NJ NJ - Lorraine Rea Herbster, 17, Westampton Twnshp, 9 Mar 1979

[theshadow45]

Lorraine has been missing for 41 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, yesterday was Lorraine’s birthday.

 

[MadMcGoo]

MP-NJ MP4585 - Lorraine Lori Herbster - Westampton, NJ, 9 Mar 79 - Courier Post, 07 Mar 87

Clipping found in Courier-Post published in Camden, New Jersey on 3/7/1987. MP-NJ MP4585 - Lorraine Lori Herbster - Westampton, NJ, 9 Mar 79 - Courier Post, 07 Mar 87

www.newspapers.com

MP-NJ MP4585 - Lorraine Lori Herbster - Westampton, NJ, 9 Mar 79 - Courier Post, 18 Apr 79

Clipping found in Courier-Post published in Camden, New Jersey on 4/18/1979. MP-NJ MP4585 - Lorraine Lori Herbster - Westampton, NJ, 9 Mar 79 - Courier Post, 18 Apr 79

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from Courier-Post

Clipping found in Courier-Post published in Camden, New Jersey on 3/14/1979.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from Courier-Post

Clipping found in Courier-Post published in Camden, New Jersey on 3/9/1989.

www.newspapers.com

<modsnip: removed screenshots and replaced with clippings>

 

[theshadow45]

Lorraine has been missing for 42 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Lorraine’s birthday.

 

[theshadow45]

Lorraine has been missing for 43 years today.

 

[Richard]

43 years missing...

Lorraine Rea Herbster, age 17
Missing since March 9, 1979

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Lorraine’s birthday.

 

[Boredathome]

I feel a little crazy even suggesting this match, but I sent it to Namus anyway. I think this UID could be Lorraine.

UP7182

Things that match:
Height (5'4")
Blue jeans
Yellow gold chain
Size 8 1/2 brown suede shoes


Things that don't not match
Age (Lorraine - 17; UID 25-40. I run a bar, 17 can look 25)
Hair (Lorraine - Brown; UID red/auburn. These can be two words for the same thing)

Things that don't match
Location (Lorraine - NJ; UID - NV)

Significant Unknowns
PMI for UID
Blouse Lorraine was wearing under coat
UID cause of death (I think homicide, but can't actually find anything to back that up)


I can see allllllll the ways this shouldn't work, but the clothes strike me as crazy similar. While Lorraine had some things UID doesn't have (ring, coat), UID had nothing Lorraine didn't have.

I can't think of any logical reason Lorraine would end up in Las Vegas, at all.

So there's that thought, I guess.

 

[Boredathome]

Another note on this; UID was found on a pile of rocks outside Nellis Air Force Base, Westhampton Township, where Lorraine went missing from, is 14 miles from McGuire Air Force Base.

There are Air Force Bases all over, so probably coincidental, but still seems worth noting.

 

[Bit of hope]

I feel a little crazy even suggesting this match, but I sent it to Namus anyway. I think this UID could be Lorraine.

UP7182

Things that match:
Height (5'4")
Blue jeans
Yellow gold chain
Size 8 1/2 brown suede shoes


Things that don't not match
Age (Lorraine - 17; UID 25-40. I run a bar, 17 can look 25)
Hair (Lorraine - Brown; UID red/auburn. These can be two words for the same thing)

Things that don't match
Location (Lorraine - NJ; UID - NV)

Significant Unknowns
PMI for UID
Blouse Lorraine was wearing under coat
UID cause of death (I think homicide, but can't actually find anything to back that up)


I can see allllllll the ways this shouldn't work, but the clothes strike me as crazy similar. While Lorraine had some things UID doesn't have (ring, coat), UID had nothing Lorraine didn't have.

I can't think of any logical reason Lorraine would end up in Las Vegas, at all.

So there's that thought, I guess.

People can make mistakes, also coroners, but I have problems with the age difference. Coroners don't decide on age by looks, but by bone structure/development.

 

[Richard]

It has been over 18 years since I first posted Lorraine's case here on Websleuths. This 9 March will mark 44 years since she went missing.

While there wasn't much information available at the time of that first post, quite a bit more information about Lorraine has since been made available. One of the more thorough accounts can be seen on her Find a Grave listing.

A few bits of information not in earlier posts here are as follows:

Lorraine's purse was found in her front yard the next morning. This would lend support to a theory that she was forcefully abducted (likely by a person ir persons in a vehicle) just as she was arriving home.

Jewelry - Besides the thin gold necklace mentioned already, she wore a gold ring with either a diamond or a brown cats eye stone.

Police announced in 2013 that they had questioned an unnamed Person of Interest but lacked sufficient evidence to bring any charges.

 

[theshadow45]

Lorraine has been missing for for 44 years today.

 

[dotr]

Lori Herbster

Lorraine Rea "Lori" Herbster was a teenager who went missing in 1979. Foul play is suspected in her case. Lorraine Rea Herbster left her job at Microcircuit Corp. at 4:00 p.m. on March, 9, 1979. She worked as a lab technician and had only began her job about a week prior to her disappearance. A...

int-missing.fandom.com

Disappeared​

March 9, 1979

Missing for​

44 years

Location​

Westampton Township, New Jersey

Age​

17

Age now​

61

Race​

White

Sex​

Female

Height​

5'4

Weight​

125 pounds

Classification​

Suspected homicide
''Lorraine Rea "Lori" Herbster was a teenager who went missing in 1979. Foul play is suspected in her case''

• Brown hair.
• Green eyes.
• Pierced ears.

Clothing and accessories​

• A white hooded sweater with a brown or beige design and a belt tied in the back.
• A blouse.
• Blue jeans.
• Knee-high socks.
• Brown hiking boots, size 8 1/2.
• A reddish-brown suede purse with a large zipper.
• A diamond or brown cat's eye ring.
• A thin gold chain necklace.

 

[LeeBee]

The most interesting part for me in this case is that her purse was found in her front yard. What does this mean? That she was taken right in front of her house? Wow and no one, no neighbors saw a thing. In that brief window between being allegedly seen by someone at 5:15 and her possibly arriving home she encountered someone who would kidnap her. I don't recall if the ex fiance was looked into.

 

[Richard]

Lorraine Rea Herbster, age 17, missing since 9 March 1979

LINK:

Lorraine Rea “Lori” Herbster (1962-1979) - Find a...

Lorraine Rea Herbster, more commonly known as Lori or Laurie, disappeared on the afternoon of Friday, March 9, 1979, in Westampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, on her way home from work after disembarking from a co-worker's vehicle. The fourth child of Terry and Betty Herbster...

www.findagrave.com

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Lorraine’s birthday.

 

[theshadow45]

Lorraine has been missing for 45 years today.

 

[Richard]

Missing for 45 Years:

Lorraine Rea Herbster, age 17
Missing since 9 March 1979

 

[DD Byrd]

The simple fact of the matter is that Westhampton PD didn't want to be outdone on the case by a neighboring police department or the state police so they never asked for assistance from any other agency, insisting they could handle it on their own. To this day, the Westhampton PD has never been able to live down the Herbster disappearance.

Sadly, this is all too common and likely coupled with "we know who did it, but can't prove it," which stalls myriad cases.

DAnthrplgst, if you are still around, do you know if the ex boyfriend ever spoke to the media?

If her purse was in the front yard, it follows that she made it home. Or not only made it home, but went inside and was leaving again (on her own or with someone). But I'm not clear where the purse was actually found. If it was IN her car that implies someone got to her as she was getting into her own car. (I'm guessing in based on the timeline and because I don't think one would typically get out, and then turn back to get the purse, it would be in one move). To be so brazen makes me think it was someone who knew her. Unless it wasn't a forced abduction per se, perhaps she got into a car not knowing what would happen to her.

It also doesn't seem a coincidence that a new job started that day. How many employees knew her home address? And on the other hand, how many acquaintances knew she had started there that day?