Laughlin, Nevada, lies at the southern tip of the Silver State, straddling both the California and Arizona borders. Though its population totals just over 7,000 people, Laughlin is always packed with tourists because of Nevada’s gambling industry. Casinos fill the small town described as a scaled-down version of Las Vegas. Laughlin is the perfect locale for those who like to gamble but not deal with the hustle and bustle of Sin City.
What happens in Vegas is said to stay in Vegas. Little brother Laughlin, however, has a secret of its own.
Fifty-nine-year-old Jean Moore looked forward to a fun-filled few days in Laughlin in April 1992. Instead, she became the center of a mystery, as she has not been seen in over thirty years.
Jean Moore
Divorcees Al Henderson and Jean Moore had been dating for the better part of twenty years before becoming engaged in December 1991. Both were successful in business; Al had a multimillion-dollar real-estate company, and Jean was an escrow officer for a retail bank.
The couple resided in Apple Valley, California, ninety miles northeast of Los Angeles. Jean was so liked and respected that she had been elected as Apple Valley’s honorary mayor in 1987.
A Long Courtship
On April 6, 1992, Al and Jean left their home for a vacation in Laughlin, Nevada, approximately two-hundred miles away. The couple liked to play the slot machines at the Flamingo Hilton Casino. They booked rooms at the nearby Colorado Belle Hotel for April 6-8.
A waitress recalled serving Al and Jean at a coffee shop in Laughlin on the morning of April 6. From there, the chain of events is cloudy.
Hitting The Slots
Al says after three great days of playing the machines, Jean wanted to play her lucky slot machine one last time before checking out on the afternoon of April 9. He says he left her at a side entrance of the casino and went to find a parking place. Unable to find one, he drove to the valet parking where he told the valet he would give Jean the ticket and that she would pick up the car later.
Al says he then entered the casino where Jean was waiting. He believes she had $600-$700 in cash in her purse, her winnings from the day before at her favorite machine. After giving her the valet ticket, Al claims he left the casino at 9:30 a.m., planning to rendezvous with her at their hotel room at 11:45. Checkout time was 12:15 p.m.
Not finding a cab to take him to the hotel, Al says he returned to the casino several minutes later to play the slot machines with Jean. Because another person was using her favorite machine, he thought she may have gone shopping.
After searching the casino’s gift shops but not finding Jean, Al says he returned to the casino’s slot machines at 10:00. Jean’s lucky machine was then unoccupied and Al says he played that specific machine until approximately 10:15, believing Jean would return. After she had not, Al says he continued searching for her, unsuccessfully. He then returned to the hotel at 11:45 a.m. to meet her and check out. Not finding her there, he took a cab back to the casino to continue searching. Upon arriving, Al found the car still parked in the valet area; the valet said no one had brought a ticket for the car.
Al says he then re-searched the casino’s lobby, gift shops, and the gambling area, but again found no trace of his fiance. He then reported her as missing.
Al’s Account
Over the following few days, Al distributed thousands of missing person fliers of Jean in the Laughlin area, offering a $25,000 reward.
He also paid $1,200 to charter a helicopter to fly over the desert area surrounding Laughlin. The chopper failed turn up any leads.
No Trace Of Jean
Jean’s children from her first marriage, Joe Hamilton and Connie Christie, were skeptical of Al’s story.
In his original statement to police, Joe says Al stated he dropped Jean in front of the casino and gave her the valet ticket there, but he later said he left Jean at a side entrance to the casino and gave her the ticket inside. I could not find anything from the police to verify or dispute Joe’s claim.
Joe and Christie were also bothered that their mom had left her purse and most of her jewelry, including her engagement ring, in the hotel room.
Jean’s children did not like Al, saying he often put their mom down in public. They had tried to dissuade her from marrying him, believing he did not love her. Both were clearly biased against Al, but an impartial witness also cast doubt on his statements.
Jean’s Children
Connie Christie and Joe Hamilton
The hotel casino’s surveillance cameras monitored activity inside the casino nearly twenty-four hours a day. The cameras confirmed Al’s account of pulling his 1987 Cadillac into the parking lot at approximately 9:15 a.m. and record his entry into the casino. A valet recalled parking the car.
From this point onward, however, the cameras seem to contradict Al’s claims.
Al Arrives At The Casino Al Enters The Casino
One camera shows two views of the area where Al says he gave Jean the valet ticket and where he says they walked around. Neither camera showed any image of Jean.
In addition, if Jean had been in the casino, four other cameras should have picked up images of her as she walked around the facility, but she was not seen on any of them.
Jean Is Not Seen In The Lobby
Al’s assertion that he and Jean played her lucky slot machine should also have been confirmed by the cameras. Neither is seen, however, playing the machine during 10:00-10:15, the time he says he did so. Furthermore, in addition to April 9, none of the cameras appeared to show Jean in the casino on April 6, 7, or 8.
The footage on these cameras is not great, but authorities believe it is good enough for them to have seen and recognized Jean if she had been in the casino.
No Jean At The Machines Either
The only person other than Al who reported seeing Jean in Laughlin was the waitress at the coffee shop on April 6, the day they arrived in Laughlin. No one else could recall seeing her in the city or surrounding area afterwards.
One of Jeanne’s friends says she saw both Jean and Al at a gas station back in Apple Valley at approximately 4:30 p.m. on April 8, the day before Jean was reported missing. Al says the friend is mistaken, insisting the he and Jean were in Laughlin at that time.
Did the Couple Return Home?
Al’s bookkeeper, Geraldine Fender, said Al and Jean twice called her from Laughlin on April 8. She says she spoke to both of them and that Jean was elated because she had a string of good luck on a poker machine.
Phone records show the calls were made at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m., less than twenty-four hours before Al reported Jean as missing. The calls seem to confirm it was impossible for either of them to have been in Apple Valley when Jean’s friend believes she saw them.
Geraldine Fender
Al’s Bookkeeper
The casino surveillance cameras, however, seem to dispute Al Henderson’s account of the events of April 9. Jean’s children believe Al was not being truthful in his contentions and suspect he killed their mother.
Shortly after Jean’s disappearance, tissues that appeared to be bloodstained were found on the floor of Al’s motor home. I could not find who had noticed the tissues, or whether they were obtained for DNA testing.
If Al did kill Jean and if her money was the motive, it seems odd that he would have done it before they were married because it would have been easier to obtain her assets or any insurance claims after tying the knot. Furthermore, money seems an unlikely motive because although Jean had sizable financial holdings, she was not as wealthy as Al.
If Al is responsible for Jean’s disappearance, it seems more likely it was due to an argument rather than something that was pre-planned. I did find anything speculating as to whether Al hired a hitman to murder Jean.
Money Seems An Unlikely Motive
Al Henderson died in 2001. He was never charged with any involvement in the disappearance of his fiance, Jean Moore, but he remains the primary person of interest.
Did Al Know More
About Jean Moore’s Disappearance?
I am not a gambler and do not frequent casinos so my knowledge in this area is very limited. My understanding is that winnings over a certain amount are handled by an attendant and the winner has to go to the cashier window or some type of office to present an ID for tax purposes and receive a W-2G form to claim the winnings. I do not know what the set amount would have been in 1992, but it seems that $600 would have been a large enough amount to have to do so.
Like I said, I am not adept in this field; if any of you are familiar with casino procedures and gambling laws, please clarify. I bring this up because Jean was last seen in Laughlin by the coffee shop waitress on April 6. If she had won the $600-$700 on April 8 at the casino, I would think the casino would have had a record of her claiming the winnings and that would confirm she was in Laughlin on April 8.
There Should Be A Paper Trail
Jean Marie Moore has been missing since April 9, 1992. At the time of her disappearance, she was fifty-nine-years-old, five-feet-two-inches tall, and weighed one-hundred-twenty-five pounds. She had a scar on her abdomen and both her ears were pierced.
Jean Moore would today be ninety-one-years-old. If you have any information relating to her disappearance, please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 702-828-2907.
What Happened In Laughlin?
The Flamingo Laughlin is now known as the Aquarius Casino Resort.
Aquarius Casino Resort In Laughlin
Formerly Known As The Flamingo Laughlin
SOURCES:
• Charley Project
• Las Vegas Review Journal
• Laughlin Nevada Times-Mohave Daily News
• Unsolved Mysteries
Well if it’s over 500 at some casinos.
Others it’s a 1000.
That being said he’s the only one who said she won.
I honestly think he did something to her.
10 years AND then engaged?
I’m thinking that she thought the trip was a wedding trip.
They got into a fight and the rest he took with him