“Mommy is gone and the kitchen is covered in red paint,” four-year-old Lillian Risch tells her neighbor. This starts the search for 31 year old, Joan Risch of Lincoln, Massachusetts on October 14,1961. Despite many bizarre sightings around the time she went missing, we’re none the wiser to what happened to Mrs. Risch 57 years ago.

Who was Joan Risch?

Life started out tragically for Joan Risch, born Joan Carolyn Bard, in 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of nine, her family moved to New Jersey, and shortly after tragedy struck. One day while Joan was in school, her family’s home caught on fire and sadly her parents didn’t survive. She was sent to live with an aunt and uncle whom she barely knew. She found it difficult to adjust, but still managed to do well in school and go on to get an English literature degree from Wilson College in Pennsylvania. After graduating, Joan worked in publishing, first as a secretary, then worked her way up to editorial assistant. In 1956 Joan married Martin Risch and eventually left her job to stay home with their two children, David and Lillian. In April 1961, the Risch family moved to Lincoln, Massachusetts. Later that same year Joan would disappear.

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