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

[jgfitzge]

Here is the obituary of Frank E. Nattrass (Joan's uncle / adoptive father who allegedly abused her). He died in 1970, just a few months after moving out to Hollywood, CA -- I believe to join his wife out there?

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The name of his company is written incorrectly -- it was actually Nattrass-Schenck. He wrote songs and published sheet music. His company also apparently published this "humor print," which is pretty creepy, especially coming from someone who was accused of child molestation.

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Frank's son, Frank Peter Nattrass, was Joan's cousin / adoptive brother. He died a few months ago, in August 2024. Here's an interview he did in 2015 about his family history.

I'm not finding much else about him, other than the fact that he and his wife Sherrie were the defendants in several lawsuits brought by debt collectors around 2010 - 2011.

Yes, you are correct.Frank moved out to California to be with us separated wife and daughter.
Oh yes, I agree with you a hundred percent on the “humor print.“ very creepy.

 

[jgfitzge]

Boston Globe article from 1996 below.

It's interesting that Martin refused to discuss the case. It seems like usually loved ones of missing people want to talk about them, to get publicity and bring out leads that might solve the case. But it's also possible that talking about Joan was too upsetting / traumatic for him.

I agree with you on this point. I know family members deal with tragedy in different ways but I always found the public behavior of Martin Rush a bit odd.

In my research there appears to be little on record of the days, months, and years following the event and how the family coped. I also do not see at least publicly any he mentioned of a private investigator involved. It strikes me as odd that the family never seemed to mount a high profile effort in later years to solve this mystery.
In comparison I see the exhaustive efforts of Other families asking for help year after year for clues or information on a missing or murdered loved one, going back 20, 30 even 40/50 years.

Again, like you said it could be that talking and dealing with a missing loved one was probably too painful for Martin and the kids to discuss, at least publicly.

 

[jgfitzge]

One mystery in Stephen Ahern’s book that wasn’t addressed were the strange, unexplained calls from the “excited woman”
mentioned in this article from 2014.

Joan Risch: Runaway Wife or Murder Victim?

The disappearance of Joan Nattras Risch is a disturbing story, no matter which view of the case you believe. Either a troubled woman ...

strangeco.blogspot.com

 

[Vedder]

One mystery in Stephen Ahern’s book that wasn’t addressed were the strange, unexplained calls from the “excited woman”
mentioned in this article from 2014.

Joan Risch: Runaway Wife or Murder Victim?

The disappearance of Joan Nattras Risch is a disturbing story, no matter which view of the case you believe. Either a troubled woman ...

strangeco.blogspot.com

This is the first I'm reading about those calls - very interesting!

 

[HarmonyE.]

I agree with you on this point. I know family members deal with tragedy in different ways but I always found the public behavior of Martin Rush a bit odd.

In my research there appears to be little on record of the days, months, and years following the event and how the family coped. I also do not see at least publicly any he mentioned of a private investigator involved. It strikes me as odd that the family never seemed to mount a high profile effort in later years to solve this mystery.
In comparison I see the exhaustive efforts of Other families asking for help year after year for clues or information on a missing or murdered loved one, going back 20, 30 even 40/50 years.

Again, like you said it could be that talking and dealing with a missing loved one was probably too painful for Martin and the kids to discuss, at least publicly.

Martin always said he believed she was alive.

He stayed in the same house until it was moved years later due to the historical park, and then bought a very similar house in the same town and stayed there until the end of his life. He never remarried and raised the kids on his own.

He doesn't really fit the profile of a spouse committing murder for hire, if only because no one has ever said there was an "other" woman in his life at the time and he did not benefit financially from Joan's disappearance. The kids weren't even in school yet when Joan disappeared so no particular reason to stay in the same town, where I'm sure tongues wagged. The fact that he derived no benefit from whatever happened to his wife and didn't even pack up and move the kids to another town later on makes me less inclined to believe he had any involvement.

 

[DD Byrd]

Martin always said he believed she was alive.

I might even take this a step further after reading more about this and posit "Martin knew she was alive." Or at least strongly believed (as in, had some circumstantial eveidence) that she was. At least initially. Whether that was contact with her after her disappearance (those phone calls?) or some other evidence he never shared, like a letter left for him.

I'd imagine if she wanted to start a new life, in those days he might not want to face the reaction from his community. If she were struggling mentally on top of that, he might very well keep it quiet and felt it better for the children in the long run to not have answers rather than admit she took off and was mentally ill. We really don't know if he even kept tabs on her or somehow helped her from afar. That would be another reason for so few interviews with him. Unfortunanately, it wasn't all that common for men to leave their wives and that was embarrassing and stigmatizing enough...for a woman to leave her husband (and children!) would have been downright scandalous.

 

[jgfitzge]

Martin always said he believed she was alive.

He stayed in the same house until it was moved years later due to the historical park, and then bought a very similar house in the same town and stayed there until the end of his life. He never remarried and raised the kids on his own.

He doesn't really fit the profile of a spouse committing murder for hire, if only because no one has ever said there was an "other" woman in his life at the time and he did not benefit financially from Joan's disappearance. The kids weren't even in school yet when Joan disappeared so no particular reason to stay in the same town, where I'm sure tongues wagged. The fact that he derived no benefit from whatever happened to his wife and didn't even pack up and move the kids to another town later on makes me less inclined to believe he had any involvement.

I totally agree that Martin had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance. I don’t believe he hired anyone to make his wife disappear. I believe a few years back I posted the same reasons as you did; no reports of large life insurance, no lover waiting in the wings, he stayed in the same location for many years, etc. That being said, maybe it’s the nature of Police interviews but it seemed to me that Martin did not volunteer a lot of background information on Joan. It seemed like the police were the ones that did the digging and then pose the questions to Martin. Again, maybe it’s the nature of the interview, but he seemed to give very short answers without a lot of elaboration. It seemed like one of the primary, driving motivations for Martin was to protect Joan’s good name.

 

[HarmonyE.]

I totally agree that Martin had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance. I don’t believe he hired anyone to make his wife disappear. I believe a few years back I posted the same reasons as you did; no reports of large life insurance, no lover waiting in the wings, he stayed in the same location for many years, etc. That being said, maybe it’s the nature of Police interviews but it seemed to me that Martin did not volunteer a lot of background information on Joan. It seemed like the police were the ones that did the digging and then pose the questions to Martin. Again, maybe it’s the nature of the interview, but he seemed to give very short answers without a lot of elaboration. It seemed like one of the primary, driving motivations for Martin was to protect Joan’s good name.

Agree. We also don't know how much Martin knew about Joan's childhood or other issues with her adoptive family. She may not have shared everything with him. Some things may have been news to him.

 

[Betty P]

Agree. We also don't know how much Martin knew about Joan's childhood or other issues with her adoptive family. She may not have shared everything with him. Some things may have been news to him.

If you read the book, A Kitchen Painted in Blood, you'll see that her husband was aware of her childhood, the death of her parents and being raised by a relative. He also shared that information with police at some point. There were no conspiracies or anything.

Amazon.com

 

[HarmonyE.]

If you read the book, A Kitchen Painted in Blood, you'll see that her husband was aware of her childhood, the death of her parents and being raised by a relative. He also shared that information with police at some point. There were no conspiracies or anything.

Amazon.com

I was (albeit vaguely) referring to the sexual abuse by her aunt's husband and some of the financial issues and other drama that was ongoing with that family at the time of Joan's disappearance.