The two images on the right are age-progressed to 50 and 55 years.
The two images on the right are age-progressed to 50 and 55 years.
Name: Rose Lena Cole
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: July 1, 1973
Location Last Seen: Oakland, Alameda County, California
Date of Birth: December 23, 1956
Age: 16 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 120 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Green/Hazel
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Freckles
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Rose, originally from Flint, Michigan, was last seen in the summer of 1973 (missing date is an approximation). Ms. Cole ran away from a Synanon Foundation facility in Oakland, California, an institution that treated persons suffering from alcohol and drug abuse, where she was sent in 1972 by a Michigan judge when caught using drugs. She wrote to her family while she was there, and ran away sometime toward the end of 1972. She sent a letter in early February 1973 from an unknown location; that was the last time anyone heard from her. On January 4, 1974, a petition to the court of Michigan was granted to drop all charged against Ms. Cole.
The Synanon Foundation (originally the Tender Loving Care club) was founded by Charles Dederich, Sr. in 1958 as a rehabilitation center for both drug and alcohol addicts. Its headquarters was originally in Santa Monica, California, but as it gained popularity and wealth over the years, it had chapters in other California counties, Detroit, and as far away as Germany and Malaysia. Over the years, Synanon became a utopian society/ cult not unlike Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. Dederich declared Synanon a religion in 1974 and was forced to give up operations of Synanon when he pled no contest to conspiracy to commit murder in 1978.
Agency Name: Oakland Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Sergeant Jim Beere
Agency Phone Number: 510-777-3333
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 07-017109
NamUs Case Number: 5959
NCIC Case Number: M026674029
NamUs
NCMEC
California Department of Justice
San Francisco Gate (3/3/97)
Paleofuture. Synanon: from rehab to cult (4/15/14)
Family member
Added: 6/16/2007; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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