IL IL - Barbara, 15, & Patricia Grimes, 13, Chicago, 27 Dec 1956

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The Grimes sisters case made MSM this morning. Which led me to an older article I had missed which I'll share first.

Shortly after I had conducted the research for the book "Chicago\\'s Haunt Detective" (I had included the Grimes case in the book because of some ghost stories associated with where the girls' bodies were found) I came across a similar crime that took place in Addison, IL about one year after the Grimes case. It involved the murder of Bonnie Leigh Scott who was murdered at the age of 15 and whose nude body was found by a group of cub scouts from Cicero on a nature hike just over a guard rail at 95th and LaGrange Road near Palos Hills. The man who was responsible for the crime had made a phone call to Loretta Grimes shortly after Scott's body was discovered boasting about killing the Grimes girls and Scott and getting away with both crimes. Mrs. Grimes claimed that the voice of that person was the same as the voice of the person who called her after her girls' bodies were discovered and boasted about undressing them and shared with Loretta personal information about one of the girls that was not previously published. Loretta was quoted as saying "I will never forget that voice".

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-s...mes-sisters-chicagos-most-infamous-cold-case/

More at link, well worth the read.
 
Since the retired detective working this case has decided not to post the name of the now deceased person who was responsible for murdering Bonnie Leigh Scott, I am just going to use his initials here. (For the same reasons explained in the link in the previous post).

Here is an article on Bonnie's murder. A CM reportedly confessed to murdering Bonnie. I haven't looked yet to see if he was convicted. I assume he was, but haven't yet found an MSM article to confirm it.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...gIqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iCYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7366,4444923
 
Here is an article on the info I heard on the radio (WBBM am 780) this morning.

Now, a retired police officer and a group of amateur sleuths are hoping to piece together clues to solve the case.



The group plans to meet Saturday at the McKinley Park library to review the facts and offer potential theories.

"I thought nobody should give up on this case," said Ray Johnson, a retired West Chicago police officer who is coordinating the effort.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-talk-grimes-cold-case-20130530,0,3188265.story

Interesting article. I wonder if this group is open to the public? No time is mentioned for the meeting at the library, but it sounds interesting.

On a side note, I sure wish he would look at Debbie Fijan's unsolved murder. Especially since it happened in West Chicago, and he is a retired West Chicago detective. :please: One can hope he'd be interested in reviewing it after he solves the Grimes case?
 
I remember hearing about them being found when I was in school. A photo of their bodies was on the front page of at least one Chicago newspaper. I was in the fifth grade.
 
A Facebook group started regarding this case: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/GrimesSisters/

There will be a meeting/presentation organized by the group founder and others this Saturday, June 1st from 2pm-5pm at the McKinley Park Library.

"Members of this great group will be holding a public / community meeting at the McKinley Park Branch of the Chicago Public Library which is a mere 2 to 3 blocks from where Barbara and Patricia Grimes Lived. (3634 S. Damen Ave.) We are hoping to keep the case in the minds of the community and bolster public support for an eventual closure to the case. The meeting will start with a presentation on the history of the case as well as some of the recent developments and end with a question and answer / information sharing meeting. The public is invited and encouraged to come because long time residents may have additional information to add to help bring closure to this Nationally known Cold Case.

THERE IS A 100 PERSON LIMIT TO THE MEETING SO PLEASE RSVP to: GrimesColdCase@gmail.com"
 
Welcome to WS peanutbell! Thank you for the information on the meeting at the library Saturday. I'm closer to the West Chicago area with a young child so I can't make it, but hope you have a good turn out. Will there be anywhere to get a summary of how the meeting went for those who can't make it?

Also, is it ok to post some questions here at WS? Not everyone here uses FaceBook and it would be great if we could post some questions here.

I have a few immediate questions. With regards to the CM from Villa Park, IL theory, is there any way to tie him to the Brighton theatre area, or the area where the Grimes sisters resided?

According to this Ebay link, CM resided with his parents and sister at 655 S. Yale, Villa Park, IL. There were several theatres nearby Villa Park (Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Villa Park, Elmhurst and Wheaton all had theatres).

Villa Park had a theatre, The Villard Theatre, which closed in the late 1950's. It was on the 100 S. block of Myrtle Ave.

Here is a map of the three locations. CM's home on Yale in VP. The theatre on Myrtle in VP and the Brighton theatre. It's quite a distance considering so many other theatres between the locations.


http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=655+S+Yale+Ave,+Villa+Park,+IL&daddr=128+South+Myrtle+Avenue,+Villa+Park,+IL+to:41.8699413,-87.8336384+to:4223+Archer+Avenue,+Chicago,+IL&hl=en&sll=41.84399,-87.84256&sspn=0.255251,0.438766&geocode=FVT-fgIdToLB-inp3moeGk0OiDGh_LvfzYGbMQ%3BFeojfwIdJazB-im5T6It30wOiDEhnjdZHUWXCQ%3BFXXifgId2sPD-in3W86TEjUOiDENIycuibvoTA%3BFboQfgIdqM_F-imvAp-Z_zEOiDGNvTgLXtoudw&oq=4223+S+Ar&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=11&via=2&t=m&z=11

I would find CW as a possibility more logical if a reason to tie him to the Brighton Park area existed. Not that I do not find him viable, I just don't know enough to have more than just questions at the moment.


ETA: I edited the map to route the drive to Brighton Park via I-290 to 50/Cicero Ave as that is a more likely route to take from Villa Park than taking 294 S.
 
Bargle said:
There's more information on both murders in the book "Getting Away With Murder: 57 Unsolved Murders With Reward Information" by Art Petacque and Hugh Hough
There are sites with more info on the Grimes sisters. Running "Grimes Sisters Murders" through a search engine will turn them up. Same with Judith Anderson. Here's the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimes_sisters
Click to expand...

I have that book except it says that Ed Baumann and John O'Brien are the authors.:confused:

Anyway, it's a great book about cases with connections in or around Illinois. It only lists an $11,000 reward in the Grimes Case. Hopefully that has been increased since the 1991 publication.
 
wfgodot said:
Huffington Post story on new attempt; contains several interesting links.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/grimes-sisters-murder-ray-johnson-solve_n_3366069.html
Click to expand...

Carrying the above post over for the link. ......


The woman who contacted the detective stating she was with the Grimes sisters the night they disappeared. Was her story found credible? I'd assume she could describe the car she 'jumped out of' and did that car match CM's or any of the other POI's?

Also, it's good to know this group will be meeting every Saturday and this isn't a 1 time only meeting.
 
I'm going to see if I can find any info about the area the girls were found.

I know some general info from my step mom as she was a teen on the street the girls were found. She's not really open to questions, but I will see if I can find anything out..... (She kind of looks at me like this stuff is just all too gory for her when I mention WS cases...) I would imagine her parents kept her and her siblings protected from some of the details.

Here is a site with Illinois Antique Maps if anyone cares to dig around.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Browse/United_States/Illinois/
 
The information from the meeting isn't posted as of right now, but the meeting was basically a presentation/introduction to the case and then an open forum. There were quite a few people there, including former classmates of the girls and neighbors. The organizer of the event was later interviewed on WGN, which is linked below.

http://wgntv.com/2013/06/04/ex-west...grimes-sisters-cold-case/#s1ob6mjeyr2ctODz.01

CM was convicted of murdering a young lady by the name of Bonnie Leah Scott and dumping her at a desolate side of the road and was considered a suspect in the Grimes case until he went to prison. He was known to hang around carnivals and movie theaters in the city, far from his home, and had an address book full of young lady's phone numbers, some in the same area that the Grimes girls lived in. He unfortunately only served 11 or so of the 99 years he was sentenced before he was released. The details of his release are unknown to me.

I will try to post more information as it comes in.
 
Cubby said:
Carrying the above post over for the link. ......


The woman who contacted the detective stating she was with the Grimes sisters the night they disappeared. Was her story found credible? I'd assume she could describe the car she 'jumped out of' and did that car match CM's or any of the other POI's?

Also, it's good to know this group will be meeting every Saturday and this isn't a 1 time only meeting.
Click to expand...


The meetings aren't actually every Saturday and I will be sure to post the next meeting on this thread.
 
peanutonbell said:
The information from the meeting isn't posted as of right now, but the meeting was basically a presentation/introduction to the case and then an open forum. There were quite a few people there, including former classmates of the girls and neighbors. The organizer of the event was later interviewed on WGN, which is linked below.

http://wgntv.com/2013/06/04/ex-west...grimes-sisters-cold-case/#s1ob6mjeyr2ctODz.01

CM was convicted of murdering a young lady by the name of Bonnie Leah Scott and dumping her at a desolate side of the road and was considered a suspect in the Grimes case until he went to prison. He was known to hang around carnivals and movie theaters in the city, far from his home, and had an address book full of young lady's phone numbers, some in the same area that the Grimes girls lived in. He unfortunately only served 11 or so of the 99 years he was sentenced before he was released. The details of his release are unknown to me.

I will try to post more information as it comes in.
Click to expand...

He only served 11 years? :thud:
 
Did he commit any other crimes after being released?
 
amber1 said:
Did he commit any other crimes after being released?
Click to expand...

I am unable to find anything else he was convicted for, but that could be that my resources are limited to civilian internet and newspaper searches...
 
DoRightWoman said:
Bennie Bedwell died in 2012. Just an FYI.
Click to expand...

FYI Bennie Bedwell

Edward L. Bedwell (Real Name)
DOB March 4, 1935
DOD November 25, 1972
Buried November 29,1972 at
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Plot J O 2016
2900 Sheridan Rd.
St. Louis, Missouri 63125
314-260-8720
Buried as Bennie Bedwell not Edward L. Bedwell
 
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