Barbara Jean Monaco; Similarities and one Big Difference from the Natalee Holloway Case

Pauline Monaco of Derby, CT and the mother of Barbara Jean Monaco can empathize and sympathize with the families of Natalee Holloway as the circumstances seem to parallel in many respects in the disappearance and post investigation.

Pauline Monaco of Derby can sympathize with the parents of the Alabama teenager who disappeared this year during a vacation in Aruba.
“Right after it made the news, friends were calling me telling me how similar it was to what happened to Barbara Jean,” she said.

It has been 27 years since the Monacos’ 18-year-old daughter disappeared while on vacation in Virginia Beach, Va.

Though the Monaco’s tried to attain closure two years ago with a memorial Mass for Barbara Jean at St. Mary’s Church in Derby, the pain of her loss remains.

“It’s still very hard to talk about,” Pauline Monaco said.

Barbara Jean was a majorette and popular among fellow students at Derby High School.

The Summary of the Barbara Jean Monaco disappearance is as follows:

On August 20, 1978, 18-year-old Barbara Jean Monaco drove to the beach from Derby, Conn., with her older sister, Joanne. The girls registered at the old Aloha Motel on 15th Street. They planned to stay for a week.

They did then what girls still do when they come to the beach in the summer. They sunbathed by day, partied by night.

In the wee hours of Aug. 23, Barbara Jean left her sister and set out on foot for Peabody’s, where she had a date with a bartender.

Somewhere along Pacific Avenue, she vanished.

Witnesses told police they saw her get into a car.

What happened to the cute former high school majorette after that is a matter of conjecture. One thing seems certain: By dawn on Aug. 23, Barbara Jean was dead.

Interestingly enough as in the case of Natalee Holloway’s disappearance the Monaco disappearance, the investigation focused on three young men, the sons of prominent Virginia Beach families.

The investigation focused on three young men, the sons of prominent Virginia Beach families. Police said they had received a tip that Barbara Jean had been raped and murdered by three men.

One of the men was brought in by police and questioned extensively about Barbara Jean’s disappearance. After he was released, he was ordered to return for a lie detector test, but before that took place he committed suicide.

The stories unfortunately parallel in many ways except for one main, huge glaring difference.

It has been 27 years since the Monacos’ 18-year-old daughter disappeared while on vacation in Virginia Beach, Va.

The media focus in 27 years ago was not on this case. I am almost sure that no one has even heard of the Monaco’s circumstances. The media did not consist of 24-7 news outlets let alone the internet. One could only image the MSM scrutiny that would have focused the eyes of millions upon this? I hardly doubt that a cover up of the alleged elite and rich suspects in this case would have been able to cover up such an investigation. This is the difference between what occurs today as opposed to the past. Also the legacy of Natalee Holloway will be the media’s responsibility to cover such investigations and not let then to ever get swept under the rug. To me that’s what makes the Natalee Holloway investigation even more telling and puzzling.