The Cathy Marie Moulton Disappearance, Part II

When Cathy was just 16-years old, she seemingly vanished while walking home from a quick shopping trip in downtown Portland, Maine. If you haven’t listened to part one yet, go back and do that first, because it covers everything that happened on September 24, 1971, the day Cathy’s father dropped her off to do some shopping before the much-anticipated dance at the YWCA… And the last day the Moulton family ever saw Cathy. 

The narrative of Cathy’s story for over two decades would be that she simply disappeared, that no one had any idea where she might be. 

Her case received minimal attention by law enforcement in the years immediately following her disappearance. In 1988, 17 years after the fact, the detective assigned to the case even went to her parents’ home to apologize for his predecessor’s lack of investigative effort. In that same meeting he asked for Cathy’s dental records. There was an unidentified female with the approximate characteristics of their daughter in British Columbia, Canada. The dental records might help positively identify this victim as Cathy.

But the response from the Coroner of British Columbia would state simply, and regretfully, that the remains were not of Cathy Moulton. That response was placed inside the case file in 1988, and once again, Cathy’s case went cold. 

It would remain cold until November 12, 1995, when a new detective just 6-months into his new position in the Tactical Enforcement Unit, also known as the Detective Bureau, at the Portland Police Department, cracked open his newest assignment —  PPD71-60141 Moulton, Cathy Marie, Missing/Endangered. That new detective was Kevin Cady.

Kevin Cady literally wrote the book on this case, and I read it.  The leads and timelines and connections he uncovered alongside Detective Sergeant Thomas P. Joyce, Jr. in his many years of working the case are detailed in that book. I read it front to back in 24 hours… Because after sending Kevin Cady a Facebook friend request about the case and this podcast, he graciously agreed to join me for part two. 

There was one thing clear after reading his book — Cathy did not disappear without a trace. And someone DID have an idea where she might be. Kevin Cady shares what he knows about the longest standing missing persons case in the state of Maine, and what happened to her after she stepped out onto Forest Avenue that September evening in 1971.

Press play on this episode, or find it wherever you get your favorite podcasts, to hear my conversation with Kevin Cady as he takes me through the investigation, the timeline he uncovered, the stories his sources still send him to this day, and what he knows to be true about the Moulton case.