TheArtfulDetective
A voice for the missing
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2015
- Messages
- 2,949
- Reaction score
- 3,214
Wanda Medeiros Reine
Case Classification: Endangered Missing/Suspected Homicide
Missing Since: March 12, 1971
Location Last Seen: East Falmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Description:
- Date of Birth: circa 1946
- Age: 25
- Race: White/Caucasian
- Gender: Female
- Height: Unknown
- Weight: Unknown
- Hair Color: Brown
- Eye Color: Brown
- Nickname/Alias: Unknown
- Distinguishing Marks/Features: May wear eyeglasses
- Clothing & Personal Items: Possibly eyeglasses
- Identifiers: Unknown
Wanda was last seen in East Falmouth, Massachusetts on March 12, 1971. Her husband, Melvin J. Reine Sr., claimed he dropped her off at the bus station so she could go visit a cousin in Wareham, Massachusetts. Wanda has never been heard from again and Melvin did not report her missing for five days. Friends and family were skeptical that she would run away, leaving behind her two young sons.
Wanda's husband Melvin had a history of encounters with local law enforcement over the years. Paul Alwardt, a 17-year-old employee of Melvin's, disappeared shortly before he was to testify against Melvin in an arson case. He is still missing. That same year, John Busby, a police officer who had had run-ins with the Reine family, was shot twice in the face while on his way to work. He survived. Melvin was a suspect in Busby's shooting, but there was insufficient evidence to charge him at the time.
Melvin was declared legally incompetent and in 2001, he was committed to Taunton State Hospital after threatening to shoot a woman. He was diagnosed with Pick's Disease, a form of dementia characterized by personality changes, poor judgement, forgetfulness, social ineptitude. He died in November 2013, at the age of 74.
Melvin is the prime suspect in Wanda's case, as well as Paul Alwardt's. Investigators stated that Melvin's account of Wanda's disappearance "didn't check out" and they do not believe Wanda ever got on the bus the day she went missing. Authorities dug up several locations looking for Wanda's remains, including the Reine residence at 657 East Falmouth Highway, but no evidence was located. Wanda remains missing and is presumed deceased, but no one has ever been charged in her case.
Investigators:
- Falmouth Police Department: (508) 457-2527
Reference Case#: Not available
NCIC Case Number: Not available
Wanda Medeiros Reine – The Charley Project
1956DFMA - Wanda Medeiros Reine