This week’s Flashback Friday case is from my home state of Ohio — albeit quite far away from where I grew up. Joanne Coughlin, an attractive 21-year-old aspiring actress, disappeared in December 1974, more than a decade before I was born. She was last seen en route to a spa in Youngstown. Whether or not she made it there isn’t clear; no one saw her, and while someone put her name on the sign-in sheet, her niece said the writing wasn’t Joanne’s. She was missed after she didn’t show up at her boyfriend’s house that night like they’d arranged.
Joanne certainly wasn’t acting like someone who was planning to walk out of her life: she paid her life insurance premium on the day she disappeared. Who does that just before they run away? The police have a very specific theory as to her fate, but they haven’t charged anyone in her case or named any suspects. After almost forty years, it’s possible whoever caused Joanne’s disappearance isn’t even alive anymore.
Nothing to do but keep looking, and hoping.
The Charley Project Blog 
Its very interesting to me that she paid her life insurance policy and then happened to go missing. Perhaps someone she knew closely was involved. I don’t know many 20 something year olds who even have life insurance policies. Sounds quite odd. Also the fact that someone signed her in where she was supposed to go that day. Someone who had intimate knowledge of where she was going. A boyfriend, friend, etc. Hope something comes of her case soon.
Maybe 20-somethings were more aware of their mortality back then? Maybe Joanne had some medical condition that she expected would shorten her life? I dunno.
I know a lot of jobs automatically give you a life insurance policy as part of your benefits package. This job I had once, when I signed up for benefits, offered $25k in life insurance (with double indemnity in case of non-natural death) if paid a small sum every month. I shrugged and put my name down. But I never paid any premiums myself; they were taken out of my paycheck automatically.
Her mother continued to pay Joanne’s Life Insurance Premium. Grandma had to have a Federal Judge, declare her daughter legally dead in 1986. The proceeds from the insurance were used in part, for reward money. No one ever attempted to claim the $3000., $4000. or $5000. reward for information on Joanne’s whereabouts. Youngstown, Ohio police claim my aunts case is still open.
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A short documentary was recently posted on YouTube! Search:
WYTV December Journal 1979 Whatever happened to Joanne Coughlin.
Please share!!!
Sincerely,
Debbie Burkey
Joanne’s niece
Maybe back in 1975 payments couldn’t be deducted automatically and you had to do them yourself?
I didn’t think about stuff like that when I was in my 20s..but then again, I wasn’t the most responsible person around back then. Just noticed a very striking coincidence that she disappeared the day that she paid the insurance, as opposed to the day before.
Hey Meagan, I’m a big Charley Project fan and I notice that you sometimes take requests for MP of the week. I was wondering if maybe you could do Ben Charles Padilla Jr. as the next MP of the week or maybe a future one.
Keep on doing what you do!
Sorry, I’ve decided not to do any MPs of the week that disappeared on foreign soil. Because the site is supposed to be for American cases and foreign cases are very much the exception, it would just kind of look weird. His case is a strange one though.
OK! And yes, very strange case indeed.
Her parents could have started the policy for her and she kept up the payments when she was over 18. I think it was far more common “back in the day” to get life insurance if you could – due to the wars and Depression there was more of a sense of mortality and “what if” than there has been since the 80s. When a relative passed, it turned out they had about 5 different policies because they bought a cheap one whenever they had the opportunity to do so. There were also people selling policies door to door so you didn’t have to really think about it and seek out an agent.
Youngstown, Ohio is known for it’s organized crime, (mafia) & official corruption. At the time Joanne went missing, a woman presented my aunt’s bank book and attempted to withdraw money from her account.
Police did not charge the woman. My grandmother was told the woman was a police informant, her life would be endangered. Two men known to police, were said to have made this woman go to the bank. They were never charged either.
Joanne did pay her life insurance premium the day she was last seen. $12.27….the day 12/27. This should have been solved. Shame on those involved.
Thank You, for posting about my favorite Aunt…Joanne Coughlin. I know it will never be solved, but I still wonder what happened. I still think of her and what it did to my family to loose her. I was only 11. At 51, it still upsets me. Especially during the holidays. Bless You and the Charley Project.
I was a member of that spa back then. It was segregated in so far as men were assigned different days then women. Women would have been the only ones there the afternoon she was to have been there. If someone signed her in it would have been a woman. I can’t remember the spa name right now but it was the one that had the statue of the man holding up the world. This case has always intrigued me because I was there the evening she was supposed to have disappeared.
That’s interesting information Jan. Thanks for sharing. Recently, the detective working this cold case, came to collect my DNA. Maybe this new interest will spark a new lead.
Jan,
The name of the spa was European Health Spa.
Debbie, any new leads?
Hi Mike, Detective Sargent Sweeney, from the Youngstown Police Dept, collected DNA from me last year.
Her Namus file has been updated,with this information. Still searching, 45 years.
Bless you, and your enduring love