Circumstances of Disappearance
Garden was last seen at a Rowes Corner Market on Route 108 in Newton, NH at approximately 9:00 PM on March 22, 1980. After she paid $5.00 for a pack of cigarettes she left the store heading north toward North Main Street. Garden was a regular customer at the store.
Garden was a ninth-grade student at Sanborn Regional High at the time of her disappearance. She was the oldest of four children. In her free time, Rachael often walked the quarter-mile down to Rowe's Corner Market, looking for some excitement. Sometimes she went to the hill across from Maple Avenue, a place where local teens often congregated.
Rachael's parents called the police station at about 10 a.m. the next report their child missing. Rachael's mother said that she knew right away something was seriously wrong when Rachael did not return to the family's small cape on Main Street.

Rachael was considered a runaway by police in the first months after her disappeareance. She was described as a headstrong and rebellious teenager, fun-seeking and outspoken.
With a population barely over 3,000 people, Newton at the time, had only one full-time police officer.
Over the years police investigators have checked numerous leads including possible sightings, talked with people who knew her, worked with psychics, used dogs and excavated sites looking for remains.
She left behind her horse, her dental retainer and other possessions. He parents have consulted psychics and hired private investigators to no avail.
Years later at least two witnesses reported seeing Rachael talking to three young men in a dark car in the vicinity of Rowe's Market and Maple Avenue. Rachael was known to have associated with the young men before.