Last Sighting of Judge Joseph Crater, 1930 (formerly Haas' Chophouse)

By 1930, Joseph Force Crater was a successful and well-respected member of New York’s legal community. At the relatively young age of 41, he was a justice of the New York Supreme Court, had an apartment in Manhattan as well as a second home in Maine, a devoted wife, and, allegedly, a number of mistresses. In August of that year, however, Judge Crater became one of the country's most well-known missing-person cases.

Just prior to his disappearance, Crater had been spending time with his wife, Stella, at the couple's summer home in Maine. On August 3, Crater received a message that there was a long-distance call for him at the town's drug store. He went to return the call and when got back to Stella, Crater informed her that he had to go to New York to "straighten out a few people" but would return to Maine in a week or less. Stella's birthday was on August 9 and he promised to be back at the summer house by then.

Back in the city, Crater spent the morning of August 6 working in his office with his personal assistant. He had his assistant cash two checks and the pair carried briefcases containing five large portfolios to Crater's apartment, where the briefcases were left. The assistant left for the day and Crater headed to Billy Haas's Chophouse to meet two friends, William Klein and Sally Lou Ritz. Crater also purchased one ticket for a performance at the Belasco Theater, a short walk from Haas', for later that night. After dinner, the trio talked on the sidewalk outside Haas' and although the performance had already started, Crater was in good spirits and did not appear to be in a hurry. The pair stated that Crater got into a taxi and waved his hat out the window at them as he was driven away. From that point, as far as anyone knows, Judge Crater was never seen again.

It was approximately a week before people began to realize that the judge was missing. His wife was annoyed when he didn't arrive in Maine for her birthday but assumed he'd been detained on business. His friends and colleagues in New York assumed he was at the summer house. The police were not alerted until early September, at which point Crater's disappearance became a media sensation. Searches were conducted of his apartment and office, but no trace of the judge was found. In January of 1931, his wife, while going through her dresser, found an envelope with the judge's will, life insurance policies, cash, and a note that stated, "Am very weary. Love, Joe."

Sightings of Crater were reported across the country and hundreds of people were interviewed as part of the ongoing investigation into his disappearance. Stella Crater was dogged for years by rumors that she knew her husband's whereabouts, but she maintained for the rest of her life that she had no idea where he was. Though she eventually remarried, she continued looking for him for the rest of her life. The disappearance of Judge Crater, who came to be known as "the missingest man in New York," has never been solved.

Maeder, Jay . The Unsolved Mystery of Judge Joseph Force Crater's Disappearance , New York Daily News . August 14th 2017. Accessed March 8th 2021. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/unsolved-mystery-judge-joseph-force-crater-disappearance-article-1.788574.

Margolick, David . At the Bar; Sixty-three Years After his Disappearance, the Search for Judge Crater Continues , New York Times . August 6th 1993. Accessed March 8th 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/06/news/bar-sixty-three-years-after-his-disappearance-search-for-judge-crater-continues.html.

Rashbaum, William . Judge Crater Abruptly Appears, at Least in Public Consciousness, New York Times . August 20th 2005. Accessed March 8th 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/nyregion/judge-crater-abruptly-appears-at-least-in-public-consciousness.html#:~:text=Judge%20Crater%20Abruptly%20Appears%2C%20at%20Least%20in%20Public%20Consciousness,-By%20William%20K.