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

[pittsburghgirl]

Very early in this thread there are comments about the minister (pastor) who was accused of molesting a boy, who also claimed he saw this person killing a young girl. This is also covered in the 2018 reports on the Rocco interview, relating her experience of the case as the investigating officer. It identifies the pastor as attached to the Baldwin United Presbyterian Church.

The minister concerned is identified in various MSM sources, but perhaps the most interesting is the clipping at Clipping from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Newspapers.com which reports on the church investigation of his conduct, as well as the police interest. Whilst it is entirely possible that he has nothing to do with this case, it would be interesting to know what became of that church investigation. It seems that the police were unable to take the allegations further, but the church would have had access to his full history as a pastor and testimony from previous parishes. That could have either made him more interesting or absolved him. As he was only 58 in 1990, when the allegations were made (and 30 when Mary Ann disappeared) you would expect there to have been other concerns about him if these allegations have any credibility.

Can anyone find anything on the church inquiry?

I just wanted to bump this post up in hopes that someone knows something about the church inquiry.

 

[Richard]

Mary Ann Verdecchia

Mary Ann, circa 1962

• Missing Since 06/07/1962
• Missing From Bloomfield, Pennsylvania
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/15/1951 (69)
• Age 10 years old
• Height and Weight 4'10, 60 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A white blouse, red shorts and white sneakers.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Black hair, brown eyes. Mary Ann has a scar in the center of her forehead.

Details of Disappearance

Mary Ann was last seen on June 7, 1962 in Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. She attended a half-day of classes at Immaculate Conception School, went home, and changed out of her uniform and into street clothes.

At 12:30 p.m. she went to Martinique Apartments on Baum Boulevard in Bloomfield to run errands for a woman who lived there. The woman sent Mary Ann to the store. She was last seen re-entering the apartment complex at 2:45 p.m.

Mary Ann has never been heard from again. She was missed at 6:00 p.m. and her disappearance was reported to the police at 10:30 p.m. after her relatives had searched for her with no result.

A few days after her disappearance, a piece of jewelry believed to have belonged to her was found at the entrance to the Highland Park Zoo, but a massive search turned up no other sign of her. Authorities are uncertain if the jewelry is connected to her disappearance; she could have lost it before she vanished.

In 1991, a man came forward and said that in 1962 he witnessed a Presbyterian minister molest and murder a young girl in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The witness was nine years old at the time. Mary Ann was the only girl reported missing in the area at that time. The witness's account was never confirmed and the minister, who maintains his innocence, has not been charged in connection with her case.

Mary Ann lived with her aunt and several cousins at the time of her disappearance. She had moved in with them after her own parents separated in 1957. Neither parent played a big part in Mary Ann's life.

At first investigators believed Mary Ann's mother had taken her, but she was located and cleared as a suspect, as was her father. Mary Ann's mother died in 1983 and her father and aunt are also deceased, but her half-brother is alive and works as a police officer in Chicago, Illinois.

Marcella Krulce, a woman who also lived in Martinique Apartments, disappeared in 1959, three years before Mary Ann did. She was never found. There's no indication the two cases are related, however.

Foul play is suspected in Mary Ann's case. Her disappearance remains a mystery.

Investigating Agency

• Pittsburgh Police Bureau 412-323-7800

Source Information

• The Doe Network
• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• NewspaperArchive
• NewsLibrary
• NamUs
• WYTV 33
• Pennsylvania Missing Person
• Mary Ann Verdecchia – The Charley Project

 

[pittsburghgirl]

It seems likely to me that the answers begin with the Martinique Apartments.

 

[PGHJW]

60 years today...

 

[loveplace]

It seems likely to me that the answers begin with the Martinique Apartments.

Agreed, I wish I could come up with a new angle to look at.

 

[PGHJW]

KDKA News 6/7/77

A rare look at the case on the 15th anniversary.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

KDKA News 6/7/77

A rare look at the case on the 15th anniversary.

This is an excellent overview of the case. Nice interview with a neighbor kid and footage of the key locations in the case.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

This is an excellent overview of the case. Nice interview with a neighbor kid and footage of the key locations in the case.

I see you, Betty P! Glad you follow this old, old case. It's a heartbreaker.

 

[Delle]

 Have

I see you, Betty P! Glad you follow this old, old case. It's a heartbreaker.

Never stopped hoping that answers may yet be found. Someone knows something that they have heard or seen or questioned over these many years.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Never stopped hoping that answers may yet be found. Someone knows something that they have heard or seen or questioned over these many years.

I never log on to Websleuths that I don't think of this case. The last person to see her was the building manager who told Mary Ann that the woman she was running an errand for wasn't home. Mary Ann had supposedly just run out to a local store to buy cat food. So that makes little sense, eh?

Mary Ann Verdecchia

Mary Ann Verdecchia. Source: thecharleyproject.org Her disappearance became a cause célèbre in Pittsburgh – one of the most widely-reported, infamous missing person cases in the city’s history and …

blog328525732.wordpress.com

 

[loveplace]

I never log on to Websleuths that I don't think of this case. The last person to see her was the building manager who told Mary Ann that the woman she was running an errand for wasn't home. Mary Ann had supposedly just run out to a local store to buy cat food. So that makes little sense, eh?

Mary Ann Verdecchia

Mary Ann Verdecchia. Source: thecharleyproject.org Her disappearance became a cause célèbre in Pittsburgh – one of the most widely-reported, infamous missing person cases in the city’s history and …

blog328525732.wordpress.com

My dad used to work work at Baum Blvd Dodge in the early 1980s. We used to share an interest in cold cases and this was one we talked of often.

That's a good catch.

 

[PGHJW]

61 years today...I still think there are answers in the Martinique.

 

[loveplace]

61 years today...I still think there are answers in the Martinique.

I don't if they are still there but I strongly suspect that's the only place the answers ever existed.

 

[cenazoic]

Read Rocco’s book - there’s an entire chapter on Mary Ann (the book is free with Kindle Unlimited).

As of the 2018 publication date, she seems to view the manager of the Martinique, William Dozier, and cat food lady /resident Jean Emery as viable suspects:

“…We reviewed a report from Shirley Gorman telling us that Mary Ann, without understanding the meaning of the word prostitution, had told her that she overheard Dozier and tenant Jean Emery using the word in their conversations.

Jean Emery was polygraphed and admitted that she used her apartment for prostitution activities and that William Dozier provided her with clients.”

Mary Ann had money for 3 trips to Dairy Queen the day before she died, even though no one knows where it came from.

Dozier failed at least 3 polygraphs, which Rocco attributes to his drinking problem.

He was also questioned “about the apartment furnace that was constantly burning even though it was summer.”

 

[loveplace]

Read Rocco’s book - there’s an entire chapter on Mary Ann (the book is free with Kindle Unlimited).

As of the 2018 publication date, she seems to view the manager of the Martinique, William Dozier, and cat food lady /resident Jean Emery as viable suspects:

“…We reviewed a report from Shirley Gorman telling us that Mary Ann, without understanding the meaning of the word prostitution, had told her that she overheard Dozier and tenant Jean Emery using the word in their conversations.

Jean Emery was polygraphed and admitted that she used her apartment for prostitution activities and that William Dozier provided her with clients.”

Mary Ann had money for 3 trips to Dairy Queen the day before she died, even though no one knows where it came from.

Dozier failed at least 3 polygraphs, which Rocco attributes to his drinking problem.

He was also questioned “about the apartment furnace that was constantly burning even though it was summer.”

I know what's next on my to-read list now!

 

[PGHJW]

I've always wondered about Jean Emery. So little was out there about her yet she reportedly sent Mary Ann on her last errand. Somewhere I remember it being said she was in her 20s. With that I've always wondered if she was still alive. The only similar listing for a person I can find is a Reva Jean Emery who was born in Pittsburgh in 1938 and died in California in 2003.

 

[Delle]

Read Rocco’s book - there’s an entire chapter on Mary Ann (the book is free with Kindle Unlimited).

As of the 2018 publication date, she seems to view the manager of the Martinique, William Dozier, and cat food lady /resident Jean Emery as viable suspects:

“…We reviewed a report from Shirley Gorman telling us that Mary Ann, without understanding the meaning of the word prostitution, had told her that she overheard Dozier and tenant Jean Emery using the word in their conversations.

Jean Emery was polygraphed and admitted that she used her apartment for prostitution activities and that William Dozier provided her with clients.”

Mary Ann had money for 3 trips to Dairy Queen the day before she died, even though no one knows where it came from.

Dozier failed at least 3 polygraphs, which Rocco attributes to his drinking problem.

He was also questioned “about the apartment furnace that was constantly burning even though it was summer.”

Those are very interesting details from Theresa Rocco.

 

[Delle]

The Martin

I don't if they are still there but I strongly suspect that's the only place the answers ever existed

I don't if they are still there but I strongly suspect that's the only place the answers ever existed.

The Martinique is still there, next door to Vocelli's Pizza on Baum.

 

[Delle]

The Martinique is still there, next door to Vocelli's Pizza on Baum.

 

[loveplace]

Those are very interesting details from Theresa Rocco.

That's what I was thinking. I just ordered a copy of her book to check it out myself.