Wife Of Cop Involved In Missing Persons Case Exposes Truth 60 Years Later

It was a chilly day in October when Louise went missing. At first, no one in Cutchogue knew anything was awry. However, after hours passed, and she didn’t return home, her daughter really started to worry.

Something was very amiss, and the local cops immediately launched their investigation. However, anyone looking for an easy answer would come to be severely disappointed.

This is because it wouldn’t be until more than half a century later, in March of 2019, that the townspeople finally got some clarity on what had happened to Louise. It all started with an exposé in the Suffolk Times that made some pretty damning allegations.

The paper claimed that William Boken, a man who had been a local police officer in the area but had since died, was responsible for Louise’s murder. So, officials reopened the case.

The first person investigators went to question was the person closest to Boken: his former wife, Judith Terry. However, there was one less-than-minor problem that made it difficult for authorities to interview her.

The issue was that Judith had dementia and was in an assisted living home. Still, police knew that if they were going to get to the bottom of the decades-long mystery, they had to be able to extract information from her.

Detective Richert, who interviewed Judy in the home, stated that while at times the elderly woman got confused, she was still credible, capable of identifying her current husband and others by name. Richert remembers asking her one crucial question.

Did Judith remember telling anyone that she’d witnessed her husband, the late Officer Boken, burying a body in their basement? Her answer made his whole body go cold: Yes, she said. She did. But only one person.

Amazingly, the 83-year-old admitted that she had indeed confided in someone about the crime: her neighbor, Joseph Sawicki, who lived across the street. Hearing this name made the interviewing detective stop dead in his tracks.

Why? Because it was well known that, in 1966, Joseph Sawicki had been the town police chief! And Judith went on to reveal that the two families had shared a particularly intimate relationship.

“She was very close with him and his wife and was godmother to one of their children," Richert added, and "because he was a police officer" this was starting to seem more and more like a cover-up. Officials still had no concrete evidence. Where was the body?

Upon hearing about Judith’s statement to authorities, Louise’s only daughter, Sandy Blampied, was indignant. “She told the police chief about the murder?" she asked. "What did he do about it?” Well, the story only became more nefarious from there...

Because of Judith’s compromised mental condition, authorities needed several interviews for her to reveal all the information that linked Boken to the crime. Then, one day, the case abruptly reached a key turning point.

Judith Terry had a mental breakthrough, and unveiled even more upsetting and incriminating news: not only had she been aware of the body in the basement, but she’d actually seen her husband carry Louise’s lifeless body into the house! She went into detail.

“I was there when he brought her into the house,” she told the detective, continuing, “He laid her on the cement floor. I don’t know if she was dead or alive. I would assume she was dead because she was wrapped in burlap or something.”

Judith said Boken had indeed stowed Louise’s body in their basement. She then drew a diagram from memory, including what she could recall about how deep the hole was. This would lead to a horrifying discovery that no one could have anticipated.

After following Judy's diagram, officials found Louise’s remains buried 7 feet below the ground in the exact spot she'd pointed out. However, they also found something else: one crucial piece of evidence that fingered the real killer.

Along with Louise's remains, .38 caliber bullets were found in the hole. Records stated officers at the time were mandated to carry .38 revolvers. Reports also indicated Boken had used 3 sick days immediately leading up to Louise’s vanishing — and resigned the day after she went missing.

The only thing left to do was try and give some semblance of closure to Louise’s daughter Sandy. Officials sent her the shirt, slip, and garter found in the hole next to her mother’s remains, as she’d asked for. Naturally, Sandy had a lot to say about the tragedy that shaped her life.

“It’s like she wasn’t even a person. It was a cover-up. There’s no doubt in my mind," she said. The twisted nature of this murder investigation is reminiscent of other crimes that aren't immediately what they appear on the surface.

Investigators feared they'd never solve the disappearance of John Darwin. One day, the beloved father and husband went out on his canoe and didn't return home. It looked like all hope was lost. But when authorities revisited the mystery years later, they honed in on some details that just didn't seem to add up.

When Anne Darwin’s husband, John, didn’t return from a canoe trip near the North Sea in March 2002, she was terrified. The couple enjoyed a quiet life in the seaside town of Seaton Carew, Hartlepool in the United Kingdom when John embarked on the trip in his homemade kayak.

Anne called the authorities to report John missing. They searched the ocean for any signs of John or his vessel, but couldn’t find the rowing enthusiast. Rescue teams continued these fruitless efforts. In 2003, John was declared dead. "It crushed my world,” their son Mark said.

Both adult sons, Mark and Anthony, mourned for their father. For six years they dealt with John’s untimely disappearance and tried to move on with their lives — without their dad. They may have struggled with John drowning at sea, but Anne seemed strangely at peace. After all, there was one silver lining to her husband's demise.

John's death paid out £250,000 in life insurance, which came right in the nick of time. The pair had been living a quiet life in part because they were financially ruined. John worked as a professor while Anne was a receptionist, and they also rented some properties on the side, but it just wasn't enough. They were close to declaring bankruptcy.

Anne's sons were relieved their mother wouldn't have to worry about money any longer — she took some time to travel abroad and find some peace — but they were distraught about the senselessness of their father's death. For one thing, the experienced boatman wasn't even in rough conditions the day he drowned. And beyond some kayak debris, there was no trace of him.

But these sorts of tragedies happened, the sons told themselves. So for years, all of John's friends and families tried to move on. "All I want is to bury his body. It would enable me to move on," said his grieving widow. But the strange thing was that a few people did claim to see Darwin's body — alive and well.

Around Seaton Carew, a few locals reported sightings of a man who looked mightily similar to John Darwin. But police didn't take these testimonies too seriously. It wasn't until 2007 that all the pieces came together, revealing a truth that nobody would have believed in their wildest dreams.

Anne had helped her husband fake his death! It was a carefully orchestrated plan. She watched as John paddled away and then secretly picked him up and took him to the nearby Durham train station. Once John boarded the train and was safely gone, Anne reported him as missing at sea. But why did they decide to turn their lives upside down?

It was all about the life insurance payouts. As Anne pretended to be a widow, the two were engaged in some spy-level fakery. “John would spend most of his time in the house with me,” Anne said. “We had the benefit of a gravel driveway that would alert us to someone pulling up.” That’s right, John didn’t bother to leave the country for this scheme.

Initially, John did at least leave his hometown. He tried to stay in Cumbria, located on the opposite side of England. This soon dissolved because he missed Anne too much. He called her crying a few times about being miserable, so they found a different —and more daring — solution. 

John and Anne had a studio apartment attached to their main home. There was a hidden connection between these residences, so John could rapidly hide if Anne received unexpected visitors. While their sons thought their dad was dead, the pair continued to enjoy each other’s company. They never expected to get caught.

Besides the £250,000 life insurance policy, Anne also collected funds from John’s pension. As their money situation flipped, the couple began traveling internationally. They were enthralled with their adventurous existence. 

John — who ironically once worked at a prison — started wearing a wig and working as a maintenance person as he began his life of crime. He called himself John Jones, an identity he stole from someone who died as a baby in the 1950s. Under this fake name, John secured a new passport for himself, so he could continue his global travels.

The couple fell in love with Panama and decided it was the perfect spot to settle. Anne sold their British properties for £500,000 and they used the money to buy a Panamanian apartment. The pair also purchased some land, which they dreamt of converting into an environmentally friendly canoeing center, catering to tourists. 

They kept up this scam for six years. Anne and John probably would have continued it indefinitely, until Panama updated their visa requirements in 2006. With these changes, John realized he was at risk of exposure. Instead of waiting for authorities to uncover his and Anne’s complicated plot, he took action.

John’s fake death scenario ended on December 1, 2007, when he went to London’s West End Central police station. He told the officers, “I think I’m a missing person.” Then, in a plot ripped from a soap opera, John claimed to suffer from amnesia. His “illness” meant he didn’t remember anything since 2000.

Anne remained in Panama, until a reporter tracked her down, telling her the good news about her missing husband. Anthony and Mark were elated to have their dad back … until they learned the truth about his disappearance. Their parents hadn't told them a thing. Soon, the whole affair came crashing down.

John and Anne’s plan was exposed when a picture of them smiling next to their Panamanian real-estate agent appeared. It was traced to 2006. That’s when their sons and the rest of the world found out they were lying. Without this discovery, the couple may have been able to escape punishment.

All the emotions from 2002 came rushing back like never before. "I couldn't believe the fact she knew he was alive all this time and I had been lied to for God knows how long," Mark said. In court, Anne blamed John for being the mastermind. This didn’t save Anne from being sentenced alongside her husband, however.

"I accept you, John, were the driving force behind this deceit. You, Anne Darwin, perhaps initially unconvinced, played an instrumental rather than organizing role,” their judge said in court. “Nevertheless, you contributed to its success and played your part efficiently. In my judgment, you operated as a team, each contributing to the joint venture."

They were convicted of fraud, money laundering, and falsely obtaining a passport. They were also forced to repay the stolen money. After the incident, Anne and John divorced. Now out of prison, John is living in the Philippines with his new wife. Anne remains in the U.K. and continues to reflect on what motivated her to lie to her sons.

“Why did I do it? That is the question I still ask myself today. Why, when I got home, did I make that phone call to the police? I was never motivated by money. That wasn’t the reason. Incredible though it may sound, the only reason I had was my loyalty to John,” Anne wrote.

“I caught eyes with my son in the witness box during the court case and there was such darkness and hatred. During my time in prison, I really did think I had lost them. But I have since reconciled,” Anne said. “I’m very lucky to have such forgiving sons and I now spend time with them and my grandchildren.”