Natalie Posner bio
Natalie Maureen Posner was born in Sunland, California, on February 15, 1983.
Lana Kaye Rucker was technically a minor when she married Larry George Posner two months before Natalie was born at the insistence of Lana's mother, Dee. When Natalie was barely three years old, Larry went to get a pint of whiskey and never returned. Unfazed, Lana had no trouble finding replacements for Larry. Whenever one man left, another quickly filled the vacancy.
Years later, neighbors contacted Social Services after seeing Lana's boyfriend acting inappropriately with 11-year-old Natalie. After a short investigation, Natalie was sent to her maternal grandmother, where Natalie always had clean clothes, regular meals, and a strict religious environment.
In school, Natalie excelled academically but was painfully shy. She had only one friend, Sandy Evanuick, who was also living with a grandparent because of parental neglect. When Sandy was killed by a hit-and-run driver, Natalie rejected all overtures of sympathy and immersed herself in her studies.
A teacher helped Natalie get a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where she made friends. She also discovered young men were attracted to her, especially after she dyed her hair blonde to look more like a "California girl."
In her sophomore year, Natalie met Ivan Riesling, the entertainment editor for Los Angeles Addendum magazine and the most handsome man Natalie had ever seen. To her amazement, Ivan begged her for a date. Within six weeks, they were living together. Three months later, Ivan convinced Natalie to quit school and work for him as a researcher.
In 2009, Lana showed up at her daughter's home, seeking reconciliation. Natalie tried to get rid of her before Ivan returned, but once Lana saw how well her daughter was doing, she stubbornly lingered, wondering aloud if Natalie had some extra cash for her "poor old mama." When Ivan got home, he politely escorted Lana out after seeing how distressed Natalie was.
As Lana was leaving—finally—she mentioned that Natalie was much prettier as a brunette than the bimbo blonde she was now. After he closed the door behind Lana, Ivan was furious, raging that Natalie had deceived him for years by altering her looks. Stunned by his reaction, Natalie didn't see the fist coming, but she heard the crack as the impact broke her nose.
At the emergency room, both insisted that Natalie had accidentally walked into a door. Over the next several years, the ER trips became more frequent. After a while, Ivan didn't even go with her anymore.
When Natalie asked her mother for advice, Lana chided her for complaining when she had a nice place to live and a man who obviously cared about her. All Natalie needed to do, Lana said, was accept the bad with the good. And then she gave Natalie makeup tips for covering inconvenient bruises.
With her girlfriends, Natalie insisted that Ivan would never raise a hand to her or anyone. Even though police responded to Ivan and Natalie's home many times, no charges were ever filed.
One Monday morning, Ivan's secretary discovered his body in his home. He apparently had interrupted an attempted burglary about 24 hours before and was beaten to death. The investigation later determined a fire poker found at the scene was the murder weapon.
Natalie, who had missed several days of work the week before Ivan died, was nowhere to be found, and some of her belongings, including her car, were missing. Her vehicle was found abandoned in Bakersfield, California, two weeks later.
A few days after Ivan's death, Lana received a postcard, unsigned but believed to be from Natalie. It read: "He finally went too far. I can't stay here. I'm sorry. Pray for me."
The last reported sighting of Natalie Posner was in November 2020. Jim Arnold, an acquaintance of Ivan Riesling's, believed he saw Natalie at an Aspen ski lodge. According to him, she was thinner, and her hair was dark, but the voice was the same. Mr. Arnold said he didn't recognize her at first, and by the time he placed her, Natalie had disappeared again.
