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Dagelijks verdwijnen er mensen zonder ooit nog gevonden te worden. In deze boeken reeks wil ik de verhalen aan het licht brengen. Mijn verhalen zijn in het Engels, mocht er iets niet duidelijk zijn, kan je mij altijd...
She was born on May 12th, 1930 as Joan Carolyn Bard in Brooklyn New York. She had a traumatic childhood. When she was nine years old her family moved to New Jersey. Where in 1940 she became an orphan, both of her parents died in a suspicious house fire. It is also reported that Joan told a friend she had been sexually abused as a child, by a family member. If these claims are true is unknown. After the fire, she went to live with her aunt and uncle who formally adopted her. She then changed her last name in Nattrass.
She graduated in 1952 from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania with a degree in English literature. She worked in publishing, and in 1956 she married an executive at one the companies she worked with, Martin Risch. She left her career to start a family with Martin. They had two children, Lilian and David.
Joan was known as a loving and devoted mother to her children, with no enemies.
A woman who started with a difficult childhood, but grow up stable. Until the day she disappeared. Let me take you to October 24th, 1961, the last day Joan Risch is seen. The day starts normally on for Joan, but as the day is passing by it becomes a series of events that leaves investigators clueless of the past 50 years.
At 6:50 a.m. Martin Risch leaves their house in Boston for an 8 a.m. business flight to New York. At 7 a.m. till 10:15 a.m. Joan cooks breakfast for the children and takes her son David over to the neighbour Barbara Barker, while she and her 4-year-old daughter Lilian go to the dentist. Joan makes a follow-up appointment for the 31st of that month. But unfortunately never shows up to the appointment...
Joan then goes into town and buys a gift for Martin, cashed a check and did some grocery shopping. She returned home at 11 a.m. she takes Lilian to the neighbour's home to play with their son Douglas. And then picks David up and puts him in his crib for a nap.
This is where the events take a strange turn.
At 1:55 p.m. Joan walk down the driveway with both Douglas and Lilian and walks them over to the Barkers home and she drops them off without noting Barbara, she tells Lilian that she'll be back before heading back to her home, alone.
About 20 minutes later Barbara sees a glimpse of Joan running from her driveway to the garage while carrying something red in her arms. The large trees blocked Barbara's view further. After 2 p.m. the rest of Joan's day becomes a speculation based on evidence and eyewitness testimonies. Around 2:45 p.m. a witness spots a woman matching Joan's description wandering aimlessly along the side of the road looking messy. The witness also noted a two-toned grey and blue Sedan parked along the road. At 3:20 p.m. a neighbour's daughter sees a dirty two-toned grey and blue Sedan parked in the Rich's driveway while she was walking home from school. Another neighbour saw the same vehicle in the driveway, five days earlier.
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At 3:40 p.m. Barbara walks Lilian back home because she saw Joan's car in the driveway, but no other vehicle. Assuming Joan is home, Barbara goes into town to do some grocery shopping and leaves Lilian alone. Later that day at around 4:25 p.m. various witnesses drive along the road and spotting a woman again matching Joan's description, walking close to a road construction zone. The woman seems disoriented walking with her head down. She appeared to be cradling something against her abdomen, and there was blood running down the back and front of both of her legs. Despite this, no one stopped to check on her. After this, no one saw her.
