March 19, 2025 • 24 mins
A 14-year-old girl vanishes into the night after someone methodically unscrews every hallway light bulb in her apartment building. Her purse, clothes, and money remain behind. For years afterward, her mother receives haunting silent phone calls at exactly 3:45am.
Welcome to one of New Hampshire's most disturbing unsolved mysteries. Laureen Rahn disappeared from her Manchester apartment in April 1980 under circumstances that have baffled investigators for over four decades. What started as a possible runaway case quickly evolved into something far more sinister when mysterious phone charges appeared on her mother's bill months later—calls to California motels linked to a teen sexual assistance hotline and potentially to individuals connected with adult entertainment and child exploitation.
The eerie similarities to other disappearances in the area raise disturbing questions. Was there a predator targeting young women in Manchester? Suspected serial killer Terry Rasmussen lived just blocks away. Four other young women vanished within a short time and geographic radius. The phone calls that continued for years—silent callers using nicknames only Lorene would know—suggest she might have been alive somewhere, perhaps trying to reach out but unable to speak freely. Was she trafficked? Kidnapped? Or did something even worse happen that night when the hallways were plunged into darkness?
Join us as we examine the evidence, explore the theories, and shine light on this haunting cold case that continues to echo through the decades. Lorene would be approaching 59 today, and her mother still hopes for answers. If you recognize details from this case or have information that might help solve this mystery, please contact authorities. One tip could finally bring closure to a family that has waited far too long for answers.
Sources:
https://charleyproject.org/case/laureen-ann-rahn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Laureen_Rahn
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/601873/1
https://discover.hubpages.com/politics/the-disturbing-disappearance-of-laureenrahn
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Production
Dark Music by Black Rose in Hell
Depression by Mood Mode
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
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Email us with comments and/or ideas for an episode at goneinablinkpod@gmail.com
Thanks for joining us on the airwaves. And remember......Be Safe, Be Smart, and Try Not to Blink.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
At 14 years old.
You can be easily influenced byyour peers, your friends and
pretty much everyone you chooseto surround yourself with.
But sometimes the ones that aredrawn to you are not always
drawn to you for the rightreasons, and sometimes you may
(00:31):
not even know the person who isdrawn to you A stranger, someone
who has had their eye on youall along.
Maybe you are their type, youall along.
Maybe you are their type.
(00:51):
Maybe they see you as being toonice or too understanding or
too vulnerable.
Maybe you're young and naive.
Whatever it is, they found theone, their target, and they
won't stop until they have you.
This is the case of Lorene Ron,and this is Gone in a Blink.
(01:24):
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and welcome to
episode 35 of Gone in a Blink.
(01:44):
Spring is almost here and theweather is getting warmer, which
I absolutely love.
We definitely have spring feverat our house and I'm ready to
get outside and plant flowers,relax on the deck and watch the
sunset and really just be so, soglad that the frigid temps are
behind us.
(02:05):
Of course, now that I say that,the cold weather will probably
come back with a vengeance.
So you really can't get toocomfortable.
Here in the Midwest, to bequite honest, we've literally
been known to have all fourseasons in one day.
It's seriously insane.
So today's case is one out ofManchester, new Hampshire.
(02:25):
Today we are talking about thecase of missing 14-year-old
Lorene Rahn.
So if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Lorene Rahn was born on April3rd 1966 in Manchester, new
Hampshire, and she was prettymuch raised by her mother,
judith, as her parents ended upgetting a divorce when Lorene
(02:48):
was just an infant.
By the time Lorene turned fouryears old, she and her mother
moved to Miami, florida.
However, they didn't end upmaking it their permanent home,
and six years later they endedup moving back to Manchester.
By 1980, lorene appeared to beyour typical 14-year-old girl.
She loved to sing and dance andshe had aspirations of becoming
(03:12):
an actress, though she was alsosaid to have been a bit
troubled.
Lorene spent much of her timealone.
She drank alcohol, smokedmarijuana and often talked about
running away.
She attended school at ParksideJunior High, where she had a
group of friends that she lovedhanging out with when she wasn't
(03:33):
alone.
At this time, lorene and hermother were living in a third
floor apartment on MerrimackStreet.
Little did Judith know thiswould be the same apartment that
her daughter would go missingfrom just a short time later.
April 26th 1980 was just likeany other day.
(03:53):
Lorene spent most of the dayhanging around the neighborhood
before stopping in at a localconvenience store where she was
seen by some of her friendsrestocking shelves with wine
coolers.
It was later questioned ifmaybe she was doing this in
exchange for alcohol.
That, however, has not actuallybeen confirmed, so we're not
(04:16):
really sure what she was doingor why she was doing that.
It's just kind of an assumption.
Throughout much of the day,several family members had
stopped by the apartment andnothing had ever been reported
as being out of the ordinary.
Judith's boyfriend, who was aprofessional tennis player, had
a tournament that weekend, soJudith planned to go out of town
(04:37):
to attend the tournament, andin the past Lorene would tag
along with her mother and hermother's boyfriend to attend the
tennis tournaments.
However, this was duringLorraine's spring break from
school and she really justwanted to hang out with her
friends.
So she asked her mother if shecould stay home that weekend,
and her mother obliged.
(04:58):
That evening Lorraine had acouple of friends over to the
apartment to hang out One femaleand one male friends over to
the apartment to hang out onefemale and one male.
The three of them shared asix-pack of beer and a bottle of
wine and sat around justtalking and being typical
teenagers.
So at around 12 30 am on April27th, lorene and her male friend
(05:20):
were sitting in the living roomwhen they heard voices in the
hallway of the apartmentbuilding.
Afraid that it might be Judithreturning home, lorene's friend
jumped up and hurried out theback door for fear he might get
in trouble.
The male friend later toldauthorities that he specifically
heard the door lock behind himas he was leaving.
(05:42):
Judith and her boyfriendreturned to the apartment around
1.15 am to find that the lightbulbs in the hallway on all
three floors of the apartmentbuilding had been unscrewed,
leaving the hallways completelydark.
When they reached, in thedarkness, for the front door,
they discovered that it wasunlocked.
(06:02):
Once inside, they found thatthe back door was left wide open
.
Judith glanced around theapartment, noticing what
appeared at first to be Lorenesleeping in her bed.
After Judith moved closer toLorene's room, she realized that
it was not actually Lorenesleeping in her bed, but instead
it was the female friend thathad been hanging out with Lorene
and the other boy was thefemale friend that had been
(06:24):
hanging out with Lorraine andthe other boy at the apartment.
Earlier that evening Her friendtold Judith that she had been
sleeping in bed with Lorraineand that Lorraine later decided
to take her pillow and blanketand move to the couch to sleep.
The female friend claims thatshe couldn't really remember
much about that night because ofthe fact that she had been
drinking.
So while searching theapartment, judith found that
(06:48):
Lorene's purse, as well as herclothing and money, were still
there.
Judith began calling familymembers immediately to see if
anyone had seen or heard fromLorene.
Judith and her boyfriend thenbegan to search the neighborhood
for any sign of her daughter.
Around 3.45 that morning theyflagged down a police officer
(07:09):
and reported Lorene missing.
So I just wanted to touch on thefact that the light bulbs in
the hallways of all three floorsof the apartment building were
unscrewed.
We have seen this type of thingfar too many times.
In fact, we just saw the samescenario in the last episode we
covered in the Teresa Butlercase.
(07:30):
Someone unscrewed the lightbulb from her porch light right
before she went missing, andthis seems to be a common tactic
and one that, in my opinion, isextremely creepy, and if you
haven't listened already to theprevious episode on Teresa
Butler, I seriously recommendyou doing that because it's so
(07:52):
insane.
It's so incredibly insane thatthis type of thing is happening
far too frequently in cases, andit puts the victim in a really
scary and yet very vulnerablesituation where you cannot see
who is at the door, such as inthe Teresa Butler case, where,
just to theorize, she may haveheard a knock at the door, went
(08:15):
to look out the window or thepeephole and couldn't see
anything because it was pitchdark.
The abductor is hoping she'llopen the door right, and when
she does, she falls victim.
Now I'm unsure of all thedetails surrounding Lorene's
disappearance.
However, we know that the lightbulbs were unscrewed, making
(08:36):
the hallways dark.
The front door was unlocked andthe back door was open.
So, just to theorize once again, her male friend had just left
out the back door and he claimshe heard the door lock behind
him.
This was sometime around 1230am.
Judith and her boyfriendreturned to the apartment around
(08:57):
130 am, so there's only about aone hour window.
The female friend is asleep inLorene's bed and never hears a
thing, so is it possible thatsomeone was watching the
apartment, then made their wayinto the building to unscrew the
light bulbs, saw the malefriend leave and then knocked on
the door to Lorene's apartmentsoon after.
(09:19):
Lorene answers the door,thinking maybe her male friend
returned or that maybe it washer mother.
And herne answers the door,thinking maybe her male friend
returned or that maybe it washer mother and her boyfriend at
the door, since they thought thevoices in the hallway were
Lorene's mom and boyfriendanyway.
So maybe she answers the doorand they force their way in and
then out the back door withLorene.
I don't know.
There were no reports ofanything being taken from the
(09:42):
apartment and Lorraine's purseand money were still there,
unless maybe that's not why theywere there in the first place,
maybe they were there only forLorraine.
So just trying to think of allthese different scenarios or you
know, I don't I don't typicallylike to theorize things, but
just trying to get a feel forwhat they were, even after in
(10:04):
the first place.
Whatever it was, it was totallypremeditated because of the
light bulbs being unscrewed.
So police thought in thebeginning that Lorene was a
runaway, and that is typicallythe first place police go with a
teenage missing persons case,especially back in the 1980s.
Judith, however, did notbelieve that her daughter ran
(10:25):
away, mostly because of the factthat she left her purse and her
clothes behind.
Nothing appeared to be missingand after a few weeks police
slowly began to retract theirtheory that Lorene was a runaway
and begin to believe thateverything looked as if Lorene
had left the apartment on herown accord, but planned to only
be gone for a short period oftime.
(10:48):
Then, on October 1st 1980,judith noticed that she had been
charged for three phone callsplaced in California.
One was from a motel in SantaMonica to another motel in the
area of Santa Ana.
The third call was made to ateen sexual assistance hotline.
(11:09):
Judith thought this was strange, since she didn't even know
anyone who lived in California.
When questioned, the physicianwho tends to the teen sexual
assistance hotline initiallydenied knowing anything about
the calls.
However, in 1985, so five yearslater he changed his story, and
(11:32):
anytime anyone changes theirstory in a situation such as
this, it's almost always a hugered flag.
I mean, why lie about it?
It's kind of where I'm at withthat.
But the physician admits fiveyears later that numerous young
runaway girls had visited hiswife at their home and it was
(11:52):
possible that one of them mayhave been from New Hampshire.
He claimed that his wife usedto work in the fashion industry
with a woman by the name ofAnnie Sprinkle and that she may
have information pertaining toseveral runaway girls.
It was soon discovered thatAnnie Sprinkle was a well-known
name in the adult entertainmentindustry and was involved in
(12:16):
numerous adult films.
Police viewed several of thesefilms in the hopes of spotting
Lorene.
Police viewed several of thesefilms in the hopes of spotting
Lorene.
However, nothing was ever foundand Sprinkle has not been
linked to Lorene's disappearance.
So I just want to make thatclear.
Annie Sprinkle was apparently,like I said, a huge name in the
(12:42):
adult entertainment industry inthe 1970s and 80s.
She has since quit the adultentertainment industry and is
now a big figure in sexeducation.
After going back to school toreceive her doctorate in human
sexuality In 1986, a privateinvestigator traveled out to
California and visited the twomotels that were involved in the
phone calls back in 1980.
(13:08):
It was discovered that one ofthese motels may have been used
by an individual involved inchild pornography who went by
the name of Dr Z.
After further investigationinto Dr Z, authorities were
unable to link him to the teensexual assistance hotline or to
Lorene's disappearance.
So this case seems to beleading in the path of a lot of
(13:31):
sketchy activity and people whoare intertwined into some very
questionable things.
And I feel like those phonecalls linking the mother of a
missing teenager, which Judithgets the charges for these calls
.
So you're linking Judith to twomotels clear across the country
, one of which has been tied tochild pornography, and then a
(13:53):
call for a teen sexualassistance hotline manned by a
physician who lies about beingconnected in the first place.
I just think there is a strongpossibility that those charges
on Judith's phone could be astrong lead in the right
direction, maybe down the pathof sex trafficking is kind of
(14:13):
where my mind goes and childpornography.
It's all just very strange thatthis is the path that those
charges have led to.
There had been some otherpossible leads after Lorene's
disappearance that had raised alot of questions as well.
In 1981, one of Lorene's familymembers claimed to have seen a
girl that matched Lorene'sdescription at a bus terminal in
(14:37):
Boston Massachusetts.
In Boston Massachusetts, anemployee for the bus company
told authorities that he sold aticket to a girl who matched
Lorene's description on the daythat she disappeared.
A driver who worked for the buscompany initially confirmed
that the girl he dropped off inPark Square, boston, was Lorene,
based on a photo.
(14:58):
The driver was later questionedagain and claimed that he
wasn't sure at that pointanymore if the girl he dropped
off was Lorene or not.
For almost a year and a halfafter Lorene's disappearance,
judith would receive anonymousphone calls on a frequent basis.
The calls would always come inat 3 45 am and no one would say
(15:21):
a word on the other end.
For several years after Lorenewent missing, an unknown caller
would always make calls toJudith around the Christmas
holidays, and after the call wasanswered, the person on the
other end would sit in silencefor several seconds before
ending the call.
Judith couldn't take theheartache any longer and she
(15:42):
eventually changed her number,and this too, in my opinion, is
just another thing that kind oftakes me into the possibility
that maybe she was in facttrafficked.
Is it so far-fetched to believethat just maybe that was her on
the other end of that phone,somehow possibly getting access
to a phone at certain times,which could explain the frequent
(16:05):
phone calls to Judith at 3.45am, as well as the calls made
around the holidays.
So what if she had beentrafficked or kidnapped and her
kidnapper is away or something'sgoing on at 3.45 am where she
can have access to that phoneand she reaches out to her mom,
(16:26):
which I don't quite know why shewouldn't talk unless she is
unable to talk on her endwithout getting caught?
That's a possibility, a lot ofthis in my own personal opinion,
and I want our listeners tobuild your own theory on this,
because right now that's all wehave is theories.
But in my own opinion I thinkthat this goes into the path of
(16:52):
trafficking.
In 1986, a childhood friend ofLorene's by the name of Roger
Morris received a phone callfrom a woman and when Roger's
mother answered, the caller saidthat her name was Lori and that
she was a former girlfriend ofRoger's.
The caller remains unknown tothis day.
Lorene's aunt, janet Roy, alsoclaimed that on numerous
(17:16):
occasions since Lorene wentmissing, a young woman would
call her home asking to speak toher son, michael.
When Michael would come to thephone, the caller would remain
silent.
The caller would ask to speakto Mike initially when, when
Jana answered the phone, mikewas a nickname that only Lorene
(17:38):
would refer to him as, and Janabelieves the caller was Lorene.
So there were also some otheryoung women who disappeared
right around the time ofLorene's disappearance.
Whether these otherdisappearances are linked to
Lorene's remains to be seen.
However, they weredisappearances that occurred
very close to where Lorene waslast seen.
(18:01):
That occurred very close towhere Lorene was last seen.
25-year-old Denise Denaultlived two short blocks from
Lorene and went missing from abar in Manchester just six weeks
after Lorene disappeared.
Several years later, policediscovered that suspected serial
killer Terry Peter Rasmussen,who went by the name Bob Evans,
(18:22):
was living in that area at thetime, and Rasmussen was
convicted of killing his wife inCalifornia back in 2003.
Police believe that Rasmussenwas possibly involved in as many
as six more murders and ordisappearances, one of which was
the disappearance of DeniseBoudin, who disappeared in
(18:44):
Goffstown in 1981.
She has also never been found.
He has also been linked to theDeerbrook murders, which
involved the murders of fourwomen whose bodies were found in
the Bearbrook State Parkbetween 1985 and 2000.
And if that wasn't crazy enough, one of the female victims was
(19:06):
in fact Rasmussen's ownbiological daughter.
Rasmussen was also linked tothe untimely death of
17-year-old Elizabeth Lamott,who disappeared from Manchester,
new Hampshire, on April 6th1984.
Elizabeth was last seen at ayouth development center.
Her lifeless body was foundnaked at the Geraldstown
(19:30):
Tennessee exit on Interstate 81.
She had been beaten and stabbed.
The medical examiner determinedthat her ultimate cause of
death was a single blow to thehead.
Rasmussen died in 2010.
What is strange in this case isthat Rasmussen lived a mile and
(19:50):
a half away from where Lorenedisappeared, and both Lorene and
Denise both held a strikingresemblance to each other,
despite the age difference.
Denise also has never beenfound.
Then, one month before Lorenewent missing, 15-year-old Rachel
Garden disappeared after buyinga pack of cigarettes and bubble
(20:13):
gum from a convenience store onRoute 108 in Newton, new
Hampshire, on March 22, 1980.
In Newton, new Hampshire, onMarch 22nd 1980.
And, for geographical purposes,newton is approximately 40
miles, or approximately 64kilometers, southeast of
Manchester.
Police are pretty insistent,though, that these two cases are
(20:35):
unrelated, even though theyboth resemble each other and are
from towns near each other.
So she has also never beenfound.
Another case that has beenclosely linked to Lorene's case
was that of 15-year-old ShirleyMcBride.
Shirley was last seen leavingher sister's house on Union
Street in Concord, new Hampshireon July 13, 1984, around 9.30
(21:00):
pm.
On July 13th 1984, around 9.30pm.
Concord is just about 18 and ahalf miles or 29 kilometers
north of Manchester, so it'salso pretty close.
Shirley McBride has never beenfound and her family has to do
the agonizing part of declaringher legally dead, which they did
(21:21):
12 years after she went missing.
Lorraine's aunt, diane Pinault,describes her niece as quote an
angel who hung around with thewrong people for a while,
unquote.
Her mother, judith, believesthat some of the people whom
(21:42):
Lorraine surrounded herself withknow more about Lorraine's
disappearance than they arewilling to say, know more about
Lorene's disappearance than theyare willing to say.
The boy who was with Lorene thenight of her disappearance
committed suicide in 1985.
He was never a suspect in herdisappearance.
She believes that it was herdaughter who placed those
mysterious calls from Californiathat night in October of 1980.
(22:07):
Judith remarried in the late1980s and relocated to Florida.
She still hangs on to the hopethat her daughter is out there
somewhere and they will bereunited once again.
Investigators continue to workLorene's case and still believe
foul play is involved.
(22:32):
Laureen's case and still believefoul play is involved.
Laureen was last seen wearing awhite v-neck sweater, a blue
plaid blouse, blue jeans andbrown shoes.
She was also wearing aheart-shaped gold ring and a
silver and blue necklace.
She was 14 years old at thetime of her disappearance and
would be almost 59 years oldtoday.
No-transcript.
(23:22):
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
If you like our show, pleasegive us a five-star review on
Apple Podcast or on Spotify.
And for all the latest updateson the cases we cover, follow us
on any of our social mediasites and I will post those
links in our show notes.
(23:42):
And if you have an idea for acase you'd like us to cover,
drop us an email atgoneinablinkpod at gmailcom.
And last but certainly notleast, be safe, be smart and try
not to blink.
At 14 years old.
You can be easily influenced byyour peers, your friends and
pretty much everyone you chooseto surround yourself with.
But sometimes the ones that aredrawn to you are not always
drawn to you for the rightreasons, and sometimes you may
(00:31):
not even know the person who isdrawn to you A stranger, someone
who has had their eye on youall along.
Maybe you are their type, youall along.
Maybe you are their type.
(00:51):
Maybe they see you as being toonice or too understanding or
too vulnerable.
Maybe you're young and naive.
Whatever it is, they found theone, their target, and they
won't stop until they have you.
This is the case of Lorene Ron,and this is Gone in a Blink.
(01:24):
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and welcome to
episode 35 of Gone in a Blink.
(01:44):
Spring is almost here and theweather is getting warmer, which
I absolutely love.
We definitely have spring feverat our house and I'm ready to
get outside and plant flowers,relax on the deck and watch the
sunset and really just be so, soglad that the frigid temps are
behind us.
(02:05):
Of course, now that I say that,the cold weather will probably
come back with a vengeance.
So you really can't get toocomfortable.
Here in the Midwest, to bequite honest, we've literally
been known to have all fourseasons in one day.
It's seriously insane.
So today's case is one out ofManchester, new Hampshire.
(02:25):
Today we are talking about thecase of missing 14-year-old
Lorene Rahn.
So if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Lorene Rahn was born on April3rd 1966 in Manchester, new
Hampshire, and she was prettymuch raised by her mother,
judith, as her parents ended upgetting a divorce when Lorene
(02:48):
was just an infant.
By the time Lorene turned fouryears old, she and her mother
moved to Miami, florida.
However, they didn't end upmaking it their permanent home,
and six years later they endedup moving back to Manchester.
By 1980, lorene appeared to beyour typical 14-year-old girl.
She loved to sing and dance andshe had aspirations of becoming
(03:12):
an actress, though she was alsosaid to have been a bit
troubled.
Lorene spent much of her timealone.
She drank alcohol, smokedmarijuana and often talked about
running away.
She attended school at ParksideJunior High, where she had a
group of friends that she lovedhanging out with when she wasn't
(03:33):
alone.
At this time, lorene and hermother were living in a third
floor apartment on MerrimackStreet.
Little did Judith know thiswould be the same apartment that
her daughter would go missingfrom just a short time later.
April 26th 1980 was just likeany other day.
(03:53):
Lorene spent most of the dayhanging around the neighborhood
before stopping in at a localconvenience store where she was
seen by some of her friendsrestocking shelves with wine
coolers.
It was later questioned ifmaybe she was doing this in
exchange for alcohol.
That, however, has not actuallybeen confirmed, so we're not
(04:16):
really sure what she was doingor why she was doing that.
It's just kind of an assumption.
Throughout much of the day,several family members had
stopped by the apartment andnothing had ever been reported
as being out of the ordinary.
Judith's boyfriend, who was aprofessional tennis player, had
a tournament that weekend, soJudith planned to go out of town
(04:37):
to attend the tournament, andin the past Lorene would tag
along with her mother and hermother's boyfriend to attend the
tennis tournaments.
However, this was duringLorraine's spring break from
school and she really justwanted to hang out with her
friends.
So she asked her mother if shecould stay home that weekend,
and her mother obliged.
(04:58):
That evening Lorraine had acouple of friends over to the
apartment to hang out One femaleand one male friends over to
the apartment to hang out onefemale and one male.
The three of them shared asix-pack of beer and a bottle of
wine and sat around justtalking and being typical
teenagers.
So at around 12 30 am on April27th, lorene and her male friend
(05:20):
were sitting in the living roomwhen they heard voices in the
hallway of the apartmentbuilding.
Afraid that it might be Judithreturning home, lorene's friend
jumped up and hurried out theback door for fear he might get
in trouble.
The male friend later toldauthorities that he specifically
heard the door lock behind himas he was leaving.
(05:42):
Judith and her boyfriendreturned to the apartment around
1.15 am to find that the lightbulbs in the hallway on all
three floors of the apartmentbuilding had been unscrewed,
leaving the hallways completelydark.
When they reached, in thedarkness, for the front door,
they discovered that it wasunlocked.
(06:02):
Once inside, they found thatthe back door was left wide open
.
Judith glanced around theapartment, noticing what
appeared at first to be Lorenesleeping in her bed.
After Judith moved closer toLorene's room, she realized that
it was not actually Lorenesleeping in her bed, but instead
it was the female friend thathad been hanging out with Lorene
and the other boy was thefemale friend that had been
(06:24):
hanging out with Lorraine andthe other boy at the apartment.
Earlier that evening Her friendtold Judith that she had been
sleeping in bed with Lorraineand that Lorraine later decided
to take her pillow and blanketand move to the couch to sleep.
The female friend claims thatshe couldn't really remember
much about that night because ofthe fact that she had been
drinking.
So while searching theapartment, judith found that
(06:48):
Lorene's purse, as well as herclothing and money, were still
there.
Judith began calling familymembers immediately to see if
anyone had seen or heard fromLorene.
Judith and her boyfriend thenbegan to search the neighborhood
for any sign of her daughter.
Around 3.45 that morning theyflagged down a police officer
(07:09):
and reported Lorene missing.
So I just wanted to touch on thefact that the light bulbs in
the hallways of all three floorsof the apartment building were
unscrewed.
We have seen this type of thingfar too many times.
In fact, we just saw the samescenario in the last episode we
covered in the Teresa Butlercase.
(07:30):
Someone unscrewed the lightbulb from her porch light right
before she went missing, andthis seems to be a common tactic
and one that, in my opinion, isextremely creepy, and if you
haven't listened already to theprevious episode on Teresa
Butler, I seriously recommendyou doing that because it's so
(07:52):
insane.
It's so incredibly insane thatthis type of thing is happening
far too frequently in cases, andit puts the victim in a really
scary and yet very vulnerablesituation where you cannot see
who is at the door, such as inthe Teresa Butler case, where,
just to theorize, she may haveheard a knock at the door, went
(08:15):
to look out the window or thepeephole and couldn't see
anything because it was pitchdark.
The abductor is hoping she'llopen the door right, and when
she does, she falls victim.
Now I'm unsure of all thedetails surrounding Lorene's
disappearance.
However, we know that the lightbulbs were unscrewed, making
(08:36):
the hallways dark.
The front door was unlocked andthe back door was open.
So, just to theorize once again, her male friend had just left
out the back door and he claimshe heard the door lock behind
him.
This was sometime around 1230am.
Judith and her boyfriendreturned to the apartment around
(08:57):
130 am, so there's only about aone hour window.
The female friend is asleep inLorene's bed and never hears a
thing, so is it possible thatsomeone was watching the
apartment, then made their wayinto the building to unscrew the
light bulbs, saw the malefriend leave and then knocked on
the door to Lorene's apartmentsoon after.
(09:19):
Lorene answers the door,thinking maybe her male friend
returned or that maybe it washer mother.
And herne answers the door,thinking maybe her male friend
returned or that maybe it washer mother and her boyfriend at
the door, since they thought thevoices in the hallway were
Lorene's mom and boyfriendanyway.
So maybe she answers the doorand they force their way in and
then out the back door withLorene.
I don't know.
There were no reports ofanything being taken from the
(09:42):
apartment and Lorraine's purseand money were still there,
unless maybe that's not why theywere there in the first place,
maybe they were there only forLorraine.
So just trying to think of allthese different scenarios or you
know, I don't I don't typicallylike to theorize things, but
just trying to get a feel forwhat they were, even after in
(10:04):
the first place.
Whatever it was, it was totallypremeditated because of the
light bulbs being unscrewed.
So police thought in thebeginning that Lorene was a
runaway, and that is typicallythe first place police go with a
teenage missing persons case,especially back in the 1980s.
Judith, however, did notbelieve that her daughter ran
(10:25):
away, mostly because of the factthat she left her purse and her
clothes behind.
Nothing appeared to be missingand after a few weeks police
slowly began to retract theirtheory that Lorene was a runaway
and begin to believe thateverything looked as if Lorene
had left the apartment on herown accord, but planned to only
be gone for a short period oftime.
(10:48):
Then, on October 1st 1980,judith noticed that she had been
charged for three phone callsplaced in California.
One was from a motel in SantaMonica to another motel in the
area of Santa Ana.
The third call was made to ateen sexual assistance hotline.
(11:09):
Judith thought this was strange, since she didn't even know
anyone who lived in California.
When questioned, the physicianwho tends to the teen sexual
assistance hotline initiallydenied knowing anything about
the calls.
However, in 1985, so five yearslater he changed his story, and
(11:32):
anytime anyone changes theirstory in a situation such as
this, it's almost always a hugered flag.
I mean, why lie about it?
It's kind of where I'm at withthat.
But the physician admits fiveyears later that numerous young
runaway girls had visited hiswife at their home and it was
(11:52):
possible that one of them mayhave been from New Hampshire.
He claimed that his wife usedto work in the fashion industry
with a woman by the name ofAnnie Sprinkle and that she may
have information pertaining toseveral runaway girls.
It was soon discovered thatAnnie Sprinkle was a well-known
name in the adult entertainmentindustry and was involved in
(12:16):
numerous adult films.
Police viewed several of thesefilms in the hopes of spotting
Lorene.
Police viewed several of thesefilms in the hopes of spotting
Lorene.
However, nothing was ever foundand Sprinkle has not been
linked to Lorene's disappearance.
So I just want to make thatclear.
Annie Sprinkle was apparently,like I said, a huge name in the
(12:42):
adult entertainment industry inthe 1970s and 80s.
She has since quit the adultentertainment industry and is
now a big figure in sexeducation.
After going back to school toreceive her doctorate in human
sexuality In 1986, a privateinvestigator traveled out to
California and visited the twomotels that were involved in the
phone calls back in 1980.
(13:08):
It was discovered that one ofthese motels may have been used
by an individual involved inchild pornography who went by
the name of Dr Z.
After further investigationinto Dr Z, authorities were
unable to link him to the teensexual assistance hotline or to
Lorene's disappearance.
So this case seems to beleading in the path of a lot of
(13:31):
sketchy activity and people whoare intertwined into some very
questionable things.
And I feel like those phonecalls linking the mother of a
missing teenager, which Judithgets the charges for these calls
.
So you're linking Judith to twomotels clear across the country
, one of which has been tied tochild pornography, and then a
(13:53):
call for a teen sexualassistance hotline manned by a
physician who lies about beingconnected in the first place.
I just think there is a strongpossibility that those charges
on Judith's phone could be astrong lead in the right
direction, maybe down the pathof sex trafficking is kind of
(14:13):
where my mind goes and childpornography.
It's all just very strange thatthis is the path that those
charges have led to.
There had been some otherpossible leads after Lorene's
disappearance that had raised alot of questions as well.
In 1981, one of Lorene's familymembers claimed to have seen a
girl that matched Lorene'sdescription at a bus terminal in
(14:37):
Boston Massachusetts.
In Boston Massachusetts, anemployee for the bus company
told authorities that he sold aticket to a girl who matched
Lorene's description on the daythat she disappeared.
A driver who worked for the buscompany initially confirmed
that the girl he dropped off inPark Square, boston, was Lorene,
based on a photo.
(14:58):
The driver was later questionedagain and claimed that he
wasn't sure at that pointanymore if the girl he dropped
off was Lorene or not.
For almost a year and a halfafter Lorene's disappearance,
judith would receive anonymousphone calls on a frequent basis.
The calls would always come inat 3 45 am and no one would say
(15:21):
a word on the other end.
For several years after Lorenewent missing, an unknown caller
would always make calls toJudith around the Christmas
holidays, and after the call wasanswered, the person on the
other end would sit in silencefor several seconds before
ending the call.
Judith couldn't take theheartache any longer and she
(15:42):
eventually changed her number,and this too, in my opinion, is
just another thing that kind oftakes me into the possibility
that maybe she was in facttrafficked.
Is it so far-fetched to believethat just maybe that was her on
the other end of that phone,somehow possibly getting access
to a phone at certain times,which could explain the frequent
(16:05):
phone calls to Judith at 3.45am, as well as the calls made
around the holidays.
So what if she had beentrafficked or kidnapped and her
kidnapper is away or something'sgoing on at 3.45 am where she
can have access to that phoneand she reaches out to her mom,
(16:26):
which I don't quite know why shewouldn't talk unless she is
unable to talk on her endwithout getting caught?
That's a possibility, a lot ofthis in my own personal opinion,
and I want our listeners tobuild your own theory on this,
because right now that's all wehave is theories.
But in my own opinion I thinkthat this goes into the path of
(16:52):
trafficking.
In 1986, a childhood friend ofLorene's by the name of Roger
Morris received a phone callfrom a woman and when Roger's
mother answered, the caller saidthat her name was Lori and that
she was a former girlfriend ofRoger's.
The caller remains unknown tothis day.
Lorene's aunt, janet Roy, alsoclaimed that on numerous
(17:16):
occasions since Lorene wentmissing, a young woman would
call her home asking to speak toher son, michael.
When Michael would come to thephone, the caller would remain
silent.
The caller would ask to speakto Mike initially when, when
Jana answered the phone, mikewas a nickname that only Lorene
(17:38):
would refer to him as, and Janabelieves the caller was Lorene.
So there were also some otheryoung women who disappeared
right around the time ofLorene's disappearance.
Whether these otherdisappearances are linked to
Lorene's remains to be seen.
However, they weredisappearances that occurred
very close to where Lorene waslast seen.
(18:01):
That occurred very close towhere Lorene was last seen.
25-year-old Denise Denaultlived two short blocks from
Lorene and went missing from abar in Manchester just six weeks
after Lorene disappeared.
Several years later, policediscovered that suspected serial
killer Terry Peter Rasmussen,who went by the name Bob Evans,
(18:22):
was living in that area at thetime, and Rasmussen was
convicted of killing his wife inCalifornia back in 2003.
Police believe that Rasmussenwas possibly involved in as many
as six more murders and ordisappearances, one of which was
the disappearance of DeniseBoudin, who disappeared in
(18:44):
Goffstown in 1981.
She has also never been found.
He has also been linked to theDeerbrook murders, which
involved the murders of fourwomen whose bodies were found in
the Bearbrook State Parkbetween 1985 and 2000.
And if that wasn't crazy enough, one of the female victims was
(19:06):
in fact Rasmussen's ownbiological daughter.
Rasmussen was also linked tothe untimely death of
17-year-old Elizabeth Lamott,who disappeared from Manchester,
new Hampshire, on April 6th1984.
Elizabeth was last seen at ayouth development center.
Her lifeless body was foundnaked at the Geraldstown
(19:30):
Tennessee exit on Interstate 81.
She had been beaten and stabbed.
The medical examiner determinedthat her ultimate cause of
death was a single blow to thehead.
Rasmussen died in 2010.
What is strange in this case isthat Rasmussen lived a mile and
(19:50):
a half away from where Lorenedisappeared, and both Lorene and
Denise both held a strikingresemblance to each other,
despite the age difference.
Denise also has never beenfound.
Then, one month before Lorenewent missing, 15-year-old Rachel
Garden disappeared after buyinga pack of cigarettes and bubble
(20:13):
gum from a convenience store onRoute 108 in Newton, new
Hampshire, on March 22, 1980.
In Newton, new Hampshire, onMarch 22nd 1980.
And, for geographical purposes,newton is approximately 40
miles, or approximately 64kilometers, southeast of
Manchester.
Police are pretty insistent,though, that these two cases are
(20:35):
unrelated, even though theyboth resemble each other and are
from towns near each other.
So she has also never beenfound.
Another case that has beenclosely linked to Lorene's case
was that of 15-year-old ShirleyMcBride.
Shirley was last seen leavingher sister's house on Union
Street in Concord, new Hampshireon July 13, 1984, around 9.30
(21:00):
pm.
On July 13th 1984, around 9.30pm.
Concord is just about 18 and ahalf miles or 29 kilometers
north of Manchester, so it'salso pretty close.
Shirley McBride has never beenfound and her family has to do
the agonizing part of declaringher legally dead, which they did
(21:21):
12 years after she went missing.
Lorraine's aunt, diane Pinault,describes her niece as quote an
angel who hung around with thewrong people for a while,
unquote.
Her mother, judith, believesthat some of the people whom
(21:42):
Lorraine surrounded herself withknow more about Lorraine's
disappearance than they arewilling to say, know more about
Lorene's disappearance than theyare willing to say.
The boy who was with Lorene thenight of her disappearance
committed suicide in 1985.
He was never a suspect in herdisappearance.
She believes that it was herdaughter who placed those
mysterious calls from Californiathat night in October of 1980.
(22:07):
Judith remarried in the late1980s and relocated to Florida.
She still hangs on to the hopethat her daughter is out there
somewhere and they will bereunited once again.
Investigators continue to workLorene's case and still believe
foul play is involved.
(22:32):
Laureen's case and still believefoul play is involved.
Laureen was last seen wearing awhite v-neck sweater, a blue
plaid blouse, blue jeans andbrown shoes.
She was also wearing aheart-shaped gold ring and a
silver and blue necklace.
She was 14 years old at thetime of her disappearance and
would be almost 59 years oldtoday.
No-transcript.
(23:22):
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
If you like our show, pleasegive us a five-star review on
Apple Podcast or on Spotify.
And for all the latest updateson the cases we cover, follow us
on any of our social mediasites and I will post those
links in our show notes.
(23:42):
And if you have an idea for acase you'd like us to cover,
drop us an email atgoneinablinkpod at gmailcom.
And last but certainly notleast, be safe, be smart and try
not to blink.
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