CA CA - Lisa Dickinson, 9, Walnut Creek, 5 Sept 1976

[Richard]

Today marks the 36th anniversary of Lisa's disappearance.

 

[scriptgirl]

Back then, it seems if the cops couldn't deem you a runaway, they weren't interested.

 

[amber1]

Thinking of Lisa. I am still wondering how a young girl who was obviously abducted off her bike did not get more media attention, seems like her case was shoved to the side.

 

[scriptgirl]

That seems to have been the norm for a lot of cases involving missing women, teens and kids in the 70s until the mid 80s. There wasn't a huge outcry and a lot of **** was swept under the rug.

 

[carbuff]

That seems to have been the norm for a lot of cases involving missing women, teens and kids in the 70s until the mid 80s. There wasn't a huge outcry and a lot of **** was swept under the rug.

Maybe there's some of that, but there's also a big element of...I don't want to say helplessness, but of resignation. The internet didn't exist, cell phones didn't exist, even the big national television networks were mostly local. You didn't have any way to send out an Amber Alert. Teletype notices or phone calls to other police departments was about it, one at a time. You couldn't sit at a keyboard calling up articles from an archive; you had to sit in a library going through one newspaper at a time looking at physical clippings and hoping you'd stumble across something.

One thing that meant is that once you'd searched the canals and ponds and walnut grove, and checked out everybody you could think of who might have been involved, and followed up leads that didn't pan out -- you didn't really have anything left to do except wait to see if something turned up. You could try to disseminate the information, but it would take weeks, most likely. Occasionally something would go national, but not nearly the way it does today.

This case seems to have had quite a lot of attention, really.

 

[scriptgirl]

It still needs more attention. Has anyone contacted local LE about this case? Where is that bike?

 

[amber1]

bump! Is this case still active?

 

[JillyNJ]

I know its a shot in the dark, but I cant help but to see the resemblance to Blairstown Princess Doe. This poor baby must have been terrified in her last hours alive OR last hours as a free, innocent little girl.

 

[scriptgirl]

I'm not sure I see the connection. Where is Blairstown?

 

[JillyNJ]

I'm not sure I see the connection. Where is Blairstown?

Its in NJ. Here is a link to a website dedicated to her with lots of info.

http://www.princessdoe.org/

 

[Richard]

Bumping this case up. It has been 37 years since Lisa went missing.

----------------------------------------------

Lisa Dickinson, age 9, Missing since September 5, 1976 from Walnut Creek, CA

Lisa Dickinson
Missing since September 5, 1976
from Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, California.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: April 25, 1967
Age at Time of Disappearance: 9 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'10"; 80 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
Clothing: She was last seen wearing a yellow crew-neck T-shirt with Snoopy and the word "Happiness" on the front, blue cutoff shorts and white leather, three-strapped sandals
Dentals: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance

Dickinson was last seen on September 5, 1976 in Walnut Creek, California. Lisa was last seen shortly after 19.00, while riding her bicycle near the Pleasant Hill station of the Bay- Area Rapid Transit.

She left the home of her parents to find a shortcut through nearby Heather Farm Park to the Pleasant Hill BART station. The family had planned to take an excursion on BART the following day. When she failed to return home police were notified. An intensive search was mounted.

The only physical evidence turned up was the girl's abandoned bicycle, leaning against a tree at the north end of the park near the Contra Costa Canal.
Foul play is suspected.

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

Walnut Creek Police Department
925-935-6400

Agency Case Number: 769880

NCIC Number: M-409952268

Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
California Department of Justice
Daily Review 9/21/76
The Doe Network: Case File 802DFCA

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/802dfca.html

 

[amber1]

There has to be some connection of Lisa's case to other missing persons, homicides, sexual assault cases, etc.

 

[scriptgirl]

I agree. I also wonder if this girl still has family looking for her.

 

[forthelost]

Namus has her listed as DNA available, so I presume someone in her family is still alive.

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/4537/2477

 

[scriptgirl]

I wonder if the guy who took Robin Graham and Cindy Lee Mellin did this.

 

[amber1]

There seem to be a lot of perps. in the area during this time. That is why it would make sense that there are other crimes out there similar to Lisa's.

 

[Damariscotta]

A long shot but is it possible she could could be Princess Doe found in Blairstown, NJ?

 

[Lavender Moon]

I wonder if the guy who took Robin Graham and Cindy Lee Mellin did this.

I wonder , too. I've wondered about this for a long time. Does anyone else think there's a possibility of a connection?

 

[Lavender Moon]

On Sept. 5, 1977, Rachel Hanna Ziselman disappeared from Pacific Palisade, Calif; exactly one year after Lisa went missing.

 

[Lavender Moon]

Bumping for Lisa Dickinson; too many lost children.