Amusedtdth
07-24-2008, 01:30 PM
Jan Cotta
Can public help solve a 1973 mystery?
Wall woman, 19, disappeared
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/27/07
BY MICHELLE SAHN
STAFF WRITER
Post Comment
WALL — Jan Andre Cotta was 19 years old and pregnant when her younger brother and one of his friends saw her inside a barn tack house on her family's property in the Allenwood section of Wall.
That moment in 1973 was the last time anyone in her family saw the avid equestrian and oldest of eight children.
A little more than two years ago, the June 26, 1973, disappearance was reopened as a cold case. Monday would have been her 53rd birthday.
Now, after an investigation by local, county, state and federal law enforcement that included roughly 250 interviews in five states, police are asking for the public's help in solving the nearly 34-year-old missing persons mystery.
Cotta and her family had lived in Spring Lake Heights before they moved to Wall, where Cotta began participating in the 4-H Club. In 1971, she was elected vice president of the Jumping Brook Riders 4-H Club.
Horses were her passion. She rode for pleasure, was involved in competitions, went to training facilities. She attended the Morven Park International Equestrian Institute in Leesburg, Va., and the Princeton Riding Academy. She provided riding lessons at her family's property on Ridgewood Road.
"Jan lived for horses," said Wall police Detective Joseph Wilbert. "That was the love of her life."
Cotta was last seen by her brother, Brian Cotta, and his friend between 11:30 p.m. and midnight on June 26, 1973. Soon after, a vehicle was seen leaving the farm and family members said Jan vanished, Wilbert said.
The next day, Dorothy Cotta reported her daughter missing. An investigation into the disappearance was opened, and there was follow-up by police in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1997, a private investigator hired by Cotta's family told the Asbury Park Press that Cotta, who was six months pregnant, wrote a letter to God before she left. She also gave away a few horses to a friend, he said.
"She apparently knew she was leaving," Glenn Patrick Kenny said in 1997. "She felt like she needed to get a new life somewhere, but something happened for her not to get in touch with her family again."
Police this week declined to talk about who the prospective father might have been.
Despite Kenny's investigations, the mystery remained unsolved.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...11/1004/NEWS01
http://www.charleyproject.org/images/c/cotta_jan.jpghttp://www.charleyproject.org/images/c/cotta_jan_ap.jpg
Left: Cotta, circa 1973;
Right: Age-progression to age 52 (circa 2006)
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: June 26, 1973 from Wall Township, New Jersey
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: March 26, 1954
Age: 19 years old
Height and Weight: 5'4, 118 - 125 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Cotta may use the alias Jane Andrea Cotta. She suffered temporary hearing loss when she was seventeen or eighteen years old and had to wear a hearing aid for three months. Cotta has previously fractured her left wrist and lower left arm. She has a mole on her lower right cheek.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white shirt with a blue design, blue Land Lubbers jeans, brown loafers, a plain gold ring with the initials "JAC" and a gold ring set with a blue topaz birthstone and two diamonds.
Medical Conditions: Cotta was reportly five to seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. She is asthmatic and may also have epilepsy.
Details of Disappearance
Cotta was last seen inside a barn tack house on her family's property in the Allenwood section of Wall Township, New Jersey on June 26, 1973. Her brother and a friend saw her sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. She was carrying a round tweed purse at the time. A vehicle was heard driving away from the farm and afterwards, Cotta was discovered to be missing. She has never been heard from again.
Cotta has seven siblings and is described as an avid equestrian. She was active in the 4-H Club and also attended riding classes at the Morven Park International Equestrian Institute in Leesburg, Virginia and the Princeton Riding Academy. Her family hired a private investigator to find her after she went missing. The investigator discovered Cotta had written a letter to God before she went missing, and also gave a few of her horses to friends. Authorities believe she left of her own accord, at least initially.
Cotta's parents both died in the years following her disappearance, but her siblings are still searching for her. Her case remains unsolved.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cotta_jan.html
I grew up in Wall and still live here. I remember this and what it did to the family. Such a shame. Speculation had it the babies father was involved but could never prove it and he refused to let them search his property.
Can public help solve a 1973 mystery?
Wall woman, 19, disappeared
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/27/07
BY MICHELLE SAHN
STAFF WRITER
Post Comment
WALL — Jan Andre Cotta was 19 years old and pregnant when her younger brother and one of his friends saw her inside a barn tack house on her family's property in the Allenwood section of Wall.
That moment in 1973 was the last time anyone in her family saw the avid equestrian and oldest of eight children.
A little more than two years ago, the June 26, 1973, disappearance was reopened as a cold case. Monday would have been her 53rd birthday.
Now, after an investigation by local, county, state and federal law enforcement that included roughly 250 interviews in five states, police are asking for the public's help in solving the nearly 34-year-old missing persons mystery.
Cotta and her family had lived in Spring Lake Heights before they moved to Wall, where Cotta began participating in the 4-H Club. In 1971, she was elected vice president of the Jumping Brook Riders 4-H Club.
Horses were her passion. She rode for pleasure, was involved in competitions, went to training facilities. She attended the Morven Park International Equestrian Institute in Leesburg, Va., and the Princeton Riding Academy. She provided riding lessons at her family's property on Ridgewood Road.
"Jan lived for horses," said Wall police Detective Joseph Wilbert. "That was the love of her life."
Cotta was last seen by her brother, Brian Cotta, and his friend between 11:30 p.m. and midnight on June 26, 1973. Soon after, a vehicle was seen leaving the farm and family members said Jan vanished, Wilbert said.
The next day, Dorothy Cotta reported her daughter missing. An investigation into the disappearance was opened, and there was follow-up by police in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1997, a private investigator hired by Cotta's family told the Asbury Park Press that Cotta, who was six months pregnant, wrote a letter to God before she left. She also gave away a few horses to a friend, he said.
"She apparently knew she was leaving," Glenn Patrick Kenny said in 1997. "She felt like she needed to get a new life somewhere, but something happened for her not to get in touch with her family again."
Police this week declined to talk about who the prospective father might have been.
Despite Kenny's investigations, the mystery remained unsolved.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...11/1004/NEWS01
http://www.charleyproject.org/images/c/cotta_jan.jpghttp://www.charleyproject.org/images/c/cotta_jan_ap.jpg
Left: Cotta, circa 1973;
Right: Age-progression to age 52 (circa 2006)
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: June 26, 1973 from Wall Township, New Jersey
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: March 26, 1954
Age: 19 years old
Height and Weight: 5'4, 118 - 125 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Cotta may use the alias Jane Andrea Cotta. She suffered temporary hearing loss when she was seventeen or eighteen years old and had to wear a hearing aid for three months. Cotta has previously fractured her left wrist and lower left arm. She has a mole on her lower right cheek.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white shirt with a blue design, blue Land Lubbers jeans, brown loafers, a plain gold ring with the initials "JAC" and a gold ring set with a blue topaz birthstone and two diamonds.
Medical Conditions: Cotta was reportly five to seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. She is asthmatic and may also have epilepsy.
Details of Disappearance
Cotta was last seen inside a barn tack house on her family's property in the Allenwood section of Wall Township, New Jersey on June 26, 1973. Her brother and a friend saw her sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. She was carrying a round tweed purse at the time. A vehicle was heard driving away from the farm and afterwards, Cotta was discovered to be missing. She has never been heard from again.
Cotta has seven siblings and is described as an avid equestrian. She was active in the 4-H Club and also attended riding classes at the Morven Park International Equestrian Institute in Leesburg, Virginia and the Princeton Riding Academy. Her family hired a private investigator to find her after she went missing. The investigator discovered Cotta had written a letter to God before she went missing, and also gave a few of her horses to friends. Authorities believe she left of her own accord, at least initially.
Cotta's parents both died in the years following her disappearance, but her siblings are still searching for her. Her case remains unsolved.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cotta_jan.html
I grew up in Wall and still live here. I remember this and what it did to the family. Such a shame. Speculation had it the babies father was involved but could never prove it and he refused to let them search his property.