Shattered Innocence: The Disappearance of Tammy Belanger
The 1984 unsolved disappearance of a child changed a small New England town forever.
Tammy Belanger, a shy and studious 8-year-old, lived in the small town of Exeter, New Hampshire. Exeter was considered an extremely safe place, and most of the 13,000 residents rarely bothered locking their doors. Tammy, the youngest of Norman and Patricia Belanger’s three children, had grown up in Exeter and knew most of the people in her neighborhood. She attended third grade at Lincoln Street School, located a mile from her home on River Street. Bus service was only available for students who lived at least two miles away, so Tammy walked to and from school. She had been taking the same route daily since first grade, and was comfortable walking alone.
On the morning of November 13, 1984, Tammy left her house at 8:00 am and began her walk to class. Neighbor Betty Blanchette happened to glance out her kitchen window as Tammy was passing by, and watched briefly as the child skipped down the street. It usually took Tammy about 10 minutes to complete the walk, but on that morning, she never arrived at school.
At the time, the elementary school did not notify parents when a child was absent, so Tammy’s parents had no idea she hadn’t made it to class. Patricia started to get nervous when Tammy wasn’t home by 3:30 pm…