NY NY - Judith Brown, 19, Queens, 6 April 1977

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Copied from Maryland trunk lady forum: When Judith was 7, her father was hit by an auto and left bed ridden and then permanently mentally and physically handicapped. Judith's mother had to work and become the bread winner and after her two older siblings left as soon as they were old enough, Judy became the primary care giver for her father and 5 younger siblings including a baby that was born when Judith was only 10. Can you imagine the bending and lifting involved with chores and raising 5 younger kids and assisting her father. Imagine being 11 and lugging around a 20 pound baby. And young bones do not respond well to hard manual work as my Chiropractor can attest - I have pelvis and spine damage to moving furniture in my early teen years. Could well explain the damage and wear on the pelvis on this Jane Doe. Judy was a child with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Bless her heart.
 
Our Richard E Riesenberg is the only person with that exact name and middle initial that I've ever see in the US in my records searches. There are some other Richard Riesenbergs but with different middle initials. Per US records index, a Richard E Riesenberg was living on Beach street in Belmore NY (NW of Long Beach) in 1990. This is about 10 miles from where Constance Riesenberg, the mother, was living at the time. She passed in 2011.
 
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Our Richard E Riesenberg is the only person with that exact name and middle initial that I've ever see in the US in my records searches. There are some other Richard Riesenbergs but with different middle initials. Per US records index, a Richard E Riesenberg was living on Beach street in Belmore NY (NW of Long Beach) in 1990. This is about 10 miles from where Constance Riesenberg, the mother, was living at the time. She passed in 2011.
Also, 1990 was the year Richard indicated that he wanted to move back to NY.
 
Posting updated comparison list:
Frederick Trunk DoeJudith Anne Brown
Died by 1979, possibly a year or so earlierDisappeared in 1977
Died age 17 to 27. Probably in early twenties19 when she Disappeared
Slender frame but with wider hipsSlender frame but with wider hips
Shoulder length brown hair with slight waveShoulder length brown hair with slight wave
Some red in hair (probable recessive gene)Father had sandy reddish hair (British ancestry)
Skull indicates old American ancestryFather's ancestors were old Americans (pioneers)
Petite frame might indicate latin descentMother was petite and of Italian descent
Had tooth on inside of bottom rowHad tooth on inside of bottom row
In general problem teeth. OverbiteIn general problem teeth. Overbite
Height estimates 5' 4" AverageHeight per family 5' 4"
Weight 100 to 130 PoundsWeight per family 125 Pounds
Probably not from MarylandNot from Maryland
Although probably not from very far awayNew York City is 4 hours from the Gambrill Park
Wear on pelvis due to lifting and bendingAs a teen, took care of 5 younger siblings and invalid father. Mother worked
Toe, foot and back injuriesMorton's Syndrome causes stress to toes, feet and entire skeletal system
May have had a bend in noseHas a bend in nose
Probably from middle class familyFrom middle class family
Possibly strangled as there were 2 indicatorsRichard had strangled before
 
The Vanished podcast released an update on Judith today. She's still missing, sadly, but I'm so impressed with how much Julian has done to find answers.


I'm also really interested to see if 'Frederick Trunk Doe' could be Judith. There really is quite a resemblance with her sketch.
 
The Vanished podcast released an update on Judith today. She's still missing, sadly, but I'm so impressed with how much Julian has done to find answers.


I'm also really interested to see if 'Frederick Trunk Doe' could be Judith. There really is quite a resemblance with her sketch.
I just finished listening to the update — so impressed by Julian’s investigation and devotion. What a stroke of luck that the former attendant at Creedmore posted here and Julian was able to contact him. Now we have much more insight into Richard’s mental state and I hope it will lead to answers about Judith.

Red dwarf— great sleuthing on your part! Please keep us posted!!

Prayers for Judith and her family.
 
Posting updated comparison list:
Frederick Trunk DoeJudith Anne Brown
Died by 1979, possibly a year or so earlierDisappeared in 1977
Died age 17 to 27. Probably in early twenties19 when she Disappeared
Slender frame but with wider hipsSlender frame but with wider hips
Shoulder length brown hair with slight waveShoulder length brown hair with slight wave
Some red in hair (probable recessive gene)Father had sandy reddish hair (British ancestry)
Skull indicates old American ancestryFather's ancestors were old Americans (pioneers)
Petite frame might indicate latin descentMother was petite and of Italian descent
Had tooth on inside of bottom rowHad tooth on inside of bottom row
In general problem teeth. OverbiteIn general problem teeth. Overbite
Height estimates 5' 4" AverageHeight per family 5' 4"
Weight 100 to 130 PoundsWeight per family 125 Pounds
Probably not from MarylandNot from Maryland
Although probably not from very far awayNew York City is 4 hours from the Gambrill Park
Wear on pelvis due to lifting and bendingAs a teen, took care of 5 younger siblings and invalid father. Mother worked
Toe, foot and back injuriesMorton's Syndrome causes stress to toes, feet and entire skeletal system
May have had a bend in noseHas a bend in nose
Probably from middle class familyFrom middle class family
Possibly strangled as there were 2 indicatorsRichard had strangled before
This is very compelling. It seems like everything matches up!
 
Bump
I'm trying to follow his trail but I can't seem to find anything about Richards descriptors. He doesn't seem to have a Namus page or anything? Which I find strange. Because if you find him, there's a good chance you'll find her too.
 
Bump
I'm trying to follow his trail but I can't seem to find anything about Richards descriptors. He doesn't seem to have a Namus page or anything? Which I find strange. Because if you find him, there's a good chance you'll find her too.
You are having a difficult time because Richard isn't in NamUs.
Unfortunately, law enforcement doesn't seem to think he needs to be in the database.
It is extremely maddening to say the least.
 
You are having a difficult time because Richard isn't in NamUs.
Unfortunately, law enforcement doesn't seem to think he needs to be in the database.
It is extremely maddening to say the least.
I think I read that the FBI were investigating his disappearance at some stage. Surely they made a profile at least? Anyone know how tall he was, or how much he weighed etc? Also it was said that he later phoned from California and laughed. Anyone know when that was?

All unaccounted for people should be in Namus.
 
The mysterious case of Judith Brown was recently resurrected by “The Vanished Podcast,” drawing new attention to the little-known story of the city teen who vanished in 1977 with her murderous fiancé Richard Riesenberg — all while battling mental health issues.

“It’s a strange set of circumstances when somebody disappears with a guy who was in Creedmoor,” said host Marissa Jones, who has featured Brown’s case twice on her show. “It appears that Judith and Richard probably intentionally disappeared together, but perhaps at some point, Judith’s disappearance was no longer intentional.”

Judith Brown

One tip was called into Jones’ show about a possible Brown sighting in Olympia, WA — it turned out to be Judith’s sister Laura, The Post confirmed.

In those 47 years, Brown’s family has struggled to find clues, claiming they have received little help from the NYPD or the media — until Jones stepped in.

“The support from the podcasters has been invaluable because there was no investigation before that,” Brown’s cousin, Julian Quiterio told The Post. “No one else has tried to help us.”
 

Casefile updated July 1 2024

  • Medical ConditionsBrown suffers from mental illness, perhaps obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or an eating disorder. At the time of her disappearance and had recently been discharged from an inpatient psychiatric program. She was supposed to take mulitple medications, one of which was Valium.

Details of Disappearance​

Brown went missing on April 6, 1977 in the company of Richard E. Reisenberg, who was a patient at Creedmore Psychiatic Center in the New York City borough of Queens.

Brown had been admitted to Creedmoor as a voluntary patient in August 1976, after she had a mental breakdown. She was only in the facility about a day or two before she transferred to Hillside Medical Center, but she had time to meet Reisenberg at Creedmoor. They began dating each other while inpatient at their respective hospitals. In January, just as Brown was transitioning to an outpatient program at Hillside, Reisenberg proposed and Brown agreed to marry him.

A photo of Reisenberg is posted with this case summary. He started developing behavior problems as a child. Twice before his fifteenth birthday he tried to take his own life, and as an adolescent he was diagnosed with "schizoid personality with a possible onset of schizophrenic disorder."

In 1971, he killed his wife and their 17-month-old son, stabbing her sixty times and strangling the baby to death. At the time of the killings, the couple had been having marital difficulties: Reisenberg's wife suffered from cataracts, their son was disabled, and Reisenberg himself had had multiple extramarital affairs and felt frustrated and inadequate in his career.

He was found not guilty of the murders by reason of insanity in 1973, and received two-thirds of his wife's life insurance policy. This was over $11,000 and, with inflation, would be worth about $78,000 today.

After his arrival at Creedmore, Reisenberg made multiple applications for early release and started leaving the hospital grounds on unescorted, unauthorized day trips in the surrounding community, using the insurance money to pay for him to eat at restaurants, attend sports games and have his clothing tailored.

A ward supervisor found out, and wrote a recommendation that Reisenberg be transferred to a maximum security hospital. Before this could be done, Reisenberg walked away from Creedmore and vanished with Brown.

About a month after Brown disappeared, she called her sister to say she was okay, and from their short conversation Brown's sister thought she was with Reisenberg because she wanted to be.

Riesenberg was considered a fugitive from justice after he left Creedmoor. He is known to have been living in Colorado, possibly raising a family, in the mid-1990s. In June 1994, he contacted a lawyer to ask about turning himself in, but changed his mind. He is believed to have been still alive as recently in 2000, and would be in his late seventies today.

He and Brown have never been located. Due to Reisenberg's history of violent behavior, Brown is considered to be in danger from him. Her case remains unsolved.
 

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