IL IL - Walter Donley, Peoria, 1 June 1943

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I just sent an email to Norm to see if he can tell me the address where Donley's car was found.
 
Mr. Kelly answered my mail and did point me down some avenues. Many thanks to him.
 
The library is the first stop, if I ever get the chance.
 
It's my mission in the next month hopefully.
 
I will try to get back on the case this month. A week ago, I did go to the library but everything had been rearranged and I didn't have time to map it all back out.
 
Peoria's population now is probably only about 15% higher than it was in 1943 although the Peoria Metro population is now approaching half a million.
 
Peoria Metro is the largest metro population wholly within the state of Illinois.
 
I wonder if Donley's opponents in the bankruptcy case were checked out.
 
2 Lee Claudin's on LDS

Lee Claudin
United States Census, 1930
birth: 1890 Illinois
census: 1930 Peoria,​ Peoria,​ Illinois



Lee Claudin
United States Census, 1920
birth: 1887 Illinois
residence: 1920 Limestone Bartonville Village,​ Peoria,​ Illinois
spouse: Mable Claudin
child: Thelma Claudin


name: Lee Claudin
residence: Limestone Bartonville Village, Peoria, Illinois
estimated birth year: 1887
age: 33
birthplace: Illinois
relationship to head of household: Self
gender: Male
race: White
marital status: Married
digital folder number: 4300562
 
I wonder if the car was found on South Adams street, a very long road if it was.
I'm still trying to find the exact address of the Claudin's.

Doesn't seem far from the airport if I have it correct.
 
Stan, have you anyway of looking at phone books from the era to check the Claudin address and any attorney offices in the vicinity of the Claudin home ? Thanking in advance.
 
Sorry about the tardy response Robin. Hopefully I can get to the Peoria Library in the next 5 weeks and I will check and see if they have old phone books or micros of them. Thanks for your work.
 
STANDREID said:
On June 1 of 1943, Peoria, IL attorney Walter Donley was last seen walking down Main St. of the city. He wasn't seen again either alive or dead as far as anyone would admit. Donley's appointment book yielded no usable clues. At the time, he was involved in a St. Louis trial regarding robbery and possibly money laundering but that proceeding led to no evidence either. Mr. Donley's car was found parked in a residential area to which he had no known connection. The keys were in the ignition and there was no sign of injury or struggle. Today, the case is still a complete mystery.
Click to expand...

I find one thing kind of odd. Why would an attorney from Peoria be involved in a case in St. Louis? And if possible money laundering were involved, this would have been a fairly big case. I'll see if I can find out exactly what this case was about, etc. and will post any results here.

Very intriguing case.
 
Okay, it appears Walter Donley disappeared the day he was to testify as a state witness in a stolen property case.

That just gets me more interested - why would an attorney wind up as a state (prosecution) witness in a stolen property case?

An attorney cannot testify against a client, even a former client, so I'm thinking Donley must have seen something involving the stolen property. I wonder how possible money laundering was involved?

Obviously I need to dig a little longer.
 
Here's what I could find out about Walter W. Donley, Jr.

He attended law school at the University of Illinois and was on the Student Editorial Board of the Illinois Law Bulletin. That's a fairly prestigious position to hold in law school.

At the time of his death, Donley was associated with the law firm of Hunter, Kavanagh & McLaughlin. The law firm still exists under another name.

In 1943, the firm seemed to deal with non-criminal matters for the most part. It appears Donley dealt with creditor's rights and banking matters.

Just a side note - in 1920, Donley and a couple other U of Illinois alums were featured in the Peoria Journal Transcript as being the most eligible young bachelors of 1920.

None of this does much to unravel the mystery of Donley's disappearance, but it does let us know a little bit more about him.

I'll keep digging, and I have also requested the assistance of a librarian in Peoria who should be able to locate more info for us.
 
The librarian in Peoria e-mailed me to say she found some info on Walter Donley and was putting it in the mail it to me today. I'll post the info here.
 
Thanks to the excellent staff at the Peoria Public Library, I've learned a lot about Walter Donley's disappearance.

According to various articles from the Peoria Journal Star, Donley became unwittingly involved with an organized crime organization based in St. Louis.

On January 12, 1942, two men from St. Louis met with Donley and gave him $15,000. They asked him to be their attorney and requested him to deposit the money in a local bank.

Donley complied, apparently unaware that the money was part of $65,000 taken from a business in St. Louis a couple of weeks earlier.

The stolen money was traced to Donley, who denied knowing it was stolen. He assisted the authorities in their investigations.

One of the two men who met with Donley and gave him the $15,000 was Lawrence Drewer who was high up in organized crime in St. Louis.

This is how Donley became a state witness - he was to be a key prosecution witness in Drewer's trial because Donley could connect him to the stolen money.

On June 1, 1948, Donley was served with a subpoena stating he was to testify in Drewer's upcoming trial. The subpoena was served at 4 pm, and shortly afterwards he called home and spoke to either his wife or to his daughter (reports vary) saying he'd be home soon.

His secretary said that Donley left the office around 4:45 p.m. in the company of two men. I can't find anything that provides a description of these men.

According to a witness, Donley's car was seen parked in the 100 block of S. Bourland at 5 pm. The witness claimed two men got out of the car talking loudly to each other. One of the men was carrying a briefcase and wearing a blue shirt which did not match up with what Donley was wearing that day. The witness was unable to identify the second man as Donley.

The two men rounded the corner and continued walking toward University.
 
The FBI became involved because of Donley's upcoming trial testimony.

A week later, the FBI hadn't made much progress and the search was moved from Peoria to St. Louis, since Drewer had organized crime connections in that city.

It was thought at first that Donley might have disappeared on his own to avoid having to testify. But his wife and daughter vehemently denied this possibility.

A federal attorney stated that evidence suggested that Donley might have been kidnapped or detained by people interested in the outcome of the Drewer case.

Drewer was shotgunned to death in St. Louis three years after Donley disappeared.

Please refer to the Peoria Star Journal, 7/6/80, 'Case of Missing Attorney Lost in Oblivion File' by Rick Baker and Peoria Star Journal, 6/7/93, 'Hunting Down the Story of Attorney's Disappearance' by Bill Adams. These articles, copied from the Peoria Public Library clippings file, are not online to my knowledge, so no link can be provided.
 
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