The Mad Dog Mystery: Angela Elaine Allen

In this episode of Hunting 4 Answers: She vanished the day after Christmas. In 1979, Angela Elaine Allen, a 28-year-old mother of two, disappeared from Syracuse, New York without a trace. Her last words to her mother were normal---but no one expected what followed next. As police searched for answers, they uncovered disturbing secrets about her husband, Hubert “Mad Dog” Allen—secrets that would explode into tragedy years later with the brutal murders of a woman and her 6-year-old son. Anyone with information about Angela's whereabouts should contact the Syracuse Police Department at 315-442-5330. 

This is the story of Angela Elaine Allen. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hunting for Answers is a production of The Black Effect
Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Hunting for Answers, a
true crime podcast. I'm your host, Hunter, and today we're
traveling back to a cold December day in nineteen seventy nine,
the day after Christmas in Syracuse, New York. A twenty

(00:21):
eight year old mother of two spoke to her mother
on the phone that morning, saying she was too sleepy
to talk and would call back later, but she never did.
What happened to her would remain a mystery for decades,
but the terrifying truth about her husband would eventually come

(00:41):
to life. This is the story of Angela Elaine Allen.
Angela was born on September one, nineteen fifty one. By
December nineteen seventy nine, she was a twenty eight year
old woman living in Syracuse, New York. At the time

(01:02):
of her disappearance, she stood five feet five inches tall,
weighed one hundred and thirty five pounds, with black hair
and brown eyes. Her ears were also pierced. Angela worked
at a J. C. Penny department store, where she was
known as a reliable employee. She was a devoted mother

(01:23):
to two young daughters. But Angela's home life wasn't as
stable as her work life. She was married to a
man named Hubert James Allen, known to everyone as mad Dog.
December twenty sixth, nineteen seventy nine, the day after Christmas.

(01:46):
It was a Wednesday morning when Angela's mother heard from
her daughter for the last time. The conversation was brief.
Angela said she was too sleepy to talk and promised
to call back later. Her mother would later tell police
that Angela sounded normal during this conversation. There was nothing
in her voice that suggested fear, distress or that she

(02:10):
was planning to disappear. Later that day, at two pm,
Angela was last seen in the thirty five hundred block
of South Selina Street in Syracuse. She was wearing a
gray coat over a purple dress, red shoes, and carrying
a red clutch purse. And then she was gone. No

(02:36):
one saw her leave, no one saw where she went.
Angela Elaine Allen seemed to simply vanish into thin air.
When someone goes missing, the first forty eight hours are critical,
and in Angela's case, there were immediate red flags that

(02:58):
suggested this and a voluntary disappearance. First, Angela left behind
her last paycheck at J. C. Penny's. This raised a
lot of questions, especially right after Christmas. But here's where
it gets interesting, because after Angela disappeared, her husband, Hubert

(03:20):
mad Dog Alan, attempted to pick up that paycheck himself.
He claimed Angela simply left him without warning one day,
but he also said she took eleven thousand dollars in
cash from their home when she disappeared, and that he
didn't think that she was dead, but police weren't buying it.

(03:45):
Hubert quickly became the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance,
and as investigators dug deeper, they discovered some pretty disturbing information.
Hubert and Angela used to go on dates to two
two specific locations, the on Indaga Indian Nation Territory and

(04:06):
the Allied Chemical Salt Pits in the northern part of
on Indaga County. These weren't typical date spots. They were remote,
isolated areas where someone could dispose of a body without
anything being seen. Investigators theorized that Hubert killed Angela on

(04:28):
December twenty sixth, nineteen seventy nine, and buried her body
in one of these locations, but without concrete evidence or
a body, they couldn't make an arrest. The case would
remain cold for years until Hubert's violent nature finally caught

(04:49):
up with him. This is where the story takes an
even darker turn. At the time of an Adela's disappearance,
her husband was having an affair with a woman named
Lorraine Marshall. Lorraine knew about Angela's disappearance, but initially she

(05:12):
refused to cooperate with police. For three years, Lorraine kept quiet,
but in nineteen eighty two, something changed. She started talking
to investigators about what Hubert had told her. According to Lorraine,
in December nineteen seventy nine, right around the time Angela disappeared,

(05:34):
Hubert mad Dog Allen told her that he had accidentally
killed Angela and asked for her help in hiding the body.
When Lorraine seemed shocked, he quickly backtracked and said he
was just joking. But Lorraine also noticed something else. After

(05:56):
Angela's disappearance, Hubert's boots were caked with mud, the kind
you'd get from digging in the ground. By nineteen eighty five,
Lorraine Marshall had been cooperating with police for three years,
providing information about Angela's disappearance. Lorraine and Hubert also had

(06:18):
a child together, a six year old boy named James
Jose Allen, but in March nineteen eighty five, Lorraine Marshall
was found stabbed to death in her apartment. Several weeks later,
their son's body was discovered on the shore of Onundada Lake.
The six year old little boy had been strangled to death.

(06:43):
The motive was clear. Investigators believed Hubert killed Lorraine and
their son because she had been cooperating with police about
Angela's disappearance. Lorraine's cooperation had cost her and her innocent
child their lives. In October nineteen eighty five, Hubert James

(07:06):
mad Dog Allen was convicted of the first degree murders
of Lorraine Marshall and James Jose Allen. He was sentenced
to fifty years to life in prison, and according to
his sentence, he won't be eligible for parole until twenty
thirty five, when he'll be ninety two years old. But

(07:28):
despite all the evidence pointing to Hubert as Angela's killer,
he has never actually been charged in connection with her disappearance. Technically,
Angela Elaine Allen is still a missing person. In nineteen ninety, eleven,
years after Angela's disappearance, her mother attempted to have her

(07:51):
daughter declared legally dead, but the court refused. Instead, Angela
was declared legally missing. Despite this, her estate, including a
ten thousand dollars life insurance policy, was distributed to her
two daughters. Today, over forty five years later, Angela Allen's

(08:15):
body has never been found. Hubert Allen continues to maintain
his innocence in Angela's disappearance. From behind prison walls. He
still claims she simply left him and never looked back.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends

(08:36):
of Angela Elaine Allen. Anyone with information about her whereabouts
to contact the Syracuse Police Department. Their contact information can
be found in the description box below. As we close
out this episode, don't forget to Colleck the follow button
to stay updated on this case and others like it.

(08:57):
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true crime updates. Thank you so much for joining us
on another episode. Until next time, Hunting for Answers is
a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more

(09:20):
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