MD MD - Judith 'Judy' O'Donnell, 19, Baltimore, 30 Nov 1980

[superunknown]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/39dfmd.html

Judith Erin O'Donnell
Missing since November 30, 1980 from Baltimore, Maryland.
Classification: Involuntary
Vital Statistics Date Of Birth: April 28, 1961
Age at Time of Disappearance: 19 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'10; 140 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; blue eyes.
Marks, Scars: Her tonsils and adenoids have been removed. She has a scar under the chin and a scar on her left arm.
AKA: Judith Tuffy; Tuffy O'Donnell

Circumstances of Disappearance
O'Donnell was last seen in Baltimore, MD on November 30, 1980. She had a bus ticket to return to her home in New York City's Greenwich Village area that day.
Foul play is suspected in O' Donnell's case.
Investigators
If you have any information on this case, please contact:
New York State Police
Violent Crime Analysis Program
800-445-2500
E-Mail
NIC #M700221803
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information: New York State Police Department

ALSO SEE PHOTOS AT THE NY STATE POLICE SITE and CHARLEY:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/o/odonnell_judith.html

http://www.troopers.state.ny.us/Wan...w.cfm?ID=fa3483b8-9b7f-46d5-81ab-111c7d735e92

 

[superunknown]

I wanted to post this person here, because I used to have an acquaintance with someone in this person's family. They were very upset by this disappearance. Judy was tall, so I am wondering if there are any Does out there that may fit her description?

 

[Teresa Larson]

Do they know if Judith ever boarded the bus and got off in nyc? Is it possible she did get there and disappeared from that area?

 

[superunknown]

Do they know if Judith ever boarded the bus and got off in nyc? Is it possible she did get there and disappeared from that area?

No one really knows. This is what I can tell you: I became acquainted with a relative of Judy's on another discussion forum totally unrelated to missing persons, etc. a few years ago. This person told me about Judith going missing because I had ties to law enforcement at that time. We've since lost touch but I've always remembered this story and was glad to see it online now.

From what I remember, I believe Judith's family lived in Maryland. Judith had gone to live in NYC and was living in the East village at the time. The relative alluded to her MAYBE being involved in drugs or prostitution on a small scale while in NY. From what I remember being told, Judith came home (I think it was for Thanksgiving?) and then never made it back to her apt. in NY.

 

[meggilyweggily]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/o/odonnell_judith.html

 

[Teresa Larson]

No one really knows. This is what I can tell you: I became acquainted with a relative of Judy's on another discussion forum totally unrelated to missing persons, etc. a few years ago. This person told me about Judith going missing because I had ties to law enforcement at that time. We've since lost touch but I've always remembered this story and was glad to see it online now.

From what I remember, I believe Judith's family lived in Maryland. Judith had gone to live in NYC and was living in the East village at the time. The relative alluded to her MAYBE being involved in drugs or prostitution on a small scale while in NY. From what I remember being told, Judith came home (I think it was for Thanksgiving?) and then never made it back to her apt. in NY.

Was a missing person report made in Maryland and NYC? Have you searched the unidentified females in both states? I would also check to see if she was ever incarcerated in NYC

 

[superunknown]

Was a missing person report made in Maryland and NYC? Have you searched the unidentified females in both states? I would also check to see if she was ever incarcerated in NYC

I believe it was filed in NY because that is where she lived. I have not had a chance to seach Does in NY and MD yet. I am hoping her height will help. Are incarceration records accessible to the public?

 

[Teresa Larson]

I believe it was filed in NY because that is where she lived. I have not had a chance to seach Does in NY and MD yet. I am hoping her height will help. Are incarceration records accessible to the public?

This is a useful link. If you go to the different state web sites there are also other things you can look up besides missing people.

http://www.maricopa.gov/Medex/Unidentified/Helpful_Links.aspx

I am sure there would be a way to find out if she was incarcerated

 

[marylandmissing]

It's only filed in NY. Baltimore city cold-case unit does know of the case, as well as the Medical Examiner's office...The MD Center for Missing Children also have a case file on her.

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

http://www.facebook.com/groups/LookingForJudy/ is a facebook page dedicated to finding my sister. Any help anyone can provide will be most appreciated. It has been a long time, but she is not forgotten. My mother has a DNA sample available in Albany - and just yesterday I recommended to her that she use hair from Judy's baby book to provide a clean DNA sample of Judy. @rmf - was that me on fc or sj? thanks for keeping it alive.

 

[Balthazar]

Maureen, please tell us as much as you can about the circumstances of your sisters disappearance - do you know what she was wearing or any jewelry, piercings or whatever? If she made it to NY? Anything you can think of that could help us figure out where she might be. Thanks!

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

as stated correctly by previous poster - it was a family gathering for thanksgiving, 1980. It was a particularly emotionally charged thanksgiving - one sister was presenting her son, the first grandchild on that side of the family, mulatto, born out of wedlock in a baltimore catholic family. There were also 2 50th wedding anniversaries that year -neither of which my sisters were invited to attend. Judy Hitch-hiked to MN to attend one of them. My sister Judy was also uninvited to be a part of my brother's wedding the year before. Judy showed up in Ellicott City Maryland (at an uncle's home) with her bags of clothes (think those big honkin' army bags). She was more or less living on the street, though all the sites claim she was living in the Village. She was an apiring actress/singer - and had spent time at Covenant House. She had also been arrested for prostitution more than once. Her favorite haunt in the City was Studio 54.

I cannot remember what she was wearing that day. I believe she did not have pierced ears. She did have a scar under her chin and one on her left arm. She had a discolored left central incisor (top), and had braces - but did not wear her retainer, so her bucked teeth and split between the two fronts came back.

I am certain. CERTAIN I saw her at one of Reagan's innaugural parties in January 1981. I was home alone - and didn't think to call the Reagan library to get copies until 2005. The copies of all the TV coverage I received did not have her on any of them (6 hours or so worth of tape).

Judy is 5'11", dark steel blue eyes, with yellow ring around the iris. She was known to hitch hike, often. She had long, thin (but shapely) athletic legs.

As far as we know, she never made it back to NYC. I wish I could be of more help.

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

My parents have been active over the years in Jane Doe's, as have I vis a vis the internet - as much as possible. I have also called, whenever possible, when there have been mass-murder cases - to see if there are any possibilities or jane doe's that match Judy's description. We just want closure - good or bad - closure.

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

haven't been able to reply to this thread for a while, not sure why. I'm still looking - have added a facebook page, and am trying to get press to latch on to this also. I hate that there are so many jane / john does & so many people like me, desperately looking for answers. Why can't we connect ?

 

[carbuff]

haven't been able to reply to this thread for a while, not sure why. I'm still looking - have added a facebook page, and am trying to get press to latch on to this also. I hate that there are so many jane / john does & so many people like me, desperately looking for answers. Why can't we connect ?

Hugs, I'm sorry you can't find your sister. LE does their best and we try to do what we can, but so many records have been lost over the years, and it's such a big country, and there are so many missing...it's tragic.

On the thread for one of our unidentified people, a woman who died in Arkansas, someone suggested your sister as a possible match. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/81ufar.html

Do you think it's a possibility?

Here's the other woman's thread on WS: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45612

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

It's so frustrating - trying all the time, looking at does, calling places - and when the investigator, supposedly on the case, doesn't return phone calls, I just want to SCREAM. I called about a doe in TX this morning. Very nice gentleman handling the case (she was found in 1986) ruled out Judy immediately, because of an impacted and inverted tooth. When I asked if her detail page on the Missing adults part of Namus could have Judy ruled out he said he couldn't. So why doesn't the damn NYS investigator? Or why can't I?

I just needed to vent. Thanks for bearing with me. The image of that doe kept me up all night long.

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

Hugs, I'm sorry you can't find your sister. LE does their best and we try to do what we can, but so many records have been lost over the years, and it's such a big country, and there are so many missing...it's tragic.

On the thread for one of our unidentified people, a woman who died in Arkansas, someone suggested your sister as a possible match. http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/81ufar.html

Do you think it's a possibility?

Here's the other woman's thread on WS: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45612

the eyes and chin aren't right. The lifestyle, the nose all look good - but this isn't my sister. I appreciate the reach out - more than you can imagine. The lifestyle, height - all good matches - the hair is also not consistent with what she could do with hers (I know - boy did I TRY to get mine to pouf up like that in college at that time - and nope, never could. Not with pin-straight hair, no matter how many times I permed it!)

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

something that hasn't really been said is that she probably took off for a while. There are reported sightings (I KNOW that I saw her at one of Reagan's inaugural balls in Jan, 1981 - called the library and got as much coverage as they had to see if we could identify anyone she was dancing with, to no avail, looked through 20 hours of tape) - others claimed to have seen her in New Jersey, and in Syracuse, NY after the 1980 date.

She was a runaway with a long history of prostitution, drug use, mischief. There was too much pride in my parents heart to set aside all of the bad in favor of finding their daughter. They wanted me and my older brother to have a shot at a "normal" high school life. what a crock of ****. for the first couple of years, we were told to tell people she was a teller at a bank in NYC.

I have been resolving my own anger toward my parents for not seeking judy immediately, and for not doing more over the years.
:banghead::furious:
Enough of my drama. I just want my sister. Or her remains. I wish there was some way of getting this solved.

 

[carbuff]

something that hasn't really been said is that she probably took off for a while. There are reported sightings (I KNOW that I saw her at one of Reagan's inaugural balls in Jan, 1981 - called the library and got as much coverage as they had to see if we could identify anyone she was dancing with, to no avail, looked through 20 hours of tape) - others claimed to have seen her in New Jersey, and in Syracuse, NY after the 1980 date.

She was a runaway with a long history of prostitution, drug use, mischief. There was too much pride in my parents heart to set aside all of the bad in favor of finding their daughter. They wanted me and my older brother to have a shot at a "normal" high school life. what a crock of ****. for the first couple of years, we were told to tell people she was a teller at a bank in NYC.

I have been resolving my own anger toward my parents for not seeking judy immediately, and for not doing more over the years.
:banghead::furious:
Enough of my drama. I just want my sister. Or her remains. I wish there was some way of getting this solved.

I'll keep looking for her. She's got to be out there somewhere.

Did she have interests, hobbies, or skills that might have lead her a particular direction or into a particular field if she tried to get away from drugs and prostitution?

 

[JudysSisterMaureen]

I'll keep looking for her. She's got to be out there somewhere.

Did she have interests, hobbies, or skills that might have lead her a particular direction or into a particular field if she tried to get away from drugs and prostitution?

she could sing, she could play the piano, and she was gorgeous. Long-legged and beautiful. The mug shot doesn't do her justice. She was a high priced call girl, not just a street girl, though she did that too. She went to NYC to become a *star* and we all know how well that works out for most young people with a pipe dream and no skills, education, or connections.

She danced the night away at studio 54 regularly. She hitch hiked - not that it's a skill, but she was a determined soul - when told she could not go to my grandparents 50th in MN she stuck out her thumb and hitch hiked from NY to MN. (adding to the danger of her lifestyle, hanging around truck stops, looking for tricks, etc.)

I'm pretty sure that there was a Catholic priest involved in her going crazy, for lack of better way of putting it. In my small hometown, 5 or so priests were defrocked, 3 of whom taught at the Catholic school where we all went. One was defrocked for getting young girls drunk. My parents forbade me from getting in touch with him. Cue: W.T.F?

She was doing drugs, getting drunk, turning tricks before she left for NYC. One morning, 2 years before her disappearance, she came in while I was getting ready for the bus - 7:15AM - coming off a PCP high. Tough stuff for a 7th grader to deal with - but it scared me straight and I never have done anything stronger than pot.


I digress. She loved music, dancing, singing. I would not be surprised *if* she's alive, that she's a lounge singer somewhere. Maybe in a witness protection program ?