Name: Evelyn Grace Hartley
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: October 24, 1953
Location Last Seen: La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin
Date of Birth: November 21, 1937
Age: 15 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 126-128 lbs.
Hair Color: Light brown, straight
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Light complexion. Hartley wears eyeglasses, but did not have them on when she disappeared.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: She was last seen wearing size 16, red denim White Stag jeans, a size 34-36 plain white Ship n' Shore blouse, with pearl buttons. An indian beaded belt with metal buckle, size 24. White bobby socks.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Hartley, a 15-year-old Central High School student disappeared October 24, 1953, from the home of a La Crosse State College professor where she was babysitting. She was supposed to call her parents during the evening but did not. Her father tried to call several times that day and never got an answer. He became worried and went to the house to check on his daughter.
Hartley's father found all the windows in the house locked except a basement window in the back. Bloodstains were found around that window and in the grass of the yard, and there was a bloody hand print on the side of the house next door. The furniture inside the living room was disarranged. Hartley's eyeglasses, which were broken, and one of her shoes were on the living room floor. Her other shoe was found in the basement. There was no other trace of Hartley inside the home. The twenty-month-old girl she had been babysitting was found unharmed, sleeping in her crib.
Tracker dogs traced Hartley's scent as far as the street, leading authorities to believe she had been taken away in a car. They believe she disappeared at approximately 19.15. She never was found though there was an intensive search. Foul play is suspected.
Agency Name: La Crosse Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Tony Delap
Agency Phone Number: 608-785-5962
Agency E-Mail: delapt@cityoflacrosse.org
Agency Case Number: 53-1543
NCMEC Case Number: NCM1150955
La Crosse Tribune
FindEvelynHartley.org
NamUs MP #4579
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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