IN IN - Martha Nehring Pilnok, 39-41, Valparaiso, 15 Jan 1944

[Sierra Gray]

My Aunt who lives in Indiana already has. Hopefully by August or Sept we will know something

 

[Sierra Gray]

Very sparse, very old case added to NAMUS today
-
Missing Age - 39 - 41 Years
Current Age - 116 - 119 Years
First Name - Martha
Middle Name - Nehring
Last Name - Pilnok
-
Sex - Female
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
-
(The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Date of Last Contact - January 15, 1944
NamUs Case Created - January 11, 2021
Last Known Location Map
Location - Valparaiso, Indiana
County - Porter County
Missing From Tribal Land - No
Primary Residence on Tribal Land - No
Circumstances of Disappearance - The missing person, Martha Pilnok, was last seen in Valparaiso, Indiana in January of 1944. Unknown details concerning the circumstances of her disappearance.

Ok guys they have exumed the body as of last week, it could be a minimum of 6 months before we find out a the labs are backed up.

Very sparse, very old case added to NAMUS today
-
Missing Age - 39 - 41 Years
Current Age - 116 - 119 Years
First Name - Martha
Middle Name - Nehring
Last Name - Pilnok
-
Sex - Female
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
-
(The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Date of Last Contact - January 15, 1944
NamUs Case Created - January 11, 2021
Last Known Location Map
Location - Valparaiso, Indiana
County - Porter County
Missing From Tribal Land - No
Primary Residence on Tribal Land - No
Circumstances of Disappearance - The missing person, Martha Pilnok, was last seen in Valparaiso, Indiana in January of 1944. Unknown details concerning the circumstances of her disappearance.

 

[Sierra Gray]

Very sparse, very old case added to NAMUS today
-
Missing Age - 39 - 41 Years
Current Age - 116 - 119 Years
First Name - Martha
Middle Name - Nehring
Last Name - Pilnok
-
Sex - Female
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
-
(The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Date of Last Contact - January 15, 1944
NamUs Case Created - January 11, 2021
Last Known Location Map
Location - Valparaiso, Indiana
County - Porter County
Missing From Tribal Land - No
Primary Residence on Tribal Land - No
Circumstances of Disappearance - The missing person, Martha Pilnok, was last seen in Valparaiso, Indiana in January of 1944. Unknown details concerning the circumstances of her disappearance.

In case you guys are interested, the article on exuming the Jane Doe from Porter County Indiana is up in the Chesterton Tribune.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

4073DFIN - Martha Lena Pilnok
Added to the Doe Network.

 

[Bagpus]

In my opinion, a photo of a missing persons mother isn't a useful substitute for a missing person. Also, that photo is of someone that's too young to be Martha's mother at the time-stamp or in several years prior.

It is the missing person's daughter. A photo of the missing person herself would be the ideal, however one is not available at this time.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Martha Nehring Pilnok – The Charley Project
Added to the charley project.

 

[MadMcGoo]

So these pictures…are they of Martha or her mother? I’m a little confused as they were posted earlier in this thread before being published on CP.

 

[MACopeland]

This was on Ancestry (see attached images). Is it possible Martha didn’t die but left for reasons we might never know? Pilnok is such an uncommon name in the US. I can’t find much else other than this. I wish I could see the actual paperwork, for birthdate/place.

 

[Odyssey]

So these pictures…are they of Martha or her mother? I’m a little confused as they were posted earlier in this thread before being published on CP.

The pictures are of Martha's daughter.

 

[Loralee]

I found the birth record for Siera's grandmother, born Magaret Alice Nehring (raised as Dorothy Akin) to Martha Lena Nehring (age 18) and Henry Gust (age 25, a police officer).

She married

Fred Pleanack on 21 Dec 1922 in Lake, Indiana. On the 1940 census he indicated he was in Germany during the 1935 census and must have been in 1930 as well since I can't find either of them in the 1930 census.

I know she went missing in 1944, but it is possible she remarried? The below marriage record in Cook, IL may provide some leads. Although, I haven't been able to locate anything about Joe C. Puidojas or Martha L. Puidojas after 1848.

I wonder if locating this marriage record would lead to any additional clues @Sierra Gray? The information available on ancestry.com is as follows:

Name: Martha L. Pilnok
Marriage Date: 5 Mar 1948
Spouse: Joe C. Puidojas
Marriage Location: Cook County, IL
Marriage license: {63EDABBA-96AD-4EBD-A35A-D526B78B5E6A}
File Number: 2017555
Archive collection name: Cook County Genealogy Records (Marriages)

A complete long shot is this marriage record the following year for
Name: Martha Puidokas
Death Date: 28 May 1949
Death Location: Cook County, IL
File Number: 6016105

I have placed this information in her familysearch profile here:
FamilySearch: Sign In

 

[Bit of hope]

I found the birth record for Siera's grandmother, born Magaret Alice Nehring (raised as Dorothy Akin) to Martha Lena Nehring (age 18) and Henry Gust (age 25, a police officer).

She married

Fred Pleanack on 21 Dec 1922 in Lake, Indiana. On the 1940 census he indicated he was in Germany during the 1935 census and must have been in 1930 as well since I can't find either of them in the 1930 census.

I know she went missing in 1944, but it is possible she remarried? The below marriage record in Cook, IL may provide some leads. Although, I haven't been able to locate anything about Joe C. Puidojas or Martha L. Puidojas after 1848.

I wonder if locating this marriage record would lead to any additional clues @Sierra Gray? The information available on ancestry.com is as follows:

Name: Martha L. Pilnok
Marriage Date: 5 Mar 1948
Spouse: Joe C. Puidojas
Marriage Location: Cook County, IL
Marriage license: {63EDABBA-96AD-4EBD-A35A-D526B78B5E6A}
File Number: 2017555
Archive collection name: Cook County Genealogy Records (Marriages)

A complete long shot is this marriage record the following year for
Name: Martha Puidokas
Death Date: 28 May 1949
Death Location: Cook County, IL
File Number: 6016105

I have placed this information in her familysearch profile here:
FamilySearch: Sign In

Good finds. In the doe network file this is written: In 1958, Martha's husband, Fred Pilnok, filed a petition for divorce. In the petition Martha is said to be living out-of-state. It feels like he waited a long time for her to maybe return. It feels sad IMO. Would it be possible for Martha to marry somebody else under an alias/different name or hide the fact she was still married to Fred Pilnok? I'm not sure how this worked in those days in America.

This is Mr. Pilnok's grave. Fred Pilnok (1894-1962) - Find a Grave Memorial
There is also a memorial on Find a grave for Martha. Martha Lena Nehring Pilnok (1902-1944) - Find a...
Her parents and brothers/sisters are also mentioned.

This is the grave of Martha's daughter. She was adopted and raised by David and Eloise Akin, and was known as Dorothy. She passed in 2011. Margaret Alice Nehring Stetson (1921-2011) - Find...

 

[John/Jane Doe]

4073DFIN - Martha Lena Pilnok

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Martha Nehring Pilnok – The Charley Project

 

[Pennysmom1]

Martha Nehring Pilnok – The Charley Project

• 
  

Pilnok, circa 1944

• Missing Since 01/15/1944
• Missing From Valparaiso, Indiana
• Classification Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 03/07/1902 (123)
• Age 41 years old
• Height and Weight 5'2, 130 - 150 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Pilnok may use the name Martha Lena Pilnok.

Details of Disappearance​

Pilnok was last seen in Valparaiso, Indiana on January 15, 1944. At the time of her disappearance she lived on a farm with her husband and father. She disappeared under unknown circumstances and has never been heard from again. Few details are available in her case.

4073DFIN - Martha Lena Pilnok

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

<<Martha was last seen in January of 1944. In 1958, Martha's husband, Fred Pilnok, filed a petition for divorce. In the petition Martha is said to be living out-of-state. In 1965, Martha's daughter, Margaret, contacts police seeking information on her mother, who she hasn't seen in 25 years. Martha hasn't had any contact with her family since 1944.>>

 

[Pennysmom1]

Skeleton of Woman Found Near Valparaiso Compare With Martha Nehring Pilnok Missing since Jan 1944

Clipping found in The Indianapolis News published in Indianapolis, Indiana on 12/6/1945. Skeleton of Woman Found Near Valparaiso Compare With Martha Nehring Pilnok Missing since Jan 1944: Skeleton of Woman Found Near Valparaiso Compare With Martha Nehring Pilnok Missing since January 1944

www.newspapers.com

This might be Martha Nehring Pilnok. NamUs #MP77033

Clipping found in The Kokomo Tribune published in Kokomo, Indiana on 11/15/1945. This might be Martha Nehring Pilnok. NamUs #MP77033

www.newspapers.com

 

[SophieRose]

I found the birth record for Siera's grandmother, born Magaret Alice Nehring (raised as Dorothy Akin) to Martha Lena Nehring (age 18) and Henry Gust (age 25, a police officer).

She married

Fred Pleanack on 21 Dec 1922 in Lake, Indiana. On the 1940 census he indicated he was in Germany during the 1935 census and must have been in 1930 as well since I can't find either of them in the 1930 census.

I know she went missing in 1944, but it is possible she remarried? The below marriage record in Cook, IL may provide some leads. Although, I haven't been able to locate anything about Joe C. Puidojas or Martha L. Puidojas after 1848.

I wonder if locating this marriage record would lead to any additional clues @Sierra Gray? The information available on ancestry.com is as follows:

Name: Martha L. Pilnok
Marriage Date: 5 Mar 1948
Spouse: Joe C. Puidojas
Marriage Location: Cook County, IL
Marriage license: {63EDABBA-96AD-4EBD-A35A-D526B78B5E6A}
File Number: 2017555
Archive collection name: Cook County Genealogy Records (Marriages)

A complete long shot is this marriage record the following year for
Name: Martha Puidokas
Death Date: 28 May 1949
Death Location: Cook County, IL
File Number: 6016105

I have placed this information in her familysearch profile here:
FamilySearch: Sign In

That's a death record, not a marriage record. Looks like it could be her. So she may have died in 1949 and is buried in the Lithuanian National Cemetery in Justice, Illinois.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M4-5FWQ?lang=en

Name Martha Puidokas
Sex Female
Age 45
Birth Year (Estimated) 1904
Birthplace Valparaiso, , Indiana
Address 910 West 19th Street
Burial Place Justice, , Illinois
Marital Status Married
Occupation Housewife
Race White
Father's Name Pilnok
Spouse's Name Joseph Puidokas
Event Type Death
Event Date 28 May 1949
Event Place Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
Event Place (Original) Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
Funeral Home Anthony M Phillips
Cemetery Lithuanian National

 

[friendlysleuther]

Some recent digging I have done on Martha has led me to find-

First Name: Martha
Middle Name: Lena / Leana
Last Name: Nehring
Married Name: Pilnok (Has also been spelled as
Pelnok)
Birth Year: 1902

Father: Fred Nehring
Ex(?)/ Husband: Fred Pilnok

Martha, Fred Pilnok (husband) & her father all lived together in 1940. It’s unclear if the two had ever stopped living together & got their own place.

Martha’s daughter was adopted by a couple in Hammond, IN in1921.

---

Martha’s FindAGrave- “circumstances of death unknown, body undiscovered”

Fred Pilnoks FindAGrave (husband)

Paulina Hartske Nehring’s FindAGrave (mother, according to FindAGrave)

Fred Nehring’s FindAGrave (father)