A Compassionate Girl, A Devastated Community. What Happened to Lynn Burdick?

Lynn Burdick lived in Florida, Massachusetts with her parents. She has been described as shy, reliable & compassionate and also a good student.

As well as spending a lot of time looking after her mother, who was poorly with emphysema & asthma, she did lots of volunteering and charity work in her community.

At 15 she began to work in a local store, the Barefoot Peddlar, which was less than a mile from her home.

At 18 years old, it has been said that Lynn had become more outspoken and independent, although still remained fairly straitlaced, preferring to help out in her community rather than go out drinking and partying.

The disappearance

On Saturday, April 17th 1982, Lynn had been shopping with her mother, who dropped her at the Barefoot Peddlar at 4 pm where she was working the closing shift alone until 9 pm.

During her shift, Lynn spoke to her sister at around 7.30 pm, who said she sounded a bit strange but didn't think too much of it.

Her cousin Suzanne also called and during their conversation, a customer entered the store so Lynn ended the call to serve customers, she hung up the phone around 8.05 pm.

At around 8.10 pm Lynn's cousin Roy came into the store with some friends. He is the last known person to have spoken to her.

Lynn's family tried to call her at the store between 8.10 & 8.30 pm, there was a storm coming and they wanted to see if she needed a ride home, the phone was never answered.

Reported missing

At around 8.40 pm, a customer entered the store, the doors were open, the lights were on, but the store was empty, he knew the family and contacted them to let them know Lynn wasn't around and Lynn's brother went to the store to look for her, he then called the police.

When the police arrived, they noted that the store appeared to look normal, with no signs of a struggle. Next to the counter was a half-empty bottle of drink and a book face down.

However, when they looked at the cash register, it had been rifled and it was calculated that $187 was missing, unfortunately, at this time there were no time stamps on receipts so it could not be determined when the last purchase was made.

Lynn's purse and school jacket were missing.

The Search

When the police arrived, an immediate search began and state police were also requested to join. Police believed this to be a possible abduction, as it was thought to be unlikely that Lynn would have left on her accord without telling her family.

Multiple units searched, but the rain, hail and snow made it somewhat difficult. However, the search went on into the following day.

On Sunday, the fire department, Florida police, state police and over 100 volunteers continued to search. Throughout the next two weeks, neighbouring towns were searched, including the roads leading in and out of Florida, additional volunteers came forward, helicopters and planes were used and even water levels were dropped in order for waterways to be searched.

A forensic search of the Barefoot Peddlar was also conducted, but no evidence was uncovered.

The volunteers and searches gradually dwindled over time as people had to return to their jobs and no clues or evidence had been found.

An attempted abduction

Around an hour before Lynn’s disappearance, a college student from nearby Williams College Campus had escaped an attempted abduction.

A man in a dark-coloured car had called her over asking for directions but as she got closer, he grabbed her and tried to force her into the car. The girl bit him on his right hand and managed to run off and notify the police.

She later gave a description of the vehicle as dark in colour and in good condition, with a light blue interior, bucket seats, and rectangular rear lights.

It was later reported that a vehicle of this description was seen heading at a high speed in the direction of Florida.

A sketch of the driver was later released to the public but nothing further came of this.

There has been no evidence or clues found to this day.

What are your thoughts? ♥️