It Was More Than 30 Years Ago When She Ran Out To Buy The Ingredients To Bake Christmas Cookies And Then She Disappeared
In 1990, Norine Higuchi Brown was a beloved wife, mother, daughter, and friend. After being born on December 13, 1958, she grew up on Long Island– a region that was experiencing a rapid population boom at the time.
Norine then went on to attend Uniondale High School as a teen and, upon graduation, secured a stable office job.
It was during her early career days that she also met and fell in love with her husband, John.
Norine and John went on to welcome two children into the world together and dwelled in the suburbs of New Hyde Park.
Come December of 1990, though, the Brown family’s excitement for the holiday season was quickly curtailed following a grave tragedy.
It all began on December 12, which otherwise started off as a normal winter day for Norine. In the afternoon, she and her sister, Susan, took her children shopping for Christmas presents.
Afterward, the group even made a pit stop to snap a photo with Santa Claus before leaving the mall.
Then, Norine dropped Susan off in Franklin Square– where her sister lived– before heading home with the kids to eat dinner and do their bedtime routine.
By 11:00 p.m., though, the mother decided to run to the store to pick up some Christmas cookie ingredients. Strangely, though, Norine never returned home that night.
Facebook – pictured above is Norine
The following day was supposed to be one filled with joy and celebration for the Brown family. It was Norine’s thirty-second birthday, yet she was nowhere to be found.
So, her husband John decided to phone one of Norine’s best friends– Elaine– to ask if she had spent the night there. According to him, he and his wife had gotten into a bit of a tiff before Norine headed out to the store.
In turn, he figured that she might have just needed some space and spent the night at her friend’s house.
After John fell asleep on the couch and woke up the next morning, though, he realized that his wife had never returned home.
While on the phone with Elaine– who revealed Norine had not stayed at her house– John asked if she could visit the Pathmark supermarket where his wife was supposed to have gone shopping the night before. The store, which was located on Jericho Highway in Garden City Park, was only about one mile from home.
Once Elaine finally arrived at the Pathmark, though, her heart dropped– because there, still parked in the middle of the lot, was Norine’s locked car packed with wrapped Christmas presents.
Norine had also left her purse, which had forty-five dollars in it, inside the vehicle. The rest of her wallet and identification had been left at home.
So, following Elaine’s discovery, John contacted the police and filed a missing person report for his wife.
John was a respected firefighter, and during the early days of Norine’s disappearance, some of his fellow firemen aided the search effort. Unfortunately, though, both investigators and community members had little information to go off of.
No one had any clue whether or not Norine ever actually entered the store that night. And even though one employee did recall spotting her vehicle in the lot just past 11:00 p.m., they did not remember seeing Norine herself.
Facebook – pictured above is another photo of Norine
And despite 11:00 p.m. seeming like a peculiar time to pick up groceries, that was actually Norine’s typical routine. She preferred shopping at night in order to avoid the afternoon rush of customers. This time, though, a trip meant to bring Christmas joy to her family resulted in the complete opposite.
John has since stated that he believes his wife was murdered. He also claims that a witness recalled there being an argument in the Pathmark parking lot that evening– despite it remaining unclear whether or not a police report regarding that fight was ever filed. He has since remarried and was never formally named a suspect in Norine’s case.
And in terms of Norine’s case progress, some of her friends– including Elaine– worked together in 2017 to get her cold case reopened. Now, even though there have been no recent updates in the case, Norine’s friends are working with the Nassau Police Department to help spread awareness and keep her disappearance at the forefront of community members’ minds.
They have also created a Facebook page entitled “Find Norine” to accomplish the same goal online.
Norine was between five foot two and five foot three, weighed about one hundred and twenty-five pounds and had black hair. She would be sixty-three years old today.
If you have any information regarding Norine’s disappearance, you are urged to contact the Nassau County Police Department at (516) 573-8800.
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