Handwriting Match Leads to Arrest of Husband in Wife’s Disappearance 38 Years Later
Maryann Bagenstose disappeared in 1984. No body was recovered. She is presumed deceased
On June 5, 1984, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, twenty-five-year-old Maryann Bagenstose disappeared forever, leaving her son, her house, and her family to wonder what had happened to her.
Maryann had recently separated from her husband, Jere Bagenstose. The two had mostly concluded a lengthy custody battle over their only child together, and the last court date was to finalize child support payments for Maryann, who had been awarded primary custody.
Also, in the separation, Maryann stayed in the family home while her estranged husband moved back in with his parents. To pay the bills, Maryann also got a boarder.
On the morning of her disappearance, the only person to see her that morning was Jere, her estranged husband. He would later tell detectives that he had gone to the house to take Maryann to a car dealership to trade in her vehicle. However, he said that she wasn’t ready to leave the house yet when he arrived, so he took his son to a nearby park, where they played for a while.
When they returned, Jere claimed that Maryann had left a note on the counter…
