Episode 72: Etta Riel with guest reader Marsha Mason

She Goes By Jane

In November 1934, new mother Etta Riel mysteriously disappears just hours before she’s set to attend a crucial paternity hearing. Her family believes she was preparing to reconcile with the man she claimed was the father of her baby, and that they were planning to elope to New York for a fresh start. But the man in question insists they were never intimate and that he was ready to expose her supposed lies. Join hosts Aimee and Vanessa as they dive deep into this chilling true crime case of betrayal, mystery, and disappearance and hear a special performance by four-time Academy Award nominee Marsha Masonis.

Was Etta’s disappearance a planned escape, or did something darker unfold? Tune in to She Goes By Jane for a gripping true crime investigation into one of the most baffling unsolved cases of the 1930s.

This week we’re joined by Marsha Masonis, a four-time Academy Award nominee for her starring roles in The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, Only When I Laugh and Cinderella Liberty. Mason has received Golden Globe Awards for her film roles and an Emmy Award nomination for “Frasier”. TV credits include “Grace and Frankie”, “The Middle”, “The Good Wife” and “Madam Secretary”. Broadway roles: Impressionism with Jeremy Irons, Steel Magnolias, The Night of the Iguana, King Richard III, and Cactus Flower.

She has directed productions of Steel Magnolias, An Act of God, Chapter Two as well co-directing and starring in Lost In Yonkers at Hartford Stage. On Broadway, she was Associate Director with Jack O’Brien for All My Sons starring Annette Benning and The Roommate starring Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow. Marsha recently starred in All My Sons at Hartford Stage and as Madame Armfeldt in the Lincoln Center production of Steven Sondheim’s A Little Night Music in Concert, and she briefly stepped in for Mia Farrow in The Roommate on Broadway while Farrow was sidelined with Covid-19.

Join us on Patreon! Your support helps us continue to shine light on America’s missing and unidentified women. Flashlight level members also get access to additional content like Behind the Poem, a weekly conversation about the episode’s featured poem, and our monthly true crime/mystery book club. Our January 2025 selection is There is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish by Anna Akbari. Join Aimee and Vanessa on the app StoryGraph for a new readalong feature for this month’s selection!

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