Jennifer Fay Abduction 11/14/89 MASS

Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair, blue eyes. Fay has a scar above her left eyebrow. Her teeth are crowded in the front of her mouth. Fay's nickname is Jen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Details of Disappearance Fay was supposed to be baby-sitting her siblings in their Brockton, Massachusetts home on November 14, 1989, but decided to go out with friends. She initially took her younger brother with her, but between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. she returned to her home to get a sweater and asked her cousin to mind the children while she went to a party on Emerson Avenue. Fay's cousin came over at 10:00 p.m., and Fay then left her residence. She is said to have been in good spirits at the time. She never returned. Fay initially went to a female friend's house near her own home, but her friend was not at home and the girl's mother refused to let her inside. The mother says Fay smelled of liquor and appeared to be slightly drunk. Fay left the residence accompanied by an older teenaged male friend. They went to a local convenience store at the end of Fay's street, less than a minute's walk from her house. Fay went inside the store, but her friend didn't feel well and went home while she was inside. That was the last time anyone ever saw or heard from her. Fay was reported missing the next morning when she had not returned home from the party. The friend who last saw her is not considered a suspect in her disappearance. Authorities originally thought Fay had run away from home. She had run away several times before, but had never been gone very long and had always stayed in touch with her parents. Fay is described as a very social person who was reportedly happy with her life in 1989. Some of her friends were apparently involved with drugs and possibly other illegal activities, and many were not cooperative with police during the initial investigation. Investigators now believe Fay was abducted shortly after her disappearance, probably by someone she knew and trusted. In 2003, there was a tip that Fay was murdered and her body placed in the trunk of a car and dumped in a pond just outside of Brockton, minutes from her home. Authorities searched the pond but found no evidence. Fay's case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected. If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Brockton Police Department 508-941-0200 Last updated May 6, 2005. Charley Project

The Disappearance Of Jennifer Fay Exactly fourteen years ago, a brockton teenager disappeared just one block away from her home. For years, police thought jennifer fay ran away from home. But now there's a New lead in the case. And jennifer fay's family is working hard to make sure investigators stay on the case. Dottie Maclean, Jennifer's mother: "She was very happy go lucky. Very loving. She loved her family." Dottie Maclean last saw her daughter Jennifer in 1989. Dottie Maclean, Jennifer's mother: "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't break down and wonder where she is." November 14, 1989. Jennifer was supposed to be baby-sitting her brother and sister at their home in Brockton. Instead she went out with her friends, getting a cousin to watch the kids. Jennifer Fay never came home. Bob Ward, Brockton: "This is the last place that anyone ever saw Jennifer Fay. Right out in front of this convenience store. From here, police have no idea what happened to Jennifer. Sadly, this is only a block away from Jennifer's house." For years Brockton Police thought Jennifer ran away. But not her mom. Dottie Maclean, Jennifer's mother: "She wouldn't do that. This was right before Thanksgiving, Christmas, her birdthday, Christmas day. I mean, she wouldn't have done that." With no fresh clues to go on, he years have been agonizing for Jennifer's family. But things are changing. Dottie Maclean, Jennifer's mother: "This is the only real information of somebody coming forward and saying something that they have had in 13 years." There is news that Brockton Police have received a tip, that Jennifer Fay was killed back in November of 1989. And that her body was placed in the trunk of a car, then dumped into this pond just over the town line, just minutes from Jennifer's home. Jennifer's sister Yvette thinks its a solid lead. Yvette Churchill, Jennifer's sister: "It does look like a place you would go to get away from everybody. Have a few drinks and party." But when Jennifer's family was told about the lead, they were also told there may not be a search, because the information was not reliable enough. Yvette Churchill, Jennifer's sister: "You're talking about a body. A person. Not just some kind of junk you find on the side of the road. You're not searching for a piece of jewelry. You're searching for a person." So, Jennifer's family is stepping up public pressure for a full search of this site. They are even raising money. If police won't do it, they will. Dottie Maclean, Jennifer's mother: "what is it you want them to do? Try and find my daughter. Do whatever it takes to do that. Whatever it takes. To put divers into an area. I want them to do an extensive search of the area." The strategy is already working. In recent weeks, state police teams have taken a look here. Jennifer's family won't rest until they get answers. Yvette Churchill, Jennifer's sister: "That's my sister. Somebody took away my best friend. And I want her found." Dottie Maclean, Jennifer's mother: "I'm hoping they find her. And we can have some kind of closure, there. And then, hopefully, find whoever put her there." If you have any information on the whereabouts of Jennifer Fay, please contact Brockton Police at (508) 941 0200. Copyright © 2000 FOX Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Fox 25

Where is Jennifer.org Please contact our toll free hotline with any information you may have. Call: 866-882-2626 Day or Night Please leave your information anonymously or leave name and contact numbers for a return phone call from the investigation team From the Family Website.

Team hopes to find remains of missing girl Search targets field in W. Bridgewater By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | November 21, 2005 ROCKLAND -- For months, dogs trained to sniff out human remains have searched for Jennifer Fay's resting place. Finally, after working their way through fields and private basements across Southeastern Massachusetts, investigators are hopeful they may learn the fate of the teenager who disappeared more than 16 years ago. The 16-year-old left her home in Brockton on Nov. 14, 1989, to go to a party and never returned. Since then, her mother, Dottie MacLean, has imagined many scenarios of what could have happened to her eldest daughter. She was kidnapped. She was sucked into a cult. She was sold into the sex trade. Now, MacLean has had to face the growing possibility that her daughter is perhaps buried somewhere in a nearby town. ''Do I want them to find her? Yes. Do I want them to find her remains? No," she said in an interview at her house yesterday. ''But that's probably where this is headed." On Saturday, a team of about 15 private investigators, dog handlers, and search volunteers visited an overgrown field off Manley Street in West Bridgewater. The four dogs became interested in the site, and one went into full alert, wagging its tail and jumping up and down, the strongest reaction investigators had witnessed during their searches, said Phillip White, one of the private detectives volunteering for the Jennifer Fay Investigation Team. ''We have some strong intelligence; we have some good interviews," he said in a telephone interview yesterday. ''I think we're on a way to a successful conclusion to find out where Jennifer Fay really is." The team plans to return to the site in the coming days to find out if the animals' reactions are the same, he said. If the owner of the property agrees to let the team return for a more thorough search, the volunteers will sift the earth for human remains. If something turns up, a bone fragment, anything human, the site will become a crime scene, White said. MacLean, 52, said she plans to return with the team, as she has the other times the investigators visited a site with the dogs. MacLean, who has never held a memorial service for her daughter, thinks the chance she may find her remains is stronger this time, and that upsets her. ''Are they going to find her? Has she been there for 16 years?" she asked as she sat on her couch, wringing a paper towel and fighting back tears. ''It's hard." Fay, a slight, blue-eyed blond with an interest in drama and a fan of supermodel Christie Brinkley, was a happy teenager, MacLean said. The one time she ran away, she scurried to a friend's house and called her mother to tell her she was safe. About two months before her disappearance, she wrote her mother a note on lilac paper, apologizing for coming home late. MacLean still keeps the letter in a photo album of her daughter's pictures and the news clippings about her disappearance. ''Jennifer was very bubbly," MacLean said. ''She had a lot of friends. . . . Unfortunately, Jennifer trusted everybody." The night she disappeared, Fay was baby-sitting her sister Yvette, then 11, and her brother James, then 4. Fay decided to go to a party on Broad Street and asked her cousin to watch her siblings, MacLean said. She knows little else about what happened. ''It's like she disappeared right off the face of the Earth," she said. Last December, she met with White and other investigators, volunteers for the Molly Bish Foundation, an organization devoted to promoting child safety and named after a 16-year-old Warren lifeguard who disappeared in June 2000. Bish's remains were found in 2003. No one has been charged with her disappearance or death. White and the investigators began interviewing people familiar with Fay's case. They started working closely with Brockton and State Police. Brockton Detective Michael Damiano, who has been working on the case for at least five years, said he was hopeful the search will yield more information about Fay. ''These dogs are obviously very well trained," Damiano said. ''It would be great if it's in fact true." Investigators and police now have a person of interest in the case, White said. They believe they know the motive behind Fay's disappearance, White said. He declined to identify the person of interest or provide details about the motive. The investigation has led to some false hopes. During the summer, MacLean followed a tip her daughter might be in Texas. She flew to Corpus Christi, but the woman who answered the door was not Fay. Around Memorial Day weekend, the investigative team took the dogs to the Howard Street bridge area in Brockton known as The Muck. The dogs dove into the water in their excitement, convinced something was there. But it was only an animal carcass. Other searches around Brockton and Holbrook turned up nothing. On Saturday, the team returned to the West Bridgewater site, where the dogs had shown interest before. The animals perked up again, buoying the investigators' confidence they may be in the right place. A rural spot surrounded by some businesses, it was also the neighborhood where the person of interest once worked, White said. ''We're optimistic," he said. ''Are we 100 percent positive the remains are there? The answer is no." In the meantime, MacLean steels herself for the worst, but hopes her daughter may be alive. She takes comfort in a poem one of Fay's friends wrote for a benefit the family held years ago to raise money for the search. The entire poem is about Fay, except for the final verse, which is addressed to MacLean. ''Please know Dot, if you lay me to rest, that you as my mother, were truly the best." Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. Boston.com

Search On For Girl Missing 16 Years Volunteers Think They're Getting Closer POSTED: 6:28 am EST November 21, 2005 UPDATED: 8:03 am EST November 21, 2005

ROCKLAND, Mass. -- There are developments in the search for a Brockton, Mass., teenager who disappeared without a trace 16 years ago. Investigators think this case is finally coming to a close. Jennifer Fay, 16 at the time, had been babysitting for her younger sister and brother in November, 1989 when she left her Brockton home to go to a party and never returned. NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that the girl's mother has been waiting more than a decade for answers, and finally, last December, she went to private investigators for help. They have been working closely with Brockton police and State Police. Over the weekend, investigators with cadaver-sniffing dogs and scores of volunteers searched a field off Manley Street in West Bridgewater. Police have a person of interest in the case who worked in the neighborhood and they think they have a motive behind the girl's disappearance. Several weeks ago they searched a different area, a pond in Brockton known as "The Muck," but they found nothing. Over the years there have been many searches, but now the girl's mother is getting help from the Molly Bish Foundation, which helps families with missing children. "Nobody just disappears. Somebody has got to know what happened to her and, they're not coming forward, for whatever reason I don't know," her mother, Dorothy MacLean, said. Last summer, MacLean took a trip all the way to Texas on a tip which turned up nothing. No one has been charged in connection with the girl's disappearance. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/buyerbeware/5371551/detail.html

Jennifer Fay's mother hopes for closure By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer As dogs prepare to search a mound of dirt in West Bridgewater in the upcoming weeks for remains of her daughter, Dorothy MacLean is afraid to hope. "I have gone through this so many times. I have gone through so many winters now," the Rockland woman said. "It is pretty frustrating." But in the back of her mind, the nagging thought that this time the outcome will be different creeps in. This search, she prays, will hold the answer to the question that has eluded MacLean and her family since Nov.14, 1989: Where is her daughter, Jennifer Fay? "I would like it to be ended. I would like to finally find her. We can go on from here if we do," MacLean said. Four search dogs are expected to return to a spot off Manley Street in West Bridgewater within three weeks to check again after the canines, trained to find bodies, "alerted" trainers that something may be there during an earlier search Nov. 19. "We will see if the dogs react the same," said Philip White, part of a team of private investigators probing the disappearance. "We are cautiously optimistic. We have been let down before, so we are not getting our buns in a bunch here." White and a team of private investigators have been volunteering their time through the Molly Bish Foundation in an effort to learn what happened to Fay, who disappeared at age 16 in Brockton near her family's Emerson Avenue apartment. The investigators believe Fay went to two parties — one on North Montello Street, the other on Broad Place — the night she disappeared and was last seen near Rice's Market on North Main Street in Brockton. The private investigators will discuss the probe at a seminar about missing children to be held Tuesday at the Molly Bish Center at Anna Maria College in Paxton. White said the team during the seminar will confer with Ann Marie Mires, a forensic anthropologist, to get more information about the best way to preserve evidence during any digging at the West Bridgewater site — if the dogs indicate again there may be human remains buried. "She has the expertise on the best methods to proceed," White said. If the search dogs do indicate again that human remains are buried, specially-trained dogs from the state police will be brought for verification, White said. "If the state police dogs also alert that there is something there, then we will turn over the scene to state police. Then it will become a crime scene," he said. Plans would then be made to dig up the area, White said. The private investigators are coordinating efforts with State Police Lt. Paul D'Amore and Brockton Detective Michael Damiano, who are working on the case. MacLean said recent work on the case has bolstered her hopes that she may someday learn where her daughter is and what happened to her. "I just want to find her," she said. http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2005/11/28/news/news/news05.txt

Missing, but not forgotten By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer For a few minutes, Dorothy MacLean allowed herself to hope. The Rockland woman watched the television news reports of two missing Missouri boys found alive by authorities in an apartment there and wondered, for a fleeting moment, if one day her daughter would be found safe. “I hope for that every day,” MacLean said. In the years since her 16-year-old daughter disappeared, MacLean has allowed herself closely guarded moments of that type of hope. Then reality sets in. “It has been 17 years,” she said. “You never know, but I don't know.” Her daughter, Jennifer Fay, who disappeared in Brockton in 1989, is one of 27 Massachusetts children listed as missing on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Web site. Some ran away from home. Some were snatched by non-custodial parents. Seven, including Jennifer, are listed as abducted. The quicker a child is found, the more likely the child will be found safe, experts say. One national study found that in 40 percent of kidnapping cases, the child was killed, and in another 4 percent of the cases, the child was never found. But the case of the two Missouri boys — one who disappeared 4 1/2 years ago, the other days earlier — who were found by authorities living in an apartment in that state shows anything can happen, said Phil White, a Brockton private investigator working on the Fay case. “There is always a chance someone will be found,” he said. That's what MacLean thought last year when she flew to Texas with private investigators who received a tip that Fay was married and living on a military base. The woman looked like Fay. She was born the same year. She moved around the country. Then MacLean met the woman. It wasn't Jennifer. White said he and the other investigators working on the case aren't giving up. They want a happy ending for the family. “Perhaps we can find Jennifer Fay alive and living well in the United States somewhere,” he said. MacLean said the case in Missouri shows it can happen. In that case, a 13-year-old boy who disappeared days earlier was found in a suburban St. Louis apartment with a 15-year-old boy who vanished four years ago. The man who lived in the apartment was arrested and charged with kidnapping. “Jennifer could be in a position like that. You never know until you find her,” she said. Jennifer's name and photograph are on several Web sites, including www.misskids.org, www.doenetwork.us and a Web site dedicated to finding her, www.whereisjennifer.org. Her name was entered into the nationwide computer of missing persons just days after she was reported missing in 1989. Maureen Boyle can be reached at mboyle@enterprisenews.com http://www.enterprisenews.com/articles/2007/01/18/news/news/news04.txt

May 21, 2007 Missing girl's mom keeps hope for return By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer Dorothy MacLean will be keeping her front porch light on today with the hope the symbolic gesture will lead to the return of her daughter and other missing children throughout the state and country. “You can't give up hope,” the Rockland mother said. MacLean, whose daughter disappeared in 1989, will be keeping her lights on as part of the seventh annual “Missing Children's Day” observation sponsored by the Molly Bish Foundation. Members of MacLean's family, including her daughter, Yvette Churchill, will be at the Statehouse today for a ceremony to mark the observation. To put the public spotlight on missing children, the sponsors of the event are asking people to keep their headlights and the light outside their homes on throughout today. MacLean's daughter, Jennifer Fay, disappeared Nov. 14, 1989, in Brockton near her family's Emerson Avenue apartment. The family has since moved out of the city. A team of private investigators, working pro bono through the Molly Bish Foundation, have interviewed dozens of people and conducted several searches, with the assistance of state and Brockton police, in the area for evidence. The investigation team includes Phil White and Michelle Littlefield. Fay is one of 22 Massachusetts children listed as missing on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Web site. Some ran away from home. Some were snatched by non-custodial parents. A few, including Jennifer, are listed as abducted. The quicker a child is found, the more likely the child will be found safe, experts say. One national study found that in 40 percent of kidnapping cases, the child was killed, and in another 4 percent of the cases, the child was never found. http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2007/05/21/news/news/news06.txt

Mom hopes missing girl’s body finally found By Jessica Fargen Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - Updated 28d 11h ago The distraught mother of a Brockton teen who went missing almost two decades ago said she hopes the latest lead in the cold-case investigation into her daughter’s disappearance will finally bring closure. “The hope is that it’s her and we can finally bring her home,” said Dottie MacLean, whose 16-year-old daughter, Jennifer Lynn Fay, disappeared in 1989. “That’s what I hope for every time and that’s what I go through every time - I think it could be my Jen.” Sunday, two cadaver-sniffing dogs hit on a scent in a wooded area in Brockton near where Fay was last seen, said Phil White, one of five private investigators working Fay’s case with support from the Molly Bish Foundation. The state police lieutenant handling the case reviewed the scene yesterday and may bring a canine back this week, said White, who has worked Fay’s case probono for several years. A spokeswoman for the Plymouth County District Attorney said her office is in communication with White’s team but declined to comment on whether state police will bring in dogs. MacLean has gotten her hopes up in the past. On Memorial Day weekend, White’s search team focused on another area in Brockton. In 2005, MacLean went to Texas on a tip that Fay was living there. She met the woman, whom she said had eyes like Fay, but it wasn’t her daughter.Fay, a 90-pound, blond, blue-eyed high schooler, went missing on Nov. 14, 1989. White said she was last seen getting into a car after a party. http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1133106&srvc=rss

Raynham woman encouraged by story of missing girl found alive By Maureen Boyle Sun Aug 30, 2009, 09:58 AM EDT Raynham - Dorothy MacLean watched the TV news reports detailing how a California girl abducted at age 11 — and feared dead — was found alive, 18 years later. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the screen. “I kept thinking, that would be so great if that would happen to me,” said MacLean of Raynham, formerly of Rockland. For years after her daughter Jennifer Fay went missing at age 16 on the streets of Brockton in 1989, MacLean clung to the hope the teen would come home unharmed. Then, after more than a decade passed, MacLean prayed she would be able to find — and bury — her remains. Now, MacLean feels hope flickering once again amid the news that Jaycee Lee Dugard, abducted from in front of her South Lake Tahoe, Calif., home in 1991, was found alive. “Hopefully, this is a sign that everyone is wrong and she’s out there,” MacLean said of her daughter. Fay went missing on Nov. 14, 1989, in Brockton, where her family then lived, and the last known sighting of her was on Broad Street. Over the years, state and Brockton police interviewed dozens of people from Florida to Maine to find clues to what happened to Fay. Some people claimed Fay was alive. Others claimed she had been killed. Investigators searched spots in Brockton and neighboring towns, where some people claimed Fay’s remains — or evidence — may be located. MacLean slowly, in recently years, began to accept — just as the Dugard family had — that her daughter may be dead. Too many years had passed. Too few signs of hope. Then, news broke in California that a child long feared dead was alive. In 1991, Dugard was walking to a bus stop when she was pulled into a car by two people, kicking and screaming — a kidnapping witnessed by her stepfather. Authorities allege Phillip Garrido, 58, of California, a convicted rapist, kept Jaycee Dugard, now 29, hidden in a “secret backyard.” Over the years, she gave birth to two children he fathered. Garrido and his wife are now under arrest and held on $1 million bail. MacLean said the California case provides an emotional lifeline to her as the search for Jennifer continues. “All the old feelings come back: that she is out there and coming home,” she said. In the weeks before the California girl was found alive, MacLean had a dream about her daughter. In it, she walks into a house and sees Jennifer. “She was okay,” MacLean said. Then, in an instant, Jennifer is gone. http://www.wickedlocal.com/raynham/news/x1886193677/Raynham-woman-encouraged-by-story-of-missing-girl-found-alive

View Full Version: Jennifer Fay Abduction 11/14/89 MASS