Deceased/Not Found WI - Carol Pierce, 35, Sturgeon Bay, 8 Sept 1975 *Husband arrested in 2018* *Guilty*

[Kat]

The Doe Network:
Case File 1524DFWI

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1524dfwi.html

Carol Jean Pierce
Missing since September 8, 1975 from Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin.
Classification: Endangered Missing



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Vital Statistics
•Date Of Birth: December 4, 1939
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 35 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'5; 115 lbs.
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; hazel eyes.
•Marks, Scars: Surgical pin in right femur, and small scar on upper lip.
•AKA: Carol Fillion; Aungst; Clark



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Circumstances of Disappearance
Pierce was last seen between 8:00am and 4:30pm at her residence in the vicinity of W. Elm Street and N. Hudson Avenue in Sturgeon Bay, WI. Carol Jean's husband, Richard Gale Pierce was a crew member on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mesquite, a 180' buoy tender that was home ported in Sturgeon Bay at the time. She was reported missing by her husband, one week after her disappearance. He told investigators that on the date of her disappearance he had morning coffee with Carol Jean at his home. When he returned home at about 4:00 p.m. Carol Jean was gone. At the time Carol Jean and Richard Pierce had only one vehicle, and that vehicle was in the possession of Mr. Pierce. She has not been heard from or seen since.
On Friday, September 12th, Richard Pierce traveled from Sturgeon Bay to Cheboygan, Michigan to see if Carol Jean had gone there. The couple had plans to move to Cheboygan, Michigan, upon retirement, where they owned some property. On September 19th, 1975, Richard Pierce followed through on his planned retirement from the U.S. Coast Guard and moved back to his Cheboygan Michigan property. He lives there to this day. In 1977 Richard Pierce received an uncontested divorce from Carol Jean.
Carol Jean Pierce was a home maker. There has been no use of her social security number since 1975. Police checks on Carol Jean's credit history, social security, possible passport use, Interpol, the Canadian Authorities and every state DOT Office in the U.S., have been made in the name of Carol Jean. There has been no activity under her name since the date of her disappearance.
Her purse, prized cat, personal belongings and makeup were all left at her home.
Foul play is suspected.



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

Sturgeon Bay Police
Thomas J. Baudhuin
920-746-2459
920-746-2450

Agency Case Number: 820083

NCIC Number: M-081358844
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Wisconsin Advocates for Families of Missing People
National Center for Missing Adults
Fred's Place
Sturgeon Bay Police


http://www.fredsplace.org/html/missing.shtml
Good details here

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pierce_carol.html

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/363/3/
NamUs Profile:
Dental: NA
DNA: NA
Fingerprints: NA

Snipped from NamUs case report:

Circumstances Unknown. Carol was last seen between 8:00am and 4:30pm at her residence in the vicinity of W. Elm St. and N. Hudson Ave. in Sturgeon Bay, WI.

Articles:
http://www.cheboygannews.com/news/x1362873837/Wisc-cold-case-team-look-for-body-on-Cheboygan-farm
Posted Nov 10, 2008 @ 10:00 PM

The Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., Police Dept. executed a search warrant on a parcel of land located at 8856 Raspberry Ln. in the Cordwood Point area. The property is owned by Richard Gale Pierce of Cheboygan, who was stationed here on the original U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pierce later was a crew member on the cutter Mesquite, a 180-foot buoytender that was based in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., in the early to mid-1970s...
...Personnel from the Sturgeon Bay Police Department arrived at the Pierce home at 7:30 a.m. Monday, assisted by the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department; the Door County, Wisc., Sheriff's Department; the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation; the United States Coast Guard Intelligence Office from Chicago, Ill; and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
"An investigation conducted by the Sturgeon Bay Police Department, the Cold Case Unit of the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police led investigators to believe that Carol Jean Pierce was a homicide victim in Sturgeon Bay and that her remains were later transported to Cheboygan for clandestine burial on the Pierce property on Raspberry Lane," stated Sturgeon Bay Police Chief Dan Trelka...

Carol Jean Pierce - Cold Case Investigations
This thread has archived articles copy and pasted that are pay-per-view for the most part in google archives.

This week will mark 35 years that Carol has been missing. Come home soon.

Age progressions to the right are undated.

 

[Kat]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...ly-still-seek-closure-in-Pierce-disappearance

September 8, 2010

Police, family still seek closure in Pierce disappearance
Carol Jean Pierce went missing 35 years ago today

The case of 35-year-old Carol Jean Pierce, missing since Sept. 8, 1975, was reopened by the Sturgeon Bay Police Department in January 2004. Since then Lt. Investigator Thomas Baudhuin and the entire department have devoted more than 5,000 man-hours to her case.

Many more details at link.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

This was written last year, detailing the disappearance and her husband's (alleged) involvement. It also argues that this could have been solved back in 1975.

http://archive.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130728/GPG019804/307280094/Cold-cases-Missteps-during-investigation-exposed

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Carol has now been missing for 40 years.

"Door County has two open missing person cases"

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/news/2015/09/08/door-county-two-open-missing-person-cases/71903944/

Possibly Door County's oldest missing person's case is that of Carol Jean Pierce, a Sturgeon Bay woman who disappeared Sept. 8, 1975. According to records, Carol Jean's husband, Richard Gale Pierce, told authorities the two had coffee before he left for work as a crew member on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mesquite. According to Richard Pierce, when he returned from work his wife was gone.

Richard Pierce remains the only person of interest in the case.

"Pierce is our No. 1 suspect. I am 100 percent convinced," Zager said. Both he and Police Chief Arleigh Porter said Richard Pierce's story has changed over time.

 

[JerseyGirl]

still missing: http://www.postcrescent.com/story/n...lboards-give-hope-families-missing/100088568/

a billboard campaign in April will feature information on missing persons throughout the state.

 

[Al Ka]

Carol's DNA is now available
DNA Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/363/3/

Carol's original missing person document

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/725407-piercereport1.html#annotation/a109592
(check 2nd page too, under the notes)

Carol Jean Pierce - Initial Report
1 Page - Source: Sturgeon Bay Police Department - Contributed by Eric Litke, The Post-Crescent - Jul 10, 2013
Original police report filed after Carol Jean Pierce disappeared from Sturgeon Bay in September 1975.
No initial case number (p. 1)

The case was not assigned a case number initially, and the code here was added by an investigator in 1982, seven years after Carol Jean Pierce's disappearance.
Report not taken by officer (p. 1)

Sturgeon Bay Police Chief Arleigh Porter, who was one of the first to look into the case while an investigator with the department in 1982, said the "radio room" notation means the initial report of Carol Jean Pierce's disappearance was likely taken by a clerk or support staffer, not a police officer.
One perspective (p. 1)

The initial report details only Richard Gale Pierce's claim that his wife left him.
Delayed report (p. 1)

Richard Gale Pierce reported his wife missing on Sept. 15, 1975, but based on this date a report was not filled out for more than a month. This is the same date as a typed follow-up report.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/725407-piercereport1.html#annotation/a109592


Sturgeon Bay

Possibly Door County's oldest missing person's case is that of Carol Jean Pierce, a Sturgeon Bay woman who disappeared Sept. 8, 1975.
---
Visitors to the couple's mobile home shortly after her disappearance told authorities they saw the then-35-year-old Carol Jean's purse, a prized record collection, and her cat in the home. Records state Richard Pierce also made a short, but unscheduled trip to the couple's property in Cheboygan, Mich., shortly after she vanished.

At Richard Pierce's Coast Guard retirement party several weeks later, Carol Jean's mother, Pauline Fillion, learned for the first time that her daughter was missing. At Pauline Fillion's request, Pierce finally reported his wife's disappearance.

Unfortunately, the Sturgeon Bay Police Department did not thoroughly investigate Carol Jean's disappearance until around 1982 or 1983.

Richard Pierce told authorities at the time his wife had left him. Letters from Carol Jean to her mother paint the picture of a woman who was excited about her husband's upcoming retirement and moving to their property in Michigan.

Shortly after his retirement Richard Pierce moved with the couple's trailer to Cheboygan.
---

Besides her mother, Carol Jean left behind a son, and a brother and sister.

"The last time I saw Carol was Christmas of '73 I believe, and we spent a couple of days over there in Sturgeon Bay," said Carol Jean's brother, Brian Fillion.

Brian Fillion said his mother never stopped trying to find out what happened to her daughter.

It's a mission that he took on after her death.

"I'd like to get the body back. I'd like to get Carol's body back and at least give her a proper burial," Brian Fillion said.

Richard Pierce declined to comment when reached by the Door County Advocate.

"Absolutely nothing, all communications goes through him (my attorney). I'm sorry," Richard Pierce said before hanging up.

Michael J. Hackett, Richard Pierce's last known attorney, could not be reached for comment.

If you have any information about Carol Jean's disappearance, call the Sturgeon Bay Police Department at (920) 746-2450.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...ounty-two-open-missing-person-cases/71903944/


Carol's other profiles
http://www.sturgeonbaypolice.com/cold.html
http://www.missinginamerica.us/apps/photos/photo?photoid=190551235
https://www.missingpersons.doj.wi.gov/missing/carol-jean-pierce

extra information and news from articles which by now timed out
https://projectjason.org/forums/topic/1337-missing-woman-carol-jean-pierce-wi-09081975/

 

[iulia]

Arrest Made in Cold Case Disappearance of Sturgeon Bay Woman

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - 43 years after Carol Jean Pierce disappeared, an arrest has been made for her murder.

82 year-old Richard Pierce of Cheboygan, MI, is facing charges of first-degree murder and disinterment of dead.

 

[human]

Arrest Made in Cold Case Disappearance of Sturgeon Bay Woman

No suprise. All of those years of freedom for him.

Door county is so lovely.

 

[Two for the road]

Police believe remains on property of 1975 Sturgeon Bay murder suspect

Fingers crossed they find her and she finally gets laid to rest!

 

[iulia]

Suspect in 1975 Sturgeon Bay murder held without bail

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (WBAY) - A man arrested in connection to the 1975 murder of his wife who disappeared from Sturgeon Bay is being held without bail in Michigan.

Eighty-two-year old Richard Gale Pierce appeared before a judge Friday in Cheboygan County, Mich. Pierce is fighting his extradition to Door County where he's charged with First Degree Murder and Disinterment of Dead. The judge in Michigan set an Oct. 25 court date for arguments regarding extradition.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Only on 2: Cold case team's search for answers to Wisconsin's unsolved murders

Detectives continue to search a property in Northern Michigan in hopes of locating the remains of a Northeast Wisconsin woman who went missing 43 years ago.

The property in Cheboygan, Mich. belongs to Richard Pierce. Pierce, 82, is being held without bail in a Michigan jail. He's fighting extradition to Door County, Wis. where he faces a charge of 1st Degree Murder in the death of his former wife Carol Jean Pierce.

 

[iulia]

Court lowers bond for man charged in 1975 murder of wife

On Nov. 6, Richard G. Pierce, 82, appeared in front of a judge in Door County and asked the court to change his $1 million cash bond into a signature bond.

The court did not agree on signature bond, but did reduce Pierce's cash bond to $500,000.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Im so happy an arrest was made and carol finally gets justice after 43 years!!!!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Richard Pierce, 82, is charged with first-degree murder and disinterment of the dead in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Carol Jean Pierce. Her body has never been found.

Several people testified at Wednesday’s preliminary hearing. Pierce will enter a plea March 25.

The judge also accepted the defense attorney's request to keep potential trial witnesses sequestered.

PREVIEW: Preliminary Hearing for Man Charged in Death of Wife 40 Years Ago

Man charged in 1975 murder, ordered to stand trial

Michigan man will face trial for wife's 1975 disappearance from Door County

 

[JerseyGirl]

Richard Gale Pierce, a man accused of killing his wife, Carol Jean Pierce, in 1975 will report back to the Door County Jail.

He was in custody until a hip injury in June and other health concerns required attention. The court allowed Pierce to be moved to a medical center in Michigan for treatment, so long as as he is monitored by GPS tracking.

Next steps in the trial require Pierce's attorneys and district attorneys to file briefs, which will be submitted and replied to by early November. An expert hearing is schedule for Dec. 16. A trial will likely not occur until June or later next summer.

Former Sturgeon Bay Coast Guardsman accused of murdering wife to return to Door County Jail

 

[kelsie]

https://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/news-media/10.11.18_Pierce_SturgeonBay_Complaint.pdf
here is the official complaint regarding murder.

 

[JerseyGirl]

1975 Door County murder trial delayed until 2022

 

[JerseyGirl]

Jury chosen for trial of man charged in 1975 murder of wife in Door County

 

[JerseyGirl]

LIVE COVERAGE: Testimony underway in Door County cold case murder trial

 

[JerseyGirl]

Door County cold-case murder trial for missing Carol Jean Pierce opens