MA MA - Joan Risch, 30, Lincoln, 24 Oct 1961

The thing I find the hardest to fit in with the evidence is why her husband believed she was still alive. The scene suggests an attack or medical emergency. What did he know (or think he knew) to make him believe she was alive? If so, then didn't he also have to believe she willingly abandoned him and the children? Did he buy the theory of a staged crime scene? I can understand wanting to believe a person was still alive, but what made him think she was the type to stage a crime scene and walk away?
 
The thing I find the hardest to fit in with the evidence is why her husband believed she was still alive. The scene suggests an attack or medical emergency. What did he know (or think he knew) to make him believe she was alive? If so, then didn't he also have to believe she willingly abandoned him and the children? Did he buy the theory of a staged crime scene? I can understand wanting to believe a person was still alive, but what made him think she was the type to stage a crime scene and walk away?
His belief isn't evidence; many people with a missing family member go into denial. I believe his theory was that she had hurt herself and gotten amnesia.
 
The thing I find the hardest to fit with the evidence is why her husband believed she was still alive. The scene suggests an attack or medical emergency. What did he know (or think he knew) to make him believe she was alive? If so, then didn't he also have to believe she willingly abandoned him and the children? Did he buy the theory of a staged crime scene? I can understand wanting to believe a person was still alive, but what made him think she was the type to stage a crime scene and walk away?

Is it known what Joan had done at the dentist ? I agree about a ruptured ectopic. Would she have collapsed due to that, in your opinion ? Why do you think she left her house ? Could she have been trying to make her way to the house of her old school friend who lived in that town too ?
Joan had a tooth filled at the dentist and was treated with Xylocaine.
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She may have been trying to get to her friend's house, to a hospital, or just to a pay phone. It's also possible that she wasn't thinking clearly and was just wandering.
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I don't see proof of an attack in the blood evidence. For one thing, I see mostly smeared blood, not spatter. If a person has blood on her hands, just swinging the arms when walking can cause blood spatter. I don't see any "high-impact" spatter, but I admit that the resolution on my phone isn't perfect.
 
His belief isn't evidence; many people with a missing family member go into denial. I believe his theory was that she had hurt herself and gotten amnesia.

That's true, maybe he simply wanted to believe she was alive somewhere and just didn't know who she was. I'm sure it's pretty rare that people get hurt wander off with permanent amnesia, but I guess anything is better than believing your loved one is dead.
 
Joan had a tooth filled at the dentist and was treated with Xylocaine.
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She may have been trying to get to her friend's house, to a hospital, or just to a pay phone. It's also possible that she wasn't thinking clearly and was just wandering.
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I don't see proof of an attack in the blood evidence. For one thing, I see mostly smeared blood, not spatter. If a person has blood on her hands, just swinging the arms when walking can cause blood spatter. I don't see any "high-impact" spatter, but I admit that the resolution on my phone isn't perfect.

Is there anything about having a tooth filled that could cause a person to start bleeding heavily from the mouth? I can see it happening if she'd had any teeth pulled or cut out, though, if the blood didn't want to clot.

A potential but kind of rare side effect of the numbing agent can be confusion or dizziness. I suppose she could have lost her balance and hurt herself, then started trying to clean up the blood and maybe became confused somehow. But she'd been normal in the hours since she had the tooth filled, even working outdoors, so I wonder if it would take that long to affect her? Does anyone know? Seems like it would have worn off by then.
 
latest


Missing telephone network cable may be a proof that offender/intruder had used it during a crime (eg. bounding a victim). This also suggests that Mrs Rich did not left her home voluntarily and independently.
 
The thing I find the hardest to fit in with the evidence is why her husband believed she was still alive. The scene suggests an attack or medical emergency. What did he know (or think he knew) to make him believe she was alive? If so, then didn't he also have to believe she willingly abandoned him and the children? Did he buy the theory of a staged crime scene? I can understand wanting to believe a person was still alive, but what made him think she was the type to stage a crime scene and walk away?

Was Joan's purse at the house ?

Martin Risch passed away in 2009. He would not discuss Joan's disappearance, but never changed his opinion that she was still alive. He never re-married. I read that there was a funeral Mass for him, leading me to think he was Catholic.Perhaps Joan was too.

I have never seen anywhere that Martin Risch had his wife declared legally deceased. I have read that there were some "mysterious" phone calls to the Risch household in the days after Joan disappeared. I also read that Joan's best friend from school who lived in the same town said that the calls were from her number. I can't locate a link for this, so it is only rumor at this point. I think Martin Risch may have heard from Joan, and that is the reason he knew she had left. Joan apparently never changed her name with Social Security, she was still Joan Nattras in that database. IDK, but I assume her D/L would be in the name of Joan Risch. If she had a bank account in her own name it would have been fairly easy to leave and start a new life.

I do have a really hard time believing she left her 2 year old son in his crib in the house, and her 4 year old daughter to find the scene in the house. But I have no way of knowing any of her inner life. Life in general was hard for women then, if they wanted to end a marriage. jmo

Lastly, I read on this thread that LE's report to the FBI about this case states that Joan Risch had a [possible "self inflicted" injury, causing her to bleed profusely. this is a pretty clear implication. jmo
 
After reading the pdf with some of the actual police files and seeing the photos, I'm actually taking a different perspective on this case. I had always perceived she staged a stunt and ran away from her family. But, like everyone else, we just had very little to go on about any real details of the case.

Well, after reading through and seeing all that blood, this case not only answers questions, but asks even more. This has to be one of the most bizarre and perplexing cases I've ever read. It's truly the most baffling mystery I've ever come across. I wish that there were more things included in the pdf as I would want to read the report concerning what the police found in detail in the kitchen and throughout the house. And the bathroom, was there blood in the bathroom? The newspapers said that there was blood in the master bedroom, the hall at the top of the stairs, and the children's room. I hope a websleuther in the Boston area could research this case and try and get more police case reports and photos.

But, after reading the reports about eye-witnesses seeing the same woman for almost over an hour walking on the highway bleeding with bloody blotches up and down her legs, both front and back, tells me that she very well could have had an abortion. Did she do it on her own? Perhaps.

But there is unidentified fingerprints and a palm print in Risch's own blood. I agree that the mysterious car that people saw possibly parked and leaving her driveway could have been a doctor. Just like what was said... it could have been an abortion gone horribly wrong and she started hemorrhaging... and she panicked... then the doctor panicked... and she want to call an ambulance or someone to come help her and the panicked doctor yanked the phone receiver out of her hand and the phone set. But, I think in a panic the doctor left her there and got out of dodge. That's when she left on her own accord and was seen walking along roadways.

This theory is possible according to the "Police Report to the FBI" as on Page Two it states:

"There is no specific evidence that victim was abducted and possibility exists that she may have hemorrhaged or caused self inflicting wound and left the residence herself."


If it was an abortion, she possibly she couldn't face her husband and family after such an incident because of shame and guilt. Perhaps those mysterious phone calls to the Risch home days after were from her.

It is also interesting that there are no footprints that were found in the entire bloody mess, like someone did their best to avoid stepping in it. It's also odd that her neighbor saw her in the trench coat around 2:15 p.m., running around with her arms outstretched and seeing a glimpse of red. Perhaps, Risch, quickly losing so much blood was going into a real state of shock.

I also noticed in one of the newspaper articles that it showed the Rischs' second car, the 1951 Chevy that was parked in the driveway had blood on the front hood by the windshield and numerous spots on the back. There was no photo of the front of the car, but when I examined the exact spots in the photo of the article I found them and marked them in the photo attached.

Also, in the same photo, there is a metal wire hanger on top of the car. The investigation took place that evening of October 24, 1961, and near 8 p.m., police called the fire department to bring lights to light up the house and driveway. And when I saw the photos taken early the following morning, the wire hanger is gone. It must have been taken as evidence.

This is the post which mentions the police report to the FBI.
 
The thing I find the hardest to fit in with the evidence is why her husband believed she was still alive. The scene suggests an attack or medical emergency. What did he know (or think he knew) to make him believe she was alive? If so, then didn't he also have to believe she willingly abandoned him and the children? Did he buy the theory of a staged crime scene? I can understand wanting to believe a person was still alive, but what made him think she was the type to stage a crime scene and walk away?

Maybe he didn't actually believe she was alive. Maybe he sent someone to kill her, a la Teresa Sievers. He had an alibi, and it would be in his interest for people to think she just wandered off.
 
latest


Missing telephone network cable may be a proof that offender/intruder had used it during a crime (eg. bounding a victim). This also suggests that Mrs Rich did not left her home voluntarily and independently.


Most wall-mounted phones in those days had a jack right behind them that the phone was mounted to. Maybe they had a second phone jack near the floor, but it would have been very unusual to have a cord outside of the wall coming from a wall-mounted phone in houses of that era.
 
At first when I saw the toy truck in the photo, I thought maybe Joan slipped and fell on it somehow and hurt herself pretty badly, but that wouldn't explain why there were drops of blood upstairs.

At this point my own opinion is that someone assaulted her. I wasn't born til 1970 but back then I don't remember housewives keeping their doors locked during the day in nice neighborhoods, plus kids were prone to running back and forth from the neighbors, so locking the doors would be inconvenient. Maybe someone slipped into the house and raped or attempted to rape her. She may have had another man (although I hate to suggest such a thing if it wasn't the case) or maybe someone in the neighborhood or passing through (like a salesman, etc) developed a thing for her and was stalking her. It wasn't a robbery, so the purpose of the attack was focused on Joan herself.

An attacker seems to make the most sense. He could have come into the house after the daughter went next door or he could even have been hiding somewhere in the house when the family returned home at lunchtime, then he began the attack near the baby's crib, since there was some blood there, and the struggle could have continued on into the kitchen, with her injuries worsening or bleeding more rapidly there.

This person may or may not have been successful in sexually assaulting her, but since she was seen alone after she was injured, he fled the scene either after accomplishing his purpose or after getting scared that the situation had gotten out of hand.

How do you explain the neighbor seeing her earlier with something red on her hands?
 
I thought the neighbor saw her around the time she must have gone missing. Wasn't it after she sent her daughter next door? I'm thinking she may have had bloody paper towels or a bloody towel. The Wikipedia article that I posted a link to the other day said the neighbor saw her running between the car and the garage. I don't know if that means she ran from the garage toward the car, or vice versa, but there were three areas of blood on the outside of her car as if she leaned on it or dripped on it.
 
I thought the neighbor saw her around the time she must have gone missing. Wasn't it after she sent her daughter next door? I'm thinking she may have had bloody paper towels or a bloody towel. The Wikipedia article that I posted a link to the other day said the neighbor saw her running between the car and the garage. I don't know if that means she ran from the garage toward the car, or vice versa, but there were three areas of blood on the outside of her car as if she leaned on it or dripped on it.

Yes, that's what police notes in the long PDF said; that the neighbor saw her near the car around the time she went missing.
 
I think if anyone had been at the house with her, he was gone before anyone saw her outdoors between 2pm-4pm. I'm kind of 50% on the idea that someone hurt her and 50% on the idea that she suffered a medical emergency.

The beer bottles in the garbage bother me. Her husband identified a liquor bottle as one he and she had shared but he didn't know anything about the beer bottles. If Joan was in the habit of drinking beer (that he knew of) he would naturally have assumed they were hers. If one of her girlfriends had visited and had a few beers with her, you'd think that person would have come forward and said so. An intruder or attacker wouldn't be likely to bring beer with him and drink it there, I wouldn't think. It's hard to imagine she would invite another man over even if she had one, not in the daytime anyway when the other housewives might see him. Joan's husband had been home the night before, if I remember correctly, so nobody could have slipped over to her house after dark the night before to visit with her and drink beer. Maybe she was a secret drinker when her husband wasn't around? I'm thinking though that there were 3 beer bottles. I don't know what size packages beer was sold in back then, but if these were originally part of a 6-pack, where are the missing 3?
 
I think if anyone had been at the house with her, he was gone before anyone saw her outdoors between 2pm-4pm. I'm kind of 50% on the idea that someone hurt her and 50% on the idea that she suffered a medical emergency.

The beer bottles in the garbage bother me. Her husband identified a liquor bottle as one he and she had shared but he didn't know anything about the beer bottles. If Joan was in the habit of drinking beer (that he knew of) he would naturally have assumed they were hers. If one of her girlfriends had visited and had a few beers with her, you'd think that person would have come forward and said so. An intruder or attacker wouldn't be likely to bring beer with him and drink it there, I wouldn't think. It's hard to imagine she would invite another man over even if she had one, not in the daytime anyway when the other housewives might see him. Joan's husband had been home the night before, if I remember correctly, so nobody could have slipped over to her house after dark the night before to visit with her and drink beer. Maybe she was a secret drinker when her husband wasn't around? I'm thinking though that there were 3 beer bottles. I don't know what size packages beer was sold in back then, but if these were originally part of a 6-pack, where are the missing 3?

Respectfully, I did read here in the thread that the Risch's had had company that weekend, and that's where the beer bottles came from. This was what Mr. Risch said. Also, he said that he and Joan had had a drink together the night before, and that.s what finished the whiskey.
 
Some of the links to articles at the beginning of this thread are broken so here are a few more:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3804,4665565&dq=joan-risch&hl=en
Missing 16 months.

From the above article: She is the former Joan Nattras born Brooklyn NY. They had lived in Ridgefield Conn. before moving to Boston.


I don't have access to this archive, perhaps someone here does?

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonh...in+missing+mom+remains+a+mystery&pqatl=google

and about a man interested in Ruth's case (again in an archive)
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonh...&desc=Dedicated+to+finding+truth&pqatl=google

Article dated 1961 when they had assumed she was kidnapped:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4373,5303401&dq=joan-risch&hl=en


October 1961, this article says the fingerprints found on the phone were her husband's?

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3035,6089099&dq=joan-risch&hl=en

Article August 1975

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2239,2952931&dq=joan-risch&hl=en

I know many here are up to date with the case, I posted these for any newcomers we might have.

There is an article mentioned here which states that the bloody fingerprint found on the phone belonged to Mr. Risch. I have not seen this anywhere else. I read that according to the Charley Project there were a few fingerprints, and part of a palm print at the crime scene. Prints were never identified.

Noticed too that the phone book in the kitchen was open at the emergency services info page...
 
Hnngg, this case just doesn't make sense at all.

Her blood is all over the place, and there are unidentified fingerprints, BUT, she was seen walking outside - alone - multiple times.

What are we not seeing?
 
Hnngg, this case just doesn't make sense at all.

Her blood is all over the place, and there are unidentified fingerprints, BUT, she was seen walking outside - alone - multiple times.

What are we not seeing?

Well we don't know for a fact that she was seen walking along the road... eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable and she was wearing very long clothing so as someone said, they probably wouldn't have been able to see blood on her legs
 
What is super curious to me is how that pool of blood ended up right at the corner of the kitchen... if it were a botched abortion or an accident how would it have ended up in the corner that cleanly? It almost looks like she would have had to have dumped blood there on purpose
 

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