Missing Woman's Body Found 28 Years Later, Behind False Wall

The hidden skeleton of a woman who had been missing for 28 years came
to light when a contractor cleaned out a vacant home in the Town of
Poughkeepsie, New York.


The gruesome find was uncovered behind a 'false wall' in the basement
of the home the woman had shared with her late husband, police said.
Joann Nichols' remains were foundinside a large plastic bin, inside a
plasticbag and wrapped in a sheet, said Dr. Kari Reiber, the Dutchess
County Medical Examiner.


"The body was skeletonized and the hands were tied with rope. ... A
large area of the right side of the skull was also missing," Reiber
said.


Sealing the body in the plastic bin behind a false wall might have
been enough to mask the smell as the body decomposed, she said.
Members of the medical examiner's office removed the body after it was
found Friday and were able to identify Nichols through dental records.
An autopsy showed the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the
head, according to Reiber.


Nichols, a 55-year-old former first-gradeteacher at Gayhead Elementary
School in Hopewell Junction New York, was reported missing on December
21, 1985, by her husband, James Nichols. Police said he called in the
report after his wife didn't show up for a hair appointment at a
beauty parlor earlier that day.
The next day the couple's vehicle was discovered in the parking lot of
a shopping center in the town.


Police Chief Thomas Mauro said an intensive investigation followed,
but the woman was never located. The case had remained open since 1985
and was reviewed annually by police, he said. James Nichols was found
dead in the home on December 27 after concerned neighbors called
police because they had not seen him in several days.


He was 82 and died of natural causes, police said. Officers said they
found the house filled with personal items, debris and garbage. No one
in Nichols' family came forward to claim his body or take control of
his estate, so Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance Pamela Barrack
was appointed as temporary administrator, according to Barrack's
attorney, Kelly Traver. "We were only able to locate two family
members of Mr. Nichols, but they were not able to claim his body,"
Traver said.


Nichols was buried by the Dutchess County Department of Community and
Family Services in an unknown location,Traver said. The Town of
Poughkeepsie Police Department said it has not closedthe case and will
continue to examine the new forensic evidence. "It's now safe to say
James Nichols is a suspect inthis case," said police Capt. Paul
LeComte. The Town of Poughkeepsie surrounds the City of Poughkeepsie
in southeastern New York State, about 70 miles north of New York City.