Joan Hansen

**Joan Ellen Hansen** was a woman who vanished in 1962. Her husband, who she was in the process of divorcing, is considered a person of interest in her case.

## Background

Joan was born on July 19, 1932, She married a man who she went to school with and the couple had two children together. Unfortunately, their daughter died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Joan had an affair, which led to their divorce. The stress led Joan to be briefly hospital for "emotional issues" during this time period.

Joan then remarried Robert Milton 'Bob' Hansen, a fisherman and carpenter,  in 1956 or 1957. They had three children together, two sons and a daughter, during the first three years of their marriage.

Robert would physically abuse Joan on a regular basis, including while she was pregnant. Her children were afraid of him and he had once beaten her oldest son so severely he couldn't walk afterwards . The boy, who was six at the time, spent two months with her friend, Patricia Martin, before his biological father filed for custody of him.

In May 1962, Joan moved in with Patricia and went into hiding. She had told Patricia that she was fearing for her life. She also hired an attorney and filed for divorce. On August 8, 1962 Joan took out a restraining order against Robert which required him to move out of their home so she could move back in. Two days later she went missing.

## Case

Joan was last seen in King County,  Washington on August 10, 1962. That day she had returned home to retrieve her possessions while Robert was out. She was last heard by Patricia Martin who she was speaking to over the phone. Joan initially told Patricia that she was fine and that Robert wasn't there but suddenly said "Oh my God, he's in the basement. He's coming." She then screamed before the line went dead.

Patricia repeatedly attempted to call Joan back but at first no one answered the phone. However, Robert eventually answered and Patricia asked him were Joan was. In response, Robert said "She's with you."

Robert reported Joan missing on August 15, 1962. By this point she had already failed to show up at the World's Fair in Seattle were she planned to meet her sisters. Joan has not been heard from since her disappearance. All of her possessions were left behind except for a blue sequinned dress, which was one of her favourite outfits. She was declared legally dead in 1975.

Weeks after her disappearance, Joan's Chevrolet Biscayne was found in the Queen Anne Hill neighbourhood in Seattle. The tires were flat, the windows were rolled down and the interior of the car was filthy and covered in debris such as cigarette buts and empty bottles. This was unusual as Joan usually kept her car clean. No usable fingerprints, signs of foul play or indications of Joan's whereabouts were found at the scene. An extensive search of the area found no trace of her.

After her disappearance, there were rumours that Joan had been buried beneath a barn in Kent Valley, on a property the Hansen family had once owned. It originally had a dirt floor but a concrete floor was poured not long after she went missing. In 2006 ground penetrating radar was used to search a road where the bard was once located. However, no new evidence was uncovered.

Joan's attorney continued to work on her divorce in her absence. On November 21, 1962 the divorce was granted. While Robert accused Joan of stealing from him and denied abusing her a judge ruled that there was indeed sufficient evidence that Joan was abused by her husband. Joan was granted 40% of marital assets which was to be put in a trust fund for her children if she did not return alive. Joan's assets came under Robert's control and the children received nothing.

Robert remarried at least twice, possibly more times, after Joan vanished. He has been arrested several times for assault. On one occasion he held a woman who had responded to a housekeeping add on his property against her will for three days. He was also briefly suspected of being the Green River Killer, who was later identified as Gary Ridgeway. He is considered a person of interest in Joan's disappearance.

Joan's children grew up believing their mother had abandoned them. They would later describe Robert as extremely abusive. They had no contact with Joan's side of their family and did not know about what had happened to her oldest son. Her daughter died of a drug overdose in the 1980s but her sons are still alive and believe Robert murdered their mother.

Robert died of suicide in his home in Auburn, Washington in August 2009. In his will, he wrote that Joan had disappeared years ago and that she would not inherited anything from him. He also disinherited his children who he had been estranged from for years by this point. However, Joan's sons filed a wrongful death suit against his estate, alleging he'd caused their mother's death, and were awarded $100,000 in damages.

## Characteristics

* Brown hair.
* Brown eyes.

## Sources

* Joan Hansen at the *Charley Project*
* Joan Hansen at *NamUs*