Girl Wondered How Mom Could Leave Her at a Year Old – 40 Years Later, a Police Discovery Solved Mom’s Disappearance

A woman faced significant challenges after her mother left. She developed a tendency to attribute her struggles to her mom abandoning her at the delicate age of one. Four decades later, she finally obtained the long-sought answers she had been longing for.

On March 11, 1982, Connie Christensen, who was raised in the Wisconsin area, disappeared, leaving her one-year-old daughter, Misty LaBean, in the care of a family member. Unbeknownst to her, this marked the last time LaBean would lay eyes on her mother.

Throughout her life, LaBean questioned the reasons behind her mom abandoning the family when she was only an infant. Christensen's disappearance from Wisconsin four decades ago wasn't unexpected for other relatives; she had previously left as a teenager, even spending time at a carnival.

Recalling her feelings after becoming a mother herself, LaBean expressed, "After my own kids were born, I was like, how could she have left me like that? I would never do that to my kids."

The rest of the family, wounded and unwilling to discuss Christensen, believed she had chosen to walk away at the tender age of 20. Little did LaBean know that during all those years, strangers hundreds of miles away were actively seeking answers to the same mystery.

Eventually, those in pursuit of the truth established the connection, and a grown daughter eventually came to understand that her mother's departure might not have happened out of her own free will.

Unraveling the Mystery

Initially, a sketch artist employed a clay bust to reconstruct the face of remains discovered in December 1982 in Jacksonburg, Indiana, according to Lauren Ogden, the chief deputy coroner at the Wayne County Coroner's Office. Found by hunters near Martindale Creek in a rural area used for hunting and farming, the remains suffered extensive damage from flooding, leading to their storage at the University of Indianapolis.

Investigators, delving into family social media and obituaries, discovered that Christensen had vanished from her family's public record.

Despite the challenges, the coroner's office persisted in identifying the remains. Advancements in science over the years shifted from drawings to extracting delicate strands for precise identification.

In 2021, the Wayne County Coroner's Office revisited the evidence, attempting DNA extraction to identify the remains. Initial and subsequent attempts failed due to insufficient genetic material. Chief Ogden and her team then tried a DNA extraction from a foot bone.

During this time, a member of Christensen's family, exploring genealogy, encouraged DNA record submissions to public sources, aiding in family tree construction. DNA matching, celebrated for personal history exploration, has also linked victims to criminals like the Happy Face Killer. Eventually, it helped lead authorities to the Golden State Killer.

It took 42 years for the police to make a breakthrough in the case of the Golden State Killer, the masked gunman who terrorized California in the '70s and '80s with a series of killings, rapes, and assaults. The crime spree, beginning in 1976 and lasting a decade, saw the serial killer target communities from Sacramento to Orange County.

A suspect eluded authorities until April 24, 2018, when they apprehended Joseph James DeAngelo, a 73-year-old former cop believed to be the Golden State Killer. DeAngelo faced 13 counts of murder with special circumstances, including murder during a burglary and rape, along with 13 counts of kidnapping for robbery.

Connecting the Dots

In the Golden State case, authorities leveraged the GEDmatch genealogy and DNA database to connect crime-scene DNA with potential suspects identified through DNA profiles or genealogical data from public services, following the guidance given by Christensen's relative.

The Wayne County Coroner's Office, working with the DNA Doe Project, utilized this technique alongside DNA from the foot bone of the Martindale Creek remains. Within 24 hours, the DNA Doe Project narrowed down potential DNA links to the Christensen siblings. Investigators, delving into family social media and obituaries, discovered that Christensen had vanished from her family's public record.

To confirm the findings, Chief Ogden from the coroner's office reached out to the missing woman's daughter, LaBean. In a moment of tense anticipation, Ogden, as a complete stranger, asked for permission to collect a cheek swab from LaBean.

The DNA match confirmed Christensen's identity, unveiling not only her existence but also the grim detail of her demise—a gunshot wound. "Our hearts go out to Connie's family, and we were honored to bring them the answers they have sought for so long," volunteer and genealogist Missy Koski stated.

This revelation sparked a cascade of new inquiries, including the circumstances that brought Christensen to Indiana, the identity of her assailant, and the motives behind her tragic end.

Finding Closure

LaBean visited the location near Martindale Creek, where her mother's remains were discovered, contemplating how the killer managed to take Christensen so far from the nearest bus line.

Discovering the truth about her mother's absence brought mixed emotions for LaBean–a sense of relief in understanding the real story but also anger for the missed opportunity to know her mother. She expressed hope that increased publicity about the case might lead to more answers for her family.

Even in the absence of additional information, learning what happened to Christensen eased the tight grip her family had held on her memory, offering closure to the child who had long questioned her abandonment.

"The biggest thing is I've always loved animals. And then I found out that [my mother] really liked cats. That's kind of something I got from her," expressed LaBean. She reclaimed her mom's opal ring, a symbol from her childhood, now worn around her neck as a mother herself. The closure provided by DNA and the retrieval of personal items marked a poignant full circle for LaBean.

Christensen's remains found a resting place among her relatives in April 2023, allowing her family to visit the site, leave flowers, and share quiet moments. Sadly, some longings, like LaBean wishing her mother could have styled her hair for her first middle school dance, will remain unfulfilled.

Yet, the grown daughter, alongside her entire family, is now eager to reintegrate the lost, young mother into a collective embrace as they grieve the profound losses endured over the decades. Christensen's obituary paints a picture of the family she could have had, highlighting the missed roles as a mother, grandmother, and beloved family member.

"Even just knowing what happened to [my mother], I feel like has helped, although, in some ways, it's also made it worse," shared LaBean, who now helps reunite missing persons with their families through social media.

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