LOUISVILLE, Ky. — WHAS11 is giving TV viewers a new glimpse into the Ann Gotlib case, almost four decades after her disappearance. The FOCUS Team is digging through several boxes of evidence connected to the investigation of the 12-year-old who was last seen in 1983.
Inside this case file, six photos show what appears to be one of the first locations officers were sent to search. A handwritten note provides the only details we have, including that the report was made on June 1, 1983, and came from a tip.
According to the note, an informant led detectives to the remote area, where they searched a field, a car and a wooded area. One picture shows cattle behind a fence and in another, the photographer narrows in on a car with a popped trunk.
The note also indicates the search was in connection to Ann Gotlib, a missing child, and because of the date - the same day she went missing - we can assume this search was one of the first.
But what came of this search or the car involved? It's hard to tell - no additional follow-up paperwork was provided.
The note says the photographs were taken at Bashford Manor, but no additional details on the location were provided.
For the last three years, WHAS11 has been fighting for access to the records to re-examine the 40-year-old case. LMPD continually denied access but that denial was overturned when an interview from the WHAS11 video archives proved the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s case is closed, and the public is entitled to see what's inside this case.
The case file includes seven boxes of evidence with documents, VHS tapes and photographs. On Monday, WHAS11 showed you the handwritten notes that were sent in early on in the investigation, reporting sightings of the missing child.
Since the release of records, Ann Gotlib's parents have relayed their thanks. They said they still don't believe their daughter's case is solved, because they were not given access to the evidence used to close the case in 2008.
"It's still unsolved, we still don't have any result, no grave to put flowers on," Ludmilla Gotlib said.
After 40 years, the Gotlibs still don't know what happened to their daughter.