079 - The Disappearance of Laureen Rahn - Trace Evidence

[@tracievendetta1908]

If my child was missing, no matter how annoying the calls may have been, I would never change my number or move out of state!

[@lisakaye3919]

yes me too i just didn’t get that part. maybe she could have escaped from her kidnappers and called home. very disturbing

[@francinestone]

That’s exactly what I was thinking!

[@andreaturnquist4855]

Thinking the same

[@TheRoadhammer379]

@@nancyhoijer8944, go away Internet sleuth.

[@vandeolkon]

That’s the first thing I said too…

[@Douglas_Hamilton]

I appreciate the respectful tone you always keep as well as the extensive backgrounds of the missing people.

[@Messier45_Pleiades]

Laureen was a child, not a woman nor even a young woman. She was a child legally and emotionally. Having "men come and go" in your life raises the danger level for any children involved.

[@sarahisstellina]

so true

[@thesnare100]

my mom colloquially called me a young adult at that age. Legally no I wasn't, but.....I was honored to be called it :)

[@helenaroman1543]

Exactly. We were called "young adults" at that age. It was a different time. "Young women." It wasn't all that out of the ordinary for a girl to wed at 16, 17, 18 back in the 50's and 60's. So in the 70's and 80's they still called us "young women." I had a friend on "the women's volleyball team" and another friend on "the women's track team." A few friends married as teens, finished school at night. I remember being shocked at how "normal" people thought it was. But I'll tell you what - when I was a "young woman entering a college course" at age 15, I sure felt like a little kid! I still felt like a "kid" even after I had my daughter at age 20! By the 2000's my daughter was in "girl's twirling baton team" and I was secretly glad they called them girls instead of women.

[@kiki1573]

Oooohhhhh YESS! Thank you for making one on Laureen Rahn. This case is so obscure it's not alot of information on this. That's the ONLY picture that's available on her. No pictures of her mother and no information about her female friend either. You launched an 1hr+ long peice too..... *I gotta hear this🍿*

[@justme8837]

I am so thankful that nothing ever happened to myself, sister and friend. We are Laureens age and used to lie to our parents and go places that could easily have gotten us into trouble. It is so sad that this happens/happened, my sympathies to her family.

[@CharlieB.-]

@CiaoBella exactly! Looking back now I really did some dumb stuff way back then. Thankful I'm still here

[@traceybrani820]

I have thought the same thing so many times. my friends and I used to hitchhike and all kinds of stuff. so grateful when I hear some of these stories.

[@spleengrrrl]

@Charlie Hunt It's very dangerous, sadly. I have a friend whose parents operated a convenience store at night and would leave her and her sister alone. One day a man came in and raped them. This would have been 1986.

[@elvis3555]

I am almost 40 and my friend and I did the same thing.We really put ourselves in some extremely dangerous situations and thank God above that nothing ever happened to us.

[@elvis3555]

@@spleengrrrl that is devastating and awful.

[@fifijabs2710]

Im thrilled you have covered this case. This is one if the stories that got me interested in true crime and I often think about what happened to Laureen. Sadly, I think she most likely has passed away or was sold into trafficking. Keep up the great work. Love from a fan in the U.K.

[@marissavallejo2987]

A girl disappears then a doctor who supposedly ran a home for troubled girls comes on the radar. Fast forward to recent time and a bunch of remains are found around the beaches of Long Island. One of the missing gets the attention of a doctor who calls the missing girl’s mother and tells her he runs a home for wayward girls. Just weird.

[@jessyjulie5506]

That is so weird and creepy!

[@pattystone4157]

Do you realize how many crooked drs there are? How many nurses and docs and police and ems are into shady stuff. In every facet of society where a child can encounter an adult there is likely one around with bad intentions. When your prey is a child you get jobs where you have access to your prey. Nothing new or weird about reality. It’s just that now people are starting to see what is really going on before their eyes,. That shock you feel is you waking up to reality.

[@marissavallejo2987]

@GAME SMASHERS no I don’t think it’s related…but it reminded me of the Long Island serial killer case because of the doctor that put himself in the middle of that investigation. The disappearance of a missing young woman last seen there is what brought attention to that case because of many other remains that were found when police began looking for that missing woman.

[@barbarahimes1041]

As upsetting as the phone calls may have been I would never have changed my phone number. What if it was her daughter calling? How heartbreaking if she tried to call and couldn’t get through. Such a sad story.

[@djb6496]

If she was in danger, why not call 911?

[@Bigwave2003]

@@djb6496 No 911 system in 1980 in California.

[@djb6496]

@@Bigwave2003 Thank you for informing me. I did not know this as I was certain CA had this in place at that time, but it looks like 911 services started in CA in mid 1981.

[@jokin5331]

@@djb6496 was it common knowledge at that time though?

[@Preservestlandry]

On the other hand, at the time as a young girl, I knew my mom's number, dad's work, grandparents' numbers, aunts, neighbors. We didn't keep numbers on our phones. I don't think she'd have trouble calling another number if she couldn't call her mom.

[@Brandon-rq3ys]

Oddly enough, I spent the first 14 years of my life in Allenstown, NH. I literally lived less than 2 miles from Bear Brook State Park in a neighborhood called Bear Brook Villa. When I was in Jr High School I moved with my father to Manchester NH only a couple streets over from where Laureen had lived. I had friends who lived in Bear Brook Gardens, which was right next to where the girls in the barrels were found. We've always wondered if we walked right by them without knowing. Since we played in those woods quite a bit. I've also wondered if we knew the girls and/or their killer. Very creepy. As for Laureen, it was never talked about much at all when I was there. I lived there from around 1999-2005ish. The few times i ever heard it discussed she was referred to as the girl who ran away to California. However, most people that i knew who knew of the case believed that her friends had something to do with her disappearance and that whatever happened to her happened right there in her apartment that night and that she most likely died that night. After all the research i did in recent years, i tend to agree. Something about that male friend just doesn't sit right with me. And how the girl slept in Lareens bed. Apparently that was odd because this girl slept over often and had ALWAYS slept on the couch. Also, according to Judith (the mother), Laureen would have never let anyone else sleep in her bed like that. But according to this girl, Laureen had insisted and was being nice. I don't buy it. I believe the male friend and the girl were in on it and they came up with the story together. Hence the stories being the same. And that her sleeping in Lareens bed was a ploy to possibly buy him some time to dispose of Laureens body properly. I also believe they tampered with the hallway bulbs to be able to take the body downstairs without being seen. Look at it this way- no matter who it was or what it was- kidnapping, murder, whatever, whoever did this would have had to have intimate knowledge of who would be there, where the mother went and when she would be back. Basically, someone close to the family. The friends were the last ones to see her. She left everything there from her purse to her shoes. Not to mention the male friend commits suicide 5 years later? Definitely a tragic thing, but i dont believe in coincidences like that.

[@TNcatlover33]

Aaron S. I concur

[@tlrlml]

It has a ring of plausibility to it... but, I am not going to discount a possible Judith/Boyfriend angle either... There is a certain feel to her own mother not being more proactive about open doors and allowing herself enough time to get things in order before calling the police.

[@joshuaary3191]

there's a part of me that believes that but, the one thing that is keeping me from believing it. The strange calls not just the one charged to the mothers account but, the one to the childhood friend, the ones that were made to her mother that no one ever spoke on. That makes me belive she either ran away with her friends help or was abducted and maybe the male friend seen her getting abducted and could've helped but, froze and regreted it until the guilt was too much too bear that he committed suicide.

[@Aaron_Scissorhands]

,

[@angiee4422]

Excellent points. As far as the reply about the mother not calling the police right away...I suspect she had some idea alcohol and minors were going to look bad to the police

[@kyfy24]

So I literally live five minutes from all the places you've mentioned. Some of those streets are pretty seedy, or at least parts of them. Great video. Lived in NH my entire life and I've never heard of this case. Great video and well researched. Also...NH weather being bipolar nails it.

[@JLRhoades04]

I always find it strange when 18+ year olds hang around young kids. When she went to lie on the couch I immediately thought it was a cover to sneak out later to meet with the guy. Disappearances like these make me feel so much for the families.

[@ChicagoScorpion]

For all we know Laureen and her male friend were probably engaging in sexual activity in the living room which would be part of the reason why he didn't want to be caught by her Mom (along with just drinking with underage kids) but he left that part of the story out for obvious reasons due to statutory rape. It could be also at least part of the reason why he committed suicide years later.

[@nickbriwamsley1608]

Hooray!!!!! I've been stalking this channel in hopes that a new long episode would appear. Thanks, Steven, for your hard work, diligence in reporting, and most especially your compassionate and respectful approach. When I find a new job I will be contributing to your work asap!

[@DOFTarot]

Same! This channel is my addiction and goddamn it I need to feed it!

[@amymurphy8000]

Fantastic job (as usual)! This case is sadly so mystifying and one of my favorites. I really like how you always offer possible theories as to what happens to these people. Your theories are intelligent, thoughtful, and realistic.

[@katerryjackson749]

This male "friend" who killed himself, clearly knows a lot more than what he gave investigators

[@redpillfreedom6692]

No way of knowing that since we know very little about him aside that he was a friend of hers.

[@HotttSpace]

Knew

[@TheRoadhammer379]

Clearly you're a professional amateur internet sleuth, 😂

[@whitedragoness23]

Not necessarily, he could of had guilt from the party. Or he could of just had problems and depression or drug issues.

[@eliza4746]

It sounds like the mother got around and brought these guys around her child, which is not a good idea IMO. Maybe one of them was a pervert and kidnapped this kid after the mother broke up with him.

[@DOFTarot]

I had that thought too. And it isn't said why these men were kicked out of her life exactly but some probably were found by Judith to be unsavory individuals...we may never know.

[@thebrocialist8300]

Eliza My thoughts exactly.

[@MissLibra-ce8qe]

I thought exactly the same. The mother goes on dates with different men and Noreen sometimes accompanied her mother on these dates. It is very possible that one of the men her mother met with was more interested in Noreen than her mother.

[@andreaturnquist4855]

Yes!! Set up for victimization

[@andreaturnquist4855]

@nvsbl2 Yes! I can't imagine

[@AK-ky5dh]

I would of wanted the investigator to tap my phone and kept these calls coming.

[@tlrlml]

Any parent would have, if this was a possible link to finding a missing child any concerned parent would have jumped at the opportunity!

[@johnscanlon2598]

I can’t believe that wasn’t done

[@thesnare100]

@@johnscanlon2598 do you think maybe her mother had something to do with her disappearance?

[@spikeitfool1]

You said something very interesting when you asked if someone in the apartment house had toyed with the lightbulbs and then wondered if he may have said something to Laureen about needing help getting back into his place, and, honestly, that seems like an excellent possibility. The cops did not seem to spend any time looking into the other apartment dwellers who may have known a girl was home alone and decided to strike.

[@johnscanlon2598]

On another show it said that the lightbulbs were unscrewed

[@toddjames6189]

Fascinating case. What about this? Laureen gets violently sick and dies at some point during the evening, let's say between 9-10. The others panic. Knowing that supplying alcohol resulting in the death of a minor would land him in big trouble, he hastily concocts a plan (or maybe consults a more level-headed friend) to get rid of the body and assumes that police will treat it as a runaway case. Unscrewed the light bulbs to conceal taking the body out (got the idea from The Godfather Part 2) disposes of her at an unknown location. Throw out everything that he said took place that evening, like Laureen locking the door, and especially voices in the hallway. As flawed as it was (trying to sell a runaway story but not taking her shoes or any personal items that a runaway would definitely take with them), his plan succeeded. But he wasn't a killer, and he was tortured about the night's events for 5 years before killing himself. The late night calls to Judith are just locals being jerks, harassing victim's families is an unfortunate trend we see in these episodes. The whole California business is unrelated to Laureen. Questions this theory doesn't address: Why does the friend stay in Laureen's bed after the night's events? Where is Laureen's body? After 40 years and the man's suicide, why hasn't the friend come forward?

[@brainsareus]

quite plausible

[@nibelsteiner929]

yeah every other theory goes into the water because of the lightbulbs. human trafficing could happen andrew gosden style, the girl gets groomed to leave by herself, but you don't need the lightbulbs for that. something must have gone seriously wrong right there at the apartment.

[@JulieSkinner-f6x]

The friend sleeping in Laureen’s bed may have been theorised to buy time to dispose of Laureens body as her Mum would assume Laureen was in the bed and then go to bed herself.

[@JP_Wu]

I don't even understand why they kept these 2 people's identities as secret, when they were and still are the main suspects.

[@craigrock8444]

These poor girls that get trafficked are so conditioned and brainwashed over the years and live in constant fear that I believe some just black out their identities and somehow adapt to this life. They are the lost, loved but never forgotten. I dont think our government and law enforcement agencies should ever stop prioritizing these cases. Going after these predators.

[@alfredvalrie5541]

Can you reference a single case where a trafficked woman of US birth emerged years later?

[@zahria]

What does a mother do? Well - better not change her telephone number. Especially not if it might be her daughters only chance to send silent signs of her whereabouts !

[@theboldandthebeautiful3729]

I know right?!?!? You get phone calls in the middle of the night after your daughter goes missing and you change your number because they're annoying??!?! Hmm?

[@staceyz6467]

zahria I thought the same thing. I actually said out loud “who the hell change their number when their daughter is missing” strange!!

[@zahria]

Yes. That was my first reaction. But now i feel guilty for beeing harsh on her. We are not in her shoes , so it's easyfor us to say. Perhaps she felt something else from it. Like a sick person raveling in het torture. It might feel just so different if you are exposed to that for a long time yourself.

[@djb6496]

Meh, I remember landline numbers and getting weird, random calls at odd times with people pranking, calling the wrong number or not saying anything at all on many occasions throughout the 80s and 90s. We do not know when the mother changed her number and honestly, I don't blame her. The daughter was also old enough to know to dial 911 if she was still alive and in danger.

[@lisakaye3919]

😢 exactly i would have held the line and talked to her and told her i loved her and she can come back home any time and assure her i wouldn’t ask any questions and make no judgements

[@Ballerina00]

At 29:30 there is a group of pictures, the middle being Tammy Belanger. She is linked to a missing girl down here in Florida named Marjorie Christy Luna of Greenacres ( a town in Palm Beach County). Unrelated to this case of Laureen Rahn, but wanted to bring it up as they believe Tammy and Christy (she went by her middle name) cases are linked and the prime suspect in it was a convicted offender named Victor Wonyete who died about 10 years ago. Neither Christy or Tammys bodies have been found and neither are confirmed dead, though the likelihood of either being alive is not great. Both cases are 40 ish years old. If any podcaster or true crime person sees this comment, it would be greatly appreciated if the cases of Christy and Tammy could be touched on. I haven't seen anyone cover either case short of the local police departments. Christy's mom Jennie still lives in the same house to this day and has a billboard still up with Christy's information. The store Christy was last seen was Belks and that is also still around to this day.

[@tporchia6663]

When a woman is dating a bunch of different men, bad things can happen. One of them could have been planning to harm the daughter possibly from being dumped by mom. The friend of Laureens who committed suicide is the best bet. I think that the mom changing the phone number was a huge mistake, SMH.

[@sfletch3042]

You're right. We should all just sit at home and become nuns. Lol. What is an appropriate and safe number of men to date???

[@sfletch3042]

Actually let's not slight the mother just because you feel like she may have dated too many men in your opinion. The reality is that you can date one person and it only takes one time for you to pick the wrong person and end up dead or have something horrible happen to your children. Let's not insinuate. Anything the mother didn't do caused this to happen to her daughter!

[@tporchia6663]

@@sfletch3042 the more people you bring around your kids, the higher the chance if this happening, and I read daily about murders committed by boyfriend's.

[@sfletch3042]

@@tporchia6663 bfs and husbandsn of course. But my point is that we don't know how many boyfriends this mother had and you have no idea whether that had anything to do with Laureen's disappearance.

[@ONSTAGEMUSICPODCAST]

I’ve been intrigued by this story for years. Like, I think the turning off the lights was the weirdest part of the disappearance. Why didn’t the abductor just grab her wearing a mask? Why the lights? This whole thing is likely a cover-up and her friend isn’t saying anything and what about the call her friend received from her before killed himself?

[@dreadede]

This really sounds like she had plans to sneak back out with that guy that was over. She walked him to the door and he probably told her to sneak out after the friend falls asleep. Friend wasn’t falling asleep fast enough, so she said she was gonna sleep on the couch....and then something bad happened. I had friends her age that did stuff like this.

[@jesschappe3886]

Judith not only changed her number but moved??? Nope. Judith knows something to be that comfortable doing those things.

[@TheRoadhammer379]

She changed her number years later, not immediately.

[@theboldandthebeautiful3729]

I wonder if the families of the other missing women got phone calls in the middle of the night with no one speaking?

[@Tamara-ny2ey]

The bold and the beautiful Great question!

[@nicholashodges201]

It happens. It's not common, but it's not rare either. It can happen with any big unsolved murders or disappearances. Women & men do this equally

[@thesnare100]

@@nicholashodges201 what is the purpose of calling and not speaking, except perhaps to scare/creep out the other person, maybe it was Laureen calling and hoped that her calls would get traced. Laureen aunt ALSO got these calls at 3:45AM

[@nicholashodges201]

@@thesnare100 what's the purpose for *any* troll behavior? When they smell emotionally vulnerable people they'll crawl out from under their bridges like they always do, and have done since long before there was an internet. Some jackasses just want to feed on the suffering of others

[@Tamara-ny2ey]

Additionally if the lighting were unscrewed why would Laureen's friend sleep in her bed did she not know the house was in total darkness something is very strange here. Forgive me if I missed something lastly the unscrewing of the light bulbs is a sign of premeditation this was well thought out.

[@hidatti]

The lightbulbs were only unscrewed in the hallways, right? Not in the apertment itself?

[@pattystone4157]

The apt complex hallway not the hallway inside the apt..

[@ThePropheticClock]

Exactly!

[@chelseamercer3825]

This case is so creepy! I believe a predator was around, perhaps waiting until her parents were gone so he could abduct her. Perhaps the friend who committed suicide felt guilty that he could not save her as she was being taken...also how the hell did somebody manage to get the lights get unscrewed on every floor without anyone noticing? Bizarre!

[@yelloworangered]

Perhaps she did run away. She left with someone who would be recognized by people in the building (so, friend or acquaintance or local resident). He unscrewed the light bulbs, but explained the situation as a blown fuse. Giggling, leaning on him for support and safety, enjoying the intimacy, she goes with him down the dark steps and outside. It's all a big romantic adventure. She travels with him, ends up in California, perhaps abandoned, she calls the hotline and gets groomed. She phones home once in a while to hear a familiar voice, but guilt and shame keep her mute. Well, there's another theory. I guess we will never know.

[@grapeshot]

I would love if you could do a podcast about a gruesome murder of Amie Hoffman. It was a murder case that happened in New Jersey in 1982.

[@christiegroves]

I know this case very well. Great job. I do believe, the Dr.'s are one in the same and she was either abducted and forced into sex work and the calls are all linked as well, there are just too many red flags, flagging coincidence in my eyes. I hope we find the answer in our life time. Thank you again.

[@Pentapus1024]

"forced into sex work," eh? If you're being forced to have sex, that's rape. It's sex slavery. I hate this new speak bullshit. "Sex work" 😏

[@thesnare100]

@@Pentapus1024 well, slaves DO do work, they may not get paid for it and it may be forced but it's work.

[@daphne4983]

Young woman? She was 14.

[@sfletch3042]

Young lady.

[@inmydarkesthour2278]

This is your comment lol ok wow

[@Geronimo2Fly]

I don't mind nearly as much when he calls a 14-year-old a young woman as when he does so with a 4-year-old. That's just creepy.

[@daniiiakasha4711]

Yes, young woman 🙄

[@christinegatto7426]

Why wouldn't a 14 year old female be called a young woman?

[@yelloworangered]

This is a tough case, painful to hear about. R.I.P., poor girl.

[@eartheternal3565]

16:20 📞👮🥯 I'm trying to eat my donut here, what? - What the hell do you mean someone unscrewed all the bulbs? I'm not an electrician but my guess would be to tell them to screw them back in! Seriously, why are you bothering me?....I don't know, tell them she ran away... Stop calling me. If anyone calls about a missing person just tell them they ran away. Let first shift take care of it!

[@TheMYERSFAN25]

Maybe she snuck out because she had other plans, and a random offender saw an opportunity and took it.

[@daphne4983]

I lean towards this as the case is still cold.

[@jasonvoorhees6416]

Hard to say in these cold cases . Look at all those missing 411 cases. So many crazy possibilities and you are right people don’t look into the simple crime of opportunity more often. So many crazy people out and about it just takes one wrong person to see you at the right time.

[@sfletch3042]

Having been a teenage girl myself it just doesn't make sense. I can't imagine you're one of my friends having a friend over and then sneaking out and leaving that friend there instead of waking up the friend and telling her what I was going to do. It's a very least she would have woken her friend up Steve she wanted to go with her and tell her what was going on. Unless maybe the girl was so drunk that she couldn't wake up or be coherent but it doesn't sound like that was the case. She would have at least told her friend if her friend didn't go with her. With the lightbulb seeing and screwed it just really seems like to me that someone came in and grabbed her or lured her to the door.

[@Tamara-ny2ey]

Thanks Steven you never disappoint! Whatever happened to Laureen's friend who slept on the couch she definitely know something.

[@larrihayden]

Very creepy. Love your episodes you have quickly become my favorite.

[@Ash-xp3qh]

If she went out with her boyfriend and lied that she was going to sleep on the couch, then why her shoes were at her home or was she wearing any other footwear?! Was this a negligence of the police to not consider facts and always blamed the children as Runaways without proper investigation.... Why would anyone believe that a child has ran away from her home without anything not even her wallet!!

[@thesnare100]

I didn't have a wallet yet at that age, nothing really to put in except maybe cash, I was too young to have a driver's license or debit card, which are the things I use/show the most to people.

[@nicklasvoncloust5001]

I can't even begin to imagine the utter heartbreak and confusion Laureen's mother, Judith has to live with for the remainder of her life, not knowing whether her daughter is alive or not; if sh'e sick or happy, everything and anything...

[@lisakaye3919]

so you mean to tell me the police couldn’t trace the calls? unbelievable

[@nicholashodges201]

The phone companies had no way to back trace the numbers once you hung up back then and not every company recorded the calling number back then either as those records where kept on paper and of little value. Most only recorded the number called and if it was long distance. You have to remember you have more tech in your pocket now than the average IT company owned back then. We didn't record EVERYTHING because we couldn't store it all

[@tlrlml]

@@nicholashodges201 That is complete wrong, they could back trace numbers, look at the call logs, directly tap a line without ever touching the line in 1980 - the system was fully computerized and logging was no more difficult then playing a game of pong on your TV! Your talking about technology that was old even then!

[@nicholashodges201]

@@tlrlml that was 1990. The system in place in 90% of the country was still the transistor based mechanical system developed in the 60's. That's why in the 80's you always had to go through an operator when making a collect call. The number had to be manually put into the system. If you wanted to "backtrace" a number you needed to know where it was dialed from then physically search paper records for the number called, as they didn't start keeping records of calls received until it could be digitized, as that info had no relation on billing (only out going calls are charged).

[@tlrlml]

@@nicholashodges201 I'm sorry, you are either misinformed, misremembering, or lived anywhere but the United States. The completion of the direct distance dialing network in the US was in 1983... which by necessity means, that the network was increasingly more complete from the time it's construction began to the time of completion. Both the East and West coast would have had priority, there systems were completed long before the 1983 date. As an example, the area in which I lived (which is about as far from either coast as possible) shut down the last human operated local exchange (in the area) in the half of the 1970's and the last human operated long distance exchange in the late 1970's (though, I will give you the fact that the option to go through an operator to place a long distance or collect call was maintained for some time for the 'old-timers'). Backtracing (as you call it) was no more difficult then recalling the information from a computer (granted a 1970's computer) The entire system was essentially a national computer network dedicated to routing voice communications from input to output. And it was developed and built hand-in-hand with the direct distance dialing network - because they were interdependent. How hard do you believe it to be for a computer (even of such vintage) to route a binary string to two files; connection request and trace log?!?!? Not hard at all, kids were doing on their TV's in the first quarter of the 1970's with Pong and other games!

[@tfutrell000]

@@tlrlml If tracing a call was so easy back then, then why do they always have to keep killers on the line for a few minutes in horror movies?

[@sarahisstellina]

She probably held many secrets and knew of another man promising her a future in hollywood. I know at that age, there are things you don't even tell your best friend because of shame. And she probably stayed silent on those calls out of guilt and shame..just wanting to hear her mothers voice and people she once knew. Sad.

[@TheRoadhammer379]

You're batshit crazy.

[@jodeemasson_hunt8650]

Hmmm, makes me wonder if she went to the trash bins to get rid of evidence of how much she and her friends drank, leaving the back door open to re enter after taking out the trash.

[@choosetolivefree]

This case is utterly nutty.

[@mamaof1fornow393]

Omg I loveee this channel sooo much! Thank you for doing what you do honestly it is pretty amazinggg! ❤️🙏🏼

[@xs6819]

A 14 yo girl drunk as a skunk in an apartment building full of people with all the lights out on every floor. Consider the maintenance man was called out to fix the problem and ......

[@johnscanlon2598]

Another show said all the lightbulbs were unscrewed

[@thesnare100]

@@johnscanlon2598 and I read they were not totally unscrewed from the sockets, just enough to make them go out, why didn't they ever dust for fingerprints on them?

[@SellieM6970]

Concern that her single mother was dating around, in a perfect world that would be okay, but I think that the mother may have accidentally attracted the attention of an unsavory individual who was more interested in laureen...

[@unprocessed_life]

For sure. Dating isn't bad if you have decent judgment, but when you have progeny, you definitely need to protect them from instability on all levels.

[@thunderlightning1980]

I agree.

[@andreaturnquist4855]

I agree

[@laurenlove2693]

I think she was taken and put into a sex ring. That was probably her calling her mom. This case is really sad

[@kirstenmelias4062]

Could it be possible that she had been talking to the hotline for a while, that she could have got pregnant by the older boy and scared to tell anyone. She could have left with him, he took her to meet the people she had to meet and they got the friend to either sleep the night in her bed, so her mum wouldn't notice. It is possible they got the friend drunk and put her in the bed to stage it as herself. He could have not ever told anyone because this would mean he got a underage girl pregnant and could get into serious trouble. He could have took her somewhere to meet someone off the hotline, they take her to this doctor who does help her with an abortion. But having no money to pay, they blackmail these kids into making videos. Laureen wanted to be an actress, could have thought that this was her shot at making it, but got far into it, could have felt so scared and trapped wanting to call someone but too scared to speak? Just a thought.

[@Angelicdoll88]

Kirsten that's a good theory, I hope we know ,one day what happened to her

[@kirstenmelias4062]

@@Angelicdoll88 thank you. I really hope so too

[@hottotty13]

Why is it almost every case “ the police theorized they just ran away”? Lol. I know hindsight’s 2020, but investigators really seem the drop the ball in a lot in these cases.

[@vanessadebrino7231]

Lol the amount of runaways in the 1960’s-80’s is absolutely astounding. Serial killing was a new concept during those time periods so it wasn’t until the mid 80s early 90s that runaways became abductions or strange disappearances. I’m in my early 40s and I’d wager most people my age or younger hardly knew anyone that “ran away” and never came home.

[@dreamingnihilist653]

I know this is over a year old. But, I believe the Annie Sprinkle thing was a calculated move to throw police off and waste time and resources. From what i am aware of, Annie Sorinkle had a known reputation of quite ethical and self identifies as a feminist ( that does not mean she is inherently good) but I get the general sense that this unknown doctor was hoping to use the general ( 1980s) public’s prejudice against sex workers to his advantage. Also, as a side consideration, i wonder if it was a person involved with a sex ring that made those three calls, or even maybe another victim who met Laureen. It’s quite possible that either voluntarily or involuntarily Laureen was taken to California. A lot of unknowns here, The supposed best friends, the doctor, i’m even curious about the relationship between Laureen and the mothers boyfriend. Did Laureen have a positive and close relationship with her mother? could she talk to her mother and confide in her. But, i absolutely agree the Doctor thing is really shady, why did he not immediately admit details when originally contacted, strange.

[@kat2270]

I wonder about the Tennis player. He knew, or believed, that Laureen was alone that evening, could he have mentioned this to someone who decided to visit the apartment? As for the doctor, he knows more than he's saying, that call to his Hotline, made from the hotel, was probably from a pregnant girl. The hotel sounds like a house of horrors that someone should investigate, who knows how many broken hearted families who've had children go missing, could get answers from such an investigation.

[@kat2270]

@Charlie Hunt It's baffling there wasn't further investigation when it's obvious the doctor has calls to his Hotline from that hotel. Was the name of the hotel ever released to the public? If not, why not? Shouldn't such a hole of a place be known so that unsuspecting members of the public don't book in? The porn star's connection to that doctor and his wife seems too much of a co-incidence for me. The phone calls billed to Laureen's mother! I think I'd have been making a trip to that place to see wth was going on. Did the police ever say which room the call was made from and who was booked in that room at the time I wonder?

[@neuralmute]

@@kat2270 I think the doctor just dropped the porn star's name because she'd be a convenient name to drop - who believes a porn star, after all? I've actually met Annie Sprinkle more than once in her academic and artistic career, and she is a kind and empathic woman, not the sort who would *ever* get involved with any sort of underage porn ring. The only way I can see her having any involvement at all would be her intervening if she found out that an underage girl was being abused that way. Who knows, maybe she did!

[@saweetzzho]

OR.. if she was pregnant the hotline probably sent her to the hotel to meet a quack of a doctor for an abortion?

[@TheRoadhammer379]

@@saweetzzho this is the most intelligent comment on this vid. Plausible, and well thought out. If only the rest of the troglodyte internet sleuths would use their brains, we would have fewer idiotic comments. Thank you

[@ribevej57]

@@kat2270 exactumy thoughts, if I was the mother I would have rushed all the way to California immediately

[@thesnare100]

Honestly I don't think she's alive, unfortunately. I don't think she would want to abandon her mother for the rest of her life and would have called her at some point (and actually said something!) assuming she left on her own and wasn't kidnapped. I'm wondering- just what is the purpose of unscrewing the lightbulbs in the halls, that means you can't see either.

[@mediaguy4037]

I believe the guy that was with her is responsible for her demise. He unscrewed the light bulbs in a panic. Keep in mind this dude commited suicide 5 years after she dissapeared. He had family in the police which is why they never looked into him as a suspect. Someone that lived near the place said this.

[@thesnare100]

@@mediaguy4037 I still don't see how unscrewing them would help someone, plus he said he went out the back door and didn't have to go through that hallway where the light bulbs were unscrewed.

[@Da1Dez]

He probably just made up the part about leaving through the backdoor and hearing voices in the hallway. He must've unscrewed the light bulbs so that he could carry her body in the dark without any seeing what he was doing. It's just a question whether he then buried or hid her somewhere close to her apartment block, assuming he didn't own a car, or if he got a friend to help him hide the body further away! ​@@thesnare100

[@kathybrooks5229]

I believe it was one of the mother s boyfriend s sold her to the doctor and I'm sure it was her calling trying to get home horrifying 😔🕊️

[@TheRoadhammer379]

It's highly doubtful that an abducted girl would have easy access to a phone. Do any of you Internet sleuths ever use your brains?

[@visassess8607]

Missing cases seem worse than murders. At least with murders you know what happened.

[@resop3]

My first thought would be that Laureen knew the person who made her vanish, probably a guy. Besides the liquor store guy, and the guy she was partying with, there are also the adult boyfriends of her mother, many of whom her mother dropped for making Laureen uncomfortable. Her mother would drag Laureen along with her on dates, so the boyfriends would have known of Laureen. What if Laureen took a fancy to one of them and somehow ran into him after he got dumped? The light bulb thing was weird though. Maybe Laureen did it herself as a red herring?

[@tlrlml]

Why would a 14 year old girl, presumably running away, consider a detail such as three floors of hallway lights?!?!

[@resop3]

@@tlrlml Don't know. The guy might have coached her into doing it.

[@tlrlml]

@@resop3 That seems like it would have set off red flags in her young mind, like, "Why would you want me to do that?", suspicions. And if convinced why would she not just do a few and then remember she is trying to get out of there before her mother gets back and skip the rest? No, I can't believe without some evidence that she both wanted to leave before getting caught AND her take the time to be sure to unscrew every bulb.

[@janiterinadrum1627]

It seems awfully lazy of Police to say that I’m missing girl young boy or even a baby just ran away…. How lazy can you be to not want to find a missing person

[@Da1Dez]

I think the male friend may have something to do with it and his story has just been believed for years when something different actually occured. What was a 18 year old doing with two 14 year old girls and then takes his life a few years later.... that seems so suspicious.

[@mediaguy4037]

He had family in the police which is why he was never considered a suspect. I believe he was responsible for her disappearance. Probably gave her drugs and she died. He killed himself 5 years later and his suicide note said he “couldn’t handle it anymore”

[@Da1Dez]

Well that certainly adds more credibility to him being the suspect. He obviously hid her body somewhere. ​@@mediaguy4037

[@Da1Dez]

@@mediaguy4037 I'd be curious to know if the guy owned a vehicle or not, because if he didn't, Laureen's body couldn't have been moved that far away, unless he asked a police relative (as you specify) to help him hide the body far away.

[@knittielynnie]

Her mother and aunt should upload DNA to a genetic genealogy website. Police departments are receiving grants and very slowly working through cold case files that have DNA evidence. After so many years, this may be the only way to learn what happened to Laureen.

[@PredatorKingdom]

I think this happened on April 26th going into the 27th not on the 20th the week before so this was a Saturday night.

[@Col91016]

From what i can see whoever this was .they were experienced in doing things like this. They entered the building from the ground floor up unscrewing the light bulbs as they went (there was more than one perpetrator ).the guy that’s was in the apartment with her said they heard voices and he exited the back door 🚪 and she locked it after closing it,I think she thought it was her mom and her boyfriend coming in and when she answered the door it was some guys she had probably been acquainted with.the perpetrators knew exactly where they were going that night and went straight to her apartment knowing her mom wasn’t there.they knew the lay out pretty well.this was pre planned.when they gained entry they proxy’s weapon and put their hand over her mouth telling her to comply or she would get hurt. They took her out of the back door thus why the door was unlocked and slightly opened.they probably knew the other girl was in there,so they got in and did this very quickly.

[@am2023]

Eerie case by all means

[@freyaaldrnari6086]

Ilene Rebecca Scott missing is just as sketchy. Only one picture of her...and little appeared to be done in the way of searching. I always wonder why only one photo of certain children exist... Even in the 80s ... People took photos. This reminds me of the film 8 MM.. 😬

[@Laura-tp8wz]

Yes, it does.

[@ginexkasachstan]

Rachel and laureen look so similar and i dont believe in coincidences especially given the same year they disappeared

[@pal1786]

Since the mother probably has belongings of Laureen still, could they take the DNA off of Laureen’s clothing or whatever items she may have, and put it in codis or even familial dna bases? Maybe she’s out there under another name now, or she had a child at some time in her life and the DNA can be matched. It’s worth a try.

[@lowerclassbrats77]

What TV show was this case featured on? Unsolved Mysteries? Eerie when victims are children, forever young never to see adulthood.

[@LynxStarAuto]

America's Most Wanted is the one I saw it on.

[@annadrift4]

I can't imagine what her mother must have gone through... My heart breaks for her. I wonder, did the male friend commit suicide while the phone calls were still happening?

[@thebrocialist8300]

Her mother seems utterly neglectful and reckless. I am certain that played a major part in her daughter’s plight.

[@robertborder9223]

In what way? Because she left her daughter home all day by herself at 14? There really isn't that much info about the mother.

[@willissudweeks1050]

That dr is a jerk man. He had good info and waited 5 YEARS!

[@christinegatto7426]

The mother was not supervising Laureen enough, dating around instead of watching her friends and keeping her safe at home.

[@unprocessed_life]

It 1000% sounds like one of mom's "friends" was a creep and abducted her.

[@Laura-tp8wz]

I assume police checked out mom’s boyfriends…

[@poughkeepsieblue]

First! Love your work.

[@shawndouglass2939]

And here's your 🏆😜

[@Elkraiden]

I think the predator saw the male guest leave and he went and unscrewed all the lightbulbs and probably showed up at his back to the door after he knocked on it and she assumed it was the guest coming back maybe he forgot some thing and then the guy turned around and got her. Grabbed her and took her. That’s what I’m thinking when you said that guest left out the back door, I think the perpetrator showed up at the back door pretending to be that guy coming back.

[@Da1Dez]

Two things remain unanswered though: Who could have been the voices that Laureen and the male friend heard in the hallway just before he left? Also, what made the male friend take his own life?

[@DOCTORKHANblog]

I would have to correct you. You probably didn't see her in Unsolved Mysteries. Her case never appeared in UM or any national true crime show or the like to my knowledge.

[@kevinoshea4134]

Ok so all the lights in the hallway were shut off by someone? Then the so called friend commits suicide? Ah yeah she was murdered

[@hunna5849]

Aren't there any cameras in the building

[@jessicadavid6492]

In 1980? Not likely.... That's over 40 years ago. I don't recall many cameras around at all until the 90s, and even then not a ton until after about 2001. Plus, then quality was very poor and the lights were unscrewed besides so... No.

[@donnablack6280]

I recognised the name, Annie Sprinkle, from something I read recently. It may be mentioned in the book 'Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon' by Dave McGowan, which is about the connections between the CIA, Hollywood, famous musicians, paedophiles, drugs and brainwashing. How far is this case from Laurel Canyon?

[@cyndiekay326]

BIG problems with Mom changing her # and moving. That is almost NEVER the case, especially when a child is missing. They almost never change A THING.. Second concern... No one is questioning the phone calls to mom and aunt at almost the identical time that mom had called the police? That is too coincidental. Was someone watching the apartment? I get bad vibes that Mom had a boyfriend that had his eye on Laureen. THIS WAS SOMEONE WHO KNEW LAUREEN AND MOM. They knew Mom wasn't home.

[@melissasaint3283]

That doctor sounds sketchy as hell

[@earth2sinead]

what does assistance hotline even mean

[@USALibertarian]

As usual, they ran away, according to the cops. Job well done!!!

[@tangledweb116]

Sounds like sex trafficking to me

[@lindseyclapper300]

The doctor in this case sounds a lot like the situation with the doctor in the LISK case.

[@stevebartlett536]

You think it’s your daughter making the calls but you change your #, why?

[@alex13taylor]

wow i grew up right next to hayward street!

[@jojoz]

what happened to the liquor store owner who was partiel to young girls and sold them booze? He easily couud have been into child porn and easily came to their home and they trusted him and got into his car with him and he drove them off to someone else and then into that dark world of drugs and porn... also the other girl who lived close by could have gotten into the car as well if the knew the person odd

[@jrvbamafan1]

Who leaves a 14 year old KID alone with their friends and alcohol. Call me insensitive if u want, but what some incredibly irresponsible "parenting" this was

[@shawndouglass2939]

She looks exactly like a childhood friend of mine, sure hope they find her/ what happened

[@milaaraujo4622]

People still sell alcohol to even 12 year olds where im from... im from Oakland where thas normal lol

[@brainsareus]

que huevada!!

[@LynxStarAuto]

Ah yes, another oldie. I personally feel Lorraine ran away. Off to chase the lime lights at tinsel town. You should do Rebecca Zahau that one there is mind boggling.

[@unprocessed_life]

I know people get abducted all over but the NE seems to have a particularly dark history.

[@christinegatto7426]

Florida is much worse.

[@counteradvocate7025]

Young "WOMAN" 12 to 25, are capable of a lot of hard to imaging things, just as much, or more so, than young Men... Do not understatement the "Dark Gordian Knot" complexity of which they/some of them are capable...

[@AM-cs9ke]

Does it seem strange at all that the mother of missing teenage girl would have her phone number changed less than a year after the girl's disappearance?

[@Laura-tp8wz]

To me, this did sound strange though I would like to hear more details.

[@Scorned405]

The audio on this is really bad. Cannot even hear it

[@outlawJosieFox]

Wow! That doctor has to be the key ! His wife befriends runaways and one of her friends is an ex porn star ? Come on ! As an adult this poor woman might have been through so much that she feels complicit now and unable to return to what must have seemed like blissful innocence.

[@Bigwave2003]

Seems like an abduction. Why were the light bulbs in the halls of all three floors of the tenement house unscrewed to plunge the walkways into darkness? If it was someone Laureen knew and would go with willingly this seems unnecessary. If a stranger abduction, why didn't the male and female friends report anyone unexpected showing up or a struggle? Running away doesn't make sense since Laureen didn't take anything with her. Surely, she would have taken her wallet, new sneakers, something.

[@nibelsteiner929]

I believe the lightbulbs tell us that she was dead when she left the apartment. no random abductor unscrews MULTIPLE levels of lightbulbs just for 1 girl instead of picking one drunk party-girl from a street. the friend sleeping in her bed makes me believe that she was in on whatever happened.

[@lowerclassbrats77]

I was 2 when she went missing. It seems like forever ago while oh so recent. Sadly I think she was kidnapped and killed or she was trafficked and OD'd on drugs.

[@chickasawstarrmountain9747]

why the fk would she change her phone number?I would keep that same number till I died smh and I would have gotten a tracer put on my phone

[@GhostfaceScream6]

So many possibilities on this one as I go back to how eager Laureen wanted to be at home alone that night so she likely planned on leaving to maybe enter that child pornography industry as she was likely influenced. I think the friend is a high suspect, I think sometimes young girls that age are taken for granted as possible killers. Her sleeping at the home is highly suspect.

[@19holly19]

This is only 39 minutes from where Maura Murray went missing.

[@dirtydan9457]

I feel like the l9ng distance charge was a clue to her mom. Who else would do that?

[@nibelsteiner929]

in my opinion, the calls and the dr. Z can be discarded as leads. possibly prank calls. makes no sense that the girl wouldn't say a word to her mother but to the mother of her friend. the most important things are the lightbulbs. something went so wrong in that apartment that someone (possibly the male friend) felt the need to create a cover of darkness. only reason I can think of is to get her body out of the building.

[@JulieSkinner-f6x]

Why not take her body out of the back door ?

[@dianegosney9197]

Did the investigators spray luminal on some of the walls and other items to see if any blood was on the walls or floor?