Found Deceased NJ - Viola Butler, 38, Pleasantville, 1987 or 1989

[Moonwalker9]

Viola A. Butler – The Charley Project
Missing Person Case
Viola A. Butler

• 
• 

Butler, circa 1987

• Missing Since02/18/1987
• Missing FromPleasantville, New Jersey
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Age38 years old
• Height and Weight5'6 - 5'7, 130 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA pink ankle-length coat and her work uniform, consisting of a dark yellow sweater, a yellow shirt and black pants.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsAfrican-American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Butler wears eyeglasses with large frames. Her ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance
Butler was last seen in the casino shuttle bus parking area of the Atlantic City Expressway in Pleasantville, New Jersey on February 18, 1987. She had taken a cab to the parking area and was going to take a shuttle to her job at Bally's Park Place Casino, where she was a parking attendant working the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift.

A witness reported seeing her getting into a mid-sized red sports car with tinted windows. Butler never boarded her shuttle, never arrived at work and has never been heard from again.

Butler lived in the 10 block of west Pleasant Avenue with her husband and family at the time of her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in her case because she was devoted to her youngest child, who was diabetic and insulin-dependent, and always called to check and make sure he'd gotten his medicine.

In 2000, after Butler's house went into foreclosure and was bought by a development company, before it was demolished police checked it with dogs to search for her remains. They found nothing. Her case remains unsolved and is being investigated as a homicide.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

I've searched and found nothing about her. How sad, I hope her children are well.

 

[Viola's Daughter]

This is my mother. I am in tears right now. I can't get any help. The police claim that her case was lost. Thank you for looking into this.

 

[StarrChance]

This is my mother. I am in tears right now. I can't get any help. The police claim that her case was lost. Thank you for looking into this.

So sorry Viola’s Daughter, I can’t imagine your pain in not knowing where or what happened to your mother. Do you have any insights you can share to what you think may have happened to her ?

 

[Moonwalker9]

Viola's daughter, so sad to hear that.

I hope someone will come forward. Somebody must know what happened to your mother. Sadly it feels like the LE didn'tdo their job

In the meantime the thing we can do is to give eveyone a thread on this forum where we try to give some light into their case and remember the person.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

This is my mother. I am in tears right now. I can't get any help. The police claim that her case was lost. Thank you for looking into this.

I am so sorry for your loss. This is such a nightmare for you and the rest of her family.

 

[Moonwalker9]

Hey Viola's daughter,

we may have found your mother deceased, or atleast a woman that looks alot like her. I'm warning you this is a post mortem photo on the link below but since she's your mother you may know if it's her. I sent this possible match to the case handler already so hopefully they will get back to us soon. I hope your family will find peace an justice.


The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[houndpounder]

moonwalker, also try sending a private message to her, perhaps she will get an email notification she/he has a message.

 

[YaYa_521]

Hey Viola's daughter,

we may have found your mother deceased, or atleast a woman that looks alot like her. I'm warning you this is a post mortem photo on the link below but since she's your mother you may know if it's her. I sent this possible match to the case handler already so hopefully they will get back to us soon. I hope your family will find peace an justice.


The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

TY for sending this in, Moon! Hopefully this will bring the help Viola's daughter is desperately needing.

 

[YaYa_521]

This is my mother. I am in tears right now. I can't get any help. The police claim that her case was lost. Thank you for looking into this.

Viola's Daughter, welcome to Websleuths and thank you for posting!

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family right now. Rest assured that there are many WSers who will either be happy to help or get you into contact with the right people who can help you get answers in your mother's case. If you can find it in yourself to do a comparison of the unidentified person Moonwalker referred to in a post above it could be instrumental in finding, dusting off, and moving your mom's case forward. Reach out to Moon or the NamUs representative shown on the "Contact's" tab on the profile. They'll be most helpful in getting you in touch with the correct folks who can possibly get answers for you. Again, I'll be keeping you and yours in my prayers. TY for posting!

 

[YaYa_521]

This is my mother. I am in tears right now. I can't get any help. The police claim that her case was lost. Thank you for looking into this.

BBM

I'd offer to maybe mention to them to check the file boxes from 1989 as well as the year 2000. Given they revived the case then (2000) in order to search the house after it transferred to a new owner, perhaps they filed it away with the 2000 cases. Grant it, I know nothing of LE case filing systems but thought maybe this would be why they can't find the case and think it's lost. Here's a snippet of the info listed in your Mom's profile shown above:

In 2000, after Butler's house went into foreclosure and was bought by a development company, before it was demolished police checked it with dogs to search for her remains. They found nothing. Her case remains unsolved and is being investigated as a homicide.

 

[Moonwalker9]

moonwalker, also try sending a private message to her, perhaps she will get an email notification she/he has a message.

Good idea, I just did now.

 

[houndpounder]

Moonwalker if you message with the daughter you may want to verify when she went missing :
Charley Project states 1987
Namus states 1989
I tend to go with Namus records as opposed to Charley Project. Thanks.

 

[Viola's Daughter]

Hello Moonwalker,

I did receive your message. It took me a while to respond because this is such an emotional process. I looked at the picture and I believe that this is my mother. I am meeting with my sister tonight so that she can look. But I am sure that she will say the same. I am so grateful for all of you who have taken your time look for her. Thank you so much. I don't know what to do next. But I will update you when I know more. Thank you again.

Hey Viola's daughter,

we may have found your mother deceased, or atleast a woman that looks alot like her. I'm warning you this is a post mortem photo on the link below but since she's your mother you may know if it's her. I sent this possible match to the case handler already so hopefully they will get back to us soon. I hope your family will find peace an justice.


The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Moonwalker9]

Hello Viola's Daughter,

Good you saw my message.

I did send the "match" to case handler on namus but she didn't reply. I think you should contact LE

• Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office 609-909-7800

It's crazy she was missing for 30 years and she was found the same day she went missing and nobody put 1+1 together. I hope we get some more answers, hopefully they can catch whoever did this to her. Please keep us updated.

We will help you if you need anything.

Regards
Moon

 

[Viola's Daughter]

It is crazy. I was focusing on NJ. I didn't think about NY. Someone moved her. I spoke to Nameus about submitting my DNA. And I talk to a detective for missing persons in NY. I will update you when they contact me.

Thanks again.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Hey Viola's daughter,

we may have found your mother deceased, or atleast a woman that looks alot like her. I'm warning you this is a post mortem photo on the link below but since she's your mother you may know if it's her. I sent this possible match to the case handler already so hopefully they will get back to us soon. I hope your family will find peace an justice.


The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

There is a thread regarding UP9629 here:

NY - New York, New York Blk Fem 20-35 UP9629 found strangled on street feb 1989

 

[Viola's Daughter]

There is a thread regarding UP9629 here:

NY - New York, New York Blk Fem 20-35 UP9629 found strangled on street feb 1989

Thank you.

 

[Viola's Daughter]

Hello Viola's Daughter,

Good you saw my message.

I did send the "match" to case handler on namus but she didn't reply. I think you should contact LE

• Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office 609-909-7800

It's crazy she was missing for 30 years and she was found the same day she went missing and nobody put 1+1 together. I hope we get some more answers, hopefully they can catch whoever did this to her. Please keep us updated.

We will help you if you need anything.

Regards
Moon

Hello all,
Last week I spoke to the NYC coroner and she confirmed that the women on the Namus website is my mother. We have wondered for 30 years what happened to her. All we know so far is that she was taken from her job in Atlantic City and was left strangled in Harlem, NY. My family and I are hurt and confused. We may never know all of what she went through but we can now put her to rest. Thank you so much. We would have continued to suffer and wonder if it was not for your help. My family and I are forever grateful to you all.
Bless you and thank you.

 

[RememberingRyan]

Thank you for sharing your updates with us. We are so sorry for your family’s devastating loss and your years of waiting for this news. You deserved this closure so long ago.