BONUS EPISODE: Allen Briscoe Jr and Christine Green (Missing Persons)

In 1985 two 16 year olds from the same high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania vanished within eight months of each other. Allen Briscoe Jr and Christine Green have not been seen or heard from since. 

 Sources for the episode can be found here


 

Transcript

Allen Briscoe Jr and Christine Green 

As the main episode this week did not take as long as expected I decided to release this bonus episode. I came across these two cases a while ago and have been waiting for the opportunity to share about them. The irony is that cases like these which would really benefit from exposure on true crime podcasts often get overlooked because there is so little information out there. It's a catch 22 situation. 

The following cases involve missing teenagers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and received next to no press coverage at the time. It's hard not to think that racism played a part in this.  Both individuals lived just a few minutes drive from each other, attended the same high school and disappeared within months of each other. Neither have been seen again and their whereabouts remain unknown. Many people believe the cases are linked, though no evidence has been produced to prove this theory.

The morning of Friday December 13th 1985 started like any other for hardworking single mother Joanne Briscoe. She awoke early, when it was dark, and left for her job as a clerk for an insurance company, leaving her two teenage children still fast asleep. As she did during every shift, Joanne would take a quick break at 7.30am to call the family apartment in Elmwood Park south-east Philadelphia, to make sure her 17 year old daughter LaTanya and 16 year old son Allen Jr were washed, dressed and ready for the school day. Like any good parent, Joanne would also check they had eaten and would remind them to pick up their lunch. 

Normally either LaTanya or Allen answered the phone within seconds as they knew to expect their mum's call. Today was different; as Joanne held the receiver to her ear the phone continued to ring. After waiting for what seemed like an age she finally hung up the handset. Something was wrong, they had never failed to pick up in the past. Joanne was worried and scenarios began to race through her mind. Nevertheless she was in work and had to get on with fulfilling her duties. She told herself they were probably fine and there was bound to be a simple explanation. Her children were very nearly adults and she didn't need to worry. Joanne could have a quiet word with them later. Even so Joanne could not shake her uneasy feeling.

At 3.30pm Joanne found herself with a pocket of time. She was in-between shifts and was due to start work at her second job shortly. Joanne was working so hard as Christmas was fast approaching and she wanted to earn more money in order to treat her children. During this lull in her working day Joanne took the opportunity to phone the apartment once again. It was a full hour after the children's school, Bartram High, was due to finish so she was sure one of her children would be there to answer. Frustratingly this proved not to be the case and the phone continued to ring. Joanne’s anxiety increased but again she had a job to do. In the past she had always trusted her children and found them to be responsible. They were well behaved and never engaged in silliness. Joanne had a good relationship with both her children and had a calm disposition. If she ever did have to discipline her children she didn't shout or yell but would wait for the situation to settle before having a conversation with them. This is what she was determined to do later when her shift finished.

At 11.30pm Joanne finally made it home after an exhausting day of work. At least now she could finally see her children and find out where they had been all day. As she put her key in the door and walked into the silent apartment she knew straight away that her children were not at home. It was at this point that Joanne began to panic and to think that something awful had happened. 

Thirty minutes later LaTanya arrived home. She told her mother that she had returned home earlier but was unable to get inside the apartment as Allen had the set of keys. LaTanya had then gone to her grandmother's house to wait until her mother would be home. Just to note a CNN article from 2010 suggests that when Joanne came home from work she herself was locked out of the apartment as Allen had her set of keys. Some write ups even have Latanya already being home when Joanne arrived. This highlights the complexities of researching a case from so long ago and with so few sources.

When quizzed by Joanne LaTanya had no idea where her brother Allen was. It is unclear when LaTanya last saw Allen and the mystery of why neither child answered the phone when Joanne called in the morning has remained elusive in my research. 

Joanne contacted friends, neighbours and family members who searched for Allen throughout the night. After finding no trace of him, the following morning Joanne called the police to report her son missing. The thought was perhaps Allen had been involved in an accident and was unable to identify himself to medical staff or was even suffering from amnesia.

It was established that on Friday December 13th, the day Allen disappeared, Bartram High finished early. According to police interviews with students at the school, two friends reported seeing Allen in classes for at least part of the day. Joanne has never been convinced of this and believes it possible that Allen did not attend school at all. As safeguarding procedures in 1985 were not what they are today, registration or roll calls were not diligently taken and records not kept, so the truth may never be known.

A friend said he and Allen left the High School, situated on south 67th street, together. The friends then rode around Philadelphia on the subway system for a couple of hours until they got bored. At that point the pair caught a bus back to their neighbourhood in Elwood Park. Allen alighted the bus before his friend and was last seen on Woodland Avenue. The friend said Allen told him he was now going to visit a female friend. The friend claimed he did not know the name of the girl.   

In fairness to the police they took Allen’s disappearance seriously. Unlike other similar cases during this era, police recognised straight away that Allen had not run away of his own accord. Nothing in his demeanour had suggested he was troubled or worried in the lead up to the disappearance. Allen had turned 16 just eight days before he went missing and the $50 dollars he had received as a birthday present was found in his bedroom. If he had planned on leaving surely he would have taken this with him. 

Flyers were passed around the locality with a description of Allen. He had black hair and brown eyes. He stood at 5 ft 8 or 173 cm and weighed 140 lbs or 64 kgs. Allen had some prominent physical differences. He had a lump on his left shoulder and when he walked his right shoulder would droop somewhat. He had a scar on his forehead and some of his front teeth were chipped or cracked. Allen was also said to have been bowlegged. He was last seen wearing a black jacket and jeans. Allen went by the nickname Squeak or Squeaky.

Sadly Allen’s case went cold very quickly and he has not been seen or heard of since. 

Allen’s mother Joanne was interviewed by CNN in February 2010 and shared some of her thoughts about her missing son. She desperately hoped her son was still alive but knew it was very unlikely. Joanne says that a few weeks before Allen went missing a boy from school came over to the Briscoe’s apartment. Joanne did not like the vibe the boy was giving off and later warned Allen to stay away from him. She suspects this boy knows something about what happened to Allen.

In 2010 Police officer Robert Rajchel headed up the Philadelphia Special Victims Unit which is tasked with dealing with long term missing persons cases. He told CNN that there were people he would like to re-interview in the case, including the boy Joanne spoke of. Obviously this boy was now a grown man and ,like so many other students at Bartram High from the time, had since moved away. Rajchel was having trouble tracking down individuals from so long ago, though he stressed at that time the case was still very much open.

Rajchel references one tip that was received from a woman in Philadelphia, who told police she thought her boyfriend looked a lot like the age progressed image of Allen that had been developed by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited children (NCMEC). According to Rajchel this man was tracked down but denied being Allen and was said to be uncooperative with the police. It was believed this man had a criminal record and was therefore wary of law enforcement. 

What is all the more perplexing about Allen Briscoes Jr’s disappearance is the fact that eight months earlier another pupil from Bartram High School also vanished into thin air and has not been seen since.

On the morning of April 23rd 1985 16 year old Christine Green left her home on Greenway Avenue and made her way on foot to Woodland Avenue to catch the trolley bus. If you remember, this is the last place Allen Briscoe was seen. Christine was on her way to Bartram High school. Christine’s mother, who suffered from a chronic illness and was bedridden, looked forward every day to her daughter coming home when classes finished. That afternoon Christine did not return at her normal time. It was so out of character for Christine not to come home from school straight away and she would always phone her parents to let them know where she was. Her sick mother began to worry and soon discovered that Christine had never arrived at school that morning.

The police were contacted and panic-stricken family members spent all night driving around the area looking for the teenager.  

Christine was one of eight siblings and had a good relationship with her mother and father. An article in the Philadelphia Daily News on July 14th 1998 describes Christine's mum and dad as two loving parents  On the outside at least Christine had a content and settled life. She never played truant and was always punctual. Christine had a quiet disposition, and was bright, receiving good grades in school. In the aftermath of her disappearance rumours began to spread that Christine had run away because she was pregnant and was fearful of telling her parents. It must be said that there was absolutely no evidence for this and an article on the Newsbreak website in December 2023 says the readiness for people to attribute this as a reason for Christine’s disappearance highlights the racist and sexist attitudes of the time towards missing black girls. 

Sadly Christine’s mother succumbed to her illness and passed away just six months after her daughter's disappearance. Grieving family members hoped that Christine would show up to the funeral. Needless to say she did not.

In the aforementioned 1998 Philadelphia Daily News article Christine’s sister Denise said they looked and looked for their missing sister and even after all those years if she saw a group of girls on the street she would still stop to check if Christine was one of them.

Christine’s birthday is March 28th 1969. When she went missing she stood at 5ft or 152 cm and weighed 90 lbs or 41kg. She had black or dark brown hair and brown eyes. In July 1984 Christine had her left kidney removed and therefore had a prominent surgical scar on her left flank. Undergoing this procedure meant that Christine would require medication if she developed a high temperature and fever. For this reason it was hoped Christine would be found quickly. 

When Christine left the house that morning she was wearing a pink blouse, blue vest, jeans and black shoes. Christine’s nickname was Dicky or Tina. No dental or fingerprints exist on file for Christine but there is a DNA sample that can be used for comparison. 

According to the information on the Doe Network website (last updated 2022) authorities suspect that the Christine Green and Allen Briscoe Jr cases are connected. As I mentioned in the introduction no solid evidence has been produced  to back this theory up. It is not known if Allena and Christine knew each other. Although in the same high school, Christine would have been in the school year above Allen.

Several age-progressed images have been produced of Allen and Christine and if alive today (January 2024) both would be 54 years old

If you have information about the disappearance of Allen Briscoe Jr or Christine Green you can call NCMEC 1 800 8435678 or Philadelphia Police department (Pennsylvania) Missing person unit 1 215 685 1180. 

Sources

http://tinyurl.com/ae4v5ka6