Laureen Rahn

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Manchester Police Department (NH)

Missing From:

Manchester, New Hampshire

Summary:

Laureen Ann Rahn disappeared April 26 or April 27, 1980 from her Manchester, New Hampshire home at age 14. Foul play is suspected. Forty-six years later, she has never been seen or heard from again.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Judith Rahn's then-boyfriend was a professional tennis player, and he and Judith were out of town at a tennis tournament when Laureen disappeared on April 26, 1980. She normally accompanied them, but that day she had asked to be allowed to stay home and her mother agreed. This was during spring break at Laureen's school. That evening, Laureen, a male friend and a female friend spent some time drinking beer and wine in Laureen's apartment. At some point during the evening, Rahn's male friend left the apartment after hearing voices in the hallway, assuming Rahn's mother was returning home. Her female friend remained at the apartment. Upon Judith's arrival home after midnight, she found that all of the lightbulbs in the apartment building's hallways had been unscrewed. In the apartment, Judith saw a figure sleeping in her daughter's bed and assumed it to be her; however, she then discovered it was in fact Rahn's female friend who had slept in the bed. Her friend claimed to have seen Rahn going to sleep on the couch. According to the New Hampshire State Police, on Sunday, April 27, 1980, at 3:45 a.m., the Manchester Police responded to reports of the missing teen. On the night she went missing, Laureen left behind all of her personal belongings, including her clothing and money. Because there were no signs of a struggle within the residence, investigators believe she may have left willingly, possibly with someone she knew, intending to return shortly.

Additional Details:

In October of that same year, Judith discovered odd charges made to her home phone. Three calls had been made three months after Laureen went missing from a motel in Santa Monica, California. Two of the calls were made to a motel in Santa Ana and one to a teen sexual assistance hotline. An investigator visited California on Judith's behalf in 1986 and located the two motels involved in the October 1980 phone calls. Authorities said that one of the establishments may have been used by a child pornographer named "Dr. Z." Investigators were unable to link "Dr. Z" to the teen hotline and it is not known if child sexual abuse images were involved in Laureen's disappearance. In 1981, after the receipt of the October 1980 phone calls, a close friend of Rahn's aunt Jobeth Swanson claimed to have seen her at a bus terminal in Boston; this sighting remains unconfirmed. A witness reported that a sex worker in Anchorage, Alaska matched Laureen's description. The unconfirmed sighting occurred in 1988 and authorities said that the witness based his recollections on her 1980 photo. The woman was not believed to have been Laureen as a result of the time lapse. The boy who was drinking alcohol with Laureen on the night of her disappearance committed suicide in 1985. He was never considered a suspect in her case. New Hampshire authorities are not publicly linking the disappearances of Rahn and Daneault to Rasmussen; they tell Boston 25's Bob Ward there is no evidence connecting Rasmussen to those cases. The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit and the Manchester Police Department continue to actively pursue leads. Beyond traditional investigative methods, officials are now utilizing modern forensic technology that was unavailable at the time of her disappearance.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 27, 2026