New England’s Unsolved: New information in Sandra Crispo’s disappearance

HANSON, Mass. — Her fate is a real mystery. Five years ago, 54-year-old Sandra Crispo disappeared from her home in the town of Hanson.

Now, for the first time, Sandra’s daughter is revealing new information on what might have happened to her mother to New England’s Unsolved.

Over the last five years, Laina McMahon has not stopped thinking about what happened to her mother.

“We live with this ambiguous type of loss every single day. There’s really no end point of grieving. It’s just a cycle that continues,” she said.

In August 2019, Sandra Crispo vanished. To this day, police still don’t know if Sandra is alive or dead.

“They had drones, they had K9s,” Laina remembers. “They dug up her basement, they searched pretty extensively. And there was no trail for her anywhere.”

Laina says she believes her mother was a victim of foul play and that members of her own family know more about what happened than they are saying.

In 2019, weeks after Sandra disappeared, Laina and her husband, Tim, testified before a grand jury.

“Did you get an indication that they were close to an indictment, or close to taking some solid action against anyone?” Boston 25 News Reporter Bob Ward asked.

“Yes,” Laina said. “My understanding was in 2019, they were pretty close to making an arrest.”

But no one has ever been arrested.

Laina says two years before Sandra’s disappearance, her father died. He left behind a substantial estate which included up to a million dollars in gold bars.

“It has destroyed our family, in more ways than one,” Amanda McCann, Laina’s cousin said. “Back when the grandfather died, Sandra’s father died, there was a huge rip in the family, concerning inheritance money. So it’s been an issue since 2017.”

“I think she (Sandra) was a victim. I think she was targeted for something she didn’t have,” Laina added.

“Which is money?” Ward asked.

“Which is money,” Laina confirmed.

Tim McMahon was the last person to see Sandra Crispo. He is Sandra’s husband.

On August 7, 2019, he says he dropped Sandra off at her house after taking her to a local mechanic.

On the way home, Sandra stopped for cigarettes. Sandra was recorded on surveillance video at the gas station. They are the last images of her.

“How was Sandra the last time you saw her, when you were talking to her. Did anything seem off with her?” Ward asked Tim.

“Nothing extremely off,” Tim said.

The next day, Thursday, Sandra did not answer Laina’s calls.

On Friday, when Laina stopped by her mother’s house, Sandra Crispo was gone.

“I had a bad feeling that something was very wrong because we have a ‘homebody’ grandmother who normally was very responsive. Now, all of a sudden she is just gone,” Laina said.

Laina says she grew more concerned when she learned that neighbors heard a loud argument the night Sandra disappeared.

And inside Sandra’s tidy house, Laina said she found small droplets of blood on the floor and on the walls.

Five years later, Laina and her husband fear the worst.

“What would be the motive for anybody in your family to do something to your mother?” Ward asked.

“I believe that somebody thought she had gold, and I think she was targeted, and I don’t think they got anything,” Laina said.

“Why would somebody do this to Sandra?” Ward asked Tim McMahon.

“I believe it was inheritance. I believe it was greed,” he said.

Five years of silence, of not knowing what happened to Sandra Crispo, or where she is, has taken a real toll on her family.

“I just want answers for my mom. Because, at the end of the day, she’s a person. She’s a grandmother. She deserves justice,” Laina said.

The Plymouth County DA’s office said in a statement that the Sandra Crispo case is open.

Anyone with information should contact Hanson Police, or MA State Police Detectives at 508-894-2600.

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