American child adopted by Donna and Robert Launt. The Launts had two natural kids and after Nancy, took in another foster child. Nancy was one of four kids born to Marie Lackey who had been taken from her birth mother at age four after Marie had twisted her leg until it snapped. Alcohol-fueled abuse had been a way of life for the kids. Nancy had learned that adults were terrifying creatures and she relived her infancy complete with thumb-sucking and bed-wetting before gaining some security. She grew into a sociable girl who wrote, drew and loved music, but still withdrew into terror whenever she did anything “wrong.” She worried endlessly about her birth siblings who had been adopted, and kept in touch by letters and phone calls.
Twelve years after moving with the Launts, Nancy was expressing rebellion, feeling drawn to her family of birth. In June 1989, age 17, she left home to move in with a boyfriend and two months later, she ran away to rejoin her birth mother in Billerica, MA. She soon rediscovered her mom’s abuse and she was in constant tears. When she disappeared around New Year of 1990, her brother thought she had run away from their mom’s abuse.
It was not until years later that Nancy’s remains were found in a shallow grave near a car-wash once managed by her step-dad, who was also her uncle. In 1996, both Lackeys were arrested for spousal abuse. Nancy’s mom had married her ex-husband’s brother, Richard, and it was he who wrote a note to the police confessing to Nancy’s murder before hanging himself with his bathrobe belt on 3/22/1999. He wrote, “I did it. I have no excuse. It just happened.”