Search of Chelmsford home raises questions about teen who disappeared in 1982

By John R. Ellement, Globe staff

A telephone call from a civilian triggered the search of a Chelmsford home on Thursday where 17-year-old Judith Ann Chartier once lived before she disappeared in 1982, according to records and an official.

Chelmsford police could not be reached for comment. Jessica Venezia Pastore, spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., said prosecutors are assisting local police in their search of the grounds at 54 Gorham St. in Chelmsford.

Pastore said a civilian called police on Wednesday and provided the information that sparked the search. “Somebody called in with what they suspected might be potential evidence,’’ she said. “We always check those out.’’

Pastore, however, would not link the inquiry to the missing Chartier girl and would only call the effort an “evidentiary search’’ for an unspecified case.

According to Boston Globe news accounts and public records, Chartier disappeared on June 5, 1982 and at that time her large family lived on Gorham Street and owned houses at 54 and 70 Gorham street.

No trace of Chartier has ever been found, and police have never located the car she was driving the night she was last seen in the Merrimack Valley community. The Lowell Sun reported Friday that bones were found during the search, but that it was not clear if they were human or animal.

Pastore declined comment when asked what evidence, if any, searchers have found.

She said the investigation is ongoing.