NJ NJ - Melissa McGuinn, 7 mos, Trenton, 6 March 1988

[nursebeeme]

sounds great!

 

[Perodicticus potto]

Just wanted to say that I clearly remember seeing an ad about this case as a kid. It disturbed me greatly then, and in the years since I've tried to learn what the outcome was, but didn't remember enough details to track the case down. Trust Websleuths to do the hard work for me!

 

[EGirl]

Missing Since: March 6, 1988 from Trenton, New Jersey
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: August 3, 1987
Age: 7 months old
Height and Weight: 2'4, 16 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. McGuinn has a pigmentation mark on her right tricep. Some agencies spell her last name "McQuinn."
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A dark pink hooded sweater, white flowered quilted overalls and pink socks.

Details of Disappearance

McGuinn was being cared for by Wanda F. Reed, also known as Wanda Ashley, a mentally disabled housemate of McGuinn's family, on March 6, 1988 in Trenton, New Jersey. Reed initially told authorities that McGuinn was abducted by an unidentified African-American man while she and the baby were taking a walk during the day. Reed later changed her statement and said that she had accidentally dropped or deliberately thrown McGuinn into the Delaware River. McGuinn has never been seen again and a search of the Delaware River turned up no sign of her.


Reed, who has the mental capacity of a four- to five-year-old, was later charged with kidnapping the child. She was found incompetent to stand trial, the charges were dropped, and Reed was sent to live in a facility for mentally disabled individuals. Authorities stated she gave so many conflicting statements that they did not know what really happened to McGuinn. Investigators suggested McGuinn was not abducted or drowned, but sold to a couple who wanted a child, but there is no evidence to support this theory.


McGuinn lived with her parents, a sibling, and Reed in the 600 block of Lamberton Street in Trenton in 1988. Her parents moved out of the area while the investigation was ongoing, and police have lost contact with them. Her case is classified as a non-family abduction due to the unclear circumstances involved in her disappearance.

BBM

What does this mean?

 

[sweetsavi]

BBM

What does this mean?

That statement is not correct. Detectives have been in contact with Melissa's mother just as of 8 months ago. Her father died in 2008 from a heart attack. Also, the "other sibling" was not a sibling, it was Wanda's baby.

 

[TripleA]

The old news article says that Melissa had red hair, but he missing person's report says blonde.

 

[modesty blaise]

did they ever investigate the friend staying at the home??
given the mental capabilities they said this woman had (4-5 yrs old) I don't see her going through with any plan to disappear a baby with no clues left behind,but to rule out any and all possible angles I would look at the person who wrote her the letter as well.

 

[Ellmau]

I'm wondering about Wanda's bf; how did he get involved in a relationship with someone with that apparent degree of impairment?

 

[jordynsmommy529]

This is such a sad case Melissa was such a beautiful baby. She will be apart of my prayers for now on. I couldn't imagine how her mother feels. It sounds too me that the baby was given too someone she couldn't have harmed that baby w/o her being found.

 

[jordynsmommy529]

There isn't any chance Melissa could be baby hope is there?

 

[sweetsavi]

I have met two of Becky's other children that she had with Robert McGuinn. It's confusing to me, because Becky and Robert both have brown hair, but her two sons have sandy blonde hair, and Becky says Melissa had blonde hair too.

That being said, Becky and her mom look identical. So if Melissa is the same, then I suspect she may have brown hair too.

The pictures I have seen look like Melissa's hair was changing to darker as she got older. Here is another picture that gives an idea of her hair color:

Here is what her mom and grandma looked like at 26 years old:

 

[Tricia]

Radio show with Becky McGuinn will start in about 30 minutes.

You can listen live at the link or listen anytime after the show.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO JOIN US LIVE 8 PM EASTERN OR LISTEN ANYTIME AFTER THE SHOW IS OVER

 

[sweetsavi]

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Arizona/Maricopa-County-AZ/Wanda-F-Reed.49072300/details/
Anybody know how to tell if this is the same Wanda? She sounds like the same age and physical description.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Such a tragic story. I can see why her mother still holds onto hope that Melissa is alive.

Something I've wondered about in cases with age progression photographs is that the age progression usually shows the person as if they were slender to normal in weight. But it is a fact that the US is getting heavier overall and there are more clinically obese people out there.

I've seen in my own family and friends how much difference 50 pounds can make. Extra weight changes the apparent proportions of the face, often making the eyes seem smaller in relation to the nose and mouth, changing the shape of the face from oval to more round, etc.

Is there any way to get another version of the age progression as Melissa would look if she were, say, 50 pounds heavier?

 

[Fluttershy]

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Arizona/Maricopa-County-AZ/Wanda-F-Reed.49072300/details/
Anybody know how to tell if this is the same Wanda? She sounds like the same age and physical description.

The race is listed as black, so I don't think it is her, also the crime is fraud which I don't think she'd have the capacity for.

Do we know the address of the house that Michelle was taken from?
I know it's the 600 block of Lamberton Street which is here:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=60...Trenton,+New+Jersey+08611,+United+States&z=18

 

[Fluttershy]

http://articles.philly.com/1988-03-08/news/26275816_1_orlowski-delaware-river-police

Here's a contemporary article.

Meanwhile, scuba divers, tracking dogs, a helicopter crew, and local and state authorities concentrated their efforts yesterday to find the baby, Melissa Diane McGuinn, in the river along Route 29 near Cass Street, behind the construction site of the Riverview Executive Park, Orlowski said.

 

[Dixie811]

Such a tragic story. I can see why her mother still holds onto hope that Melissa is alive.

Something I've wondered about in cases with age progression photographs is that the age progression usually shows the person as if they were slender to normal in weight. But it is a fact that the US is getting heavier overall and there are more clinically obese people out there.

I've seen in my own family and friends how much difference 50 pounds can make. Extra weight changes the apparent proportions of the face, often making the eyes seem smaller in relation to the nose and mouth, changing the shape of the face from oval to more round, etc.

Is there any way to get another version of the age progression as Melissa would look if she were, say, 50 pounds heavier?

I have thought the same thing.

 

[websurfer]

:twocents:
where is LINDA?
How many children does she have?
Did anyone suddenly move or was someone visiting someone in the neighborhood who left suddenly?:twocents:

 

[bettybaby00]

:seeya:

First time visit here since the blurb and link banner caught my attention.

Crazy, heartbreaking case! I'm interesting to read up on it.

After reading this thread, and the speculation about whether or not she's alive, i was reminded of a piece I saw on CNN the other day. Some possible similarities...

(CNN) -- A 49-year-old Nevada man grew up believing he was kidnapped from the hospital as a day-old baby and was returned at age 2 to his parents in Chicago, months after being found abandoned in a stroller in New Jersey. The FBI closed the case: The toddler looked like the missing newborn.
The audacious kidnapping -- by a woman dressing as nurse who told the mother to hand over her infant because the doctor needed to examine him -- was a sensational crime nearly a half-century ago.

But now the life of Paul Joseph Fronczak has taken another extraordinary turn, he told CNN affiliate KLAS.
After taking a home DNA test, Fronczak said, he discovered he wasn't the missing baby.

The FBI has reopened the case to tackle the questions of what happened to the real kidnapped baby and who Fronczak is, exactly, he told KLAS.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/us/illinois-baby-kidnapping-mystery/index.html?iref=allsearch
(More info and vid @the source)

What strikes me immediately about melissa's case is how probable was it that if she did drown that day her body was never recovered?

 

[Grainne Dhu]

:seeya:

First time visit here since the blurb and link banner caught my attention.

Crazy, heartbreaking case! I'm interesting to read up on it.

After reading this thread, and the speculation about whether or not she's alive, i was reminded of a piece I saw on CNN the other day. Some possible similarities...


http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/us/illinois-baby-kidnapping-mystery/index.html?iref=allsearch
(More info and vid @the source)

What strikes me immediately about melissa's case is how probable was it that if she did drown that day her body was never recovered?

I haven't looked at a map but I know that the Delaware River becomes a huge river at some point.

What makes me doubt she drowned was what was written in the article about the kidnapping: that the abduction point was not near the river, it's doubtful she had enough time to get to the river on foot and that the abductor's mental state was such that investigators discovered they could get her to say anything.

That the baby may have gone into the river seems to me like a common sort of fear among people who live near rivers and so the initial river confession may simply have been the abductor mirroring what the investigator was projecting and subconsciously reinforcing.

 

[LCoastMom]

:seeya:

First time visit here since the blurb and link banner caught my attention.

Crazy, heartbreaking case! I'm interesting to read up on it.

After reading this thread, and the speculation about whether or not she's alive, i was reminded of a piece I saw on CNN the other day. Some possible similarities...


http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/us/illinois-baby-kidnapping-mystery/index.html?iref=allsearch
(More info and vid @the source)

What strikes me immediately about melissa's case is how probable was it that if she did drown that day her body was never recovered?

I have no idea what the terrain in the area around that river looks like but I would imagine finding the tiny body of a baby would be like a needle in a haystack.

The article said LE believed the story that she was jealous of the attention the baby received so she tossed the baby in the river but it sounds like some of the investigators have always questioned this.

So heartbreaking for her family.

I would like to know more about the father of Wanda's baby and drug use in the house.

I'm scratching my head here over Wanda's release. What happened to holding someone until they are competent (in this case forever), instead they release her and off she goes to do who knows what?