USVI - Sandra Shapiro Laplace, 27, Hull Bay, 1 May 1974

rainwater

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Sandra Suzzane Shapiro Laplace was recently listed on the Doenetwork. She is not in NAMUS (yet). She went missing from the U.S. Virgin Islands on May 1, 1974 age 27. I did not see a thread for her on WS, so I am starting this one.

Her original paperwork on her case went missing decades ago due to flood/fire. Her family apparently contacted the Doenetwork in the last month or so, asking for help in locating her.

Here is her Doenetwork link :http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3410dfvi.html


Mods: I did not see an abbreviation for U.S. Virgin Islands, so I used "NEW" instead. Please fix if needed to an appropriate abbreviation.
 
There is a facebook page for her created March, 2014. Unfortunately not much info. A few pictures though..

https://www.facebook.com/sandrashapirolaplace

About
This page is organized & maintained by the family of Sandra Suzzan Shapiro LaPlace. We are hoping that we can locate her, she has been missing since 1974.

Description
Sandra Suzzan Shapiro LaPlace is 67 years old today. In 1974, she left her her home on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and has not come back. There have been sightings of her on several occassions since that time. Her children are desperately searching for her and are using many avenues to do so. They want her to know they love her unconditionally and just want her to come back to them.
 
Thank you so much for posting her information. We have very little information regarding this person. We have not shared all on the facebook page because my cousin Suzanne, her daughter, has some family conflict with some relatives there and to spare her and her brother Ken additional anguish we left some details out. I am her great niece and my second cousin, who lives in St. Thomas still, is my second cousin, my Dads cousin. What we know now is that she left the island under normal circumstances stating that she could no longer handle island life away from her family here in NY and with two toddlers. I have recently visited the island and retraced the steps. The vehicle was found up the road and I say up because the roads are all hills there, at a local bar.

She was seen getting into a small boat in the wee hours of the morning on the 2nd of May. Her son remembers seeing her watching them from a distance at age 10 or 12 which puts that year around 1980 or 1982. Their father, still alive, confirms that there were sightings of Mrs. LaPlace at that time.

If you would like to post her photo on this site, you have our permission. If not, our facebook page is a good way to view many photos of her and also to contact us directly. More photos were added this week from the children's personal collection.

Thank you again.
 
Welcome!

CousinsUnited, this is a great forum and there is help and support for your family here. Within TOS, it is important that you contact a Moderator to be verified as an insider in your cousin's case.

Does anyone else find the name CousinsUnited thinking of a soccer team???
 
Can you tell us a little bit more about her family? Were her parents married, separated, divorced? (There is no mention of her father anywhere?) I see that she had two younger brothers. Did she have an older sibling/half-sibling?

From the Facebook page and from information posted here, the family generally seems to believe that she voluntarily left her situation. Is that correct? Is there any history/information that you could share as to what might make you to think this?

Also, have any of you ever asked for assistance to determine if her SSN has been in use? Did she have credit cards at the time that she disappeared? Were those used after she disappeared? The listing for her states that she had enough money to leave the island…Did she withdraw a large amount shortly before leaving?

Did she leave a note?
 
There are several Shapiro's that can be found related to the 242 Belmont Blvd address for Sandra's mother J Shapiro. Two of these individuals include Sandra's brothers Lawrence L (b. abt. 1950) and Stephen B (Steven - b. March 10, 1948 d. Aug 16, 2004). Pictures of them are on the Facebook page. The other two individuals are Martin S and ES.

Julienne S appears to have come to the US aboard the Zebulon B Vance and arrived in New York on 2 April, 1946. She may have been a war bride??? She travelled with a daughter who was just over 11 years old. (That is why I was asking if Sandra had an older sibling/half sibling.)
 
Last post with a few more questions...

Was Sandra declared dead or did father R LaPlace get a divorce? When did he re-marry? Did the police investigate or was the case let go with the assumption that an adult (Sandra) left of her own accord? When did the children (the 2 and 3 year-old) first find out that their Mother had left and how?

Sorry for the multitude of questions. Any answers will help with research. Otherwise, we seem to be stuck with the one single article on her disappearance. If the family really wants to find Sandra, a little more information would help a lot!
 
MY GOSH. What bizarre timing! I'm so sorry for your loss. : (
 
I have found some information that might help the family. Lillieane is listed as Julienne's daughter and Martin Shapiro's step-daughter on the manifest for her arrival into New York. Several other children were on the same manifest; and were also listed as "step" children. Lillieane's passage was paid for by the government. So, perhaps, Julienne was in fact, a war bride? The last known address and relative for Lillieane was her grandmother listed as Odeile Dolphen Vaumbrezanne 17, Paris. Most likely, her Grandmother's name was Odille and the address was 17 Rue Vandrezanne, Paris. (I wouldn't be surprised if "Dolphen" was incorrectly spelt…)

I don't know if this helps anyone but it's about all I've been able to find so far.

I've searched in vain for Sandra but she is extremely difficult to find. She could have assumed so very many permutations of her original name and all of them are incredibly common - particularly if she reverted back to "Shapiro"! Or…if she re-married...

I'm bumping for you Sandra. I think your family would be over-the-moon to hear from you!
 
Bumping for Sandra again. Sorry that the family hasn't come back. Sandra won't you please come and say hello!
 
So…Sandra was reported missing but her files went amiss…Meanwhile two children (age 1 and 3 respectively) are left alone with their father. There is virtually nothing in the papers (one article) and poof. Nothing. For decades. The husband didn't look for her? Why? Her family didn't look for her? Why? They thought she left of her own accord….Why? Accept that and ...Ok…But decades (DECADES) have passed without a peep of her possible existence as a living, breathing person…

She supposedly appeared and watched her children several years after she left. Who saw her? Under what circumstances? Her son, who abandoned wanted to believe that she was alive? The father seems to have collaborated the sightings. Why?

Why is Sandra's husband never mentioned in the quest to find her?

moo
 
The picture on Facebook where the girls are hanging around a table and it says something like "lunch crowd"…It doesn't look like a High School lunch to me. They're all wearing roller skates…A skating party or a trip to the skating rink?
 
Lots of new pics of Sandra on the family Facebook page!
 
There needs to be more followup on whether or not her SSN was used -- I haven't a clue how family would be able to find that out.

There was no answer on whether or not there were any divorce proceedings on this one.
 

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