Episode 91 Mary Jane Croft Van Gilder Update Part 1 of 2
Mary Jane Croft VanGilder went missing in 1945. We originally covered her case in episode 8 of Missing Persons. She had left her family in WV to escape an abusive relationship. She traveled to OH where she took a warehouse job, and routinely sent letters and war bonds home to her children. In February, 1945, she filed for divorce. The following month, she quit her job and vanished. Her family had searched for her ever since. Decades after she went missing, Detective Adam Turner was tasked with trying to do what seemed impossible- figure out what happened to Mary Jane decades before when she vanished. It was an uphill battle, but against the odds, through hard work and refusal to give up, Detective Turner solved the mystery. He found out that Mary Jane Croft Van Gilder had started her life over as Mary Jane Sebren. She possibly re-married, and then had additional children. She lived the rest of her life without either of her 2 families knowing about the other before she passed away in 1990.
In this episode, the first of two parts, we recap what happened, and what we know, and we re-play our original interview with Mary Jane's daughter, Anna. In our next episode of Missing Persons, we will have an all new interview with Detective Adam Turner who breaks down just how he was able to solve this case, and what else he knows about Mary Jane's disappearance, and new life.
To listen to our full original episode on Mary Jane's case, visit this link.
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