CANADA Marion Joan McDowell,17,Toronto (Scarborough) 6 December 1953

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The Doe Network: Case File 758DFON
Case File 758DFON
MMcDowell.jpg

Marion Joan McDowell
Missing since December 6, 1953 from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
Classification: Involuntary
Vital Statistics
    • Date Of Birth: November of 1936
    • Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
    • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3"; 130 lbs
    • Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes. McDowell has a round face.
    • Clothing: Marion was wearing a white blouse with black or blue trim, a black wool pleated skirt, black ballerina shoes, a silver chain with a heart worn on her wrist and a ring on her left hand initialed "MM".
    • Dentals: Her teeth were in good condition
Circumstances of Disappearance
On Sunday, December 6th, 1953 Jimmy Wilson, 19, picked up his date Marion McDowell, 17, from her home about 19.00 in the evening. They drove Jimmy's 1942 five-passenger Plymouth coupe to a few miles within Scarborough.

They pulled off onto a quiet road. About 20.00 they were confronted by a person who opened the passenger side door and barked "This is a stick-up!".

Jimmy was told to hand over his wallet. The bandit took $10.00 before ordering Jimmy to turn around. Jimmy was then hit over the back of the head twice with the butt-end of a handgun which later required 17 stitches to close.

Jimmy woke in and out of consciousness. One image was being in the back of the coupe with Marion's body sprawled across him. The next image was being parked in a lot three car lengths behind another car. Jimmy saw someone close the trunk of the other car before getting in the driver's side and drive off.

After the other vehicle drove out of the lot, Jimmy crawled into the driver's seat and drove to the Scarborough Police and made his report.

The yard was a fenced-in vacant lot located a short distance from where Jimmy and Marion were parked earlier. Found in the lot was Jimmy's discarded wallet and bar of old-fashioned "Sunlight" brand laundry soap. The bar was wrapped in it's outer container but it's inner wrapping had been removed. The lot's gate had it's locks broken and it's chain cut. The chain & locks had been put in place only hours earlier.

Jimmy Wilson's 1942 Plymouth contained Marion's head scarf. Marion's scarf it was believed had been worn folded. The scarf contained cuts in it's fabric as though she might have sustained a heavy head blow. Two different types of blood were found in the car, A-type and O-type.

Jimmy Wilson was considered a suspect but was cleared due to his statement and after passing a lie detector test in Buffalo, New York.

The suspect in this crime was described as about 5'8" with a narrow face. He wore a dark balaclava mask and brandished what appeared to be a Walther .38 or a Luger.

Marion was a bit of a tomboy, boisterous and outgoing. Her hobbies included tennis, swimming, rollerskating, pinball & music. Marion had previously worked at a department store and a bank. She was once an invoice typist for a printing firm.
 
One of Toronto’s oldest mysteries: The unsolved disappearance of Marion McDowell | The Star
By Janice Bradbeer
Jan. 25, 2018
main_star_dec_7_page_1_1953.jpg

The Toronto Daily Star's Page One on Dec. 7, 1953, featuring Marion McDowell's abduction. (Toronto star)
Marion’s disappearance drove her mother, Florence McDowell, to have a mental breakdown and prompted her older brother to join the police force.

"No trace of Marion McDowell has ever been found. Now, almost 65 years later, the abduction of the young blue-eyed blond woman remains one of the oldest unsolved cold cases in Toronto’s history. Police and newspaper reports from that time depict the final known moments of Marion McDowell’s life as ones of violence and fear.

Marion Joan McDowell worked as a typist at a photo engraving firm on Mutual St., and lived with her family — father Ross, mother Florence and brother Ross Jr. — on Oak Park Ave. in East York. She was by all reports a typical girl of the era. Described in news reports as friendly, athletic, boisterous and a bit of a tomboy, she enjoyed tennis, swimming, roller-skating, pinball and music and relished riding as a passenger on motorcycles. She was average height. Her mother described her as husky and strong.

Marion followed the fashion trends of the day and that snowless Sunday night when she went for a drive with her boyfriend, Jimmy Wilson, she was wearing a white blouse, black wool skirt and bobby sox-style ballerina shoes and simple jewelry — a silver wrist chain with a heart on it and a ring with her initials M.M. on a left-hand finger. She wore a sweater under her blue coat and carried a purse."

"According to police reports at the time, Jimmy, a rigger at a Scarborough scaffolding company, said a man wearing a woollen balaclava opened the passenger side door and pointed what appeared to be a Walther .38 or a Luger handgun and said: “This is a stickup! Get out.”

Jimmy described the masked suspect as about five-foot-eight with a narrow face."
 
One of Toronto’s oldest mysteries: The unsolved disappearance of Marion McDowell | The Star
By Janice Bradbeer
Jan. 25, 2018
main_star_dec_7_page_1_1953.jpg

The Toronto Daily Star's Page One on Dec. 7, 1953, featuring Marion McDowell's abduction. (Toronto star)
Marion’s disappearance drove her mother, Florence McDowell, to have a mental breakdown and prompted her older brother to join the police force.

"No trace of Marion McDowell has ever been found. Now, almost 65 years later, the abduction of the young blue-eyed blond woman remains one of the oldest unsolved cold cases in Toronto’s history. Police and newspaper reports from that time depict the final known moments of Marion McDowell’s life as ones of violence and fear.

Marion Joan McDowell worked as a typist at a photo engraving firm on Mutual St., and lived with her family — father Ross, mother Florence and brother Ross Jr. — on Oak Park Ave. in East York. She was by all reports a typical girl of the era. Described in news reports as friendly, athletic, boisterous and a bit of a tomboy, she enjoyed tennis, swimming, roller-skating, pinball and music and relished riding as a passenger on motorcycles. She was average height. Her mother described her as husky and strong.

Marion followed the fashion trends of the day and that snowless Sunday night when she went for a drive with her boyfriend, Jimmy Wilson, she was wearing a white blouse, black wool skirt and bobby sox-style ballerina shoes and simple jewelry — a silver wrist chain with a heart on it and a ring with her initials M.M. on a left-hand finger. She wore a sweater under her blue coat and carried a purse."

"According to police reports at the time, Jimmy, a rigger at a Scarborough scaffolding company, said a man wearing a woollen balaclava opened the passenger side door and pointed what appeared to be a Walther .38 or a Luger handgun and said: “This is a stickup! Get out.”

Jimmy described the masked suspect as about five-foot-eight with a narrow face."

I lived on Dunkirk Road in East York more than ten years ago. Many long-time residents told me that Marion lived in the house next to mine.

I’ve read before that she lived on Oak Park. Dunkirk Road has had at least one former name (Edward, iirc). Maybe her family lived on Oak Park and she rented a room on Dunkirk?

An old neighbour told me Scotland Yard participated in the investigation, and all homes in the area were searched except for his. (He and his father declined.) When he dies, I hope they comb through the property.
 
I lived on Dunkirk Road in East York more than ten years ago. Many long-time residents told me that Marion lived in the house next to mine.

I’ve read before that she lived on Oak Park. Dunkirk Road has had at least one former name (Edward, iirc). Maybe her family lived on Oak Park and she rented a room on Dunkirk?

An old neighbour told me Scotland Yard participated in the investigation, and all homes in the area were searched except for his. (He and his father declined.) When he dies, I hope they comb through the property.
Does he have a narrow face?
 
Does he have a narrow face?

He was older (65-ish) when I first lived there. He had an oval or square-ish face. My guess is that he was born in the early 1940s.

Close in age to Marion.

He lived in the same bungalow his whole life, about 4 doors down from where Marion lived.

Another lady also lived all her life on that street. (It’s a nice East York neighbourhood).

Her family home was searched. The neighbours were disappointed with the (then) young male neighbour and his family. Everyone in Toronto and the surrounding area were searching.

‘This is a stick-up’ is what their attacker said. I understand that slang was used in that time period, but it sounds like a phrase from a bad movie to me.

Also, why leave a wallet with money behind at the scene?

(His first name was Ken, IIRC). Retired Canada Post worker.

He likely is completely innocent, but declining the request to search their small property seemed odd to me.
 
At one time," Boulder Jane Doe" was thought to possibly be Marion, but DNA ruled her out.

Boulder
Boulder: A Sense of Time and Place Revisited
By Silvia Pettem
Someone's Daughter

Once Upon A City
One of Toronto’s oldest mysteries: The unsolved disappearance of Marion McDowell
By Janice Bradbeer
A well-known Toronto astrologer A. Frederick Jackson, director of the Jackson Psychic School Inc., said the stars revealed that Marion had drowned after being attacked and that her body may never be found. She lay in a river or creek near a stone bridge, not far from where she was abducted. The astrologer described the suspect as “a former false friend, of short stature."
 
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At one time," Boulder Jane Doe" was thought to possibly be Marion, but DNA ruled her out.

Boulder
Boulder: A Sense of Time and Place Revisited
By Silvia Pettem
Someone's Daughter

Once Upon A City
One of Toronto’s oldest mysteries: The unsolved disappearance of Marion McDowell
By Janice Bradbeer
A well-known Toronto astrologer A. Frederick Jackson, director of the Jackson Psychic School Inc., said the stars revealed that Marion had drowned after being attacked and that her body may never be found. She lay in a river or creek near a stone bridge, not far from where she was abducted. The astrologer described the suspect as “a former false friend, of short stature."

Thank you for posting that.

As I mentioned above, according to my former neighbours, there’s a link to Dunkirk Road in East York to Marion, although Oak Park is mentioned as her home address.
627FF787-7756-47D1-93FB-F1A038EC7EA6.png
From your link: (bbm)

“Police noted that tire marks indicated there were two cars in the field. (Note: Despite there being two types of O-type blood (O-positive, 38 per cent of population and O-negative, 8 per cent of population, the initial reports only mentioned Type-O blood. Later, a Toronto Police Service case file on Marion’s disappearance — which can now be viewed online — would report that Type-A blood was also found in the car.)

One of Toronto’s oldest mysteries: The unsolved disappearance of Marion McDowell | The Star

‘Viewed online’? Where?

I think I moved from that area in 2009, and even then people on that street would occasionally talk about the search for Marion.

61FB09F6-405B-4316-BD30-512C7EE1C653.png

The pin above is approximately where they were parked, if I have it correct: Danforth Rd & Eglinton Ave East.

I looked up bridges in that area from that era, especially Bailey Bridge;

“BAILEY BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION 2ND FIELD ENGINEER REGIMENT
On October 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck the Scarborough area with terrifying force, severely damaging or completely washing out several bridges.”

Old Finch Avenue Bailey Bridge - Wikipedia
 
Thank you for posting that.

As I mentioned above, according to my former neighbours, there’s a link to Dunkirk Road in East York to Marion, although Oak Park is mentioned as her home address.
View attachment 224486
From your link: (bbm)

“Police noted that tire marks indicated there were two cars in the field. (Note: Despite there being two types of O-type blood (O-positive, 38 per cent of population and O-negative, 8 per cent of population, the initial reports only mentioned Type-O blood. Later, a Toronto Police Service case file on Marion’s disappearance — which can now be viewed online — would report that Type-A blood was also found in the car.)

One of Toronto’s oldest mysteries: The unsolved disappearance of Marion McDowell | The Star

‘Viewed online’? Where?

I think I moved from that area in 2009, and even then people on that street would occasionally talk about the search for Marion.

View attachment 224487

The pin above is approximately where they were parked, if I have it correct: Danforth Rd & Eglinton Ave East.

I looked up bridges in that area from that era, especially Bailey Bridge;

“BAILEY BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION 2ND FIELD ENGINEER REGIMENT
On October 15, 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck the Scarborough area with terrifying force, severely damaging or completely washing out several bridges.”

Old Finch Avenue Bailey Bridge - Wikipedia

Interesting reputation for being haunted!
Several friends have spoken of strange things happening to them at night along Old Finch Avenue, just north of the Toronto Zoo
"Several friends have spoken of strange things happening to them at night along Old Finch Avenue, just north of the Toronto Zoo. Is it true that someone is haunting that stretch of road?

There have been a number of reports of otherworldly occurrences along Old Finch, which marks the boundary between residential Scarborough and rural forests. The most persistent concerns a bridge near Morningside Avenue, said to be frequented by the spirit of a girl murdered there on her birthday. Scary, perhaps, but unlikely, since no newspaper or police records exist to prove the murder ever took place.''

The complex riddle of MISSING PERSONS | Maclean's | APRIL 11 1959
The complex riddle of MISSING PERSONS JOHN CLARE April 11 1959

"Three young women are also high on the list of Canadians who have vanished mysteriously. One of these is Mabel Crumback, nineteen, who disappeared from her home where she was spending the night alone with her brother, aged eight. Neighbors reported hearing a scream during the night but there were no signs of a struggle. Two years later, in January 1952, a former Montreal model, Huguette Lemay, walked away from her husband while they were fishing in the Florida keys, and was never seen again. In December 1953 a Toron’o stenographer, Marion McDowell, and her boy friend were held up by a hooded who surprised them in a parked ear. According to his story she was taken from the seat and stuffed in the trunk of another car. More than two thousand troops and Boy Scouts helped in the search and months later Robert Fabian, the famous Scotland Yard inspector, made his own investigation but no trace of her was ever found."
 
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5573

Name: Marion Joan Mcdowell
Age: 17
Gender: girl
Ethnicity: caucasian
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Missing Since: December 06, 1953

Circumstances: In preparation for Missing Children's Day on May 25, 2022, the RCMP and MCSC will feature a missing child every day. The more eyes that see each child, the closer we get to finding them.

On December 6, 1953, Marion McDowell was seen for the last time in a parked car in lover's lane in Scarborough, Ontario. During the time of her disappearance, an unknown man opened the car door, and assaulted Marion's date rendering him unconscious. When he regained consciousness, she was gone. Please contact Toronto Police Service with any information on her whereabouts.

Physical description: Marion is described as white, blue eyes, blonde hair, 5'3" tall, and 130 lbs. She was last seen wearing a ring with the initials "MM", a silver aluminum stainless steel chain with a heart, black ballerina shoes, black wool skirt and a white blouse with a black and blue trim.

If you have any information please contact Toronto Police Service at 1-416-808-7411
 
The Toronto Daily Star's Page One on Dec. 7, 1953, featuring Marion McDowell's abduction.


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