Identified! NH - Marlborough, Rt 124, UnkFem 19-30, UP15863, ring, clothes, chap stick, Salem cigs, Apr'74 - Nancy Gale Erickson

[nhmemorymaker]

Is it being assumed that the missing person report was filed in Florida because I've yet to read a state mentioned.
Be it in Florida or elsewhere we don't know when it was filed, if it took the family over 45 yrs to contact Brattleboro which was the last place she was known to be for all we know the report could have been filed a few years ago.
imo

We, obviously know, that the siblings waited a long time. I sense that finally, Michael had to try to find out what happened to her. So I assume he went to Brattleboro for the Missing Persons report, since that was her last known presence.
I don't find anything questionable waiting this long. I have known families who have lost family members for many years, and they simply did not want to talk about it. My guess is that this might have been the case for her mother.....

 

[Beekarina]

Agree. And the 70s, I think times were just really different too, unfortunately.

It sounds like the family had splintered, with the siblings all going off in different directions, and the parents remarrying. (At least I think I read the father also remarried, I may be mistaken?)

It wasn't clear to me if they all really kept in touch closely either. Sometimes families do not. It also was not clear to me if Nancy's SISTER had Nancy hospitalized, or of that was Nancy's mother? The interview was a bit confusing. I understood the tow younger siblings moved to Florida with their mother and stepfather, but I wasn't sure if we knew how much younger they were? I would also keep that in mind. They may have been considerably younger. Nancy herself was still pretty young, even if she would have been considered a "full adult" in that era.

I suspect that is what probably happened. The clothes were returned, and maybe they did try reaching out to Nancy's employers, etc in Brattleboro but no one knew anything. Maybe they were afraid of getting Nancy into serious trouble if they went to the police since she was still on probation, and her parents or mom or family together decided to wait and see if they heard from her, and then when some time passed, that is when they reported her missing? Then I could see how it would have been in Florida or New York, since that is where they lived. Probably Florida, but just a guess. Then as more time passed, they hoped she was just out there doing something alternative--her "own thing". Which is what I personally think WAS her intent when she left Florida. Just a hunch, but her actions seem pretty similar to a few other cases from that time when people DID go voluntarily missing and were found much later and still wanted to remain missing. It happened a fair amount.

I can understand Michael not going to Brattleboro until much later in time. It is possible he never knew Nancy was there until recently, or didn't really put everything together. I think it can be easy since we have an interest in these cases, and many of us know people who have been victims, some things to us seem like "Of course you would do X, Y and Z" but people might really not know. They might have thought she was reported missing, so LE should be on the case and would handle everything. I could understand if they had thought that.

JMO!

 

[Izzylizzy]

We, obviously know, that the siblings waited a long time. I sense that finally, Michael had to try to find out what happened to her. So I assume he went to Brattleboro for the Missing Persons report, since that was her last known presence.
I don't find anything questionable waiting this long. I have known families who have lost family members for many years, and they simply did not want to talk about it. My guess is that this might have been the case for her mother.....

According to reports the father died in 85' and the mother soon after.
I totally get the not wanting to track down or even know about their family member and it's usually because the missing one has burned all bridges way beyond wanting any kind of reconciliation.
Most families do not want to talk about it because the hurt and anger is deep over what the missing person did to themselves and to them/others and many were involved in a revolving door of drugs/alcohol/criminal behavior.

Nancy was very young, 21 and recently graduated with a nursing degree, found employment then something went amiss that even caused her sister to sign her into a mental facility.
There were 5 adults involved and it took almost 50 yrs.
My question is what could she have possibly done that her immediate family wanted nothing to do with her and I don't consider Nancy's family and how they did nothing to find her as a common one in the world of missing young adults.
IMO

 

[Izzylizzy]

For all we know the siblings wanted to close out the money that Nancy was left by her father and never claimed.
Michael said it was 1,500 to 2,000 the father left each of his children when he died.
Nancy's money was held unclaimed somewhere in escrow and then after a certain amount of years it would be considered dormant and unclaimed" and the state would take it.
There is a process for the inheritor and/or next of kin to reclaim the money from the state,if it's next of kin it would be a death certificate.

We don't know who was the executor of the father's will.
imo

 

[Beekarina]

I have a sibling who doesn't speak to any of us. As far as I can tell from very occasional word of mouth from friend of friend of friend rumors, they are doing quite well. It is complicated,, but for whatever their reasons, one day the just up and cut everyone off. (We used to be rather close, so it hurt quite a bit.).

So, I wouldn't know if my sibling ACTUALLY went missing. They already have, in a way. I don't know their address, wouldn't be able to tell you their employer, do not have recent photos, etc. Not quite the same thing, but adults DO have the right to leave. I think we shouldn't be so hard on Nancy's siblings. We know one of them was also a recent college grad, and as far as I can tell, all we know of the other 2 is they were "younger", and their parents had divorced and remarried, and they had moved from New York to Florida not far from the time Nancy left.

Nancy being in a hospital in Florida was really vague, but that and the way she left probably also had an impact on the younger two. It sounds like the older brother was just starting out in life himself. LE could have told the family it was likely Nancy was out there "finding herself", and maybe they all chose to believe it?

We also have no idea if any of them DID look in the years between 1973 and 2021-ish. We only know what's been reported, right?

 

[Izzylizzy]

I have a sibling who doesn't speak to any of us. As far as I can tell from very occasional word of mouth from friend of friend of friend rumors, they are doing quite well. It is complicated,, but for whatever their reasons, one day the just up and cut everyone off. (We used to be rather close, so it hurt quite a bit.).

So, I wouldn't know if my sibling ACTUALLY went missing. They already have, in a way. I don't know their address, wouldn't be able to tell you their employer, do not have recent photos, etc. Not quite the same thing, but adults DO have the right to leave. I think we shouldn't be so hard on Nancy's siblings. We know one of them was also a recent college grad, and as far as I can tell, all we know of the other 2 is they were "younger", and their parents had divorced and remarried, and they had moved from New York to Florida not far from the time Nancy left.

Nancy being in a hospital in Florida was really vague, but that and the way she left probably also had an impact on the younger two. It sounds like the older brother was just starting out in life himself. LE could have told the family it was likely Nancy was out there "finding herself", and maybe they all chose to believe it?

We also have no idea if any of them DID look in the years between 1973 and 2021-ish. We only know what's been reported, right?

You might not know if your sibling "actually went missing" but others would and most likely word would reach you and your family.
Nancy disappeared your sibling did not.

Common sense tells me that if the parents/siblings had searched for her besides a missing person filed in "another state" (though we don't know what year and mind-boggling it was not in Vermont too ) the siblings would have gladly shared the information during their interview.
Why not since they went public and with a story that leaves so many questions for LE and them.
imo

 

[Izzylizzy]

I have a sibling who doesn't speak to any of us. As far as I can tell from very occasional word of mouth from friend of friend of friend rumors, they are doing quite well. It is complicated,, but for whatever their reasons, one day the just up and cut everyone off. (We used to be rather close, so it hurt quite a bit.).

So, I wouldn't know if my sibling ACTUALLY went missing. They already have, in a way. I don't know their address, wouldn't be able to tell you their employer, do not have recent photos, etc. Not quite the same thing, but adults DO have the right to leave. I think we shouldn't be so hard on Nancy's siblings. We know one of them was also a recent college grad, and as far as I can tell, all we know of the other 2 is they were "younger", and their parents had divorced and remarried, and they had moved from New York to Florida not far from the time Nancy left.

Nancy being in a hospital in Florida was really vague, but that and the way she left probably also had an impact on the younger two. It sounds like the older brother was just starting out in life himself. LE could have told the family it was likely Nancy was out there "finding herself", and maybe they all chose to believe it?

We also have no idea if any of them DID look in the years between 1973 and 2021-ish. We only know what's been reported, right?

I don't get what an LE telling the family or any family for that matter that their missing 21 yr old child was likely out the finding themselves and hearing that would stop a family from looking for their child.

It was the "younger" sister Eslick who said that at one point she had Nancy admitted to the hospital for her well being.
There couldn't have been too much of an age difference between the sisters.
imo

 

[Beekarina]

What I'm trying to communicate is lost. I can try again?

I shared my experience because I thought it might help explain how adults sometimes do just cut ties, for whatever reason, and really all you can do is respect that. It would be wrong to "stalk" them, right? What I'm getting at is, Nancy would not have been considered a child at 21 in the 1970s. I'm not sure how old you are, but it was really different generally than it is now. Even with teenagers who ran away, and whose families DID make a real effort to find them a lot were dismissed. So a 21 year old, it likely would have been like "Hey, she's an adult, she can come and go as she likes." I do think LE probably told them this.

Nancy checked herself out of the halfway house and resigned from her job, and she's in East Bumblewacky, Vermont probably they just thought she was a hippie. A lot of young people were, even if yes as you mentioned, the war was over. You should have met some of the parents of kids I went to school with, and the names of some of my classmates LOL. I'm crunchy around the edges, but oh man....anyway....

When I listened to the interview with the sister I personally found it a bit confusing as to whether the sister of their mother has Nancy go stay in a hospital for her "well-being"m and for how long. It would have been interesting to know more about this, but it was all a bit jumbled, IMO.

And again, if Nancy was 21, and you consider her a child, how old was her younger sister? 20? 19? 18? If the younger sister had Nancy committed to a hospital she was probably 18-20, so legally an adult, but a young adult. I would think that is pretty stressful, wouldn't you? She would have had her own life as well--college or a job, personal life, whatever was going on with the mom and stepfather, a younger brother whose age we do not know, possibly step siblings. Her older brother was married and settled down in another state.

It sounds like the mom and the younger sister tried to be supportive in sending Nancy clothes to Brattleboro. Someone reported Nancy missing. In the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, what should they have done to find her? And again, we do not know what they DID do, or what sort of family conversations they had.

 

[Beekarina]

Thought of a different way to look at this: the only reason I know my sibling is out there is the internet--i.e. the way we know all kinds of snooping around info now. If it was not for social media and all the related rapid access to information, I would have no idea if they were "OK" or not.

Nancy's siblings trying to find her in say 1989 or something, what would they do?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

What I'm trying to communicate is lost. I can try again?

I shared my experience because I thought it might help explain how adults sometimes do just cut ties, for whatever reason, and really all you can do is respect that. It would be wrong to "stalk" them, right? What I'm getting at is, Nancy would not have been considered a child at 21 in the 1970s. I'm not sure how old you are, but it was really different generally than it is now. Even with teenagers who ran away, and whose families DID make a real effort to find them a lot were dismissed. So a 21 year old, it likely would have been like "Hey, she's an adult, she can come and go as she likes." I do think LE probably told them this.

Nancy checked herself out of the halfway house and resigned from her job, and she's in East Bumblewacky, Vermont probably they just thought she was a hippie. A lot of young people were, even if yes as you mentioned, the war was over. You should have met some of the parents of kids I went to school with, and the names of some of my classmates LOL. I'm crunchy around the edges, but oh man....anyway....

When I listened to the interview with the sister I personally found it a bit confusing as to whether the sister of their mother has Nancy go stay in a hospital for her "well-being"m and for how long. It would have been interesting to know more about this, but it was all a bit jumbled, IMO.

And again, if Nancy was 21, and you consider her a child, how old was her younger sister? 20? 19? 18? If the younger sister had Nancy committed to a hospital she was probably 18-20, so legally an adult, but a young adult. I would think that is pretty stressful, wouldn't you? She would have had her own life as well--college or a job, personal life, whatever was going on with the mom and stepfather, a younger brother whose age we do not know, possibly step siblings. Her older brother was married and settled down in another state.

It sounds like the mom and the younger sister tried to be supportive in sending Nancy clothes to Brattleboro. Someone reported Nancy missing. In the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, what should they have done to find her? And again, we do not know what they DID do, or what sort of family conversations they had.

I am with you, as you can probably already tell. Unless you were a YOUNG ADULT in the 70s, you just might not understand. The Generation Gap was strong. Many of we Youngers, avoided discussion and contact with our elders. I swear, my move with my newish husband from OH to NYS, was so exciting, in part to get away from those elders. I didn't see my folks for a few years at a time.
What I am still a bit surprised about... No one has come forward with memories of Nancy. In smaller states like NH and VT, I think people have memories of some things like a disturbed person, or a particular mental health environment....

 

[Izzylizzy]

I am with you, as you can probably already tell. Unless you were a YOUNG ADULT in the 70s, you just might not understand. The Generation Gap was strong. Many of we Youngers, avoided discussion and contact with our elders. I swear, my move with my newish husband from OH to NYS, was so exciting, in part to get away from those elders. I didn't see my folks for a few years at a time.
What I am still a bit surprised about... No one has come forward with memories of Nancy. In smaller states like NH and VT, I think people have memories of some things like a disturbed person, or a particular mental health environment....

I totally get "youngers" who avoided discussion and contact with their parents.
I gather your parents knew who you married and knew you were headed to live in NYS?
I see doing that the same way I see beekerina's sibling breaking contact, no one just picked up and disappeared off the face of the earth.
You had a husband and a plan.
Did beekrina's sibling have a partner, children, friends that they could have contacted along the way if they wanted to get in touch with them?

What I do not get is parents/family not trying to locate their 21 yr old missing daughter for almost 50 yrs knowing when she left home she suffered from mental health issues, then to find out soon after she had been arrested in another state, was homeless and now on the run,
IMO

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I totally get "youngers" who avoided discussion and contact with their parents.
I gather your parents knew who you married and knew you were headed to live in NYS?
I see doing that the same way I see beekerina's sibling breaking contact, no one just picked up and disappeared off the face of the earth.
You had a husband and a plan.
Did beekrina's sibling have a partner, children, friends that they could have contacted along the way if they wanted to get in touch with them?

What I do not get is parents/family not trying to locate their 21 yr old missing daughter for almost 50 yrs knowing when she left home she suffered from mental health issues, then to find out soon after she had been arrested in another state, was homeless and now on the run,
IMO

Definitely a marriage for the adults and all our parents were well aware of our departure.
Seriously, "Goodbye Columbus" was definitely our theme!!

The notion of "time" was just so different. You just knew you had to wait, wait, wait to get information. Sometimes that wait just turns into a frozen depression.

 

[Friday Fan]

What I do not get is parents/family not trying to locate their 21 yr old missing daughter for almost 50 yrs knowing when she left home she suffered from mental health issues, then to find out soon after she had been arrested in another state, was homeless and now on the run,
IMO

They probably tried to locate her, but I'm sure they met resistance.

Back then a 21 year old with those conditions probably would not be a high priority for the police. Her mental health issues seemed to be more of depression and they would be probably only search if she was psychotic and a "danger to others" Her conviction was minor and her leaving a halfway house was not a crime and wanting to leave a halfway house would be considered to be "human nature". She wasn't a danger to others.

Very few adults were ever searched for, unless they were dangerous or there was evidence of foul play. If they kept a report, it was usually, "If we see them around, we'll let you know".

 

[Beekarina]

re:beekerina's sibling breaking contact, no one just picked up and disappeared off the face of the earth.

See, the thing I was trying to explain, but maybe not doing a very good job of it, is that if my sib had done this in the 1970s, I wouldn't know they were OK. Frankly, I only assume they are on a "day to day" basis. I do not regularly check up on them. It is more once in awhile some very "game of telephone" type social media info gets back to me, and I looked once for my concerned parent via al alt social media account and could see they appeared to be doing very well.

When they went no contact, I was pretty upset and concerned. I actually did think briefly about if they were missing or not OK mentally, but then I snooped online and quickly found them and that we were all blocked. They DID up and move pretty far away as well. I guess they were going through some things, and wanted to make big changes, which I understand. If this had happened in the 1970s, I would not have known where my sibling was, at least not right away.

Families are complicated, and I think many families have issues and I think it can be important to remember that within a family everyone has their own "story". I can understand being upset it took so long for Nancy to get her name back, but I think we should give her siblings some sympathy. We don't know what they experienced, what they thought, or what they did do or try. I only know times were very different.