On a Friday afternoon in early March of 1979, seventeen-year-old Lorraine Rea Herbster, known to her loved ones as Lori, finished her shift at her new job and began her journey home, a walk she would never complete. She had recently started as a laboratory technician at Microcircuit Engineering Corporation in Mount Holly, New Jersey, a job she enjoyed.
Since she did not yet have her driver's license, a coworker gave her a ride, dropping her off at the entrance to her housing development in Westampton Township. From there, it was a familiar six-block walk to her house on Whitlow Drive. Lori waved goodbye to her colleague and set off on foot. She was last seen by a witness walking in her neighborhood at approximately 5:15 p.m. Lorraine was wearing a white coat sweater with a brown and beige design, a blouse, blue jeans, knee-high socks, and brown hiking boots. She carried a reddish-brown suede shoulder bag and was wearing a distinctive cat's eye ring and a thin gold chain necklace.
When Lori didn't arrive home, her mother, Betty, initially thought she might have gone to a neighbor's house to babysit, a common Friday night activity for her. However, by the next morning, it was clear that Lori was not with the neighbors, and a growing sense of panic set in. Her parents, Terry and Betty Herbster, began calling all of their daughter's friends, but no one had seen or heard from her. At 9:00 a.m., they reported her missing to the Westampton Township Police Department. A troubling discovery was made in their own front yard: Lori's reddish-brown suede shoulder bag was found abandoned. Inside the house, everything seemed to be in order. The clothes she had laid out to wear that evening were untouched, and importantly, two uncashed paychecks were left behind. Her family was adamant that Lori was not the type to run away; she was happy with her new job, looking forward to getting her driver's license, and had a close relationship with her parents.
The investigation into Lorraine's disappearance began immediately, with police canvassing the neighborhood and distributing missing person flyers. The coworker who dropped her off was questioned and passed a polygraph test, clearing him of any suspicion. Despite their efforts, which included interviewing friends and family, authorities could not find anyone who would want to harm the teenager. Over the years, rumors have circulated about what might have happened to Lori, including the possibility that she was murdered and her body disposed of at a local construction site, but these leads have never been substantiated. The pain of not knowing what happened to their daughter eventually led Lori's parents to relocate to Alabama, though they never gave up hope for answers. The case of Lorraine Herbster's disappearance remains an open and unsolved investigation, a poignant story of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood who vanished without a trace, leaving a void in the lives of her family and community that has endured for decades.Last Seen: Mar 9, 1979
