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

[jgfitzge]

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

Sorry, but don't think she is buried there. One of the key factors is the short time between the time the Rischs moved to Lincoln and the day of her disappearance, less then 7 months. I am not sure that was enogh time for animosity to reach a level where a murder takes place between the neighbor and Joan. If there was some land dispute, I would think there would have been a meeting between the neighbors that would include Martin Risch. Or are you implying there was an affair between Mr, Barker (the neighbor) and Joan? Again, I fall back on the short time period between April and October, not enough time, and they certainly would have been seen.

 

[liz b.]

I know the area and you are right, one witness saw the lady walking almost at the reservoir near Totten Pond road, that is almost 3 miles from her house. In her condition, doubtful unless she got dropped off part of the way. I also checked a sunrise/sunset calendar and the sun went down at 5:48 PM on Oct. 24, 1961.

Agree that she got into a car. the blood drips in the house ended in her driveway. jmo If she was driven someplace then dropped off, the sightings of her might make sense, but jmo.

 

[jgfitzge]

I don't know about the neighbors being 100% wrong. I tend to take the opposite tact, where there is smoke there is fire. Yes, a lot of times they may come across like they "know everything." But, a lot of times there is a kernel of truth. You just have to know how to separate the BS from the instinctive "something is not right about this or that..." But, your posting brings up a lot of good points. When she disappeared there was not a wave of fear like the area received the next few years during the strangler killings. I think there were a few things operating...one, and this point is a key reference when I think about a lot of the theories in this case,the Risch's were not from the area, they just moved in under 7 months before. Not a lot of time for deep relationships, good or bad to take place. I also think at some level, somewhat murky was neighbors in deep in their gut knew it was not a "bogeyman" or crazy murderer running around Lincoln and what ever happened and how it happened it may have been brought on by Joan or Martin.

 

[jgfitzge]

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!

Allow me to address # 4

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.

With the caveat that while some people deal with tragedy and emotional upheaval differently I also find it odd the family never seemed (that I know of) to pursue any type of public effort to resolve the mystery. I see the exhaustive efforts of family members asking for help year after year for clues or information on a missing or murdered loved one, going back 20, 30 even 40 years. I found Martin Risch's answers to some of the questions odd, like the one where LE asked about whether she was possibly pregnant and whether that would have been good or bad news. Instead of saying, "She would have been happy or overjoyed" or better WE would have been happy, he answered it in a clumsy manners with a negative sentence structure. "She would not have been unhappy." Look, I do not think Martin Risch knocked off his wife. However, I believe he may have known things that had to do with Joan's demise or disappearance but never shared them. I think if you ask an investigator at the time I would not be surprised if he said yes, Martin was cooperative but I would not not say he overly helpful. I also wonder about the kids, especially the 4 year old Lillian and whether through the years did any repressed memories ever come back. I am assuming they both ended up going to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional HS. Lillian based on her age was probably Class of 1975.

 

[Aleph]

It is interesting that no one was afraid. A relative of mine was a neighbor to the Rischs and she doesn't mention any fear from that time. I think the impression (right or wrong) was that what happened to JR had something to do w her, specifically. Maybe because of the library books.


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[Aleph]

My relative also told me (and I'm not sure if I have this right) that the neighborhood was taken over by the National Parks because it was close to a battlefield for the Revolutionary War. I'm not sure when this happened but it may have affected where the Risch children went to school.


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[jgfitzge]

Your friend is correct about the takeover. I don't think that the land take over effected where the kids went to school. Regional schools are pretty common in the area, where two small towns close to one another have a regional high school. If you grew up in Lincoln or Sudbury you went to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional HS unless your parents were wealthy and you were gifted and you went to Belmont Hill or BBN. By the way, the Risch's stayed in the same house in that neighborhood until it got physically moved in 1975 to the other side of Lincoln.

 

[jgfitzge]

However, keep in mind, the discovery of the books JR took out from the library was not discovered until a year later So, one woiuld assume any fear or concern would have shown itself in the immediate aftermath...

 

[jgfitzge]

And what about the car that was seen in the driveway?

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Ahh...that is one of my major questions in this whole Risch Mystery. In all reports i read, LE accepts without question eyewitnesses who saw Joan stumbling along the highway with blood running down her legs.Yet LE seemed a bit skeptical of witnesses who claim they saw the bue/gray car not only in the driveway that day but several days before Joan's disappearance. Why?? Think about it more.

 

[jgfitzge]

It's possible that her medical emergency led to unclear thinking (resulting from sepsis, a stroke, a head injury, etc.), but it's also possible that she was simply too embarrassed to ask for help. If she was bleeding from her vagina, I could see that being very embarrassing for a woman back in that era.
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Maybe she was trying to walk to a hospital. I would like to know whether the place she was spotted along the road would have been en route to a hospital from her house.

I will research a bit more but witnesses who saw her stumbling along Route 128, (Southbound) she would have been going away form the closest hospital. Where she lived in Lincoln near Route 2 and 2A, she would have been about 5 miles from Emerson Hospital. On 128, near the reservoir, she would have been entering Waltham and old Waltham Hospital would have been 6 miles from her house.

 

[puzzleme]

Exactly! The car is the answer to me! It could be 2 things. One a killer or two an accomplice.

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[STANDREID]

Exactly! The car is the answer to me! It could be 2 things. One a killer or two an accomplice.

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I think it is the key as long as it's true so what could have it have been about? Certainly no abortionist is going to do a pre-op exam.

 

[puzzleme]

This was a very intelligent woman who if she wanted to leave could have easily done so. It very well could have been her husband but I think it was someone else she knew. She was a victim of child abuse so she could have had some form of break down and injured herself but I really don't think this the case.

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[jgfitzge]

I believe the guy in NH who spent money investigating is the source of the PDF that is liked to upthred. It has all kinds of information that was apparently gathered through open records requests -- handwritten police notes, FBI bulletins and the like. I am pretty sure I know that because I found his website at one point, but gee, it was so long ago, I'm not sure I could come up with the link again. He spent a lot of time garnering support for a theory having to do with the formation of a park and the landowners who were to sell their land in order to make the park possible. The Risch's house was in that area, and in fact, the notes revealed that someone who was evaluating the land for the park had visited Mrs. Risch.

Personally, I also do not believe she walked out of her life. I think the police notes and Risch's statement given the night/into next early morning after she disappeared, speaking of her in the past tense, was very interesting. I think he may have put out a hit on her for some reason. It's awfully convenient that he was on a one-day business trip when it happened. He would be far from the first husband to do such a thing. Maybe he thought (or knew) that she had money from her parents, or the family that raised her? I don't know what his motives may have been. If that were his plan, maybe he asked her to pick up books for him at the library to start setting up the theory that she had walked away on her own. Maybe he hadn't counted on there being blood in the kitchen. Maybe it was botched.

Hi,thanks for confirming that the guy I referenced spending about $90,000 re-investigating the Joan Risch case is probably the source of the PDF file with the crime photos and other interviews and notes. I think I also read somewhere he was considering writing a book or making a documentary about the case. IMO, his input and additional notes to this site would be so valuable. I say that because if the PDF cost him $90,000 then he got ripped off. FOIA requests do not cost that much. So, I suspect he is sitting on a lot more. Any possibility you can search around for his website? Don't spend too much because I cannot find it based on a "Risch" keyword search. If anyone else knows him, please see if he would be willing to share his findings.

 

[Skigirl]

Hi,thanks for confirming that the guy I referenced spending about $90,000 re-investigating the Joan Risch case is probably the source of the PDF file with the crime photos and other interviews and notes. I think I also read somewhere he was considering writing a book or making a documentary about the case. IMO, his input and additional notes to this site would be so valuable. I say that because if the PDF cost him $90,000 then he got ripped off. FOIA requests do not cost that much. So, I suspect he is sitting on a lot more. Any possibility you can search around for his website? Don't spend too much because I cannot find it based on a "Risch" keyword search. If anyone else knows him, please see if he would be willing to share his findings.

I found his name, but not his website -- Lawrence F. Ford. I found it here: http://www.officialcoldcaseinvestig...appeared-on-October-24-1961-From-Lincoln-Mass

 

[jgfitzge]

I found his name, but not his website -- Lawrence F. Ford. I found it here: http://www.officialcoldcaseinvestig...appeared-on-October-24-1961-From-Lincoln-Mass

Thanks Skigirl, this could be tough tracking down. Your link is to a 1993 Boston Herald article, Ford was 57 at the time. If alive, he would be 80. The reporter, Joe Heaney, great long time Herald reporter passed away a couple of years ago at 82. If he is not alive, maybe there is an offspring that is in possession of the documents.

 

[jgfitzge]

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 ?

Liz, Joan's college chum lived in Bedford, next town over from Lincoln. I estimate the distance to be 7-8 miles.

 

[jgfitzge]

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 ?

Was Joan's purse at the house ?

Martin Risch passed away in 2009. He would not discuss Joan's disappearance, but never changed his opinion that she was still alive. He never re-married. I read that there was a funeral Mass for him, leading me to think he was Catholic.Perhaps Joan was too.

I have never seen anywhere that Martin Risch had his wife declared legally deceased. I have read that there were some "mysterious" phone calls to the Risch household in the days after Joan disappeared. I also read that Joan's best friend from school who lived in the same town said that the calls were from her number. I can't locate a link for this, so it is only rumor at this point. I think Martin Risch may have heard from Joan, and that is the reason he knew she had left. Joan apparently never changed her name with Social Security, she was still Joan Nattras in that database. IDK, but I assume her D/L would be in the name of Joan Risch. If she had a bank account in her own name it would have been fairly easy to leave and start a new life.

I do have a really hard time believing she left her 2 year old son in his crib in the house, and her 4 year old daughter to find the scene in the house. But I have no way of knowing any of her inner life. Life in general was hard for women then, if they wanted to end a marriage. jmo

Lastly, I read on this thread that LE's report to the FBI about this case states that Joan Risch had a [possible "self inflicted" injury, causing her to bleed profusely. this is a pretty clear implication. jmo

Liz, you mentioned, "I also read that Joan's best friend from school who lived in the same town said that the calls were from her number. I can't locate a link for this, so it is only rumor at this point." I never heard this point. I did hear about a hysterical woman calling the Risch's house and apparently these calls also were made to the neighbor's (Barbara Barker) If her friend said the calls came from her phone # then what does this mean? Did the police trace the calls to her house? I am looking for the branch here...if the 10-12 calls came from her house, who made them and why? As I mentioned earlier, Joan's college friend lived in Bedford, next town over.

 

[liz b.]

Liz, you mentioned, "I also read that Joan's best friend from school who lived in the same town said that the calls were from her number. I can't locate a link for this, so it is only rumor at this point." I never heard this point. I did hear about a hysterical woman calling the Risch's house and apparently these calls also were made to the neighbor's (Barbara Barker) If her friend said the calls came from her phone # then what does this mean? Did the police trace the calls to her house? I am looking for the branch here...if the 10-12 calls came from her house, who made them and why? As I mentioned earlier, Joan's college friend lived in Bedford, next town over.

I read that Joan's friend said that the calls to the Risch home came from her phone number. Guessing that she also told this to LE. I'm pretty sure I read it here on this thread. Now, she could have lived in the next town over, and still have lived fairly close to Joan, right ?

My thinking about those phone calls to the Risch home : it could well have been Joan herself, calling Martin. She could have gone to her friend's house, and then left the area. Another thing I recall reading is that this friend of Joan's had just gotten home from the hospital when Joan went missing. She had just given birth.

Why do you think Martin never had Joan declared legally dead ? Is it known whether Martin ever hired a PI to look for his wife ?

 

[Skigirl]

Thanks Skigirl, this could be tough tracking down. Your link is to a 1993 Boston Herald article, Ford was 57 at the time. If alive, he would be 80. The reporter, Joe Heaney, great long time Herald reporter passed away a couple of years ago at 82. If he is not alive, maybe there is an offspring that is in possession of the documents.

Here's the website: http://truth-link.org/8-joan-risch-category/1-joanrisch