It's strange ; the year that she disappeared is listed as 1961 on some sites, and 1962 on others.
The Lewiston (Maine) paper for 2/21/1963 has an article. Some interesting points :
There was, as per this report, not a lot of blood. " Mostly drops,spots and smears -- consistent,perhaps, with a nosebleed,or a head injury ."
The blood droplets were found from the baby's room to the kitchen, and also outside on the side of her car.
At 2:15 p.m. a neighbor saw her outside by her car.
At 3:20 p.m. a second car was seen parked in the driveway.
At 4:00 p. m. her daughter came back from the neighbor's house to find her gone.
The library book records were deemed so important that they were handed over to the District Attorney. Some of the book themes were :
An orphan girl vanishes. Joan had been orphaned as a little girl in Brooklyn.
A woman flees her home to begin a new life.
A wife disappears without a trace.
More info at : news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19630220&id
Weird case. If she staged her own disappearance, how would she know that her little daughter wouldn't have come back sooner from the neighbor's house, and caught her ? Did she have a visitor that afternoon, who parked their car in her driveway ? I'm assuming the neighbor saw quite a bit...
People could not obtain divorces back then merely because they felt unhappy ; they had to show proof of infidelity or mental illness. Or they could move to places like Nevada, set up residency, and then file for divorce.
Different world back then. This is a case to get pulled into ...