Elinor Carnevale, 28, disappeared from Lowell, Massachusetts, on September 6, 1969, after recently separating from her husband and moving back in with her mother. She left behind two young children and, by most accounts, remained devoted to visiting them after moving out. Just days earlier she had received a $3,500 car-accident settlement and bought a 1966 sedan.

On September 8, 1969, that sedan was found abandoned in the St. John’s Hospital parking lot in Lowell with the keys in the ignition and her purse on the front seat containing $4. Carnevale had also left about $400 in cash at home, which her family says argues against a planned long absence. A friend reported she’d been discouraged and had mentioned possibly going to California or Ohio; the husband said she called on August 18 to say she was staying at a Boston hotel, but police could not confirm that call.

Investigators questioned a man she had been dating; he passed a polygraph. No conclusive leads have emerged and the case remains classified as an endangered missing person investigation.