The Disappearance of Corinne June Groenenberg, November 1973

On Thursday, November 1, 1973, Corinne Groenenberg, 16, left her family's residence in Modesto, Stanislaus County, CA. A family friend told authorities that they saw Corinne walk to the highway and begin hitchhiking shortly afterwards. The family friend saw Corinne enter a blue or green truck with an unidentified male driver.

Corinne Groenenberg. Photo from NamUs.

Corinne is a 5'6, 115 lbs white female with straight brown hair and blue eyes. She has a strawberry birthmark on her back, as well as a surgical scar on her abdomen. Corinne was born on either October 4, 1959 (making her 14 at the time) or October 14, 1957 (making her 16); most agencies list her as 16 at the time of her disappearance. Some agencies may give her first name as Connie.

Corinne's family had moved from southern CA to the Modesto area several weeks before her disappearance. According to the Charley Project, "Corinne's family moved from southern California to the Modesto area several weeks prior to her disappearance. Her mother was diagnosed with scleroderma, a rare and severe tissue disease, shortly after Corinne vanished. Her parents were forced to move as a result of her mother's condition. Corinne's parents have continued to own her childhood home. Her mother said that they hoped Corinne might return to see her former residence."

Corinne's DNA and dental records are available for comparison, while her fingerprints are not. NamUs states that Corinne has 20 rule-outs, however she in fact has 19, as one of the entries in her exclusion list is blank. One of the UIDs found in WA has since been identified as Elisabeth "Lisa" Roberts.

Corinne is classified as Endangered Missing on the Doe Network and Charley Project. Anyone with information regarding Corinne's disappearance should contact Modesto PD at (209) 572-9500. The agency case number is 89016305.

Corinne's case has been mentioned before in a Zodiac forum, which is where I found out about it.

In my opinion, her disappearance resembles the cases known as the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders, so I have tagged it accordingly despite not having been mentioned as such online before. Corinne physically resembles and is a similar age as many of the victims, who were killed in 1972-3 after being picked up while hitchhiking in northern CA.

Note: Corinne went missing the day after Halloween, also known as All Saints' Day, as well as El Dia de los Muertos to people of Mexican descent. The day after Corinne went missing, November 2nd, is also known as All Souls' Day. See the Holiday & Events Reference Page for an explanation as to why this is being mentioned.

Sources

Whereabouts Still Unknown blog

National Missing Persons Directory

Stanislaus Area Crimestoppers, archived

International Missing Persons wiki

CA Lost & Missing FB post