NH LAUREEN ANN RAHN: Missing from Manchester, NH - 27 Apr 1980 - Age 14

204DFNH - Laureen Ann Rahn
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The second and third images are age-progressed to 37 and 46 years.

Name: Laureen Ann Rahn
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: April 27, 1980
Location Last Seen: Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

Physical Description
Date of Birth: April 3, 1966
Age: 14 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 90 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She has a scar on her upper leg.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. Four fillings in four teeth, occlusal fillings in teeth 14, 18, 19 and 30.
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: White v-neck sweater, a blue plaid blouse, and blue jeans.
Jewelry: Heart-shaped gold ring and a silver and blue necklace.
Additional Personal Items: Brown shoes.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Rahn was last seen at her mother's Merrimack Street apartment in Manchester during the evening hours of April 27, 1980. There were no clues at the apartment where she last was seen, and there was nothing to be learned from the two friends who had seen her within an hour of when she disappeared.

Laureen's mother found that her October 1980 phone bill included charges for three calls placed from Santa Monica, California on October 1. She immediately decided that Laureen must have placed the calls. With the help of Santa Monica police, Rahn discovered that two of the calls were placed from a motel pay phone to a motel in nearby Santa Ana. The third call was to a hotline for teens who had questions about sex. Police investigators contacted the doctor who ran the hotline, but apparently were unable to find out what he knew. An investigator followed up on the hotline tip in 1985. A man identifying himself as a plastic surgeon answered the call. He said that numerous runaway girls occasionally visited his wife at their home. He also told the investigator that one of the young women may have been from New Hampshire.

An investigator visited California in 1986 and located the two motels involved in the October 1980 phone calls. Authorities said that one of the establishments may have been used by a child pornographer named "Dr. Z." Investigators were unable to link "Dr. Z" to the teen hotline. Authorities suspect that foul play was involved in Rahn's disappearance.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Manchester Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Sahnnon Jackson
Agency Phone Number: (603) 668-8711
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 80-14688

NCIC Case Number: M155458350
NamUs Case Number: 2392

Information Source(s)
NamUs
New Hampshire Department of Justice
Manchester Police Department
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

edited by staff to add media link
 
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40 years after disappearance, family holds out hope for Laureen: ‘In my heart I want to believe she’s alive…’

Forty years ago today, on a rainy Saturday morning, 14-year-old Laureen Rahn left her 239 Merrimack St. third-floor apartment never to be seen again.

She was an A-student at the then Parkside Junior High School on April 27, 1980, when she disappeared.

The night before, she and two friends, a girl her age and a 21-year-old man, according to her aunt JoBeth Swanson of Manchester, were in the apartment drinking beer and wine. Her mother, Judith Rahn, had gone out for the night with her tennis-pro boyfriend.

It was April school vacation week and Laureen, who usually accompanied them to tennis matches, wanted to stay home and her mother let her.

Late that night, the friends heard voices in the hallway and the man, believing it was Laureen’s mother, hightailed it out the back door. He told police he heard Laureen lock the door behind him.

But it wasn’t Laureen’s mother. Ultimately, the friend fell asleep in Laureen’s bed and Laureen went to sleep on the couch.

When Mrs. Rahn and her boyfriend arrived home about 1:15 a.m. the hallways were pitch black on all three floors. Someone had untwisted the light bulbs.

The front door to the apartment was unlocked and she assumed the girl in the bed was her daughter. Her boyfriend, however, questioned why the back door was open and Mrs. Rahn went to wake up her daughter and discovered the girl in the bed wasn’t Laureen.

They immediately began searching for the teen but, not finding her, called police at 3:45 a.m. to report her missing.



Laureen’s mother believed her daughter was alive in part because, she told reporters, of telephone calls she said she received around 3:45 a.m. over several years. When she picked up, the caller said nothing. The calls were more frequent at Christmastime.

Detective Lucas Hobbs, currently assigned to cold cases, said there is nothing in the official police file about those calls.

And then there were three calls charged to her phone bill from California. Two of the calls were made to hotels and the third one was to a hotlin for teenagers with questions about sex.

According to published reports, Rahn called the number and the “doctor” who ran the program denied knowing anything about the calls.

Mrs. Rahn told news reporters that an investigator she hired later discovered that “Dr. Z” was having young girls stay at his home and he was manufacturing child pornography.

Hobbs said there is nothing in the official police file about any of those phone calls either.

If an investigator discovered that, he said, he did not report it to Manchester police.

The man who was with the teens the night of Laureen’s disappearance later committed suicide. Police have said he was not considered a suspect.

About 10 years ago, police received a tip that Laureen was seen in Massachusetts. Detectives, however, confirmed that the individual seen was not her.

Swanson said she hoped an article about her niece, should she be alive, would let her know that family members haven’t forgotten her and think about her often.
 
View attachment 8142View attachment 8143

Possible this UID?

I don't think the UID is Laureen. 8Shape of the chin, Lips. The bridge of Laureen's nose was wider and flater. The woman's nose is more bulbous. Laureen's eyes were deeper set.
 
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I have read extensively about Laureen. The friend who later commited suicide wasn't that much older 21. I don't say that lightly. And IIRC She left her brand new tennis shoes behind. I believe they were "Nike" brand. They ruled the man out. I don't recall a reason given. He seemed like the most likely suspect. And later committing suicide. IIRC about 10 yrs after her disappearance. Teens often seek advice about sex from hotlines. They are strangers, They don't judge them and they can usually get reliable facts. I'm not sure why Laureen would run away all the way to California. I'm sure it wasn't to go into pornography. I believe this Dr. Z does know more than he was telling. There was a woman associated with him that got into trouble more than he did. I will have to get that info. Dr. Z gets buried in folklore. I think her friend that was staying overnight would have given information if she knew anything. Especially when she realized Laureen would have been in danger.
 
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The phone calls that mother states she was getting. Said became more frequent around Christmas. IDK. No words were spoken. It is hard to say. I personally think if she was alive she would have made contact with her Mother from 1980. There is no mention that there was abuse in the home. Her mother being selfish. Yes. IMO.
 
The unscrewing of the light bulbs bothers me. On all three floors. Not breaking them like teens do. But by someone not wanting to be seen. Maybe they were there alot. That's why the 21 Yr old sticks in my head.
 
This article also discusses "Dr.Z" and "Annie Sprinkle". It states in the article that Laureen went missing from a Motel in "Santa Monica, CA". After. I don't know how they came up with that.
 
Interesting. In another thread "Denise Ann Denault" it is mentioned that "Terry Rasmussen" was a POI in her disappearance and she disappeared from the same town in 1980 also except she was 25. Some say her and Laureen resemble each other. I can see it a little. But IMO Rasmussen didn't go after a specific type. However it certainly is odd and worth noting.
 
The unscrewing of the light bulbs bothers me. On all three floors. Not breaking them like teens do. But by someone not wanting to be seen. Maybe they were there alot. That's why the 21 Yr old sticks in my head.
That totally creeps me out. Like they wanted the area dark so they couldn't see someone taking her out of there.
 
A few thoughts off the bat after readng this. Probably a couple more to come.

First off it was a third floor apartment. Next they heard someone apparently on the third floor and thought it was her mother, so the male slipped out the back door and heard the missing girl lock the door behind him. Well, I'd like to know if this is a big building with several apartments on the third floor or is it an old house say with one third floor walk-up? So there was a back door with a lock he heard? Was this a balcony? A balcony with fire stairs/exit going down or what? Did he jump from the third foor? And then it says it was not Judith, but never mentions who they heard in the hallway so who was it? Who were they visiting? Was it residents?

And then who unscrews light bulbs on the other floors when this family lives on the third floor? What would that have to do with the third floor??

Right off both of these things sound quite odd to me.
 
A few thoughts off the bat after readng this. Probably a couple more to come.

First off it was a third floor apartment. Next they heard someone apparently on the third floor and thought it was her mother, so the male slipped out the back door and heard the missing girl lock the door behind him. Well, I'd like to know if this is a big building with several apartments on the third floor or is it an old house say with one third floor walk-up? So there was a back door with a lock he heard? Was this a balcony? A balcony with fire stairs/exit going down or what? Did he jump from the third foor? And then it says it was not Judith, but never mentions who they heard in the hallway so who was it? Who were they visiting? Was it residents?

And then who unscrews light bulbs on the other floors when this family lives on the third floor? What would that have to do with the third floor??

Right off both of these things sound quite odd to me.
yeah, I'm not buying his story here, either or we are missing a whole lot of info.
 
yeah, I'm not buying his story here, either or we are missing a whole lot of info.
Yeah. And then... I guess her gf could end up in her bed and the missing girl on the couch, hard to say... Gf says last time she saw her was on the couch. Mom assumed she was home because saw someone in missing daughter's bed... I don't know...... Just one person in daughter's bed when mom came home what a great cover if one wanted to take off with a guy or otherwise, etc.... Buys time until next day most likely... Not saying it is not possible and even likely but it also leaves just it looking like only the "daughter" is there when mom gets home...
 

New Hampshire unsolved case file: Where is Laureen Rahn?​

A Manchester girl has not been seen or heard from since her disappearance in 1980.

Police said they have followed up on thousands of tips that took their investigation as far away as California and Canada. But despite that, the case remains unsolved.

Foul play is suspected in this case.

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