The article links to the list of people of who disappeared pre-1970. That list is spooky as heck in some regards.
A lot of those folks were probably murdered but there's some interesting other cases of people just disappearing into nowhere. That was definitely a lot easier in a pre-Internet 24/7 connected world.
December was the 80th anniversary of her disappearance. It's the only unresolved missing persons case I'm aware of in my neighborhood.
Assuming she did die in December of 1939, the Muddy River seems to be a likely place to find a body. It's just to the south of her home. The river is dotted with a series of ponds: Jamaica Pond, Wards Pond, Willow Pond and Leverett Pond. The largest, Jamaica Pond, is just over 50 feet deep. Of course, in December of 1939 they were probably frozen over.
An interesting part is that in her mother’s letter, she says that even if her daughter had lost her mind/faculties that she’d end up in some ‘institution’. While I’m sure those places were no picnic, I fear today a person experiencing a break from reality with no support would just be on the streets. Seems like society has regressed on that point.
Really good article from the references.