I was watching this episode about a disappearence that I had recorded on tape a while back. Susan's story begins as she is portrayed as a stripper/dancer, an alcoholic trying to put herself through school. She later got married and settled down. But soon her marriege fell apart and she began stripping again. She did eventually get into her chosen career of journalism with a job at "The Village Voice," but continued to strip part time. She was involved with shaddy characters, and had began to use drugs again, both reasons that are attributed to her disappearence. Does anyone know if she was ever found?

she was the one with blonde hair, born in 1960. im from jersey its a missing case from jersey.. so far no updates on her.. I'm expecting foul play someplace

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/07/grace.coldcase.walsh/index.html

Nancy Grace's Cold Cases had an article.

didnt her story involve vampires??

shock80, damn that's a name I haven't seen in awhile.

didnt her story involve vampires??

Yes. I also believed that it involved exotic dancing and drugs, as well.

Two things which probably led more to her fate than wanna-be vampires. :rolleyes:

shock80, damn that's a name I haven't seen in awhile.

Aw the memories....:lol:

Here is Susan's page from the Charley Project:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/walsh_susan.html

I remember Susan Walsh's case, but well before it was on UM! I am originally from the NY area and i remember reading about her disappearance in the Daily News and the NY Post. Though both of these papers are major NY newspapers, they are also known for their "tabloid" or "sensationalist" style of reporting. IIRC, they also picked up on the vampire angle...a beautiful blond woman vanishes into an underground NYC subculture.
I too have seen Susan Walsh's profile on the Charley Project.

Yes mastermind I know but the vampire angle was the most intersting to me.

Saw the Spike version today. I also managed to catch the "preview" of the segment before the cut-to-commercial, which went like this:

Next, an ex-stripper writes about the world she knows oh-so-well, and disappears.

The casual, dismissive, campy tone of "oh-so-well" and the manner in which Farina uttered it kind of made me want to throw something at the television. The implication was evident: this was a wiiiiild woman, ready to delve into anything!

A woman disappears and you lead into her case with a verbal nudge-nudge-wink-wink about the fact that she was a stripper? Disgusting. Way to recognize a human being.

A woman disappears and you lead into her case with a verbal nudge-nudge-wink-wink about the fact that she was a stripper? Disgusting. Way to recognize a human being.


Would you expect anything less from Spike TV?:rolleyes: The supposedly "revamped" UM does the original airings a terrible disservice. I'd rather never see the show on TV again if it means having to wade through its current (and sometimes offensive) drudgery.

The only thing I recalled from Susan Walsh's case was the vampire subculture angle. Was this on the Lifetime airings back in the early 2000s? Did they push that part of the situation in the segment? I wonder why that's all I remember about her...

When I watched the lifetime segments, I was working full time at home and just tried to fit UM in when I could. I didn't usually pay attention to the whole show or even the details of a whole segment.

This lady had so much strange and negative stuff going on in her life, her disappearance could be anything from a random abduction to a russian mafia hit. Since she hasn't been found, I don't really think she succeeded in another suicide attempt, although it's possible, of course.

If the "vampires" were involved, I don't think it was a conspiracy to silence her because she was going to out them in an article. Coulda just been one vampire type who happened to be a killer. And if we've learned anything from true crime, it's that murderers range anywhere from little old grannies and church officials, to stereotypical tattooed, leather wearing, paroled felon, biker gang members.

(And I gotta throw this out there... the only "vampires" I've ever met are at hot topic. They stand behind the counter with their baby powdered faces and black dyed hair and sell me all my cool Invader Zim hoodies and GIR slippers. lol)

Maybe it was a random crime...I have no idea, this case leads in many directions.

IMHO I believe Susan Walsh was the victim of foul play, most likely connected to something she uncovered during her investigative reporting of the sex workers employed by the Russian Mob. The work she did for the book RED LIGHT unfortunately put her on the radar of an assortment of crime figures that weren't especially thrilled to have their actions brought into the public eye. I once interacted with a close friend of hers online, who said that, in addition to all of Susan's person affects (her purse, wallet, keys, etc) being left in her apartment on the day she vanished, there were several pages of her appointment book that had been ripped out for upcoming days later that month.

You all may want to listen to this episode of This American Life, which features a thirty-minute segment on Susan Walsh and her disappearance. It even mentions the UM segment filming!

It's a more-indepth look at Susan's life and who she was, while exploring the mystery. I feel for her and her family.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/55/three-women-and-the-sex-industry

OMG. Siamesemeg, your avatar is killing me. :)

I'm glad someone mentioned this case. I don't know if I've ever talked about it on the threads before. I absolutely think foul play is involved, but I'm less inclined to think there was a "supernatural" angle to it. I believe she went back to dancing to support herself, got mixed up with drugs and alcohol again, and was ultimately killed by a customer.

I think Susan Walsh, in the state of mind she was in when she dropped off her son, planned to return for him and had no intention right then to run off. I think she went back into the drug scene or possibly back to stripping(possibly to cope with her tumultuous feelings) and then met with foul play. From all accounts, she really loved her son, but she was very troubled. I think that's clear just from the interview taped with her and her editor catching her with slashes on her wrist, which she claimed she did out of curiosity. I think her troubles made her vulnerable and somebody harmed her. I wish we had more information on who might possibly have been following her around.

Saw the Spike version today. I also managed to catch the "preview" of the segment before the cut-to-commercial, which went like this:

Next, an ex-stripper writes about the world she knows oh-so-well, and disappears.

The casual, dismissive, campy tone of "oh-so-well" and the manner in which Farina uttered it kind of made me want to throw something at the television. The implication was evident: this was a wiiiiild woman, ready to delve into anything!

A woman disappears and you lead into her case with a verbal nudge-nudge-wink-wink about the fact that she was a stripper? Disgusting. Way to recognize a human being.


Glad I wasn't the only one pissed about that. I kept expecting him to start making jokes about g-string or something. Ugh.

Bumping this up. I feel like this is one of the least discussed missing persons cases.

Has anyone else watched the Disappeared segment?

Bumping this up. I feel like this is one of the least discussed missing persons cases.

Has anyone else watched the Disappeared segment?
https://vimeo.com/96401429
I uploaded Susan's Disappeared Episode to Vimeo if you would like to watch it.

Susan is definitely one of the most mystifying cases they've ever featured IMO. There's really so many possibilities in her case. Was the prostitutes story which she reported to police that she met Susan selling herself on the streets of Newark legit? Did she commit suicide or overdose? Was there a hit out on her in retaliation of the articles she wrote exposing the Russian mafia? Did Susan start a new life somewhere? or does the answer lie closer to home?

One thing I found evident in the Disappeared episode Mellisa Hines, Susan's friend completely left out the story about her seeing Susan a month after her disappearance when she saw Susan standing next to a black car with a man got into the car and drove off. Susan did mention this in the Unsolved Mysteries episode, I wonder if she has since changed her mind about seeing Susan that night. The retired police sheriff did make mention of it slightly that when he tracked the man down, he reportedly said he believed that he was with Susan around that time, but he could not be certain if it was her.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/55/three-women-and-the-sex-industry
Here is an interview of a more-in depth look at Susan's life and her the people she worked with. It includes a man who believes he knows what happened, he however said he will only talk if they do not use his name and obscure his voice. He says he believes Susan was killed in a ''fatal attraction''. And was talking to a man who has been ''beeping'' her on her pager all the time. Probably the same one that was recorded in the ''stripped'' documentary IMO.

Susan also has a Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Susan_Walsh

https://vimeo.com/96401429
I uploaded Susan's Disappeared Episode to Vimeo if you would like to watch it.

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Thank you. I've seen it before, but I'd like to watch it again. I'll post my thoughts after my re-watch.

Interesting case as it seems her ex husband,the guy who was stalking her and the Mafia could have all been responsible for her death. I would defo rule out suicide or OD because her body would have been found sometime after.

I posted a thread about this case awhile back regarding an intriguing comment that was left on the unsolved.com entry for Susan's disappearance. I'll link it below, but it basically was from someone who knew her husband Mark's brother, and was told by his brother that Mark murdered Susan in their apartment during an argument.

It is certainly a viable theory IMO, especially given that Mark never allowed police to search the apartment or perform any tests (this was confirmed in a NY Post article from years back).

Here is the thread: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=356804

I posted a thread about this case awhile back regarding an intriguing comment that was left on the unsolved.com entry for Susan's disappearance. I'll link it below, but it basically was from someone who knew her husband Mark's brother, and was told by his brother that Mark murdered Susan in their apartment during an argument.

It is certainly a viable theory IMO, especially given that Mark never allowed police to search the apartment or perform any tests (this was confirmed in a NY Post article from years back).

Here is the thread: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=356804


Just saw this for the first time. I read the UM wiki entry on her before I finished the segment though (link (http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Susan_Walsh)) and my first inclination was that she had fallen back into the gutter and either OD's or possibly committed suicide.

Saw that post regarding the comments of Mark's brother though and am pretty sure now that Mark did it. What baffles me though is why the cops just gave up on him without a fight though, if that story his brother told is true, it would seem they could seal things up rather quickly.

Just saw the Susan Walsh UM segment (S09). Hard to believe it's been 25 years since she disappeared - and her body still hasn't been found...I do think she's deceased at this point.

Based on the segment, she seemed like a devoted mother - so I don't think she would have intentionally left her son....but, then again - if you believe the father (her ex), she left the boy with him - so if that's what happened, she left the son with someone that could take care of him.

IMHO it's extremely plausible that her life stressors/issues got to be too much for her so she turned to drugs/alcohol - and, she may have died of a drug/alcohol related death. As far as her body having never been found - it's possible that after she passed, her body was taken somewhere because the people she was with were scared they would get blamed for her death and/or that they would be in trouble due to the drug use. This possibility was mentioned in the segment.

Or, she was killed as a result of the research she was doing for her stories; i.e., she got "too close" to the truth, etc.

As far as the alleged sighting of her a month after the disappearance - it may have just been a red herring.

I think she either left to lead a transient lifestyle or took her own life.