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

[dogperson]

I tend to believe Joan perished on the day she disappeared as the result of a medical emergency. Although there were several sightings of a blue sedan in the neighborhood, I'm not sure it's connected, because all the sightings and supposed sightings of Joan involved her being seen alone. If the owner of the sedan is connected, then he/she fled the scene when things went bad, leaving Joan to deal with her emergency on her own. There were beer bottles in the trash which Mr. Risch had no explanation for, and these could have belonged to a visitor, but maybe Joan liked to drink beer and her husband wasn't aware of it?

I also doubt her choice of reading material was preparation for staging her disappearance. If anyone ever checked my reading list, it's full of true crime books and fictional stories about disappearances and murders. This doesn't mean I'm planning to run away or kill anyone.

If Joan were planning to stage a disappearance she wouldn't need to cause an injury to herself and smear blood around the house. She could have disarranged some furniture to indicate a struggle and maybe even have taken some money or jewelry with her, as if someone robbed the house and kidnapped her. But by all accounts Joan was a good mother and a happy wife; I have trouble picturing her abandoning her children this way. Why would she leave her son alone in his crib (who was found crying and with a dirty diaper) and allow her daughter to come home to the distressing sight of the blood and a missing mother?

It's interesting, though, that her husband appears to have always believed she was still alive somewhere, so maybe there were things that led him to believe she would run away and start a new life. And maybe she did, I just feel like so much blood in the house indicates something was wrong with her physically.

This Wikipedia article gives a lot of details. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Joan_Risch

 

[Sutton]

This picture shows two large pools of blood--one in the middle of the floor (near the trash can that's just out of sight) and one in the corner. She must have been in those two locations for some time in order for so much blood to pool. It's not like she was just gushing blood everywhere.

The pool in the corner is confusing. You can't get every portion of your body into a corner like that. If you had a head wound you could rest your head in the corner. But was she injured near the trash can, causing a few drops to fall, then fell down for a few minutes causing the trash can pool and then drug herself over to the corner?

Or maybe her hand or wrist was injured and she then sat down in the corner with her arm behind her?

Can anyone think of a scenario that makes sense?

The blood in the corner does not support someone bleeding from an abortion or a miscarriage.

This is a lot if blood, but not so much that she'd stumble around the kitchen, knocking over the table and such. IMO. I think there was a struggle with someone else in the kitchen.

I wish a crime scene analyst would analyze the photo for us.


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[dogperson]

The blood in the corner, is that where the phone is? I'm nearsighted and can't tell for sure even when I enlarge the photo. Maybe she leaned her head against the wall there and blood dripped from her head or nose or mouth into the corner? It really IS weird that the blood is so far into the corner like that. Maybe that's why some think she staged her disappearance and smeared blood around. But I tend to think she didn't injure herself to stage anything. I think she either had a medical emergency of natural causes or else someone assaulted her.

 

[liz b.]

The blood in the corner, is that where the phone is? I'm nearsighted and can't tell for sure even when I enlarge the photo. Maybe she leaned her head against the wall there and blood dripped from her head or nose or mouth into the corner? It really IS weird that the blood is so far into the corner like that. Maybe that's why some think she staged her disappearance and smeared blood around. But I tend to think she didn't injure herself to stage anything. I think she either had a medical emergency of natural causes or else someone assaulted her.

Maybe she was backed into the corner ? Or perhaps she leaned her body into the corner, and bled onto the ground ? That could fit with an abortion, or a spontaneous miscarriage ? jmo

 

[Ozoner]

Maybe she was backed into the corner ? Or perhaps she leaned her body into the corner, and bled onto the ground ? That could fit with an abortion, or a spontaneous miscarriage ? jmo

It looks to me like there in an object in the corner--perhaps a child's doll--but I can't tell for certain what I'm looking at.

 

[liz b.]

It looks to me like there in an object in the corner--perhaps a child's doll--but I can't tell for certain what I'm looking at.

I see a white square on the baseboard in the corner ? And a pool of blood. I don't see a doll ? But I can't enlarge the photo.

 

[Sutton]

It looks to me like there in an object in the corner--perhaps a child's doll--but I can't tell for certain what I'm looking at.

I see a white square on the baseboard in the corner ? And a pool of blood. I don't see a doll ? But I can't enlarge the photo.

There is a toy truck (I think), a piece of paper and possibly other items. The pictures are clearer in the PDF.
http://www.truth-link.org/pdfs/imgall.pdf

Here is another, partial view of the corner:

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[Skigirl]

I don't know if any of you have ever had a miscarriage or known anyone who has had one, but that does not look like the scene of a miscarriage to me, and I would imagine that something that has gone wrong with an abortion would be very similar to what happens in a miscarriage. People who have miscarriages generally know something is happening because they've had spotting and start to get cramping in the lower back. The bleeding then becomes heavier. Usually people are clothed when it starts, and run off to the bathroom and gather towels and cry. It doesn't usually happen so suddenly that you would get blood all over the place. It would be very weird to stumble around the kitchen, knocking things over, yank the garbage pail out from under the sink, stumble over to the phone, smear the wall with blood, etc. etc. I would imagine that if something went wrong with an abortion, it would be very similar, except that you would probably have bleeding that never really stopped from the time of the abortion.

 

[liz b.]

There is a toy truck (I think), a piece of paper and possibly other items. The pictures are clearer in the PDF.
http://www.truth-link.org/pdfs/imgall.pdf

Here is another, partial view of the corner:

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Thanks, I see the little toy. I think one reason some believed this was an at home abortion is the fact that several people saw a woman who supposedly closely resembled Joan walking along a highway later that afternoon ? I initially doubted this sighting, but several different people saw this woman, and she had what looked to be dried blood on her legs. ( Or could have been mud).... To me, an at home abortion explains it. And she felt compelled to leave the house. Wonder if she had seen her doctor and learned she was pregnant ? Would her doctor have shared this with her husband or LE ? Things would go wrong with at home type abortions. Before abortion became legal, women would sometimes bleed to death.

 

[Ozoner]

Thanks, I see the little toy. I think one reason some believed this was an at home abortion is the fact that several people saw a woman who supposedly closely resembled Joan walking along a highway later that afternoon ? I initially doubted this sighting, but several different people saw this woman, and she had what looked to be dried blood on her legs. ( Or could have been mud).... To me, an at home abortion explains it. And she felt compelled to leave the house. Wonder if she had seen her doctor and learned she was pregnant ? Would her doctor have shared this with her husband or LE ? Things would go wrong with at home type abortions. Before abortion became legal, women would sometimes bleed to death.

Your description of a typical miscarriage may be accurate, but the complications arising from a recent incomplete miscarriage (or abortion) would be different and could vary widely.
*
Abortion is a possible explanation, especially if Joan had been having an affair and her husband wasn't the father.
*
I still think a fallopian tube rupture (from an ectopic pregnancy) fits the evidence even better than a botched home abortion, though, and we can't forget the possibility that the dental anesthetic might have caused a problem.

 

[liz b.]

Your description of a typical miscarriage may be accurate, but the complications arising from a recent incomplete miscarriage (or abortion) would be different and could vary widely.
*
Abortion is a possible explanation, especially if Joan had been having an affair and her husband wasn't the father.
*
I still think a fallopian tube rupture (from an ectopic pregnancy) fits the evidence even better than a botched home abortion, though, and we can't forget the possibility that the dental anesthetic might have caused a problem.

Is it known what Joan had done at the dentist ? I agree about a ruptured ectopic. Would she have collapsed due to that, in your opinion ? Why do you think she left her house ? Could she have been trying to make her way to the house of her old school friend who lived in that town too ?

 

[Sutton]

There is blood spatter evidence throughout the kitchen. There are not only drops and smears on the floor and baseboards, but there are smears on the walls and door frames. There are cast off stains and medium velocity impact spatters on the radiator, telephone stool and on the walls as high as the light switches. There are blood smears on the hood of the car.

Non of this suggests a botched abortion or miscarriage, IMO.

The magazine table that was probably under the phone was knocked over and its contents were spread around the kitchen and hallway. Someone ripped the handset off the wall mounted receiver.

Everything points to an attack by an unknown party. IMO.


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[Skigirl]

There is blood spatter evidence throughout the kitchen. There are not only drops and smears on the floor and baseboards, but there are smears on the walls and door frames. There are cast off stains and medium velocity impact spatters on the radiator, telephone stool and on the walls as high as the light switches. There are blood smears on the hood of the car.

Non of this suggests a botched abortion or miscarriage, IMO.

The magazine table that was probably under the phone was knocked over and its contents were spread around the kitchen and hallway. Someone ripped the handset off the wall mounted receiver.

Everything points to an attack by an unknown party. IMO.


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I wrote before I saw your response -- I totally agree. Before I saw the photos and had read that some blood was found in the kitchen, I thought that it was possible that the blood was from a medical situation, but once I saw them I became totally convinced that it was either an attack, or a staged scene meant to look like an attack. I'm leaning strongly toward the former.

 

[dogperson]

At first when I saw the toy truck in the photo, I thought maybe Joan slipped and fell on it somehow and hurt herself pretty badly, but that wouldn't explain why there were drops of blood upstairs.

At this point my own opinion is that someone assaulted her. I wasn't born til 1970 but back then I don't remember housewives keeping their doors locked during the day in nice neighborhoods, plus kids were prone to running back and forth from the neighbors, so locking the doors would be inconvenient. Maybe someone slipped into the house and raped or attempted to rape her. She may have had another man (although I hate to suggest such a thing if it wasn't the case) or maybe someone in the neighborhood or passing through (like a salesman, etc) developed a thing for her and was stalking her. It wasn't a robbery, so the purpose of the attack was focused on Joan herself.

An attacker seems to make the most sense. He could have come into the house after the daughter went next door or he could even have been hiding somewhere in the house when the family returned home at lunchtime, then he began the attack near the baby's crib, since there was some blood there, and the struggle could have continued on into the kitchen, with her injuries worsening or bleeding more rapidly there.

This person may or may not have been successful in sexually assaulting her, but since she was seen alone after she was injured, he fled the scene either after accomplishing his purpose or after getting scared that the situation had gotten out of hand.

 

[liz b.]

There is blood spatter evidence throughout the kitchen. There are not only drops and smears on the floor and baseboards, but there are smears on the walls and door frames. There are cast off stains and medium velocity impact spatters on the radiator, telephone stool and on the walls as high as the light switches. There are blood smears on the hood of the car.

Non of this suggests a botched abortion or miscarriage, IMO.

The magazine table that was probably under the phone was knocked over and its contents were spread around the kitchen and hallway. Someone ripped the handset off the wall mounted receiver.

Everything points to an attack by an unknown party. IMO.


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I know what you mean. However, I cannot come to the conclusion that she was assaulted. Because for me to reach that conclusion I would have to dismiss the neighbor's report of Joan running in her driveway with something red in her hands. And I would also have to dismiss the reports of several people who saw someone who closely resembled Joan walking along the highway later that afternoon.

If she had been assaulted, why didn't she seek help ? her neighbor was home. And if she was murdered, why didn't her killer leave her body in the house ?

One theory cancels out the other. Are there any photos of blood spatter ? Wouldn't LE have seen that and known what it meant ?

This is a true mystery...jmo

 

[allmybecsloveme]

I don't know if any of you have ever had a miscarriage or known anyone who has had one, but that does not look like the scene of a miscarriage to me, and I would imagine that something that has gone wrong with an abortion would be very similar to what happens in a miscarriage. People who have miscarriages generally know something is happening because they've had spotting and start to get cramping in the lower back. The bleeding then becomes heavier. Usually people are clothed when it starts, and run off to the bathroom and gather towels and cry. It doesn't usually happen so suddenly that you would get blood all over the place. It would be very weird to stumble around the kitchen, knocking things over, yank the garbage pail out from under the sink, stumble over to the phone, smear the wall with blood, etc. etc. I would imagine that if something went wrong with an abortion, it would be very similar, except that you would probably have bleeding that never really stopped from the time of the abortion.

My first miscarriage started out with blood gushing. It did that off and on for almost two weeks. I never spotted.

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[dogperson]

I know what you mean. However, I cannot come to the conclusion that she was assaulted. Because for me to reach that conclusion I would have to dismiss the neighbor's report of Joan running in her driveway with something red in her hands. And I would also have to dismiss the reports of several people who saw someone who closely resembled Joan walking along the highway later that afternoon.

If she had been assaulted, why didn't she seek help ? her neighbor was home. And if she was murdered, why didn't her killer leave her body in the house ?

One theory cancels out the other. Are there any photos of blood spatter ? Wouldn't LE have seen that and known what it meant ?

This is a true mystery...jmo

The only reasons I can think of for her not getting help would be:

1. The blood loss made her disoriented and unable to think logically. I know police think the amount of blood in the kitchen doesn't suggest a deadly injury, but once she left the house and was seen walking with blood running down her legs, the blood loss may have been severe.

2. The person who beat her was someone she was having an illicit relationship with. Maybe, not wanting to get blood in her car that she'd have to explain, she intended to walk someplace for help. Do we know how far the nearest clinic or hospital was from her house?

 

[Vivette]

In all these cases people immediately shout ILLEGAL ABORTION. It's just as ridiculous as back in the day when every female with an opinion needed to be put in a mental institution, and every missing female probably had amnesia, just because.

If the finger prints weren't hers, that must mean someone else had to have been there with her.

I don't buy the lover at all. As if a suburban house wife would allow a lover to come into her home, in front of all of her neighbours who'd love to gossip. No way.

The crime scene and evidence suggests something happened upstairs, where she started bleeding. She or they went downstairs, there was a struggle, she bled the most in the middle of the kitchen near the trash can, then stumbled towards the telephone in the corner, flipping through the phonebook - intruder perhaps knocked the table with phone book over - and then she ripped the phone off herself while falling down or the intruder ripped it from the wall and maybe knocking her against the wall. I guess she fell on the floor with a head wound, her head maybe a bit pressed up to the wall to explain that big stain.

I just have no clue about the part that happened next. Alone outside, and 3km away from her home. This would suggest a medical emergency perhaps and no intruder at all, but to me that doesn't match the crime scene, especially with the finger prints lying around.

 

[liz b.]

In all these cases people immediately shout ILLEGAL ABORTION. It's just as ridiculous as back in the day when every female with an opinion needed to be put in a mental institution, and every missing female probably had amnesia, just because.

If the finger prints weren't hers, that must mean someone else had to have been there with her.

I don't buy the lover at all. As if a suburban house wife would allow a lover to come into her home, in front of all of her neighbours who'd love to gossip. No way.

The crime scene and evidence suggests something happened upstairs, where she started bleeding. She or they went downstairs, there was a struggle, she bled the most in the middle of the kitchen near the trash can, then stumbled towards the telephone in the corner, flipping through the phonebook - intruder perhaps knocked the table with phone book over - and then she ripped the phone off herself while falling down or the intruder ripped it from the wall and maybe knocking her against the wall. I guess she fell on the floor with a head wound, her head maybe a bit pressed up to the wall to explain that big stain.

I just have no clue about the part that happened next. Alone outside, and 3km away from her home. This would suggest a medical emergency perhaps and no intruder at all, but to me that doesn't match the crime scene, especially with the finger prints lying around.

Wasn't there something about a vehicle being seen at the house earlier ? And is it possible that Joan had help, if she had an at home abortion ? Add to this the paper towels in the kitchen. Looks like someone wanted to clean up ? And Joan's neighbor seeing her running down her driveway with something red in her hands. Was it the paper towels used to wipe up blood ? was she running to put the towels in the garbage container ?

 

[dogperson]

The thing I find the hardest to fit in with the evidence is why her husband believed she was still alive. The scene suggests an attack or medical emergency. What did he know (or think he knew) to make him believe she was alive? If so, then didn't he also have to believe she willingly abandoned him and the children? Did he buy the theory of a staged crime scene? I can understand wanting to believe a person was still alive, but what made him think she was the type to stage a crime scene and walk away?