50-year-old cold case of missing NYC teen Judith Brown sees renewed interest thanks to podcast

Nearly 50 years since a 19-year-old Queens woman disappeared with an alleged killer once eyed in the “Son of Sam” murders, a cold case may be heating up — thanks to a popular crime podcast.The mysterious case of Judith Brown was recently resurrected by “The Vanished Podcast,” drawing new attention to the little-known story of the city teen who vanished in 1977 with her murderous fiancé Richard Riesenberg — all while battling mental health issues. “It’s a strange set of circumstances when somebody disappears with a guy who was in Creedmoor,” said host Marissa Jones, who has featured Brown’s case twice on her show.“It appears that Judith and Richard probably intentionally disappeared together, but perhaps at some point, Judith’s disappearance was no longer intentional.”One tip was called into Jones’ show about a possible Brown sighting in Olympia, WA — it turned out to be Judith’s sister Laura, The Post confirmed.In those 47 years, Brown’s family has struggled to find clues, claiming they have received little help from the NYPD or the media — until Jones stepped in.“The support from the podcasters has been invaluable because there was no investigation before that,” Brown’s cousin, Julian Quiterio told The Post.

“No one else has tried to help us.” A Bronx native and one of eight children, Brown graduated from Evander Childs High School in 1975.That summer, she moved in with extended family in Kew Gardens, Queens after choosing to stay in New York City when her parents and five younger siblings moved to an inherited farm in Kansas. However, the bookish teen’s behavior raised alarm bells among her family members.

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Never miss a story.Her cousin, Maureen Drew, feared Brown was suffering from obsessive-compul...