Sherborn police will 'never give up' trying to solve 1977 case of missing teen
SHERBORN — Nearly 47 years after a local teenager mysteriously disappeared, Sherborn police say they still hope to solve the case.
Simone Ridinger, then 17, was last seen on Sept. 2, 1977, as she left her job at the now-defunct Rainbow Restaurant on South Main Street (Route 27) in Natick, where she worked as a waitress. She planned to hitchhike to Cape Cod, where she would catch a ferry to Martha's Vineyard.
No one claims to have seen her since.
Nevertheless, the case file is not collecting dust, according Sherborn police Sgt. Joe Godinho, who investigated the case for several years while he was a detective.
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"It hits the back burner from time to time, but we always go back to it," Godinho said in a recent interview. "Sometimes we'll find something, or we'll get a tip and we'll start looking into it again."
The investigation shows that when Ridinger did not arrive in Martha's Vineyard as expected, her family — who were already there — believed she had changed her mind. They did not become concerned until they returned home nine days later, and no one knew where Ridinger was.
Police investigated but found nothing.
Man told state police that trooper asked him to bring girl to the Cape
In 1986, a 79-year-old man told police he had recently seen a photo of Ridinger in a local paper and it jogged his memory. He told investigators that he was driving to the Cape when he was pulled over by a Massachusetts State trooper in Westwood. The trooper had a teenaged girl in his cruiser that looked like Ridinger and when he found out the man was driving to the Cape, the trooper asked if he could take the girl with him.
The man, who has since died, told police he dropped the girl off at the Hyannis rotary on the morning of Sept. 3, 1977.
Police could not verify the story. There are no state police records that matched the traffic stop and none of the local police departments around Westwood have any record matching the man's account.
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Although foul play is suspected, police have no evidence.
More recently, Sherborn police sent several items to be tested for trace DNA to the FBI crime lab. Godinho declined to say what the items were, other than to say that he would not describe them as "evidence."
"We were hopeful to get some DNA off of it, but I don't believe they (the FBI) could find any DNA on the items, unfortunately," he said.
Police still receive tips from those claiming to have seen Ridinger
Police have received numerous tips in the past year from people who view information about Ridinger on various missing persons websites. Several people say they may know her or someone who looked like her. Others tell police they may know someone who knows something about Ridinger.
If alive today, Ridinger would now be 64 years old.
"Sometimes they will send photos of people who look like Simone and think it may be Simone," said Godinho. "Sometimes they'll give us information that we have already been provided and crossed off."
Despite the duplicate information, Godinho said police still ask people to contact them with any and all tips, no matter how small, in the hopes of solving the case.
"We never give up on it," he said.
Anyone with information can contact Sherborn police at 508-653-2424. Anonymous tips can be made at https://tips.fbi.gov/home.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Sherborn police say 1977 missing person case remains a priority
