Showing posts with label 1958. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1958. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

UNIDENTIFIED: October 24, 1958, Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin John Doe

On October 24, 1958, teenagers would find the cranium of a man resting on the ground while hunting near Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. It was noted to be sitting in an area of dirt devoid of plant growth and leaves, although the surrounding area had thick ground cover of grass, foliage, and leaf litter.

John Doe was believed to be 23 to 57 years old. 

SOURCES:

Friday, April 26, 2024

INFANTICIDE: April 27, 1958 Long Beach, California Baby Jane Doe

 On April 27, 1958, a newborn girl was found washed ashore in th Alamitos Bay in Long Beach, California.

Jane Doe was 1'3" to 1'6" and 7 lbs. She was wrapped in a woman's long housecoat size 38-40, it was in a duster-style and lightweight. The housecoat was faded with red piping on the collar. It opens from the neckline to the waist and is fastened with two buttons. The brand was Charmode which was sold at Sears Roebuck & Co.

SOURCES:

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

UNIDENTIIFIED: July 1, 1970 Grottoes, Virginia John Doe

 On July 1, 1970, while police were searching for missing vehicles in an abandoned manganese mine in Grottoes, Virginia skeletal remains of a man were found.  It's believed that the man had died between 1957 and 1960. 

John Doe's race is unknown and he was between 35 to 55 years old. He was around 5'7" to 6'2". 

SOURCES:

Friday, December 29, 2023

Murder of Anne Noblett

 



On December 30, 1957, 17-year-old Anne Noblett went to dancing classes and rock and roll lessons at the Lourdes Hall in Harpenden, England.  It was just after 6 p.m. when she left to go home alone. She had gotten off of the bus at Cherry Tree Corner, Marshalls Heath, near Wheathampstead, and began her walk home. Another local girl passed by her as she was walking on the lane and this was the last time anyone saw her. She never made it to her home which was only a quarter of a mile away. 

No one had known what had happened to the teenager for a month. During that time there were inquires and searches for the girl. Her last bus ride was even reconstructed in order to help find the girl. Searches with hundreds of volunteers were done, but she still could not be found. It could have been that someone she knew offered to give a ride or someone abducted the girl.

On January 31, 1958, Anne's body would be found in dense woodland in Rose Grove Woods in Horn Hill by brothers and their dog. This area was seven miles away from her home. Her items were found nearby her body. It's believed that her body had been there for at most 2 weeks. 

It is believed that Anne was murdered within hours of her disappearance. Even though her body was clothed there was evidence that she had been redressed likely meaning she had been sexually assaulted. She was then strangled to death. Someone then deep froze her body as the temperatures were mild and there was no possibility of it happening naturally. They then carried her body to where it was found. 

Oddly enough if they had carried her only a few dozen more yards she would have been hidden better. The area she was laid on was considered a relatively open area of wood. There was also a disused cart tract near where her body was found that was inaccessible to cars and the closest tracks were half a mile away. Whoever carried her had to of been strong enough to carry her as there was no evidence of dragging.

Police searched all deep freezing machinery within a 30-mile radius of where her body was found. Farmhouses, buildings, outhouses, and factories were all searched.  There was no evidence of any of them had been used for her body. 

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
The Daily Telegraph January 7, 1958
Evening Sentinel January 7, 1958
The Guardian January 23, 1958
The Guardian February 3, 1958
The Birmingham Post and Birmingham Post July 14, 1958
Watford Observer January 30, 2002
The Comet December 21, 2017
BBC April 29, 2018

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

MISSING: Nancy Anderson

 On December 13, 1958, 60-year-old Nancy Anderson had a dinner party with her neighbors at her home in Palmer, Washington. At 8 a.m. the next morning, a neighbor would bring her a newspaper but would find her front door open. Along with that, some lights were on, her purse was inside the dishes were still in the sink, and her dog was running loose. This was odd of her. There were several searches for her, but none turned her up. According to Black Diamond History Nanct had a habit of throwing trash into a nearby river and at the time it was high. It's possible that she may have accidentally fallen in, but there was no evidence of it. 

Nancy is a white female and was 60-year-old at the time. She was 5'4" and around 105 to 110 lbs. She had white hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a bright blue dress.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Black Diamond History

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Murder of Julia Pratt

 On April 7, 1958 the body of 54-year-old Julia Pratt was found where she worked at Sally's Store in Ocklawaha, Florida. She had been hit over the head and killed. The store had been ransacked and robbed. 

SOURCES:

Marion County Sheriff's Office

The Miami Herald April 9, 1958

Monday, October 31, 2022

UNIDENTIFIED: 1959 Highland County, Virginia John Doe

In 1959 or 1960 a human cranium was found in Highland County, Virginia. It was then stored in a closet at the county jail until it was found and transferred to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. It is believed that the person died between 1958 to 1959. There is little information in this case. 

John Doe is an African American male between 21 to 45-years-old. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Murder of Doris E. Baker

 


Doris E. Baker was a mother of two and wife of Leo Baker. She owned Floor Covering Store, Inc. with her husband in Barre, Vermont. On Wednesday, February 19, 1958, at 4:40 John A. Corrigan, a customer, came into the Baker's store in order to pick up his linoleum order. He at first saw nobody, but then spotted 45-year-old Doris E. Baker lying sprawled behind the counter. 

She had been beaten with a hammer and then her throat was sliced and other parts of her were also cut. It could have also been a sexual assault. It was believed that it was either done by a sexual deviant and or a robbery gone wrong.

$50 was stolen from the store which would be equal to $425.06 in today's money. But her purse which had $150 in it was left untouched at the scene. Later there was a bloodstained $10 bill found and it could be possible that it was part of the money that was stolen.

There have been many suspects involved in this case. One suspect was Parran Youngblood a deaf/mute man who was seen in Barre that day. He was later shot and killed in Georgia in 1958 for supposedly kidnapping a 7-year-old child. There was no solid evidence that it was him. There were other suspects also, but none were found to be prosecuted with the murder of Mrs. Baker.

As a result of Doris's death, many of the residents in Barre became paranoid and scared. Several stores commented that they had sold out or almost sold out on-chain latch door locks and other kinds of door locks. Many residents even were scared to even let political door-to-door campaign members enter their house thinking that it may be the murderer.


SOURCES:
Bennington Banner April 2, 1958
Bennington Banner August 30, 1958


Tuesday, January 4, 2022

INFANTICIDE: Jan 5, 1958 Los Angeles, California Baby Doe

On Jan. 5, 1958, around 7: 15 a.m. a person unloading trash barrels in Los Angeles, California found a brown paper bag with a newborn girl inside. She was wrapped with a green bath/hand towel. She 1'3" and 3 lbs.

She was a white female. She had black hair.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Saturday, November 20, 2021

MISSING: Adele Marie Wells

 


On November 21, 1958, in Flint, Michigan 7-year-old Adele Marie Wells stayed home from school due to a cold. The second-grader decided to walk to her school, Jefferson Elementary School, that afternoon. She stopped at her grandmother's house around 11:30 to show her how nicely her mother did her hair. Her grandmother only lived a couple of blocks from the school and when she left it was the last time anyone had seen Adele. She never arrived at school.

There had been a report that day of a light-skinned African American man carrying a girl to a dirty Chevrolet. The man was reported to have been wearing a gray coat and red socks. It has not been confirmed that this was Adele's abductor. Other children who attended her school said that a driver with the same description of the car tried luring them into it.

Adele is an African American female and was 7 at the time of her disappearance. She was 3'6 and 50 lbs. She wore her black hair with bangs with waves on the side and had brown eyes. She was wearing a gray cotton coat, a blue dress with small animals along the hem, red knee socks, and black shoes.

Other Images:

Age progression to 63


SOURCES:

Sunday, October 31, 2021

UNIDENTIFIED: November 1, 1958 Harris County, Texas

 On November 1, 1958 a body was found in a wooded area one mile east of Green Bayou on Wallisville Rd, in Harris County, Texas. It's believed that he had been dead for around a year. 

John Doe is a black male between 30 to 50-years-old. He's around 5'5".  He had a wide gap between the medial teeth 1/8" in width. Many of his teeth were lost with the 8 remaining teeth in the upper jaw and 7 in the lower. One tooth in the upper jaw had a filling.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

MISSING: Max Edward Metcalf

 

On October 7, 1958, 33-year-old Max Metcalf was last seen at the home he shared with his wife and children in Princeton, Wisconsin. He told his wife that he was going to a local tavern that was a 1/2 mile from their home. He would drive off in his Dodge 330 series pickup. He would never return home. His truck would be found 35 miles away in Oshkosh, Wisconsin around 11pm to 12 am. 

The pickup was parked behind a storage facility on South Main Street. It was not seen as suspicious for a week until police heard of his disappearance. The truck's parking brake was on and his wife thought that was suspicious as he wouldn't use the parking brake as it was broken. The truck was parked in a way that it seemed like someone was in a hurry. 

Max is a white male and was 33-years-old at the time. He was 5'5" to 6'3" and 190 to 220 lbs. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He left wearing his blue Air Force shirt, Wrangler jeans, and maroon canvas shoes. 


SOURCES:

NamUs

Find a Grave

Missing Veterans

Wisconsin Missing

Where Abouts Still Unknown


Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Unsolved Murder of the Pauls Family

 The Pauls were murdered in their Vancouver home in 1958



47-year-old Helen and 53-year-old David Paul were Russian Emigrants and lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. During their 16 years of marriage, they lived in Saskatchewan and Aldergrove, before buying a home in Vancouver in September of 1956. They lived in a home on the 1000-block of E.53rd Avenue with their 11-year-old daughter Dorothy.

Around 11:30 p.m. on June 10, 1958, David was leaving the home to go pick up Helen from the bus stop after she finished work. He was surprised by an attacker right outside the rear basement door. He was shot in the head and was seriously injured, but did not die. 

The murderer went upstairs to where Dorothy was sleeping in her bed. They entered her bedroom and bludgeoned her to death. She was still in her bed when she was found. Her P.J. bottoms were found laying on the floor next to the bed. There was no sign of sexual assault on the body. Sexual motivation hadn't been rejected though. 

They had gone back downstairs and possibly found the Paul was still alive so they dragged him to the basement.  They proceeded to beat him and then shot him twice in the head killing him. Then they patiently waited for Helen to arrive home. 

Helen was attacked in the front hallway. She was beaten and shot to death. 

On June 11 when David and Helen didn't show up to work officers arrived at the house. Seemingly from the outside, it seemed normal, but when they entered the house they knew something terrible had happened when they found Helen's body. 

The murder weapons were not recovered or identified. The object used to beat them was described as heavy. The bullets from the 22. caliber revolver more than likely a Rohn Rg-10, colt-style, six-shot. 

A heavy instrument of some kind was used to beat the victims. The bullets recovered from the bodies were sent to more than one lab, which concluded they came from a .22 caliber revolver – likely a Rohm RG-10, colt-style, six-shot.

Robbery may have been a motive as David's wallet, house key, and the vehicle was missing and Helen's purse was open. 

SOURCES:

Saturday, November 7, 2020

Unsolved Murder of Barbara May Williams


In 1958 26-year-old Barbara Williams was working as a nursing assistant at the Tresillian Hospital on the corner of Edward and Tyrell streets in Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia. She has been working there for around two years and lived on the premises in the staff area in her own room.

At about 6:30 p.m. on 7 November 1958 Barbara finished work and told friends she intended to go to bed early. At 7 p.m. she was seen by a ward maid hanging her laundry. Barbara asked the ward maid to buy her a newspaper and gave her the money before going to her room. The ward maid knocked on Barbara's door at 7:45 p.m. to give her the newspaper, but she didn't answer and the room was dark.

Police believed that she left soon after going to her room to an unknown location. Her makeup, cigarettes, and handbag were left in her room. She was last seen still wearing her work clothing. A red topper, blue blouse, red skirt, and black shoes. She was not seen at the hospital the next day was reported missing on the 9th. 

On 16 November 1958, her body was found in a shallow grave in the sand dunes near the intersection of West Coast Highway and Ross Avenue in Sorrento Beach.

SOURCES:
The Sydney Morning Herald December 21, 1958