TheArtfulDetective
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Anniversary of disappearance today
MO MO - Christene Nickle Seal, 22, Verona, 19 June 1972
- Thread starter Noirdame79
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SHSASUsleuth23
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What a terrible situation! I feel bad for David and his family because he probably has very few memories of his Mother. I don't think the Father had anything to do with it. I think it was a crime of opportunity and some local area criminals most likely had their eye on the pretty young Mother. I doubt there's anyone still alive that would have any answers unless there's some sort of death bed confession. It would be interesting to research known criminals or inmates around that time to see who could be a person of interest.
Pennysmom1
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May 3, 2023
It remains one of the most enduring mysteries in Missouri: what happened to a young woman named Christene Seal who vanished from her home in the summer of 1972?
With detectives at a loss for answers, no remains ever found, and the only potential sighting a frightening vision of a nude woman fleeing, Chris’s family may be forgiven for wondering if this cold case will ever be cracked.
On June 19th that year, Linn went off to work as usual at 8:00 AM, leaving Christene and little David in bed. However, when he returned to collect a motorcycle with which to round up some animals at 9:45 AM, Linn realised there was something wrong.
David was crying by himself in the kitchen and Christene was nowhere to be found, although her purse and car had been left behind. After a quick phone call to her parents to see if they had heard anything from her, Linn called the police to report her missing.
Christene’s mother Trudy Nickle raced to the trailer with her husband Bruce and told KY3 she had a terrible feeling from the outset.
“I saw when we got there that the child was there. The car was there, her purse was there, and that she wasn’t there. Now there’s something bad wrong,” she added.
Derald Meyer would tell the Springfield News-Leader the following year: “I thought he was just crying because his mother wouldn’t let him come outside.”
However, the most concerning detail came from another man who claimed to have seen something in the aftermath of the disappearance.
According to local paper the Mexico Ledger at the time, the man was passing through the area when he got a flat tyre and stopped outside the church two miles north-west of Verona to change it. While he worked on his car, he heard a door slam and, as he opened the front door of the church to investigate, he saw a nude woman running out of the back door of the church.
The man claimed the woman sprinted away over a ridge before he could get to her and that he didn’t see anyone else there. Although he thought the woman was Christene from the publicity, he couldn’t be sure, the News-Leader reported. The alleged sighting has never been substantiated.
A search party of some 500 people went out to look for Christene and bloodhounds were brought in by local police, but they could only trace her scent as far as her own driveway.
Meanwhile, Trudy and Bruce — Christene’s mother and father — were becoming critical of the way investigators were handling the case, telling the Lawrence County Record they initially wasted time suggesting she might have been a runaway and didn’t take what might have been a crime scene seriously.
“They had a handful of deputies there, smoking on cigarette butts on the ground,” Bruce said. “Any type of crime scene that there was, they contaminated it.”
Weeks turned into months and months turned into years, and leads in the case gradually dried up. Seven years after the disappearance, Christene was legally declared dead and Linn moved away to Georgia, where he eventually remarried.
He told the News-Leader he always believed Christene had been abducted and murdered, adding: “I know there was only one way Chris would have left David and that would be if someone threatened her.”
He acknowledged the family’s displeasure with the original investigators, but added in an interview with the Lawrence County Record: “I think they did the best they could do with what they had to work with. Granted, we wouldn’t handle the situations that way today, but I think it is the best they could do with what they had.”
Lt. Berry has since spent hundreds of hours of his own time poring over Christene’s disappearance, which he said has been especially puzzling for law enforcement due to the lack of any real leads.
However, Sheriff of Lawrence County Brad DeLay insisted the case will never be closed until answers have been gleaned one way or another.
“It is still our hope that someone, somewhere, will have that one clue to help us solve this case and provide justice for Christene. We will continue to follow up on any lead that may come in and will still work to provide closure for all involved,” he added
It remains one of the most enduring mysteries in Missouri: what happened to a young woman named Christene Seal who vanished from her home in the summer of 1972?
With detectives at a loss for answers, no remains ever found, and the only potential sighting a frightening vision of a nude woman fleeing, Chris’s family may be forgiven for wondering if this cold case will ever be cracked.
Without a trace
Christene had trained as a cosmetologist and worked at a beauty shop in Monett in 1972, while her husband Linn laboured on his family’s dairy farm in Verona. Money was fairly tight as the young couple sought to provide for their son David, who was just two years old, and the family lived in a trailer on the farm’s land to make things easier.On June 19th that year, Linn went off to work as usual at 8:00 AM, leaving Christene and little David in bed. However, when he returned to collect a motorcycle with which to round up some animals at 9:45 AM, Linn realised there was something wrong.
David was crying by himself in the kitchen and Christene was nowhere to be found, although her purse and car had been left behind. After a quick phone call to her parents to see if they had heard anything from her, Linn called the police to report her missing.
Christene’s mother Trudy Nickle raced to the trailer with her husband Bruce and told KY3 she had a terrible feeling from the outset.
“I saw when we got there that the child was there. The car was there, her purse was there, and that she wasn’t there. Now there’s something bad wrong,” she added.
Investigation uncovers chilling details
Investigators with Lawrence County soon began to search for the young mother and established that the mailman had called at the Seal house at around 9:30 AM. He had seen little David standing just inside the screen door crying, suggesting Christene was already missing by then.Derald Meyer would tell the Springfield News-Leader the following year: “I thought he was just crying because his mother wouldn’t let him come outside.”
However, the most concerning detail came from another man who claimed to have seen something in the aftermath of the disappearance.
According to local paper the Mexico Ledger at the time, the man was passing through the area when he got a flat tyre and stopped outside the church two miles north-west of Verona to change it. While he worked on his car, he heard a door slam and, as he opened the front door of the church to investigate, he saw a nude woman running out of the back door of the church.
The man claimed the woman sprinted away over a ridge before he could get to her and that he didn’t see anyone else there. Although he thought the woman was Christene from the publicity, he couldn’t be sure, the News-Leader reported. The alleged sighting has never been substantiated.
A search party of some 500 people went out to look for Christene and bloodhounds were brought in by local police, but they could only trace her scent as far as her own driveway.
Meanwhile, Trudy and Bruce — Christene’s mother and father — were becoming critical of the way investigators were handling the case, telling the Lawrence County Record they initially wasted time suggesting she might have been a runaway and didn’t take what might have been a crime scene seriously.
“They had a handful of deputies there, smoking on cigarette butts on the ground,” Bruce said. “Any type of crime scene that there was, they contaminated it.”
Weeks turned into months and months turned into years, and leads in the case gradually dried up. Seven years after the disappearance, Christene was legally declared dead and Linn moved away to Georgia, where he eventually remarried.
He told the News-Leader he always believed Christene had been abducted and murdered, adding: “I know there was only one way Chris would have left David and that would be if someone threatened her.”
Still hoping for answers
The cold case was reopened in 2019 by supervisor of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office’s Detective Division Lt. Chris Berry, who effectively started again with all of the evidence that was left.He acknowledged the family’s displeasure with the original investigators, but added in an interview with the Lawrence County Record: “I think they did the best they could do with what they had to work with. Granted, we wouldn’t handle the situations that way today, but I think it is the best they could do with what they had.”
Lt. Berry has since spent hundreds of hours of his own time poring over Christene’s disappearance, which he said has been especially puzzling for law enforcement due to the lack of any real leads.
However, Sheriff of Lawrence County Brad DeLay insisted the case will never be closed until answers have been gleaned one way or another.
“It is still our hope that someone, somewhere, will have that one clue to help us solve this case and provide justice for Christene. We will continue to follow up on any lead that may come in and will still work to provide closure for all involved,” he added
Pennysmom1
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June 21, 2023
www.koamnewsnow.com
Gone missing 51 years in Southwest Missouri
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Mo. — This week marks 51 years ago a young wife and mother, Christine Nickle Seal, disappeared from her home in Southwest Missouri.
TwinkieDefense
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Feb 14, 2024 article
www.ky3.com
[…]
The case file from Christine Seal’s disappearance went missing. The files contained valuable evidence, and their disappearance was a significant setback in the investigation.
“All that was turned into the sheriff’s office in Lawrence County, and it all disappeared,” Trudy says. “All the records on Chris disappeared. And sometime later, they tried to somehow establish some new records. Now that’s just not right, you know?”
[…]
OZARKS UNSOLVED: 51-year mystery of missing Ozarks mother, Christine Seal, resurfaces as case file discovered
Christine Seal disappeared without a trace 51 years ago, and her case has left her family, friends, and investigators searching for answers ever since.
[…]
The case file from Christine Seal’s disappearance went missing. The files contained valuable evidence, and their disappearance was a significant setback in the investigation.
“All that was turned into the sheriff’s office in Lawrence County, and it all disappeared,” Trudy says. “All the records on Chris disappeared. And sometime later, they tried to somehow establish some new records. Now that’s just not right, you know?”
[…]
Feb 14, 2024 article
OZARKS UNSOLVED: 51-year mystery of missing Ozarks mother, Christine Seal, resurfaces as case file discovered
Christine Seal disappeared without a trace 51 years ago, and her case has left her family, friends, and investigators searching for answers ever since.
[…]
The case file from Christine Seal’s disappearance went missing. The files contained valuable evidence, and their disappearance was a significant setback in the investigation.
“All that was turned into the sheriff’s office in Lawrence County, and it all disappeared,” Trudy says. “All the records on Chris disappeared. And sometime later, they tried to somehow establish some new records. Now that’s just not right, you know?”
[…]
“The case file mentions several people of interest, including a bible salesman, Lee Jennings, who was linked to another murder. Jennings was charged for the murder of a 27-year-old woman and her 18-month daughter in Cook County. He was later ruled out as a suspect after investigators contacted the bible sales company. They found he wouldn’t have been in the area at that time.
Another person of interest was Winston Barnett, the choir instructor from the Seal’s church, who was linked to another missing person. There were also allegations that he and Christine were having an affair.
“[The case file] straight up says she was having an affair with Winston Barnett, and she was not having an affair with Winston Barnett,” Linn says. “It’s very upsetting to degrade her and drag her down that road.”
John/Jane Doe
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imstilla.grandma
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Some of the drawings in the file are disturbing. At 3:52 is a drawing of the trailer home where Christine & her husband lived. It shows the kitchen area with a note that a towel was missing and an empty shell from some gun laying on the counter top. That's too coincidental. It gives the impression someone was shot. Did the police ever do ballistics analysis on the shell?
I'm going to look at more of those notes, too. Its crazy that LE has kept losing the file, recreating it and losing it again. They did find some evidence from the scene - Christine's hair and a handkerchief of hers. Some of this evidence could be tested.
It was nice to see her son and husband, as well as her mom.
Wish we knew why the case files keep disappearing, are re-created, then disappear again. It's like someone local to the town doesn't want the disappearance solved. Christine's husband was from the Cassville area. Her family was from out of town. They were a military family, so her father was transferred often.
The tv news anchors say this part of the feature on Christine's case was recorded 5 years ago, but it wasn't shown due to being "lost" in the computer, then later "recovered". Ok.
JMO, Christine didn't leave on her own. Everything she owned was still there at the trailer - her clothing, personal belongings, etc.
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NanaBooBoo
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I wondered if the shell was found under the counter or on top. Would really be an oversight to be sitting right out like that. I figure it was a .22 since they mention two in the report.
NanaBooBoo
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Personal thoughts and opinions on the Seal case.
I think Linn Seal was having an affair and they may have had a fight on the way home or that night. Linn had toast in the morning, David had toast, and by all accounts there is no evidence to suggest that Christene had anything to eat that morning. Is that because she was already gone?
The Seal's son would have been approx. 2y5m in Feb. of 1974, and 2y9m in June of 1974, at the time of his mothers disappearance. The seals could have used the Aroura Day Care center while they were both at work, as it was the only one in the area.
I found an article that shows Paula Beaver is the director of the Aroura Day Care center in Feb, 1974. The name Paula Beaver also appears in the case file. A women at the scene was allowed to mop the kitchen and fold laundry. A shell was found in the kitchen.
Linn said later that Christene had hoed up the garden the day before, but by the case file they were gone all day and did not get home until after dark. I think the digging mentioned in the file is due to a failed hiding attempt made by Linn.
The earth was harder, rockier, and appeared more disturbed than planned. Not to mention a lot of work. This was abandoned for another hiding spot. I would guess within five miles of their home or Linn's home in Cassville. Someplace he was comfortable and knew fairly well.
Paula got divorced from her husband and Linn was potentially going to get divorced from Christene, but she got pregnant again, he didn't want to have another kid with her or stay on the marriage, and in Missouri you can not get a divorce if the woman is pregnant. Linn probably did not want to share custody or pay child support. It being fathers day could he have given himself full custody of his only son and rid himself of another one he didn't want?
The narrative of the church comes from Linn's own household or anonymous calls, and only after Linn had became the focus of the investigation. I personally feel that is not a coincidence. They were getting close so a distraction was needed.
Linn and Paula were married days after the divorce was final.
I think Linn Seal was having an affair and they may have had a fight on the way home or that night. Linn had toast in the morning, David had toast, and by all accounts there is no evidence to suggest that Christene had anything to eat that morning. Is that because she was already gone?
The Seal's son would have been approx. 2y5m in Feb. of 1974, and 2y9m in June of 1974, at the time of his mothers disappearance. The seals could have used the Aroura Day Care center while they were both at work, as it was the only one in the area.
I found an article that shows Paula Beaver is the director of the Aroura Day Care center in Feb, 1974. The name Paula Beaver also appears in the case file. A women at the scene was allowed to mop the kitchen and fold laundry. A shell was found in the kitchen.
Linn said later that Christene had hoed up the garden the day before, but by the case file they were gone all day and did not get home until after dark. I think the digging mentioned in the file is due to a failed hiding attempt made by Linn.
The earth was harder, rockier, and appeared more disturbed than planned. Not to mention a lot of work. This was abandoned for another hiding spot. I would guess within five miles of their home or Linn's home in Cassville. Someplace he was comfortable and knew fairly well.
Paula got divorced from her husband and Linn was potentially going to get divorced from Christene, but she got pregnant again, he didn't want to have another kid with her or stay on the marriage, and in Missouri you can not get a divorce if the woman is pregnant. Linn probably did not want to share custody or pay child support. It being fathers day could he have given himself full custody of his only son and rid himself of another one he didn't want?
The narrative of the church comes from Linn's own household or anonymous calls, and only after Linn had became the focus of the investigation. I personally feel that is not a coincidence. They were getting close so a distraction was needed.
Linn and Paula were married days after the divorce was final.
iusedtofloat
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OZARKS UNSOLVED: 51-year mystery of missing Ozarks mother, Christine Seal, resurfaces as case file discovered
Christine Seal disappeared without a trace 51 years ago, and her case has left her family, friends, and investigators searching for answers ever since.
1. she'd definitely open her door to a policeman
2. she grew up in a military family and was raised to respect authority
3. the file got "lost" twice
4. the remaining file contains lies about people christene interacted with, people the cops supposedly interviewed and never did, etc. seems like red herrings planted for a wild goose chase
5. a million more reasons but i am tired lol....
another possibility is someone who worked at the farm who knew linn;s schedule and when he would be gone and christene more vulnerable
praying for linn, david, and trudy. linn seems a good man and i do not feel he hurt his wife.
iusedtofloat
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