MA MA - Joan Risch, 30, Lincoln, 24 Oct 1961

[Ozoner]

I've noticed that quite a few women used to disappear while their husbands were away on business trips. This suggests a few possible scenarios:
1) The husband could have hired someone to get rid of the wife at a time when the husband had an iron-clad alibi.
2) The wife could have had a paramour whom she spent time with when her husband was out of town, and that person may have killed her.
3) She may have been targeted by someone who knew the husband and knew he would be out of town.

Of course, she might have been the random victim of a predator who was cruising the suburbs for housewives.

In a previous post, someone suggested that she have have been killed because of her research into murders or missing-person cases; that theory is definitely intriguing.

I would love to hear an FBI profiler's take on the crime scene photos.

 

[STANDREID]

The husband could have hired someone to get rid of the wife at a time when the husband had an iron-clad alibi.

Yes, and that's why alibis are virtually worthless when a suspected perpetrator knows the victim.

 

[Ozoner]

The abortion angle is intriguing as well. If Mrs. Risch had or attempted an abortion, I doubt it occurred that afternoon. It probably occurred that morning or the day before. Bleeding likely started while she was in the nursery, which is where the blood trail supposedly starts.
*
She may have phoned the abortionist--or the person who had instructed her if she had done it herself. That person may have come by to help and may have been the source of the fingerprints. Mrs. Risch may have been standing in the yard so that the person would see her and know at which house to stop.
*
The person may have started to give her a ride to the hospital but then let her out of the car because of an argument or because one of them got cold feet about going to the emergency room and giving explanations. It's also possible that she passed out in the person's car and that the driver, thinking she was dead or dying, dumped her by the side of the road. She may have later regained consciousness long enough to be seen walking near the road before wandering off and dying in a random spot. I see it as unlikely that she would have recovered without medical treatment. Of course, abortion was a crime and taboo to boot, so she may have recovered and fled the postulated criminal charges and the certain humiliation. If that had happened, though, I think she would have resurfaced eventually.
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The oddest thing to me is the fact that she had had a dental procedure that morning. It begs the question of whether someone would plan a dental procedure and an abortion within a day of each other. Maybe she scheduled an abortion for immeditely after the visit to the dentist thinking that the anesthetic would still be working.
*
It's also entirely possible that she didn't have an abortion but that the dental anesthetic caused a miscarriage or caused fainting that led to a head injury, with blood loss leading to disorientation in either case. Aside from the unidentified finger prints, that scenario may be the best fit for the evidence. I suppose those fingerprints could have been left by a neighbor or cop who contaminated the crime scene.

 

[bethanna2004]

I think those are good theories........I do think she must have been bleeding from the lower part of her body; If it was her head, wouldn't she have run to the sink or grabbed a towel..? She was apparently on the move when there were blood droplets, and must have briefly been sedentary where the largest blood pool is. I enlarged the picture of the car and it looks like there is blood on the left rear side and possibly smeared hand prints on the top, like maybe she became weak and leaned on the car, hands bloody from trying to control the flow. I do think someone came and got her and let her out of the car. Another poster said she would have been three miles from her house when she was seen............So many cases out there, but this is just about the strangest and most mysterious I have come across. In researching different sites, read a guy spent 90,000 bucks trying to figure it out.......WOW!!!!! And I thought I was a curious person!

 

[Skigirl]

I don't think it's likely that an abortion explains things. The kitchen shows signs of a struggle. I don't think it was staged.

 

[fred&edna]

I'm still going with neighbor involvement, she's buried at Springdale Estates/the theory outlined in the pdf.

http://www.truth-link.org/pdfs/imgall.pdf

 

[dogperson]

The police documents back earlier in the thread were interesting to download and read. I noticed on one page someone had circled the husband answering a question about Joan and talking about her in the past tense. He said "she was" instead of "she is".

 

[Skigirl]

One thing that has stayed with me is the fact that her neighbor, BB's report says that on the one hand, Risch is very "level-headed...not the type to have a man visit her when her husband is away...no feminine problems or hemoraging," on the one hand, which would seem to suggest that she already suspected that Risch was a victim of foul play and wanted the police to believe it. On the other hand is what seems to me as a very improbable story about leading the 4-year-old daughter back to the Risch house after she'd been over playing and...just leaving her there? And then going shopping without a second thought? Without stopping in to yell in the door to JR, "Hi! I've brought your daughter home! She's down here! I have to go to the store!" and then waiting to hear an "OK! thanks for bringing her home!" I mean, times are different now, but still, when I was a kid growing up, 4 years was still considered pretty young, and anyone my parents would have felt the need to walk home was also young enough for them to make sure that there was a parent who was aware of the child's whereabouts.

 

[Ozoner]

One thing that has stayed with me is the fact that her neighbor, BB's report says that on the one hand, Risch is very "level-headed...not the type to have a man visit her when her husband is away...no feminine problems or hemoraging," on the one hand, which would seem to suggest that she already suspected that Risch was a victim of foul play and wanted the police to believe it. On the other hand is what seems to me as a very improbable story about leading the 4-year-old daughter back to the Risch house after she'd been over playing and...just leaving her there? And then going shopping without a second thought? Without stopping in to yell in the door to JR, "Hi! I've brought your daughter home! She's down here! I have to go to the store!" and then waiting to hear an "OK! thanks for bringing her home!" I mean, times are different now, but still, when I was a kid growing up, 4 years was still considered pretty young, and anyone my parents would have felt the need to walk home was also young enough for them to make sure that there was a parent who was aware of the child's whereabouts.

You're dreaming. When I was 4 the neighbors wouldn't have even bothered to walk me home; they would have just told me to go home and left it at that.

 

[Ozoner]

I'm still going with neighbor involvement, she's buried at Springdale Estates/the theory outlined in the pdf.

http://www.truth-link.org/pdfs/imgall.pdf

I am unable to access .pdf files on my phone. Could you please summarize the document?

 

[Skigirl]

I am unable to access .pdf files on my phone. Could you please summarize the document?

err, the document is over 50 pages

 

[Ozoner]

err, the document is over 50 pages

That doesn't mean it can't be summarized.

 

[bethanna2004]

It has the time line of events of the last day she was seen. What is really compelling is the crime photos of the kitchen. Maybe you could check it out on computer.

 

[dogperson]

When I was preschool age, my neighbor friends and I traveled between houses without supervision, and we had farther to walk than Joan's daughter had to walk to the neighbor's house. However, we lived in a fairly secluded area on a dead end street, so almost no traffic or anyone driving by. Nowadays I can't imagine letting kids roam the neighborhood the way we did.

 

[bethanna2004]

Another site I was on said that the road they lived on was a short cut to a military base. I have found little snippets of info that only make me wonder more.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

No Clues To Go On, No Trail To Follow: Massachusetts' Most Baffling Cold Case

http://patch.com/massachusetts/waltham/55-year-old-mystery-nearly-forgotten

Joan Risch disappeared 55 years ago today. The clues known to the public remain the same: Bloody fingerprints, a telephone ripped out of the wall, and a telling library card. And while the case remains open, it seems that authorities are no closer to solving Lincoln's most baffling mystery.

One theory on Risch's disappearance came from a British author, whose book "Put Out That Star," U.S. title "Into Thin Air," was among those checked out by Risch. Risch's disappearance mirrored the book, according to a Globe article, leading some to believe she used it as a map to guide her disappearance. Leopold Ognall, pen name Harry Carmichael, told the Globe in 1964 that he suspected Joan Risch was alive, living somewhere between Boston and New York.

The case is still open under the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, and the Lincoln Police department is still accepting tips.

 

[Onaliv]

Stumbled across this case while researching something unrelated.

A few points (that have probably already been voiced):

1. Seems strange that I saw nothing expressing that neighbors were overly concerned that an abductor was possibly on the loose after this happened. The theory regarding Joan staging her own disappearance didn't come to light until much later if I recall correctly.

2. Personally I do not buy the staged disappearance theme. Why? Because nothing has been presented to my knowledge to indicate "how" she would start over financially, etc. Also, very hard to believe she would not have made later contact with her children at least. Certainly ironic that her reading interest was of this nature, but not enough to convict.

3. Abortion? While this could have played a role (because nobody really knows), the reason I rule it out is that Lillian could have come back at any time (or David could have failed to take nap on schedule) and I don't see Joan trying to squeeze this procedure in on what seemed like an already busy day (dentist etc). Would be more likely if she had left both children at the Barker's house for the afternoon.

4. Little appears to be on record of the days, months, years following the event and how the family coped. Sorry but it strikes me as odd that the family never seemed to mount a high profile effort in later years to solve this (as if maybe they knew something). Not trying to judge because we all deal with things differently, but seems odd to me.

5. Very strange to me that neighbors reported seeing Joan outside the house but no reports of screaming or distress that day. I cannot imagine any mother who has children nearby not sounding the alarm (hysterical screaming) if she or the kids could be in danger.

6. The "other car": Can anyone elaborate on the reports of there being another car seen at the Risch home that day? This seems like the type of neighborhood where a car rushing away would have been noticed and remembered. Just can't figure out if there was or was not such a car.

Input/opinion appreciated!

 

[bethanna2004]

I obsessed about this case and then kind of distanced myself from it. I mostly agree with what you said in above post. Did you download the PDF ON truth-link.org? I spent a lot of time looking at those pictures........just bizarre......I think I have found about every site there is about her. Different info about the car.......it was a stranger's car......it was an unmarked cop car, etc. I personally think she was snatched and murdered. I think that she was reading all those books was a coincidence. She was a woman not unlike myself who would read any good thriller she could get her hands on. Please keep posting if you can dig up any new info.

 

[Aleph]

I have a relative who lived next door to Joan Risch. It kind of kills me because she doesn't remember much (she was away at the time). Her mother would have known more but died years ago. It's just an ice cold case. But if anyone thinks of any casual questions I could casually ask my relative, I'd be happy to do so.


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[bethanna2004]

What was the neighborhood scuttlebutt about it?