Overview

Last seen: October 24, 1953
Location: 2400 block of Hoeschler Drive, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Age: 15
Case type: Missing person / apparent non-family abduction; foul play suspected
Current status: Unsolved; Evelyn has never been located.

Main circumstances: Evelyn was babysitting a 20-month-old child when she apparently encountered an intruder or intruders. Her father arrived after she failed to make a planned telephone check-in and found evidence of a struggle. Blood consistent with Evelyn’s blood type was found at and around the residence, while tracking dogs followed her scent approximately two blocks before losing it near a roadway, leading investigators to believe she was removed in a vehicle.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Evelyn Hartley Disappearance: The 1953 Wisconsin Babysitter Case That Remains Unsolved

Fifteen-year-old Evelyn Grace Hartley disappeared from La Crosse, Wisconsin, on October 24, 1953, while babysitting a 20-month-old girl at a professor’s home. What her father discovered when he went to check on her—broken eyeglasses, separated shoes, disturbed furniture, an open basement window, footprints and blood—quickly transformed a missing-person report into an apparent violent abduction investigation. More than seven decades later, Evelyn has never been found and no one has been charged in her disappearance.

The case generated one of Wisconsin’s largest missing-person searches, thousands of interviews, mass polygraph testing, unusual evidence recovered outside La Crosse, multiple suspects and, decades later, a recording that appeared to implicate several men. Yet none of those investigative paths has produced a confirmed explanation for what happened to Evelyn. The case remains unsolved in 2026.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last seen: October 24, 1953
Location: 2400 block of Hoeschler Drive, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Age: 15
Case type: Missing person / apparent non-family abduction; foul play suspected
Current status: Unsolved; Evelyn has never been located.

Main circumstances: Evelyn was babysitting a 20-month-old child when she apparently encountered an intruder or intruders. Her father arrived after she failed to make a planned telephone check-in and found evidence of a struggle. Blood consistent with Evelyn’s blood type was found at and around the residence, while tracking dogs followed her scent approximately two blocks before losing it near a roadway, leading investigators to believe she was removed in a vehicle.

Who Was Evelyn Hartley?

Evelyn Hartley was a La Crosse teenager and student at Central High School. Contemporary and later accounts describe her as academically successful and involved in school and church activities. She played piano and sang in the choir at First Presbyterian Church.

On Saturday, October 24, 1953, Evelyn agreed to babysit the 20-month-old daughter of Viggo Rasmusen, a professor at La Crosse State College, now the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. The family’s regular babysitter wanted to attend the college’s homecoming activities, so Evelyn took the job instead. She brought several schoolbooks with her and intended to study after the child went to sleep.

Evelyn Fails to Make Her Scheduled Call

Evelyn had arranged to telephone her parents at approximately 8:30 p.m. When the call did not come, her father, Richard Hartley, repeatedly tried the Rasmusen residence. No one answered. Concerned, he drove to the house on Hoeschler Drive.

The lights and radio were reportedly still on, but the doors were locked. A basement window at the rear of the house was open, its screen removed. A short stepladder was positioned beneath the window inside the basement. Other windows reportedly showed signs of attempted prying.

Richard entered the residence and found the toddler unharmed and asleep. Evelyn, however, was gone.

Evidence of a Violent Struggle

Inside the living room, furniture was disturbed and Evelyn’s schoolbooks were scattered. Her broken eyeglasses and one shoe were found in the living-room area; her other shoe was discovered in the basement. Investigators found sneaker-type footprints around the basement window and inside the residence.

More disturbing was the blood.

Blood consistent with Evelyn’s type was reported near the basement window and outside the residence. Investigators documented two blood pools in the yard, including one described as approximately 18 inches across. A bloody handprint was found on a garage roughly 100 feet away, with additional blood evidence reportedly located on neighboring property.

Authorities developed the theory that a badly injured Evelyn had been carried or dragged across the property, possibly being placed on the ground while whoever was moving her stopped.

Tracking dogs followed her scent for roughly two blocks before losing it near Coulee Drive. Investigators believed that could mark the location where Evelyn was placed into a vehicle.

Witnesses Report Screams, Men and a Young Woman

One resident reported hearing screams around the approximate period investigators believed Evelyn was attacked, but assumed the noise came from children playing. Another resident noticed a light-colored vehicle circulating in the neighborhood.

A potentially important witness, Ed Hofer, later told investigators he had encountered a two-tone green 1941 or 1942 Buick traveling rapidly westward at about 7:15 p.m.

Hofer said he saw two men and a girl associated with the vehicle. According to the account later publicized in the case, the girl appeared slumped forward while one man drove and another was with her in the rear seat. Hofer had reportedly seen what appeared to be the same three people on foot minutes earlier. Because Evelyn’s disappearance was not yet publicly known, he initially attached no significance to what he had witnessed.

The green Buick has never been conclusively identified as the vehicle used to abduct Evelyn.

Bloodstained Clothing and Shoes Become Major Clues

Additional evidence began appearing outside La Crosse.

Women’s undergarments that investigators believed could have belonged to Evelyn were discovered near Highway 14 south of the city. They were reportedly bloodstained. Men’s bloodstained trousers were also recovered farther along the route, although their connection to the disappearance was uncertain.

A particularly important discovery involved a pair of size 11 Goodrich “Hood Mogul” sneakers found in the Coon Valley area. The soles had a distinctive pattern similar to footprints observed around the Rasmusen property, and blood on the shoes was consistent with Evelyn’s type. Investigators believed the shoes may have been worn by one of her abductors.

Nearby, searchers found a bloodstained blue denim jacket. Investigators studied its unusual alterations, wear patterns, paint particles and fibers in an attempt to determine the occupation of its owner. Contemporary investigators publicly displayed the jacket and shoes throughout numerous communities, hoping someone would recognize them. Thousands of people reportedly viewed the items, but no definitive owner was identified.

One of Wisconsin’s Largest Missing-Person Searches

Evelyn’s disappearance triggered an extraordinary response.

More than 1,000 people reportedly participated during the initial search, with the wider effort eventually involving roughly 2,000 searchers. Aircraft, boats, law-enforcement officers, students, faculty members and local residents searched woods, waterways, rural areas and surrounding communities.

Police eventually questioned more than 3,500 people. More than 2,000 male students and teachers were subjected to polygraph testing, according to later historical accounts. Vehicles were inspected for possible blood evidence, and investigators took the distinctive jacket and shoes from community to community hoping for recognition.

A reward fund eventually reached $6,600—an enormous amount for the period.

None of those efforts produced Evelyn.

Suspects and False Leads

As publicity grew, so did the number of suspects, tips and alleged confessions.

People with criminal records, known sex offenders, men believed to have been in the area and individuals associated with other crimes were investigated. Some initially appeared promising, only to be excluded through alibis or other evidence. Investigators also dealt with false confessions and claims that could not be substantiated.

No individual was ultimately prosecuted for Evelyn’s disappearance.

Was Ed Gein Connected to Evelyn Hartley?

Evelyn’s case has long been associated in popular culture with Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein, who was arrested in 1957.

Investigators did examine whether Gein could have been connected to the Hartley disappearance. He denied involvement, and no physical evidence tying Evelyn to Gein or his property was established. His confirmed murder victims also differed considerably in age from Evelyn.

Modern television dramatizations have renewed public interest in that theory, but those portrayals should not be confused with the historical evidence. As of 2026, there is no established evidentiary basis showing that Ed Gein abducted or killed Evelyn Hartley.

The Mysterious Recorded Conversation

One of the most intriguing developments came approximately half a century after Evelyn disappeared.

In 2004, Mel Williams disclosed a recording he said had been made unintentionally while he was recording music in a La Farge-area tavern in 1969. A conversation involving men in the bar was captured on the tape.

The recording was reported to contain statements by Clyde “Tywee” Peterson appearing to implicate himself, Jack Gaulphair/Gaulthair, and another person in Evelyn’s disappearance. The conversation allegedly suggested Evelyn had been brought from La Crosse to the La Farge area and killed or buried there.

By the time the tape received renewed attention, the men implicated were dead.

Authorities reportedly examined the information, but it did not lead to the recovery of Evelyn’s remains, an arrest or a publicly confirmed resolution. The claims on the recording therefore remain allegations rather than established facts.

Latest Investigation and Case Status

The most important current fact is that Evelyn Hartley’s case remains unsolved and she remains listed as missing.

The Charley Project updated Evelyn’s case file on June 6, 2025 and continues to identify the La Crosse Police Department as the investigating agency. NamUs-based reporting in 2026 likewise continued to list Evelyn among Wisconsin’s unresolved missing-person cases, with her October 24, 1953 disappearance representing one of the state’s oldest active entries.

A renewed wave of attention followed recent media coverage and dramatizations. A&E’s detailed case examination was updated on July 16, 2026 and continued to describe the disappearance as unresolved after more than 70 years.

There has also been public pressure for greater access to the historic investigative files. In 2025, a petition called for La Crosse police records in Evelyn’s case to be released. A subsequent update said interested parties had been directed toward the La Crosse Police Department’s public-records process. That effort represents public advocacy rather than a newly announced police breakthrough.

As of September 2026, I found no publicly announced arrest, recovery of Evelyn’s remains, DNA identification, or newly confirmed suspect from law enforcement. Recent credible coverage continues to classify her disappearance as unresolved.

Why the Evelyn Hartley Case Still Matters

The disappearance remains particularly haunting because considerable physical evidence existed almost immediately. Investigators had blood, footwear impressions, apparent forced entry, clothing, shoes, witness accounts and a suspected vehicle—far more than exists in many missing-person cases of the era.

But forensic science in 1953 was dramatically more limited than it is today. Blood typing could narrow possibilities but could not identify an individual the way modern DNA testing can. Communication between jurisdictions was slower, surveillance cameras did not exist, computerized case databases were decades away, and potentially important evidence could not be analyzed using today’s genetic techniques.

That makes the preservation and modern examination of any surviving physical evidence particularly important. Publicly available sources do not establish whether usable biological material remains available for contemporary testing.

Evelyn Hartley would now be an elderly woman. Investigators have long suspected she did not survive the night she disappeared, but without the recovery of her remains or definitive evidence establishing her fate, her case remains officially one of disappearance rather than a solved homicide.