Name: Susan Walsh
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: July 16, 1996
Location Last Seen: Nutley, Essex County, New Jersey
Date of Birth: February 18, 1960
Age: 36 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6
Weight: 110-120 lbs.
Hair Color: Bleached blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Light complexion. Scar on her right wrist. Talks with a distinct Garden State accent. Manic-depression. Substance abuse, alcohol and drugs.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Black tank dress and black sandals.
Jewelry: Gold ring with a black stone.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Walsh was last seen at her home in Nutley, New Jersey on July 16, 1996.
Walsh had been depressed and had attempted suicide.
She was a journalist, and occasionally worked as a stripper to support herself. Walsh had written a string of freelance stories for the New York weekly. Her most acclaimed article told how the Russian mob forced immigrant women to work in strip clubs. She also worked on her master's degree in writing at New York University.
At the time of her disappearance her life had taken on a downward spiral. She had started drinking after 12 years of sobriety, and was getting sick.
She was off her medicines and became increasingly paranoid, telling friends she was being targeted by stalkers and mobsters. She also worked as an exotic dancer at some skeezy places.
Her estranged husband told police that she went to use a pay phone less than a block from their Washington Street apartment in Nutley. According to police there is no record of any outgoing calls made from the pay phones near Walsh's apartment the morning of her disappearance.
Walsh and her son lived on the ground level of a rundown brick tenement in a mostly commercial strip on Washington Street. Her husband lived in a connecting basement apartment below. She left her purse, keys, pager and 11-year-old son behind, and was never seen again.
Foul play is suspected.
Agency Name: Nutley Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 973-284-4940
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 0716
Agency Name: New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 800-709-7090
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 0716
NCIC Case Number: M945727001
NamUs Case Number: 9841
NamUs
The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, NJ) - Aug. 08, 1996
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 03/29/2024 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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