On February 17, 1977, after spending eight days at the facility, Helen left the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and planned to head home to Glenview. She had gone to the clinic for her routine physical examination, which was always intensive and thorough. The physician who examined her, Dr. Carl Anderson, recorded her height and weight, logging five-foot-five and 138 pounds on her chart. He told her that she was in good health for someone her age. Helen had complained that she was experiencing pain in her legs and feet, but the doctor could not find anything of immediate concern. He advised that she needed to lose 20 pounds, and that she work on improving her muscle tone by walking more and swimming. Satisfied that she was healthy, Helen promised to follow the doctor’s advice, and then left the clinic.
At around 9 a.m., she entered the Buckskin boutique, located next to the Mayo Clinic to pick up a few gifts for friends in Florida. She bought a soap dish and a jewelry box, and told the assistant, “I’m in a hurry, my houseman is waiting,” as she was ringing up the items. She paid with her American Express card and left the store. That was the last time anyone ever saw Helen Marie Vorhees Brach alive.
But Helen was no ordinary woman. She was a multi-millionaire widow who had married into the EJ Brach family fortune. Who would want Helen dead?