The body of a young girl, believed to be five-year-old Elsie Paroubek, was pulled from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Lockport late Tuesday afternoon, bringing a grim end to a month-long search that had gripped the city. Electrical engineer George T. Scully spotted what he initially thought was a farm animal floating in the water, only to recoil in horror as he and his colleagues retrieved the lifeless form of a child.
The discovery, made at the Lockport power plant approximately 35 miles southwest of Chicago, immediately matched the description of the missing girl whose photograph had been plastered across every newspaper in the region since her disappearance on April 8.
Police Lieutenant John Costello was notified and promptly informed Elsie’s parents, Frank and Carolina Paroubek, who live at 2320 South Albany Avenue. Frank Paroubek was brought to the scene but struggled to identify the body, his grief overwhelming him. It was Carolina, his wife, who stepped forward and, with a heart-wrenching cry, confirmed that the deceased child was indeed their daughter Elsie.
The confirmation sent shockwaves through the tight-knit Czech immigrant community that had rallied around the family for weeks.
An inquest was immediately convened at a funeral parlor, presided over by Coroner William Werck and a jury of community members. Frank Paroubek, speaking through a translator, testified that he had no doubt his daughter was murdered. He asserted that Elsie had been abducted, killed, and her body dumped in the canal.
Carolina Paroubek, overcome with emotion, fled the inquest, running through the streets shouting, “Someone killed my daughter!” before being restrained by relatives and detectives.
Two physicians, Dr. EA Kingston and Dr. W.
Paddock, conducted preliminary examinations and delivered a chilling finding: there was no water in Elsie’s lungs, ruling out drowning as the cause of death. Dr. Kingston stated unequivocally that the child had been attacked and murdered before being placed in the water.
Dr. Paddock noted signs of wounding prior to death. They estimated the body had been in the canal for approximately two weeks, a timeline that aligns with the period shortly after Elsie vanished.
However, a subsequent examination by Dr. ER Lount and Dr. Warren H.
Hunter concluded that Elsie had suffocated, not been strangled as earlier reports suggested. These doctors found no clear signs of violence on her body, contradicting the initial findings. Coroner Peter Hoffman sided with the suffocation theory and urged further investigation.
The conflicting medical opinions have only deepened the mystery surrounding the child’s final moments.
Police Captain John Mahoney, who had led the search from the outset, had already reached a chilling conclusion on May 7, two days before the body was found, declaring that Elsie was likely dead. Despite this grim prognosis, he vowed to pursue the case relentlessly. Now, with the body recovered, the focus has shifted to identifying the killer.
The investigation has taken several twists and turns since Elsie disappeared on the morning of Saturday, April 8. She had left her home to visit her aunt, Mrs. Julia Trampota, who lived nearby at 2325 South Troy Street.
Along the way, she stopped to watch an organ grinder with her nine-year-old cousin, Josie, and other children. When the organ grinder moved on to the corner of 23rd Street, most of the children followed, but Elsie did not. Hours later, when her mother went to fetch her, she was not at her aunt’s house.
Initially, police were dismissive of Frank Paroubek’s concerns when he reported his daughter missing at 9 p. m. that evening.
They suggested Elsie had simply fallen asleep at a friend’s house. But by morning, she was still missing, and Police Captain John Mahoney assumed command, ordering a full-scale search.
A boy named John Joski reported seeing a Romany wagon on Kildare Avenue, just one block west of Troy Street, with two women inside, one holding a girl matching Elsie’s description. Police descended on a nearby Romany encampment but found that one wagon had already left on the morning of April 9. The theory that Elsie had been taken by Romani people to be used for begging gained traction, especially given parallels to the 1907 abduction of Lillian Wolf, who was later found.
Frank Paroubek offered his life savings of $50 as a reward for information. Police dragged drainage canals, fearing Elsie might have drowned. A 14-year-old neighbor, Emma Kubat, reported seeing Elsie with the organ grinder, leading detectives to the Italian quarter at West 14th and South Halsted Streets, but no substantial leads emerged.
On April 12, a photograph of Elsie was circulated, and the search intensified. Anonymous insulting letters began arriving at the Paroubek home, written in English, accusing the family of mistreating Elsie and claiming she was hidden by someone who hated them. Frank Paroubek, enraged, burned the letters against police advice.
On April 20, Elsie’s six-year-old brother, Frank Jr., was seen digging in South Troy Street, saying he had overheard his parents speculate that Elsie might have fallen into a hole dug by road workers. Workers assured police they would have noticed such an incident.
Reports of a fair-haired girl with Romani travelers persisted, but each sighting proved false. Lillian Wolf, the previously abducted girl, came forward to offer insights into Romani customs. Police traced a respected Romani figure, Elijah George, to Argyle, Wisconsin, but he was uncooperative.
By April 23, Lieutenant John Castello declared all leads in the suspected kidnapping exhausted. He feared Elsie had been killed and her body hidden in a cellar or barn. Search teams inspected buildings, monitored Romani wagons, and issued alerts to neighboring police departments.
The Chicago Daily News described the search as one of the most extensive ever made for a missing child. Mayor Carter Harrison Jr. and Alderman Anton Surmac offered rewards.
The Czech community showed solidarity.
Now, with the body found, the investigation has zeroed in on potential suspects. Police initially focused on a man named Joseph Kesty, described as a bearded Bohemian hermit peddler who lived near the drainage canal on West 33rd Street and South Kildare Avenue, close to the Paroubek residence. A search of his shack uncovered a green hair ribbon, signs of a shallow excavation, and an aged hemp sack that detectives believed could have concealed a body.
The shack’s owner, David Shaes, told police he had evicted Kesty on May 9 due to concerns about his interactions with children. But detectives were unable to interview Kesty—he had taken his own life by throwing himself in front of a train on May 10, the day after Elsie’s body was discovered.
On May 15, police announced they did not believe Kesty was responsible, but offered no further explanation. Another lead emerged when the body of a well-dressed man was found in the Willow Springs Canal, bearing only a Polish prayer card inscribed “Sig Hoff.” Detectives explored possible connections to Elsie’s death, but the man’s identity could not be determined, and he was ruled out.
A man named Mr. Canella, described as a religious enthusiast possibly mentally unstable, fled when approached by detectives and escaped into the wilderness, never to be questioned. Detectives also looked for a former tenant who had lodged in the Paroubek household and tried to identify the sender of the malicious letters, but neither was ever located.
The trail for finding the killer eventually went cold. The investigation was scaled down and then stopped, leaving the perpetrator of this most horrible crime elusive and likely never to be brought to justice.
Two years later, on May 12, 1913, the anniversary of Elsie’s funeral, Frank Paroubek died at age 45. His wife Carolina died 14 years later, on December 9, 1927. Both were laid to rest alongside Elsie in Bohemian National Cemetery.
For 46 years, the murder lingered as a haunting mystery. Then, in 1973, the death of reclusive artist Henry Darger revealed a vast collection of paintings, collages, and a sprawling book titled “The Story of the Vivian Girls.” Darger was 19 when Elsie disappeared, and his work bears eerie connections to the case.
Themes of innocence, violence, and the quest for justice resonate throughout his writings and drawings. According to his diary, Darger had lost a picture of a young girl that appeared in the Chicago Daily News in May, June, or July of 1911—a search of archives revealed a picture of Elsie. A portrait of Annie Aronburg, a character in his book, depicts a blond-haired girl wearing a hair ribbon and a dress of distinctive color similar to Elsie’s photograph.
While the exact nature of Darger’s connection remains speculative, some believe he may have been responsible for the crime. Others point to his advocacy for child protection and suggest he was merely inspired by Elsie’s story and the striking photo in the newspaper. The case of Elsie Paroubek remains one of Chicago’s most chilling unsolved mysteries, a tragedy that shattered a family and left a city searching for answers that never came.
