Nancy Gale Erickson:1973, Marlborough, New Hampshire

Nancy Gale Erickson 

  Nancy Gale Erickson was born in 1951 in Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York. (True Crime readers will know Suffolk County from the Long Island Serial Killer Case. Bay Shore is not far from Gilgo Beach.) 

  Nancy Gale Erickson graduated from Elmira Free Academy in Elmira, New York in 1969. She earned a nursing degree from Corning Community College in Elmira. Elmira is just south of the Finger Lakes in New York. 

  Nancy joined her Mom and siblings in Tampa, Florida after nursing school. She got a job at a hospital there for a while but left abruptly sometime in 1973 with only a duffle bag. Her family thought that perhaps she was struggling with the emotional distress of her nursing work. 

  She was in Brattleboro, Vermont in the Fall. She had a job at a hospital called Brattleboro Retreat. That hospital is still open and offers mental health help. Nancy was living in the Community House there while working.

  Her family said that they were unaware of her knowing anyone in Vermont. But, sometimes people just pick a place and go. 

  Strange things were happening in her life in the Fall of 1973. 

   

   On October 2nd, 1973, Nancy apparently stole a car. That’s very unusual for a young woman of that time.  It’s very unusual for a young woman today too. She stole a small car from Putney and drove North to Bellows Falls. (I wondered if Nancy was going to a large waterfall to do something rash like jump. Bellows Falls doesn’t appear to have a large waterfall.) 

  Why go North? Was Nancy heading toward Canada and possibly trying to take a young man there? 1973 was still the era of the Vietnam draft. Quite a lot of young men from the U.S. traveled to Canada and never came back in order to avoid going to Vietnam. They weren’t ready to die and they didn’t want to kill anyone. 

 Nancy's story was odd.  She said that she stole a care because her car was out of gasoline.  She said she then got lost trying to go see a friend. Was she maybe under the influence of something that day?  

 Nancy was apprehended in Bellows Falls but there was no mention of a man being in her company. She had a court date on the 3rd of October. Then, she was back in Brattleboro at work. 

   

  On Tuesday October 30th, 1973, Nancy seemingly disappeared from the Brattleboro Retreat. Did she give notice or just disappear? Did she take all of her belongings? 

  Maybe because Nancy was 21, they assumed she just took off. It doesn’t seem like anyone reported her missing. 

  On April 16th, 1974, a body was found in the woods off Route 124 near Marlborough, New Hampshire. The body was fully clothed and originally reported as being a male. These remains were very badly decomposed. 

  Route 124 runs south out of Marlborough. It’s a very wooded and rural area. Route 124 is a two lane road with low stone walls alongside it. As you drive along there are beautiful little farms here and there. 

  In 2021, Nancy’s family reached out to the authorities in Brattleboro to inquire about their missing loved one. Sometimes, when a person is missing people really want to believe that the person is just off happily living their life. Denial is a strong thing. This was the first missing persons report filed with Brattleboro about Nancy Gale Erickson. 

  In 2025, the remains found in Marlborough were tested and found to be Nancy Gale Erickson. How did she end up there? She had no identification on her when discovered. She was wearing long thermal underwear, “work pants”, a plaid flannel shirt, a light jacket and also a winter jacket made of brown corduroy with a white fleece lining. Her shoes were described as work shoes. Her socks did not match. These are good clothes to wear if you are going to be out in the cold in late October in New Hampshire or Vermont. They also seem kind of manly in style. Was that just because of the weather or was Nancy going somewhere purposefully dressed this way? Was she hitchhiking or had she traveled that way with a friend? 

  Was she wearing those clothes as a costume? She disappeared on Tuesday, October 30th, 1973. Had she gone out to a Halloween Party event that evening? Those aren’t super odd clothes for a young woman in 1973 to wear if she knew she was going to be out in the cold. But, the proximity to Halloween makes me wonder. 

  Was she perhaps heading toward Boston? Maybe after the car theft incident she was going to just go somewhere else and start over? It would help to know if she left her belongings behind in Brattleboro. Did it seem as if she was leaving permanently? 

  Her death is deemed suspicious and authorities are asking for more information from anyone who might have known her in Brattleboro in 1973. 

  Were you friends with Nancy in high school? Did you keep in touch at all? Did you know Nancy at Corning Community College in Elmira? Did you work with her at Tampa General Hospital? 

  Investigators are trying to piece together more about her life and who she may have known and what may have happened to her.

  That year there was a violent motorcycle gang with the unusual name "Die Hard".  In 1973 they committed the rape of a teenager named Wanda Graham. Before Wanda could testify against them; she was murdered on February 1st 1974. Wanda Graham was only 18.  

  The rape trial proceeded even though Wanda was now deceased. Two men were found guilty of the rape of Wanda: John Colby (21) and Raymond Martineau (23). The two men were members of the Die Hard motorcycle gang. 

  Later, the murder trial would take place.

  Three men had been arrested for Wanda's murder: John Tanguay, Leonard Tierney, and Larry Simmons. All were members of the Die Hard motorcycle gang.

  Manchester N.H. is just an hour and a half drive from Brattleboro, Vermont. In another case that I have written about, a Kentucky based motorcycle gang had a multi-state car theft ring going. They have a string of rapes, murders, and other crimes on their record. I wonder if something like that was happening.  Could some of the same men that raped and murdered Wanda Graham have possible killed Nancy Gale Erickson?  They were rapists and murderers and they were free when Nancy Gale Ericksons murder happened. 

Please call the Cold Case Investigators in New Hampshire at (800) 525-5555. Or use the link below. 

Submit Tips here with the State Of New Hampshire: https://www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/cold-case-unit/victim-list/marlborough-jane-doe