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INTRODUCTION
Growing up in the 90’s, our family had a nightly ritual of sorts—we’d eat dinner and put on a show or two before going to bed. I remember watching The Simpsons, Family Matters, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and my all-time favorite, The X-Files. Whenever someone laments about the “good old days,” the 90’s quickly come to mind.
On those nights when we stayed up a bit later to finish a show, a now-famous public service announcement played at exactly 10p.
As a kid, it freaked me out a little bit—the possibility that anyone could go missing, let alone a child—had never really registered in my thinking. As I got older, of course I knew better. I’ve mentioned it in passing in previous episodes, but of all the phenomenon in the world around us—mysterious disappearances really scare me. There’s something terrifying about the reality that someone can simply vanish without a trace with no proof they’ve fallen victim to a crime—and it happens way more than we realize.
According to one report, nearly 600,000 people go missing every year in the United States, with over 100,000 of those considered active and open. The ripple effect of these cases is immense, with family and friends left wondering what happened to their loved ones.
In 1987, a strange missing person’s case unfolded in Chicago, Illinois. A low-quality, black-and-white picture of a woman only known as Joanna Lopez was broadcast into homes with an alert indicating she was missing, and a phone number to call. Though unusual, this wasn’t necessarily strange.
Except, it’s very possible Joanna Lopez not only wasn’t missing; but she doesn’t exist at all.
In this episode of The Red Treehouse, we’re going to explore the strange—and scary—disappearance of Joanna Lopez. Was she a real person who went missing in 1989? Or is this case one an elaborate hoax?
I’ll share the story. You decide for yourself.
I’m your host, Will. Welcome to The Red Treehouse.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JOANNA LOPEZ
The story of Joanna Lopez is part mystery and part urban legend, with a wide range of theories to explain the story. But what makes this case doubly eerie, is information is scarce—possibly because Joanna Lopez never existed in the first place. On the evening of January 14, 1989, WMAQ Chicago, an NBC television affiliate, signed off from its broadcast. Back then, television stations used to sign off late at night—sometimes around midnight or 1am—because it was believed viewership went down significantly in the middle of the night. The sign off signaled the station was going off air and each station had a different sign-off sequence.
On this night, WMAQ signed off with the National Anthem, which was common for many television stations at the time. But then, immediately after the Anthem concluded, a picture appeared on the screen. It was a low-quality, black and white photo of a woman in a white t-shirt and what appeared to be glasses. Across the top left corner was the word, missing. Underneath the photo was the woman’s name—Joanna Lopez—and a phone number: 312.744.5594. At first glance, this doesn’t seem all that strange—after all, a PSA for a missing woman is important and not uncommon.
Except, the PSA stayed on the screen for nearly 7 hours.
There was no audio accompanying the video footage—no description of the woman, nothing to aid the public in searching for and hopefully finding her.
The poster did not share Joanna’s height, weight, age, hair color, eye color, the last time she was seen, how long she’d been missing. There was no family information—who to call if anyone had information or she was found. Just a silent announcement with a low-quality picture. In fact, the picture quality was so low, it was nearly impossible to recognize any of Joanna’s facial features.
Something interesting: the phone number at the bottom of the poster was assumed to be connected to the Chicago police department—except when people tried calling the number, no one picked up. One article stated, “the phone number actually reveals one of the very, very few clues: it rings up a division of the Chicago PD which specifically handles missing juveniles. So, at the very least, we know she is a minor.”
Despite the hours-long announcement and the phone number, the case went cold.
Then, in 1991, something strange happened: the same photo of Joanna Lopez aired again after WMAQ signed off for the night. Except this time, it aired for only a few seconds before being pulled. It seems Joanna was still missing nearly 2 years after the poster originally aired. You can find the video on YouTube, and I’ve included a link in the show notes.
Strange, for sure.
But there’s something else.
Not only did no one answer the number on the poster; but there were no police reports on Joanna at all. In fact, there is no record of Joanna Lopez on The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children registries. Her picture did not appear in any newspaper—local, regional, or national.
The minimal information given on the poster indicates Joanna may have been a minor at the time of her disappearance; but, because calls to the listed number went unanswered, it is nearly impossible to know for sure.
And to this day, Joanna’s case has not been solved.
As you can imagine, a wide range of theories have come up since the alert first went out over 35 years ago.
THEORIES ABOUT JOANNA’S DISAPPEARANCE
There are some who believe Joanna Lopez was indeed a real person who simply ran away from home prior to the missing poster airing. One article stated, “her parents might have told WMAQ to put on Joanna’s picture on television to help contact her or if anyone saw her.” The runaway theory is harrowing because of the lack of information surrounding her case—it is assumed Joanna was a minor at the time of her disappearance, and because cell phones were not readily accessible by the public, it means Joanna left home and vanished without a trace.
There are others who believe Joanna is the identity of a young woman who was murdered in 1994 in Chicago. The young woman in that case is known as Chicago Jane Doe, and she was believed to the victim of Gregory Clepper, a suspected serial killer, who claimed he met the still-unidentified victim in Woodlawn. Initial reported indicated the victim was around 15 years old; however, this was later corrected to between 18-22 years old. The connection to Joanna Lopez is unclear; however, some argue the picture of Joanna Lopez and the sketch of Jane Doe are similar, as are the ages of both.
A less popular theory is “WMAQ was probably tricking, scaring people, or conducting a test for a photo when she first came on television.” Of all the possibilities, this one seems the least likely. Is it possible WMAQ put up Joanna’s picture to scare people? Sure, it’s not outside the realm of possibility; but, it’s likely outside the realm of probability. It’s hard to imagine a television station purposely scaring people with this kind of announcement; because, while every disappearance is both tragic and scary—the disappearance of a minor is even more so. So, for me at least, intentionally scaring an entire community seems outside the bounds of reason.
Perhaps the most common theory—and the most likely—is that Joanna Lopez simply didn’t exist. In the 35 years since the poster aired, her case has become an urban legend. Attached to this theory is the belief someone hacked into WMAQ in 1989 and 1991 and put Joanna’s picture up after the National Anthem sign-off.
In recent years, websites like Reddit have kept Joanna’s case alive, with some claiming she may have been found. 3 years ago, the author of a post entitled, “MAJOR NEWS: Joanna Lopez may have just been found,” claimed to have gotten off the phone with “a Joanna Lopez from Chicago who ran away from home in 1989.” The post continued by saying that it could be the Joanna Lopez from the infamous posters; but eventually provided an update 3 months later indicating they could not get ahold of the person. An edit one year later indicated contact had been lost with the person and would not be resumed.
CONCLUSION
I took an interest in this case a few weeks back—I sort of stumbled on it and was intrigued by the whole thing. And I’ll admit, I’m torn about this—because my gut instinct is to take this case at face value, if for no other reason than safety. If we assume Joanna Lopez is not a real person and she is, then it potentially puts her at greater risk. At the same time, if Joanna Lopez is not a real person, then all of this discussion and speculation is unnecessary.
And, admittedly, there’s something compelling about the possibility that Joanna Lopez isn’t real—the lack of identifying information, the unanswered phone calls to the number listed on the poster, and the eerie black-and-white photo. And what about her family? If she was real, why did we not hear from them? Why was the only contact number an unanswered line? As unsettling as it is to believe Joanna is still missing, it’s somewhat comforting to think she may not be real at all—because that means there’s one less missing child out there somewhere.
As we close this episode of The Red Treehouse, we’re left with these lingering questions: Was Joanna Lopez a real person who went missing in 1989? Or is this case one an elaborate hoax?
I’ve shared the story. Now you decide for yourself.
I’m your host, Will. Thanks for joining me in The Red Treehouse.
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