MA MA - Helen Cheever Skea, 41, Beverly, 1962

[maureen]

Hi Mystery, I clicked on this case because I'm also from Massachusetts. What a strange case! Sadly, my first thought was to look for unidentified bodies in FL, maybe this man killed her? In Namus, they have an UID found in 1961 where they have a drawing of the victim and a photo of her jewelry - it is case #2304 - since you know what your aunt looks like, you could compare the pic to her - just a thought, may be a wild goose chase.

 

[mysterymom7]

Hi Mystery, I clicked on this case because I'm also from Massachusetts. What a strange case! Sadly, my first thought was to look for unidentified bodies in FL, maybe this man killed her? In Namus, they have an UID found in 1961 where they have a drawing of the victim and a photo of her jewelry - it is case #2304 - since you know what your aunt looks like, you could compare the pic to her - just a thought, may be a wild goose chase.

I had actually started to go through the UID to see if any matched her description. I have a pic of her about 16 yrs prior to her disappearance. She disappeared in June (possibly the beginning of July?) 1962. The difficulty with pinpointing an UID that matches her description is that he may not have brought her to FL like he claimed, and if he headed down to FL (most likely on I-95, which ends in Miami), there's the possibility that something happened before reaching Florida, which adds several more states with UID women. If her final spot was Florida, then it's a matter of where in Florida. I would assume it would be close to 95, but off 95 in Daytona is I-4 that runs southwest to Tampa.

During that time period, there was a serial killer targeting women in bars, and she was an alcoholic. It's definitely a daunting task! I was actually thinking of talking to the PD in Beverly to see if they had any reports. I don't know that her daughters would (want to) cooperate if there were any additional questions from the PD.

 

[Robin Hood]

So RM (neighbor who took Helen down to FL) thought that they were going to have a relationship down there, but when they arrived she left him?

Mysterymom, how sure are you that the guys name was RM ? could the first name be different ?

 

[maureen]

Mystery - can you post her pic? I know it's old, but, it's a starting point - maybe post the neice that looks like her too?

 

[mysterymom7]

Mysterymom, how sure are you that the guys name was RM ? could the first name be different ?

I'm going off the memory of her eldest daughter who is now 70. At first, she was sure of his last name but couldn't remember his first. It was during our 2nd conversation she said R was his first name, so it may have been different.

 

[mysterymom7]

Mystery - can you post her pic? I know it's old, but, it's a starting point - maybe post the neice that looks like her too?

This is her around 24, I believe, which would make the date of this picture around 1944.

 

[mysterymom7]

This is her around 24, I believe, which would make the date of this picture around 1944.

I cropped out the picture of her daughter.

 

[maureen]

I'm trying to post the namus pic - wish me luck - Hey, it worked, can someone make it bigger and do a side by side - i see some similarities

 

[Robin Hood]

I'm trying to post the namus pic - wish me luck - Hey, it worked, can someone make it bigger and do a side by side - i see some similarities

Can't help with the side by side view but it does look very similar.

Here's the link to Namus, lots of identifying info available, worth a check.
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2304

 

[Robin Hood]

I'm going off the memory of her eldest daughter who is now 70. At first, she was sure of his last name but couldn't remember his first. It was during our 2nd conversation she said R was his first name, so it may have been different.

Thanks, I will work on it.

 

[mysterymom7]

I'm trying to post the namus pic - wish me luck - Hey, it worked, can someone make it bigger and do a side by side - i see some similarities

Is this one in FL? The basic features, high forehead, distance between nose and mouth... very similar.

 

[mysterymom7]

Can't help with the side by side view but it does look very similar.

Here's the link to Namus, lots of identifying info available, worth a check.
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2304

This woman was found in '61. HS wasn't missing until June/July '62. They do look similar, though! We're on the right track!

 

[maureen]

Did I read this wrong, I thought the title of your first post said she went missing between 1960 and 1963? Thought no one remembered the actual date?

 

[maureen]

Hi, just reread it all - so, the daughter said it was 1962 - is there any possible chance she could be mistaken? By a year or so? The namus profile has pics of her jewelry as well, did you look at that? Also, if the daughter is 100% sure, please be aware that the police are also capable of making a mistake, I work in a pharmacy and everday I struggle to read people's handwriting. Is it a 2 or a 3? A 4 or a 9?? The police report could be off by a year very easily! Please look again!

 

[maureen]

trying to post side by side

 

[maureen]

They exhumed this body in May and took DNA sample. They were thinking she might match a woman from FL whose husband claimed she ran off with another man!:what: ! I'm starting to see a pattern here, maybe we should be looking closer to home.

 

[mysterymom7]

Hi, just reread it all - so, the daughter said it was 1962 - is there any possible chance she could be mistaken? By a year or so? The namus profile has pics of her jewelry as well, did you look at that? Also, if the daughter is 100% sure, please be aware that the police are also capable of making a mistake, I work in a pharmacy and everday I struggle to read people's handwriting. Is it a 2 or a 3? A 4 or a 9?? The police report could be off by a year very easily! Please look again!

The reason she (the daughter) remembers the year is because it was just shortly after she had her first child. The man she confronted came back when her baby was only a couple weeks old.

 

[Sleuth91]

Bumping this thread for Helen.

 

[bettyboop]

BUMP

 

[alb1on]

One thing can be confirmed; the name of the neighbour was Ralph Millet. Ancestry has various US City Directory entries for the late 50s and 1960 showing him as living at 53 Essex Street (Helen lived at 55). Unfortunately the name seems especially common in the area so is not that helpful. I think he is Ralph Andrew Millett, born 1902 and died in 1983 but cannot be sure.