PA PA - Dorothy Schlappig, 14, Reading, 7 Jan 1953

Robin Hood

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Body of girl 14, found jammed in ash barrel.

http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper ...enectady NY Gazette 1953 Grayscale - 0135.pdf

Schlappig murder probe still active after 36 years.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...2NkxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=w-QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=927,7654215

http://www.yearsoftears.org/dorothyschlappig.html

About 2:30 a.m. the next morning, members of her foster family, who had been looking for her for hours, found Schlappig’s body in a trash can behind a house in the 800 block of McKnight Street.
Her jacket was found in a yard nearby. The bandanna was found beneath her body. The broken dish and the magazine were found in an alley between the 100 blocks of West Douglass and West Windsor streets.
Investigators determined she had been raped and strangled.

In 1967 another Reading girl was found dead in Leesport PA. When the Reading Times published the photo of Christine Wise an annonymous caller directed the Times to "check its files for a photo of Dorothy Schlappig". March 9 1967 the Times then ran photos of both girls side by side to illustrate the similarities in appearance.
 
RH, do you know who was the little girl in PA who was tied to a tree but escaped? I just read about her last night when I was looking for articles on Mary Ann Verdecchia and Carol Ann Dougherty? The perp kept her there for two nights until she was able to break free and escape. She hid in the woods with no idea where she was. Finally she came upon a mobile home and was able to call her mother. I'll have to go back and find it now. The perp tied her with her clothes.
 
RH, do you know who was the little girl in PA who was tied to a tree but escaped? I just read about her last night when I was looking for articles on Mary Ann Verdecchia and Carol Ann Dougherty? The perp kept her there for two nights until she was able to break free and escape. She hid in the woods with no idea where she was. Finally she came upon a mobile home and was able to call her mother. I'll have to go back and find it now. The perp tied her with her clothes.

No idea Bessie, the only one I know about is a woman hung from a tree back in the 1930's IIRC.

Edited to add - The reporting and photographs of the Spang attack was well documented by the news, some reporters today should take a leaf from that book.
 
A little OT here, but when researching vintage cold cases, I enjoy reading the original articles from back in the day when reporters were journalists. It's a stark contrast to the present digital media era of instant "facts" with little to no follow up.
 
RE Mary Ann Verdecchia

I originally discounted her case purely on the grounds of it being thought it was the local pervert in the block. Then I thought 'well if it was him he wouldn't be free' so something stopped that investigation, maybe he had an alibi. So, it's back on the table for me.
The connection to Immaculate conception school bolsters my thoughts.
 
Agreed. The Verdecchia case should be considered.

I found the article about the girl tied to a tree. It was a 1993 case in Fayette County, PA. The perp tied her to the tree with her books straps and shoelaces.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...q=she+was+tied+to+a+tree+for+two+nights&hl=en

But get this...another case is mentioned at the end of the article. Sara Anne Wood, 12, of Litchenfield, NY disappeared while riding her bicycle home from church.
 
Wasn't there a book in say the last 10 years in which the villian/killer tied girls to trees and left them in the woods???

I need to look this up.

I wonder if it was based on these girls. Poor little things.. They all sound connected in some way.
 
I have found another 5 cases from the area near to Mary Ann Verdecchia - well, I found them while searching the archive news, not sure yet what the addresses are but they were in the news with Mary Ann.
These need checking out to see if they are on W/S along with Bessie's Sara Anne Wood.
I can't load 'em up quick enough :(
 
Agreed. The Verdecchia case should be considered.

I found the article about the girl tied to a tree. It was a 1993 case in Fayette County, PA. The perp tied her to the tree with her books straps and shoelaces.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...q=she+was+tied+to+a+tree+for+two+nights&hl=en

But get this...another case is mentioned at the end of the article. Sara Anne Wood, 12, of Litchenfield, NY disappeared while riding her bicycle home from church.

When I searched Google for the tied to tree angle the first few pages were *advertiser censored* site. It's quite disturbing, didn't open them but could see by the sites's names. Yuk.
 

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