A notorious killer was visiting family just blocks away that same night. He was never charged, and never fully cleared either.
Evelyn Grace Hartley, 15, disappeared while babysitting in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on the evening of October 24, 1953. More than 70 years later, in one of the largest missing-persons investigations in Wisconsin history, she has never been found.
An Ordinary Babysitting Job
Evelyn, a straight-A junior at Central High School, was hired to babysit the 20-month-old daughter of La Crosse State College professor Viggo Rasmusen while he and his wife attended the town's homecoming game. She brought several textbooks along, planning to study once the baby was asleep, and was expected to call her parents to check in at 8:30 p.m.
Signs of a Struggle
When Evelyn never called, her father went to the Rasmusen home and found the doors locked, the lights and radio on, and the baby asleep safely in her crib — but no sign of Evelyn. The living room was in disarray, her broken eyeglasses and one shoe were on the floor, and her other shoe was found in the basement. A basement window screen had been removed and left outside, with a stepladder positioned beneath it; several other windows showed pry marks.
Blood matching Evelyn's type was found both inside the house near the basement window and outside in the yard, including two pooled stains and a bloody handprint on a garage roughly 100 feet away. Investigators believe she was carried or dragged, with her abductor stopping twice before apparently placing her in a car; tracking dogs lost her scent after about two blocks.
Evidence Found Later
In the days that followed, a bloodstained bra and underwear possibly belonging to Evelyn were found along a highway south of the city. Separately, bloodstained men's sneakers and a denim jacket, both stained with blood matching her type, were found dumped in the Coon Valley area southeast of La Crosse; the sneakers' suction-cup sole pattern matched footprints found at the scene. A single hair recovered from one shoe was believed to possibly belong to a Black individual, though this detail was never resolved into a confirmed identification.
A Massive Search, No Answers
More than 1,000 volunteers, including National Guard troops, Boy Scouts, and college students, joined the search, backed by the Civil Air Patrol and Air Force. Investigators questioned more than 3,500 people over the following year and even conducted controversial mass lie-detector testing of local high school boys before halting it amid public backlash. No suspect was ever charged.
A Persistent, Unconfirmed Theory
Notorious killer Ed Gein was visiting relatives in La Crosse, just blocks from the Rasmusen home, on the night Evelyn disappeared — a detail that has fueled suspicion for decades. No physical evidence has ever tied him to her case, and he denied involvement before his death in 1984. He has never been formally cleared, but the connection remains circumstantial rather than established. Several other men were investigated and released over the years based on similarly thin evidence, including a teenager who claimed to have secretly dated Evelyn, a claim her father disputed.
Where Things Stand Now
Evelyn's case remains open with the La Crosse Police Department, formally classified as a non-family abduction being investigated as a homicide. In recent years, investigators have revisited surviving physical evidence using modern DNA testing methods unavailable in 1953, and the case has drawn renewed public attention through true-crime podcasts and television coverage. Both of Evelyn's parents died without ever learning what happened to their daughter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Evelyn Hartley ever been found?
No. Despite one of the largest searches in Wisconsin history, she has never been located, and her case remains officially unsolved.
Was Ed Gein ever charged in her disappearance?
No. He was in La Crosse the night she vanished and has long been suspected, but no evidence has ever directly connected him to the case, and he denied involvement.
Is the case still being investigated?
Yes. It remains open with the La Crosse Police Department, and surviving evidence has been re-examined using modern DNA testing methods.