CA CA - Hester Chandler, 60, Modesto, 13 Sept 1974

[Gardener1850]

[h=2]No Photo

Hester Lee Chandler[/h]Stanislaus County, California
60 year old white female

Height (inches)

Weight (pounds)

[TD="class: view_field"]67.0[/TD]

[TD="class: view_field"]130.0[/TD]

Brown Hair
Brown Eyes

She was last seen in Modesto, California on September 13, 1974 shortly after withdrawing almost $9,000 from her bank. She has never been seen again.

Dental information / charting is currently not available

DNA Status: Initial inquiry underway

Fingerprint information is currently not available

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/25519/

Please help find a photo of Hester and more info

 

[Gardener1850]

January 09, 2003 08:55 AM
Updated November 20, 2007 09:34 AM

JACQUELINE COOPER and HESTER LEE CHANDLER -- Cooper was 27 when she was reported missing on Nov. 13, 1976, shortly after withdrawing $4,000 in cash from her bank. Chandler was 60 when she turned up missing on Sept. 12, 1974. Earlier that day, she had withdrawn nearly $9,000 from bank accounts in one of many oddities in the case that baffled investigators.

Investigators linked Cooper and Chandler to a forklift driver named James Toliver, who worked at a cannery with both women. In 1980, Toliver died of a heart attack that happened as he ran from the murder scene of a teacher he had robbed of $98,000. Detectives said they never found evidence linking Toliver to the disappearances of Cooper and Chandler.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/news/local/cr...-and-arrest/article3097134.html#storylink=cpy
​

 

[MadMcGoo]

• NamUs MP25519
• True Crime
• ModBee
• PorchlightUSA

Hester Lee Chandler
Date of Last Contact: September 13, 1974
Missing From: Modesto, Stanislaus County, California
Sex/Race: Female/White
Age: 60 Years
Height: 5' 7" (67 Inches)
Weight: 130 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown

Circumstances of Disappearance: She was last seen in Modesto, California on September 13, 1974 shortly after withdrawing almost $9,000 from her bank. She has never been seen again.

0 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[folieadeuxnola]

**NO PHOTO**

 

[MACopeland]

Hester was born Hester Lee Long in Oklahoma. She married Clyde Roy Chandler on 5/8/1935. Interestingly, a divorce decree was filed just before she disappeared. She and Clyde had a daughter, Darlene Marie (Long) Pata, but her Facebook gives no information or pictures of her mother.

 

[MACopeland]

Clyde passed away in 2000

 

[Diane Redfern]

Could this be Hester?
I know, 1981 is the estimated year of death, but the estimated PMI is unknown...

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California

Get this The Modesto Bee page for free from Wednesday, December 25, 1974 Exchange Day Merchants Gird For The Day After By Liz Leedom Bee staff writer Santa Claus hung up his.... Edition of The Modesto Bee

www.newspapers.com

Photo of Hester here.

What ever became of Hester
Lee Chandler?
On the warm Thursday night
r of Sept. 12, the attractive, fam
ily-and home-oriented 60-y e a r
old cannery worker vanished
d from her comfortable residence
at 306 Glacier Ave., Modesto.
Her husband, Clyde, and 21
-year-old daughter, Darlene,
have been looking for her ever
since, and the Stanislaus Coun
ety Sheriff's Department has
espent 75 to 100 hours investigat-
ing her baffling disappearance.
She left behind an immacu-
late house, lights turned out and
doors locked. In front of the
house, she left her car loaded
with her clothes. Although she
owned a set of luggage, her
clothing was stuffed into cardboard boxes.
All of her credit cards and
identification were left inside
the house except her driver's
license. Sheriff's Detective Stan
Ross said some of the cards
were partially burned. Her
house keys were found on the
living room floor, "as though
they had been thrown there
from the door," Ross said.
$8,000 Withdrawn
That morning, Mrs. Chandler
had been the first customer in
the Crocker Citizens Bank, 10th S
Street branch. She withdrew
$8,000 from a joint checking ac-
count she shared with her hus-
band, leaving $2,000 in the ac-
count.
Linda Lindstrom, a bank
teller, recalls Mrs. Chandler
"distinctly wanted cash." Al-w
though she did not seem nerv-
ous, she did appear to be in a
hurry, Mrs. Lindstrom told
investigators. Fearing she might
be the victim of a "bunco"
scheme, bank officials delayed er
her withdrawal.
th
She thanked them for their w
concern, but insisted on having be
her money. She received one
1 $500 bill and the remainder in
v $100 and $50 bills.
She put the money in her
purse and left the bank alone,
having declined the bank's of-
fer of an escort.
Mrs. Chandler walked across
the street and withdrew $900
from a joint checking account
at the Bank of America, leav-
ing $1,100.
Sometime after dark that
night, a neighbor, Lena Corn-
ing, 300 Glacier Ave., noticed
Mrs. Chandler working in her
garage and called to her. She
told deputies, Mrs. Chandler, re-
sponded that she was in a hurry
and did not have time to talk.
Daughter's Discovery
At 11 p.m., Darlene arrived
home and discovered her moth-
er was missing Soon the search
started for the 5-foot 9-inch, 135-
pound woman with reddish
brown hair, brown eyes and
wearing silver wire-rimmed
glasses.
Mrs. Chandler was employed
at Tri Vailey Plant No. 7. She
never returned to her job or col
lected her last pay check. Neith-
der has she been seen again at
the Memorial Baptist Church,
where she was an active member
She had been in the habit of
telephoning regularly to check
on her 82-year-old invalid moth
er, who lives with Mrs. Chan-
dler's sister, Opal Osburn, on
River Road. But neither her
sister nor mother has heard
from her since Sept. 12.
r
Ross says there was no evi-
dence of foul play in her dis-
appearance. But if she left
untarily, where would she have
gone? Relatives say Hawaii is
the only place she ever men-
tioned wanting to go. All air-
-lines were checked for several
days but there was no trace of
t Mrs. Chandler.
A rumor among fellow can-
y nery workers suggested she
might have gone with someone
else to Mexico. Her family dis-
scounts it, but authorities in
Mexico have been contacted.
Relatives in Alaska and elsewhere also have been alerted. Apparently, no one saw her leave. Ross said she must have left her house on foot or been picked up by someone. Taxi companies said they made no trips to her home the night of her disappearance, and buses do not run in her neighborhood that late.
If she left voluntarily, why did she leave? She had been married for 38 years. Her husband had worked for several years as a pipe fitter in Pittsburg but was home on weekends. As far as he or other relatives know, there were no marital or family problems, Ross reported.
Husband Retires
Her husband, who has retired from his job since her strange disappearance, and her sister think Mrs. Chandler is dead. They believe she would have contacted them if she could. Ross says he does not necessarily agree. "Usually if there is a death, a body is found," he says.
Maybe she decided to leave her old life and start a new one in a new place, under a new identity. If so, is she all right? Does she worry about her family? Maybe she would like to re- turn home. Could she be afraid to because of the anguish s he has caused her family?
Only Hester Lee Chandler has the answers.

 

[Diane Redfern]

View attachment 411408

The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California

Get this The Modesto Bee page for free from Wednesday, December 25, 1974 Exchange Day Merchants Gird For The Day After By Liz Leedom Bee staff writer Santa Claus hung up his.... Edition of The Modesto Bee

www.newspapers.com

Photo of Hester here.

What ever became of Hester
Lee Chandler?
On the warm Thursday night
r of Sept. 12, the attractive, fam
ily-and home-oriented 60-y e a r
old cannery worker vanished
d from her comfortable residence
at 306 Glacier Ave., Modesto.
Her husband, Clyde, and 21
-year-old daughter, Darlene,
have been looking for her ever
since, and the Stanislaus Coun
ety Sheriff's Department has
espent 75 to 100 hours investigat-
ing her baffling disappearance.
She left behind an immacu-
late house, lights turned out and
doors locked. In front of the
house, she left her car loaded
with her clothes. Although she
owned a set of luggage, her
clothing was stuffed into cardboard boxes.
All of her credit cards and
identification were left inside
the house except her driver's
license. Sheriff's Detective Stan
Ross said some of the cards
were partially burned. Her
house keys were found on the
living room floor, "as though
they had been thrown there
from the door," Ross said.
$8,000 Withdrawn
That morning, Mrs. Chandler
had been the first customer in
the Crocker Citizens Bank, 10th S
Street branch. She withdrew
$8,000 from a joint checking ac-
count she shared with her hus-
band, leaving $2,000 in the ac-
count.
Linda Lindstrom, a bank
teller, recalls Mrs. Chandler
"distinctly wanted cash." Al-w
though she did not seem nerv-
ous, she did appear to be in a
hurry, Mrs. Lindstrom told
investigators. Fearing she might
be the victim of a "bunco"
scheme, bank officials delayed er
her withdrawal.
th
She thanked them for their w
concern, but insisted on having be
her money. She received one
1 $500 bill and the remainder in
v $100 and $50 bills.
She put the money in her
purse and left the bank alone,
having declined the bank's of-
fer of an escort.
Mrs. Chandler walked across
the street and withdrew $900
from a joint checking account
at the Bank of America, leav-
ing $1,100.
Sometime after dark that
night, a neighbor, Lena Corn-
ing, 300 Glacier Ave., noticed
Mrs. Chandler working in her
garage and called to her. She
told deputies, Mrs. Chandler, re-
sponded that she was in a hurry
and did not have time to talk.
Daughter's Discovery
At 11 p.m., Darlene arrived
home and discovered her moth-
er was missing Soon the search
started for the 5-foot 9-inch, 135-
pound woman with reddish
brown hair, brown eyes and
wearing silver wire-rimmed
glasses.
Mrs. Chandler was employed
at Tri Vailey Plant No. 7. She
never returned to her job or col
lected her last pay check. Neith-
der has she been seen again at
the Memorial Baptist Church,
where she was an active member
She had been in the habit of
telephoning regularly to check
on her 82-year-old invalid moth
er, who lives with Mrs. Chan-
dler's sister, Opal Osburn, on
River Road. But neither her
sister nor mother has heard
from her since Sept. 12.
r
Ross says there was no evi-
dence of foul play in her dis-
appearance. But if she left
untarily, where would she have
gone? Relatives say Hawaii is
the only place she ever men-
tioned wanting to go. All air-
-lines were checked for several
days but there was no trace of
t Mrs. Chandler.
A rumor among fellow can-
y nery workers suggested she
might have gone with someone
else to Mexico. Her family dis-
scounts it, but authorities in
Mexico have been contacted.
Relatives in Alaska and elsewhere also have been alerted. Apparently, no one saw her leave. Ross said she must have left her house on foot or been picked up by someone. Taxi companies said they made no trips to her home the night of her disappearance, and buses do not run in her neighborhood that late.
If she left voluntarily, why did she leave? She had been married for 38 years. Her husband had worked for several years as a pipe fitter in Pittsburg but was home on weekends. As far as he or other relatives know, there were no marital or family problems, Ross reported.
Husband Retires
Her husband, who has retired from his job since her strange disappearance, and her sister think Mrs. Chandler is dead. They believe she would have contacted them if she could. Ross says he does not necessarily agree. "Usually if there is a death, a body is found," he says.
Maybe she decided to leave her old life and start a new one in a new place, under a new identity. If so, is she all right? Does she worry about her family? Maybe she would like to re- turn home. Could she be afraid to because of the anguish s he has caused her family?
Only Hester Lee Chandler has the answers.