for as long as we have recorded history there have been people who disappeared
usually there are clues to what caused the disappearance be it a shipwreck or even
a kidnapping but some cases are different there are a handful of
disappearances that have gone down as some of the most mysterious chapters in
history Jimmy Hoffa Amelia Earhart Michael Rockefeller we can only
speculate on the fate of these people personally I think they were killed by
the Japanese government or perhaps they ran away to join the circus in truth it
doesn't matter because in today's video we look at a different disappearance
a much lesser known but equally notorious disappearance it's the case of
one of our world's most wealthy women who one cold winter vanished without a
trace and even four decades later nothing about it makes any sense
with a net worth of 40 million dollars Helen Brach was among America's most
wealthy women she was not born wealthy but married into the prominent Brach family
who owned a large candy company when her husband died in 1970 she became
an extremely rich widow the richest in the state of Illinois then in 1977 she
disappeared without a trace her last known location was the Mayo Clinic a
Medical Center in Rochester Minnesota where she received a routine checkup the
checkup went smoothly and she left ready for her flight home to Chicago what
happened after she left no one knows two weeks later she was reported missing
suspicion immediately fell on her chauffeur Jack Matlick who reported the
disappearance he claims to have picked her up from the airport that day two
weeks before but after escorting her home
he soon drove her to the airport again where she boarded a plane for Florida
according to his story that was the last time he saw Helen Brach strangely police
found he had repainted and recarpeted much of the house and firmly cleaned his
car also he claimed she had written him free checks around the time of her
disappearance all of which he had cashed when police examined said checks they
found her signature had been forged even more strangely records show she and her
flight booked to Florida and no one else on board her flight could remember
seeing her on it within days of the investigation opening an obvious
conclusion emerged that Jack Matlick murdered Helen Brach more damning still
he admitted to stealing money from her and failed a polygraph test twice but
for whatever reason police decided not to charge him with the crime and he
always denied any involvement they believed he at least knew more about the
disappearance than he let on but had no actual evidence to force a confession it
seemed like Matlick had gotten away with murder but then out of nowhere emerged a
new suspect in fact somehow seemed even more guilty in the 1970s the horse racing
business was a breeding ground for corruption as well as a breeding ground
for actual horses of mafia was long known he use it for
money-laundering, races were often fixed and shady figures unavoidable one of the
more gruesome schemes of the era were horse murders were many horses being
highly valued and it's short people's sometimes kill horses just for the
insurance payout some gang specialized in horse murders and it's for several
hundred horses were killed often weber take steps to make sure a
horse was overvalued servi insurance payout would be inflated one of the key
players in this racket was Richard Bailey four years prior to her disappearance
Helen Brach was introduced to Richard Bailey he made a good first impression on
her a charming and wealthy man she got along with well in reality he was simply
a con man pretending to be wealthy he would seduce older women who really were
wealthy women like Helen Brach after winning their affection he would sell
them an overpriced horse and when they realized the new horse was nothing
special he would disappear from their lives already having done this to a
string of women she was no match for his manipulation in short time he sold her
multiple horses at extortionate prices but she either didn't realize his true
nature or just didn't care. They continued his siege ever right up until
her disappearance so when Jack Matlick suggested police
turned their attention to Richard Bailey he was immediately brought in for
questioning but like the experienced criminal he was Bailey refused to answer
any question and authorities had no choice but lease him he was silent
Matlick stuck to his story and there was no clear lead for police to follow the
investigation trailed off no sign of Helen Brach was ever seen again and
seven years later she was declared legally dead
her disappearance had become a cold case and while there was always massive
interest in it still today there have been no major breakthroughs but
authorities never forgot about Richard Bailey for over a decade they continued
to investigate his activity until finally he was charged with fraud
looking into a series of lawsuits filed against him they accidentally uncovered
the horse murder scheme in 1994 twenty-three people
charged in connection to a horse murders among them was Richard Bailey as well as
16 charges of fraud they charged him with the murder of Helen Brach their
fear he had it she realized he was a con man and threatened to expose his
criminal activity but he and his associates were making too much money
from fraud and killed her to keep it secret the trial was a big deal before
the end 20 of the 23 defendants pled guilty to fraud including Richard Bailey
so while he continued to deny the charge of murder the judge sentenced him to 30
years in prison a sentence he is still serving now he remains the only person
ever charged in connection to the disappearance of Helen Brach yet he is
just one of multiple suspects and many believe he had nothing to do with it and
so more than four decades later one of our world's greatest mysteries is no
closer to being solved most likely it never will be