Blindsided: The Disappearance of Susan Wolff Cappel
She was just steps away from her car when she ran into trouble.
Susan Wolff Cappel was in a good mood when she went to work on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 16, 1982. The 19-year-old was in the process of getting a divorce, and her estranged husband had been granted temporary custody of Damin, their 18-month-old son. Before she left for her 4:00 pm shift in the deli department of the Newcomerstown, Ohio IGA supermarket, she learned that a custody hearing had finally been scheduled. She had been ecstatic to receive this news, as she was certain that she would be granted custody of Damin. She told her mother that she could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, and she was looking forward to the future.
Susan and Allen Cappel had been high school sweethearts. They got married in February of 1980, while Susan was still a senior in high school; Damin was born later that same year. The couple found an apartment near Bolivar, Ohio, about a half-hour away from Susan’s childhood home in Newcomerstown. Although they appeared to have a great marriage at first, it would only last about 23 months.
Allen, who worked for the Ohio Department of Transportation, had filed for divorce in January of 1982. Susan, who had been a homemaker, was unsure how she was going to…