PA PA - Ada Jane Groomes, 54, Scottdale, 7 Oct 1988

chaddylex

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/590dfpa.html

This lady is from my hometown... I was in Jr high when she went missing. Her estranged husband was my bus driver (he owned the bus company).. this has haunted me for a long time! Hope she will be found soon!


Ada Jane Groomes
Missing since October 7, 1988 from Scottdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Classification: Endangered Missing


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: April 8, 1934
Age at Time of Disappearance: 54 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7"; 150 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair. Glasses.
Clothing: Blue jeans. Peach colored jacket, size 8.
Jewelry: Ada usually wore a pearl ring on the left ring finger.
Scars: Tubal ligation scar on abdomen.
Dental: Available


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Circumstances of Disappearance
On the morning when Groomes was last seen, she drove to work at Groomes Transit Co. along Route 819 in East Huntington Township, a company she co-owned and operated with her estranged husband.
She had been separated from him for more than 2 years after 34 years of marriage. She had claimed her husband was physically abusive and she had obtained protection from abuse orders in both Pennsylvania and Maryland.

After arriving at work on October 7, 1988, Ada Jane Groomes asked to have her vehicle inspected by one of the mechanics. According to an unidentified witness, there was some type of an argument over the inspection at 10:30 a.m. that morning.
However, the vehicle was inspected, driven away and found parked on a side street near her home. She was never seen again. Her husband was reportedly the last person to see her. He told authorities that he last saw her between 11 a.m. and noon on October 7, 1988.


A 30-foot-long motor home which was owned by the couple was discovered missing around the same time Mrs. Groomes disappeared. The husband told police that he believed his wife had driven the mobile home west and joined a cult.
In 1989, the vehicle was recovered in Tampa, Florida. There were no sign of Ada Grooms.
Foul play is suspected.
Groomes was declared legally dead in October 1996.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police, Troop A
Trooper Brian Zimmerman
Greensburg C.I.A. Unit
724-832-3288

Agency Case Number: A1-559330
 
I found some archived articles chaddylex:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=6671,5753784&dq=ada-jane-groomes&hl=en
1988

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=2424,1388207&dq=ada-jane-groomes&hl=en
1996

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/scottdale/s_249031.html
2004

Meanwhile, state police still list the case as unsolved. Investigators previously said Donald Groomes was at one time a "primary suspect" in his wife's disappearance, but no arrests have been made.
More at link. A long drawn out court fight over her assets.

http://www.westbar.org/pdf/xiv04.pdf
page 7 and 8 an article written by a Judge. Very interesting details about this missing woman's case outlined there.
 
I found some archived articles chaddylex:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=6671,5753784&dq=ada-jane-groomes&hl=en
1988

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=2424,1388207&dq=ada-jane-groomes&hl=en
1996

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/scottdale/s_249031.html
2004

More at link. A long drawn out court fight over her assets.

http://www.westbar.org/pdf/xiv04.pdf
page 7 and 8 an article written by a Judge. Very interesting details about this missing woman's case outlined there.

Everyone around here believes that her estranged husband had something to do with her disappearance. I guess he asked one of the other bus drivers to find him a barrel around the time of her disapperance. (not the one who drove the motor home to Florida) So talk around her is that Ada's body was placed in a barrel and in a body of water...
 
Bump

Next month will mark 22 years that Ada has been missing. Come home soon.
 
Ada has been missing for 27 years now. Her estranged husband died in 2011 and investigators said this case will remain open despite his death.

Ex-husband's death won't close missing Westmoreland woman's case - November 2011

State police won't close the books on the unsolved disappearance and presumed murder of a Westmoreland County woman 23 years ago, even though the chief suspect -- her former husband -- died on Saturday.

Donald A. Groomes, 78, former owner of Groomes Transit Co. in East Huntingdon, died in his Connellsville home surrounded by relatives, including his second wife, Janie, according to family members.

Groomes, who had owned the well-known bus company for 33 years, had been dogged for years over the mysterious disappearance of his first wife, Ada Jane Groomes, 54, of Scottdale on Oct. 7, 1988.

"He definitely was a person of interest in that case," said Trooper Steve Limani, spokesman at the Greensburg barracks. "It remains an ongoing homicide investigation that has not been solved. Until we know who did it, it will remain open."

AGroomes.jpg
 
Warning!!! There are a couple of postmortems on this link.. but I just happen to think the woman had a resemblance to Ada.
Unidentified Person Case

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP7319 Female, White / Caucasian
Date Found January 30, 1994
Location Found Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Estimated Age Range60-75 Years


SexFemale
Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian

Estimated Age Range (Years)60-75
Estimated Year of Death 1994

Height 5' 5"(65 inches) , Measured
Weight 135 lbs, Measured

Hair Color Gray or Partially Gray

Left Eye Color Blue
Right Eye Color Blue
Eye Description blue/gray eyes



Street Address 4114 Lancaster Ave Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
County Philadelphia County

Circumstances of Recovery: Decedent found inside of abandoned building at 4114 Lancaster Ave in West Philadelphia. She was wearing multiple layers of clothing. Residents of the neighborhood know the decedent by sight only. They state she was possibly mentally ill and/or an alcoholic, she would walk up and down the street with bottle in hand talking to herself.
 
Warning!!! There are a couple of postmortems on this link.. but I just happen to think the woman had a resemblance to Ada.
Unidentified Person Case

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP7319 Female, White / Caucasian
Date Found January 30, 1994
Location Found Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Estimated Age Range60-75 Years


SexFemale
Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian

Estimated Age Range (Years)60-75
Estimated Year of Death 1994

Height 5' 5"(65 inches) , Measured
Weight 135 lbs, Measured

Hair Color Gray or Partially Gray

Left Eye Color Blue
Right Eye Color Blue
Eye Description blue/gray eyes



Street Address 4114 Lancaster Ave Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
County Philadelphia County

Circumstances of Recovery: Decedent found inside of abandoned building at 4114 Lancaster Ave in West Philadelphia. She was wearing multiple layers of clothing. Residents of the neighborhood know the decedent by sight only. They state she was possibly mentally ill and/or an alcoholic, she would walk up and down the street with bottle in hand talking to herself.

Ada had a tubal ligation scar. Philly ME's flyer for the unidentified lady says Scars: none observed and pre-NamUs 2.0 says no other distinctive body features.

Additionally, I'd lay money (if I had any) that the chief suspect, person of interest, now-deceased ex-husband killed Ada.
 
Warning!!! There are a couple of postmortems on this link.. but I just happen to think the woman had a resemblance to Ada.
Unidentified Person Case

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP7319 Female, White / Caucasian
Date Found January 30, 1994
Location Found Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Estimated Age Range60-75 Years


SexFemale
Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian

Estimated Age Range (Years)60-75
Estimated Year of Death 1994

Height 5' 5"(65 inches) , Measured
Weight 135 lbs, Measured

Hair Color Gray or Partially Gray

Left Eye Color Blue
Right Eye Color Blue
Eye Description blue/gray eyes



Street Address 4114 Lancaster Ave Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
County Philadelphia County

Circumstances of Recovery: Decedent found inside of abandoned building at 4114 Lancaster Ave in West Philadelphia. She was wearing multiple layers of clothing. Residents of the neighborhood know the decedent by sight only. They state she was possibly mentally ill and/or an alcoholic, she would walk up and down the street with bottle in hand talking to herself.
Ada had a tubal ligation scar. Philly ME's flyer for the unidentified lady says Scars: none observed and pre-NamUs 2.0 says no other distinctive body features.

Additionally, I'd lay money (if I had any) that the chief suspect, person of interest, now-deceased ex-husband killed Ada.



I don't believe this is Ada. It is rumored she was killed around the time she went missing in 1988. So many rumors that have went around about her disappearance - it's hard to know what to believe.
 
I don't believe this is Ada. It is rumored she was killed around the time she went missing in 1988. So many rumors that have went around about her disappearance - it's hard to know what to believe.
Yeah it's prob not.. just thought it had similarities . Her story is just so sad. Sad that still nobody knows where she ended up.
 
The Doe Network: Case File 590DFPA

This lady is from my hometown... I was in Jr high when she went missing. Her estranged husband was my bus driver (he owned the bus company).. this has haunted me for a long time! Hope she will be found soon!


Ada Jane Groomes
Missing since October 7, 1988 from Scottdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Classification: Endangered Missing


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: April 8, 1934
Age at Time of Disappearance: 54 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7"; 150 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair. Glasses.
Clothing: Blue jeans. Peach colored jacket, size 8.
Jewelry: Ada usually wore a pearl ring on the left ring finger.
Scars: Tubal ligation scar on abdomen.
Dental: Available


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Circumstances of Disappearance
On the morning when Groomes was last seen, she drove to work at Groomes Transit Co. along Route 819 in East Huntington Township, a company she co-owned and operated with her estranged husband.
She had been separated from him for more than 2 years after 34 years of marriage. She had claimed her husband was physically abusive and she had obtained protection from abuse orders in both Pennsylvania and Maryland.

After arriving at work on October 7, 1988, Ada Jane Groomes asked to have her vehicle inspected by one of the mechanics. According to an unidentified witness, there was some type of an argument over the inspection at 10:30 a.m. that morning.
However, the vehicle was inspected, driven away and found parked on a side street near her home. She was never seen again. Her husband was reportedly the last person to see her. He told authorities that he last saw her between 11 a.m. and noon on October 7, 1988.


A 30-foot-long motor home which was owned by the couple was discovered missing around the same time Mrs. Groomes disappeared. The husband told police that he believed his wife had driven the mobile home west and joined a cult.
In 1989, the vehicle was recovered in Tampa, Florida. There were no sign of Ada Grooms.
Foul play is suspected.
Groomes was declared legally dead in October 1996.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Pennsylvania State Police, Troop A
Trooper Brian Zimmerman
Greensburg C.I.A. Unit
724-832-3288

Agency Case Number: A1-559330
I wonder if they found any clues at all in the Motor Home.
 
I wonder if they found any clues at all in the Motor Home.
From what I remember they did but nothing to lead that she was dead, it's all been speculation along with the fact that a guy that worked for her ex husband drove the motor home to Florida to try and hide it. I was young when this all happened.
 
From what I remember they did but nothing to lead that she was dead, it's all been speculation along with the fact that a guy that worked for her ex husband drove the motor home to Florida to try and hide it. I was young when this all happened.

The motor home was kept near a construction site in VA for a couple/few months, then driven to Tampa, FL.

Both pics from the same article - Pgh Press 10/7/89
7 Oct 1989, Page 11 - The Pittsburgh Press at Newspapers.com
 

Attachments

  • Groomes, Ada article 1.JPG
    Groomes, Ada article 1.JPG
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  • Groomes, Ada article 2.JPG
    Groomes, Ada article 2.JPG
    59.1 KB · Views: 6
I guess they must of cleaned it out if they found nothing. So sad wonder if they drove with her in it and dumped her along the way from Va to Tampa

Or buried at the construction site.
 
1665167160340.png
Oct 7 2022 rbbm.
''Pennsylvania State Police is offering a $5,000 reward for information on a cold case involving a woman who went missing over 30 years ago in Westmoreland County.

Ada Jane Groomes was last seen on Oct. 7, 1988 at Groomes Transit Company in East Huntingdon Township. She and her husband owned a school bus transportation company at the time of her disappearance.

Groomes was 54 years old when she went missing, and was last seen wearing blue jeans and possibly a peach-colored jacket.

Anyone with information is asked to anonymously contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers Toll Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online HERE.''
 

A little justice for Ada

 

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