“He said he’d be back in an hour and a half. He was going to take me to work because we had a lot of snow fresh snow overnight and I didn’t dare to drive. I was young,” Linda remembered.
“I never dreamed it would be the last time I saw him. I can still see him walking across the field.”
It was November 25, 1975 in Washington, Maine and Ludger Belanger stepped out into the freshly fallen snow, leaving deep boot prints as he disappeared into the woods in search of a buck. That was the last time his young wife Linda saw him, 46 years ago this year. But as the investigation revealed, it’s not the last time anyone saw him.
His name remains on the Maine Missing Persons list, but the details of Ludger Belanger’s disappearance point to much more than a man who walked into the woods and never walked out. Tracks in the snow tell stories that those involved won’t.
To learn more about Ludger Belanger, follow the Facebook page managed by his family, Justice for Ludger Belanger.
Episode Source Material
Thank you to Linda Perkins for trusting me with Ludger’s story
- Blast, fire injure two by Emmett Meara, Bangor Daily News, 31 Jul 1976
- Fire scene test results due, gas suspected by Ted Sylvester, Bangor Daily News, 03 Aug 1976
- Blast victim succumbs from burns by Ted Sylvester, Bangor Daily News, 11 Aug 1976
- 41 years ago, 4 bombings swept up the seacoast from Boston to New Hampshire by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com, 02 Jul 2017
- Hunter’s disappearance decades ago haunts family, Portland Press Herald, 15 Nov 2015