MA MA - Abbie Flynn, 60, went for walk before Super Bowl party, Gloucester, 2 Feb 2020

[PommyMommy]

Hi all,

I’m a reader of Websleuths but haven’t ever posted. This case caught my eye because I’m from this general area and as a fellow photographer/nature lover know the area in which is vanished VERY well.

It is not a particularly isolated area, homes are close enough, although it is isolated in that it’s on a point out into the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a very wealthy neighborhood with year-round locals knowing each other well, but many houses are seasonally vacant.

The terrain can be very rocky and dangerous in some places, and there is ocean on three sides plus a pond (which was mostly frozen when I was there a couple of weeks ago).

It wouldn’t be impossible for someone to fall off the rocks at Eastern Point or into the pond (Niles Pond) if they went out on the ice. There are also some other inhospitable, rocky areas. The roads in and out are narrow and one-way in some places.

I hope this gives people a better picture of the area.

I find it strange that someone having a party who was also a photographer wouldn’t bring their phone out with them. But it could just be an unfortunate coincidence that she forgot to grab it.

Happy to answer questions about the general area.

Welcome to Websleuths, unfeatheredbird, and thank you for your insight as a local.

Like SAMS, I'm wondering if it is normal for her to take her phone on walks. I don't always take mine when I walk my dogs although I know I should. I wish we knew. MOO

 

[SAMS]

I too would like to know who was on the guest list. Any strangers that could’ve showed up early and with bad intentions? MOO

 

[Momma4]

I always bring my phone when I go out, being old sucks. I always worry about falling

 

[PommyMommy]

Chief Ed Conley on Twitter
Updated photograph of missing Gloucester resident Abbie Flynn provided by family. @GloucesterPD @GDTnews @STheken

2:26 PM - 4 Feb 2020 from Gloucester, MA

Chief Ed Conley on Twitter
Update: @GloucesterPD has suspended the large scale physical search for Abbie. Officers remain vigilant around trails, coastline and harbor. The investigation continues. There is no indication of a crime or that the public is any in danger.
7:56 PM - 4 Feb 2020 from Gloucester, MA

 

[Spider92]

Hi all,

I’m a reader of Websleuths but haven’t ever posted. This case caught my eye because I’m from this general area and as a fellow photographer/nature lover know the area in which is vanished VERY well.

It is not a particularly isolated area, homes are close enough, although it is isolated in that it’s on a point out into the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a very wealthy neighborhood with year-round locals knowing each other well, but many houses are seasonally vacant.

The terrain can be very rocky and dangerous in some places, and there is ocean on three sides plus a pond (which was mostly frozen when I was there a couple of weeks ago).

It wouldn’t be impossible for someone to fall off the rocks at Eastern Point or into the pond (Niles Pond) if they went out on the ice. There are also some other inhospitable, rocky areas. The roads in and out are narrow and one-way in some places.

I hope this gives people a better picture of the area.

I find it strange that someone having a party who was also a photographer wouldn’t bring their phone out with them. But it could just be an unfortunate coincidence that she forgot to grab it.

Happy to answer questions about the general area.

Thanks for the details. I'm impressed with the size and scope of the LE response. Maybe it was a freak accident where she walked along some slippery rocks to see something in the water and fell in. What's the water like there? Flowing? Tides?

 

[The Night Watchman]

Thanks for the details. I'm impressed with the size and scope of the LE response. Maybe it was a freak accident where she walked along some slippery rocks to see something in the water and fell in. What's the water like there? Flowing? Tides?

Tide chart attached. High tide in Gloucester at 5:23PM. Went for a walk around 4 PM. I don’t make much of this, there would not be much current at Brave Cove. She is an avid walker and it seems unlikely that she would go near the water. The rocks are uneven and slippery, I fish off the shore in Gloucester. Although...

 

[Spider92]

Tide chart attached. High tide in Gloucester at 5:23PM. Went for a walk around 4 PM. I don’t make much of this, there would not be much current at Brave Cove. She is an avid walker and it seems unlikely that she would go near the water. The rocks are uneven and slippery, I fish off the shore in Gloucester. Although...

I tend to agree but just thinking she could have climbed down the rocks to look at an object, help a bird, remove some trash, etc.

 

[Courtyd15]

I live in Gloucester. It’s pretty cold, especially since we’re surrounded by ocean, so she must have been wearing a jacket. But in that part of town it also feels very safe so I wouldn’t be too surprised if she regularly left for walks without a phone.

But the thing that’s putting a knot in my stomach is that in 2018, a 52 year old woman also vanished from a town over, leaving all her belongings, and hasn’t been seen since. Flynn case freshens memories of Rockport disappearance 

 

[PommyMommy]

I live in Gloucester. It’s pretty cold, especially since we’re surrounded by ocean, so she must have been wearing a jacket. But in that part of town it also feels very safe so I wouldn’t be too surprised if she regularly left for walks without a phone.

But the thing that’s putting a knot in my stomach is that in 2018, a 52 year old woman also vanished from a town over, leaving all her belongings, and hasn’t been seen since. Flynn case freshens memories of Rockport disappearance

Yay, another, local! Welcome, Courtyd15.

I briefly looked at that case and know that LE believes Theresa is deceased. Unlike Abbie, Theresa did take her cellphone with her. Her rental home is about 5 miles from Abbie's home in Gloucester. خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

Here is Theresa's thread for anyone who wants to take a peek:

MA - MA - Theresa "Tracey" Coen, 52, Rockport, 17 March 2018

 

[SAMS]

I wonder why LE believed that Traceys disappearance wasn’t foul play.

 

[Wild Rose]

Very concerned. On visits, Gloucester is a wonderful fishing community. Beautiful harbors. Large rocks on coastline. Oldest seaport in America I believe. Fun, hardworking people. Wealthy homes off Eastern Point. Very cold water, even in the summer! If she tumbled off a rock and hit her head, the ocean sometimes unfortunately takes. The fishing families of Gloucester are well versed as families have lost generations through fishing shipwrecks during storms. The area has sloping hills down to the harbors, usually lots of local activity with fishing. I think Wicked Tuna films out of there. Many harbor restaurants and taverns and small shops. If suspicious activity was seen, no doubt it would be reported, as these families rely on their neighbors so much. Active, very hard working people that work with neighbors for generations. In light of those reports, I am thinking something besides nature was involved here... Gloucester has crime like everywhere, but I always felt very, very safe there walking.

 

[MntnHiker]

Yes, I'm also curious if it was typical for her to leave her phone at home on walks. I always take mine with me, but I also use it for music and mile tracking. And yes, in case I need it for safety reasons. But I guess if I wanted to just walk close to him and didn't need music or anything, I might leave it at home. It's also possible she meant to take it with her, forgot it, and didn't bother circling back to get it.

 

[unfeatheredbird]

Thanks for the details. I'm impressed with the size and scope of the LE response. Maybe it was a freak accident where she walked along some slippery rocks to see something in the water and fell in. What's the water like there? Flowing? Tides?

So the area is a cape and extends out into the water, so there is tidal water on all sides. There is a sand/rock beach on Brace Cove but on the sand portion of the beach it’s not particularly dangerous in non-inclement weather. There is a small beach between Niles Pond and Brace that can be very windy/wavey but it’s hard to imagine an adult being swept away in normal weather. Although there are definitely slippery, rocky areas on the outskirts of the sand. Lighthouse Cove is another beach in that area where the water goes up fairly high during high tide but it’s a pretty safe beach and not somewhere you would be likely to get swept away either. Eastern Point is a little more dangerous, there is a very long jetty called the “Dog Bar” that extends quiet far out. It’s a fairly well traveled area but I could definitely see the possibility of falling off if you slipped or went to lean over. I’m not sure how deep the water is there at high tide but deep enough. I’ve been on the Dog Bar numbers of times in winter weather and could see the possibility of slipping. The rocks are many and large if you hit your head it would be hard to recover. The ocean water right now is around 40 degrees so very very cold.

This area in general as others have mentioned is very safe. There is a major drug problem in Gloucester and MA in general but this would be an area of town where for the most part you wouldn’t see much associated crime. Lots of security cameras, neighbors who all know each other, private and one-way streets, some streets that are even marked as private but aren’t.

I’ve always felt very very safe walking around that neighborhood and it’s not unusual to see people walking around in winter.

 

[cluciano63]

Jmo...I am the same age and never take my phone when I walk around neighborhood with my dog...partly because I never seem to have pockets and have to use a cane, so I don’t have enough hands, and we don’t leave my complex after dark...just fyi...I figure there are people around if I fall. Hope she is okay...but not feeling good about it at this point...

 

[Beachinallday]

Hi I am a new member to websleuths because of this Abbie Flynn disappearance. Such a crazy mystery and want to help her family find her any way that I can.

I know this could all just be a terrible accident, but does anyone else find it a little curious that this is the 3rd 50 something year old woman to go missing under interesting circumstances in the cape Ann area since 2015?

Susan Nilsson 56 yrs old missing. Dec. 2015 in Rocky Neck area of Gloucester, MA

Theresa Coen 52 yrs old missing March 2018 in Rockport MA

Abbie Flynn 59 yrs old missing February 2020 in Farrington Avenue Area Gloucester MA

 

[Beachinallday]

It was published very early this morning. Looks like they've changed the headline and added to the article.

And, what they've added sounds a bit off, IMO.

[...]

Abbie Flynn told her son around 4 p.m. Sunday that she might go for a walk before hosting a Super Bowl party at 6 p.m., according to Gloucester Police Chief Edward G. Conley.

When two of her guests arrived for the party, they noticed that Flynn wasn’t home and they contacted the Gloucester Police Department.

Conley says there was evidence that showed she had been at home and had prepared for the party.

[...]

Crews are looking near the water and wooded areas because Flynn is said to be a wildlife enthusiast.

Her cellphone was located in her home but she may have taken a jacket.

[...]

Do we know if she took her camera? I heard she was a wildlife photographer?

 

[PommyMommy]

Do we know if she took her camera? I heard she was a wildlife photographer?

Welcome, Beachinallday. Glad to have you with us. No, I don't think we've heard whether or not she had her camera with her. MOO

 

[PommyMommy]

FEB 3, 2020
2:30 PM UPDATE: Avid photographer missing after preparing Super Bowl party
[...]

"Yesterday's weather was fairly mild," Conley said. "It wouldn't be uncommon for someone to walk on the rocks to take a photograph and perhaps slip or fall. I'm not saying that is what happened here, but is something that we consider."

[...]

Flynn's neighbor, RW, said none of it makes sense.

"I just can't see inviting everyone over, the oven's warm, and she left the phone in the house," RW said, who has known Flynn since she moved into her home.

[…]

Both Conley and RW confirmed that Flynn is an avid outdoor enthusiast and it is not uncommon for her to go on walks.

"She is a wildlife nature photographer," RW said. "She would hide in the woods and take photographs of coyotes and stuff."

[…]

"We know, because she was an avid outdoors enthusiast, that we are searching both areas around the water and our wooded areas as well," Conley said.

[...]

 

[Yemelyan]

I'm curious if Gloucester is her year-round residence or weekend/vacation home.

She has a really sweet face with a kind look about her. Praying there is a good resolution to this.

 

[Beachinallday]

Welcome, Beachinallday. Glad to have you with us. No, I don't think we've heard whether or not she had her camera with her. MOO

Ok thank you...I know it was a beautiful sky up here that night...I was actually in Rockport taking pictures around the same time. Just wondering if she decided to run out and try and get some good shots. That would make sense regarding her potentially being on the rocks and possibly slipping into ocean. The waves were pretty large in Rockport that night.