Celli was a bright, successful woman. She had immigrated from Italy, graduated from Ohio State University with honors, spoke five languages, and was a home economics teacher. She was visiting her parents for a holiday weekend when she vanished. Her family said she was healthy, didn’t drink or smoke, and wasn’t involved with anyone romantically; they believed she was abducted.

Police initially thought she might have had amnesia, but found no evidence. A key piece of information came from a witness who saw a woman who looked like Celli arguing with a man in a red Dodge coupe with a broken window near the Olentangy River. A red shoe was thrown or fell from the car during the argument. Later that day, a man in a similar car, with a woman who he told to “be quiet,” bought gas nearby.

In 1956, the police chief inexplicably declared the case closed, claiming someone knew where Celli was and it wasn’t a crime. Celli’s family strongly disagreed, saying they hadn’t heard from the police in years. The case remains unsolved and open to this day.