In 2001, 50-year-old Rachel was going about her nightly routine, closing the small-town liquor store, when she suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving behind no clues. A gruesome discovery 6 weeks later would answer some of the questions she left behind, but not the most pressing: who did it and why?
Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Episode Info
If you know anything about the murder of Rachel Anthony in February of 2001 — or if you were that last customer in Ultimate Liquors at 9:57 p.m. — please come forward. You can reach the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at (218) 547-1424 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. You could be eligible for a $50,000 reward.
To apply for the Cold Case Playing Cards grant through Season of Justice, visit www.seasonofjustice.org
The locations of Pine River and Nelson Road. Courtesy: Google Maps
Clarence and Marjorie Paulson are featured as the 2 of Clubs in Minnesota’s deck. Courtesy: Minnesota Department of Public Safety
An article about Rachel’s poetry. Courtesy: St. Cloud Times/Newspapers.com
An article about Rachel’s poetry and children’s book inspiration. Courtesy: The Star Tribune/Newspapers.com
Episode Source Material
- Brainerd Dispatch: Homicide cold case still open: What happened to Rachel Anthony? by Jennifer Kraus.
- Brainerd Dispatch: Investigators release new details in Rachel Anthony cold case, by Chelsey Perkins.
- Brainerd Dispatch: Pequot woman abducted from PR business, murdered.
- Brainerd Dispatch: Rachel Anthony unsolved: Community hopes for answers in cold case killing, by Jennifer Kraus.
- Brainerd Dispatch: When she vanished: 18 years after the disappearance and murder of Rachel Anthony, her killer remains a mystery, by Chelsey Perkins.
- Duluth News Tribune: 20 years later, Rachel Anthony’s murder still unsolved, by Chelsey Perkins.
- Medium: Taken from work: The brutal murder of Rachel Anthony, by Jenn Baxter.
- NBC News: It was a frigid February night when Rachel Anthony vanished.
- St. Cloud Times: Disappearance startles city.
- St. Cloud Times: Missing clerk’s computers checked for possible clues.
- St. Cloud Times: Pine River woman missing.
- St. Cloud Times: Poet expresses everyday life, by Lisa Carlson.
- Star Tribune: Fear lingers in Pine River, by Richard Meryhew.
- Star Tribune: Missing woman’s body found, by Rochelle Olson.
- Star Tribune: Missing woman’s family makes plea as divers search, by Richard Meryhew.
- Star Tribune: No new leads in Pine River case.
- Star Tribune: Police seek Anthony’s last customer, by Richard Maryhew.
- Star Tribune: Princeton poet gets story ideas, inspiration from everyday life.
- Star Tribune: Search yields no clues in woman’s disappearance, by Richard Meryhew.
- Star Tribune: Woman’s disappearance puts northern community on guard, by Larry Oakes and Richard Meryhew.
- The Published Pen: Rachel Anthony murder 2001, by Colleen.
- The Winona Daily News: Dead woman found in ditch identified.
- The Winona Daily News: Pine River woman still missing.
- The Winona Daily News: Rural poet writes about life on the farm.
- Twin Cities Pioneer Press: Who killed Rachel Anthony? Mystery stumps a small Minnesota town since 2001, by Jennifer Stockinger.
- Apple Podcast: Unsolved Mysteries (podcast): Steve French (episode 12).
- Wunderground: Brainerd, MN weather history for February 28, 2001.