Cindy Anderson
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My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice.

Today I'm discussing the case of Cindy Anderson. In 1981, Cindy was 20 years old and working as a secretary at the law offices of James Rabbit and Richard Neller. She was a devout employee. Most days she worked alone in the morning. She'd open the office, prepare the lawyer's desks for the day, and field incoming phone calls. August 4th, 1981 was no different. Cindy Anderson was a lawyer.

By noon, two lawyers arrived at the office, expecting to see Cindy at her desk as per usual. But Cindy was gone. The door was locked, there was no note, and Cindy's car was still sitting in the parking lot. It literally still smelled like nail polish remover in the building. So they figured she'd just been picked up by a friend and had gone to lunch for the day. But when Cindy wasn't back in a few hours, they grew very concerned.

See, Cindy had been experiencing a lot of harassment before this. Someone was making odd phone calls to the office, and someone had spray-painted the words I love you Cindy with the initials GW on a wall directly in her line of sight from the law office.

On top of that, Cindy was having recurring nightmares that she was abducted and killed by a strange man. It got so bad that Cindy actually asked for an emergency button to be installed at her desk, and her bosses instructed her to lock all of the doors when she was working at the office alone. So, as the hours passed, they grew increasingly worried. And

And when they found a romance novel open to a page about the main character being abducted at knife point, they knew it was time to call the police. It's been over 40 years since Cindy went missing, and authorities admit they've never been close to solving the case. Between stalkers, serial killers, and suspicion on one of Cindy's bosses, no charges have ever been filed. But that doesn't mean there isn't hope.

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Cynthia, or Cindy as most knew her, was raised with her brothers and sister in the small city of Lambertville, Michigan in Monroe County. According to the Toledo Blade, quote, Miss Anderson was a child of devout Christian fundamentalists whose lives were built on hard work, self-discipline, and unwavering faith in God, end quote. Cindy was also described as very sweet and responsible, but also a little naive and sheltered.

She spent a lot of time participating in church activities, like Sunday morning services, prayer meetings, camping trips, other outdoor activities, and parties. It seems that Cindy found her community in the church. And while Cindy's parents were a bit strict, especially with things like her curfew, by all accounts, she seemed happy.

By the summer of 1981, Cindy was 20, dating a man from her church, Jeff Lemke, and she was working as a secretary for a law firm about 20 minutes away in Toledo, Ohio, the law offices of James Rabbit and Richard Neller. Though Cindy enjoyed her job at the law firm and seemed to have excelled at it, she planned to leave in the fall to begin college with Jeff, and they were discussing marriage.

It seems like she was very excited for her future. But Cindy's life wasn't perfect. She'd been plagued with nightmares about being abducted and murdered by a strange man. On top of that, she'd received harassing phone calls at the law firm.

On the 1989 episode of Unsolved Mysteries that featured Cindy's case, they spoke with a man named Larry Mullins. Larry was a client at the law firm. One day while he was at the office paying his bill, he saw Cindy answer what he believes to be one of those harassing phone calls. He saw her pick up the phone, get upset, and hang up the phone two times.

Cindy insisted that she was fine. But in his interview, he said, quote, something scared the hell out of her, in my opinion, end quote. He was so concerned for Cindy's safety that he actually called local police to drive by the law firm later just to check on her. In addition to the nightmares and phone calls, there was something else that made Cindy feel very nervous. See, the law firm Cindy worked for was in a shopping center.

The front of the firm was basically all glass, so she was able to see a lot of what was going on in the shopping center. One day, Cindy got to work and saw something that terrified her. Someone had spray-painted the words I love you Cindy with the initials GW on a wall near her office.

Cindy's friend Terry would come out to say she felt the placement was strategic because Cindy could see it right through the front windows of the law firm. But the thing is, no one could figure out who GW was. Eventually, after six months, it was painted over. But GW spray-painted the same message on the same wall just a few weeks later.

All of this disturbed Cindy so much that she asked for an emergency button to be placed at her desk. Now, this button didn't send a distress signal to police or anything. It just pinged the employees next door that something was wrong. Her bosses at the law firm also instructed Cindy to make sure she kept the door locked at all times while she was in the building alone, which happened a lot, including the day she went missing.

Tuesday, August 4th, 1981 was just like any other workday for Cindy. Around 8.30 a.m., Cindy skips breakfast and leaves her parents' home in Lambertville to make the 20-minute commute to her law office in Toledo. At 8.50 a.m., a custodian sees Cindy working alone in the office. At 9.45 a.m., someone walking by the law office looks through the front windows to check the time and sees Cindy working alone.

we know that during the hour or so that cindy was at the office that morning she turned on the air conditioner the radio and prepared the lawyers desks for the day it also appeared that she was doing her nails and reading a romance novel

This is something she did quite often between her normal duties and keeping up with phone calls to the office. Between 9.40am and 10am, Cindy's mother calls the law office, but there's no answer. By 10am, none of the calls to the office were being answered. At 12pm, lawyers for the firm James Rabbit and Jay Feldstein arrive at the office, and Cindy isn't there. So let's talk about the scene.

The front door was locked, which was normal. We know that Cindy locked the door when she was in the building, and obviously when she left it unoccupied. But there was mail in the handle of the door, and no note on the door. By all accounts, Cindy was very responsible. She always put some type of note on the door when she stepped away, so clients and her bosses knew when she would be back.

Also, the mail in the door told them that when the mail carrier came, Cindy wasn't in the building, or for some reason, didn't answer the door. James Rabbit specifically remembers that the air conditioning and radio were still on, and the phones were still ringing. Normally, when Cindy walked away, she would at least turn on the answering service for the phones, so clients knew no one was in the office to take their phone call.

This was obviously another thing that struck him as odd. He also remembers still smelling nail polish remover in the office when he walked in. So he figures he'd just missed Cindy. Her car was still in the parking lot, so maybe she'd rushed out the door to grab lunch with a friend. So he and Jay Feldstein leave for lunch, locking up the building behind them.

But when they get back, Cindy still isn't there. Then, when James Rabbit investigated Cindy's desk to try to figure out where she could be, he found something that finally made him call the police. Now, when I first heard about this aspect of the case, I thought for sure it was some fabricated piece of information used in the Unsolved Mysteries episode to drum up suspense.

But I did confirm it through a statement from the Ohio Attorney General's office. Basically, James Rabbit saw the romance novel Cindy had been reading. It looked like she was interrupted while reading because the book was lying open, face down. And the page it was turned to was apparently the only violent scene in the book. This scene described the main female character of the book being violently abducted at knife point.

So, like I said, this was finally enough for James Rabbit to realize something really weird was going on, and he called the police. James Rabbit told the Toledo Blade in 2001, quote, you knew right away something was wrong. You knew she wasn't coming back, end quote.

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At approximately 2.15 p.m., about four hours after Cindy was last seen, the Toledo Police Department arrives to investigate. They immediately notice that there didn't appear to be any signs of a struggle. Cindy's purse and keys were gone, and her car was still in the parking lot. So they were hopeful that maybe she was just picked up by a friend, and they took a very, very long lunch.

Cindy was just 10 days away from leaving the law firm for college, so maybe she just got excited and slipped on some of her responsibilities, like turning on the answering service for the phones, and leaving a note saying where she was going. Police contact her friends and family, but no one has heard from Cindy or know where she could be. When they get up to speed on the harassment Cindy had been enduring over the last few months, they suspect foul play almost immediately.

Cindy's sister Christine remembers getting the phone call that her sister was missing. She said her heart was pounding like crazy. She knew Cindy would never leave without telling anyone.

When Cindy's father, Michael Anderson, got the call, he rushed home as soon as possible to help with the search efforts. When he got home, his wife was surrounded by friends and family, and police cars were circling their home and the surrounding area. There were already flyers being handed out, and they were discussing possible reward funds before dinner. Their phone rang off the hook with concerned friends, family, and neighbors.

The next day, 10 officers along with troops from the National Guard searched nearby wooded areas, fields, and ravines for Cindy while a search plane flew overhead.

One friend even got a hold of a trained tracking dog to help. It also appears that the FBI informally became involved early on. In the next few days, Cindy's picture is given to several patrol officers to keep in their cruisers in case they see her. They search nearby known dumping grounds, they administer polygraph tests, and they check out every lead, rumor, and hunch they get. But they pretty much had nothing.

So, of course, they start digging into the harassment Cindy reported before she went missing. Now, as a quick side note here, I couldn't find anything about whether or not Cindy pressed her emergency button while she was at the office. I'm assuming that she didn't, because no one from the surrounding businesses have mentioned hearing the alert or responding to it.

Now, we have to remember that this is 1981. Caller ID didn't even exist until the late 80s. Cindy, of course, tried to figure out who was making these phone calls, but she was stumped. She and no one she knew could figure out why anyone would do that to her.

Michael Anderson made a statement on Cindy's episode of Unsolved Mysteries alluding to the idea that she'd become more concerned about her appearance recently, and was skipping breakfast because of this reason. I think what we learn from this statement is that he was concerned that she was being targeted because she was attractive, which of course unfortunately happens all the time.

They can't trace the calls, so they narrow in on the graffiti. That huge I love you Cindy with the initials GW. The one that took six months to cover up and was back again in just a few weeks. They look to the custodian that saw Cindy working alone just before 9am. Now, I've seen some conflicting information about whether or not this man's initials were actually GW.

but we know he has keys to all of the offices. So if Cindy was taken forcefully, he could have easily locked the door behind him. It's also likely that because Cindy was known as an extremely friendly person, they could have developed some type of rapport.

Maybe Cindy was nice to him, and the man developed some type of obsession that turned into violence. But in the end, he was ruled out. Police say there's basically just no evidence to prove he spray-painted the message, or that he was involved at all. So who wrote I love you Cindy in huge letters directly in her line of sight for her to see every workday?

Well, according to reporting by Jen Baxter for Medium.com, the police did eventually find the man responsible, but he'd never heard of Cindy Anderson. The messages were for his girlfriend, who was also named Cindy. It's worth noting that a woman did eventually come forward on the internet saying she was the Cindy from the messages, but this was never confirmed by police, so take it for what you will.

In the end, police are certain that despite it looking really suspicious, the message was not connected to Cindy Anderson. I mean, the police just can't catch a break. Cindy was being harassed and everyone knew it. Her sister says she can't believe Cindy basically predicted her own abduction through her incessant nightmares. The romance novel was open to that very suspicious page about a violent abduction.

It seemed like there were messages everywhere, but no real answers. Then, police get a lead they hope will bring Cindy home. About a month after Cindy goes missing, in September 1981, they get an anonymous phone call. A woman calls police and speaks in almost a whisper. She sounds scared.

She tells them that Cindy's being held in the basement of a white house. The police are begging her for more information. Can they get an address, name of the street, name of the neighborhood, anything? But the woman on the phone says she has to go and hangs up. A short while later, the woman calls back. The same detective answers the phone. The woman now tells him that there are two white houses side by side owned by the same family.

But the family is out of town right now, and their son is the one holding Cindy against her will in the basement. This detective obviously gets very excited. He's got the woman back on the phone, she's giving more detail, and he wants more. So he signals for his sergeant to pick up the phone on the other line to listen in. But when the caller hears the other line click in, she immediately hangs up the phone and never calls again.

Although the caller didn't provide them with a lot of information, it was something. So now patrols in the area had Cindy's picture and were on the lookout for two white houses side by side with any suspicious activity. One thing I haven't seen mentioned about this part of the investigation is whether or not authorities looked up who owned homes in the area near the law office to see if they could find two houses owned by the same family.

Honestly, in 1981, I don't even know how they would do this. I mean, obviously records were kept, but I'm not sure how they would specifically look for two homes owned by the same family without just looking at every single deed in the area. In the end, they never identify the houses the caller was describing. They couldn't track down the caller, and they couldn't even confirm if the call was legitimate or just a sick prank.

By January 1982, Sergeant Sam Mihailov told the media they were no closer to finding Cindy than they were a few months prior, stating, quote, She just vanished, and we've checked all the rumors that developed, but they all turned out to be groundless. We've gotten nowhere. We've checked out a lot of leads, but in terms of the bottom line, the answer is nothing. End quote.

But that didn't mean they were giving up. At this time, they partner with the International Coroners and Medical Examiner Association that just so happened to be located in Cleveland, Ohio. Basically, they sent Cindy's picture along with a letter asking for help to 3,000 coroners and medical examiners by publishing it in their newsletter. This way, they could compare Cindy's photo to unidentified bodies they may have. But no one came forward with a match to Cindy.

By this time, a nearly $10,000 reward had amassed for information regarding Cindy. But like we see in these cases, the more time that passed, the less tips they saw coming in. And although the FBI had informally reviewed the case, because Cindy was an adult and they couldn't prove any crime occurred, they couldn't take on the case.

By June 1982, the Toledo Police Department said Cindy's case was the most extensive missing persons investigation they'd ever conducted. They even checked her dental records across the country, which again was not an easy thing to do in 1982. What could be one email today could have been days if not weeks worth of time back then.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the Anderson family again when Cindy's mother Margaret was diagnosed with cancer. On what would have been Cindy's 22nd birthday on February 4th, 1983, Cindy's mother is buried without ever having answers about what happened to her daughter. Not much would happen in the case for several years.

Birthdays and holidays passed without Cindy. Her boyfriend attended college without her, and presumably graduated, and her friends all went on with their lives. As much as I'm sure they all loved and cared for Cindy, there was nothing left for them to really do other than keep an eye and ear out for her, and participate in media opportunities as they came up.

Then, in June 1989, the television show Unsolved Mysteries traveled to Toledo, Ohio to film a segment about Cindy's disappearance.

Her friends, father, and others jump at the chance to participate in hopes of reinvigorating the case. In December, the episode airs to millions of people across the U.S. Of course, the episode discusses the dreams she was having, the harassment, and walks the viewer through the events of the day she went missing. But at the end, there's a new update. On the screen, text appears that says, quote,

Authorities suspect Cindy was murdered after she overheard incriminating comments from a ring of drug traffickers. No charges were ever filed, end quote. This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series, Back in Crime.

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It's been about eight years since Cindy Anderson went missing. In 1989, the TV show Unsolved Mysteries features her case and leaves viewers with a shocking new update at the very end.

An update I have to assume is so new, they didn't have a chance to film anything about it before the episode aired, because it's just a flash of text on the screen at the very end of her segment. Authorities now believe Cindy was murdered because she overheard information about a drug ring, but no charges have been filed.

Now, I can't explain this other than saying we all know the wheels of justice turn really, really slowly sometimes. But it takes another six years before we see an update. Finally, in 1995, nine people are arrested for basically a huge drug trafficking ring involving heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. But what does this have to do with Cindy?

Well, two of the men arrested were Jose Rodriguez and Richard Neller. That's right, the Richard Neller from the law offices of James Rabbit and Richard Neller, the law firm that Cindy was working at and seemingly went missing from. According to the indictment, quote,

On August 4th, 1981, Jose C. Rodriguez Jr., Richard Neller, and other persons known to the grand jury but not indicted herein, abducted and murdered Cynthia Anderson, Richard Neller's legal secretary, because she had overheard conversations wherein Jose C. Rodriguez Jr. and Richard Neller had discussed armed robberies and their expanding drug business, end quote.

Now, this operation had apparently been around since 1978, so long before Richard Neller ever met Cindy Anderson. I have to imagine it was pretty lucrative for him as well, basically advising these criminals on how to get away with trafficking these drugs. A fellow inmate of Jose Rodriguez also told police that he confessed to killing Cindy with a 9mm gun. It seemed like they'd finally solved the case.

At this time, police conduct a three-day search in Perrysburg, Ohio, about 15 minutes south of Toledo. They focus their efforts on a local pond and the surrounding area. Now, authorities won't really tell the media what's going on, but they tell Michael Anderson that they do believe Cindy was buried nearby. And Michael Anderson tells the media, quote, I don't want to think about them coming across the remains of my daughter, but they probably will.

I'm just shocked, devastated. It's been such a long road for Cindy's family. It's been 14 years since she went missing. At this point, Michael Anderson lives in the same house where Cindy grew up. He didn't change his phone number, just in case she called one day.

He openly talked about how he knew it was a long shot, but he always held out hope that Cindy maybe had amnesia, and would call him one day out of the blue once she figured out who she was. He also didn't have her legally declared dead, sacrificing thousands of dollars left in Cindy's college savings account that he couldn't touch.

The house, the swing set she grew up playing on, her home phone number, her college fund. Her entire life was just waiting for her should she finally make it home. Her father made sure of it. So him making the statement that they'll probably find Cindy's body had to have just crushed him. But ultimately, Cindy wasn't found.

And when the case went to a grand jury, they didn't meet the burden of proof for anyone to be charged with Cindy's murder. Basically, nothing happened to move her case forward. The nine men did go to prison for quite some time. Eventually, in 2001, Richard Neller was released. He tried to practice law again, but was eventually disbarred.

2001 also marked the 20-year anniversary of Cindy going missing, so there was a lot of buzz around the case again. Michael Anderson again discussed his hope that Cindy was out there somewhere and couldn't make it home, saying, quote, They tell me I'm crazy. Maybe I am. But what am I supposed to do? Give up? Seems like everyone has. I haven't come to that point yet. I expect that phone to ring at any time. End quote.

Detective Bill Adams tells the Toledo Blade that Cindy's case file can fit into a single filing cabinet drawer, and that they've never been close to solving her case. Cindy's sister Christine says that at this point, she's not even sure she wants to know the details of what happened to Cindy, saying it won't make anything better. She's accepted the fact that Cindy's gone. Unfortunately, almost 20 years later, that's basically where the case is today.

So let's ask the question, what happened to Cindy Anderson? We've already discussed a few theories. The custodian who was ruled out, the potential stalker who'd been making harassing phone calls to Cindy, well, he was never found. They ruled out the guy who was spray painting I love you Cindy GW on the wall across from the law firm. We all know about Richard Neller.

Though, I can't say for sure what he was doing on the day Cindy went missing. As far as I could find, he has never been officially ruled out. But no charges have come against him either. There are a few theories we haven't discussed. Of course, you have to look at those closest to Cindy. Starting with her boyfriend Jeff. As far as I could find, there were no suspicions about Jeff. No major fight, no odd behavior, nothing.

He seemed excited about going to college with Cindy, and was notably helpful in searching for her. Some people have stated that Cindy could have left voluntarily trying to get away from her family, citing how strict they were. Now, it's hard to know what any family looks like from the outside looking in, we just don't know. But again, as far as I could find, there was nothing solid to point to her family being involved, or her wanting to abandon her life.

Again, she seemed happy and excited to go off to college. No one could figure out why she would want to leave or where she would go. The last theory I'd like to discuss is the possibility that Cindy was killed a bit more randomly. See, Toledo, Ohio in 1981 was a pretty dangerous place.

the toledo blade says she went missing during a quote particularly violent time in the city police were investigating serial killers and had a number of other gruesome homicides end quote one of those homicides was the death of gloria

Just three weeks before Cindy went missing, Gloria went missing while grocery shopping in Toledo. She was later found in a field in Michigan. She'd been stabbed to death. The killer was never charged. However, authorities did narrow their focus a bit to two serial killers, brothers Anthony and Nathaniel Cook. Between the two of them, they believe they've killed at least 10 people beginning in 1980.

According to reporting from Brian Duggar for WTOL News in Toledo, quote, at the beginning of the 1980s, Anthony and Nathaniel Cook terrorized the streets of Toledo over a 16-month period. Police believe Anthony killed at least 10 people, with Nathaniel likely helping him with four of the killings. Their murderous rampage shattered lives and families, end quote.

Cindy's body has never been found, so we can't compare her possible murder to any of the brothers' known victims. But we know that they did abduct women and men during their spree before killing or assaulting them. We also know that they did take at least one of their victims to a basement before taking her life.

However, this was the basement of an abandoned theater that they'd been stealing copper from. So it's a very weak link to the tip about Cindy being held in a basement, given that tip was credible at all. The idea was that maybe Cindy was targeted by them, or maybe she saw them doing something illegal through the front windows of the law firm and they killed her to keep her quiet. Everyone that knew Cindy says she would have told the police if she saw illegal activity.

Ultimately, authorities have not been able to find anything concrete to tie the brothers to Cindy's disappearance. But like Richard Neller, they've never been officially ruled out. In 2006, the Toledo Blade ran an article about how understaffed the missing persons unit at the police department was. They report that there were only two detectives working all of the missing person cases in the city, and they had about 100 new reports each month.

At this point, they were struggling just to keep their heads above water with entering all the new reports and updating multiple databases when cases were closed out. The Toledo Blade asked the department for a list of all current missing persons cases. They said the list they received was very inaccurate. There were names missing. Names on there of people who had been found, people whose remains had been recovered. Basically, it was a mess.

Cindy's case is the oldest active missing persons case in the department's history. If these two detectives could barely keep their heads above water with current cases, I can't imagine they had a lot of time to investigate Cindy's decades after the fact. Michael Anderson passed away in 2008. Like Cindy's mother, he died without answers. He still lived in that same house, the one Cindy grew up in.

He kept the same phone number, and he left the swing set up. He never gave up on his daughter. Which brings me right to our call to action. Please share Cindy's case, and please share her picture. You never know whose memory it could spark. I know this is an older one, guys, but that doesn't mean it can't be solved.

The same week this episode airs, a huge news story hit the media. 40 years after a baby went missing, seemingly without a trace, she was found. Baby Holly's parents were found killed in the woods of Houston, Texas in 1981, but obviously Baby Holly was missing. Through the use of genetic genealogy, Baby Holly, who is now 42 and a mother of 5, finally found out who she was.

I see stories like this popping up all the time. These cases that are decades old are being solved every day through new advances in technology, or by people finally coming forward with information. Just because it's been a long time doesn't mean she doesn't deserve justice. And it certainly doesn't mean that there isn't still hope that she will be found.

Cindy Anderson went missing from Toledo, Ohio in 1981. At the time of her disappearance, she was 5'4 and weighed 115 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She also has a chicken pox scar on her forehead and a scar on her right knee that looks like a fish hook. She was last seen wearing a white v-neck dress with pink pinstripes, brown pantyhose, and beige open-toed sandals with an ankle strap.

Anyone with information about Cindy is urged to contact the Toledo Police Department at 419-245-3340. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. To hear more stories hosted by me, check out my other podcast, Disappearances, only on Spotify. And for even more content, or if you just want to support the show, check out my Patreon page at patreon.com slash voices for justice.