WOODSFIELD, Ohio (WCMH) – On the evening of Halloween in 1961, an elderly woman vanished without a trace. Despite rumors circulating of her being fed to pigs or kidnapped for ransom, her family is still searching for remains so they can lay her to rest.
In 1961, Lula Griffith Briggs was a 76-year-old homemaker, married to her second husband Lee Briggs. The couple lived on a farm they owned on Route 26 east of Woodsfield.
On Halloween 1961, Lula was cooking dinner while Lee was plowing a field on their property. That evening, Lee had come inside for dinner, but Lula was nowhere to be found, according to Lula’s great-great-grandson John Griffith.
“Supper was cooking, but she was gone,” John said. “There was no mess in the house, no sign of any struggle. Her apron was folded on the counter, there was egg money laying on the counter. Her purse was there, nothing was taken – just her.”
Lula was last heard from at 3 p.m., when she was on a phone call with an acquaintance, a newspaper clipping from 1961 says. John believes her husband reported her missing, but police records regarding Lula’s disappearance were destroyed by flooding, so the person who reported her missing and the time she was reported missing are unknown.
A large search for Lula ensued days after she vanished. A 100-person search party with bloodhounds combed through the woody and hilly countryside surrounding Lula’s farm. A pond on the property was also drained. Nothing was found, multiple newspapers report.
There was seemingly a break in the case, when two people claimed to have seen the missing woman in the back of a car. The people who came forward claimed the day Lula went missing, a man asked them for directions to the Ohio river. It was then they saw another man and a woman fitting Lula’s description slumped in the back seat of the car: a 1959 blue and white Chevrolet station wagon. The car had West Virginia license plates.
The suspect in the possible abduction was a 35 to 40 year old man, who was 5 feet 9 and 170 pounds. Reports claim he had black hair, a ruddy complexion and a stocky build. John said Lula “didn’t take kindly to strangers,” so it’s unlikely she would have willingly left with someone she did not know.
In late November, newspapers reported that all members of the Briggs family were given a lie detector test, and everyone passed, leading police to believe that no family members had any knowledge of what happened to Lula.
Lula’s son, Homer Griffith, offered a $500 reward on the whereabouts of his mother and the Monroe County commissioner offered $1,000 for an arrest of the person or people who may have abducted Lula. Despite this, over six decades later, the case is unsolved and a body has never been discovered.
Throughout the years, rumors have circulated about the disappearance, including Lula being killed by a family member and fed to the pigs on her farm, as well as the “more likely” scenario: that she was kidnapped for ransom, but died before the suspect could make their demands, Lula’s great-great-granddaughter Leslie Reardon said.
“[Her son] made a little money on oil,” John said. “Maybe someone thought they were gonna get a free couple bucks by taking the man’s mom.”
Reardon said Lula was quickly forgotten about and her story faded fast, but family members have not given up on finding answers.
“We do still have a few direct descendants alive that could help find a DNA match to any remains that were found,” Reardon said. “We have a grave and headstone for her next to her first husband and if any remains can be claimed, we’d like to bring her home where she belongs.”
John said the older generations in his family never got over Lula’s disappearance, and his mother went to her grave wondering what happened to her. Despite never knowing her, John decorates Lula’s grave every year.
“I’ll never know who did it, and they’ll never prosecute who did it,” John said. “I just want to find her remains and lay her to rest. To me, that case would be closed.”
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Lula Griffith Briggs may contact the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department at 740-472-1612.
If you’re a family member of an individual with an unsolved missing persons or homicide case in Ohio, reach out to aboldizar@wcmh.com.
