Cathy Moulton-Missing 42 Years

On September 24, 1971, Cathy Moulton from Portland, Maine planned to attend a YWCA dance in her hometown for the night. She was in need of new pantyhose and was dropped off on Cumberland Avenue by her father so she could do some shopping. That afternoon, she stopped by a music store to visit her friend. The friend confirmed that she had purchased some toothpaste and a new pair of pantyhose.She told her friend she was going to walk home and see her later at the dance. That was the last time her friend would ever see Cathy, as she never made it to the dance last night.
Cathy was last sighted walking home on Forest Avenue. She lived over a mile away from the music store, and her friend confirmed that she was carrying a brown leather clutch Mexican purse with her house key inside, panty hose, two tubes of toothpaste, and money. However, the amount of money she carried was not even enough to catch a ride home on the bus. She never made it home.
Cathy is thought to have gone missing before dinner time on her way home on Forest Avenue. It's not known how close to home she was on her way back that afternoon.

 Cathy vanished when she was 16 years old, and at the time was 98 lbs. and 5'4". She had four eyeteeth removed, wore thick and plastic heavy framed glasses and had braces. She has a white spot on her left elbow and flat moles scattered across her back, along with wart removal scars on her feet. Cathy was last seen with brown hair and blue eyes in 1971. She was wearing a blue coat for all seasons, navy blue pant dress, brown leather shoes, and panty hose which had runs in them. Her hair was dyed red at the time of her disappearance from downtown Portland.



There was a sighting of Cathy at Smyrna, over three hours away from her hometown of Portland. (Photo Credit: Maineencyclopedia.com)

Cathy's story is so broad because there is no evidence as to whether she was abducted or not, yet there are so many sightings of her in the same area. It's unknown where she was abducted from, or even why she is gone. However, investigators have always treated her disappearance as endangered missing. Investigators had a vague theory that Cathy accepted a ride from a boy she liked driving a Cadillac, but that she never intended to leave the area without notifying her family.
According to the Doe Network, police believed Cathy was taken to the Boston area, but the more recent investigation has focused on an area north of Portland. Weeks later, sightings also placed her  visiting around the Mars Hill area before getting taken to or dropped off at a camp in Smyrna with two males. Smyrna is about 3 and a half hours (or 234 miles) away from Portland. She was also placed as possibly being in Canada after she vanished or far northern Maine, possibly with people from Smyrna.
I did some research about Smyrna, and currently, the population there is about 415, which was most likely smaller in the 1970s. It is mostly wooded with very thick vegetation. I wonder why of all places Cathy would end up here, if the sightings are correct? Mars Hill is also a town in Maine. They are both only 45 minutes apart. It is confusing because Smyrna is along I-95, a clean shot from Portland, but Mars Hill (if it was the town she visited) is north east of Smyrna, way off the route that would make the most sense. Why would Cathy go to Mars Hill? Who would she know there? And who did she know from Smyrna that convinced her to stay in the area, if eye witness accounts are correct?

Investigators believe Cathy may have been picked up in a 1963 Cadillac similar (not the same colors as) the one in the picture. by a boy she liked.(Image Credit: Wikipedia.com)

One theory is that she ran away with her friend, Lester Everett. It's said they were spotted traveling in a stolen blue 1963 Cadillac. More sightings placed her with friend Lester Everett and another male working in a potato field 300 miles away from Portland. The witness said Cathy wanted to go home. This has not 100% been confirmed, and they located Lester, who said he had no idea where Cathy is.
I disagree with this theory. It'd be great if Cathy did leave, because than she may be alive and well today. However, I think Cathy would have taken more than toothpaste and a panty hose with her if she planned to leave. I believe her belongings weren't missing at home, and she just didn't seem to have a motive to runaway. I wonder if she fit in well at school? If she had any bullies who may have seen her while they were driving down the road and may have decided to do a last mean deed to her? Was she in with the right crowd? Or, perhaps this is a more probable theory, a predator she didn't even know came and abducted her on her walk home. If this road had any remote areas to it, I believe this is what happened to Cathy. She didn't purposely leave, she was taken. Her disappearance was reopened in the 1980s.

Cathy was sighted several times with two males in Smyrna, Maine, working at a potato farm, asking to go home. (Photo credit: CharleyProject.org)

In 1983, a hunter claimed to have found a skeleton near Smyrna, Maine surrounded by female clothing in the woods. However, he was not able to lead police to the site. With witnesses placing Cathy in Smyrna, and the hunter seeing a skeleton near Smyrna, detectives believe this was indeed Cathy. The area was searched for three days until they got snowed-out. This part just adds to the mystery of Cathy's disappearance.

Cathy was the oldest of all her siblings, and she was a junior at Deering High School. Her parents, Claire and Lyman Moulton, are searching to this day for answers to what happened to their daughter. According to Memories of the Missing from the Portland Press Herald, her parents are now in their 80s, and are hoping to find answers to her disappearance before they pass away. They still live in Portland, Maine.

 

 Please visit the source site to see an age progressed photo of Cathy. Maybe you've seen her, and just never realized it. If you have any information about the disappearance of Cathy Marie Moulton, please contact:

 

Portland Police Department

207-874-8533

Cathy Moulton age progressed photograph.

 

Source Sites:
www.charleyproject.org
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/20dfme.html
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ma..._to_me/?page=3
http://www.pressherald.com/news/memories-of-the-missing_2012-02-05.html?pagenum=full