You've each given me immeasurable strength to persevere. Thank you.
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Hi Maureen, I've just started reading about your sister, and my heart goes out to you. I hope that you will get the answers you are seeking.

When you got the footage of the inaugural balls from the Reagan library, did you end up finding your sister? If she was there, do you have any idea of how she may have gotten there? Was the event in NYC or in DC? I don't know if the Reagan library would have guest-lists of these events, or if they would release the info of who was at which ball, but if they kept records, and if they'd release those records, you might be able to find someone whom you either know, or perhaps heard your sister mention. I doubt that whomever she showed up with was married, so perhaps you could look at single male attendees and go from there? Someone else mentioned that your sister bore a resemblance to Edie Sedgwick. I agree. She really did in her pictures. If she was hanging around Greenwich Village and Studio 54 in those days, then perhaps there's a chance that she was friends with some of the hangers-on at Andy Warhol's factory. I know that by the time the early 80s arose, Warhol became a bit less social (I think he had been shot before 1980, but I could be wrong), but based on what I've read, he still had a somewhat large group of followers coming and going from the factory at that time.

I've got to step out for a few hours, but when I come home, I'll start looking into Andy Warhol's factory during the early 80s and see if maybe there's some way you could contact his surviving friends to see if they knew your sister. I certainly don't know any of those people, I'm just someone who has always been interested in Warhol and has read a bit about him.
 
marie-chantal said:
Hi Maureen, I've just started reading about your sister, and my heart goes out to you. I hope that you will get the answers you are seeking.

When you got the footage of the inaugural balls from the Reagan library, did you end up finding your sister? If she was there, do you have any idea of how she may have gotten there? Was the event in NYC or in DC? I don't know if the Reagan library would have guest-lists of these events, or if they would release the info of who was at which ball, but if they kept records, and if they'd release those records, you might be able to find someone whom you either know, or perhaps heard your sister mention. I doubt that whomever she showed up with was married, so perhaps you could look at single male attendees and go from there? Someone else mentioned that your sister bore a resemblance to Edie Sedgwick. I agree. She really did in her pictures. If she was hanging around Greenwich Village and Studio 54 in those days, then perhaps there's a chance that she was friends with some of the hangers-on at Andy Warhol's factory. I know that by the time the early 80s arose, Warhol became a bit less social (I think he had been shot before 1980, but I could be wrong), but based on what I've read, he still had a somewhat large group of followers coming and going from the factory at that time.

I've got to step out for a few hours, but when I come home, I'll start looking into Andy Warhol's factory during the early 80s and see if maybe there's some way you could contact his surviving friends to see if they knew your sister. I certainly don't know any of those people, I'm just someone who has always been interested in Warhol and has read a bit about him.
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thanks for your thoughtful and thought-provoking response. I was not successful in locating Judy on any of the film -- there must have been 20 hours, but there was nothing on her. It had to have been on CBS, NBC, or ABC - because my parents did not have cable and that's all we got! That said, I KNOW she was there - I recall it being an outdoor party, on a lawn. I can still see the images, clear as day, of her being picked up by the camera (which she loved.) Based on her behavior and where she claims she hung out, it's assumed that she was a high-priced call girl, and not just a street hooker (though she did that too, there were arrests in SC and NY). I reported this to the police and my parents, but nothing was done in a timely enough fashion. I have contacted the three networks and they no longer have any of the media. The Reagan library had some (which I viewed) but they don't have all of it.

I just logged onto the "Edie Nation" slideshow. Wow. Bears a strong resemblance to be sure. I don't get the connection, though?
 
JudysSisterMaureen said:
thanks for your thoughtful and thought-provoking response. I was not successful in locating Judy on any of the film -- there must have been 20 hours, but there was nothing on her. It had to have been on CBS, NBC, or ABC - because my parents did not have cable and that's all we got! That said, I KNOW she was there - I recall it being an outdoor party, on a lawn. I can still see the images, clear as day, of her being picked up by the camera (which she loved.) Based on her behavior and where she claims she hung out, it's assumed that she was a high-priced call girl, and not just a street hooker (though she did that too, there were arrests in SC and NY). I reported this to the police and my parents, but nothing was done in a timely enough fashion. I have contacted the three networks and they no longer have any of the media. The Reagan library had some (which I viewed) but they don't have all of it.

I just logged onto the "Edie Nation" slideshow. Wow. Bears a strong resemblance to be sure. I don't get the connection, though?
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The connection is that Andy Warhol was notorious for hanging out at Studio 54. If you google "Warhol" and "Studio 54", you'll find tons of images. If she was a regular at 54 in those days, there's a strong chance that their paths may have crossed. If she resembled Edie, who had been dead for several years before 1980, she would have caught his eye. They may have become friends, or she may have become friends with someone in his entourage. The reason I was suggesting that you pursue this path is that perhaps one of the people from those days remembers your sister, and might know something about what her plans were around that time. She may have mentioned meeting up with someone, or perhaps had just started to date someone right before she vanished, or may have seen a guy in the club whom she thought was cute and maybe she had been flirting with him just before she went home for Thanksgiving and had plans to meet up with him later. She may have also frequented other clubs in the area, or perhaps had the same dealer as some of the people in that group. I think that your sighting of her at the Reagan event really holds a lot of answers. Perhaps she met someone who was well-connected at 54, who invited her to the Reagan event. Have you contacted your local CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates? Or did you contact the national headquarters of these networks? If you spoke with local, but not national or vice-versa, you may want to consider calling whichever one you didn't speak with. Have you also tried Youtube? New clips are constantly being uploaded to that site. Someone may have put their copy of that same clip on Youtube. You may want to also check with the Library of Congress. I'm nearly 100% sure that they would have footage; in fact, they may actually have all the footage. You should speak with an archivist at the Library of Congress. They may be able to help you go through the footage, or might know of additional places you could try to find that film (the National Archives, or even the White House itself). I'll try to see if I can help you figure out who has large Reagan 1980 inaugural media collections (perhaps there is some college library that received a bunch of it as a donation).
 
One more question...do you know what your sister's drug of choice was at the time she disappeared? This could help you to figure out where she was hanging out (which clubs had a lot of people who did that particular drug, who was dealing that drug, what part of town, etc).
 
marie-chantal said:
One more question...do you know what your sister's drug of choice was at the time she disappeared? This could help you to figure out where she was hanging out (which clubs had a lot of people who did that particular drug, who was dealing that drug, what part of town, etc).
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I tried both local and HQ in NYC for the footage and got lots of two things, "no, we don't have it any more, it's been destroyed" and "I don't know" -- i've been trying to get my hands on that footage since about 2000. It was January 1981, by the way.

Interesting theory re warhol - I do recall her talking about famous people she met, and I think she may have mentioned him specifically. I was 12 when she started "living" in NY. I use the term loosely, because of her lifestyle, she had been spending time on the streets, at Covenant House, in the pokey, and with "friends" in the Village.

She was in to any drug really - I distinctly remember a time, I was getting ready for the bus, she was arriving home, coming down from an angel dust high. She was not particularly into Pot, but she did smoke cigarettes. She did smoke pot for a while, I recall a time, we were all in the car en route to the dentist - she handed me a bag full of pot seeds and showed me a multi-colored condom package. I was in 6th grade for that- so 1977? I don't think she ever got into heroin, I don't recall any tracks,ever, on her arms. But coke, acid, other non-injected drugs? Sure.

I so pray that the story that's about to be published can jar some memories. I will get this angle to the editor right away - we are working on the story, and she's local to NY. I would love ANY help, in ANY form, from ANYONE. You need to know - I personally follow up on everything I see. I can't be disappointed anymore in anyone for not doing so.

It would be great to get a story printed about this in the NY post or NYTimes- or the gothamist. Perhaps that's an angle I should try?
 
You may want to go through these photos:

1981 Inauguration Ball: President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If you're not far from the Smithsonians, you may want to speak with someone at the National History museum. It sounds like they've got quite a large presidential archive. They might be willing to let you look through their pictures and video clips.

Here's a timeline of some of Andy Warhol's associates during the very early part of the 1980s. There are a few mentions of Ronald Reagan:
http://www.warholstars.org/chron/1980Plus.html

Here's a website that also has a forum for people who hung out at Studio 54 to share their memories. Have you been to this forum? You may want to register and post your sister's picture and talk about her case. I'm sure there is someone on that site who was at that club during the same time as your sister.

http://www.disco-disco.com/clubs/studio54.shtml
 
JudysSisterMaureen said:
I tried both local and HQ in NYC for the footage and got lots of two things, "no, we don't have it any more, it's been destroyed" and "I don't know" -- i've been trying to get my hands on that footage since about 2000. It was January 1981, by the way.

Interesting theory re warhol - I do recall her talking about famous people she met, and I think she may have mentioned him specifically. I was 12 when she started "living" in NY. I use the term loosely, because of her lifestyle, she had been spending time on the streets, at Covenant House, in the pokey, and with "friends" in the Village.

She was in to any drug really - I distinctly remember a time, I was getting ready for the bus, she was arriving home, coming down from an angel dust high. She was not particularly into Pot, but she did smoke cigarettes. She did smoke pot for a while, I recall a time, we were all in the car en route to the dentist - she handed me a bag full of pot seeds and showed me a multi-colored condom package. I was in 6th grade for that- so 1977? I don't think she ever got into heroin, I don't recall any tracks,ever, on her arms. But coke, acid, other non-injected drugs? Sure.

I so pray that the story that's about to be published can jar some memories. I will get this angle to the editor right away - we are working on the story, and she's local to NY. I would love ANY help, in ANY form, from ANYONE. You need to know - I personally follow up on everything I see. I can't be disappointed anymore in anyone for not doing so.

It would be great to get a story printed about this in the NY post or NYTimes- or the gothamist. Perhaps that's an angle I should try?
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You may want to contact your local network affiliates to ask who they got their national event footage from. If it was a mass-produced story by HQ, then maybe there's a chance that some little affiliate in some other town hasn't destroyed their footage of the ball. Do you remember which ball it was? Isn't there usually more than 1? If you remember which one it was, it might help you to narrow things down in your search. I'm still trying to search for any large holdings of Reagan memorabilia for you. Have you contacted the Republican National Headquarters? They may know who would have the footage, or they may even have the footage themselves.
 
There appear to be a lot of websites and groups devoted to discussing Studio 54. Here are a bunch of pictures of people who hung out there. You might want to see if you can see your sister in any of the pics:

http://www.life.com/gallery/41952/image/91991440#index/25

On Facebook, if you type in "studio 54" and then click "groups", you'll see several groups devoted to discussing that club. You should join some of those groups. Try to find out what other clubs were popular at that time.

Have you contacted the Village Voice? That's a paper totally devoted to Greenwich Village. They might be interested in doing a story about your sister.
 
JudysSisterMaureen said:
I can never be positive of much of anything, but I swear on my grandmothers' graves, this looks like my sister's profile:
‪Studio 54, a look back.‬‏ - YouTube

at 4:14
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Which person? The one with the cigarette or the one in the back? I recognize Bianca Jagger in the front of the photo and Warhol near the woman with the cigarette (she looks a little too old to be your sister, but you know your sister's profile far better than I do).
 
marie-chantal said:
Which person? The one with the cigarette or the one in the back? I recognize Bianca Jagger in the front of the photo and Warhol near the woman with the cigarette (she looks a little too old to be your sister, but you know your sister's profile far better than I do).
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I lived in the City for a while - the OB/GYN who helped me get pg with my first son delivered Bianca's baby with Mick. There's a picture of the two of them just before delivery on his desk.

Anyway - the girl on the left of center, whose profile is about the only thing you can see. That CHIN - and very sharp nose. That's why I think it's her.

I am fishing on the facebook page for help getting her story published by the Voice. I'm ashamed to admit that while I lived in NY (I worked in a bldg on 56/57th streets) I used to visit the building where Studio 54 was, and I would just stand there for hours. But I really didn't know what to do, how to go about this.

I so should have looked for publicity THEN but didn't. When 9/11 happened, it all came out - all of it - my friends didn't understand why I could be so utterly and completely crushed by it. Those buildings and the resultant "missing, have you seen" flyers that littered the City nearly destroyed me.
 
marie-chantal said:
Which person? The one with the cigarette or the one in the back? I recognize Bianca Jagger in the front of the photo and Warhol near the woman with the cigarette (she looks a little too old to be your sister, but you know your sister's profile far better than I do).
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there are only 2 women in the picture in question. It runs from about 4:11 to about 4:14 - I didn't have much control over the picture that shows from the video. :)
 
susanbray said:
I don't if this would be helpful or not; one thought I had was looking at forums or groups for victims of priest sexual abuse. Perhaps someone remembers her story?

Hope it helps and here's hoping you find her. sb
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It was never reported, incinuated, or proven. It's a theory -- so, there's really no reason for me to be there. While I may *think* that happened, I really don't want to waste a lot of peoples time and energy chasing a ghost, kwim?? :) thank you so much for your reply.
 
JudysSisterMaureen said:
I can never be positive of much of anything, but I swear on my grandmothers' graves, this looks like my sister's profile:
‪Studio 54, a look back.‬‏ - YouTube

at 4:14
Click to expand...

Do you mean the woman on the left or the woman in the background? The woman on the left kind of looks like your sister (the eyes). The woman in the background also kind of looks like your sister. I wonder if there's a way to find out who took that photo? You might want to send a message to whomever posted that video on Youtube and ask him/her if they know who is in that pic.
 
Maureen, don't blame yourself for not seeking publicity for her or for feeling like you didn't know what to do pre 9/11. Our minds work in mysterious ways and you most likely had to be "ready" (for lack of better term) to make that start. Going to the building was a good indicator that you were getting ready to start your search. It's understandable that you didn't know where to start. The internet was in its infancy in the late 90s and even around 9/11 we didn't have as many resources as we do now. You're heading in the right direction by joining this site. There are lots of great people here who may not have answers for you, but just may be able to point you in the right direction. I highly suggest starting with any site that features Studio 54 memorabilia, discussions, etc. I was only 1 when that club was opened and on the other side of the country, but I've been fascinated by it for as long as I can remember. I love reading accounts of people who were there. It seems like there are many, many sites devoted to discussing and rehashing what happened in that place. It seemed like a fairly close-knit community (they wouldn't let anyone in, after all), so someone must have known your sister. If she made it to the Inaugural Ball, then she was most likely hanging with some well-connected people. Were you ever able to find out where exactly she had been staying when she was in GV? Did she ever mention the names of her friends? You thought that she had been a high-priced call girl. Do you know who she was working for/with? Clients? If she was hanging out at 54, and you know that she was doing drugs, then it's highly likely that coke was her drug of choice (and coke was the IT drug during those days). If you can find someone who knew her at 54, you might be able to find out who her dealer was. They'd know who she was involved with.
 
marie-chantal said:
Maureen, don't blame yourself for not seeking publicity for her or for feeling like you didn't know what to do pre 9/11. Our minds work in mysterious ways and you most likely had to be "ready" (for lack of better term) to make that start. Going to the building was a good indicator that you were getting ready to start your search. It's understandable that you didn't know where to start. The internet was in its infancy in the late 90s and even around 9/11 we didn't have as many resources as we do now. You're heading in the right direction by joining this site. There are lots of great people here who may not have answers for you, but just may be able to point you in the right direction. I highly suggest starting with any site that features Studio 54 memorabilia, discussions, etc. I was only 1 when that club was opened and on the other side of the country, but I've been fascinated by it for as long as I can remember. I love reading accounts of people who were there. It seems like there are many, many sites devoted to discussing and rehashing what happened in that place. It seemed like a fairly close-knit community (they wouldn't let anyone in, after all), so someone must have known your sister. If she made it to the Inaugural Ball, then she was most likely hanging with some well-connected people. Were you ever able to find out where exactly she had been staying when she was in GV? Did she ever mention the names of her friends? You thought that she had been a high-priced call girl. Do you know who she was working for/with? Clients? If she was hanging out at 54, and you know that she was doing drugs, then it's highly likely that coke was her drug of choice (and coke was the IT drug during those days). If you can find someone who knew her at 54, you might be able to find out who her dealer was. They'd know who she was involved with.
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What great information and suggestions you have offered, Marie. I hope it helps her.

Maureen, good luck in your search!
 
JeannieC said:
What great information and suggestions you have offered, Marie. I hope it helps her.

Maureen, good luck in your search!
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Thank you, Jeannie! I also hope that Maureen is able to find out what happened to her sister.

Maureen, I'm assuming that the ball she attended was in Washington, DC. Do you know where the ball was held? You might be able to find out who organized the event and perhaps speak with them to get a guest list. I have heard that the White House keeps detailed records of state dinners (guest lists, menu, music, flowers, etc), so I wouldn't be at all surprised if records for that ball are out there. If you can look at the names on the guest list, then maybe something will jump out at you. I'll do some googling to see how one would go about locating party info for inaugural balls. My guess is that she wasn't a gate-crasher and that she most likely showed up with someone who was single. If you can eliminate all couples from the list and look at single guys, it might be a start.

According to this site:

http://www.inaugurals.com/ibhist.asp

there were 8 inaugural balls for Reagan in 81. Do you happen to recall any info about the location of the ball that you thought your sister attended?
 
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