Barbara Newhall Follett | Hacker News Reader

Barbara Newhall Follett

en.wikipedia.org

60 pointsbhickey14 comments

https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/celebrity/vanishing-act

Really good article from the references.

Thx, that is so much better a link than the Wikipedia entry!

The article links to the list of people of who disappeared pre-1970. That list is spooky as heck in some regards.

A lot of those folks were probably murdered but there's some interesting other cases of people just disappearing into nowhere. That was definitely a lot easier in a pre-Internet 24/7 connected world.

I think the ability to start completely over again is one of the saddest losses of the modern world.

It was also a lot easier to get away with murdering a family member in a pre- DNA-sequencing world.

Please explain. Would DNA- sequencing tech had helped Follett's case? How?

Probably not in that case -- though I did not make it clear, I was comenting on the last paragraph of meddlepal's comment.

I'd put good money on her being murdered by her husband.

December was the 80th anniversary of her disappearance. It's the only unresolved missing persons case I'm aware of in my neighborhood.

Assuming she did die in December of 1939, the Muddy River seems to be a likely place to find a body. It's just to the south of her home. The river is dotted with a series of ponds: Jamaica Pond, Wards Pond, Willow Pond and Leverett Pond. The largest, Jamaica Pond, is just over 50 feet deep. Of course, in December of 1939 they were probably frozen over.

yeah, waiting 2 weeks to report it is just way too suspect. Even if he is innocent he wasn't too bothered.

slight addendum, a potentially unfaithful husband would not be the most pressed to call for help after a dispute-walkout.

An interesting part is that in her mother’s letter, she says that even if her daughter had lost her mind/faculties that she’d end up in some ‘institution’. While I’m sure those places were no picnic, I fear today a person experiencing a break from reality with no support would just be on the streets. Seems like society has regressed on that point.

Depends on the country.

Very true

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