MA MA - Simone Ridinger, 17, Sherborn, 2 Sept 1977

[jgfitzge]

I keep going back to the statement Simone made to her step sister, Betsy. When asked if she wanted a ride, Simone said she was all set and didn't need one. Leads me to think that Simone already had a ride lined up. I would love to know if the waitresses could identify the elderly man as a regular customer.

I’ve been analyzing that interaction for a while. I’m not sure whether There is holdback information or not here. On the one hand, I wonder if her sister Betty had additional clarifying information such as Was she talking about giving her a ride to the bus station in Framingham or a ride all the way to the Cape. Did Simone give her sister Betty a more detailed answer? For a while, I was thinking that perhaps the elderly man or someone at the diner offered to give her a ride down the Cape before hand. However, when the eyewitnesses were interviewed recently, one or two of them mentioned that Simone started to hitchhike as soon as she left the restaurant.

 

[jgfitzge]

@jgfitzge...I know you suspect the elderly man as well, and are familiar with the area. Do you believe she even made it out of the area of her Apt/Restaurant or during the drive to the Cape something occurred?

That is a great question and one that I’ve been struggling with for a while now. I know that the officer (I think his name was Stevens) who took the elderly man’s report in 1986 has said in subsequent interviews that he believes Simone never got out of the area. Part of me that wonders whether if the elderly man knowing that the breakfast/lunch shift ends at 3 o’clock was riding around the area in the hopes of seeing Simone and offering her a ride.

 

[jgfitzge]

I know the elderly man died. Wonder if the son has his car stored or whatever became of it? Might be a great source for DNA. Do we know what kind of search was done for Simone, if any?

Just my opinion, but after all this time I doubt his son has the automobile stored. Also, looking at all notes of mine and messages I believe the Sherborn detective was looking at any land or houses that the elderly man or his family owned.

 

[jgfitzge]

In the Cape Cod Times, Simones stepsister Betsy had stated she offered a ride to Simone who declined and said she didnt need a ride. So it makes me think Simone either had plans for a ride already or she wasnt planning to go straight to the Cape and had something planned beforehand.

Again, it’s a little frustrating this is the only interaction published with Simone’s sister Betty the about the upcoming Chappaquiddick vacation. There has to be more detail concerning the interview unless they’re using it as hold back information. For example, how did you normally travel down to the Cape? Car or bus? Would you normally take the ferry over from Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard or did a friend take you over by boat? Besides declining your ride offer did Simone mention whether she was going to her apartment first?

 

[Sweetluv]

The apartment was always of interest to me. I hope LE would have checked out the apartment. IF she went there first, I would think she would have changed out of her work clothes...
Also, she had roomates..what did she tell them about going to the Cape?

 

[Sweetluv]

I find the elderly man suspicious..I think LE should have looked at him a little harder!
But, alot of serial killers in the 70s, especially truckers..and Simone was hitchiking during the busy Labor Day holiday.

 

[bettyboop]

I found Simone listed on the FBI website. She is on the ViCAP Missing Persons list. I'm terrible at linking. Can a fellow websleuther link the info ?Thank You!!
fbi.gov all lowercase

 

[spartanx]

This case reminds me of the Tammy Lynn Lepert case... the same thing happened, someone said he took her and left her in a random place and then left just like that... what surprises me the most is that the policeman asked someone for that... without thinking that the man could be a psychopath or a pedophile... big mistake by that policeman... even though the guy who took her is already dead, I always have doubts about whether he told the truth...
whatever the case,
rest in peace

 

[Sweetluv]

Was it ever published what the make, model, and color was of the elderly man's car ? Carol Rodriguez went missing four years earlier while hitchiking in Spencer Mass. She phoned a roommate to say someone in a Beige Sedan was giving her a ride to Framingham. Just a thought..

 

[Sweetluv]

Simone has 34 ruleouts on NamUs

 

[jgfitzge]

Simone has 34 ruleouts on NamUs

Anyway to tell how many ruleouts from Massachusetts or New England?

 

[Sweetluv]

@Caring1 Would you please list Simones ruleouts ? For some reason, I'm having an issue with trying to transfer that list here.
Thanks in advance..

 

[Caring1]

@Caring1 Would you please list Simones ruleouts ? For some reason, I'm having an issue with trying to transfer that list here.
Thanks in advance..

There may be duplicates or already identified included.

34 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[jgfitzge]

Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe publishes a regular cold case file series. Here’s an article published just the other day concerning a retired Mass state police detective, considering a potential suspect in Simone Ridinger’s disappearance.

‘He was hunting females along the Cape Cod Canal.’ Investigators explore new lead in 1977 disappearance. - The Boston Globe

 

[Sweetluv]

Unfortunately, it will not let me view.
Could you please give a brief summary of what the article ststes?

 

[jgfitzge]

You’re right, I forgot about the paywall. There’s a very short capsule, it does mention the suspects me, and if you research the suspect was responsible for a few other cases in Massachusetts.

Summary: Rick Nagle, a retired State Police detective lieutenant, who after reading the Globe’s recent Cold Case Files story about Simone Ridinger, thought of Eric H. Anderson Jr., a convicted killer from southeastern Massachusetts with a history of violent assaults on women.

Nagle, 72, used to oversee the State Police’s cold case unit, spent years investigating Anderson and the women he abducted. It is possible he had other victims, and considering the timeline of Simone’s intended travel, Ridinger may have been one of them, according to Nagle

 

[Beekarina]

Unfortunately, it will not let me view.
Could you please give a brief summary of what the article ststes?

https://archive.is/YxPcE

 

[Beekarina]

"Five months later, Anderson picked up a female hitchhiker at the Sagamore Bridge in Bourne.
According to Nagle, Anderson drove the woman to the Manomet Bird Observatory in Plymouth, where he pulled out a knife and told her to get on the floor of the car, or he’d kill her.
He tied her up with a rope, but when she felt the car slow down, she managed to open the door."\\

https://archive.is/YxPcE#selection-1609.0-1625.94

 

[Beekarina]

There is a lot more relating to other similar disappearances around the same time as Simone. Everyone should find a way to read the article. If the archived link does not work, another option would be to see if your public library offers access to the Boston Globe online, as many do. If not, let me know and I can send you more of it in a PM.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Eric H. Anderson was convicted of attacking a Medfield woman in her home on Aug. 5, 1957.

‘He was hunting females along the Cape Cod Canal.’ Investigators explore new lead in 1977 disappearance.

Rick Nagle, a retired State Police detective lieutenant, who after reading the Globe’s most recent Cold Case Files story about Simone Ridinger, thought of Eric H. Anderson Jr., a convicted killer from southeastern Massachusetts with a history of violent assaults on women.

www.boston.com

Simone Ridinger was 17 years old when she disappeared in September

Two weeks before Bleiler’s disappearance, Ridinger went missing after she finished her waitressing shift at the Rainbow Restaurant at 9 South Main St. in Natick.

Ridinger said she planned to go to Martha’s Vineyard and spend Labor Day weekend with her mother at a cottage in Chappaquiddick.

After her Friday shift was over, on Sept. 2, 1977, Ridinger changed out of her waitressing uniform — a blue pullover vest and blue skirt — and left the restaurant.

But she never made it to see her mother on Martha’s Vineyard.Her body has never been found.

Simone Ridinger was 17 years old when she disappeared in September 1977.

Nagle said the man’s description of her clothing and jewelry matched what Ridinger was wearing back then.Given that the man had nothing to gain from coming forward, and the details about what she was wearing he provided were corroborated, “I take him as a credible individual,” Nagle said.

Unfortunately, the man has since died.

Andrew Richard, a Sherborn police detective, recently met with Nagle to discuss Ridinger’s case and the possibility of Anderson being involved in her disappearance.

“My feeling on it is, if I can determine that Simone did in fact make it down by the Cape that weekend, then Anderson would be a person of interest,” Richard said.

‘He was hunting females along the Cape Cod Canal.’ Investigators explore new lead in 1977 disappearance.

Rick Nagle, a retired State Police detective lieutenant, who after reading the Globe’s most recent Cold Case Files story about Simone Ridinger, thought of Eric H. Anderson Jr., a convicted killer from southeastern Massachusetts with a history of violent assaults on women.

www.boston.com