SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Missing Since: June 1, 1983 from Louisville, Kentucky
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: May 5, 1971
Age: 12 years old
Height and Weight: 5'1, 85 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Red hair, gray eyes. Gotlib has facial freckles. She has moles on her lower back. Her ears are pierced. Her eyebrows are very light-colored. Gotlib is a Russian Jewish immigrant. She arrived in the United States in 1980. Gotlib speaks fluent Russian and English. Some agencies give her first name as "Anna."
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A red and white t-shirt, navy blue shorts with white stripes on the sides beige tennis shoes, and gold earrings with purple stones.
Details of Disappearance
Gotlib was last seen in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky on June 1, 1983. She was riding her red and white bicycle from the Bashford Manor Mall back to her family's residence between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Her bicycle was later found propped up against a brick pillar outside of Bacon's Department Store in the mall. She never arrived home and has not been heard from again. The mall was across the street from her Gerald Court home.
Gotlib apparently vanished without a trace; there are very few clues as to what happened to her. Police believe she was abducted by a non-family member and have thirty to forty possible suspects, many of whom have died in years since her disappearance.
Three days after Gotlib's disappearance, a police bloodhound picked up her scent around a ditch near the mall and led investigators to the window of an apartment across the street. It was the residence of Ester Okmyansky, the grandmother of the last friend to see Gotlib before she disappeared. Okmyansky said Gotlib had never visited the apartment. Officials eventually concluded that the dog erred when distracted by the smell of cooking food. The Okmyanskys were checked and all were cleared.
Three weeks after Gotlib vanished, police questioned a man who was suspected of molesting one child and exposing himself to two others. He admitted to those incidents and also to half a dozen like them in Kentucky and Indiana, but he had an alibi for the time Gotlib disappeared. Another man who broke into a police officer's house in January 1984 and stabbed and attempted to rape the officer's teenaged daughter, was placed at the Bashford Manor Mall just hours before Gotlib's disappearance. He denied any involvement in her case, however, and no evidence was located tying him to Gotlib.
Several girls living in the New York area were thought to be Gotlib, but they all turned out to be someone else. A theory that she was kidnapped by the Russian government in an attempt to force her family to return to that country has been discarded. There was speculation that Gotlib left voluntarily because she was having trouble adjusting to life in America, but her loved ones say she was not unusually anxious and, if she did run away, she would probably have contacted them eventually or taken money and her favorite possessions. She did not do either.
The investigation into her presumed abduction remains active. Gotlib's parents still live in the Louisville area and are hopeful that the case will someday be resolved.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
Louisville, Kentucky Office
502-583-3941