MI MI - Ida Richardson-Anderson, 21, Detroit, 18 Sept 1958

That is really strange if he wouldn't make an official police report. Does he feel it useless since there was nothing a PI could do to find her? Did you tell him of the PM you found? Is he under the impression that she just walked away and he was hoping to find her thru the efforts of his webpage and the doenetwork or charley project? It is possible that he doesn't want to think of the worst case scenerio.

Has he ever located their father?

I have never had any communication with Ida's family. I admittedly am much better at behind-the-scenes research than I am at initiating contact with the parties involved. Especially in a case like this where the web page has been taken down and I don't know why.

It would be interesting though to find out exactly when she was released from the hospital and if anybody came to pick her up.
 
In 1995 three siblings were reunited in what I can only imagine was a bittersweet reunion. In 1958 their mother, Ida Dean Richardson Anderson vanished without a trace and her son and two daughters were forced to begin a chapter of their lives without her.

A young, 18 year old Ida became pregnant in 1955 and, as was the custom then, married the father, Kenneth Anderson, also known as Jerry. They began their marriage in Florida where Ida was living with her parents. Jerry Anderson was a musician and I surmise he and Ida and their young child traveled the circuit, finally settling down in Detroit, Michigan, and adding two more children to the family.

It's stated that their marriage was troubled, emotionally and financially, and Ida wrote about it to her family members still living in Florida. She left Kenneth Anderson, took her children, however, shortly afterwards was hospitalized with rheumatic fever and ulcers in February of 1958.

At that time, her husband was not able to care for the three young children and placed them in a "boarding home." It's not reported if the boarding home was an orphanage for children or just a private home which took in indigent children. As a recourse to this action the State of Michigan gained custody of the three children.

After Ida was released from the hospital, she and Kenneth Anderson attempted to regain custody of their children for the next six months. Ida was scheduled to receive custody in September, 1958. A plane ticket to Florida had been purchased for her and the children, however, on the 18th of September she vanished and has never been heard from again, the plane tickets never used.

Ida's son and older daughter were adopted by the same family and raised near Fraser, Michigan, while her younger daughter was adopted by another family and raised in the Upper Peninsula area of Michigan. After they were reunited they started to search for the mother who disappeared from their lives without a trace.

The 51 year old cold case has never been solved, there is no unidentified deceased person matching her description and searches through hospital records in Michigan and surrounding states show no one by the name of Ida Dean Richardson Anderson as being a patient.

Recently, Track Missing, a missing persons organization based in Michigan has tried to help the family with their search. It's Founder, Chad Scott, says that there is no missing persons report among the records filed in Michigan, although her family states that one was filed at the time of her disappearance.

Ida is now 72 years old and has spent a lifetime without her children.

 
Recently, Track Missing, a missing persons organization based in Michigan has tried to help the family with their search. It's Founder, Chad Scott, says that there is no missing persons report among the records filed in Michigan, although her family states that one was filed at the time of her disappearance.

Ida is now 72 years old and has spent a lifetime without her children.

I am wondering what family members filed the report? Did this happen when she first went missing or did her children do this when they were reunited and it has been lost since? Or did her family make a report from Fla? Which today, they would be told to do it in the state she went missing, not sure how it was handled back then
 
I am wondering what family members filed the report? Did this happen when she first went missing or did her children do this when they were reunited and it has been lost since? Or did her family make a report from Fla? Which today, they would be told to do it in the state she went missing, not sure how it was handled back then

Excellent point! Since the blog states a report was filed "at the time of her disappearance", and her children were minors at that time, I would almost be inclined to guess that either Ida's mother (in Florida) or her husband filed the report.

ETA or maybe the Carol Moser the family is looking for was the one who filed the report?
 
Any idea how old Carol would be, was Moser her maiden name and did she live in Michigan?

As far as we know, Carol Moser was close to Ida's age and unmarried. Ida and Carol Moser were listed as roomates in old city directories, and Ida referred to her in letters. We're checking whether or not she was a student at U of M at the time, thanks to the suggestion of Chad Scott of trackmissing.org.

And thank you all for your comments and ideas.

We've spent decades looking for Ida, but Privacy laws and such have precluded us from gathering information we don't already have.


Thank you, thank you!

Danny
Ida's son
 
I have never had any communication with Ida's family. I admittedly am much better at behind-the-scenes research than I am at initiating contact with the parties involved. Especially in a case like this where the web page has been taken down and I don't know why.

It would be interesting though to find out exactly when she was released from the hospital and if anybody came to pick her up.

I don't know why the web site was taken down. Maybe GeoCities cleaned house. Ida's sister, Belle, got busy with her husband's illness, and my sister, Beverly, was diagnosed with cancer, which claimed her life last year.

Ida was in Ypsilanti State Hospital for a 72 hour period for a Mentla Competency Exam. She was found competent, the probate judge said a plan was set forth for Ida to take the three of us kids back to Jacksonville Beach to live with our grandmother. Ida wanted us kids back badly (we were left at a boarding house by our father while our mother was in the hospital).

Ida's family was at the Jacksonville airport waiting for us to get off the plane. They never saw us again until I tracked down Ida's sister and brothers (my aunts and uncles) in 1995.
 
As she had been hospitalized with rheumatic fever which can affect the brain, it is very well a possibility that she could have been slightly mentally affected by it at the time, but it wasn't mentioned in court papers so as to not hamper her ability to get back her children. (Or it could be that they're including it as a possibility solely to explain her disappearance since it *is* a possible result/complication of the fever)

I think its curious to see that her husband isn't mentioned - it says they were *both* trying to get back their parental rights...I wonder if he had something to do with her disappearance?

Women who have Scarlet Fever as children are susceptible to Rhumatic Heart conditions following pregnancy. My youngest sister, Deborah, had been born a couple weeks before Ida's first hospitalization at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor for rhumatic heart condition. She did eventually recover fully, and was working full time in the months approaching the September 19th, 1958 court date when the judge stated she was seen the last time in court (there are differing details about her actually having been at the hearing)
 
btw I did submit this PM last year but never got a reply

http://doenetwork.org/cases/132ufde.html

The Doe Network:
Case File 132UFDE

Reconstructions of Victim

Unidentified White Female

Located on June 27, 1977 in Townsend, New Castle County, Delaware.
Estimated date of Death: January 1, 1977

I'm going to contact the police there and offer to submit DNA. Thank you for posting this.

Danny
Ida's son
 
Welcome to Websleuths, Dan!! We are very happy to help!

If I may ask, I see references to your mother and father trying to regain custody. I took this to mean that your mother and father were cooperating with each other to get the children out of the boarding home? I just want to clarify if I am correct, or if your parents were each trying separately to get custody at the others expense??

I will try to find this Carol Moser. Will let you know what I come up with! Do you know what city they lived in when you saw them in the city directory? And also do you know if Carol is the same friend she mentioned that she was going to bring to Florida with her to help with the kids?
 
I don't know why the web site was taken down. Maybe GeoCities cleaned house. Ida's sister, Belle, got busy with her husband's illness, and my sister, Beverly, was diagnosed with cancer, which claimed her life last year.

Ida was in Ypsilanti State Hospital for a 72 hour period for a Mentla Competency Exam. She was found competent, the probate judge said a plan was set forth for Ida to take the three of us kids back to Jacksonville Beach to live with our grandmother. Ida wanted us kids back badly (we were left at a boarding house by our father while our mother was in the hospital).

Ida's family was at the Jacksonville airport waiting for us to get off the plane. They never saw us again until I tracked down Ida's sister and brothers (my aunts and uncles) in 1995.

I am so sorry to hear about your sister :(
 
That is really strange if he wouldn't make an official police report. Does he feel it useless since there was nothing a PI could do to find her? Did you tell him of the PM you found? Is he under the impression that she just walked away and he was hoping to find her thru the efforts of his webpage and the doenetwork or charley project? It is possible that he doesn't want to think of the worst case scenerio.

Has he ever located their father?

My youngest sister, Deborah, and I have both attempted to file MP reports and were turned away by the Washtenaw Sheriff's Dept. Chad Scott of trackmissing.org has contacted them now and gotten a Commandant to look into it. My Aunt Belle, Ida's sister, called and called for a few years. The judge told her "you can hire allt he private detectives you want, but you'll never find her". Why I think this is pertinant is because Ida wasn't legally declared competent by the Probate Judge until one month AFTER our adoptions were finalized - two years after her 'disappearance'. The psychiatrists who examined her in 1958 at the judge's orders determined her to be competent but obviously distressed by the situation. I feel the judge may have kept her in the mental institution to keep her from taking us kids back to Florida to live with her mother.

I met my father for the first time in 1993. He was serving a prison sentence for robbing a bank in Ann Arbor in 1984 (same town where Ida coincidentally disappeared from in 1958. Jerry hadn't been back there until then) and taking the bag of money to the bar next door. He died last year a free man two weeks before my sister Beverly died from cancer. We established a relationship and I forgave him.
 
Excellent point! Since the blog states a report was filed "at the time of her disappearance", and her children were minors at that time, I would almost be inclined to guess that either Ida's mother (in Florida) or her husband filed the report.

ETA or maybe the Carol Moser the family is looking for was the one who filed the report?

Carol Moser was Ida's roommate at the time of her disappearance. We've looked and looked for her to no avail. Still looking.

Ida's sister, my Aunt Belle, thought the Sheriff's Dept filed the MP at the time of her disappearance. The Sheriff's Dept claimed 3 years later that Ida left town. However, they've been 100% uncooperative over the years in disclosing any information they might have gathered at the time. IF Ida left town she surely would have called her mother and sister and made her way to Jacksonville, FL. They never heard from her again. All of which leads me to believe the Probate Judge in Washtenaw County, MI kept her in the mental institution to cover up the fact he'd adopted her kids out and to keep her quiet. That, or something happened in the Ypsilanti State Hospital they didn't want anyone to know about.

They've been the ONLY law enforcement agency in the country (we've written 1000's over the years) who never cooperated in any way.
 
Here is the text of a couple of the letters:

Ida had an upcoming court date regarding custody of her children.

Letter #1 (written in August 1958) reads:

Dear Mama,
I am very sorry I forgot to mail your letter sooner. But, have been very busy looking for a job. So far I have had no luck.
I found out from a friend of mine in Chicago where Jerry (her estranged husband) is living and I thought I would write him for some money and just pray he will send it to me.
The Court still won't let me see the kids.
I have to go to Court the 4th of September at 4 o'clock.
I sure wish I knew for sure they were going to let me have the kids back. I have a funny feeling about it. I don't think they are.
They will have a hell of a fight on their hands if they try to take them away from me. And God help them if they do.
How are you feeling? Fine I hope.
How are Belle and her new baby ?
Is Frank still working? How is Joe and his wife getting along? I am very anxious to meet her.
I can't wait to bring the kids home and believe me once I get there nothing is ever going to make me leave again.
I am bringing a friend down who is going to watch the kids for me while i go to work. (Carol Moser)
We are hoping to get jobs so that one of us will be with the kids all the time. She knows Jerry and hates him almost as much as I do, if that's possible.
Well, mama I guess I had better close for today so that I will have something to say (in my next letter)

Letter #4

Ida was in the hospital with pneumonia when she wrote this letter, her last.

When she writes, "did you get to court? What did they say?", Ida is referring to another order by the probate judge that her mother agree to the plan for Ida to bring us three kids down to Jacksonville Beach to live with Ida's mom, our grandma. Grandma agreed to help.


The letter reads:

Dear Mama,
Sorry I didn't write as promised but as Belle maybe had told you I am in the hospital again.
I had pneumonia plus my ulcer was acting up again.
This may be very short as I am under heavy sedation.
Did you get to court? What did they say.

Love,
Ida

Our grandmother agreed to the plan, plane tickets were purchased. They were waiting for us at Jacksonville, FL airport. They never saw us again (except for us kids after the search for them).
 
Also, I wonder why the web page was taken down? (The first time I tried to follow a link to the page, I got a "page not found" and I had to use the wayback machine to view it. This was probably about a year ago)

btw I did submit this PM last year but never got a reply

http://doenetwork.org/cases/132ufde.html

The Doe Network:
Case File 132UFDE

Reconstructions of Victim

Unidentified White Female

Located on June 27, 1977 in Townsend, New Castle County, Delaware.
Estimated date of Death: January 1, 1977


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vital Statistics


Estimated age: 35 - 50 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'3"-5'6" ; 90-110 lbs
Distinguishing Characteristics: Thin build. She had given birth to at least two children during her lifetime. Scar on right buttock. Osteoarthrisis sternum and thorasic vertebrae.
Dentals: Charts and x-rays available; Teeth- amalgum fillings #3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15 in upper jaw, 21, 28, 30, in lower jaw. Evidence of heavy accumulation of tar, old extraction in lower jaw, removable appliance in upper jaw, and gum disease.
Clothing: None located
DNA: Available


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Case History
On June 27, 1977, County Police detectives responded to a rural area outside of Townsend, Delaware after skeletal remains were found in an open field. The unidentified woman was a homicide victim.
It was discovered that Serial-killer Henry Lee Lucas lived in Elkton, Maryland, which is very close to the area where the remains were found. Investigators also found that writings Lucas made while he was serving time in a Texas prison have many similarities to the crime scene and information that was developed.
It was also discovered that Henry Lucas claimed to have brought a female from Michigan to Delaware and left her body here. In 1983, Lucas confessed to killing 6 women in Delaware, but he later recanted.
No local leads were ever developed making investigators believe that the victim may in fact be from the Michigan area.


I've contacted a detective from New Castle and am waiting for a call back regarding DNA tests.
 
The judge told her "you can hire allt he private detectives you want, but you'll never find her". Why I think this is pertinant is because Ida wasn't legally declared competent by the Probate Judge until one month AFTER our adoptions were finalized - two years after her 'disappearance'.

Welcome Danny!

This sounds as if they held her against her will. That statement definately raises red flags.

Were you and your siblings adopted by the parents that were fostering you or to another family?
 
I met my father for the first time in 1993. He was serving a prison sentence for robbing a bank in Ann Arbor in 1984 (same town where Ida coincidentally disappeared from in 1958. Jerry hadn't been back there until then) and taking the bag of money to the bar next door. He died last year a free man two weeks before my sister Beverly died from cancer. We established a relationship and I forgave him.

I am glad to hear you were able to have a relationship with your father and forgive him. This is awesome.:)

I am also sorry that you have lost some of your relatives.
 
Welcome to Websleuths, Dan!! We are very happy to help!

I will try to find this Carol Moser. Will let you know what I come up with! Do you know what city they lived in when you saw them in the city directory? And also do you know if Carol is the same friend she mentioned that she was going to bring to Florida with her to help with the kids?


I tried searching on zabasearch and there are some listed, but we need other info - age (possible) middle initial ?
 
Welcome to Websleuths, Dan!! We are very happy to help!

If I may ask, I see references to your mother and father trying to regain custody. I took this to mean that your mother and father were cooperating with each other to get the children out of the boarding home? I just want to clarify if I am correct, or if your parents were each trying separately to get custody at the others expense??

The fight for us was pretty much Ida's, as Gerry left the state when he dropped us off at the boarding house.

I will try to find this Carol Moser. Will let you know what I come up with! Do you know what city they lived in when you saw them in the city directory? And also do you know if Carol is the same friend she mentioned that she was going to bring to Florida with her to help with the kids?

Yes. Carol was the same friend she was going to bring to Florida. They were living in Ann Arbor, MI (home of University of Michigan).

And, thank you !!
 
Welcome Danny!

This sounds as if they held her against her will. That statement definitely raises red flags. Were you and your siblings adopted by the parents that were fostering you or to another family?

Thank you for the welcome. I pretty much put this down after reaching the end of the road in what I could find out. Having other people's support in this is so appreciated. Chad Scott of trackmissing.org got the ball rolling. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help from him and you all.

It's a very strange thing the judge said. That, coupled with the fact he didn't declare her competent until 2 years later (despite the psychiatrists finding her competent in 1958) does indeed raise a lot of questions.

We were not adopted by our foster parents. Beverly and I were adopted by a wonderful older couple in Fraser, MI, and Deborah by couple in the Upper Peninsula. Deborah's foster mother spotted her on TV when the Detroit Fox affiliate did a piece in 1997. They got together. She was so happy to see Deborah again so many years after fostering her (for 2 years).
 

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