VT PAULA JEAN WELDEN: Missing from Bennington, VT - 1 Dec 1946 - Age 18

1784DFVT - Paula Jean Welden​

Name: Paula Jean Welden
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: December 1, 1946
Location Last Seen: Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: October 19, 1928
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 122 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde hair worn in a long bob.
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Fair complexion with much color. Nose slightly turned up. Cleft in chin. Walks with a long, springy step, has erect carriage. Athletic type. Grayish scar on left knee. Vaccination mark on right thigh. Small scar under left eyebrow.

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Red parka jacket with fur trimmed hood, blue jeans, and white sneakers with heavy soled Top-Sider (size 6 1/2 or 7).
Jewelry: She was also wearing a small, goldElginladies wrist watch with a narrow black band. The watch has repairer's marking "13050 HD" scratched on the inside of the back case.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Paula Jean Welden was last seen at Bennington College while taking a walk on the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain during the afternoon.

On the day she vanished, she worked two shifts at the school's dining hall, came back to her room and conversed for a while with her roommate. Then, she told the roommate that she was through with studies, and was going to take a long walk. She headed out around 2:45 P.M. She was sighted several times as she was hitchhiking to the Long Trail, close to Bickford Hollow.

Vermont had no state police force at the time of her disappeance. The Governor called in police from New York and Massachusetts to help in the search. Weldon's disappearance persuaded local legislators to support the creation of the Vermont State Police.

Between 1945 and 1950, four other disappearances have occured in the area where Welden disappeared, earning the wilderness area the nickname "the Bennington Triangle."

At the time of her disappearance, Welden was an art student interested in water colors, oils, pencil and charcoal sketching. She had assisted a mural painter and also done black and white illustrations. She had also worked as a waitress. She liked skating, bicycling, hiking, camping, swimming, square dancing and playing the guitar.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: Vermont State Police
Agency Contact Person: Lt. Reg Trayah or Police Chief Richard Gauthier
Agency Phone Number: 802-241-5355
Agency E-Mail: reg.trayah(at)vermont.gov
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NamUs Case Number: Not listed
NCIC Case Number: Unknown

Information Source(s)​

Vermont State Police
Wikipedia: Paula Jean Welden
The Mysterious Disappearance of Paula Jean Welden
Bennington Banner News

1784DFVT - Paula Jean Welden

PAULA JEAN WELDEN has been missing from Bennington, #VERMONT since 1 Dec 1946 - Age 18

Paula Jean Welden was last seen at Bennington College while taking a walk on the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain during the afternoon.

www.crimewatchers.net

*CLICK THE REPORT BUTTON IF YOU'D LIKE THIS CASE MOVED TO THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AREA TO BE OPENED FOR COMMENTING.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

She went missing in New England in 1946; 77 years later, her case remains cold

The disappearance of Paula Welden in 1946, which remains unsolved to this day, led directly to the formation of the Vermont State Police.

www.masslive.com

• Published: Dec. 02, 2023, 2:05 p.m.
• By Jackson Cote | jcote@masslive.com

On Sunday, Dec. 1, 1946, Paul Welden left her college campus in Vermont, telling her roommate she was going for a hike. She never returned.

Nearly 80 years later, the disappearance of the 18-year-old Bennington College student, which directly led to the formation of the Vermont State Police in 1947, remains unsolved.

At the time of Welden’s disappearance, the struggle to find her showed a desperate need for a dedicated law enforcement agency to investigate missing people in Vermont. Investigators from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York were all called in due to the limited police services available in the Green Mountain State. A year later, the Vermont State Police was formed.

“VSP was born out of tragedy, the still-unsolved disappearance of 18-year-old Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden in late 1946,” Vermont State Police wrote in a Facebook post on the 75th anniversary of the agency’s formation in 2022. “The case ultimately rallied Vermonters and their political leadership to launch the Vermont State Police after many years of hesitation and debate.”



In the decades since Welden went missing, the cold case has haunted the college and state authorities alike. The area where she went missing around Glastenbury Mountain has been called the Bennington Triangle in the wake of her and four others’ disappearances between 1945 and 1950, the Brattleboro Reformer reported.

Friday marked the 77th anniversary of Welden’s disappearance. Information on the college student continues to be submitted to Vermont State Police. However, she is still listed as a missing person, and her case remains cold.

 

[Sunburst]

Anone else thinking SK, since others disappeared in the same area in 5 years?
Or were all of the disappeared pregnant? Back then unmarried and pregnant would be a major scandal, not only for the woman but for her family.