A Young Woman's Promising Start
Born on May 4, 1914, in Providence, Rhode Island, Etta Helen Riel was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, during an era when opportunities for women were limited but expanding. She was an intelligent, ambitious young woman who pursued higher education at Worcester State Teachers College, a path that suggested she was determined to build a career and support herself in a world where many women were expected to marry young and focus solely on domestic life.
During her high school years in Worcester, Etta began dating a classmate named Henry "Red" Sawin. Their relationship didn't last through graduation, but they maintained contact even after Henry went on to attend Bates College in Maine. Remarkably, Henry helped pay for Etta's college tuition, suggesting their relationship, while no longer romantic, remained cordial and supportive.
Henry's own college career was short-lived. He dropped out to work at a garage in New York, a decision that would later become significant in the events that followed. Meanwhile, Etta continued her education while living with her family in Oxford, Massachusetts, working toward her teaching degree.
A Life-Changing Development
In 1934, Etta's life took a dramatic turn when she became pregnant. The father's identity would become the central question that ultimately led to her disappearance. In May of that year, Etta filed a paternity suit against Henry Sawin, claiming he was the father of her unborn child. Henry vehemently denied the accusation, setting the stage for a legal battle that would have profound consequences for both of them.
In September 1934, Etta gave birth to a daughter she named Alma. As an unmarried mother in the 1930s, Etta faced significant social stigma and financial hardship. Single motherhood was not just socially unacceptable; it could be economically devastating. Women had limited job opportunities, and the support systems we know today simply didn't exist.
The paternity hearing was scheduled for November 22, 1934, a date that would prove fateful for everyone involved.
The Night That Changed Everything
The evening of November 21, 1934, began like many others. Etta was visiting her friend Teresa when Henry Sawin appeared at the door around 10 PM, asking to speak with Etta privately. This uninvited visit, coming just hours before the paternity hearing, immediately raises questions about Henry's motivations and state of mind.
What happened during their private conversation remains one of the case's greatest mysteries. However, we know that after speaking with Henry, Etta was seen with him by her hairdresser later that evening. Around midnight, an Oxford police officer spotted Henry's car near the Riel family home, providing crucial evidence that Henry had indeed been in the area.
Shortly after midnight, Etta entered her family's house alone. She woke her sisters as she moved through the house, packing a small bag with deliberate efficiency. Her explanation to her confused siblings was both hopeful and heartbreaking: she and Henry were going to New York City to get married. She promised to return later that week to collect baby Alma.
Before leaving, Etta wrote a note to her family, reassuring them that she would be back soon and asking them not to worry. It was a message filled with hope and optimism, suggesting she believed she was embarking on a new chapter of her life that would solve her problems and provide security for her and her daughter.
This was the last time anyone would see or hear from Etta Riel with certainty.
The Hearing That Never Happened
November 22, 1934, arrived with no sign of Etta. The paternity hearing proceeded without her, but her absence spoke volumes. This was not a woman who would casually skip such an important legal proceeding, especially one that could determine her child's financial future.
When Etta's sister Alice encountered Henry by chance that day, his story had already changed dramatically from what Etta had told her family the night before. Gone was any mention of marriage or a trip to New York together. Instead, Henry claimed he had simply dropped Etta off at Union Station in Worcester so she could catch a train and leave town.
Henry's revised account was troubling for several reasons. He denied asking Etta to marry him, contradicting what she had told her sisters. He continued to insist he wasn't Alma's father, despite Etta's paternity claim. Most disturbing of all, he suggested that Etta was suicidal and claimed he didn't know where she had intended to go.
This dramatic shift in Henry's story immediately made him a person of interest in Etta's disappearance. The police began questioning him intensively, but Henry maintained his innocence while continuing to paint Etta in an increasingly negative light.
Strange Calls in the Night
One of the most bizarre aspects of Etta's disappearance emerged when police investigated the timeline more carefully. Between 2 and 4 AM on November 22nd – in the crucial hours after Etta left her family's home – the Worcester train dispatcher received three mysterious phone calls, all concerning Etta.
Two women and one man called asking about Etta specifically. Most strangely, one caller claimed to be the Oxford switchboard operator and requested that Etta be denied entrance onto any train. When police investigated, they discovered that the Oxford switchboard operators had made no such calls, and the true identity of the callers was never determined.
These calls suggest that someone was actively working to prevent Etta from leaving Worcester by train, or at least to track her movements. The timing – in the early morning hours when most people would be asleep – makes them even more suspicious. Who would be awake and concerned enough about Etta's whereabouts to make such calls? And why would someone want to prevent her from boarding a train?
A Forged Message
The mystery deepened on December 2nd when Etta's attorney, Frank Jablonski, received a telegram supposedly from Etta herself. The message stated that Henry was not Alma's father and instructed Jablonski to drop the paternity case. However, when authorities traced the telegram, they discovered it had been sent from a New York City payphone using a fake address.
This forged communication was particularly damaging because it seemed designed to benefit Henry Sawin directly. If Etta had truly sent such a message, it would have resolved the paternity case in Henry's favor. The fact that it was fake suggested someone was actively working to manipulate the legal proceedings – but who?
Other Suspects and False Leads
While Henry Sawin remained the primary person of interest, police investigated other potential leads. Joseph Gauthreau, a prize fighter and tap dancer from Connecticut, had been a friend of Etta's and had received a letter from her just three days before her disappearance. However, when police examined the letter, they found nothing incriminating, and Joseph was cleared of suspicion.
In 1935, a young woman named Frances Bottomley came forward with an elaborate story about living with Etta for ten days in Boston before heading to Cape Cod. According to Frances, Etta had revealed her true identity during the trip and fled when Frances urged her to turn herself in to police. However, Frances's credibility was severely compromised when Portland police revealed she had given false information in multiple cases. Her mental state was further questioned when she attempted suicide in police custody and was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.
Public Sightings and Searches
As news of Etta's disappearance spread, reported sightings began pouring in. In December 1934, employees at a beauty parlor claimed a woman identifying herself as "E. Riel" had come in for hair services. When shown Etta's photograph, the salon workers insisted they had seen her.
In February 1935, city employee John T. Dorey reported seeing Etta on the streets, wearing the same clothes she had disappeared in and asking for money. A local psychic even claimed Etta was being held hostage by a woman, though this lead proved as fruitless as the others.
Curiously, despite Etta's disappearance occurring in November 1934, newspapers didn't begin covering the story until February 1935. This delay in media coverage may have hindered the investigation by allowing crucial early leads to go cold.
Revealing Letters and Emotional Turmoil
In February 1935, Detective Edward McCarthy revealed that friends of Etta had received letters from her that painted a picture of a young woman struggling with suicidal thoughts. However, these letters also showed Etta's determination to live for the sake of a man she loved, whom she was determined "to protect."
The letters revealed Etta was facing "obstacles of religion, family, and finance" in her romantic life but expressed hope that she and her unnamed love interest had "patched up our difficulties, particularly our religious ones." As late as October 8, 1934, Etta had written that she "wanted to kill [herself] last Sunday" but decided to keep living for the man she loved, "as I have always done."
These letters provide crucial insight into Etta's emotional state in the months before her disappearance. They suggest she was dealing with significant personal struggles but had found reason to hope for a better future. The timing of these revelations, coming months after her disappearance, raises questions about why they weren't discovered earlier.
Desperate Searches and Grave Exhumations
In April 1935, the search for Etta reached unprecedented levels. Over 300 volunteers and police officers conducted extensive searches of Worcester County, scouring both ground and multiple ponds. Despite their efforts, they found no trace of Etta.
The investigation took an unusual turn when authorities began to suspect that Etta might have died and been mistakenly buried in the wrong grave. Acting on this theory, Detective McCarthy ordered the exhumation of Louis Diuzbicki's grave. Diuzbicki had died on November 20, 1934, just one day before Etta's disappearance, leading to speculation about a possible mix-up.
However, when the grave was opened, it contained exactly what it should have: Louis Diuzbicki's remains. Multiple other graves were also exhumed, but none contained any trace of Etta.
A Final Lead and Decades of Silence
In 1937, Detective McCarthy received what he believed was a credible tip from a former classmate of Etta's, claiming she was alive and living in a Midwestern city. McCarthy considered this lead reliable enough to announce it publicly, but like so many others, it led nowhere.
After 1937, the case essentially went cold. Etta Riel had vanished as completely as if she had never existed, leaving behind only questions and a baby daughter who would grow up never knowing her mother.
The Daughter's Quest
Alma, Etta's daughter, was raised by her aunt and uncle, who told her the truth about her mother's identity when she became a teenager. However, they also told her that Henry Sawin was dead, apparently believing this would protect her from further heartache.
In 1986, at the age of 52, Alma discovered this was a lie when she saw Henry's 50th wedding anniversary announcement in a newspaper. Learning that the man she believed might be her father was not only alive but had lived a full life while she grew up without answers was devastating.
In 1990, Alma filed a paternity suit against Henry, now an elderly man. "A lot of people think that I want to find my father just for retribution. But that's not the only reason. I want to know who I am," she explained. Her lawsuit brought Etta's case back into the public eye, but no new developments emerged regarding her mother's disappearance.
In 1993, Alma's lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that the state paternity laws she referenced didn't cover adults, and Henry had never been legally designated as her father. According to Alma's lawyer and son-in-law, Paul Carlucci, Henry had willingly taken DNA tests that proved he was Alma's father, though no evidence of this claim was ever presented publicly.
Henry Sawin died in 1998 at the age of 84, taking whatever secrets he might have known about Etta's disappearance to his grave.
Two Lives Forever Changed
Alma Conlon died in 2006 at the age of 72, having spent her entire life searching for answers about both her mother and father. She had built a successful life as a secretary and reporter, married, and raised five children of her own. She was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Milford, Massachusetts, finally at rest after a lifetime of questions.
In many ways, Etta's disappearance destroyed two lives: her own, cut short at just 20 years old, and her daughter's, marked by a lifelong search for identity and truth.
Theories and Speculation
Nearly ninety years after Etta's disappearance, several theories persist about what might have happened to her:
Murder by Henry Sawin: The most obvious suspect remains Henry Sawin. His changing story, the timing of Etta's disappearance just before the paternity hearing, and the mysterious phone calls all point toward his involvement. Perhaps their conversation on November 21st didn't end with plans for marriage but with violence.
Suicide: Etta's letters revealed she had struggled with suicidal thoughts, though she seemed to have found reason to live. The social stigma of unwed motherhood in the 1930s was crushing, and the stress of the paternity case might have pushed her over the edge.
Accidental Death: Etta might have met with foul play from someone else entirely, or suffered an accident that left her body undiscovered in the vast wilderness areas around Worcester County.
Voluntary Disappearance: Though unlikely given her devotion to baby Alma, it's possible Etta chose to start a new life elsewhere, perhaps overwhelmed by the pressures she faced.
The Enduring Mystery
The disappearance of Etta Riel remains one of New England's most compelling unsolved mysteries. It's a case that encompasses issues still relevant today: single parenthood, domestic violence, economic inequality, and the vulnerability of young women in crisis.
Etta's story also highlights the limitations of 1930s investigative techniques and the challenges of preserving evidence and witness testimony over decades. The delayed media coverage, the reliance on potentially unreliable witnesses, and the lack of modern forensic tools all contributed to the case remaining unsolved.
Perhaps most tragically, Etta's disappearance created a generational cycle of loss and searching. Her daughter Alma spent her entire life seeking answers about both her parents, never finding the closure she desperately needed.
Today, both Etta and Alma are gone, but questions remain. Did Henry Sawin kill Etta to avoid the paternity suit? Did she take her own life under the crushing weight of social stigma and financial pressure? Or did she simply walk into the darkness of a November night in 1934 and meet with an accident or foul play that left no trace?
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Etta_Riel
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