Joan Webster

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Essex County Sheriffs Department (MA)

Offense Location:

Boston, Massachusetts

Summary:

Joan Lucinda Webster, a Harvard graduate student, disappeared on November 28, 1981, after returning to Boston Logan Airport from Thanksgiving break. Her skull was found on April 18, 1990, with the rest of her remains found on April 25, buried in a shallow grave in Hamilton, Massachusetts. The case remains unsolved; no one was ever charged.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On Saturday, November 28, 1981, Joan Webster disembarked from Eastern Airlines flight 960 to Logan Airport in Boston. The second-year Harvard Graduate School of Design student ended her Thanksgiving break short to return to her dorm at Perkins Hall. On her flight, Joan spoke with fellow passengers and waved to classmates at the luggage carousel. At approximately 10:30 p.m., after collecting her belongings, Joan stepped outside the Eastern terminal to the cab line and vanished. Taxi driver Fenton Allen Moore stated Joan tapped on his window and said "Cambridge." After Moore loaded Joan's suitcase in the trunk, Joan indicated a man was with her. The man exchanged words with the cabbie over a heavy suitcase, and announced, "I don't think we want this cab." Joan and the man moved to a blue car parked in the cab line. The person of interest was described as a middle-aged white male. He was under 6 foot and approximately 160 pounds. He wore glasses, an overcoat, and was described as having a beard.

Additional Details:

A classmate notified the family on December 1, 1981, that Joan had not returned to class. Family members filed two missing person reports, one in Massachusetts, and one in New Jersey. Three days later, she was listed as missing and evidence of foul play began falling into place: her purse and wallet were found in a marsh in Saugus, MA, and her suitcase turned up in a Boston bus station locker. On January 19, 1982, Joan's parents offered a $10,000 reward. The reward was increased up to $50,000 in October 1982. In February 1983, through the combined effort of the Suffolk District Attorney's Office and the report of a prison inmate's bragging, it was learned that Joan had been raped and hit over the head. Officials targeted Leonard Paradiso on or about January 20, 1982, when the police received an anonymous call implicating Paradiso for the Iannuzzi murder and Joan's disappearance. The first hurdle in the scheme was to arrest Paradiso for the murder of Marie Iannuzzi. Police had arrested Paradiso on July 6, 1982, for Marie Iannuzzi's murder. On July 21, 1984, Paradiso was found guilty of second-degree murder and of assault with intent to rape. Court records affirm the Malafemmena, the alleged crime scene for Joan's murder did not exist when Joan Webster disappeared on November 28, 1981. Judge Bruce Selya affirmed the boat did not exist by August 1981 when Paradiso filed for bankruptcy, nearly four months before Joan disappeared. On April 18, 1990, Karen Wolf Churgin, a veterinarian, was walking her dog on Chebacco Road in Hamilton. The area was remote and heavily wooded, and there were few residents in the isolated area. She discovered a human skull clogging a drainage ditch. Death was ruled a homicide caused by massive trauma from a blunt instrument to the head. The fatal blow left a 2" x 4" hole taking out the entire right side of the skull. Forensic dentist Stanley Schwartz identified Joan through dental records. The offender stripped Joan of all clothing. None of her belongings turned up in the area except a gold ring and neck chain that remained on the skeleton.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 29, 2026