WI WI - Evelyn Hartley, 15, La Crosse, 24 Oct 1953
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fasteddy8170
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Podcast concerning Evelyn's disappearance:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/unfoundpodcast/episodes/2017-12-08T11_25_14-08_00
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/unfoundpodcast/episodes/2017-12-08T11_25_14-08_00
joellegirl
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I am new to this thread, but have been highly intrigued by Evelyn for awhile. I read through almost all of this thread over the past few days - I don't believe anyone mentioned the idea that maybe Evelyn thought the family was returning home, thinking they forgot something. They wouldn't have been gone long and maybe she opened the door without checking first. She could have thought they forgot their key. The radio could also could have been on louder than the sound of a car pulling up. Side note - I found it intriguing that they even locked the doors. I am from around the area and have heard the old idea that no one really locked their doors during this time period, though I guess I don't know much about the self-locks that were on the house. Still seems a bit odd to me they would even have these on their doors at this time, but maybe it just came with the house as a "state of the art" type thing or maybe they had them installed after the peeping tom? It's a stretch, but the Professor also could have been worried about angry students breaking into his house?
What was the location of the baby's window? Maybe Evelyn was putting her to sleep when she saw someone outside. She could have saw them actually trying to open the windows and ran to call the police, not thinking they would actually get in. Or, she heard a noise while with the baby and went to investigate, thus the shoe in the basement. Perhaps it was a bit of both - She saw and heard the person breaking in. The time frame was relatively short from when she put the baby down and from when she was supposed to cover her.
The father going to the neighbor's house to use the phone also confuses me. How close was this neighbor? I am not sure if I am just misremembering, but did someone say it was across the street? That also means at least 3 people in this tiny neighborhood were home, since there was the couple that heard the scream and this man (IIRC, I don't think this man was the husband of the couple). So I am leaning towards them personally targeting Evelyn/the house.
Just thought I would contribute some of my thoughts. I found the man and woman theory the most intriguing, though the tapes also make me wonder. I apologize for the rambling, I am trying to sort through my thoughts.
What was the location of the baby's window? Maybe Evelyn was putting her to sleep when she saw someone outside. She could have saw them actually trying to open the windows and ran to call the police, not thinking they would actually get in. Or, she heard a noise while with the baby and went to investigate, thus the shoe in the basement. Perhaps it was a bit of both - She saw and heard the person breaking in. The time frame was relatively short from when she put the baby down and from when she was supposed to cover her.
The father going to the neighbor's house to use the phone also confuses me. How close was this neighbor? I am not sure if I am just misremembering, but did someone say it was across the street? That also means at least 3 people in this tiny neighborhood were home, since there was the couple that heard the scream and this man (IIRC, I don't think this man was the husband of the couple). So I am leaning towards them personally targeting Evelyn/the house.
Just thought I would contribute some of my thoughts. I found the man and woman theory the most intriguing, though the tapes also make me wonder. I apologize for the rambling, I am trying to sort through my thoughts.
YESorNO
The Queen (aka "mrsmuir") SWBB
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The Babysitter Who Vanished: What Happened to Evelyn Hartley?
A perimeter search revealed blood stains in the yard, and bloody prints on the nearby garage.
"...A year after Evelyn’s disappearance, Sheriff Robert Scullin estimated that his department had questioned approximately 1,200 people. Detective Captain Leo Kihm, who spearheaded the initial investigation, placed that number around 3,500. Despite their efforts, no new leads surfaced.
The case eventually fell into the hands of A.M. Josephson, a criminal investigator from La Crosse County. Josephson would pursue the case for years, paying particular attention to two intriguing items found during the first few weeks of the investigation....
In the ensuing years, numerous individuals came forward and confessed to the crime; all confessions were investigated and dismissed as false....
To this day, Evelyn’s disappearance remains unsolved."
The Babysitter Who Vanished: What Happened to Evelyn Hartley?
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A perimeter search revealed blood stains in the yard, and bloody prints on the nearby garage.
"...A year after Evelyn’s disappearance, Sheriff Robert Scullin estimated that his department had questioned approximately 1,200 people. Detective Captain Leo Kihm, who spearheaded the initial investigation, placed that number around 3,500. Despite their efforts, no new leads surfaced.
The case eventually fell into the hands of A.M. Josephson, a criminal investigator from La Crosse County. Josephson would pursue the case for years, paying particular attention to two intriguing items found during the first few weeks of the investigation....
In the ensuing years, numerous individuals came forward and confessed to the crime; all confessions were investigated and dismissed as false....
To this day, Evelyn’s disappearance remains unsolved."
The Babysitter Who Vanished: What Happened to Evelyn Hartley?
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YESorNO
The Queen (aka "mrsmuir") SWBB
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Whatever happened to Evelyn Hartley? Full documentary
Published on Jul 4, 2018
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Published on Jul 4, 2018
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VeryVeritas
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I continue to think the probability is extremely high that this was someone very close to her or connected to someone close to her. Since no body was ever found and the blood was not preserved it does open door to numerous other possibilities, including that the blood may not have been hers. Today DNA testing is solving a lot of cold cases, if there are any items that could be DNA tested from the original set of evidence that could help narrow things down.
secretslob
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Has anyone come across any information about Evelyn's older brother, Thomas? I know he had recently gotten married at the time of the crime, but it's unclear whether he still lived with the rest of the Hartleys. Based on articles from the time, it appears he was around to help search for his sister by the next day, so he must have lived somewhere close if not still with the family.
It looks like Thomas continued his college studies, earned advanced degrees following college, and enjoyed a fairly illustrious career as a botanist following Evelyn's disappearance. He moved to Australia for work around 1971 and lived there until his death in 2016. I found no obvious red flags (like other criminal activity) associated with him and have no reason to think he was anything other than an upstanding citizen. Still, it would be nice to know how and why he was eliminated as a suspect. Anybody know anything about it?
It looks like Thomas continued his college studies, earned advanced degrees following college, and enjoyed a fairly illustrious career as a botanist following Evelyn's disappearance. He moved to Australia for work around 1971 and lived there until his death in 2016. I found no obvious red flags (like other criminal activity) associated with him and have no reason to think he was anything other than an upstanding citizen. Still, it would be nice to know how and why he was eliminated as a suspect. Anybody know anything about it?
Falcon500
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HelpingHeart
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This is one of the cases that always has stuck out to me. Can they not test the blood now, or did the family never get their blood taken to later compare to DNA? You would think years later they would have, with the advancement of forensics.
I wonder why blood was on the neighbor’s window? Did they have any sons or people living with them?
I wonder why blood was on the neighbor’s window? Did they have any sons or people living with them?
If you look at the maps drawn back then, it shows the path Evelyn and her killers took to the car waiting on the street behind hers. It was believed the killer and his accomplice were in the neighborhood that night attempting to break into homes. The accomplice parked the car around the corner and the killer had been using a crowbar or something similar to attempt to open the basement windows of several nearby houses. When he found the open basement window at the home where Evelyn was babysitting, he struck her, then drug her out of the house and to the waiting car.
HelpingHeart
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Oh okay. Maybe she ran to the window trying to get help and that is why the blood is at the window!If you look at the maps drawn back then, it shows the path Evelyn and her killers took to the car waiting on the street behind hers. It was believed the killer and his accomplice were in the neighborhood that night attempting to break into homes. The accomplice parked the car around the corner and the killer had been using a crowbar or something similar to attempt to open the basement windows of several nearby houses. When he found the open basement window at the home where Evelyn was babysitting, he struck her, then drug her out of the house and to the waiting car.
New to the group. I've been heavily interested in this case for a while. I'd have to say I'm extremely frustrated with the lack of info the police have given about what kind of followup & results they got from that tape. I'm from the area & Vernon cty(where Lafarge is) is a really backwoods county without alot of population & Jack crap happens there so there is absolutely no way there are too tied up in current cases. We'd all like to know what happened with that or if they even tried to follow up with it. With everything I've read it seems this sounds very plausible. 1 other tidbit that could relate to those guys on the tape, the last place in WI known to sell those type sneakers was a store in Viroqua, which is by Lafarge & where someone in that area would go to buy shoes.
Claudette
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I was reading old articles today and several times it was mentioned that there were 4 unsolved murders in La Crosse at the time of Es disappearance. I could not find them however. Does anyone know about any of these?
Claudette
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Also what was the deal with the underwear of hers they found, the bra and panties? I saw it mentioned briefly early on but that was it. All evidence from then on was the tennis shoes, jacket, and a pair of gray pants as kind of a possibility. We’re the underwear eliminated as evidence?
They kept them as evidence but they never could confirm if they were hers. I think they concentrated more on the shoes & jacket cause they could match them to the crime scene. I've also tried finding out about those unsolved murders & couldn't find anything other than 1 & it was I think a few years earlier.