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

[steff13]

I'm just perusing this story, and found this blog. I don't understand where the conclusion that Joan was murdered by a neighbor came from?

http://truth-link.org/summary.html

 

[Skigirl]

I'm just perusing this story, and found this blog. I don't understand where the conclusion that Joan was murdered by a neighbor came from?

http://truth-link.org/summary.html

You are in good company!

 

[jgfitzge]

I'm just perusing this story, and found this blog. I don't understand where the conclusion that Joan was murdered by a neighbor came from?

http://truth-link.org/summary.html

You are correct, it is a bit confusing when he introduces the Federal expansion of Minuteman Park. Okay, we get that since there was a person of interest from an agency discussing property valuations with several neighbors, including the Rischs. Then the author just plops down the plot plan for Springdale Estates where the Baxters have a plot and concludes that is where she is buried? So was her demise due to a land dispute? I don't see it. I mentioned before there appears to be missing pages to that file. I have long speculated, IMO that the author left this information out because he was afraid a legal action that would be brought against him personally. Supposedly, the author spent 90K and all he got was this pdf file? If true, then he got ripped off. There has to be more.

 

[liz b.]

I've been leaning towards a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, but with the beer cans and the car damage, I'm starting to think that perhaps Joan had a secret drinking problem, injured herself while intoxicated, and wandered off.

I get the vibe that Joan had to been feeling some kind of extreme mental anguish/guilt. It's maybe why she walked away from her house, and just kept going. jmo, though.

 

[Kskcman]

About #6: I came across a Boston Globe article from 1962 that said the unidentified two tone car that 2 neighbors saw parked in the Risch's driveway had actually been reported stolen (!!?!) and was later found, but with no evidence linking it to Joan. I'm surprised I hadn't read about this in other web discussions. It was apparently a dead end, but still super suspicious that a stolen car would be seen in the driveway of a woman who has gone missing, on the day she disappeared.

 

[Kskcman]

Another tidbit I dug up that I hadn't read before- police, for a time, speculated that she had been stalked by an attacker before he made his move. The reasoning behind this is that the Risch house was in a somewhat rural area, but that the road it was on was actually widely used by military personnel traveling to a nearby base. I guess they interviewed hundreds of people connected with the base who were not present from the hours of 1-5 on the day she disappeared (this didn't turn up anything). The other fact that led the police down this trail was a report by a neighbor. Her garage was situated so that you could see into the Risch's yard from the garage. Several days before Joan disappeared she heard her garage door open and close. When she went to check on the noise, no one was there. The same thing happened around 3pm the day Joan disappeared. The theory goes that a stalker could have been using the garage as a base to spy on Joan.

No theory about this case makes total sense, but I tend to believe the attacker angle. If she was seen running between her car and house, that seems like panic from danger rather than dealing with a miscarriage, complications from an abortion, or any other medical issue. Plus you have fingerprints in blood that are unidentified.

 

[liz b.]

Another tidbit I dug up that I hadn't read before- police, for a time, speculated that she had been stalked by an attacker before he made his move. The reasoning behind this is that the Risch house was in a somewhat rural area, but that the road it was on was actually widely used by military personnel traveling to a nearby base. I guess they interviewed hundreds of people connected with the base who were not present from the hours of 1-5 on the day she disappeared (this didn't turn up anything). The other fact that led the police down this trail was a report by a neighbor. Her garage was situated so that you could see into the Risch's yard from the garage. Several days before Joan disappeared she heard her garage door open and close. When she went to check on the noise, no one was there. The same thing happened around 3pm the day Joan disappeared. The theory goes that a stalker could have been using the garage as a base to spy on Joan.

No theory about this case makes total sense, but I tend to believe the attacker angle. If she was seen running between her car and house, that seems like panic from danger rather than dealing with a miscarriage, complications from an abortion, or any other medical issue. Plus you have fingerprints in blood that are unidentified.

So he attacked her and let her go ? Or, you do't believe that was her that many motorists spotted, walking along miles from her home ?

 

[jgfitzge]

About #6: I came across a Boston Globe article from 1962 that said the unidentified two tone car that 2 neighbors saw parked in the Risch's driveway had actually been reported stolen (!!?!) and was later found, but with no evidence linking it to Joan. I'm surprised I hadn't read about this in other web discussions. It was apparently a dead end, but still super suspicious that a stolen car would be seen in the driveway of a woman who has gone missing, on the day she disappeared.

Hello, that Boston Globe article would be the first I ever heard of the two-tone car being a stolen car?? This is the first time I ever heard that story. Actually, I am not sure on the accuracy of the story. The two tone car was seen by the neighbor girl as she was coming home from school at about 2:40/2:45. Then an older neighbor was driving down Old Bedford Rd, when the two-tone car was coming out of the driveway. Then there was another report of the two-tone car on Sunnyvale, a few streets away that afternoon. Then there was the sighting of the guy putting branches into a two-tone car later that afternoon. But the most intriguing sighting was the milkman who saw the car in the driveway a week before Joan's disappearance. He walked right by it on his delivery. Did I get all the reported sightings of the car IMO, the two-tone car always held the key to this whole mystery. Your story adds another log on the fire...IMO, I have always wondered why the police always dismissed the eye witness accounts and said the witnesses were mistaken their accounts with an undercover police car that was at the Risch's after 4:30? Now, IMO I find LE's version to be not credible. They certainly don't have a rebuttal for the milkman's account?

I swear sometimes this case takes on all the characteristics and theories of the JFK assassination!

 

[jgfitzge]

Another tidbit I dug up that I hadn't read before- police, for a time, speculated that she had been stalked by an attacker before he made his move. The reasoning behind this is that the Risch house was in a somewhat rural area, but that the road it was on was actually widely used by military personnel traveling to a nearby base. I guess they interviewed hundreds of people connected with the base who were not present from the hours of 1-5 on the day she disappeared (this didn't turn up anything). The other fact that led the police down this trail was a report by a neighbor. Her garage was situated so that you could see into the Risch's yard from the garage. Several days before Joan disappeared she heard her garage door open and close. When she went to check on the noise, no one was there. The same thing happened around 3pm the day Joan disappeared. The theory goes that a stalker could have been using the garage as a base to spy on Joan.

No theory about this case makes total sense, but I tend to believe the attacker angle. If she was seen running between her car and house, that seems like panic from danger rather than dealing with a miscarriage, complications from an abortion, or any other medical issue. Plus you have fingerprints in blood that are unidentified.

Very intriguing theory about Joan being stalked. BTW, just wondering if you are local, like myself? You know the "scuttlebutt" always has been it was a local resident...

 

[4SAM]

But if an undercover cop was involved and there was bloody fingerprints, wouldn't those prints be in the system?

 

[Kskcman]

Very intriguing theory about Joan being stalked. BTW, just wondering if you are local, like myself? You know the "scuttlebutt" always has been it was a local resident...

I actually live in MD, but I have been fascinated with this case, probably because I'm about Joan's age and stage in life. Plus I'm a teacher and I have way too much time on my hands in the summer, lol.

 

[Kskcman]

Hello, that Boston Globe article would be the first I ever heard of the two-tone car being a stolen car?? This is the first time I ever heard that story. Actually, I am not sure on the accuracy of the story.

I'll try to link the article. I paid $10 for a month long subscription to archives of the Boston Globe, and the case got a ton of coverage in '61-'62. I'm not sure if the reporting was accurate or not, because that seems like such a huge piece of the puzzle that didn't seem to get mentioned again. I dug up from another article that an anonymous caller had tipped the police off to the first 3 letters/numbers of the license plate of the unidentified car, which I assume is how they connected the stolen car to the one in the Risch driveway. But the article doesn't say if they located the person who stole it, and I cant find anything about the stolen car in any subsequent reporting.

 

[jgfitzge]

But if an undercover cop was involved and there was bloody fingerprints, wouldn't those prints be in the system?

4Sam, hey, are you reading my notes?...ha ha...If you read between the lines on some of my postings I hint at this theory...

 

[jgfitzge]

I actually live in MD, but I have been fascinated with this case, probably because I'm about Joan's age and stage in life. Plus I'm a teacher and I have way too much time on my hands in the summer, lol.

Welcome and so I guess we won't be seeing you after Labor Day..ha ha! Yes, whenever the Globe, Herald or T.V does one of their Massachusetts Top 10 Mysteries or Unsolved stories this is near the top of the list. As I stated before, there is a lot of information about this case, yet at the same time not enough. It has so many directions one can go, like a mind maze...Well, if you got the $10. then by all means, please give us link so we can even get more confused about this case. However, If you post link anything having to do with Bigfoot or aliens being responsible then I may have to leave the site.

 

[scruffydog]

I wish that trash had been saved as evidence. Imagine what the DNA on those beer bottles could tell about the case!!

 

[Coffee56]

The following link contains pics of the kitchen. These pics have caused me to go hmm? more than a few times. Studying them is not easy on my phone so let me know what you see. Am I reading too much into the kitchen?

https://the-line-up.com/joan-risch

The roll of paper towels on the floor in a kitchen where there isn't much out of place. They aren't the type of thing you leave on the floor with a small child. There is something on the floor in the blood. Anyone know what it is? My best guess is she was putting a the new roll on when whatever happened happened. Maybe they were knocked off in a struggle or she dropped them and just hadn't picked them up yet. Probably means nothing.

The trash can. Not a trash can. It's a pail. I can imagine no housewife using a pail as a trash can. The little square under the cupboard trashcans, yes, but not a pail. With kids she'd be emptying constantly. The items in/on the pail look placed there.

The kitchen pics scream to me that the pail holds the answers. Is there an inventory of the pail?

 

[Traymar]

About the phone: I could believe she pulled it out while falling if it were a shorter (or straight) cord. As it is, I think it had to have been done deliberately. You would have to be holding onto the cord closer to the base, otherwise there would be too much slack. Am I making sense?
All MOO.

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[liz b.]

The following link contains pics of the kitchen. These pics have caused me to go hmm? more than a few times. Studying them is not easy on my phone so let me know what you see. Am I reading too much into the kitchen?

https://the-line-up.com/joan-risch

The roll of paper towels on the floor in a kitchen where there isn't much out of place. They aren't the type of thing you leave on the floor with a small child. There is something on the floor in the blood. Anyone know what it is? My best guess is she was putting a the new roll on when whatever happened happened. Maybe they were knocked off in a struggle or she dropped them and just hadn't picked them up yet. Probably means nothing.

The trash can. Not a trash can. It's a pail. I can imagine no housewife using a pail as a trash can. The little square under the cupboard trashcans, yes, but not a pail. With kids she'd be emptying constantly. The items in/on the pail look placed there.

The kitchen pics scream to me that the pail holds the answers. Is there an inventory of the pail?

Is it empty beer/liquor bottles in the pail ?

 

[4SAM]

4Sam, hey, are you reading my notes?...ha ha...If you read between the lines on some of my postings I hint at this theory...

I am reading, just this story is so twisted. Part of me believes there is some sort of coverup. Another, could she had just walked away from life. Just weird.

 

[Traymar]

Is it empty beer/liquor bottles in the pail ?

Yes, and supposedly accounted for. However, it seems odd to me that neither adult emptied the can that night before. It really is overflowing, and in my house you don't just add garbage to a full can, ykwim? Seems like this would have been emptied. Why wasn't it?

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