PA PA - Kathy Shea, 6, Tyrone, 18 March 1965

[ihadcabinfever]

Still waiting to hear back.

 

[larrylaird]

I was also born and raised in Tyrone. My home was on 18th street with the rear facing Adams School---about 150 feet from our back door. I was about 10 at the time.

The street she was walking on was not a 'main' North/south East/West Street, but a street that seemed stuck in between two 'avenues' between Adams and Hamilton running from 15th street to 17th street. That street led straight to the southern playground at Adams School bordering 17th. It's now called Laurel Drive, which is 2 blocks 'in the same line' with North Avenue. Yeah--it changes names from 15th street till it ends at the school ( but I think it was a different name in the 60's. not sure)

One thing I remember as mischievous kids was the storm water system in town. On many corners there were square grids that covered the drains. Not the ones you see cut into the curb. just flat on the roadside.

At 20st street and Hamlin avenue there is a bridge and under that you could enter that drain system where it emptied into a stream. (you can see the start of this steam on Google maps) We used to ride our bikes into this opening for some distance because it was about 4.5 to 5 foot tall. As a teen ager (5 1/2 foot tall) I could walk crouched over from 21st street to 17th street in these storm drains. It was too creepy so I never made any turns up 17th street or towards Laural drive...but I know the drains are there.

These we stone lined square tunnels more so than 'drains'.

The drain caps are heavy buggers and, from the top, there were heavy and hard to lift but a grown man could wrestle one out. But from in the tunnel you could bend over under it and squat upward using your legs and they'd pop right up. Also, they were easy to slide back in place. We used a stick to push up against it and drag it back into place.

It wasn't unusual for the maintenance department to have to put the drain covers in place. One of them on Columbia Ave. would pop up one a corner if a heavy truck ran over it so it wouldn't have be something you'd have noted at the time...not unusual. Or some kid (who me?) was messing with them.

I've wondered for years if someone was lurking in the drain system and simply got Kathy to come over to it--calling for help or meowing like a cat to draw her interest. Once in the drain no one would hear you.


I'd be curious to know if they ever checked that drain system.

Larry Laird
webshop1@comcast.net

PS

The buddy system came into effect. I lived half a block away from the probably site so it was lock down time. You couldn't leave the house without having a confirmed buddy. You could never go out alone after this.

Of course, this was also the time we had air raid sirens weekly and full drills annually. Polio, commies, Nam and who ever took Kathy Shea.

 

[Kateyes]

I was born and raised in Altoona, PA and I remember the Kathy Shea case very well. I noticed the doe network was contacted about the body in Maricopa County Arizona, and nothing further is noted here. Does anyone know if any the doe network commented further on a possible match? This is one of those mysteries I will wonder about as long as I am alive. I was 9 years old when this happened,and just reading about it gives me the chills still to this day.

 

[Bargle]

Larry, do you have any idea why the police are certain Hollenbaugh didn't kidnap her?

 

[forthelost]

http://www.forthelost.org/kshea.html

 

[larrylaird]

Larry, do you have any idea why the police are certain Hollenbaugh didn't kidnap her?

I do not specifically.
If the book on Hollenbaugh is true to his behavior I would doubt he was involved. He was armed and masked and took a 17 year old. (Peggy Ann Bradnick) He had a plan of sorts.
That MO doesn't sound like the Shea case.

Hollenbaugh was from Shade Gap area I understand. Of course he could have hitched to Tyrone, and, if involved with Shea, it would have been a spontaneous act and then would have left town without her. Shade Gap is a long way from Tyrone by bicycle. Of course, he could have hobo'd it to town by train.

Hitching on a train and lurking unseen at the Papermill 'Dump" would have been easy. There were many old boxcars we used to 'camp' in as kids so going unnoticed isn't out of the question. We hid from the cops more than once when they patrolled the dump.

I will note here that the rainwater drain system I described earlier did lead from Adams School and it opened very near the rail lines at the Papermill.

The rail lines were 3 blocks from the school.

 

[Bargle]

I do not specifically.
If the book on Hollenbaugh is true to his behavior I would doubt he was involved. He was armed and masked and took a 17 year old. (Peggy Ann Bradnick) He had a plan of sorts.
That MO doesn't sound like the Shea case.

Hollenbaugh was from Shade Gap area I understand. Of course he could have hitched to Tyrone, and, if involved with Shea, it would have been a spontaneous act and then would have left town without her. Shade Gap is a long way from Tyrone by bicycle. Of course, he could have hobo'd it to town by train.

Thanks, Larry. I can see that Hollenbaugh would be unlikely for those reasons.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

45-year-old case of missing Tyrone girl has increased awareness on abduction

The chances of finding a missing child drop significantly with the passing of time. In the case of a missing Tyrone girl, decades have ticked away.

Thursday marks the 45th anniversary of the disappearance of then 6-year-old Kathleen Ann Shea while she was walking to Adams Elementary School March 18, 1965.

With the teacher thinking Kathy was out sick, and her mother thinking she was at school, hours passed before anyone realized she was missing. What happened to the daughter of the late James and Mary Alice Shea of Tyrone is still unknown.

Much more: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/527866.html?nav=742

 

[kbl8201]

when i was in school they'd call your parents if you were 5 minutes late.

sigh.

and now here parents are both gone. well wherever they are i hope they finally have the answer.....

 

[kbl8201]

you know i wonder if since she was only 6, a couple or a woman grabbed her to raise her as her own. checking to see if 'anyone enrolled her' doesnt work if someone changes her identity and name.
and she was so young it's possible they sold it to her that her family didnt want her anymore, and she might still believe that to this day.

 

[Puglover]

I was wondering if any of the wonder forensic astrologists on websleuth has done a chart on this poor little girl. I can remember when it happened and saw a poster flyer up with her picture and information. At the time, there were not too many kidnaps. Her face has always stayed with me. I was probably ten at the time and she disappeared on my birthday. Does anyone know where Kathy was born and possibly any other needed information. I would like to try to see what happened to Kathy. :furious:

 

[Pandora]

There's no new info here, just recollections from a friend of Kathy's mom.
http://wearecentralpa.com/wtaj-news-fulltext?nxd_id=322807

 

[Kateyes]

I caught up with this thread earlier today. Later, I was researching the internet for articles on multiple personality disorder. I clicked on an article and it was about a woman who had been abused in childhood, and testified to her therapist that she remembered witnessing a 5 year old girl being sacrificed during a ritual. She said the little girl was Kathy Shea from Tyrone Pennsylvania! I called the State Police barracks where this case is still open, and talked with a trooper who is among several who are officially on this case. I thought for sure that he would say this was old news, and found to be unsubstantiated. But, he was not aware of this info, and thanked me for calling him. I emailed the article to him, and he said he would be looking into it. Here is the link:
http://www.examiner.com/article/utah-woman-claims-witnessing-a-human-sacrifice

When You click on this page, about halfway down there is a link to a video where this woman, Jenny Hill, is talking to someone else (therapist maybe) about her experiences, and describes the little girl being sacrificed. It made me sick - whether factual or a figment of her imagination, the story she tells is horrific. Her book is entitled "22 Faces".

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

If this woman is telling a true story, it means that Kathy Shea was held for just over three months and taken some 2,500 miles where this "human sacrifice" was done. As such, you begin to wonder how many individuals were involved.

 

[Kateyes]

If this woman is telling a true story, it means that Kathy Shea was held for just over three months and taken some 2,500 miles where this "human sacrifice" was done. As such, you begin to wonder how many individuals were involved.

Yes, when I read the article my first thought was how far-fetched this seemed. Yet, I couldn't push aside the thought that LE really should be told about the article and the book, and let them decide whether to investigate further. The story as told includes absolutely NO details. So, how did Jenny Hill get from Utah to Garden Grove, California? who are these men to which she refers? why didn't her therapist contact the appropriate LE to report Jenny's story? I told the officer I fully expected he would say this article was old news and found to be unsubstantiated. But he didn't, and seemed quite surprised by the content in the article. He has been invovlved in the investigation for some time, which is still open, and was not aware of this at all. What a strange thing for me to find this while researching multiple personality disorder!

 

[Cappuccino]

If there was any truth to that story you would have to wonder why neither the purported "eyewitness" nor the therapist contacted the police themselves. I call BS on that one.

 

[Ambercat]

If there was any truth to that story you would have to wonder why neither the purported "eyewitness" nor the therapist contacted the police themselves. I call BS on that one.

I also wonder how she knew that the sacrifice was specifically Kathy Shea? I don't really think that the article passes the smell test.

This is probably unrelated, because I really don't think that the events described in the article happened, but if I am wrong (which I could be) and there was a little girl who was killed, she might have thought that it was Kathy Shea because she was in the news at the time as missing/probably kidnapped and the child really could have been anyone. For example, thinking back about things when I was a really little kid, I remember seeing a blond male magician perform at show for local kids (before June 1980). Not long after, there was a local magician (in Downey not far from Long Beach) who was arrested and it made quite a lot of news (Vern Butts). When I try to remember the magic show and the guy pulling rabbits out of hats and stuff, I see Vern Butts whether it was actually him or not -- the power of suggestion. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not, but I think a lot of times, when your looking that far back people can be suggestible.

 

[bubbabearzle]

I got a reply from my mother. While she has no idea whether the Sheas in Tyrone were related to the Sheas in Huntingdon, she agrees that the reconstruction looks exactly like those in H-don. It definitely needs to be turned in as a potential match.

Completely unrelated, but you're from Huntingdon? I went to Juniata college and know that town well. Lots of uninhabited areas in which someone could hide a body, the poor girl may never be found :-(

 

[Albatwitch]

Delete

 

[Robin Hood]

Larry, do you have any idea why the police are certain Hollenbaugh didn't kidnap her?

He couldn't drive, the bloodhounds stopped abruptly in the alley, suggesting kidnap by car.