Essie Goins:1972, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Essie Beatrice Manson Goins was born on June 19th, 1936 to Willa (Broadus) Manson and John Wiley Manson in Macon, Georgia. She had a brother named John Jr. who was three years older. In the 1940 census her father worked at a bottling plant.
By 1950, the family had traveled north and settled in Allegheny County. They are still a family of four. John Manson worked driving a refuse truck for the city. John Jr. was 16 and Essie was 13. Essie’s mother, Willa, was called “Willie” on both those census documents.
Essie grew up and married James Burton Goins. They had three children: Victor, Monica and Mark. Mr. Goins worked as a maintenance man Allderdice high school.
In 1972 Essie Beatrice Goins was working for the State of Pennsylvania as an investigator for the Department of Public Assistance. This was not just a job, but a career. Essie and John’s children were teenagers then. The family lived on the 3500 block of Mazette Road in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh in the late 60’s was the birthplace of the peaceful and popular show “Mr Roger’s Neighborhood”. WQED was the local PBS channel and the show premiered there in 1968. It had a slow, calm pace that allowed kids to relax and enjoy the company of the kindly Mr. Rogers.
In 1972, Essie Beatrice Goins was last seen by her family on Friday, June 30th. Articles in 1972 said that she was last seen leaving for work in the morning. They must have been terrified. I imagine that they wondered what to do. Going to the police for help is not easy as an African American family. Mr. Goins probably worried that he would be charged in the disappearance. He might have worried that he would get his wife into trouble somehow. The family waited to report Essie missing. It was the weekend. Maybe she had gone somewhere to visit a friend or family member. They likely hoped and prayed that she would be found in a hospital. Maybe she’d been in a car accident. They had probably entered that state of terror where time drags on and everything gets foggy.
Her family reported her missing on Tuesday, July 4th, 1972. (A different article says it was the day after the 4th of July.) The days and nights dragged on with no word or no news of where Essie Goins might have gone.
On July 10th, 1972, a State Department of Agriculture worker, Wayne Lash, found Essie Goins’ body. He was combing through the wooded thicket hunting moths as part of his work of insect control. Essie Beatrice Goins had died of a massive blow to the head. Her handbag was nearby. The newspaper articles say she was identified by her clothes and her id in her bag. There’s no mention of sexual assault.
She was likely killed elsewhere. Drag marks showed that she had been dragged into the woods.
Was she killed because of her work as an investigator for the Department of Public Assistance? I imagine that she had to look into people’s homes and write reports about the state of things. That might bring her into homes where domestic violence was present.
Was she killed by some racist individual who did not like seeing a black woman in such a career? A woman in Essie Goins position would have dressed professionally for work. She would have carried herself with some authority. Did that anger some racist individual enough to kill her?
Whoever killed her shows consciousness of guilt in that they transported her body 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. They dragged her into the wooded area described as a “gully” and a “thicket” hoping she’d never be found. She was found off Route 51 in Sewickley Township in Westmoreland County. One article said the spot was “about 60 feet from Route 342”. I wasn’t able to find Route 342. The name of the road must have changed. The spot is described in another article as “six miles west of West Newton”. An article from 2012 describes the spot as one and a half miles north of Sutersville.
Her death certificate lists July 10th as the day she died. That was the date of discovery. She was likely killed sometime on June 30th. That would have been a workday for her. I wonder if she had pre-planned visits to make that day. Would her office have kept a record of that?
What was the state of her marriage? Sometimes when a woman was working in those days her husband would get jealous or upset. Essie might have had to work long hours.
I found an April 1972 court proceedings announcement that an Essie Beatrice Goins had filed for divorce. There is, I think, a printing error. Her husband’s name is listed as the exact same name as the husband of another woman in the next line. I didn’t find another Essie Beatrice Goins living in Pittsburgh. Perhaps she had indeed filed for divorce.
Could her husband have killed her?
An article from 2012 states that Essie picked James Goins up from work on the evening of June 30th. He said they argued and he left the house. He told police that he thought she’d been having an affair and he named the boyfriend. Police questioned that man. He said he didn’t know she was missing until July 1st when she failed to meet him as planned.
Essie Beatrice Goins is buried at Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh. It is one of those beautiful historic looking cemeteries with many hills, mature trees, mausoleums, stately monuments and an impressive Victorian style entryway. Essie’s headstone is one of the more modern rectangles set into the ground to make mowing easier. It lists only her name and her birth and death year.
Essie’s children, Victor, Mark and Monica had to grow up without their mother. They’ve missed her all these years. I found photos of Victor and Monica in a 1971 Langley High School yearbook. They smile for the photos unaware that in the following year their mother would be cruelly taken from them.
Essie Beatrice Goins should still be here with us. Rest in peace, Essie.
If you have a tip or information about the murder of Essie Beatrice Goins please call the Pennsylvania State Police at 724-832-3288.
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