The Grimes Sisters

 OVERVIEW

The Grimes sisters, 15 year old Barbara, and 12 year old Patricia, were tragically murdered after disappearing on December 28, 1956, while walking home from a movie theater in Chicago.  Their disappearance sparked one of the city's largest missing persons investigation.  Nearly a month later, their nude bodies were found by a roadside in Willow Springs on January 22, 1957.

Autopsies indicated both girls were killed within 5 hours of their last known sighting and died from secondary shock.  However, several witnesses claimed to have seen them alive during the weeks they were missing.

The case deeply impacted Chicago, symbolizing a loss of innocence and is considered one of the most extensive and well-known unsolved murder cases in the city's history.

On the evening of December 28, 1956, Barbara and Patricia, 2 of 7 children of Joseph and Loretta Grimes, went to see Love Me Tender - an Elvis Presley film they had already watched 10 times, at a theater in Brighton Park.  Barbara attended Thomas Kelly High School, while Patricia went to St Maurice's Catholic School.  The sisters were known to be close, responsible students, and enthusiastic Elvis fans who had recently joined his official fan club.  They left home around 7:30pm assuring their mother they would return before midnight.

The Brighton Theater was about 1.5 miles from the Grimes sisters home in McKinley Park.  When they left that evening, they had around $2.5 with them (almost $30 today).  Barbara set aside $.50 incase they decided to stay for a second showing.  They usually walked or took a bus to and from the theater but it is unclear how they left that night.  Patricia's friend, Dorothy Weinert, told investigators that she and her younger sister had been sitting behind the sisters during the movie.  They left during the intermission of the double feature.  As they were leaving, Dorothy saw the sisters in line for popcorn.  According to her, the girls appeared happy and showed no signs of distress.

The sisters stayed to watch the second showing of Love Me Tender, so they were expected home around 11:45pm.  When they hadn't returned by midnight, their mother, Loretta, sent their older siblings, Theresa (who was 17 at the time), and Joey (who was 14 at the time), to wait for them at the nearby bus stop.  After 3 buses passed without the girls arriving, Theresa and Joey returned home.  Loretta, having already tried to contact the girls friends without success, filed a missing person report with the Chicago Police at 2:15am on December 29.

The disappearance of the sisters led to one of the longest missing persons investigations in Cook County history.  A massive citywide search began on December 29, involving hundreds of police officers, help from nearby suburbs, and dedicated task force.  Volunteers also joined the effort, and authorities canvassed neighborhoods, dredged waterways, and distributed over 15,000 flyers.  A $1,000 reward was offered by their church.  Around 2,000 people were questioned intensely.  Although 2 people were arrested and confessed, the cases fell apart.  Edward Bedwell, claimed his confession was coerced after a lengthy interrogation.  

Despite extensive police efforts and media coverage generating numerous reported sightings, little solid evidence was found.  However, several teens who had been at the Bright Theater that day told investigators they saw the sisters talking to a young man, resembling Elvis Presley before getting into his Mercury.

Before a dedicated task force was formed, some investigators believed the sisters had run away or were staying with boyfriends.  Although their case made front page news by December 31, it wasn't treated as a serious missing persons investigation until about a week had passed with no contact from the girls.  During this time, media appeals urged the sisters to come home and asked the public for information.  As a result, reported sightings continued through January 9, many placing the girls in various businesses, reinforcing early theories that they had left home voluntarily.  

Some theories suggested the sisters may have traveled to Nashville to see Elvis Presley in concert or left home voluntarily to emulate his lifestyle.  Still fearing they might have been abducted, their mother, made a public plea to return her daughters and that she would forgive the kidnappers.

On January 19, Elvis Presley's Graceland estate released a televised statement urging the sisters to return home.  Elvis also made a personal radio appeal, asking the girls to go back to their mother.

On January 22, 1957, after a recent snowfall melted, a construction worker, Leonard Prescott, noticed what he described as "flesh-colored things" near a guard rail on German Church Rd in unincorporated Willow Springs.  Initially thinking they might be mannequins, he returned with his wife, Marie, who fainted upon realizing they were human bodies.  The couple had discovered the nude, frozen bodies of the sisters and quickly reported it to the police.

The bodies of the sisters were laying flat, in a snow covered area just behind a short section of guard rail near Devil's Creek.  Barbara was on her left side with her legs slightly drawn up, while Patricia lay on her back, partially covering Barbara's head, with her own head turned sharply to the side.  Investigators believe they were likely transported to the location by car, then dragged or placed behind the guard rail.  Barbara had three wounds consistent with ice pick injuries and signs of blunt force trauma to her face and head.  Patricia showed multiple bruises on her face and body.  Their father, was brought to the scene to formally identify them.

After their father identified his daughters over 60 police officers from various Chicago suburbs, along with local volunteers and forest preserve staff, searched the crime scene.  However, the search yielded little to no useful evidence, and any items found were never definitively linked to the murders.  The investigation was later criticized for allowing untrained volunteers to disturb the area, potentially destroying crucial evidence.

Autopsies for the deceased sisters were conducted the day after their bodies were found by 3 experienced forensic pathologists.  After 5 hours examining each body, the experts could not agree on an exact cause of date of death.  However, analysis of the girls stomach contents were consistent with their last known meals on the night of December 28, suggesting they likely died within 5 hours of being last seen at the Brighton Theater.  This placed their probable time of death in the late evening of December 28 or early morning of December 29.  The cause of death was determined to be a combination of shock and exposure, though this was concluded by ruling out other possibilities.  Additionally, many of the wounds on their body were believed to have been caused by rodents after death.  

No fatal injuries were found on either girl, and toxicology tests showed they hadn't been intoxicated or poisoned.  Their bodies were unusually clean, though none of their clothing was recovered.  Autopsies indicated that Barbara had likely had sexual intercourse near the time of death, but there was no evidence of force.  Both death certificates listed the cause of death as murder due to "secondary shock" from cold exposure, which had lowered their body temperature to fatal levels.

Coroner Walter McCarron believed the sisters bodies had remained hidden behind the guard rail for over 3 weeks.  He attributed their preserved condition to the cold weather and snow, noting that a snowfall on January 9 had likely concealed them until it melted shortly before their discovery on January 22. 

Despite the official findings, cook county coroner's investigator Harry Gos disagreed with the estimated time of death.  He claimed the girls showed signs of facial violence, not just rodent damage, and argued that a layer of ice on their bodies suggested they were alive until at least January 7.  Glos believed the ice formed from body heat reacting with snowfall that only occurred after that date, indicating the bodies were placed at the site more recently than officially concluded.

Glos also claimed both girls had been sexually assaulted during their captivity.  He noted that semen was found in Patricia's autopsy and that Barbara's stomach contained curdled milk, despite no known milk consumption on the night of December 8.

Gos, believed suspect Edward Bedwell was responsible for the sisters murders.  He argued that wounds found on the girls bodies were signs of beatings that matched Beadwell's earlier statements to police, and claimed these details were ignored or downplayed.  Glos suggested authorities may have withheld such information to protect the girls reputations or spare their mother.  Similar claims later surfaced from others who said they had reviewed case files or spoken with locals who alleged the sisters often spent time near bars, asking older men to them drinks.

After refusing to retract his claims, Glos was fired by Cornor McCarron on February 15, though he claimed it was politically motivated.  He was later deputized by Sheriff Lohman, who shared his belief that the girls were likely lured, beaten, and tortured by a sexual predator, allowing Glos to continue investigating while unpaid.

In May 1957, Loretta Grimes, the sisters mother, received a chilling anonymous call from a man who claimed he had undressed and killed her daughters.  While the family had received many hoax calls, this one stood out.  The caller mocked the police for targeting suspects, then added, "I know something about your little girls that no one else knows... the smallest girls toes were crossed at the feet" before laughing and hanging up.

A year after the murders, Loretta publicly stated her belief that the girls were killed by someone they knew, insisting they wouldn't have entered a strangers car, even in the cold.  Cook County sheriff, Joseph Lohman, who believed the sisters were abducted and killed by a sexual predator died in 1969 while serving as Dean of Criminology at Berkeley.

On the 18th anniversary of the case, lead detective Ernest Spiotto, still assigned to the investigation - told the media there were no creditable suspects.  The case remains officially open but unsolved.

SUSPECTS - EDWARD BEDWELL

Edward Lee "Bennie" Bedwell, a 21 year old drifter from Tennessee, had been evicted from his family's Chicago home in late 1956.  Semi-literate and working part time as a dishwasher in a skid row restaurant, Bedwell reportedly resembled Elvis Presley.  According to the restaurant owners, Bedwell and another man were seen with 2 girls resembling the Grimes sisters early on December 30.  This tip, given to police on January 24, led to Bedwell's arrest and 3 days of interrogation.

At first Bedwell denied that the girls seen with him on December 30 were the sisters, despite claims by the restaurant owners, John and Minnie Duros, and a patron, Rene Echols.  On January 27, he was charged in their murder's after signing a 14 page confession.  He claimed he and 28 year old William Cole Willingham spent days drinking with the sisters, and after they refused sexual advances, the men beat them and dumped their bodies in a snowy ditch.

Willington admitted being with Bedwell and 2 girls on December 30, but denied they were the Grimes sisters or that he was involved in the murders.  Bedwell later recanted his confession, claiming he gave it after 4 days in custody, believing police would release him if he cooperated.

Autopsy results supported Bedell's recantation - no alcohol, hot dogs, or signs of a beating were found, and timecards showed he was working during the likely time of the girls abduction and on the date he claimed to have killed them.  He was released on bond on February 6, and formally cleared of all charges on March 4 due to major inconsistencies between his confession and the evidence.  Bedwell was also officially classified as mentally impaired.

Later that same year, he was tried and acquitted in a separate 1956 rape case in Florida.  He died in November 1972.

SUSPECT - MAX FLEIG

Max, a 17 year old initially considered a prime suspect in the Grimes case, was protected by Illinois laws that barred juveniles from taking official polygraph tests.  However, Chicago Police Captain Ralph Petacque convinced him to take an unofficial one, during which Fleig allegedly confessed.  Since the test wasn't admissible in court and no physical evidence supported his claims, police released him without charges.

He was later imprisoned for an unrelated murder of a young woman.

SUSPECT - WALTER KRANZ

Kranz, a 53 year old steamfitter and self proclaimed psychic, called Chicago police on January 15 claiming, based on a dream, that the sisters were dead and their bodies could be found in unincorporated Lyons Township.  He refused to give his name, but the call was traced near to his home.  

The location Kranz described was about a mile from where the girls bodies were found a week later.  He later told police that psychic visions ran in his family and that one came after a night of heavy drinking.

Though briefly considered the top suspect with handwriting experts linking him to a ransom note sent to the girls mother.  After several interrogations, he was released.

ARTICLE - THE JOY RIDE THAT MAY STILL HOLD CLUES

Below is a brief summary of an article about the case:

2 teenagers, Earl Zastro, 15 and Eddie Lorden, 17, claimed they saw the sisters playing hide-and-seek at 35th and Seeley around 11:30pm, the same time and location where 2 other witnesses, Ryan and Morgan were seen leaving Ronald Rapp's car.  It also coincided with the moment Barbara and Patricia were expected to arrive at their bus stop, where their sister Theresa and younger brother, Joey, were waiting.

Despite these overlapping events, it was never publicly acknowledged that all the boys involved were close friends.  Eddie Lorden owned a blue 1955 Buick special hardtop - matching one of the vehicles reportedly seen following the girls, along with a black 1949 Mercury, down Archer Ave after the movie.  It raises the quetion: Did Ronald Rapp own that 1949 Mercury?  

One suspect allegedly bragged afterwards that he drove the girls to German Church Rd forced them out of the car at knifepoint while naked, but claimed he "didn't mean to kill them".  After being questioned by police he reportedly told a friend he had just told the polce what they wanted to hear.

Although newspaper reports state that all these individuals were cleared of any involvement.  According to the girls friends the suspects were known in the neighborhood for their cruelty.  

ATRICLE - MISSINGILLINOIS.ORG/GRIMES_GRIMESSISTERS

Below is a brief summary of an article about the case:

2 sisters vanished and were later found murdered in a case that remains unsolved to this day.

The Grimes sisters left their Chicago home around 7:30pm to see an Elvis Presley double feature at the Brighton Theater.  When they didn't return by midnight, their family grew alarmed.  Witnesses confirmed the girls were at the theater, but they were never seen alive again.  The case sparked a massive search involving both police and the public.  Even Elvis urged their safe return.  

When the search for the sisters turned up nothing, authorities initially suspected the girls had run away.  A theory the family strongly objected to.

Their naked bodies were found in Willow Springs.  Barbara facing down, Patricia facing up on top of her sister.

On September 22, 1958 another 15 year old girl was reported missing.  Boy Scouts found her murdered in a forest preserve near Willow Springs.  Bonnie Leigh Scott was from Addison Il.  A knife was used to decapitate her head and she had 3 long deep cuts to her body.  Charles Leroy Melquist was convicted of her murder, and sentenced to 99 years in prison.  He served 11 years before he was released.  Charles then married and had 2 children.  Lorretta Grimes received suspicious phone calls from 1957 to 1959.  The unknown caller said "he was the one that undressed the girls".  The same night Bonnie was found she received another call who had a similar voice, saying he "got away with another one".

CONTACT INFORMATION

The case remains unsolved.  If you have any information please contact your location police department crime stoppers department.  Or either contact the Chicago Police Cold Case Department or email your tip to:  theopencaseproject@gmail.com