OH OH - "The Red Shoe Mystery" - Lola Celli, 24, Grandview Heights, Feb 1946

[Robin Hood]

I thought of a taxi cab purely for the reason Lola wouldn't accept a ride from a stranger but folk always trust a cab. If there was the 'Virginia' taxi man about he could have pulled up to Lola suggested the bus had gone and offered her a lift. She certainly wouldn't be stuck for cab fair.

 

[nerosleuth]

The Columbus Dispatch carried an interesting article written by a national syndicated news columnist regarding the current situation with nylon stockings for women in 1946.


Columbus Dispatch Wednesday March 13, 1946

The Nation Today
You Won’t Be Able To Get All Nylons You Want In ‘46
By James Marlow

• Not enough stockings will be made in 1946 as there aren't enough materials for hosiery makers to meet current demand.

• The hosiery makers advised women not to expect to get all the nylons you want any time in 1946.

• Big department stores are only selling nylons to their charge account customers, not cash customers.

• Nylon production got under way in 1940 when nylons were made with silk.

• Silk came from Japan.

• Then the war came, shutting down production of silk stockings.

• During the war, women could only get rayon stockings in limited amount if it was available.

• After the war ended, the manufacture of rayon stockings dropped to a dribble as rayon makers cut shipments of rayon to hosiery makers.

 

[nerosleuth]

The biggest questions here IMO are - what was the bus's actual route? IF it didn't go from Cambridge and then south and east to the Westwood/1st Intersection, then there would have been places closer to home where Lola and possibly her neighbor also could have taken it. Unless he saw her after she walked past Glenn Avenue, how could he have guessed that she was going all the way to the Cambridge stop? Was she planning on taking a detour? I think that knowing where the bus would actually stop and that specific one (plus the one that had a transfer and which Lola disliked, because maybe that one was the one the neighbor boarded and that's why she wasn't there - but surely police would have put two and two together and crossed that out so I don't think this is likely) would be really helpful. Does anyone know where we could find this information?

Here are some Columbus public transportation route maps that came from a 1939 brochure. The same routes from the 1939 brochure existed in 1946.

The maps shown are the Arlington bus line, the Fifth Avenue bus line, and the High Street streetcar line.


http://www.columbusrailroads.com/new/pdf/1939 brochure.pdf

 

[Veidt]

Twin Lakes is a red herring, anybody dumped in there would have gassed out and eventually surfaced, which never happened.
As far as the car supposedly seen North Broadway and Olentangy River Rd with a woman kicking out a window and losing a shoe, purely supposition as the shoe itself was never found.
Many of the people who claimed to have seen her had only seen poor quality newspaper pictures of her before reporting to have seen her later. The human mind has a way of filling in the blanks and allowing you to see what you want to see, illusionists count on this fact in their acts.

bbm

The newspaper articles that nerosleuth discussed here mention that there were people who saw the red shoe on Olentangy River Road. As to it not being found, it could have been swept away, thrown out, kids taken it, etc. But like you I think that the shoe might be a red herring as well. After all, people gave a tip to the police about another pair of shoes that were not Lola's.

Robin Hood, I agree. People often trust cabs and in those days it would have been even easier to operate a fake cab or take a detour somewhere. Nowadays "official" cabs have more tabs kept on them but even that doesn't stop crimes from happening - I remember that last year or so there was a case of a girl who was left at her home by a cab driver who then got out of the car and raped her.

However, my reservations about is that cabs were not as widely available. You couldn't just find a cab pretty much everywhere and you didn't have a cell phone to call one whenever you needed. But I'm not ruling out that scenario entirely, or I wouldn't have brought that other case up. If there was a connection between the two cases or just people operating in similar ways (sadly, the fact that it was so easy to find potential victims and then take a detour to abduct them probably didn't go unoticed by the worst people) it's not impossible that the driver could have been wandering around residential areas to scout for people or just to see if anyone hailed the cab. If she did get into a cab, either because she felt uneasy as nerosleuth said, or because she missed the bus, she would have had to find it by chance as as far as we know she didn't go back into the house (which she would probably have if she wanted to telephone for one). She probably found one by chance.

 

[carbuff]

bbm

The newspaper articles that nerosleuth discussed here mention that there were people who saw the red shoe on Olentangy River Road. As to it not being found, it could have been swept away, thrown out, kids taken it, etc. But like you I think that the shoe might be a red herring as well. After all, people gave a tip to the police about another pair of shoes that were not Lola's.

Robin Hood, I agree. People often trust cabs and in those days it would have been even easier to operate a fake cab or take a detour somewhere. Nowadays "official" cabs have more tabs kept on them but even that doesn't stop crimes from happening - I remember that last year or so there was a case of a girl who was left at her home by a cab driver who then got out of the car and raped her.

However, my reservations about is that cabs were not as widely available. You couldn't just find a cab pretty much everywhere and you didn't have a cell phone to call one whenever you needed. But I'm not ruling out that scenario entirely, or I wouldn't have brought that other case up. If there was a connection between the two cases or just people operating in similar ways (sadly, the fact that it was so easy to find potential victims and then take a detour to abduct them probably didn't go unoticed by the worst people) it's not impossible that the driver could have been wandering around residential areas to scout for people or just to see if anyone hailed the cab. If she did get into a cab, either because she felt uneasy as nerosleuth said, or because she missed the bus, she would have had to find it by chance as as far as we know she didn't go back into the house (which she would probably have if she wanted to telephone for one). She probably found one by chance.

bbm -- or the perp, if there was one, came back for it.

 

[nerosleuth]

From what we saw of the Arlington bus route map from Grandview Heights to Downtown Columbus in a previous post, the bus went on Cambridge Blvd, then First Avenue, and continued on to Northwest Blvd., Goodale Street, Front Street, Long Street, Third Street, and Broad Street before the line ended at the corner of Broad Street and High Street in Downtown Columbus.

We know that Lola was going to the Roberts Department Store to buy nylons and also visit a jewelry store.

Lola’s neighbor told newspaper reporters that he went to a jewelry store and GuyO reported that Lola’s neighbor went to the Lazarus Department Store but didn’t find Lola at the Lazarus store.

I created a color map which shows the route that Lola and her neighbor both would have walked when they arrived in Downtown Columbus on Saturday February 23, 1946.


The Black Square is the Roberts Department Store at North High Street & East Gay Street.

The Red Square is the Lazarus Department Store on South High Street between West State Street & West Town Street.

The Blue Square is Grant Hospital at South Grant Avenue & East State Street.

The Green Line is the direction that the Arlington bus route traveled in Downtown Columbus.

The Black Line is where Lola would have walked from where she got off at the Arlington bus at Long Street & North High Street and walked two blocks on North High Street to reach the Roberts Department Store at North High Street & East Gay Street.

The Red Line is where Lola’s neighbor and childhood friend would have walked if he got off the Arlington bus either at Long Street & North High Street or at Broad Street & High Street to reach the Lazarus Department Store at South High Street between West State Street & West Town Street.

If the neighbor got off the bus at Long Street and North High Street, he would have walked 5 ½ blocks to reach the Lazarus Department Store.

If the neighbor got off the Arlington bus at the end of the line at Broad Street and High Street, he would have walked 1 ½ block to reach the Lazarus Department Store.

Grant Hospital is also in Downtown Columbus. It is located at South Grant Avenue and East State Street.

We know for a fact that Lola did not visit her friend Dr. Melfi at Grant Hospital.

The Blue Line is the where Lola would have walked if she had went from the Roberts store to Grant Hospital. Lola would have walked three blocks from the store until she reached South High Street & East State Street. Then she would have walked seven blocks to Grant Hospital on East State Street.

Lola and her neighbor would have got on the Arlington bus at the start of the line at Broad Street & High Street when they went back home to Grandview Heights from Downtown Columbus.

The bus would have taken the same route going from Downtown Columbus to Grandview Heights.

Lola would have got off the bus at Cambridge Blvd. & West Third Avenue to walk back to her parent’s home in Grandview Heights.

 

[nerosleuth]

Here are photos of Cambridge Blvd. & West Third Avenue in Grandview Heights.

The black and white photos are from the Sunday March 3, 1946 edition of the Columbus Citizen.

On the top of the black and white photo, the circle on the right side of the photo is the Celli Family home. The arrow shows the route Lola took on West Third Avenue going from her home to the bus stop on Cambridge Blvd.

The bottom of the black and white photo shows the bus stop at the intersection of Cambridge Blvd. & West Third Avenue.

The color photo shows the intersection of Cambridge Blvd. & West Third Avenue in 2013. The bus stop is still at the same intersection today.

 

[nerosleuth]

Only one Columbus newspaper was carrying the latest news about Lola's disappearance.


Columbus Citizen Thursday March 21, 1946

New Teacher Hired To Replace Miss Celli

• A new home economics teacher was hired to replace Lola Celli who disappeared on February 23.

• Police were still without clues and the Celli case was under active investigation.


Columbus Citizen Saturday March 23, 1946

Lola Celli Disappeared Month Ago

• Lola Celli had been missing one month today.

• Police had nothing to report. The investigation was continuing and police had no leads.

 

[nerosleuth]

Here are two pictures of Lola Celli's neighborhood in Grandview Heights.

The first color picture is the intersection of Wyandotte Road & West Third Avenue. The picture is looking east on West Third Avenue towards the Celli Home. This is where Lola Celli was last seen by her neighbor.

The second color picture is the intersection of Westwood Avenue & West Third Avenue. The picture is looking west towards Cambridge Blvd. The white house on the left of the picture is the Celli Family home.

You can also see the intersection of Cambridge Blvd. & West Third Avenue where the traffic light is in the background.

As you can see in the second photo, this is the closest walking distance bus stop for Lola from her parent's home on West Third Avenue.

 

[barknluke]

I'm wondering if the reason she was carrying that amount of money might not have been to obtain an abortion? Sorry, I imagine that made a lot of people wince. But I think many women died from illegal abortions. And it certainly wouldn't have been something she told anyone about except the father of the baby (maybe the man she was seen fighting with?). Maybe the father was Dr. Melfi and her hopes of having a marriage and a "premature" baby were dashed? Maybe Dr Melfi directed a brother or close friend to help her find someone who would do the procedure? If the procedure went wrong, whoever helped her wouldn't have owned up to what she was up to that day.

I really and truly hope it's like someone before said- she was beautiful and spoke 5 languages. She already wanted to travel as a stewardess. I hope she joined the CIA and was a glamorous spy.

 

[nerosleuth]

Here are two more pictures of Lola Celli's neighborhood in Grandview Heights.

Both of the pictures are near the Knotty Pine Tavern at the corner of Westwood Avenue & West Third Avenue in 2013.

In the first color picture, you can see the tavern at the corner of Westwood Avenue & West Third Avenue. The Celli Family home is the first white color house that you see on your left from the tavern.

In the second color picture, you can see a closeup of the Celli Family home which is two doors away from the tavern. The Celli Family home is the first white color house in the picture.

A tavern and a neighborhood market existed in Lola's neighborhood in 1946. However, the neighborhood market no longer exist today.

I believe that the tavern near the Celli Family home was a different building at that corner in 1946. A check of the property tax records revealed that the current tavern was built during the mid 1950's. That could be an explanation of why the neighborhood market doesn't exist today.

 

[carbuff]

I'm wondering if the reason she was carrying that amount of money might not have been to obtain an abortion? Sorry, I imagine that made a lot of people wince. But I think many women died from illegal abortions. And it certainly wouldn't have been something she told anyone about except the father of the baby (maybe the man she was seen fighting with?). Maybe the father was Dr. Melfi and her hopes of having a marriage and a "premature" baby were dashed? Maybe Dr Melfi directed a brother or close friend to help her find someone who would do the procedure? If the procedure went wrong, whoever helped her wouldn't have owned up to what she was up to that day.

I really and truly hope it's like someone before said- she was beautiful and spoke 5 languages. She already wanted to travel as a stewardess. I hope she joined the CIA and was a glamorous spy.

Thank you for bringing this up.

Of course at this point there's no way to tell, but it's certainly a likely explanation for why a young woman of that time would have gone away without telling anyone. And she might not have gone very far; most likely she would have gone to a private house where abortions were performed. (And not likely by a doctor.)

 

[Veidt]

I'm wondering if the reason she was carrying that amount of money might not have been to obtain an abortion? Sorry, I imagine that made a lot of people wince. But I think many women died from illegal abortions. And it certainly wouldn't have been something she told anyone about except the father of the baby (maybe the man she was seen fighting with?). Maybe the father was Dr. Melfi and her hopes of having a marriage and a "premature" baby were dashed? Maybe Dr Melfi directed a brother or close friend to help her find someone who would do the procedure? If the procedure went wrong, whoever helped her wouldn't have owned up to what she was up to that day.

I really and truly hope it's like someone before said- she was beautiful and spoke 5 languages. She already wanted to travel as a stewardess. I hope she joined the CIA and was a glamorous spy.

BBM.

I'm not too sure about the abortion scenario. I don't doubt that many women disappeared that way, given the fact that in those times abortions were illegal, so getting one under the table was risky at best, not to mention that medicine even where legal procedures were concerned was nothing like it is today. The thing is, I can see it more easily in some other cases than Lola's. I don't know if it's possible that she would have had a boyfriend, as everyone (friends and family) indicated she had no close male friends and she seemed to be more of the homebody type. Everything we've read about her personality makes me think they were probably right. It sounds like having a boyfriend was the last thing on her mind at that very moment, and like she was the type to want things "done right" where dating and marriage were concerned.

The only way I can imagine that she would have a secret boyfriend would be if it was someone her family would disapprove of. But that doesn't sound too likely, for one, she was acting normal by accounts and her relationship with her family was going well. I'm not sure how to explain, but even if she was hiding a relationship so she could get along with her family, I think that most people would have at least started acting a bit odd at least sometimes, such as appearing to be troubled or sometimes being more distant. I feel like she'd have to be a very good actress to not raise any red flags in a situation like that. Not to mention, it seems like nobody noticed anything odd - the type of thing that would be only slightly unusual at the time but which people could bring up during an investigation. For example, if she went out regularly without her story matching up or even without any explanation, etc.

I'm also not sure that Lola would get an abortion. People actually thought she had gone away to join a convent, doesn't sound like the type who would get an abortion! Of course that people always surprise us, but it seems slightly out of character that the same person who came across as being interested in joining a convent or running away to one, and who didn't accept car rides because she thought it wouldn't be proper, would have a secret boyfriend and get an abortion. It's not just that she was a Catholic, as I know many Catholics who are pro-choice (even though to be honest, I also know many who are pro-choice but who personally wouldn't do it), but this were the 1940s, not exactly 2013. I'm not saying that her religion rules it out but coupled with everything else we know about her it sounds unlikely to me.

I don't know if her clothes are the kind of stuff someone would have worn to get an abortion. The impression I get from hearing about how they work in those days, is that people would have worn something that did not attract any attention and which was very practical.

I'm saying it's improbable, though of course I'm not going to make the assumption that it would be 100% impossible since when it comes to personal stuff people can always surprise me, it just doesn't sound likely to me.

:twocents:, :moo:, etc.

By the way, the bolded part? It's exactly what I hope happened.

 

[EBrown]

The 1940 census data is online now and might be useful for this case. You can see exactly who was living in the neighborhood, around the bus stop etc in 1940. I tried to make some headway on this last night but it's very time consuming and I didn't get too far. I did find Lola's family's census record.

It's a long shot - but maybe there's a neighbor who was later arrested for a similar crime? Names could be cross checked with newspaper archives and other records to see if anything interesting turns up.

 

[mansker]

One question I had, and excuse me if the answer was in this thread but I didn't see it...

What was the weather like the day she disappeared? It would seem to me quite logical if a neighbor saw her walking and asked if she wanted a ride if it was blustery and cold..she might have gotten in the care very easily due to this, and then he drove away with her.

 

[nerosleuth]

One question I had, and excuse me if the answer was in this thread but I didn't see it...

What was the weather like the day she disappeared? It would seem to me quite logical if a neighbor saw her walking and asked if she wanted a ride if it was blustery and cold..she might have gotten in the care very easily due to this, and then he drove away with her.

On the day that Lola Celli disappeared, the Columbus Dispatch newspaper published on Saturday February 23, 1946 that the expected weather forecast for February 23 was cloudy with moderate temperature. The temperature was expected to be 36 degrees Fahrenheit when Lola left home in Columbus. Sunrise was at 7:15 a.m. and Sunset was at 6:17 p.m. on that day.

On Sunday February 24, 1946, the Columbus Dispatch published the weather temperature for February 23 was a high of 40 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 34 degrees Fahrenheit. There was no precipitation on February 23.

 

[CanManEh]

I read the first paragraph of what had happend and allready i can tell ya that whoever this so called motorist is that brought it all the the police either is the perp himself or knows a heck of alot more then what he is letting on...He seems to know everything that happend yet the lack of specific details kinda bothers me .

 

[Mca923]

Hi everyone,
It has been awhile since I've posted. My grandmother Assunta Amicone Alicata was cousins with Lola Celli. My grandmother was settled solely in CT after coming over from Italy at a young age. Is there anything we can try to help with? I've been experimenting with ancestry.com the past few days and I remembered I never got back to many of you who had questions. I can see what my grandmother remembers about Lola's life/disappearance.

We would love to hear any discoveries you've made!

 

[nerosleuth]

Hi everyone,
It has been awhile since I've posted. My grandmother Assunta Amicone Alicata was cousins with Lola Celli. My grandmother was settled solely in CT after coming over from Italy at a young age. Is there anything we can try to help with? I've been experimenting with ancestry.com the past few days and I remembered I never got back to many of you who had questions. I can see what my grandmother remembers about Lola's life/disappearance.

We would love to hear any discoveries you've made!

There was a newspaper article in the Columbus Dispatch on Saturday February 23, 1946 on the day Lola disappeared that caught my attention.

The USO Center in Downtown Columbus was going to close it doors on Monday evening on February 25. It is my understanding that the USO Center in Columbus had local girls to serve as dance partners for the dances that were held at the USO Center for military servicemen back then.

Was Lola ever involved with the USO Center in Columbus? Did she ever go to the dances at the USO Center during the war?

 

[Veidt]

Mca923, thank you so much for offering to help. I second the USO Center, although I wonder if she'd even be interested in that or have enough time. I'm also very curious about her political stances. I don't think it sounds plausible that she'd have become an interpreter for the US army without at least letting her family know, even if it was after enrolling, but I'd like to confirm that. Also, what her religious habits were like. We know that she was religious enough that her family wondered if she had joined a convent, but did she pray often through the day? I've often wondered if she would have taken a detour to pray at a nearby Catholic church before heading to the shops. I'd also be curious to know if she had any worries about her job or if her educational policies were more innovative or not, I think most articles say she was ok with her work, but sometimes there are things talked about with one's family that aren't aired out -- maybe problems at work could have led her to be depressed though I doubt it. Also if she had many close friends at work and what students thought of her. Maybe a disgruntled student could have done it or a student with an obsession with her.

The 1940 census data is online now and might be useful for this case. You can see exactly who was living in the neighborhood, around the bus stop etc in 1940. I tried to make some headway on this last night but it's very time consuming and I didn't get too far. I did find Lola's family's census record.

It's a long shot - but maybe there's a neighbor who was later arrested for a similar crime? Names could be cross checked with newspaper archives and other records to see if anything interesting turns up.

This sounds like a good idea. Does the census record also show jobs and such? I've wanted to find more information about who was teaching and working at her school for a while now... I can see someone she knew from work convincing her to take a detour and seeming respectable enough that she'd go with them without having reasons to fear.

Unfortunately, I think that whoever did this probably never got arrested for another crime like this... especially not someone who lived near her. I think if a neighbour of the Cellis was arrested for abducting, raping, killing, etc. even years later people in that area wouldn't have forgotten Lola's case and would suspect something even if nothing could be done to link the two cases.