MA MA - Simone Ridinger, 17, Sherborn, 2 Sept 1977

[Sweetluv]

him the OK to give her a ride, interesting..as if to make his story seem better.

 

[Sweetluv]

Does anyone know what the weather was on that day? I heard fog and rain?

 

[Ozoner]

First of all - love your avatar!

Sorry, I know elderly folks tend to be on the low key side but I got to disagree with you on this point. I find it telling and troubling that he did not tell his family about giving a missing girl a ride to the Cape and his reporting it 9 plus years later. I might concede perhaps not mentioning the September 1977 incident where he said the trooper asked him to give Simone a ride. Maybe he was concerned about appearances...But...9 years later when he supposedly reads about the case in the paper and reports his story to the Sherborn police and still doesn't mention it to his family?? He was not a passive observer, he was an active participant. Sorry, it just doesn't pass the smell test with me.

Some people barely tell their families anything; maybe he didn't want his family members asking a million questions.
I am more suspicious of the person who asked to take photos of her.

 

[Ozoner]

If she really was trying to get to anywhere on Cape Cod, that was a good place to catch a second ride. If she was meeting somebody, meeting at a restaurant on the rotary would be convenient from almost anywhere. If she really was running away, it was a good location to leave from.

It' very possible that she had plans that did not involve going straight to MV. Since she had an uncle who lived on the Cape, I would take a close look at his background and his circle of friends. I don't believe she was running away; I believe she intended to head to MV but possibly after a detour.

Are we really to believe that the state (or even local) police would facilitate a courtesy transport from the Framingham area all the way to the Cape , on. Holiday weekend? And low and behold this random elderly gentlemen just so happened to come along to take Simone off their hands ?

If this elderly man did in fact pick up Simone why did he wait 9 YEARS to come forward ? I’m to believe that he somehow was clueless about her disappearance for almost a decade ? If he did nothing wrong why did he wait so long to say something?

As far as the trooper (if he even existed) not saying anything, I don’t think this person would be “too embarrassed” and not come forward . I would like to think there would’ve been a call logged . But again , I don’t think this trooper ever existed.

I may be completely wrong here , but I thought Simone and the elderly guy lived in the same area ? I can’t remember now where I saw that. If so , do you think he maybe had met her while she was waitressing and possibly offered to give her a ride and ended up killing her ? I could be comepletely off base but waiting almost a decade to come forward and giving some ridiculous state trooper story just isn’t sitting right with me.

I don't know whether the trooper story is true, but I can buy it in '77. Maybe the trooper picked Simone up because she was hitchhiking illegally on Rte. 9, and he was taking her somewhere else to catch a lift (like a rest stop). What I wonder about is whether a trooper with a civilian passenger would bother to pull someone over unless it was for something egregious. I'd want to know whether the old man had a bad driving record; if he did, maybe he was the type of driver that a cop couldn't avoid pulling over. I think it's also possible that the trooper was someone Simone had met at the jailhouse while visiting her ex-boyfriend. Simone had special visiting privileges; how unusual was that? Maybe it was a special favor that came with strings attached. That situation could explain the cop's silence...or maybe he didn't want to get fired for handing a teenage girl who turned up missing over to a stranger.

The only thing about her going back to her apartment and possibly getting ready for the trip that I have doubts on is that this 70 y/o describes her in clothing & with belongings that matches almost exactly to what the waitress said she recalled Simone leaving in. So maybe its more likely he saw her sooner than he indicates....

Unless he had previous arrests for sex offenses--which I think we'd have heard about--then I don't buy the 70-year-old as a killer. However, I can buy into the idea of his helping his only son cover up a sexual homicide or even an overdose. Maybe he disposed of Simone's body in Cape Cod and wanted to point LE in the right direction to recover her remains while at the same time pointing them away from his son. (Far-fetched, I know; I'm just spit-balling.) Where was the son living ar the time? And how old was the son in '77? Previous posts seem to disagree about his age; one said he was a teenager, and one said he was 31 (unless the post meant that he was 31 when the father came forward in '86, which would have made him about 22 when Simone disappeared).

Fitz, good stuff - the extensive detail about " the girl " is quite eye catching. I mean verbatim from his interview he even uses adjectives to describe the shoes such as "grubby white sneakers" And reported "she smelled like she needed to take a bath" (not sure I shared that before) but just oddly specific and detailed. Yet as you indicated bland and vanilla on most other parts - almost as if he was with her long enough to remember all those specifics in such intimate detail even 9 years later... and the rest is vague with basic/generic specifics because it was created instead of remembered.

AND yea - lives down the street and works in same town as Rainbow Restaurant where Simone worked but he only sees it 9 years later.... unlikely

As for the details about Simone, if he gave her a ride that far, he would have been with her much longer than he was with the cop.
It could be that his story is mostly true, but he simply didn't come forward sooner because he didn't want to get involved. The newspaper article angle may simply have been meant to excuse his cowardly delay in coming forward.

Another possibility is he and the trooper knew each other and the 70 year old didn't want to get him in trouble and waited until perhaps the trooper passed away before coming forward. It's a bit of a stretch, I know. The trooper could have even been a relative he was covering for.

I don't think it's too much of a stretch; but then why mention it at all? He could have just said that Simone had been hitchhiking.

The old Shoppers World had a bus terminal. It was about 3.5 miles from Natick Center, which is a long-ish walk, though doable. Or a quick hitch hike, if you can manage not to get busted by a statie on Rt 9.

. . . which may have been exactly how Simone ended up in a trooper's car.

Good questions, I can only add that based on her age (dob: 01/05/1960) and Massachusetts school guidelines, it appears that she was going into her senior year of HS. So, your question about why she moved to a place of her own is a good one...I am in the same age range, went to an all boys school in the Boston area...I don't recall a member of our senior class living outside the house, if there was, it would have been a rarity. Sherborn is a small, rural town, population of about 4,000 (3500 in the 1970s) and it shares a regional HS with Dover. Yes, there is not a lot of info on her life, no lengthy interviews with family members. Since there was a reference to the mother's boyfriend, It sounds like the parents may have been separated or divorced.

How is the stepfather's background? Maybe Simone made it to MV after all.It wouldn't be the first time a stepfather murdered a stepdaughter, and it wouldn't be the first time a child's mother lied in order to protect her spouse.

 

[jgfitzge]

Some people barely tell their families anything; maybe he didn't want his family members asking a million questions.
I am more suspicious of the person who asked to take photos of her.

Ozoner, I would be suspicious of the amateur photographer...However, it sounds like he was investigated early on and for whatever reason, LE either cleared him or could not connect him in anyway. I still am naturally skeptical of the elderly gent's story. Again, I might be inclined to give him a mulligan on the first story, but not telling his family after going to the Sherborn police, well that doesn't pass the smell test with me. Plus, when you add in his lack of detail on the state trooper portion of his story vs. the vivid detail he gave on Simone's jewelry and clothing, oh and the "she smelled/needed a bath" comment, I am naturally looking more at him!

 

[Ozoner]

Ozoner, I would be suspicious of the amateur photographer...However, it sounds like he was investigated early on and for whatever reason, LE either cleared him or could not connect him in anyway. I still am naturally skeptical of the elderly gent's story. Again, I might be inclined to give him a mulligan on the first story, but not telling his family after going to the Sherborn police, well that doesn't pass the smell test with me. Plus, when you add in his lack of detail on the state trooper portion of his story vs. the vivid detail he gave on Simone's jewelry and clothing, oh and the "she smelled/needed a bath" comment, I am naturally looking more at him!

He did seem to remember Simone's clothing surprisingly vividly. I've given rides to hitchhikers before and couldn't tell you what their shoes looked like or what color duffel bag they might have had. I might remember a shirt or pants color or whether someone was wearing glasses, but even that would be hit or miss. I've never given such a long ride to a hitchhiker, though, and I don't tend to notice people's clothing generally.
The comment about how Simone smeled seems a little rude; maybe he was trying to stress his lack of interest, or maybe he was just being accurate. If she did smell bad, I'd expect him to remember that.
You could put a nefarious slant on things (every lie contains some truth, and dead bodies smell bad; he remembered her clothes vividly because he still had them, etc.), but I can't say the evidence actually points that way. My tedency is to believe his story overall but not necessarily his excuse for why he waited so long to tell it.

 

[Sweetluv]

No updates from sherborn detective
😢

 

[jgfitzge]

No updates from sherborn detective


No, on the positive end, I hope it's a matter of some of the ideas and comments on the board making it a current and active investigation and he doesn't want to tip his hand or compromise the investigation. On the other hand, I hope he didn't get into trouble with his superiors and told to not come on the board and comment...

 

[Alleykins]

I'm sure he's busy, too.

 

[Sweetluv]

I would like to find out if the elderly man had an arrest record and if the restaurant employees remember him as a frequent customer...

 

[jgfitzge]

I would like to find out if the elderly man had an arrest record and if the restaurant employees remember him as a frequent customer...

Sweetluv, in looking at the Detective's previous comments, I am sure these two questions will be pursued by him. Heck, if I even knew his name I could check it out with one of my LE friends. Just a hunch on my part but I really believe he has at least uncovered some promising leads and does not want to give a "blow by blow" narrative so as to jeopardize the investigation.

 

[Sweetluv]

I would like to know if her apartment was ever searched and roommates questioned?

 

[Ozoner]

I would like to know if her apartment was ever searched and roommates questioned?

Are you sure that she had roommates? I was under the impression that she lived alone.

 

[Sweetluv]

WCVB article....
States she had roommates....but nobody knows who they were!? Odd
Conflicting articles though..I read once she was in school..another article says she didn't. Whole case seems off....we are missing something, just can't figure out what!

 

[jgfitzge]

I believe I addressed whether Simone was currently in school or not in a couple of previous posts. It sounds like she dropped out of school in her senior year. Also, Labor day weekend, 1977, there seemed to be be no hurry to "start school."

 

[Sweetluv]

Do we know about the elderly mans family?
Could he have been trying to create an alibi of some sort to protect someone? Years later he thinks to come forward??....something triggered him to do so..

 

[allmybecsloveme]

He did seem to remember Simone's clothing surprisingly vividly. I've given rides to hitchhikers before and couldn't tell you what their shoes looked like or what color duffel bag they might have had. I might remember a shirt or pants color or whether someone was wearing glasses, but even that would be hit or miss. I've never given such a long ride to a hitchhiker, though, and I don't tend to notice people's clothing generally.
The comment about how Simone smeled seems a little rude; maybe he was trying to stress his lack of interest, or maybe he was just being accurate. If she did smell bad, I'd expect him to remember that.
You could put a nefarious slant on things (every lie contains some truth, and dead bodies smell bad; he remembered her clothes vividly because he still had them, etc.), but I can't say the evidence actually points that way. My tedency is to believe his story overall but not necessarily his excuse for why he waited so long to tell it.

This is what I'm having a hard time with. 9 YEARS later, he remembers what she was wearing, and it just happened to match a statement from her co-worker that was not released then?

Not to sound full of myself, but I consider myself to have a good memory. My first memory is from two years old. However I can remember things like my husband was wearing x shirt when I met him 10 years ago...but his shorts and shoes are vague. And that is my HUSBAND. This is a random hitchhiker.

Couple that with him remembering how she smelled, but he doesn't give a description of the officer...I'm not saying he did it, but *something* is off.

He either did it or is covering for someone who did...

And she is either very near where he "left her" and he was trying to be helpful finally out of guilt, OR something in the article he read/something else scared him so he made this story/location up to keep the real location hidden.

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[Ozoner]

This is what I'm having a hard time with. 9 YEARS later, he remembers what she was wearing, and it just happened to match a statement from her co-worker that was not released then?

Not to sound full of myself, but I consider myself to have a good memory. My first memory is from two years old. However I can remember things like my husband was wearing x shirt when I met him 10 years ago...but his shorts and shoes are vague. And that is my HUSBAND. This is a random hitchhiker.

Couple that with him remembering how she smelled, but he doesn't give a description of the officer...I'm not saying he did it, but *something* is off.

He either did it or is covering for someone who did...

And she is either very near where he "left her" and he was trying to be helpful finally out of guilt, OR something in the article he read/something else scared him so he made this story/location up to keep the real location hidden.

I agree that something is off, but I'm not ready to say that he did it. It might be that he became of aware Simone's disappearance right after he gave her a ride but was afraid to come forward and involve himself. That scenario might lead to his remembering quite a few details because he would have been thinking about that day fairly often for nine years. I know how cowardly witnesses can be when it comes to stepping forward, so I think that's a realistic scenario.

I don't think the old man would cover for anybody besides his son.

If his story is true, then Simone's uncle and his associates should be looked at closely.

 

[allmybecsloveme]

I agree that something is off, but I'm not ready to say that he did it. It might be that he became of aware Simone's disappearance right after he gave her a ride but was afraid to come forward and involve himself. That scenario might lead to his remembering quite a few details because he would have been thinking about that day fairly often for nine years. I know how cowardly witnesses can be when it comes to stepping forward, so I think that's a realistic scenario.

I don't think the old man would cover for anybody besides his son.

If his story is true, then Simone's uncle and his associates should be looked at closely.

Yes, exactly. That sounds very plausible.

I hope the reason Godinho hasn't been back is because they are on to something and he doesn't want to say more right now. We can only hope!



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[Sweetluv]

Yes, I have been wondering myself where the detective has been. I wish they would have searched the elderly mans car when he came forward...fingerprints, hair...