WA WA - Esther Gesler, 37, Auburn, 13 March 1976

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http://q13fox.com/2016/05/19/remain...ll-a-mystery-123-in-state-still-unidentified/

Carrying signs with their mother’s photo on them, Tara Bishop Ernst and Angela Bishop fought back tears outside the Snohomish County Courthouse in Everett. Their mom, Esther Mae Gesler, disappeared 40 years ago.

“I was 13 and Angela here was 18 and we've been looking for her ever since,” said Bishop Ernst .

Gesler left Kent to go study for a college exam and disappeared. The lack of answers never gets easier.

From October 2010:

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101006/NEWS/310069993

A 37-year-old Jefferson County missing-persons case has turned into a suspected triple murder case involving two jurisdictions with interest newly focused on Protection Island as the possible site of related human remains...

Law enforcement authorities suspect a former civil engineer for Jefferson County, Glenn Bagley, who now lives in the Philippines, in both cases.

Bagley had a romantic relationship with 23-year-old Althea Blankenship, who rented a room for herself and her 4-year-old son, Jeffrey, from Bagley at the time of their disappearance...

He is also a suspect in the disappearance of his ex-wife, Esther Mae Gesler of Kent, who was last seen in 1976, authorities say.

NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/22893

Charley Project: http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/gesler_esther.html
 
Apparently, Glenn Bagley died earlier this year.....
From article at link....

"A former Jefferson County man who was a person of interest in the disappearance of two women and one child in the 1970s apparently has died in the Philippines.

Glenn Allan Bagley, who had lived in Manila for many years, contracted cancer and died Feb. 11, 2016, according to Bob Gebo, a retired police investigator who leads the volunteer cold case squad at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Port Hadlock."

http://www.ptleader.com/news/cold-c...cle_1cf3f2be-2d06-11e6-a574-370bc3a87790.html
 
still missing:

Two sisters approached us with hope someone has the clue that will find their mother, Esther Mae Gesler. She's been missing since 1976.

“I'm going next week and she's going now to see our grandkids and children and she, you know, she should be in the car with us, or we should be going to her house,” said an emotional Angela Bishop.

KIRO 7 investigators first dug into the story in 2009.

We traveled to the Philippines to confront Glenn Allan Bagley, who is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Gesler and two others.

“The only connection that I could see is that I know both people,” Bagley said then.

“That's bad enough that they are gone, but when you don't know what has happened. You just … there's just no rest,” said Tara Bishop-Ernst.

http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/event-highlights-support-to-find-the-missing/524155225
 
Updated Charley Project:
[h=1]Esther Mae Gesler[/h]
  • esther_mae_gesler_1.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_2.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_3.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_4.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_5.jpg
Gesler, circa 1976;




  • Missing Since 03/13/1976
  • Missing From Auburn, Washington
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Date of Birth 05/16/1938 (79)
  • Age 37 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'8, 155 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A red t-shirt with the words "ATHLETE'S FOOT" in white lettering, a black leather coat with a fur collar and red and white checkered pants.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Gesler has a Caesarean section scar on her abdomen. She may use the last name Bagley.


[h=3]Details of Disappearance[/h] Gesler was last seen in Auburn, Washington on March 13, 1976. She left her husband and children at home in the 400 block of north Prospect at 11:00 a.m., saying she was going to rent a hotel room so she could be alone and study for an upcoming college final exam; she was taking night classes to become a paralegal secretary. She was driving a metallic blue 1973 Mercury station wagon. She said she would return the next day.

Gesler kept a hairdresser's appointment in Auburn, Washington that day. She never returned home and has never been heard from again. After her disappearance, her car was found abandoned in a municipal parking lot at 1st Street northeast and B Street in Auburn.

Authorities believe Gesler was murdered by her ex-husband, Glenn Allan Bagley. Photos of Bagley are posted with this case summary. It was his car Gesler was driving on the day of her disappearance, and phone records prove he called her a few days before.

Investigators believe he was responsible for the 1973 disappearances of Althea Blankinship and her son Jeffrey as well; they lived in a small rented apartment inside Bagley's home in Port Townsend, Washington, and he was the last person to see them.

Bagley moved to the Philippines shortly after Gesler disappeared and worked as a civil engineer in the capital city of Manila for many years. He never spoke to Washington police again, although over the years they tried to build a case against him for murder.

He maintained his innocence in all three cases and claimed he was building a cat house in his garage on the day Gesler went missing. His then-girlfriend supported his story, but in 2004 she recanted and told the police Bagley had threatened her life. He supposedly said if she ever revealed anything he'd told her, she would "end up in the same culvert in Quilcene as Esther."

Bagley died of cancer in the Philippines in February 2016.

Gesler's case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected. Kent police are investigating her disappearance.


More pics at link: http://charleyproject.org/case/esther-mae-gesler
 
Updated Charley Project:
[h=1]Esther Mae Gesler[/h]
  • esther_mae_gesler_1.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_2.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_3.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_4.jpg
  • esther_mae_gesler_5.jpg
Gesler, circa 1976;




  • Missing Since 03/13/1976
  • Missing From Auburn, Washington
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Date of Birth 05/16/1938 (79)
  • Age 37 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'8, 155 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A red t-shirt with the words "ATHLETE'S FOOT" in white lettering, a black leather coat with a fur collar and red and white checkered pants.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Gesler has a Caesarean section scar on her abdomen. She may use the last name Bagley.


[h=3]Details of Disappearance[/h] Gesler was last seen in Auburn, Washington on March 13, 1976. She left her husband and children at home in the 400 block of north Prospect at 11:00 a.m., saying she was going to rent a hotel room so she could be alone and study for an upcoming college final exam; she was taking night classes to become a paralegal secretary. She was driving a metallic blue 1973 Mercury station wagon. She said she would return the next day.

Gesler kept a hairdresser's appointment in Auburn, Washington that day. She never returned home and has never been heard from again. After her disappearance, her car was found abandoned in a municipal parking lot at 1st Street northeast and B Street in Auburn.

Authorities believe Gesler was murdered by her ex-husband, Glenn Allan Bagley. Photos of Bagley are posted with this case summary. It was his car Gesler was driving on the day of her disappearance, and phone records prove he called her a few days before.

Investigators believe he was responsible for the 1973 disappearances of Althea Blankinship and her son Jeffrey as well; they lived in a small rented apartment inside Bagley's home in Port Townsend, Washington, and he was the last person to see them.

Bagley moved to the Philippines shortly after Gesler disappeared and worked as a civil engineer in the capital city of Manila for many years. He never spoke to Washington police again, although over the years they tried to build a case against him for murder.

He maintained his innocence in all three cases and claimed he was building a cat house in his garage on the day Gesler went missing. His then-girlfriend supported his story, but in 2004 she recanted and told the police Bagley had threatened her life. He supposedly said if she ever revealed anything he'd told her, she would "end up in the same culvert in Quilcene as Esther."

Bagley died of cancer in the Philippines in February 2016.

Gesler's case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected. Kent police are investigating her disappearance.


More pics at link: Esther Mae Gesler – The Charley Project
this is my grandmother
 
MOD NOTE:

Welcome to Websleuths, Ms. Mae. I'm so sorry about the circumstances that brought you here.

Members who have inside information about a case must be Verified by Websleuths to post. Posts containing inside information have been removed pending verification.

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ADMIN NOTE:

@Ms.Mae has now been verified as a family member of Esther Mae Gesler. As a VI, Ms.Mae is not required to provide links to what they state as fact about Esther's case or their knowledge of any of the circumstances.

Any posts that were removed pending verification will be reinstated.

Thank you to Ms.Mae and everyone else who is here to help find pieces to this puzzle; 44 years is a very long to go without resolution, and hopefully justice for Esther Mae in this unsolved case.
 
Where did Esther live? There's a Prospect Street in Seattle and a Prospect Avenue in Kent, but as far as I could discover, there's nothing with that name in Auburn.
 

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