MA MA - Joan Risch, 30, Lincoln, 24 Oct 1961

[liz b.]

Please refresh my memory? Was her son asleep or awake?

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Great question ! IDK...

 

[jgfitzge]

Great question ! IDK...

Asleep when? I am certain I read where he was awake and crying when his sister was dropped off by Mrs Barker. That is what she (Lillian) said to Mrs.Barker. How long he was awake, is anyone's guess.

 

[Skigirl]

That being said, it's interesting that the first LEO who went to the house thought it was a suicide he was investigating, right off the bat. BB, the neighbor, was the one who called the police. Why would that LEO think of suicide, rather than an accident or a violent crime ? Did BB say something about Joan's state of mind that day ?

Interesting question. BB's statement to police portrayed her as level-headed, a good mother, no red flags that day, so I doubt that she said anything that would make LE immediately assume suicide. Maybe the LEO made the assumption because violent crime was very rare in Lincoln, so suicide would be a more plausible explanation?

 

[jgfitzge]

Interesting question. BB's statement to police portrayed her as level-headed, a good mother, no red flags that day, so I doubt that she said anything that would make LE immediately assume suicide. Maybe the LEO made the assumption because violent crime was very rare in Lincoln, so suicide would be a more plausible explanation?

I agree with your second statement about the LEO assumption. I will add something to think about, that if the LEO was assuming suicide, what he observed passing through the kitchen may not have may not have struck him as being the scene of a murder or violent struggle. I know it is getting into someone's head but it is something to ponder.

 

[dogperson]

Please refresh my memory? Was her son asleep or awake?

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She had put him down for a nap but he was awake and crying when the neighbor came over.

 

[puzzleme]

To me that could mean a struggle?

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[jgfitzge]

To me that could mean a struggle?

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Yes, could be...On the other hand I believe (?) and I don't have the docs right in front of me that he needed to be changed? If I am wrong on that reason please correct me. Also, from personal experience, when you put the 2 yr old down for a nap around noon, you expect them to wake up in a couple of hours. They sometimes cry to get your attention.

 

[puzzleme]

Very True! Personal knowledge tells me it's so😊 What if the target (if it's a murder) was the child and a struggle ensued?

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[jgfitzge]

Hello All,

Tell me if I am making more of this observation than is warranted. That being said, I found it a little curious and my gut is telling me it could be a reporter's hint that there is more going on...

Has anyone noticed that after the initial few days, the newspaper accounts described Joan Risch as "attractive." Maybe it is the old Freud saying that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...I suppose they still are today but back then Crime reporters were very tight with local PE.

 

[liz b.]

Hello All,

Tell me if I am making more of this observation than is warranted. That being said, I found it a little curious and my gut is telling me it could be a reporter's hint that there is more going on...

Has anyone noticed that after the initial few days, the newspaper accounts described Joan Risch as "attractive." Maybe it is the old Freud saying that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...I suppose they still are today but back then Crime reporters were very tight with local PE.

Maybe...something that stood out for me was Martin Risch saying that his wife was "sympathetic to travelling salesmen "... just something that made me go hmmmm.

 

[Skigirl]

Hello All,

Tell me if I am making more of this observation than is warranted. That being said, I found it a little curious and my gut is telling me it could be a reporter's hint that there is more going on...

Has anyone noticed that after the initial few days, the newspaper accounts described Joan Risch as "attractive." Maybe it is the old Freud saying that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...I suppose they still are today but back then Crime reporters were very tight with local PE.

I think that missing person's articles often commented on how pretty or handsome the missing person was... they still do sometimes, as in, "the pretty, popular teenager went missing..." though less-so now that there's more awareness of the disparities in reporting for attractive young white women versus others.

ETA: Just after writing this I checked in on Suzanne Jovin's thread and found a perfect example: http://www.aetv.com/blog/real-crime...the-1998-murder-of-yale-student-suzanne-jovin

 

[4SAM]

Maybe when they say attractive/pretty they are trying to get across the point that the person would be noticed more that just the average normal looking person

 

[jgfitzge]

Maybe...something that stood out for me was Martin Risch saying that his wife was "sympathetic to travelling salesmen "... just something that made me go hmmmm.

Liz, I am with you on that one. I kept going back to that comment and asking myself, "why would he toss out a comment like that?' I keep telling myself to not to get to "conspiratorial" about every nuance and comment otherwise the Risch Mystery will have as many books and theories as the JFK Assassination!.

 

[jgfitzge]

Maybe when they say attractive/pretty they are trying to get across the point that the person would be noticed more that just the average normal looking person

Sure that is a possibility, 4Sam. I think the example Skigirl gives is more common where it is attributed to a third party, like "friends and family describe ----- as beautiful and devoted to her children."

 

[jgfitzge]

As it relates to the Risch Mystery (or any story for that matter) Does anyone have know what happens to a reporter's notes and files when they pass away? Are they considered "work product?" Do they go back to the newspaper or media outlet? Does the family keep them?

 

[sandysleuth]

A Quinn Martin production, with Jan Brady as the child who sees crime scene! Thank you for this link. It is a deadringer for the Joan Risch crime scene! I also thought of the movie Revolutionary Road, which was based on a 1961 book - indeed!

 

[sandysleuth]

"Cutting grass before an abortion" Exactly, yet points to why she has no time for another child! I am also very suspicious of no obvious scene where this abortion took place in the house - there should have been a place where it looked like she was lying down for this procedure. I like the intruder abduction theory, where she gets away, but is picked up again after no one nearby to witness.

 

[Skigirl]

As it relates to the Risch Mystery (or any story for that matter) Does anyone have know what happens to a reporter's notes and files when they pass away? Are they considered "work product?" Do they go back to the newspaper or media outlet? Does the family keep them?

I'm not sure about reporters who are employed full-time, but I know with other pieces, like editorials, long-form New Yorker articles and the like, notes and drafts are retained by the estate.

 

[Skigirl]

"Cutting grass before an abortion" Exactly, yet points to why she has no time for another child! I am also very suspicious of no obvious scene where this abortion took place in the house - there should have been a place where it looked like she was lying down for this procedure. I like the intruder abduction theory, where she gets away, but is picked up again after no one nearby to witness.

Agree -- there would be other signs of an abortion having taken place someplace where she would have been lying down. I also think she would have dropped her kids off for part of the day -- preplanned, not just walking them across the street -- at her friend's house or found something to do with them to get them out of the house so she could rest afterward for at least a couple hours. I don't think she would have had an abortion at home, said 'bye' to the abortion doctor, and then started doing chores like taking out the trash. She was clearly in the kitchen when whatever happened happened. Her apron was found in the hallway just outside the kitchen. I think she was puttering around preparing a meal or cleaning while her son was napping.

Back in those days, women who stayed home spent a lot more time in the kitchen, not just at mealtimes. They prepped food for later, people's meals cooked for longer and were started much earlier, unlike now (in my household, anyway) when dinner prep starts 15-30 minutes before dinnertime. My grandmother (who was just slightly older) and my mother (just slightly younger) both oftentimes started dinner prep in the early afternoon (until my mother went back to work), depending on what was on the menu. Or they would prep casseroles in the afternoon that weren't even intended for that night. Lots of puttering in the kitchen, often wearing aprons.

 

[liz b.]

Since Joan's parents were killed in a house fire described as "strange" I think it's possible they were murdered. I wonder if the key to Joan's disappearance lies in her past ?