Lula Griffith Briggs

• Missing Since 10/31/1961
• Missing From Monroe County, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 76 years old
• Height and Weight Unknown
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female.

Details of Disappearance

Briggs was last seen at her home on the farm she and her husband owned on Route 26, east of Woodsfield, Ohio on October 31, 1961. She spoke to an acquaintance on the phone at 3:00 p.m.

That day her husband was plowing a field on their property. When he came in for dinner, it was cooking on the stove but there was no sign of his wife. There were no indications that a struggle had taken place. Briggs's folded apron and some cash was lying on the counter, and her purse was also there.

An extensive search of the surrounding area, involving one hundred people and bloodhounds, turned up no sign of Briggs. A pond on her family's property was drained but nothing was found.

Two witnesses came forward and said that on the day Briggs went missing, a man asked them for directions to the Ohio River. The witnesses said they saw another man and a woman, matching Briggs's description, "slumped" in the back of the man's car, a blue and white 1959 Chevrolet station wagon with West Virginia license plates.

A sketch of the man who asked for directions is posted with this case summary. He was about 35 to 40 years old in 1961, with a stocky build, black hair and a ruddy complexion. He has never been identified.

All members of her family were given polygraphs and passed. Briggs reportedly "didn't take kindly to strangers" and authorities do not believe she would have left her home with anyone she didn't know. Because Briggs's son had recently made money on oil investments, there is a theory that someone kidnapped her in an attempt to get a ransom but she died before the kidnapper could make any demands.

The police records regarding Lula’s disappearance were destroyed in a flood. Her disappearance remains unsolved.