NJ NJ - Julia Madsen, 72, Seaside Park, 25 June 2009

Suspected female finger found outside Brielle home

By Margaret F. Bonafide • STAFF WRITER • July 30, 2009

BRIELLE — Authorities are investigating what appears to be a manicured finger found on a deck outside an Osprey Point Drive home.

Police were called at 10:15 a.m. for a report that a decomposed female finger was found on the deck, and authorities suspect it was dropped there by a bird, Police Chief Michael W. Palmer said. There appeared to be an acrylic, french-manicured nail on the finger, he said.

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Julia "Julie" Madsen, 72, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, vanished after an evening stroll on the beach in South Seaside Park.

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State Police spokesman Trooper Brian Polite said that agency's Missing Persons Unit will be called in if the medical examiner determines the item is a human finger.

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...July 30, when police were called to a home in Brielle, Monmouth County, after a homeowner discovered what appeared to be a severed human finger, complete with a French-manicured fingernail, on the deck.

Investigators first believed a seagull had dropped the finger from above, and that it may have been associated with 72-year-old Julia Madsen, a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease who went missing in June while walking on a beach in Berkeley Township, Ocean County.

Then things got weird. Initially, the Monmouth County Medical Examiner's Office couldn't determine whether the finger was human, and eventually a forensic anthropologist X-rayed it, found no bones, and determined it was made of an unidentified substance.

"We don't know what it was," Donegan said, adding that the specimen was destroyed...

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From the moment the call came Berkeley Township Detective Joe Santoro had a bad feeling. At least once a week his police department helps locate a “wanderer,” the clinical name for confused elderly residents who become lost. In Ocean County

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A year later, they have a list of the places Julia Madsen isn’t, but they are no closer to knowing where she is despite a $50,000 reward. Police never found a single person who saw her on the beach.

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But five years later, investigators are no closer to finding Madsen than they were the night she went missing.

"My nephew said it best — she kind of walked off into the sunset,'' said Guy Madsen, 52, of Clifton, the missing woman's son.

Now, with virtually no hope that Julia Madsen still could be alive, her family plans to attend a Mass for her soul tonight at St. Catharine of Siena Church in Seaside Park to mark the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, Guy Madsen said. And, the family's attorney is filing papers today to have Julia declared dead, he said.

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sammyed said:

Bumping for Julia who apparently has not been found twelve years missing today. I wonder if she drowned and just was not seen entering the water. I haven't read reports if the beachfront had many people on it that evening. Also re: the post about a finger with a supposed acrylic fingernail, was any follow up information given about that? So many missing persons cases just seem to stall. What happened to Julia?

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Years of anguish for family of missing Clifton woman

When word reached Julia Madsen's family that remains had been found, it revived hope that her disappearance might be solved. But it was not.

www.northjersey.com

• Missing Since 06/25/2009
• Missing From Berkeley Township, New Jersey
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 06/21/1937 (86)
• Age 72 years old
• Height and Weight 5'6, 175 pounds
• 
  
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A bright pink shirt, white capri pants, white sneakers or brown leather shoes, a diamond engagement ring, a wedding band, a silver watch on her right wrist and a gold and silver bracelet on her left wrist.
• 
  
• Medical Conditions Madsen was in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease at the time of her disappearance. She had episodes of mild confusion as the result of her condition.
• 
  
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Madsen has moles on her nose and right temple, and her ears are pierced. Her knuckles are swollen from arthritis and she has bunions on her feet. Madsen's nickname is Julie.

Details of Disappearance​

Investigating Agency​

• Berkeley Township Police Department 732-341-6600

Source Information​

• New Jersey State Police
• WPVI
• The Asbury Park Press
• The New Jersey Star-Ledger
• The New Jersey Newsroom
• NamUs
• America's Most Wanted