MA MA - Simone Ridinger, 17, Sherborn, 2 Sept 1977

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After watching that Fox video posted previously in this thread, I am left with some more questions.

I was pausing the video to try to read the reports but was only able to read little bits and pieces... but found a couple interesting things in them.

First, I was able to identify the man who said he gave her a ride, he would have been about 70 years old at the time, and was about 79 when he came forward after reading an article about Simone's case in the paper. There is always a possibility that he was confused but I have no reason to believe that he had any ill intentions, or would be a suspect. Since LE clearly has this person's name, though, I think it would be useful to look through the State Trooper logs and see if that person DID receive a violation of some sort that morning.

One question I have had since I first read about this case, is why was Simone in a State Trooper's car? I wondered if maybe law enforcement regularly picked up hitchhikers back then?

If you look at the first report in the video (the handwritten one), near the top of the first page it says something about Department of Corrections. near the middle of the same page, it says:
"While I was there, I learned that Simone had a special visiting privilege for one day that afternoon. I waited around, to see if she showed up, but she didn’t."

The following also came from the same report but parts of it were outside of the camera's range so it is incomplete: (... = unknown words)

"to speak to….to see if he….find out why he had…to her. He said that he stopped…cause she had stopped writing to him…as knowing where she was, he had no idea and was quite concerned to find out she was missing. While I was there, I learned that Simone had a special visiting privilege for one day that afternoon. I waited around, to see if she showed up, but she didn’t. Upon my arrival to the Sherborn Police Station, I was informed by Det. Morrow that his daughter Kim had picked up Simone ten (or two) days prior to this date, at ... of Washington St and Maple St, and drove her to ... in Framingham.”

I am wondering if she was incarcerated at the time, although reports say she was last seen at the Rainbow Restaurant, her place of employment. I'm not sure what a special visiting privilege for one day would mean. It could also explain why she was in a State Trooper car, if she was released from somewhere for the day with a police escort?

My take on the other jumbled pieces of the report, is that her mother was trying to find out why someone had stopped by to see her unexpectedly and he said it was because she had stopped writing to him. So it could also have made sense that Simone was writing to and trying to visit someone who was incarcerated (and had a special privilege to do so), but that would mean the report probably didn't say "stopped by", if he was incarcerated. It kind of looks like her mother was saying she had information that Simone was scheduled to visit an incarcerated friend, and Simone's mother went to the jail to see if she showed up. Hard to say.

The restaurant she was seen walking toward (according to the video) was a former Howard Johnson or Ground Round (reporter doesn't seem to be sure which). There was a Howard Johnson at Main and Winter streets in Hyannis, and there was also a Ground Round but I cannot find an exact location of where it was. The restaurant where she was last seen walking was near an airport, I'm assuming the Barnstable Municipal Airport. I am trying to figure out if this was in walking distance to her mother's house, or if she would have had to hitchhike again to get to her mother's from where she was dropped off.

Can anyone make out any more of the report?

ETA: the elderly man claimed he dropped her off at the Hyannis Rotary... things may well have changed over the years but from what I can see now, the rotary doesn't have a location... it meets at country clubs, etc.
 
Bummer-she is not in NAMUS/IdentifyUS that I can find. ETA: I would email the detective and ask if there is DNA and dental records available. I would also ask if she is listed in the NAMUS database for John and Jane Doe's.

This MP (ridinger) is indeed not on Namus.
 
ETA: the elderly man claimed he dropped her off at the Hyannis Rotary... things may well have changed over the years but from what I can see now, the rotary doesn't have a location... it meets at country clubs, etc.

Just wanted to add that 'rotary' is also a rather Massachusetts-specific term for what others would call a 'traffic circle' or 'roundabout'. The only one in Hyannis appears to be the one near the Barnstable Municipal Airport. At the very least, this is what is being referred to, as her Charley Project page mentions the rotary being near the airport. According to this video, the rotary has recently been changed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNsHAvHdT-4

Just thought I'd add that. Having spent my entire life in this state, hearing the word 'rotary' makes me think of that before I even think of the Rotary Club, and I always forget that we're pretty unique with that.
 
35 Year Anniversary...

Simone has been missing for 35 years now.


------------------------------------

Simone Stephanie Ridinger
Missing since September 2, 1977 from Sherborn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics


Date Of Birth: January 5, 1960
Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2"; 120 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown eyes; dark blonde hair. She wore her hair very long at the time of her disappearance. Mole on back.
Jewelry: Ridinger frequently wore a large amount of jewelry, rings on every finger. A silver and turquoise necklace.
Dentals: Available
DNA: Available in CODIS.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Ridinger was last seen on September 2, 1977, as she left her job at a Natick cafe to hitchhike from Sherborn to Cape Cod, MA. Possibly dropped off at Hyannis rotary near airport.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Sherborn Police Department
Detective Richard Crosson
508-653-2424

Agency Case Number: ma0093700/

NamUs MP#2779

NCIC Number: M203410371


NCMEC Number: NCMC1060967

Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:

NamUs
The Doe Network: Case File 1255DFMA

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1255dfma.html
 
Thinking of Simone...please help me remember her as well! Something bad happened to this girl, we need to at the very least keep attention on her case so she can be found and so her family can have closure. She is NOT a runaway!
Praying for you tonright<3
 
Here is Jane Doe's NAMUS listing- I sent it to Detective Crosson to see if he had already reviewed the possible match. As you can see at the link, Simone is not listed for comparison.
https://

There is DNA for both and dental records for both, BUT Jane Doe's lower jaw was not located during the exhumation, so the prior examination could not be verified.

I will update as soon as I can!

Believe,

Have you ever heard back from Detective Crosson about Simone being compared to this UID?

Currently this UID has 47 ruleouts and Simone still is not listed, with the last update being in September.

Here is a side by side of the UID and Simone.



Here is Jane Doe's NAMUS listing- I sent it to Detective Crosson to see if he had already reviewed the possible match. As you can see at the link, Simone is not listed for comparison.
https://

There is DNA for both and dental records for both, BUT Jane Doe's lower jaw was not located during the exhumation, so the prior examination could not be verified.

I will update as soon as I can!

Believe,

Have you ever heard back from Detective Crosson about Simone being compared to this UID?

Currently this UID has 47 ruleouts and Simone still is not listed, with the last update being in September.

Here is a side by side of the UID and Simone.



Perry County UID.jpgSRidinger.jpg
 
Just wanted to add that 'rotary' is also a rather Massachusetts-specific term for what others would call a 'traffic circle' or 'roundabout'. The only one in Hyannis appears to be the one near the Barnstable Municipal Airport. At the very least, this is what is being referred to, as her Charley Project page mentions the rotary being near the airport. According to this video, the rotary has recently been changed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNsHAvHdT-4

Just thought I'd add that. Having spent my entire life in this state, hearing the word 'rotary' makes me think of that before I even think of the Rotary Club, and I always forget that we're pretty unique with that.

Yeah, the Hyannis rotary -- the traffic circle -- is a major Cape Cod landmark. It's a big one and has businesses all around it. There's even a small mall now, though I don't know whether it was there in 1977.

Here's a map, with the airport marked to the right. The rotary is that circle in the middle. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Barn...arnstable+Municipal+Airport,+Hyannis,+MA&z=17

This location is the transportation center of Cape Cod -- you can catch a bus to locations all over the Cape and beyond, or an airplane to Boston or New York City -- both scheduled flights and air taxi. Exactly what companies were providing service has varied over the years, but most of the time there's something. There are motels and restaurants where you could meet somebody. State route 28 provides a good chance to catch a ride with somebody, no matter where you're going. And there were lots of people catching rides with other people in 1977.

If she really was trying to get to anywhere on Cape Cod, that was a good place to catch a second ride. If she was meeting somebody, meeting at a restaurant on the rotary would be convenient from almost anywhere. If she really was running away, it was a good location to leave from.

She had only been missing for a couple of years when we moved to New England, but people were still talking about it. There have always been rumors across rural and suburban eastern MA that there was a rogue cop or trooper who was a serial rapist/killer who would attack women under the guise or helping them, and that this is why several such missing persons cases received so little attention.
 
Has anyone looked at 531ufco @ doe network as a possible match for Simone? Right age range, hair, height, weight and LOTS of jewelry. Let me know what you think. Thanks guys!

Did anybody ever submit this possible match? It looks like a definite possibility to me. It would mean she left home willingly and ran into trouble later, I suppose, but nothing about her disappearance precludes that.

Side by side attached. I flipped Simone's photo so she's facing the same direction as the reconstruction.
 

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The nose and face shape look a little off to me, but you really never know, it never hurts to submit the possibility. Not all reconstructions are going to be on the spot perfect.
 
Well there is a state trooper and a civilian involved in the transportation of her. Then she went poof at the rotary.

It's hard not to jump to a few conclusions, jmvho.

I will check my files to see if I received an email from the Detective-I am pretty sure it was ruled out but let me be certain.
 
After watching that Fox video posted previously in this thread, I am left with some more questions.

I was pausing the video to try to read the reports but was only able to read little bits and pieces... but found a couple interesting things in them.

First, I was able to identify the man who said he gave her a ride, he would have been about 70 years old at the time, and was about 79 when he came forward after reading an article about Simone's case in the paper. There is always a possibility that he was confused but I have no reason to believe that he had any ill intentions, or would be a suspect. Since LE clearly has this person's name, though, I think it would be useful to look through the State Trooper logs and see if that person DID receive a violation of some sort that morning.

One question I have had since I first read about this case, is why was Simone in a State Trooper's car? I wondered if maybe law enforcement regularly picked up hitchhikers back then?

If you look at the first report in the video (the handwritten one), near the top of the first page it says something about Department of Corrections. near the middle of the same page, it says:
"While I was there, I learned that Simone had a special visiting privilege for one day that afternoon. I waited around, to see if she showed up, but she didn’t."

The following also came from the same report but parts of it were outside of the camera's range so it is incomplete: (... = unknown words)

"to speak to….to see if he….find out why he had…to her. He said that he stopped…cause she had stopped writing to him…as knowing where she was, he had no idea and was quite concerned to find out she was missing. While I was there, I learned that Simone had a special visiting privilege for one day that afternoon. I waited around, to see if she showed up, but she didn’t. Upon my arrival to the Sherborn Police Station, I was informed by Det. Morrow that his daughter Kim had picked up Simone ten (or two) days prior to this date, at ... of Washington St and Maple St, and drove her to ... in Framingham.”

I am wondering if she was incarcerated at the time, although reports say she was last seen at the Rainbow Restaurant, her place of employment. I'm not sure what a special visiting privilege for one day would mean. It could also explain why she was in a State Trooper car, if she was released from somewhere for the day with a police escort?

My take on the other jumbled pieces of the report, is that her mother was trying to find out why someone had stopped by to see her unexpectedly and he said it was because she had stopped writing to him. So it could also have made sense that Simone was writing to and trying to visit someone who was incarcerated (and had a special privilege to do so), but that would mean the report probably didn't say "stopped by", if he was incarcerated. It kind of looks like her mother was saying she had information that Simone was scheduled to visit an incarcerated friend, and Simone's mother went to the jail to see if she showed up. Hard to say.

The restaurant she was seen walking toward (according to the video) was a former Howard Johnson or Ground Round (reporter doesn't seem to be sure which). There was a Howard Johnson at Main and Winter streets in Hyannis, and there was also a Ground Round but I cannot find an exact location of where it was. The restaurant where she was last seen walking was near an airport, I'm assuming the Barnstable Municipal Airport. I am trying to figure out if this was in walking distance to her mother's house, or if she would have had to hitchhike again to get to her mother's from where she was dropped off.

Can anyone make out any more of the report?

ETA: the elderly man claimed he dropped her off at the Hyannis Rotary... things may well have changed over the years but from what I can see now, the rotary doesn't have a location... it meets at country clubs, etc.

Bump for page two...
 
Simone Ridinger - Facebook Page

"Natick: Bish family helps postal service remember missing children" - June 16, 2015

http://sherborn.wickedlocal.com/article/20150616/NEWS/150616824/?Start=1

Among them was Simone Ridinger of Sherborn. Ridinger was hitchhiking from her job at a restaurant in Sherborn to Cape Cod on Sept. 2, 1977 and has been missing since.

Her sister, Betsy Bailey, was at the post office to mail a letter on Tuesday when she came across the event. Bailey has lived in Holliston for more than 20 years and owns a business in downtown Natick.

When asked how she keeps her hopes up, Bailey said &#8220;I just think about her in a good way.&#8221; Ridinger&#8217;s case is still open with Sherborn Police.
 

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