WI WI - Evelyn Hartley, 15, La Crosse, 24 Oct 1953

[bigals]

Trust me, I had a hard time believing it too. Without the overwhelming evidence that they entered and most likely exited there, I wouldn't have been convinced. I figured it was larger than a typical basement "window" that exists in homes around that area... but no. It's even smaller. Almost makes it even more creepy. I will probably go back there relatively soon. Hopefully get some interior photos and ask any other questions

 

[Ciriii57]

Trust me, I had a hard time believing it too. Without the overwhelming evidence that they entered and most likely exited there, I wouldn't have been convinced. I figured it was larger than a typical basement "window" that exists in homes around that area... but no. It's even smaller. Almost makes it even more creepy. I will probably go back there relatively soon. Hopefully get some interior photos and ask any other questions

Oh that would be wonderful to see, I can't wait! Thankyou. Makes me think whoever was the perp had to be pretty skinny.

 

[Deleted member 332926]

An inside view of that window.

 

[Ciriii57]

An inside view of that window.

Oh Thank you! That looks much more easy to fit through, yes I can see that. I reckon the claddinf on the outside used to be higher up

 

[Deleted member 332926]

For sure. I see the scenario as one guy entered the pried open window feet first stomach down, with the guy who stayed outside holding his hands or wrists to lower him down. The use of the ladder in the basement and the outside guy pulling out Evelyn and his pal to get out. The father probably entered the window the same way, though with no help. He was probably operating on adrenalin.

 

[Betty P]

For sure. I see the scenario as one guy entered the pried open window feet first stomach down, with the guy who stayed outside holding his hands or wrists to lower him down. The use of the ladder in the basement and the outside guy pulling out Evelyn and his pal to get out. The father probably entered the window the same way, though with no help. He was probably operating on adrenalin.

Imagine being so worried about your daughter you immediately climb through that tiny window. He could probably tell something bad had happened based on the scene outside the window, including blood.

I still wonder why they didn’t leave through the front door since it was dark.

 

[Deleted member 332926]

Yes, I imagine that he perhaps was thinking that his daughter was maybe badly injured inside. He probably flew through that window in no time flat. Yeah, I do not know what they were thinking. Maybe they were cutting through side and back yards or something, to be less conspicuous. Although the one witness saw the 3 of them making their way up the street and then later driving in a vehicle. I would think that the witness could have got some kind of a description of the 2 guys, even if it was pretty dark. It was 2 guys involved, I do not understand why Ed Gien (sp?) is still mentioned as a possible suspect. He would have been a lone operator I would think. Also not his method of operation.

 

[Ciriii57]

I still wonder why they didn’t leave through the front door since it was dark.

My theory on this is quite simple....it was locked.
So once your inside, with a probably screaming and panicking Evelyn you need to leave quickly. All the doors and windows are locked. IF the keys are not in the locks (placed in a bowl or on a key holder say) then you don't know which key is which. You would logically then leave the way you came in, via the basement.

It seems that there were some pry marks on other windows and doors, evidently they had failed to break in until they discovered the small basement window. So the house itself was pretty secured by the sounds of it. I used to think that this was a burglary gone wrong, but now I am not convinced. I think professional burglars would have been able to break into that house more easily and I also think they would have scoped the house better and made sure it was unoccupied.
That leads me to one conclusion - Evelyn was specifically targetted. Which leads me to the next conclusion - the perpetrator had to know she would be there and therefore was someone known to her, her family or the family who owned the house.

 

[Lirael]

My theory on this is quite simple....it was locked.
So once your inside, with a probably screaming and panicking Evelyn you need to leave quickly. All the doors and windows are locked. IF the keys are not in the locks (placed in a bowl or on a key holder say) then you don't know which key is which. You would logically then leave the way you came in, via the basement.

It seems that there were some pry marks on other windows and doors, evidently they had failed to break in until they discovered the small basement window. So the house itself was pretty secured by the sounds of it. I used to think that this was a burglary gone wrong, but now I am not convinced. I think professional burglars would have been able to break into that house more easily and I also think they would have scoped the house better and made sure it was unoccupied.
That leads me to one conclusion - Evelyn was specifically targetted. Which leads me to the next conclusion - the perpetrator had to know she would be there and therefore was someone known to her, her family or the family who owned the house.

If you're already inside a house, it's easy to unlock doors and windows from the inside without a key.

 

[Ciriii57]

If you're already inside a house, it's easy to unlock doors and windows from the inside without a key.

Today it is, not so in 1953. My main door and lock is from the 1960s. If you lock it from the inside and then lose the key you're stuck inside. I don't know the specifics of the lock on that door but it was most likely the old fashioned (as we would call it) lock, not something with a latch that can be opened from the inside without need to lock the door. I think it would have required you to lock it behind you on entry. The windows were most likely a similar old fashioned design that needed to be physically locked, they wouldn't automatically click lock closed.

If a stranger had to leave a home quickly and none of the keys were in their locks, I think they'd exit the way they entered rather than trying to find which key fitted where.

 

[jashrema]

While I appreciate the poster and current pics, I wish statements like, "There's no way anyone could get thru the window" weren't said. Rumors start wildfires, and then all of a sudden, people think all the evidence was wrong, they go off into another investigative mode, leaving out the basement window entry/exit. These are the facts that we know thru police reports
6:45 p.m. Evelyn arrives
7:00 Rasmussen's leave
7:00-7:05 As reported by Mrs. Hartley, she had a uneasiness or "feeling" to get in touch with Evelyn as she felt something might be amiss.
7:15 3 screams are heard by neighborhood witnesses with the 3rd being cut-off mid-scream
8:45 Mr. Hartley goes to seen, walks around, cannot get in house, sees open basement window with screen removed and goes thru to get in house. There is a stepladder beneath the window on the inside, and 1 of Evelyns shoes on basement stair. He goes thru house, finds the baby, is seen by a neighbor, who comes over to see what's going on. They discuss for a bit, Mr. Hartley asks neighbor to call police.
9:40 approx. Police arrive and begin to search. They find:
House locked from inside, entry and exit gained from basement window.
Pry marks found on Rasmussen's bedroom window
A muddy, size 11 tennis shoe print in living room, along with Evelyn's other shoe and glasses.
nothing else appears disturbed
Pool of Blood with human hair located on outside of basement window
Bloody handprint found on back of Rasmussen's house, close to basement window
Size 11 tennis shoe prints in dirt
Trail leads around the corner to Fontelle home at 2310 Cooley where there is blood smear on
side of garage.
Trail to next door, which is SE corner of Cooley at the Eugen Downer home at 2311 Cooley Drive.
There is a large pool of blood by their basement wheel well and they believe body was lain
there for a time as the blood actually seeped into the window well.
I believe this is when perp went to get his car.
Investigators at Wisconsin lab
said that blood outside window of Rasmussen's house was Evelyn's type and that it was also
nasal blood. I believe he punched her straight in face and she was rendered unconscious or
semi-conscious, otherwise, there would have been an escape attempt when she was lain down
at Downer's home. I believe perp carried her there, as the swipe of blood on Fontelle home on
garage would be head height is Evelyn was being carried, and her bloody hair swiped across
garage.
Blood hounds took scent from downer home to end of Cooley Dr. where it then vanished.
At 2AM that night, a car was parked on the Lafayette Bridge and took off when approached by
police> Police took license plate number and arrested owner of car> turns out police wrote
down WRONG plate number, so the car that was parked on bridge and ran from police has never
been found.
If anyone wants to watch, there is a news report special from about 35 years ago where they show evidence crime photos, go thru theories, talk to DA, officers involved, etc. You can clearly see from film how large the basement windows were. You can find it at this link

 

[Ciriii57]

While I appreciate the poster and current pics, I wish statements like, "There's no way anyone could get thru the window" weren't said. Rumors start wildfires, and then all of a sudden, people think all the evidence was wrong, they go off into another investigative mode, leaving out the basement window entry/exit.

Nobody said that though. There was surprise at the small size of the window as it appears today. Nobody ever questioned that it was the entry and exit point. That's well established.

 

[bigals]

While I appreciate the poster and current pics, I wish statements like, "There's no way anyone could get thru the window" weren't said. Rumors start wildfires, and then all of a sudden, people think all the evidence was wrong, they go off into another investigative mode, leaving out the basement window entry/exit. These are the facts that we know thru police reports
6:45 p.m. Evelyn arrives
7:00 Rasmussen's leave
7:00-7:05 As reported by Mrs. Hartley, she had a uneasiness or "feeling" to get in touch with Evelyn as she felt something might be amiss.
7:15 3 screams are heard by neighborhood witnesses with the 3rd being cut-off mid-scream
8:45 Mr. Hartley goes to seen, walks around, cannot get in house, sees open basement window with screen removed and goes thru to get in house. There is a stepladder beneath the window on the inside, and 1 of Evelyns shoes on basement stair. He goes thru house, finds the baby, is seen by a neighbor, who comes over to see what's going on. They discuss for a bit, Mr. Hartley asks neighbor to call police.
9:40 approx. Police arrive and begin to search. They find:
House locked from inside, entry and exit gained from basement window.
Pry marks found on Rasmussen's bedroom window
A muddy, size 11 tennis shoe print in living room, along with Evelyn's other shoe and glasses.
nothing else appears disturbed
Pool of Blood with human hair located on outside of basement window
Bloody handprint found on back of Rasmussen's house, close to basement window
Size 11 tennis shoe prints in dirt
Trail leads around the corner to Fontelle home at 2310 Cooley where there is blood smear on
side of garage.
Trail to next door, which is SE corner of Cooley at the Eugen Downer home at 2311 Cooley Drive.
There is a large pool of blood by their basement wheel well and they believe body was lain
there for a time as the blood actually seeped into the window well.
I believe this is when perp went to get his car.
Investigators at Wisconsin lab
said that blood outside window of Rasmussen's house was Evelyn's type and that it was also
nasal blood. I believe he punched her straight in face and she was rendered unconscious or
semi-conscious, otherwise, there would have been an escape attempt when she was lain down
at Downer's home. I believe perp carried her there, as the swipe of blood on Fontelle home on
garage would be head height is Evelyn was being carried, and her bloody hair swiped across
garage.
Blood hounds took scent from downer home to end of Cooley Dr. where it then vanished.
At 2AM that night, a car was parked on the Lafayette Bridge and took off when approached by
police> Police took license plate number and arrested owner of car> turns out police wrote
down WRONG plate number, so the car that was parked on bridge and ran from police has never
been found.
If anyone wants to watch, there is a news report special from about 35 years ago where they show evidence crime photos, go thru theories, talk to DA, officers involved, etc. You can clearly see from film how large the basement windows were. You can find it at this link

Thanks for the reminder on the timeline, but as Ciriii57 said, I never said they couldn't fit through there in 1953 – they obviously did. I was saying, as it stands today, there is no way anyone could fit through there. It is simply too small with the current metal window well and lawn level.

 

[Richard]

Evelyn Hartley, age 15, went missing on 24 October 1953.

 

[Richard]

A green 1941 Buick, similar to a suspect vehicle seen after Evelyn Hartley's abduction by witness Ed Hofer who reported it to police. He stated that there were two men and a girl in the vehicle.

Automobile production was halted in early 1942, due to the US entering World War II, with most existing/available models of that year going to the military. Automobile production did not start up again until 1946, with most vehicles then closely resembling the 1942 models.

A car like this would have been well worn and noticeably older than most other vehicles in 1953.

 

[Vern]

Ref the window - I found this resource. There is a newspaper article (it's the 3rd from the bottom of the library archival links) that shows detectives inspecting the window at the time of disappearance.

There is a round metal window-well surrounding it and the siding does seem higher than current. Based on proportions of the detectives in the photo compared to the window-well, it may have been awkward to enter/exit through the window, but certainly well-within the relam of the possible. IMO, "the why" is given that neighbours had reported hearing screams and some reportedly were then looking outside for the source and saw 'nothing'; it may very well be that she screamed during the struggle inside the house and was removed via the basement window exactly because some neighbours had been checking outside their fronts due to hearing screams.

LaCrosse Public Library - Archives

 

[Ciriii57]

Ref the window - I found this resource. There is a newspaper article (it's the 3rd from the bottom of the library archival links) that shows detectives inspecting the window at the time of disappearance.

There is a round metal window-well surrounding it and the siding does seem higher than current. Based on proportions of the detectives in the photo compared to the window-well, it may have been awkward to enter/exit through the window, but certainly well-within the relam of the possible. IMO, "the why" is given that neighbours had reported hearing screams and some reportedly were then looking outside for the source and saw 'nothing'; it may very well be that she screamed during the struggle inside the house and was removed via the basement window exactly because some neighbours had been checking outside their fronts due to hearing screams.

LaCrosse Public Library - Archives

Thanks for that, interesting that the window well was in place, but seeing that I can see how it would be exceptionally easy to just slide in, rather than climb. On the way out via the stepladder the metal window well would probably help by giving you something to pull yourself up with too.

 

[bigals]

Ref the window - I found this resource. There is a newspaper article (it's the 3rd from the bottom of the library archival links) that shows detectives inspecting the window at the time of disappearance.

There is a round metal window-well surrounding it and the siding does seem higher than current. Based on proportions of the detectives in the photo compared to the window-well, it may have been awkward to enter/exit through the window, but certainly well-within the relam of the possible. IMO, "the why" is given that neighbours had reported hearing screams and some reportedly were then looking outside for the source and saw 'nothing'; it may very well be that she screamed during the struggle inside the house and was removed via the basement window exactly because some neighbours had been checking outside their fronts due to hearing screams.

LaCrosse Public Library - Archives

Thanks for sharing! Definitely looks like something happened with the lawn or the window well. The siding definitely was replaced and/or added on top of. I agree as far as going through the window. However, I'm not sure going out that window would've helped them as far as being concealed. I am under the impression that there was no house to the south (right on the picture you shared) of the Rasmussen's house. Maybe they snuck out there, and went that way because they knew it (because they had gone in through there). But it doesn't seem likely that it was the most hidden. Who knows. Good thoughts either way

 

[archenemy toenail]

I’ve always pictured Evelyn running from the intruders into the basement and escaping out the window but being caught. Perhaps this was the screaming that the neighbors heard. Once out of the house, they wouldn’t be able to get back in if the door was locked and they would be fearful that her screams had drawn attention, so there would be no choice but to muscle her into the car.

It’s hard for me to imagine that a kidnapping with a clumsy exit through an awkward window to a car parked far away was planned.

 

[saoirselouise]

This site shows a pic of the house then. The Missing: Evelyn Hartley

It looks the same size, width wise. If there’s newer siding, a bit may overhang the windows. MOO.

Once, my kid was locked out and he got the idea to go thru a basement window. It was super easy for him at age 15 and being incredibly skinny.

my brother used to routinely climb through our basement windows and my bedroom window which only opened half way until he was around 17 or 18. i never tried it though lol.