The Disappearance of Joan Gay Croft

by Allison Soler and Caroline Soler

Joan Gay’s Disappearance

On April 9, 1947, a devastating F5 tornado hit the North American Plains with hundreds of deaths and casualties. The twister wiped out many cities and small towns, including Woodward, Oklahoma, home to the Croft family. The telephone workers were on strike at the time, meaning that nobody was expecting the brutal storm. It only took 5 minutes for the tornado to rip through the town and destroy the Croft home, leaving the family with varying injuries. When the neighbours combed through the rubble, they discovered that unfortunately Mrs. Croft had been killed and Mr. Croft had been left with life threatening injuries. Luckily, their two daughters Joan Gay and Geri had only sustained minor injuries and splinters from the storm.

Upon arrival to Woodward hospital, the young girls were separated from their father and brought to the hospital basement for care (due to overcrowding). Their Aunt Ruth was contacted on the assumption that their father had perished (which he did not) from his injuries, which were extremely severe. Ruth arrived at the hospital the next morning and was shocked to discover that Joan Gay missing from the hospital.

When asked, Joan Gay’s older sister Geri told Ruth, tearfully that two large men in khaki uniforms had come during the night, asked for Joan Gay by name, and claimed they were taking her to Oklahoma hospital. They claimed they would return shortly for Geri, but there had been no sign of them since. Geri also said that the nurses had questioned the men briefly but brushed their presence off, as the hospital was already at full capacity. Ruth as well as law enforcement frantically searched all local hospitals, orphanages and even morgues, for any sign of Joan Gay, but the searches came up empty.

Theories about Joan Gay’s disappearance

During the 1940s, a woman by the name of Georgia Tann would abduct children from orphanages and hospitals and sell them to wealthy people for large sums of money. Although Georgia Tann operated primarily out of Tennessee, Joan Gay was a possibly targeted, as “pretty little children” were often sought out by child trafficking operations. Since she came from a relatively well off family, it was unlikely that she was taken for that purpose (as they usually targeted poorer families) but it was not impossible.

As mentioned above, the Crofts were a well off family, which led to speculations of kidnapping for a ransom. This theory was somewhat realistic, however there were a few holes in it. If the kidnappers wanted money in return for Joan Gay, who did they expect to receive the money from, as both parents were presumed dead when Joan Gay was abducted. Although Geri was only Olin Croft’s step child, many asked why she wasn’t taken as well as Joan for a higher ransom demand. Finally, if she was taken for ransom, how come Olin (father) or Ruth (Aunt) had not received a ransom note? Many said that due to her injuries from the tornado, Joan Gay could have perished, resulting in no ransom note being ultimately sent, but no unidentified remains were ever found.