The Last Letter

By Laurie Quirion

In December of 1967, a woman left Maine to visit California. She sent one letter to her family telling them of her adventures and then was never heard from again. The goal of this book is to tell you who this woman was and why she mattered. This story takes place over fifty years and tells of the struggle of her family as they searched to find out what happened to her and the answers they finally found. There is mystery, desperation, and the brutal truth of what the world can offer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638819851

Book preview

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Huntington Beach Police Department for the many years of dedication, commitment, and hard work they put into bringing my Aunt Anita back to us and for never giving up on her. We would also like to thank Colleen Fitzpatrick for her work in forensic genealogy that has reunited many lost family members like Anita. You are an amazing woman. We would also like to thank the Orange County District Attorney’s office for the commitment and hard work they did to bring my aunt back to her family. We will never be able to thank all of you for your selflessness and compassion you have shown us. I hope you all know how special and amazing you are.

Prologue

In 1968, a woman went to California for a visit. Her family never heard from her again. For fifty-two years, no one knew what happened to her. This is the story of her family’s search for answers and the answers they found. This is about giving back a voice to a woman who had hers taken away. It delves into the life of the woman who for so long was known only as the oldest cold case in Orange County, California.

Part 1

I have very few memories of my aunt. I only saw her a handful of times that I can remember. My most prominent memories are of my family members telling stories about Anita and hearing what she was like. I gathered a lot of information over the years, especially once I began looking for her. Now I want to share who she was so that she isn’t just a woman erased by what she came to be.

Anita Louise Piteau was born on March 9th in 1942. She was the second child of George and Rena Piteau. Their oldest child, Constance, was my mother. The Piteaus lived along the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine.

Augusta is Maine’s capital, and while it is Maine’s tenth biggest city, compared to most state capitals, it is pretty small. The population of Augusta in the 1960s was a little under 22,000 and is currently still small at 18,795. Augusta used to be a mill town that has the Kennebec River running alongside it. Maine has always had a large French Canadian population, and through that community, George and Rena met through mutual friends.

George Piteau was born in Augusta, Maine, but both of his parents had come here from Canada. I never learned what part of Canada they were from. Rena was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and came to Augusta around 1937. She came to America a couple years after her sister Brigitte, who had moved to New York. Their mother had died young, and their father had remarried. Rena had a strained relationship with her father and wanted to be closer to Brigitte. Rena and George met through mutual friends sometime in 1937, and in March of 1939, my mother was born.

When Rena had my mother, George’s mother insisted that they get married because it was wrong that they had a child outside of marriage. The Piteaus were devout Catholics. Rena and George agreed, and on November 12, 1939, they were married. At first things were good between Rena and George, but then not long after their marriage, George enlisted as a private in the US Army and left to fight in World War II.

He returned a couple years later, and George was not around much to help her out. He spent the majority of his time out drinking at the bars, and they had no money and