OR JOAN LEIGH "JOANIE" HALL: Missing from Warrenton, OR - 30 Sept. 1983 - Age 17

Joan Leigh Hall

Joan, circa 1983; Age-progression to age 52 (circa 2018)

• Missing Since09/30/1983
• Missing FromWarrenton, Oregon
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• SexFemale
• RaceWhite
• Date of Birth02/24/1966 (54)
• Age17 years old
• Height and Weight5'3 - 5'6, 110 - 120 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA green hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, a blue jacket and maroon and white sneakers. Carrying a blue and white backpack and a brown purse.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Joan's ears are pierced. Her nickname is Joanie. Her hair was cut short at the time of her disappearance. It develops blonde highlights in the summer.

Details of Disappearance
Joan was last seen walking down Main Street in Warrenton, Oregon between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. on September 30, 1983. She had left a local store and was on her way to Warrenton Grade School. She never arrived there has never been heard from again.

Joan was a senior at Warrenton High School in 1983, and was considering a career in law enforcement after graduation. Just before her disappearance, she was elected the first female president of the Clatsop County Sheriff's Department Explorer Post.

She is the youngest of six children and is described as a reliable teenager who didn't smoke or drink alcohol. Her family stated she wasn't having any problems and would not have run away from home.

Joan is missing under suspicious circumstances and her loved ones believe she was murdered. Both her parents died within a month of each other in 1994, but her siblings are still searching for her.

Joan Leigh Hall – The Charley Project

MEDIA - JOAN LEIGH "JOANIE" HALL: Missing from Warrenton, OR since 30 Sept. 1983 - Age 17

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

In One Ear: Where’s Joanie? - The Astorian

Diver Juan Heredia was persuaded by Dena Rush to come to Warrenton and try to find Joanie Hall's remains in Cemetery Lake. By Elleda Wilson

dailyastorian.com

Sept. 30 marked the 42nd anniversary of the date that Warrenton High School student, 17-year-old Joan Leigh Hall, went missing. She was last seen that afternoon walking on Main Avenue in Warrenton, and getting a ride from a local boy at the Mini-Mart. Foul play was, and still is, suspected, but her body was never found.

Dena Mattox Rush has been advocating for answers about what happened to Joanie, and has been the administrator of the “Joanie Hall Missing from Warrenton, OR since 1983” Facebook page for 19 years.

The most recent attempt to find Joanie happened Sept. 28, when diver Juan Heredia of the Angels Recovery Dive Team, of Stockton, California, who normally does not work on old cases, was persuaded by Dena to come to Warrenton and try to find Joanie’s remains in Cemetery Lake, near Ocean View Cemetery.

A psychic once predicted that Joanie might be in the water by a tree behind the cemetery, and many took her seriously. Juan went to the location predicted to be Joanie’s grave, but at this time of year, the area was covered with lily pads, and it was tough going. “(It) was hard to get to the bottom and near the tree, but I did it,” Juan wrote. “I wasn’t able to touch anything solid … .”

He knew that “the chances were very slim that the psychic was right, or that we’d find something after so long.” And he didn’t. “But it was worth the try,” he said. “Thank you all for your prayers and support.” You can watch the dive on his Facebook page at tinyurl.com/JuanDiver.

“In cold cases it’s extremely important to do ‘rule outs,’” Dena posted. “In fact, it’s a vital part of working a cold case. So, if nothing was found during this dive, we want people to understand that this search was still extremely successful.”