IL IL - Fay Rawley, Summum, Fulton County farmer and land owner, 8 Nov 1953

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On November 8 of 1953, Fay Rawley vanished from his home near Summum Illinois. Mr. Rawley was a well-to-do farmer as well as local politician and, although he was rather elderly and somewhat handicapped, he was rumored to be quite the ladies man. He was last seen earlier that evening as he left his girlfriend's house in Macomb. There were signs of a struggle at Rawley's residence. In addition to him, his new Cadillac had also vanished from the face of the Earth. At the time, a disused strip mine was being filled in across the road from Rawley's place and the theory was that he had been murdered, put inside the Cadillac and buried some 300 feet down. A local sheriff spent much time and money drilling and digging into the old mine but neither Rawley nor the car was ever found. Both Life and Look Magazine as well as The Saturday Evening Post reportedly covered the case. Nine years later and two years after Fay Rawley had been declared legally dead, his son died in a mysterious traffic accident. When the vehicle was inspected, it was determined that its brakes had been tampered with. No arrests have been made in either case.
 
Fulton County Sheriff Virgil Ball made assertions that he "knew" who killed Rawley but never gave up the name as far as I know.
 
Rawley's Cadillac was green and in one of the mine borings metal with green paint was found on the magnetic drill. When the area was dug out, all that was found was an old oil drum. Some thought that the drill had actually bent off line and hit the car but it was never proven.
 
There were theories regarding motive in the presumed murder and they fell into two basic categories.

The first was that he was killed by some relative or associate who hoped to gain from Rawley's demise. This is somewhat doubtful because they would have had to wait seven years for Rawley to be declared legally dead when he may well not have lived that much longer if it had been left to nature.

In the second, the theory related to his rumored womanizing. It was posited that the supposed murder was an act of revenge by some cuckold or jealous former girlfriend. Earlier that year, his car had been vandalized when it was splashed with acid.

Whatever the cause, it was almost certainly the act of more than one person.
 
At the time of the evanishment, Rawley was on the Fulton County Board of Supervisors as the Woodland Township Supervisor. It's always possible that he could have made someone angry in that capacity.
 
Thanks Kat. I remember when this case was receiving nightly coverage on local television news with all the drilling and digging decades a go. The case is revived on occasion when one of these news programs wants to do a local version similar to "unsolved mysteries".
 
I have seen a report that Rawley was 50 when he disappeared. This may or may not be accurate. I've only seen one picture of Mr. Rawley and he looked more like he was in his 70s when the photo was taken.
 
Summum was nearly a 40 mile drive from Macomb, all on two lane roads, so it should have been about a one hour drive for Rawley to make from his girlfriend's house to his own residence on the fateful night. A total of about two hours travel time for a Sunday night date - it must have been something pretty important.:innocent:

That said, between 1935 and 1957, Illinois had no speed limit other than "reasonable and proper" so maybe Fay dialed the Caddy up to 100+.
 
Thanks PFF, that isn't the picture I'd seen before.
 
In the only picture I'd seen before, he looked older, heavier and was wearing glasses.
 
Summum was nearly a 40 mile drive from Macomb, all on two lane roads, so it should have been about a one hour drive for Rawley to make from his girlfriend's house to his own residence on the fateful night. A total of about two hours travel time for a Sunday night date - it must have been something pretty important.

That said, I live about 60 miles from Macomb and, 10-12 years ago, I had a girlfriend who lived there. Of course, I wasn't driving home until about noon the next day.;)
 
I was seven years old when Rawley disappeared and then driving a new Cadillac was much more a symbol of affluence than it is now. When you saw someone drive by in a new Cadillac back then, it was nearly like seeing a person cruise by in a new Bentley today.
 
Summum was a very small unincorporated community. I doubt that it even had 100 inhabitants.
 
Even today, the township, of which Summum is only a part, just has a population of around 450.
 
That said, between 1935 and 1957, Illinois had no speed limit other than "reasonable and proper" so maybe Fay dialed the Caddy up to 100+.

Then perhaps he and his car are resting at the bottom of a lake. Wasn't there a couple in Washington state that went missing during a drive back in the 1920's only to be found a few years ago in a lake?
 
That is possible Karl except there were signs of a struggle in Rawley's home.

There was a couple here several years ago who everybody thought had been kidnapped but, as it turned out, they had accidentally taken a wrong turn after leaving a restaurant and driven off into the Illinois River. The story was the same for baseball play Milt Pappis' wife who mistakenly turned on a road one block too early and ran off into a pond and drowned. For many years, it was believed that she'd been abducted and murdered.

I remember going to my grandparents' homes in the mid-50s when the chap who was taking me drove 85-90 mph most all of the 200 miles on narrow two lane roads with no seatbelts or anything. As long as the weather and traffic was OK, the cops didn't care.
 
I just picked up a new Illinois map at the Driver's License facility and, although Summum is depicted on the map, it is not listed in the index which also shows populations.
 
There was a couple here several years ago who everybody thought had been kidnapped but, as it turned out, they had accidentally taken a wrong turn after leaving a restaurant and driven off into the Illinois River. The story was the same for baseball play Milt Pappis' wife who mistakenly turned on a road one block too early and ran off into a pond and drowned. For many years, it was believed that she'd been abducted and murdered.

What town? I went to WIU a few years ago, familiar with the area. Hated being there when I was there as I was a "city slicker" and miss it now that I've been back lol
 

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