In the course of my research on an old case involving the disappearance of some Maryland children, I came across information on an individual named Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER who was a serial rapist and murderer of children. He was captured on Maryland's Eastern Shore in November 1977. I pass this information on in the hope it might assist in investigations of cold cases from the 1974-1977 time frame.
Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER
On 1 November 1977, a paroled California rapist was arrested in Salisbury, Maryland by Maryland State Police on the charges of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a 9 year old boy. The boy was abducted from his trailer park and buried on a farm ten miles away. The suspect, was one Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER, age 45. He was a tall, gaunt, white man who worked as a general laborer at the Campbell Soup Plant in Salisbury.
LEUSCHNER had been first convicted of rape in 1953. He was sent to a California prison in 1960, released in the mid 60's and then convicted and sentenced again for a subsequent forgery and for the rape of a 12 year old girl. In that incident, he dressed in priest's clothing and asked the little girl to help him bring some packages into a church. When he got her in the church, he raped her.
He was paroled in 1974, and some time after that (exact date not known), he vilolated his parole and left California. He claimed to have lived in Salisbury for three years when captured in 1977. The Maryland State Police called California Corrections Office in 1977 to try to confirm this, but California officials stated that he had left California in March 1976 to avoid another rape charge there.
LEUSCHNER was also suspected of the kidnap and murder of two other young boys, in separate incidents in July 1977. Police ruled him out as a suspect in one, but believed that he committed the other and he was charged with that murder as well.
LEUSCHNER was said to have had a girl friend about 15 years younger than himself in Salisbury at the time. He drove a blue or green Camaro (model year not known) in 1977, and it was that car which had been seen at the abduction sites, and at the burial sites that connected him with the abductions and murders. Just prior to his last murder, he had attempted another abduction, but the child escaped and gave a description of him and his car.
Many police departments became interested in him after his capture, but when the California Corrections officials said that he had only been out of California since March 1976, he was "ruled out" of many open investigations. He may have been out of California sometime before he was reported missing and the March 1976 date might only be when the California parole violation warrant was issued.
I do not know what became of LEUSCHNER. He was probably tried and convicted of murder in the two cases (which were separate events, not a double murder) and sent to a Maryland prison or to an institution for the criminally insane. I could not find any indication that Maryland sent him back to California. He is not listed in the Social Security Death index, or in any other on-line data bases. If still living, he would be 72 years old today.
It would be interesting to know where he went and what his time schedule was between his release from prison in California and his eventual capture in Maryland. That might allow investigators to look into other unsolved murders or abductions.
LEUSCHNER's known victims were male and female children ages 9 to 12, his manner of approach and deception, and his way of burying the bodies in remote areas, the fact that he was a serial offender and had transportation - all would make him a prime suspect in some of the unsolved murders and missing child cases of 1974 thru 1977.
LEUSCHNER was a serial rapist and murderer. It would seem that for him to have accellerated to the point of killing two boys in one month, he may well have killed others between 1974 and his November 1977 capture. Some answers may be in the existing records. It would be worthwhile to request all available records on him from both California and Maryland. For example, where did LEUSCHNER obtain the car that he was using? Besides the evidence linking him to the two murders that he was charged with, what other physical evidence was obtained from it? What items were found in his personal effects? Perhaps locating LEUSCHNER (if he is still living) and interviewing him might uncover information on other cases.
I noted several patterns for cases which occurred between 1974 and 1977. During a nine month period between July 1974 and April 1975, there were five incidents involving abductions of two or more children at the same time. These cases have some similarity, although they took place if five different states: Arizona, Florida, Texas, Maryland, and New Jersey. There are a total of 32 children still missing from the 1974-77 time frame. Six of them from Florida, 5 from Texas, 4 from Pennsylvania, and the rest from ten other states.
In a very short time frame of five months from March to July 1975, and within a very close radius, two girls from Maryland, two boys from New Jersey and three girls from Pennsylvania all disappeared. One incident per month, each in a different police jurisdiction. All of those sites were within driving distance from Salisbury, Maryland.
Whether or not LEUSCHNER was responsible for the abduction and murder of any of those children is a matter to investigate. He was, in fact, a serial killer on the loose at the time, and it is a reasonable conclusion that these children may have fallen victim to such a killer.
Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER
On 1 November 1977, a paroled California rapist was arrested in Salisbury, Maryland by Maryland State Police on the charges of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a 9 year old boy. The boy was abducted from his trailer park and buried on a farm ten miles away. The suspect, was one Ellwood Leroy LEUSCHNER, age 45. He was a tall, gaunt, white man who worked as a general laborer at the Campbell Soup Plant in Salisbury.
LEUSCHNER had been first convicted of rape in 1953. He was sent to a California prison in 1960, released in the mid 60's and then convicted and sentenced again for a subsequent forgery and for the rape of a 12 year old girl. In that incident, he dressed in priest's clothing and asked the little girl to help him bring some packages into a church. When he got her in the church, he raped her.
He was paroled in 1974, and some time after that (exact date not known), he vilolated his parole and left California. He claimed to have lived in Salisbury for three years when captured in 1977. The Maryland State Police called California Corrections Office in 1977 to try to confirm this, but California officials stated that he had left California in March 1976 to avoid another rape charge there.
LEUSCHNER was also suspected of the kidnap and murder of two other young boys, in separate incidents in July 1977. Police ruled him out as a suspect in one, but believed that he committed the other and he was charged with that murder as well.
LEUSCHNER was said to have had a girl friend about 15 years younger than himself in Salisbury at the time. He drove a blue or green Camaro (model year not known) in 1977, and it was that car which had been seen at the abduction sites, and at the burial sites that connected him with the abductions and murders. Just prior to his last murder, he had attempted another abduction, but the child escaped and gave a description of him and his car.
Many police departments became interested in him after his capture, but when the California Corrections officials said that he had only been out of California since March 1976, he was "ruled out" of many open investigations. He may have been out of California sometime before he was reported missing and the March 1976 date might only be when the California parole violation warrant was issued.
I do not know what became of LEUSCHNER. He was probably tried and convicted of murder in the two cases (which were separate events, not a double murder) and sent to a Maryland prison or to an institution for the criminally insane. I could not find any indication that Maryland sent him back to California. He is not listed in the Social Security Death index, or in any other on-line data bases. If still living, he would be 72 years old today.
It would be interesting to know where he went and what his time schedule was between his release from prison in California and his eventual capture in Maryland. That might allow investigators to look into other unsolved murders or abductions.
LEUSCHNER's known victims were male and female children ages 9 to 12, his manner of approach and deception, and his way of burying the bodies in remote areas, the fact that he was a serial offender and had transportation - all would make him a prime suspect in some of the unsolved murders and missing child cases of 1974 thru 1977.
LEUSCHNER was a serial rapist and murderer. It would seem that for him to have accellerated to the point of killing two boys in one month, he may well have killed others between 1974 and his November 1977 capture. Some answers may be in the existing records. It would be worthwhile to request all available records on him from both California and Maryland. For example, where did LEUSCHNER obtain the car that he was using? Besides the evidence linking him to the two murders that he was charged with, what other physical evidence was obtained from it? What items were found in his personal effects? Perhaps locating LEUSCHNER (if he is still living) and interviewing him might uncover information on other cases.
I noted several patterns for cases which occurred between 1974 and 1977. During a nine month period between July 1974 and April 1975, there were five incidents involving abductions of two or more children at the same time. These cases have some similarity, although they took place if five different states: Arizona, Florida, Texas, Maryland, and New Jersey. There are a total of 32 children still missing from the 1974-77 time frame. Six of them from Florida, 5 from Texas, 4 from Pennsylvania, and the rest from ten other states.
In a very short time frame of five months from March to July 1975, and within a very close radius, two girls from Maryland, two boys from New Jersey and three girls from Pennsylvania all disappeared. One incident per month, each in a different police jurisdiction. All of those sites were within driving distance from Salisbury, Maryland.
Whether or not LEUSCHNER was responsible for the abduction and murder of any of those children is a matter to investigate. He was, in fact, a serial killer on the loose at the time, and it is a reasonable conclusion that these children may have fallen victim to such a killer.