CA CA - Sylvia Helen Carlson, 39, Santa Monica, 12 Dec 1977

Thirty Years Ago... Unfortunately, not much information available.

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Sylvia Helen Carlson
Missing since December 12, 1977 from Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California.
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: April 21, 1938
Age at Time of Disappearance: 39 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'6" (168 cm.); 130 lbs. (59 kg.)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
Marks, Scars: Scar on back, broke left wrist with pin, and scar on right side by kidney.
Dentals: Not available

Circumstances of Disappearance

Carlson was last seen in Santa Monica, California on December 12, 1977.

Investigators

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Santa Monica Police Department
310-458-8401

Agency Case Number: 77-22589
NCIC Number: M-648204359

Please refer to these numbers when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
California Department of Justice
The Doe Network: Case File 915DFCA

LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/915dfca.html

Bumping case up. Does anyone have any further information?

Bumping for Sylvia....

35 years have passed and Sylvia is still missing.

It is so sad when there is such little information on these cases! Here is what Charley Project has about Sylvia's case:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/carlson_sylvia.html

What little evidence there is, reports are that she had a broken wrist and some surgical scars. First questions would be, what surgeries did Sylvia have, and how did she get the wrist injury? Was it an accident? Were the surgeries to correct birth defects? Had she been a victim of domestic abuse? Was she running away from a domestic abuse situation? Was her case possibly "purged" from many data base systems like many agencies did from about the 50's-70's, and sometimes into the 80's, where jurisdictions did not keep the records of missing people back than compared to the quality and care that missing people are given now?

Satch

A bump for a neglected case.

Like others I have found it hard to find anything about this case. However, there are some speculative pointers about Sylvia's earlier life but these depend on whether Carlson was a maiden or married name. I suspect Carlson is a maiden name for several reasons; firstly I can find no marriage record on Ancestry, mooseroots or anywhere else (but neither can I find the birth record). Secondly, the Charley Project report refers to jewellery of (possibly) a few silver rings - so no wedding band. Thirdly, the nature of the report (last seen rather than details of activity leading up to disappearance, no suggestion of a report by a husband). None of this is conclusive but is the best available. If Carlson is the maiden name there seems to be a fit in the form of a young lady who went to Mount Holyoke College and may have gone to high school in New Jersey. The evidence for this is at;

http://mhcclassof1960.net/yearboook.htm and
http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/Summit_High_School_Top_Yearbook/1956/Page_18.html

The second link has a (small) picture of the Sylvia Helen Carlson at Summit High School and (to me) it looks very much like an 18 year old version of our girl. The dates fit well. The school yearbook is for 1956 and the Mount Holyoke class book is for 1960. I am not sure which of the pictures on the Mount Holyoke page is Sylvia as they do not seem labelled but I suspect she is on the far right of the 11th row as this picture also looks like both the 1956 picture and the 'missing' picture.

If the above is right (a big if) there is a 1940 census record of a Sylvia Carlson in East Orange City, Essex, NJ with parents Harry and Ingrid and 4 year old brother Ralph. This location is close to Summit.

Perhaps the above may suggest some new lines of investigation (or prompt someone to point out my speculation is all wrong!).

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17783/

Going on alb1on's post above...

I did some digging and found the Summit High NJ graduate (who also attended Mount Holyoke, and graduated Upsala College) married 1960 in Summit, NJ (newspaper clip), to an "EAC" had two daughters, and moved to CA... her maiden name was Carlson and she married a Carlson. There are two California divorce dates (per ancestry) for this couple (7 years difference - legally declared dead maybe?). SHC is mentioned as his first wife in his obit (2014). It appears she had at least one brother.

I did find addresses in Santa Monica, Topanga, as well as Venice listed as owned by ex.

I would be glad to share my findings if anyone else wants to do some research.

fred&edna said:

Going on alb1on's post above...

I did some digging and found the Summit High NJ graduate (who also attended Mount Holyoke, and graduated Upsala College) married 1960 in Summit, NJ (newspaper clip), to an "EAC" had two daughters, and moved to CA... her maiden name was Carlson and she married a Carlson. There are two California divorce dates (per ancestry) for this couple (7 years difference - legally declared dead maybe?). SHC is mentioned as his first wife in his obit (2014). It appears she had at least one brother.

I did find addresses in Santa Monica, Topanga, as well as Venice listed as owned by ex.

I would be glad to share my findings if anyone else wants to do some research.

Click to expand...

Working up a case file and yes all the above is correct ... there is little to no info on her disappearance still working on it thou. The obit states she passed I assume that mention was just to keep things light and simple.

This is one of the cases that tend to get buried as that there was not much publicity and little to hardly no information.

CA – Sylvia Helen Carlson, W/F, 39, Santa Monica, Los Angeles Co, 12 Dec 1977

Sylvia Helen Carlson Carlson


1956*1959-1960-197?

Last Seen: Monday, December 12th, 1977

Missing From: Santa Monica, Los Angele County, California


Physical/Clothing/Medical
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 39 Years Old
DOB: 1938
Height: 5’6” (66”)
Weight: 130 lbs.
Hair: Blonde/Strawberry
Eye Color: Blue
Clothing: Red dress, maroon sweater, brown sandals
Jewelry: Possibly a couple of silver rings
Characteristics/Medical/Scars: Scar on back, scar on right side by kidney, prior fractured right wrist with surgical pin, prior pregnancies, mole upper left side of lip
Transportation: 77, Ford Thunderbird, Brown, 2-Door (Later located)
Fingerprint Status: Not Available
Dental Status: Available (CDOJ, indicates no Dentals)
DNA Status: Available

Circumstances:
Sylvia was last seen in Santa Monica, CA on Monday, December 12th, 1977. Her 2-door 1977 Ford Thunderbird was found on January 4th, 1978 at 1922 Penmar Avenue. The person that reported the car stated it had been parked there since mid-December.

Sylvia was originally from Summit, NJ after graduating HS she attended Mount Holyoke College she married and later moved to California with her husband.

Investigating Agencies:
Santa Monica Police Department, Criminal Investigations
333 Olympic Drive
Santa Monica, CA. 90401
MP Case # 77.22589
Tele: 310.458.8946 / 310.458.8451 / 310.458.8449 (Tip Line)
E-Mail: police@smgov.net
Contact: Detective, Karen Thompson
Web: Santa Monica Police Department - Criminal Investigations Section

NCIC # M-648204359

Information Sources:
NAMUS
MP Case # 17783: Missing Person Case
Case Manager: Allison O’Neal
Tele: 817.372.4169
E-Mail: Allison.ONeal@unthsc.edu

The Doe Network 915DFCA - 915DFCA - Sylvia Helen Carlson

The Charley Project - Sylvia Helen Carlson – The Charley Project

Missing Veterans - http://www.missingveterans.com/1976/elaine-faye-lehtinen/

The California Department of Justice - Sylvia Helen Carlson

Mt Holyoke Alumnae tributes - Deceased Class Members | Class of 1960

I am puzzled by the two divorce dates of 1975 and 1982. Edmund Carlson's obituary says he married his second wife after Sylvia 'passed', implying he would not have been free to do so - clearly wrong if he divorced in 1975, 2 years before Sylvia disappeared. The only explanations I can see are either an error in the records or remarriage to Sylvia followed by second divorce in 1982 - but I have not found a marriage record between the two divorce dates. The 1982 date, of course, coincides with his marriage to his second wife.

Sorry gals & guys seems I worked a little fast and had included a link for another MP in Sylvia's profile.. please forgive my error ...

In other news see that a divorce was filed June 1975 question is to whether it was completed or not as that I see it again Oct 82. May be possible the original divorce filing was not completed due to Sylvia's disappearance as that the spouse remarried in Nov 82. The prior marriage divorce proceedings would have to be completed in order to remarry. You can file for the person being deceased after 7 years however in 82 it would have only been 5 years. It may have been granted due to the fact it was filed in June 75 and 82 would have made 7 years. It does give me pause to think could the missing date possibly be incorrect on Sylvia's disappearance maybe 75 instead of 77 ?

Wonderful organization of info, folieadeuxnola!

I can't access my previous research at the moment but, IIRC, one of the Santa Monica properties owned by EAC wasn't too far from 1922 Penmar Avenue.

I wish we could find some additional history (i.e. employment, charitable work, hobbies) for Sylvia.
Did she had a love interest?
Did family/friends have suspicions regarding Sylvia's disappearance?
Also, I wonder about Sylvia's children... what were they told/what do they know about her? And, I suppose the DNA sample was submitted by one of them so they must be involved in searching for their mom.

I wish there was a little more info to be gleaned about Sylvia's life and disappearance.

fred&edna said:

Wonderful organization of info, folieadeuxnola!

I can't access my previous research at the moment but, IIRC, one of the Santa Monica properties owned by EAC wasn't too far from 1922 Penmar Avenue.

I wish we could find some additional history (i.e. employment, charitable work, hobbies) for Sylvia.
Did she had a love interest?
Did family/friends have suspicions regarding Sylvia's disappearance?
Also, I wonder about Sylvia's children... what were they told/what do they know about her? And, I suppose the DNA sample was submitted by one of them so they must be involved in searching for their mom.

I wish there was a little more info to be gleaned about Sylvia's life and disappearance.

Click to expand...

TY fred&edna ... greatly appreciate the compliment.

Agree with all the questions .....

Was she reported back in 1977 or did it come about later, generally when it comes about later is that a family realized their was something wrong... whether it was a child is a possibility. The case was created in Namus 2012, sometimes Namus will also have the date the report was filed but for not for Sylvia. Maybe there is more to the story than what is out there just find it odd that there is not at least a small article somewhere on her disappearance. Sylvia's photo appears to be B/W either it was a photo copy or from a B/W newspaper article hard to tell. Sylvia's spouse was well known and had mentions in the paper often ....why no mention of Sylvia ??

folieadeuxnola said:

Sylvia's spouse was well known and had mentions in the paper often ....why no mention of Sylvia ??

Click to expand...

RSBM

And, that's one of the most puzzling questions of all.
My only possible (reasonable) guess could be... she suffered some type of (semi-lengthy) illness (mental or otherwise)?

It's a sad case

fred&edna said:

RSBM

And, that's one of the most puzzling questions of all.
My only possible (reasonable) guess could be... she suffered some type of (semi-lengthy) illness (mental or otherwise)?

It's a sad case

Click to expand...

Possible mental illness crossed my mind as well....

Wonder about Penmar Venice was this her address or did someone noticed the car had been parked there for awhile and themselves nor the neighbors recognized it and called LE.

She was last seen in Santa Monica, CA would like to know by whom obviously the person provided a description as to what she was wearing. Was she going home, out to eat, shopping etc... when she was last seen?

There was a lot of construction going on or about to start nearby at Penmar Park Recreation Center and Golf Course during the time she disappeared.... hhmmm

I need to correct my previous post (oops!)... Pen Mar Ave, Venice (not Santa Monica as I stated) but still I feel certain EAC owned property not too far away from where her car was found.

All good thought and questions, folie! (seems funny calling you "folie")

fred&edna said:

I need to correct my previous post (oops!)... Pen Mar Ave, Venice (not Santa Monica as I stated) but still I feel certain EAC owned property not too far away from where her car was found.

All good thought and questions, folie! (seems funny calling you "folie")

Click to expand...

No worries I understood location wise.... I'm trying to figure out if she lived or was visiting or was out to dinner with the last person that seen her in Santa Monica CA.
curious about the properties

Lol .... everyone calls me folie ... its easier to type than the full name.. been that way for years not just here and its ok

Edmund Carlson passed away in 2014 from Parkinson's. As everyone has stated previously very little information is available. Hopefully she disappeared on her own accord.