Silent Miles Between Fall River and New Bedford: The Unfinished Search for Nadine Mendonça

A July Night That Never Ended

On Friday, July 12, 1991, 25-year-old Nadine Joyce Mendonça headed to Jake’s Saloon on Pleasant Street in downtown Fall River, Massachusetts, to play darts and shoot pool—a low-key routine among friends that set the stage for one of the city’s most persistent mysteries. Witnesses later told investigators that Nadine left the bar with a man; within hours, she was unaccounted for, and within days, her family’s worry eclipsed every other part of life. What began as a typical summer night out crystallized into a vacancy that has remained for more than three decades.

Who Nadine Was

Born August 1, 1965, Nadine grew up in Fall River, known among friends and family for a warm presence, quick humor, and musical streak—she sang and played guitar. She was the kind of familiar face that made a bustling mill city feel like a neighborhood, a person whose absence was immediately noticed and long remembered. Those nearest to her describe a good-natured young woman who loved to make people laugh, a snapshot that complicates the vacancy left behind when she didn’t come home....Read More

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