CA CA - Johanna Brighton, 38, Los Angeles, 25 Feb 1981

[alb1on]

We can't get the pictures over and can't quote because it's a personal site. On the sons Facebook site there are pictures of him with Johanna and Bernardo. Most of them are send by friends/associates who knew Bernardo in the late 60's. There is no doubt that he was the father. There are very few pictures of Johanna. Although she is mentioned, the comments about her are scars IMO. I would think, people who knew her would have send pictures of her as a model, by now.

I agree with both of you. We should look into the events closer to her missing. The timeline we have seems to pause somewhere between '71 and the summer of '78. What kind of events happened in between and after '78? Did she study, (there is mentioning of the University of Arizona) or work, who took care of the son?

Agreed; but for those interested it is easy to find pictures of both the son today (and a few years ago), and the father (in the Laurel Canyon days) on non-personal sites and compare. Obviously this needs you to know the identity of the son, but he is relatively easy to trace through his own involvement in this search on various sites.

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm not sure what to do next or do anything...I was really hoping people who knew Johanna would come forward to share more information. But maybe they want to let her rest in peace, not opening wounds from the old day's. She is declared deceased after all. I can understand that also, but if this is true I would take away all her missing files on the internet and as long this is not happening somebody is missing her and still needs to know. BTW the name Johanna is very much Dutch spelling.

 

[alb1on]

I'm not sure what to do next or do anything...I was really hoping people who knew Johanna would come forward to share more information. But maybe they want to let her rest in peace, not opening wounds from the old day's. She is declared deceased after all. I can understand that also, but if this is true I would take away all her missing files on the internet and as long this is not happening somebody is missing her and still needs to know. BTW the name Johanna is very much Dutch spelling.

But Johanna was an adopted name (in 1968 I think). My suspicion is that she adopted it from the Dylan song 'Visions of Johanna'. This would fit with her being in New York at that time as well as with the date (the song comes from the '66 iconic album 'Blonde on Blonde').

 

[Bit of hope]

But Johanna was an adopted name (in 1968 I think). My suspicion is that she adopted it from the Dylan song 'Visions of Johanna'. This would fit with her being in New York at that time as well as with the date (the song comes from the '66 iconic album 'Blonde on Blonde').

Funny...could be. I love Bob.

 

[Bit of hope]

Totally OT but precious. One of my favorites is actually Sara....Bob Dylan...here it goes....

 

[kemo]

I have read that Johanna was part of the Chelsea Hotel “Scene” during her sojourn in NYC. I have also read that Dylan wrote ” Visions of Johanna “ while living there in 1966. (He refers to the Chelsea Hotel in the Song “Sara”). I don't know if she was part if that in 1966 but it would be interesting If she were.

The Chelsea Hotel was something like the New York equivalent of Laurel Canyon; a place that Pop culture ”players” were drawn to with a surrounding community of interesting people, hangers-on and wanna be’s.

Johanna may have only been on the fringe of these scenes but she was part of it and certainly knew people who were real players. I would think that connection would have made her disappearance ” news-worthy”.

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm out....this is to much of a mystery...Son's Facebook is gone as far as I can tell. Good luck with everything. There are people, even posted on here, that know more....How would you be so sure that she was a fashion model....RIP Johanna....I hope you are in a better place now....on this earth there is almost nobody, besides your son IMO, who cares and wants to know the truth.

 

[Bit of hope]

Still somebody is missing her...all the files still up....Still the Charley file doesn't sit right. Asked Meaghan again if she you could take a look. Johanna would have been 38 when she went missing, according to her DOB, not 30...otherwise her DOB isn't right...or she fooled everybody about her age.....

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm very disappointed....I reached out to Charley Project twice....according to the dates she was 38 when she went missing and not 30...still no change...don't now what are the hick ups here....

 

[Bit of hope]

Can't let go. Maybe associates knew from hearsay what happened to Johanna, but her body was never found?

 

[Bit of hope]

is Johanna somewhere on this video...I see a lot of faces....she knew.

Besides that...what a f___ wonderful number...Can't recall all the times a danced on this.

 

[dotr]

Johanna Catherine Brighton
Johanna Catherine Brighton

''Missing Since:
02/25/1981
Sex:
Female
DOB:
01/30/1943
Race:
White
Height:
5' 8"
Eyes:
Green
Weight:
125 lbs.
Hair:
Blonde
Scars/Marks/Tattoo:
Healed fracture to right wrist.
Dental X-rays Available:
No
Johanna was last seen February 25, 1981 in Los Angeles, CA.''

Johanna Catherine Brighton – The Charley Project
''Caucasian female. Blonde hair, green eyes. Brighton previously fractured her right wrist; the injury had healed by the time of her disappearance. Her birth name was Catherine Crawford and she went by the nickname Kay; she changed her name in 1968 for career reasons.''

 

[alb1on]

It has been a while since I looked at this case, which I rate as one of my 2 most interesting (together with the 1995 Ruth Wilson case in the UK). I have no new information but, on thinking afresh, what interests me is the nature of the relationship of the people in the film shot in 78/79 and posted by her son. This was only 2 years before she went missing and records show that the others (at least Spheeris and Hugo) continued to be connected and worked together into the 80s. So was Johanna part of a tighter group or was this film a one off? If the former you would think the others would have some thoughts. I did check to see if she was in the credit list on The Decline of Western Civilisation (Spheeris' breakthrough film which opened within a month of the disappearance and included a thanks credit for Hugo) but could not find anything.

The other thing which struck me was that she owned a De Soto Suburban which looked to be in good condition. Today such a car would fetch anything from $20k to $50k - so to own such a car suggests she was not short of funds.

Unfortunately these observations just make this case even more puzzling to me.

 

[Bit of hope]

It has been a while since I looked at this case, which I rate as one of my 2 most interesting (together with the 1995 Ruth Wilson case in the UK). I have no new information but, on thinking afresh, what interests me is the nature of the relationship of the people in the film shot in 78/79 and posted by her son. This was only 2 years before she went missing and records show that the others (at least Spheeris and Hugo) continued to be connected and worked together into the 80s. So was Johanna part of a tighter group or was this film a one off? If the former you would think the others would have some thoughts. I did check to see if she was in the credit list on The Decline of Western Civilisation (Spheeris' breakthrough film which opened within a month of the disappearance and included a thanks credit for Hugo) but could not find anything.

The other thing which struck me was that she owned a De Soto Suburban which looked to be in good condition. Today such a car would fetch anything from $20k to $50k - so to own such a car suggests she was not short of funds.

Unfortunately these observations just make this case even more puzzling to me.

Thanks. Funny, I just went through this thread yesterday. Like you I just can't let go it seems. Nothing to add sadly.

 

[JrzyGirl70]

So I am in the middle of reading Permanent Damage the Mercy Fontenot book that came out a few weeks ago. It mentions Johanna Brighton disappearance very briefly, Johanna was married to Bernardo Saldana and he was crushed regarding her disappearance, without going into details, he apparently had some issues and died from unusual circumstances.

 

[alb1on]

Thanks. Funny, I just went through this thread yesterday. Like you I just can't let go it seems. Nothing to add sadly.

You may like to look at CA - CA - Ronald Gold, 35, Los Angeles, 14 Nov 1977 (websleuths.com) which I found recently. Another case of a minor Hollywood player disappearing, seemingly without much interest, comment or clues. Very odd.

 

[Bit of hope]

So I am in the middle of reading Permanent Damage the Mercy Fontenot book that came out a few weeks ago. It mentions Johanna Brighton disappearance very briefly, Johanna was married to Bernardo Saldana and he was crushed regarding her disappearance, without going into details, he apparently had some issues and died from unusual circumstances.

Ten Takeaways From Mercy Fontenot’s ‘Permanent Damage: Memoirs Of An Outrageous Girl’
● Rolling Stone Cover: “Bernardo [Saldana, ‘the first love of my life’] and I were even on the sixth cover of Rolling Stone, in a prize-winning photo from the famous Gathering of the Tribes, of the ‘Human Be-In’—an iconic image that bound us together forever. It was that day that Baron Wolman, the legendary chief photographer for Rolling Stone, spotted us in Golden Gate Park. ‘Can you just pose for us? I like your looks,’ he said simply, and he snapped that historic photo. I didn’t think much of it at the time. A few weeks later I was high on acid at the Fillmore, and I saw the issue there and went, ‘Oh, my God, Bernardo. We’re in Rolling Stone!’ I could not believe it. There I was on the cover in my white poet blouse, perfectly worn-in 501 Levi’s, and antique fur coat, staring and glaring right at Baron’s lens with my kohl-caked eyes. Exactly a year later, on my birthday, I was in Rolling Stone again—issue No. 27, the ‘Groupie’ issue—this time taking up the entire back cover…”

This was in 1968

So according to the quote her first love Saldana became Johanna's husband(?) just a few years later. And they got a baby boy, together, born in 1971. Unsettling for her or did Miss Mercy had a brave, forgiving and non-jealous heart? (seems very hippy-like to me) She seems to have still contact with Saldana, why would she have known he was "crushed" about her disappearance...Sadly she has passed....could have had a load of information surrounding Johanna's disappearance, more details maybe.

 

[Bit of hope]

You may like to look at CA - CA - Ronald Gold, 35, Los Angeles, 14 Nov 1977 (websleuths.com) which I found recently. Another case of a minor Hollywood player disappearing, seemingly without much interest, comment or clues. Very odd.

Sadly he also looks to be "lost in space", no info and no follow up.....trying to get things in perspective, looking back to those days, I think Los Angeles LE couldn't keep up with all the death people and missing...it was just overwhelming....still having a big back-log.

 

[JrzyGirl70]

"He was the first love of my life. I was seventeen, he was nineteen. We didn't actually go to bed together, other than in the literal sense." It was the late 60's, living in Haight Ashbury.. well you get the picture.

The book goes into a lot of details about Miss Mercy's escapades but only briefly mentions that Johanna disappeared mysteriously and what happened to Bernardo afterwards.

If Bernardo is the father to Johanna's son, it appears he lost both parents tragically..