In this week's edition of "The Missing," we revisit the mysterious disappearance of Mary Badaracco, a 38-year-old resident of Sherman, Connecticut, who went missing in August 1984.
"I need this issue resolved ASAP. Twenty-three-years of my life have gone by, and this has truly been a nightmare for me, as well as my family," Mary Badaracco's daughter, Beth Profeta, said in a recent e-mail.
On Aug. 23, 1984, Beth's stepfather, Dominic Badaracco, called Beth’s sister, Sherrie Passaro, asking her to come over to talk about their mother. When Sherrie arrived at the house in which her mother and stepfather lived on Wakeman Hill Road, she noticed her mother’s car, a 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier, was sitting in the driveway. Curiously, the driver's side windshield had been smashed. Badaracco told Sherrie that her mother had run away, taking more than $250,000 dollars of their money with her. As evidence, he pointed out that her clothes were missing, and her wedding ring and car keys had been left behind on the kitchen counter. Oddly enough, all framed photos of Mary that had once hung inside the house were also missing.
Investigators initially believed Mary had left to get away from her husband. It was no secret that their marriage was troubled. Mary had left in the past, and her coworkers later said it was not uncommon for her to have a black eye following an argument with her husband. Mary's daughters have also made similar statements, claiming that their stepfather was violent and abusive.
"My mother made a mistake. She made the very bad decision of ever getting involved with Badaracco," Beth said. "At the time of this decision, my sister and I were only about 3 and 4 years of age. When they married in 1970, we then suffered right alongside our mom during the entire 14 years of her marriage. Although she tried, our mother never knew how to get us away from him. We'd leave after another very violent episode, and he'd find us every time and literally drag us all back. My sister and I told the police when we filed our mom's missing person’s report back in 1984 that she was a battered wife throughout the marriage. We also made them very aware of the fact that we, too, were in fear for our lives, as we had defied Badaracco's orders to 'tell no one.'"
