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

jgfitzge - THANK YOU for your interest in this case! We need as many minds, thoughts, ideas and eyes on this as possible. I have been examining this case since 2014. Please read the posts I just made below. But to answer your questions directly - The ride to the cape is bizarre and WHY was this man stopped? We do not know, it is not noted anywhere in the interview report - but as stated below I am certainly trying to find out and have been for 3 years. I am left to assume (IF TRUE) the trooper pulled him over for a violation of some kind right? We can't believe he was just pulling people over at random hoping they were headed to the cape like this girl was, but, based on this case my god maybe he was. Anyways, lets base it on a actual violation. Small talk ensues and he learns the 70 y/o is headed to Cape Cod. PHEW! Now the trooper can ask this "non-threatening" 70 y/o - Hey you mind driving a girl down with you? She's in my cruiser and headed to Cape Cod. Ok - so the 70 y/o agrees. He was headed to OSTERVILLE (if familiar with Cape Cod) this borders Hyannis etc. So instead of driving her all the way to Woods Hole (in Falmouth) to take a Ferry he atleast gets her a lot closer than where the trooper stopped her (noted as Route 128 just south of Route 109 - roughly in Westwood, MA). From here (if true) Simone hitchhikes her way to Woods Hole OR..... takes a small plane from the Barnstable Municipal Airport to Edgartown, MV. Regarding the other question, what are we basing our strong belief on now, just read below, but a quick summary, it is because of the description the 70 y/o provided AND a description provided by a former Rainbow Restaurant waitress (yes, who was NEVER interview until 2016) that basically match exactly! And lastly, the delay in her reported missing.... so last seen on 9/2/77.... reported missing 9/11/77... that's a long delay. So Mom expected Simone to arrive, she obviously didn't. Mom is concerned, but, stays on the lengthy Labor Day getaway on the Vineyard. Mom assumes Simone just blew her off (not completely unlike Simone) and met up with friends on Cape Cod or stayed up in Sherborn/Natick/Framingham area. Mom returns home and asks Simone's sister, Hey have you seen Simone? .... Um, No mom she was on the vineyard with you... .. No she wasn't ---- OMG she's missing.

Honestly - I am considering hosting a get together with the public on this case. Brainstorming and discussing the case. We'll see, but, regardless this case is fascinating and I truly believe there is hope.


THANK YOU for your interest! I look forward to more of your input and questions!

Does anyone know if Simone was compared to this set of remains?
https://www.identifyus.org/en/cases/16762
Both had spoon rings, according to Simone's CP page and the UP's NamUs page.
The UP doesn't have DNA available, and but both have dental, only the UPs status says it will be entered later.

SherbornMADetective -


Welcome. We really appreciate you reaching out to us and giving us much more detail.
I read through your comments, and the only question I have is about the listed height for Simone.
You wrote that the 70 y/o witness stated she was about 5'7", but other sources list her around 5'2".
Can you please confirm which is correct?
Also, this is a big plot hole for me: You can't hitchhike to the Vineyard. At some point, you have to get on a plane or a boat or something to get to the island itself. Am I right? Arrangements of some sort have to be made to get there. How difficult would it have been to get to Martha's Vineyard on short notice in 1977? If it wasn't short notice, did Simone have a ticket for a boat or plane?
I will be the first to admit I have no clue what options would have been available besides ferry or plane, back in 1977. Were there private boats? Sorry, I've only been as far as Mashpee.

Alleykins thank you for the interest. So you are correct you must take a plane or boat/ferry to actually get to the Vineyard. Her plan was to hitch to the cape and then take a ferry. I DID look into obtaining old travel logs from the Steamship Authority to see if they had records of whom may have purchased a ticket or if they had a passenger log book etc. I also DID call the Barnstable Municipal Airport for travel
Logs as well - both came up empty. I did get some other info that I will look into.

Regarding her height - she is believed to truly be around 5'2-5'3 so that is a little of from the 5'7" from the 70 y/o but certainly height and weight are one of the most inaccurate eyewitness details generally. Something to consider but with all other details eerily similar still strong believed to be Simone whom he saw.

SherbornMADetective said:

Alleykins thank you for the interest. So you are correct you must take a plane or boat/ferry to actually get to the Vineyard. Her plan was to hitch to the cape and then take a ferry. I DID look into obtaining old travel logs from the Steamship Authority to see if they had records of whom may have purchased a ticket or if they had a passenger log book etc. I also DID call the Barnstable Municipal Airport for travel
Logs as well - both came up empty. I did get some other info that I will look into.

Regarding her height - she is believed to truly be around 5'2-5'3 so that is a little of from the 5'7" from the 70 y/o but certainly height and weight are one of the most inaccurate eyewitness details generally. Something to consider but with all other details eerily similar still strong believed to be Simone whom he saw.

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Thanks for your reply and clarification/information on her height and travel logs for the ferry and airport.

believe09 said:

Well there is a state trooper and a civilian involved in the transportation of her. Then she went poof at the rotary.

It's hard not to jump to a few conclusions, jmvho.

I will check my files to see if I received an email from the Detective-I am pretty sure it was ruled out but let me be certain.

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Would a state trooper really ask a civilian to transport a stranger in their car, just because they had a similar destination? And would the state trooper admit it if he had? I really doubt that this would happen in 2017, but I wonder if this could have happened when Simone disappeared?

I have emailed back and forth with the detective a bit. Although he did not come out and say this, I was left with the impression that that person gave Simone a ride, but not on the day she was last seen. I think it was some time after.

I am not positive but I believe she was missing of her own accord, at least initially. One news article did state that her family did not report her missing right away because she was known to disappear for short periods of time.

He is pretty responsive and willing to discuss it if anyone wants to email him with any ideas or suggestions.

Odyssey said:

I have emailed back and forth with the detective a bit. Although he did not come out and say this, I was left with the impression that that person gave Simone a ride, but not on the day she was last seen. I think it was some time after.

I am not positive but I believe she was missing of her own accord, at least initially. One news article did state that her family did not report her missing right away because she was known to disappear for short periods of time.

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Was it this new WS member that you were corresponding with? -->SherbornMADetective He's posted some very interesting information.

Alleykins said:

Was it this new WS member that you were corresponding with? -->SherbornMADetective He's posted some very interesting information.

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OMG yes, I didn't get a notification of those posts so I didn't see them until you mentioned it. So glad he is here!

So yeah he confirmed it was the following day that he supposedly gave her a ride.

Det. Godinho, can you go into any detail about the visitation referred to in the video? At least the time frame of it, if you can't say specifically what it was?

(Visitation previously mentioned in post #21 of this thread)

Honestly - I am considering hosting a get together with the public on this case. Brainstorming and discussing the case. We'll see, but, regardless this case is fascinating and I truly believe there is hope.

THANK YOU for your interest! I look forward to more of your input and questions!

SherbornDetective, thanks for your valuable input. Well, you cleared up a few things. I came of age when the drinking age was 18 here in MA and the Cape was the the place to be for boys and girls Heck, very good chance I was down there that very weekend in 77.

So, I am looking at the elderly gent giving Simone a ride down the Cape and I am curious why she did not get out at the first rotary when you come over the Sagamore Bridge. I assume he would have gone around the rotary and gone Route 6 East towards Hyannis and his destination in Osterville. As you know there are two bridges going into the Cape, Bourne (the Marthas Vineyard/Falmouth/Buzzards Bay side) and the Sagamore (the Bay side/6 and 6A) So. if Simone said,"hey buddy, let me off at the rotary, I can just hitch a ride across the Cape to Falmouth via Route 28, much closer. Instead she stays in the car and goes to Hyannis in the middle of the Cape, further away from Falmouth. Now she has to get to 28, and hitch back southwest, when she was closer at the first rotary. Trust me, if you know the area this makes no sense. Was this her first time going down the Cape? Also, I realize you have to look into all possibilities of the case but, a 20 year old is not taking a plane to Martha's vineyard in 2017, let alone 1977. You may also want to check the Island Queen out of Falmouth. There are two main ferries to MV, Steamship Authority out of Woods Hole and the Island Queen.

On the elderly gent who gave Simone the ride, after reading the file what were your impressions? Did LE clear him? Did it indicate why he waited almost nine years to come forward? What was his age in 1977? 70 or 63? There is a thought I had about him...What if in his limited time he had left on this earth, he develops a guilty conscience and he wants to make it right before he passes. On the other hand he doesn't want to cop to her disappearance or death in his old age. So, he gives the police just enough to point them in the right direction but not enough to implicate himself...I know, it sounds a little crazy but i keep coming back to why did he keep her in the car until Hyannis (so he says) instead of letting her out at the Sagamore rotary. Was Simone unable to get out?

So, the way I see it, I really doubt she she made to Martha's Vineyard. If she landed in Oak Bluffs (island Queen) or Vineyard Haven (Steamship Authority) someone would have seen her and depending upon where her family was staying she could walk, take the bus, taxi, or hitch. Did they have a phone at the MV house?

Anyway, think about what I said about the Sagamore rotary. Also, I posted an earlier comment about where he may have dropped her off in Hyannis. There is a rotary near Airrport however the HOJO and Ground Round were futher up Main Street.

My feeling (though I could well be proven wrong) is that she didn't go to Martha's Vineyard, but went elsewhere of her own accord.

We know she was last seen on 9/2 but Simone supposedly was in the trooper car and got a ride from that man on 9/3 and was still wearing the same clothes.

I also know she was scheduled to visit someone at some point after that (and didn't show up), possibly someone who was incarcerated, and am hoping the detective can clarify when that was.

I also know that the daughter of a police officer (who knew Simone) claimed she gave her a ride to another location (Framingham?) somewhere in between all this too. Again, I am not sure exactly when.

My thought is that this man had nothing to do with her disappearance because I'm pretty sure she was seen alive after that by the officers daughter.

Again, without dates of these things I could be wrong.

Just a couple of things from my own personal experience: I don't find it odd or out of the ordinary for a trooper to have picked Simone up. As kids, we got a ride home one time from the pool from a kindly local police officer. Also, when I was working at a summer camp, one of the campers took off, and a state trooper picked him up and took him all the way home (instead of back to camp), two hours away. This was back in the 70s and 80s. So I have no issue with that happening, nor do I find it suspicious or unbelievable in any way.

I also don't find the actions of the old man who dropped her off to be suspicious. It sounds like he didn't know she was missing, and only found out when he read an article in the paper. I don't think he deliberately held back. His knowing she was missing was only as good as the media coverage her disappearance received, back in the time when you had the 6 oclock news and newspapers. It wasn't 24/7 news coverage back then. If he wasn't a TV watcher and seldom read the paper, how would he know she was missing?

Yes, there were people who preyed on hitchhikers, but not all of them were nefarious, and many people hitched without incident. My friend hitchhiked from Florida to Maine, and back again, back in the early 80s, when she was a teen, and is still alive today to talk about it.

Also, based on what the detective has posted about Simone's free spirited personality, as well as mentioning her mother believing Simone had simply stood her up when she failed to arrive, I also don't think there is anything out of the ordinary for there to have been a 9 day lapse between whens she was last seen and when she was reported missing. People weren't in constant contact, cell phones didn't exist, and if this was par for the course for Simone's personality, who would know better than her family? I'm sure her family regretted not acting sooner, but hindsight is 20-20.

Odyssey said:

My feeling (though I could well be proven wrong) is that she didn't go to Martha's Vineyard, but went elsewhere of her own accord.

We know she was last seen on 9/2 but Simone supposedly was in the trooper car and got a ride from that man on 9/3 and was still wearing the same clothes.

I also know she was scheduled to visit someone at some point after that (and didn't show up), possibly someone who was incarcerated, and am hoping the detective can clarify when that was.

I also know that the daughter of a police officer (who knew Simone) claimed she gave her a ride to another location (Framingham?) somewhere in between all this too. Again, I am not sure exactly when.

My thought is that this man had nothing to do with her disappearance because I'm pretty sure she was seen alive after that by the officers daughter.

Again, without dates of these things I could be wrong.

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Odyssey - I think the same thing, she may have gotten to the Cape but she never got on a ferry to MV. So, we need to establish whether the last time Simone was seen was 9/2 or 9/3. Maybe it's my Boston cynicism, think about this for a minute...OK, it took a 70 year old man 9 years to come forward to say a trooper had her in his car, stopped him near the Westwood/109 rest stop, and passed her off to him. Yet....this trooper IMO was aware of this story and yet has never come forward??

Your story about her receiving a ride from someone else is interesting. I thought, So, when she left the Rainbow that Friday afternoon, was she on her way to the Cape or was she going somewhere else first? If she was leaving immediately from the Rainbow (Natick Center) you need to get to the highway to get to the Cape, closest/most direct is via Route 16 east to 95 (128) south.

Alleykins said:

Just a couple of things from my own personal experience: I don't find it odd or out of the ordinary for a trooper to have picked Simone up. As kids, we got a ride home one time from the pool from a kindly local police officer. Also, when I was working at a summer camp, one of the campers took off, and a state trooper picked him up and took him all the way home (instead of back to camp), two hours away. This was back in the 70s and 80s. So I have no issue with that happening, nor do I find it suspicious or unbelievable in any way.

I also don't find the actions of the old man who dropped her off to be suspicious. It sounds like he didn't know she was missing, and only found out when he read an article in the paper. I don't think he deliberately held back. His knowing she was missing was only as good as the media coverage her disappearance received, back in the time when you had the 6 oclock news and newspapers. It wasn't 24/7 news coverage back then. If he wasn't a TV watcher and seldom read the paper, how would he know she was missing?

Yes, there were people who preyed on hitchhikers, but not all of them were nefarious, and many people hitched without incident. My friend hitchhiked from Florida to Maine, and back again, back in the early 80s, when she was a teen, and is still alive today to talk about it.

Also, based on what the detective has posted about Simone's free spirited personality, as well as mentioning her mother believing Simone had simply stood her up when she failed to arrive, I also don't think there is anything out of the ordinary for there to have been a 9 day lapse between whens she was last seen and when she was reported missing. People weren't in constant contact, cell phones didn't exist, and if this was par for the course for Simone's personality, who would know better than her family? I'm sure her family regretted not acting sooner, but hindsight is 20-20.

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Alleykins - I agree about it not being odd for a trooper or local policeman to be bringing a teen safely home. I get that. However, I do find it curious that the trooper never came forward. So, if there was nothing odd, why the reluctance? He could have helped Simone's family and the investigation by saying, "Yes, I picked her up at --------, she told me she was going to Cape Cod, so by good fortune a motorist I pulled over was going that way and was good enough to take her,"

I am completely on board about hitch hiking being common in the 70's. I even hitched rides a few times to the Cape back in the day. Whenever I got into the car, my right hand was on the door handle, just being careful. Maybe that is why the old man mentioned his rider called herself "Sissy." Perhaps Simone was also being careful and not providing her real name.

On the old man, let just say this, If I was going to Osterville and I was giving you a ride and your destination was Martha's Vineyard by the ferry, I would be dropping you off at the Sagamore Rotary instead of bringing you all the way to Hyannis. I also understand media coverage was less intense back in 1977, but it is not like it was a blackout. You did hear about missing children whether it was on the radio or the 6 and 11 newscasts. Because those were the only outlets you did tune in. I am hoping the Sherborn detective can look at the old man's interview and check it out a bit more. Perhaps some questions I have can be brought to light...maybe not. Questions I have would be, Was he cited for a MV that day, 9/3/77? Did he regularly drive to Osterville? Did Simone have a bag or suitcase with her? Can you describe the trooper who pulled you over? And...I would see if he had a criminal record.

Look, about the 9 day lapse between Simone's expected departure and when the family reported her missing, I am not dumping on her family or seeing anything nefarious. Maybe I am thinking of my own family. I know there was no cell phones. It is more of a sigh and wishful thinking on my part. Still...she was 17, not yet an adult. It is what it is...At this point it really has no bearing on solving the case so, I will move off it.

Hey Jmoose; So it definitely seems unlikely but in 1977 I could see this being possible unfortunately - today the liability would make this literally insane to consider. But 1977 was a different world I am sure. I plan to speak with retired troopers to get their sense on the how common this may have been. Thanks for your question I hope I answered it.

Hello Odyssey, so that visitation concerned a former boyfriend of Simone's who was in lock up at the time of her disappearance. According to the police report the officer references on 9/17/77 he went to visit this ex-boyfriend and learned there had been a visit scheduled for that same day by Simone. Obviously she didn't show and that officer never detailed when that visit by Simone was set up. For example; was it set up in August before she went missing or was it set up after she went missing. Hope this helps.

Hey jgfitzge; You are very welcome and I am sure quite the time back then. SO - very fair point - why keep her in the car all the way to the airport rotary when you without question are driving either right by the Sagamore rotary (which was there back then - no longer there today) or the Bourne Bridge rotary. I do know the area and you make a very valid point there. Also fair point on the plane, it entered my thoughts given the proclaimed drop off spot - still ferry much more likely as you stated. I will reach out to island queen, have not done so - only knew of steamship authority. Also - no not her first time, went a lot to vineyard with family. Regarding the man he was 70 in1977 and 79 in 1986. Half/semi admission you ask?!? HAS ALWAYS been a suspicion of mine - not that crazy at all. Agreed she most likely never made it to Vineyard. No phone or even electricity at the vineyard house.

There is some info about the siting by the Sherborn Officer's daughter. I tracked her down though and she does not recall seeing her after she went missing. She knew her and was a little older so she gave her rides once and a while, but, doesn't recall giving her a ride after she went missing. The last known date someone is documented to have seen Simone is by the 70 y/o man who came forward in 1986 who claimed he gave her a ride to the cape on 9/3/77 around 6:45 AM.

Agreed - if the trooper part of the story is true I assume the trooper would've have seen this by now. My guess if true is that the trooper may be to embarrassed to come forward or something along those lines. When the trooper picked her up (if true) no one knew she had been missing. Regarding the 9 day delay - Her mom was expecting her but assumed she just blew her off and met up with friends. So she assumed Simone just stayed on Cape or stayed up in the Natick/Framingham/Sherborn area instead. The people out in the Sherborn area etc assumed she hitchhiked to the Cape and then arrived on the Vineyard. No phones or electricity at the vineyard house. When mom came back home from the vineyard she asked the sister if she had seen Simone, assuming she just blew off the trip to the Vineyard. The sister said NO I assumed she was down there with you. This explains the reason for the delay.

Unfortunately the 70 y/o has since passed and there was never any follow-up interview with him or into his story.... Doing it 40 years later is difficult but it is in the works. Striking out on finding records of a MV stop but I have a different way I plan to go about it. But yes those follow-up questions would've made a ton of sense, unfortunately, they were never asked.... I know who the 70 y/o is and his history etc. I also tracked down the only surviving member of his family a son who would've been in his teens in 1977. Conversation with him revealed the 70 y/o never shared this story with him or his family to his knowledge, interesting.