Lillian Richey seemingly vanished into thin air in the early morning hours of February 9, 1964. There were very few clues left behind and the man who she was last known to be with was cleared as a suspect by police after extensive questioning. Though the case has been cold for many of the years that have since passed, there have been searches for Lillian as recently as 2018.
Lillian Richey was a 51-year-old widow who had been living alone since the death of her husband, James Lavelle Richey. Mr. Richey died two years before on April 26, 1962 while traveling to California. The couple had two grown sons, William Eugene (Gene) Richey and Dr. James Richey.
The mystery begins on the night of February 8, 1964 when Lillian went out for dinner and drinks at the Ranch Club in Garden City, Idaho with an old friend who was in town from California. This man has never been publicly identified, but it seems that he was visiting for a cattle convention that was taking place in Boise.
The pair agreed that the man would use Lillian’s car to drive her to her home on the 300 block of Sherman Avenue in Nampa, Idaho. The man would then drive her car back to his hotel in Boise with the expectation that he would return the car the next morning with a friend who would drive him back. Lillian offered to take the two men out to breakfast the next morning when they came to drop off the car.
A neighbor of Lillian’s confirmed that they saw lights come on in Lillian’s kitchen window after she was dropped off by the man between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. Lillian lived alone, so it was assumed that it was she who was in the house.
The next morning the man returned to drop of Lillian’s car. His friend followed in his own car. They found that the garage door was left open, so the car was parked there. They then went up to the front door and knocked to see if Lillian was ready to go out for breakfast. When no one answered the door, the men found that it was unlocked and went inside to call out for Lillian. When they still received no answer it was clear to them that she wasn’t home. The man left her a note explaining that he and his friend would go to Harmony Café for breakfast and then go to visit a friend, John Yoder, afterwards.
Suspicion wasn’t raised until the next day when Lillian didn’t show up for her noon work shift at Bullock’s Jewelry store. Her coworkers grew concerned after not being able to reach her by phone and reported her missing at 4 p.m.
When police searched Lillian’s house, they found the evening wrap that she had worn to the club hanging in her closet, but the dress she had worn was missing. A few other items that were also missing included a small black evening purse, a green and brown plaid dress, a white coat, another black purse that was larger than the first, and a book called A Man Named Peter. There didn’t appear to be anything else that was taken, not even toiletries. There was no sign of a struggle, as nothing was out of place. The only other thing of interest that was found in the house was plane tickets Lillian had bought to visit her son, James, in Moscow, Idaho. She had previously requested February 12th through the 18th off from work to make this trip.
Police collected fingerprints and some items from the home that were sent off for analysis by the FBI. Unfortunately, no evidence came back from these items that could help identify a person of interest.
The two men who were at Lillian’s house the morning of February 9th were thoroughly questioned by police and gave the authorities their full cooperation. They were cleared as suspects in Lillian’s disappearance.
In 1967 Lillian’s son, Gene, had her declared legally dead. Today, Lillian would be 109 years old. Both of her sons have passed away. James in 2020 and Gene in 2021. Though her remaining family knows that she is no longer alive, whether due to foul play that took place in 1964 or from old age, they still need closure. They want to know what happened to her and would like to locate her remains so that she can be placed to rest.
At the time of Lillian’s disappearance, there was a construction site a few blocks from her home. Throughout the years there were theories that she may have been buried at this constructions site. This location is now the Nampa school district office. In 2018 the property was searched using cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar. After getting indications from both the dogs and radar that a body may be present underground, an excavation of the site was performed. Ultimately, nothing was ever found at this location.
With so few clues and the time that has passed since her disappearance, it is unlikely that we will ever know what happened to her. There is no evidence that she was suicidal or would have run away. I personally feel like the most likely reason for her disappearance has to do with one or both of the men that she was supposed to have breakfast with that morning. Sure, they were cooperative with the police, but who’s to say they were being truthful with their version of events. I’d be less suspicious of them if there were lie detector tests done and they had proven alibies for that whole night after she was dropped off at her home. Those two men are likely no longer alive, so if they did know anything more about Lillian’s disappearance they took it to the grave with them.
Lillian Richey was 51 years old at the time she went missing on February 9, 1964 from her home on Sherman Avenue in Nampa, Idaho. Her date of birth is March 30, 1912. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 118 pounds. She was possibly wearing a black cocktail dress at the time of her disappearance. She had a scar on her abdomen and a scar on her neck. She may have used her maiden name, Wohlander.
The investigating agency is the Nampa Police Department and their phone number is 208-465-2257.
Idaho 6 News has a recent video interviewing detectives on the case and Lillian’s family.
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