No Clues To Go On, No Trail To Follow: Massachusetts' Most Baffling Cold Case

LINCOLN, MA – Joan Risch disappeared 55 years ago today. The clues known to the public remain the same: Bloody fingerprints, a telephone ripped out of the wall, and a telling library card. And while the case remains open, it seems that authorities are no closer to solving Lincoln's most baffling mystery.

On Oct. 24, 1961, between 2 and 4 p.m. and in broad daylight, Risch – an "attractive 31 year old wife and mother" according to an issue of the Fence Viewer from the time – disappeared from her home on Old Bedford Road in Lincoln. Her young son was asleep upstairs, her daughter was playing across the street, and her husband was in New York on a business trip. More than 1,000 law enforcement agents were working on the case soon after, analyzing fingerprints, dental records, and – thanks to the research of a local reporter – Risch's library card.

In the days after her disappearance, authorities, headquartered at the Middlesex District Attorney's office in Cambridge according to an Oct. 28, 1961 article in the Boston Globe, investigated the theory that Risch was kidnapped and murdered. There was blood, of Risch's type, on the walls and floor of the kitchen, and it didn't seem that Risch has fled because she took nothing with her. Fingerprints were found on the telephone receiver and on the kitchen wall, but they were not Risch's and were never identified.

In February of 1963, the DA's office got its "biggest break to date," according to a Boston Globe article from the time. Sareen Gerson, the Lincoln editor of the Fence Viewer, investigated Risch's reading habits by compiling the books taken from the library under the Risch family library card. The card showed Risch checked out books that detailed a wife's disappearance, a man running away to escape his problems, and a story about a woman who "flees her home to start life anew," according to the Globe article.

Risch reportedly worked in publishing before she met her husband. Police sent fliers to libraries and bookstores across the East Coast with the theory that Risch either couldn't resist her love of books, or would seek work at a bookstore.

"If she is still alive – and neither police nor her husband have ever given up hope that she is – then she must still love books." – The Boston Globe, Feb. 21, 1963

One theory on Risch's disappearance came from a British author, whose book "Put Out That Star," U.S. title "Into Thin Air," was among those checked out by Risch. Risch's disappearance mirrored the book, according to a Globe article, leading some to believe she used it as a map to guide her disappearance. Leopold Ognall, pen name Harry Carmichael, told the Globe in 1964 that he suspected Joan Risch was alive, living somewhere between Boston and New York.

The case is still open under the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, and the Lincoln Police department is still accepting tips.

Photos courtesy of the Charley Project