Case 224
Evelyn Hartley
*** Content Warning: child victim ***
When 15-year-old Evelyn Hartley agreed to babysit for the Rasmussen family on the evening of October 24 1953, it sounded like a relatively easy job. She made her way to the Rasmussen home in the Wisconsin neighbourhood of La Crosse, promising to call her parents at 8:30 PM to check in.
When 8:30 came and went with no word from Evelyn, her father raced to the Rasmussen’s house to check on her. The baby that Evelyn was caring for was fast asleep in her crib, but the home was in disarray, and there was no trace of Evelyn save for some blood stains. What followed was one of Wisconsin’s most infamous cases and would change an entire community forever.
CREDITS
EPISODE:
Research & writing – Erin Munro
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Narration – Anonymous Host
MUSIC:
‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com
Audio production – Mike Migas
Scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn
OTHER:
Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska
PREMIUM
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RESOURCES
BOOKS
Where’s Evelyn? – Susan Hessel
ARTICLES
Old tape gives new clues in half-century old death of former Charleston girl – Journal Gazette & Times-Courier
Release suspect in abduction find no trace of missing girl – La Crosse Tribune
Dr Hartley renews appeal to abductor – La Crosse Tribune
Need ‘break’ to solve case, police say – La Crosse Tribune
Appeal for information on Hartley girl, tennis shoes – La Crosse Tribune
Bloodstained jacket clue in Hartley case – La Crosse Tribune
Lie detector tests started here Thursday – La Crosse Tribune
Our greatest mystery – La Crosse Tribune
Mysterious hush-hush veils probe of babysitter – Chicago Tribune
3 clues to Hartley girl fizzle out – Star Tribune
Missing babysitter’s fate still mystery – The Knoxville Journal
Claims she’s missing girl; story false – Des Moines Tribune
Dead or alive? Babysitter’s fate mystery – Chicago Tribune
Police stymied in La Crosse case – The Winona Daily News
Abduction may remain unsolved – La Crosse Tribune
Hardly a trace: Whatever happened to young Evelyn Hartley – La Crosse Tribune
Stories of the Unsolved: The Disappearance of Evelyn Hartley
10 skulls found in house of horror – The Oshkosh Northwestern
Widow, 58, found slain in Wisconsin – Star Tribune
VIDEOS
Whatever happened to Evelyn Hartley?
Dark La Crosse Stories, Episode 17: The disappearance of Evelyn Hartley