I was raised in the area and saw much of the mania associated with the excavations and drilling on the mine property under the supervision of Sheriff Ball.
Though I dont have any direct evidence, I nevertheless used this as a key part of my first novel, Twin Beeches. - an Illinois love story. My theory was that a cuckolded husband killed and buried Rawley and the wife of the murderer, burying them, then disposing of the car either by the popular idea of the mine overburden covering it, or simply by cutting it up in his barn, burying the pieces.
More of my speculation is in the book
Though I dont have any direct evidence, I nevertheless used this as a key part of my first novel, Twin Beeches. - an Illinois love story. My theory was that a cuckolded husband killed and buried Rawley and the wife of the murderer, burying them, then disposing of the car either by the popular idea of the mine overburden covering it, or simply by cutting it up in his barn, burying the pieces.
More of my speculation is in the book