Judge to lift protective order in cold case

Published 10:15 am Monday, January 1, 2024

A Clatsop County Circuit Court judge has indicated he will lift a protective order that sealed the missing persons case files regarding Joan Leigh Hall, a Warrenton High School senior who disappeared in 1983.

Judge Beau Peterson announced the decision during a hearing on Friday afternoon.

The protective order, put in place in 2018 by Judge Paula Brownhill, sealed the investigative records involving Hall’s disappearance, including all associated reports and evidence, for 75 years.

Dean and Erik Andal, brothers who live in California who have taken an interest in Hall’s disappearance, went to court to lift the protective order, citing irregularities in the initial investigation and a strong public interest in the case.

The motion to lift the protective order was filed against Sheriff Matt Phillips and the leaders of other local law enforcement agencies that assisted in the investigation. The law enforcement officials told the court they had no objections to lifting the order.

Hall, 17, was last seen on Main Avenue on the afternoon of Sept. 30, 1983. Authorities have said she was seen at the Mini-Mart by a boy who had given her a ride from the high school.

“I will say that this disappearance of a bright and vibrant young woman more than 40 years ago has gripped this community,” Phillips told the court. “And despite the best efforts of law enforcement to investigate this, it’s not providing any answers.”

Phillips noted that protective orders are generally enforced to preserve evidence and to ensure that any future tips or information can be corroborated.

Due to public interest, an exhaustion of reasonable leads and the hopes of resolving the case, Phillips said he and others in law enforcement concluded that it would be appropriate to make the case files available under the state’s public records law.

“Hopefully, there’s someone out there with a guilty conscience and this would be enough to have them come forward so we can get the answers that the whole family wants and deserves, and I believe our community would like to see answered as well,” Phillips said.

Deputy District Attorney Dawn Buzzard told the court that District Attorney Ron Brown did not object to lifting the protective order.

“Based on that, I’m certainly willing to enter an order removing the protective order and turning this back over to the standard public records law,” Judge Peterson said.

Some people who have been following the case closely also want more information about how the protective order reached the court in 2018, since background about the order was not part of the recent court records. Phillips told The Astorian that a detective filed for the protective order back in 2018.

Dean Andal said he hopes that lifting the protective order will serve a good end.

“There’s a huge following of people that would like to find out the facts of the case and see where it leads,” he said. “And we don’t have any expectations of what’s going to happen with the information. But we know that without the information, the disappearance was not solved, and she has not been found.

“And so we think that bringing light to that with a lot more information and involving the public can only help and we hope it leads to a good place.”