Man faces trial for 1984 murder

By Matt Barcaro

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    Pennsylvania (WGAL) — The criminal trial for Jere Bagenstose, accused of murdering his wife Maryann Bagenstose more than 40 years ago, starts today in Lancaster County.

Maryann Bagenstose was last seen in June 1984. Investigators have never found her body.

Jere Bagenstose was arrested in December 2022 on criminal homicide charges. His trial was set to start at 9 a.m. Monday.

Case history

Mary Ann Bagenstose, 25, last spoke to her mother on the morning of June 5, 1984.

According to police, Bagenstose’s estranged husband told investigators she’d left a note that day saying she was walking to a nearby convenience store. She hasn’t been seen since.

“The examiner concluded that the note recovered by police in June 1984 was written in fact, written by Jere Bagenstose,” Adams said at a news conference.

The two were separated and fighting for custody of their two-year-old son.

Neighbors who knew her back then say that wasn’t like her.

“She would have never walked to the convenience store. She wouldn’t walk to the post office when it was up here at the corner. She wasn’t outside of the house much. She didn’t go anywhere,” Barry Acker said.

Bagenstose’s mother reported her missing two days later.

In 1990, News 8 was at the home on West Willow Street as investigators searched for clues in her disappearance. In 2022, state police were back at the home. They spent the day at the property, focusing mostly behind the house and in a garage-like structure.

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