The following are Newspaper articles and pictures about the kidnapping of Georgia Jean Weckler on May 1st,

1947, she was

never found. The spelling is as it was written at the time and tried to keep sequence of the articles where possible. Included are
pictures of the family and letters, one about the history of the farm.
Daily Jefferson County Union
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Friday, May 2, 1947

Have you seen hers This picture of missing Georgia Jean Weckler was taken Mar. 27 when she appeared in a style show in
Fort Atkinson, Wis. Since then her permanent wave has straightened. Here is the description of her when she disappeared:
Age, 8; height, 4 feet 3 inches; weight, 70 pounds; hair, blond, eyes, brown; clothing, pink button sweater over a blue "T"
shirt, blue jeans, blue flowered skirt, rubbers and a brown flowered scarf. --LeRoy Gore
Georgia Jean Weckler
Birth: Jun. 27, 1938 - May 1, 1947

http://georgiajeanweckler-pdf.weebly.com is a pdf format of this document.

1
 UPDATED as of 7/2/2017
Original Scanned Newspaper Articles
Actual saved newspaper articles save by Aunt Lucile and my mother
Pages 4 46
Court House Steps Website
site unknown
Pages 47 - 59
Charley Project Website
Page 60
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/weckler_georgia.html
The Doe Network Site:
www.doenetwork.org/
www.websleuths.com (a site to visit)
Page 61
The following were from PDFs of the actual newspaper pages.
Same information with some missing page
http://newspaperarchive.com/
Janesville Daily Gazette
Pages 62 - 85
The La Crosse Tribune
Page 86 93
Oshkosh Daily Northwestern
Page 94
Racine Journal Times
Pages 95 - 115
Wisconsin State Journal
The Capital Times
Pages 114 183
UPDATE: 08/05/2013
Pages 184 196
My Theory
Original theory with some new thoughts.
Pages 197 - 198
Letter's
Wisconsin DOJ pages 199 200
Lucile House History - page 201
Kates Letter - page s 202 - 203
Georgia Jean Family Pictures
Pages 204 206

Katherine Mae Oestreich - Weckler - sister 5/3/2010

Neil Oestreich 4/6/1989
Pages 207 - 208
LaVerne W. Weckler brother - 10/21/2013
Page 209
Joanne E. Weckler - sister - 12/1/2015
Page 210
Lucile Draeger - Aunt - 12/17/2015
Page 211
Email about Wisconsin Missing Persons Awareness Month
Page 212

Wisconsins Governor Scott Walker - Proclamation - 4/1/16

Page 213

Georgia Jean Weckler Case taken from a Facebook posting

Page 214

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 Weckler Kidnapping 70 Years Ago
Pages 215 - 218
Finding Georgia Jean: New lead in 70-year-old cold case
Page 219
New lead discovered in 70-year-old Weckler case
Pages 220 221
Memorial Service 5/25/17 - email from Donna
Page 222
Wisconsin Missing Persons Remembrance Ceremony
Page 223

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 Posse Seeks Missing Girl Here Eight-Year-Old Weckler Girl Missing From Route 1 Home
Fort Atkinson and surrounding area residents were alerted this afternoon to aid in the search of blond, brown -eyed, 8-year-old
Georgia Jean Weckler, who has been missing since 3:20 pm Thursday. Little Georgia Jean, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George
C. Weckler, Route 1, was last seen at the intersection of Highway 12 and the half-a-mile-long Weckler farm drive by Mrs. Carl
Floerke, a neighbor, and her young daughter, Mary. Mrs. Floerke dropped off Georgia Jean, a third -grade pupil at the Oakland
Center School, there after school yesterday. No clues to her activity or whereabouts after that have as yet been found.
A five hour long search by a 200 member volunteer posse last night and another search this morning failed to uncover any trace of
the girl. An intensified search, aided by Erling Mickalson and Warren Shaw in an airplane, got underway early this afternoon.
Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry and his deputies, who are directing the search, are investigating the possibility of foul
play. An 18 -year-old Whitewater youth whose car was seen in the vicinity of the Weckler farm home yesterday, was
questioned extensively last night and then released.
Other clues were being tracked down this afternoon. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had not been called into the
case by this noon. Center of the search last night and this morning was a 20-acre wooded tract which adjoins the Weckler
driveway. A third-grade classmate, Beverly Ebersohl, reported that Georgia had mentioned that she intended to pick flowers
in the woods for use in May baskets.
Young Georgia, a first-year 4H club member, reportedly "knew" the wood area and the possibility of her getting lost is, believed to
be slim. However, the posse composed of Fort Atkinson and Cambridge Legionnaires, volunteer firemen from Cambridge,
neighbors and friends of the well-known Weckler family, and deputies was instructed to search the area thoroughly in the
possibility that she had suffered some injury.
The girl is described as being about 51 inches tall, about 70 pounds in weight, brown eyed, and having shoulder length straight
blond hair. When last seen she was wearing a pink, button sweater over a blue "T" shirt, a blue and red flowered skirt over blue
jeans, rubbers, and a brown flowered head scarf.
Usually Georgia Jean, her sister, Joan, 10, and her brother, LaVerne, 12 ride bicycles from their farm home situated about six
miles west of Fort Atkinson to the Oakland Center school, about 1 1/2 miles away. Because of yesterday morning's rain, however,
the three were driven to the school by Mrs. Weckler. Georgia Jean was released from school at 3 pm a half hour earlier than Joan
and LaVerne completed their work and was driven as far as the Weckler drive by Mrs. Floerke, who had called for her daughter.
According to Mrs. Floerke, Georgia Jean left the car and went directly to pick up the mail in the rural box at the entrance to the
drive. She was last seen, with the bundle of mail tucked under her arm, walking down the curved gravel drive toward her home.
Mrs. Floerke told sheriff's officials that she saw no car or person in the immediate area when she left Georgia Jean off.
Mrs. Weckler says she did not become alarmed when Georgia did not return home immediately after school. She reported
that Mr. Weckler had taken the car to Jefferson and she had assumed that he had picked her up. When Weckler returned at 6
p. m. without Georgia, the search began.
Today, the sheriff's office is attempting to track down any "suspicious"' events that might have been connected with the girl's
disappearance.
Ernie Simdon, Fort Atkinson, informed officers that he drove to Oakland about 3:45 yesterday afternoon and that an "old"
car, believed to be a Ford, pulled out in front of him from the vicinity of the Weckler drive and that it stayed ahead of him
until he stopped in Oakland Center.
He reported that he had not noticed the car before the Weckler drive area and believed that it might have started out from
there. Deep tire tracks, possibly made by a car starting out fast, were observed in the entrance to the drive this morning.
Mrs. Twist, teacher at the nearby Ives school, told police that she observed an "old" car come slowly by the school at about 3:50 p.
m. yesterday and then pull up and stop in front of her car. The driver sat there looking back ford about 5 minutes, Mrs. Twist said,
and then pulled out fast when she walked from the school toward her car. Sheriff officials are considering that the car seen by
Simdon and that by Mrs. Twist was the same vehicle.
In the search for clues this afternoon, approximately 300 persons many of whom were rounded up in Fort through the aid of
John Briggs' loud speaking midget car continued to tramp through the rain swept woods and fields.
To help during the search emergency, several telephone operators from out-of-town have been called in to aid the local xchange.
Missing!

Object of the most extensive hunt in Fort

Atkinson history today is 8-year-old Georgia
Jean Weckler, above, who has been missing
since 3:30 pm. yesterday.
4
 The Fort Daily News
Fort Atkinson, Wis.
May 2, 1947
8 -Yr. Old Georgia Jean Weckler Missing Since Thursday Night
Georgia Jean disappeared after being left at the family driveway entrance on highway 12, about one-half mile from the house and
within full view of the buildings. Ordinarily, the Weckler children, Laverne, 12, Joan, 10, and Georgia went to the Oakland
Center school on their bicycles, but Mrs. Weckler took them in the family automobile Thursday because of the rain.
Mrs. Carl Floerke, a neighbor, picked up Georgia, and her own child, at school and left Georgia off the driveway. Georgia was
seen to pick the mail out of the mail box. The mail is also missing, according to report. The other Weckler children are in more
advanced classes and go home later. An older sister, Katherine, 16, is a sophomore at Fort Atkinson high school.
A factor that brings the searching parties to check the wooded area thoroughly is that Georgia told a classmate, Beverly Ebersohl,
that she planned to go into the woods after school to pick flowers for her May basket, Thursday being May Day. There is no body
of water of great size within the immediate surroundings of the Weckler farm with the exception of a small creek about one-half
mile toward the east. Lake Ripley and Red Cedar Lake are about three and four miles away.
Georgia Jean, who weighs 65 and 75 pounds, and is about 52 inches tall, was dressed in blue jeans, blue skirt with a
moon pattern in it a light blue "T" shirt, and was wearing a brown scarf tied on her head.
It is one of those incidents in which no one can do anything. The little child is gone, leaving, no traces of her whereabouts.
If she is kidnapped, word must be awaited from the abductors during which time the parents can do nothing but wait and
pray. The law is helpless except to continue the search.
All sorts of speculation is in the air, rumors also are flying fast but the public is warned to refrain from repeating stories
which are not substantiated by facts. Officers are doing all that can be done. They are as helpless as the rest of us until
some clues are found on which they can work.
200 MEN IN SEARCH OF WOODS TODAY
Between 200 and 300 men gathered in front of the Municipal building at 12:45 today noon in answer to the call of the
American Legion for men to aid in a search for the missing girl. The search was under the direction of Loren Briese, state
traffic officer. The FBI has not been notified.
H. H. Lower, manager of the local telephone company, reported this afternoon that the company has added more operators
from neighboring exchanges to help with emergency calls during the Weckler emergency.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Friday May 2, 1947
200 Search for Missing Fort Girl, 8
FT. ATKINSON - More than 200 men were combing a 20-acre woods near Ft. Atkinson today after a fruitless all night search for
Georgia Weckler, 8, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, Route 1, who has been missing since 3 p. m. Thursday.
Georgia was last seen by a neighbor, Mrs. Carl Floerke, who left the youngster at the Weckler mail box, 1/2 mile from the house,
after driving her home from school. The Weckler farm is off Route 12, 6 miles west of Ft. Atkinson. The missing girl is described
as 51 or 52 inches tall, with blonde shoulder-length hair parted in the middle, and brown eyes. She was wearing a pink button
sweater over a blue cotton T shirt. She had on blue jeans with a light blue skirt over them. The skirt had one-quarter and one-half
moon figures in red colors on it.
Georgia, and her three sisters, Katherine May 18, Joan, 10, and La Verne, 12 usually ride their bicycles to school, but Mrs. Weckler
drove them to school Thursday morning because it was raining. After school Mrs. Floerke picked up her own daughter and Georgia
at 3 p.m. to bring them home. The other Weckler children get out of school at 3:30 p. m. Mrs. Floerke let Georgia of the car at the
Weckler mailbox in full view of the house. As she drove away, her daughter said. "Georgia is going to get their mail." The mail box
is across the highway.
Georgia had told classmates that she was going to go through the woods to pick May flowers for May baskets. Part of a 20-acre
woods, is on the farm property. More than 200 men from the Cambridge fire department, the American Legion and neighbors
searched the woods all Thursday night. The men combed the entire area in a line 4 feet apart.

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 THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1947
Kidnaping Fear Grows as Search
Fails to Find Clue to Missing Girl

Principal places in the suspected kidnaping of Georgia Jean Weckler (shown)

8 year old Fort Atkinson (Wis.) farm girl, are on this map. She has been missing Thursday.
Seek Stranger in Black Auto Versions Sifted
Authorities Investigate Story That Girl "Was Seen in Car as Hunt Continues"
Journal Staff Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
A kidnaper was sought Friday in the disappearance of 8 year old Georgia Jean Weckler. The little girl has been missing since
Thursday afternoon, when, after being given a "lift" home from school, she turned into the familiar lane leading to the home
of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler, well to do farmers living off Highway 12 six miles west of here. Since that
time, search parties numbering as high as 300 have hunted through the rolling farm country for the child. The search widened
Saturday to the district east of Fort Atkinson. No clue to her disappearance has been found.
Black Car Sought
Two incidents, related to authorities, have started a hunt for a man in his late twenties, driving a black, four door 1936
Ford sedan, equipped with a spotlight and a spare tire carried on the rear. The black car, it was related, had been seen twice
near the Weckler farm about the time the girl disappeared. The two stories told to the men of Sheriff George Perry of
Jefferson County contained some contradictions between them, especially in time, which was not closely noted: They
were:
1. About 3:40 p.m. Thursday, some 10 minutes after Georgia Jean was seen last, Ernie Simdon, Fort Atkinson, was driving
east on Highway 12. A black Ford sedan turned out of a byway ahead of him and he followed it to the city. He believes that
the side road was the lane leading to the Weckler farm.
2. About 3:50 p.m. the teacher of the Ives school, about two and one half miles southwest of the Weckler home, noticed a
car. School had been dismissed and she remained alone, putting the Friday lessons on the blackboard. The car, on the side
road running past the school, moved slowly and hesitantly. The teacher went to the door and looked out. The car speeded up
and went away. It resembled the one seen by Simdon.
Third Story Checked
A third story is being checked by Fort Atkinson police. Sometime between 3:30 and p.m., Sam Klement of Fort Atkinson
stopped his car at an arterial sign near the Fort Atkinson telephone exchange. An "old" car parked, and a man and woman got
out, he told Police Chief Harry O. Mueller. As they were half way across the street, a little girl in the back seat of the
automobile cried, "Let me out. I want to go home." The man, he related, turned back, reached into the car and appeared to
strike the girl or pull something over her head. Klement said the incident also was seen by two men standing on a corner and
possibly by pickets marching in front of the telephone building. The account of the missing girl's actions Thursday afternoon
follows a comfortable, familiar pattern until the point where she entered the familiar lane leading to her home. Then it ends
abruptly.
Intended to Pick Flowers until 3 p.m. Georgia Jean was at the Oakland Center school, a short distance west of her home. She is a
third grade pupil. She had been driven to school by her mother her way home she was given a ride by Mrs. Carl Floerke, a
neighbor. In the car Georgia Jean mentioned that she thought she would pick flowers for a May basket. Mrs. Floerke let the girl
out at the entrance to the lane leading to the Weckler 200 acre farm. As she drove away, her daughter, Mary, 6, looked out the
back window. "She's reaching into the mailbox, mama," she said. That was the last anyone was known to have seen Georgia Jean.
The box was believed to have contained a great deal of mail. Georgia Jean's father, treasurer of the town of Oakland, receives a
great deal of mail, especially at the first of the month. No trace of any mail the girl may have been carrying has been found. Mrs.
Weckler was not alarmed at first by Georgia Jean's failure to arrive home. Weckler had driven to Fort Atkinson and she believed
that he had picked up Georgia Jean and taken her along.
Searched Through Night
But when Weckler returned without the girl at 6 p.m., a search was organized. It continued, by a small group, throughout the
night. Friday morning, a big search started. The Oakland Center School was dismissed by the teacher, Mrs. Don Miller. The Fort
Atkinson high school dismissed any boy pupils who wanted to join the hunt. Fort Atkinson factories extended the same privilege
to male workers. A sound truck, driven by John Briggs, went through Fort Atkinson streets, telling of the lost girl and asking for
volunteers. A total of 116 cars appeared within half an hour. Upward of 300 searchers were in the hunt at one time Friday
afternoon. Two airplanes droned overhead. The country around the Weckler home is farm land wide tracts of field and pasture,
smaller groves of trees, the largest of them not much more than 40 acres. There are two lakes nearby, Lake Ripley, where there is a

6
cottage colony, and Red Cedar Lake, surrounded by marshy shores. The woodlands are fairly open, without much cluttering of
underbrush. Hunters Scour Countryside There is nothing in the neighborhood not to be known fully by an 8 year old girl. Through
this placid countryside the searchers walked, looking in ditches, peering under the over turned rowboats on the Lake Ripley
beaches. Deserted buildings and farm sheds were searched. The lane to the Weckler home was scoured over and over again.
The search spread to a radius of four miles from the Weckler home. One small party, acting on a tip, made a search near
Watertown. Men walked four feet apart through the small woods in which a child might go to pick May flowers. Sheriff
Deputies led the larger parties. The smaller adult groups worked by themselves, assigned to a geographical area by Sheriff
Perry.
The skies were gray and rain fell intermittently on the searching parties. Friday night, the search took a fantastic turn. Acting
on a report that a Fond du Lac fortune teller had predicted that the girl would be found alive, Elmer Weckler, an uncle of
Georgia Jean, drove to that city: He received this advice
'Go west from the farm to a gravel road leading southwest. There, in deserted house, Georgia Jean will be found in good shape
with a man.' To follow down every possible angle, two county squad cars and a state traffic police car followed the
instructions. They went down a road answering the description and probed into empty buildings. One farm was aroused from
sleep, but there were no discoveries.
Footprint Is Found
Only once did a searching party uncover anything. Georgia Jean's brother, La Verne, 12, was one of the discoverers. With Richard
Northey, 18, and Boddy Frey, 19, he was hunting through woods near the Ives school, when they found the footprint of a small girl.
One of Georgia Jean's shoes fitted the print. But Saturday Eileen Armstrong, a neighbor girl, said that the footprint was hers. She
said she had made it when picking May flowers.
The big, comfortable Weckler house was turned into tumult by the incidents of the search. Normally, those living there are
Georgia Jean, her father, who is 54; her mother, Eleanor, 42; two sisters, Katharine May, 16, and Joan, 10, and her brother, La
Verne. Friday it was filled with neighbor women, in to help. They brought with them heaping mounds of food and cake, from
which they proferred lunches to the men who were searching. In the afternoon the Red Cross set up a stand there.
Georgia Jean's father, weary eyed, repressing fear beneath an exterior calmness, ate Friday afternoon for the first time since the
search began. Her mother, near a breakdown, was kept for a time under sedatives. Many of the searchers surged through the
house, using respites to gulp a lunch. Others refused. "They got troubles enough," they said, indicating the big farmhouse. And
they went back to the search.

Girl's Description
Journal Staff Correspondence, Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Here is a description of Georgia Jean Weckler, the missing girl, age 8; height
4feet 3 inches; weight, 70 pounds; hair, blond; eyes, brown; Clothing, pink
button sweater over a blue "T" shirt, blue jeans, blue flowered skirt, rubbers and
a brown flowered scarf.

7
 Seek Missing Fort Atkinson Farm Girl 8

Some of the hundreds of searchers gather to clear information in the search for missing Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, near Fort
Atkinson, Wis. The little girl disappeared Thursday afternoon as she started down the road, leading to her farm home (arrow).
She had been driven from Oakland Center School, where she is in third grade, by a neighbor and wag left on Highway 12. She
was last seen when she looked in the family mailbox near where this picture was made. -Journal Staff
'The missing girl's mother, Eleanor, is with Katharine May, 16. The youngster's father, George, posed as he snatched a
quick lunch after leading the search. With him is Joan, 10. Georgia Jean also has a brother, La Verne, 12.

The little girl was driven from school by Mrs. Carl Floerke. Mary Floerke, 6, was with them and, looking from the rear window
of the Floerke car, she watched Georgia Jean reach into the Weckler mailbox.
Here is the Oakland Center School, which Georgia Jean attends: It is on United States Highway 12, about a mile and a half west
of the side road, leading to the Weckler home. The school closed Friday so the pupils could aid in the search.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Saturday, May 3 1947
Missing Girl, 8, Believed Kidnaped;
Fort Police Spur Search for Dark Car
Missing Girl

GEORGIA JEAN WECKLER

Youngster Reported Seen in Vehicle, Head Was Covered
FBI in Contact with Authorities; Clue of Footprint in Woods Fades
BULLETIN
FT. ATKINSON - Convinced that his 8-year-old daughter, Georgia Jean Weckler, has been kidnaped, George Weckler this
afternoon offered $1,000 cash reward for the arrest of the kidnaper or any information regarding the whereabouts of his
missing daughter.

8
FT. ATKINSON-The report of a girl struggling to get out of dark car parked on a Ft. Atkinson street Thursday, shortly after
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, had been last seen, today brought the fear of kidnaping into the case. After a report that a man who' got
out of the car returned ands, either hit the girl or covered her head with a blanket, Ft. Atkinson police were asking witnesses of the
incident to check with the police station or sheriff's office. FBI in Close Contact While members of the girl's family said the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been called into the case, H. K. Johnson, agent in charge of the Milwaukee district, said
"We have been in close contact with local authorities and there is no indication of federal violations within the investigation
jurisdiction of the FBI at the present time. Sara Klemens, Ft. Atkinson reported the incident which again involved a dark car
which had been reported several times in the area in which the girl had disappeared to Police Chief Harry Mueller. Stopping for
a traffic light between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Thursday at S. Main St. and Milwaukee Ave, in Ft. Atkinson, he had noted a 'car parked
across the street, ' Klement said. As he waited, a youngster in the car of approximately the age of the missing girl began
sobbing, he said, and called out.
"Let me out! I want to go home!"
A man and woman had just left the car, Klement said, and were in the middle of the street. He believed that another person was
in the car, possibly holding the girl. The man returned from the middle of the street to the car where he either hit the girl or put
something over her head.
Others Saw Incident
Klement moved to get out of the car, but noted two men who had also witnessed the incident coming toward the car from the
street corner where they had been standing. Cars behind him began honking as the street light changed, and he started his car,
believing that the two men on the corner could handle the situation. The incident was between a half hour and an hour after Mrs.
Carl Floerke had taken the missing girl home and dropped her at the entrance to the half-mile long farm lane leading to the
home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler, 6 miles west of Ft. Atkinson.
A dark car had been seen in the area twice before. Ernie Simdon, Ft. Atkinson, told officers that he drove to Oakland about
3:45 Thursday and that a dark car had pulled out ahead of him in the vicinity of the Weckler drive and stayed ahead of him
until he reached Oakland Center. Deep tire tracks, possibly made by a car starting out fast, were found Friday at the entrance to
the drive.
Noticed Similar Car
A Mrs. Twist, teacher at the nearby Ives school, told police that she had noted a similar car drive ' slowly by the school at
about 3:50 Thursday and then pull up and stop ahead of her car. The driver sat there, looking back, for about 5 minutes and
then pulled out fast when she walked from the school toward her car.
Footprint Found
Other developments in the three-day-old case included the finding of a footprint in a wooded area 2 miles south of the farm on
which the little girl lived; search for a hired man from a farm about 5 miles away who had been fired the morning the girl
disappeared, and the ending of the organized search which had included up to 500 men scouring the countryside.
The footprint was found by three youths, one of them a brother of the missing girl in a woods on the Borchart farm between
Rockdale and Highway 106. A shoe of the girl matched the footprint exactly, Rudy Reichert, Jefferson county traffic officer,
reported. Officers later said that the print was that of a little neighbor girl, Eileen Armstrong, who said that she was picking
flowers in the woods in the vicinity where the print was found.
Search was continuing today for the hired man who had left his job Thursday morning. He had walked to Highway 18
and hitch hiked to Jefferson where he intended to get a bus for Milwaukee, police officials learned.
Had Record
His employer said that the youth had a reform school record, but that he could not drive a car. It was not know whether he knew
the missing girl. His picture was taken to Jefferson County Sheriff George. Perry. After. two days of searching, organized
search was abandoned this morning. Planes piloted by Erling Mickelson and Wilson Beebe had reported that flying at low level
over leafless trees gave an excellent view of the ground and that they were able to see 10 to 12 feet down in nearby lakes.
Police also were checking a report involving two youths seen walking down the road near the entrance to the Weckler farm
Thursday afternoon. They were seen by Mr. and Mrs. "Stub" Swenson and Iver Nelson employed at the Ube Bros. electrical
plant in Ft. Atkinson, as they were driving down the road. One wore a white sailor's cap and the other a black and white
checked shirt, they told Neal Smithback, Dane county night jailer who lives in Cambridge.
Fortune Teller Tip on Kidnap; Proves False
Dane county was left virtually without patrol squad car protection late Friday night and early this morning when officers sped
towards Cambridge to investigate a kidnaping "hot tip" which orginated it was ultimately was learned with a fortune teller.
At 11:30 Friday night, a Jefferson squad car radioed to Madison and Dane county officers, asking for all available cars to come
to the stop light on Highway 12 at the edge of Cambridge. "We've got a hot tip." they said Asked what it was, they said it was
too hot to put on the air.
With county lines meaning nothing, some 35 cars congregated at the traffic light, where they were told that it had been learned
that Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, missing since Thursday from near her home near Ft. Atkinson, would be found in a vacant house
west of her home. If she were found within 24 hours, she would be alive. And if not she would be dead. All of the Dane county
sheriff's office and traffic department's cars were there but one. Plus cars from Madison, the town of Madison, Maple Bluff, the
town of Blooming Grove, and state patrol cars in the area were there. They searched for hours. They found nothing. And it
finally developed that an uncle of the missing girl had gone to a fortune teller to get the "hot tip."

9
 Misc Articles - Saturday May 3rd, 1947
Police Admit Lack of Clues; Appeal for Aid Farmer
Friends Start Reward Fund; Search of Countryside Being Continued
Journal Staff Correspondence
Fort Atkinson, Wis. While the search for little 8 year old Georgia Jean Weckler or her kidnaper spread throughout the Midwest
Saturday, her grief stricken father offered a $1,000 reward "for any clue" and farmer friends rallied to raise the reward to
$2,000. Convinced that the blond haired, brown-eyed girl had been abducted, George C. Weckler, well to do farmer, said he
would make the reward for any information "leading to the arrest of the person who has kidnaped my daughter." He made the
offer to Sheriff George Perry as members of searching parties rested on the lawn of his home, which has become headquarters
for the hunt for Georgia Jean, missing since 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
"Money doesn't mean a thing if I can get my child back," Weckler said. "I'm convinced it's a kidnaping. I thought so from the
start. The kidnaper is probably out of the area by this time." His voice broke, and, sobbing, he left the group and went into his
home where his wife has been prostrated.
Neighbors Sign Up,
Attempting to raise another $1,000 reward, Weckler's neighbors subscribed sums from $5 to $25 at the home and at the by road
leading from Highway 12, where the little girl was last seen. The subscription ran up to $200 in the first five minutes.
Search parties continued to work Saturday night, and one group drove almost to Stoughton to check on a car reported to have
been abandoned two days ago. An estimated 600 persons, double earlier searching groups, scoured the country Saturday in an
area of 50 miles of the Weckler home, six Anises west of here. Special attention was paid to deserted buildings, and Sheriff
Perry and Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, in a statewide call for help, asked everyone, but especially rural persons, to cooperate in
the search.
"Look in all vacant buildings and cottages, culverts, and in school houses empty over the weekend; look for children's
clothing, any mail with the name Weckler and any newspapers from this area," they asked.
Dozens of Leads Tracked
Authorities said dozens of leads had been tracked down, but not a single clue had been turned up. "We aren't any farther ahead
now than we were yesterday at the same time," Garity said Saturday night. "Nothing has turned up." "We've tracked down
dozens and dozens of leads but they have amounted to nothing," State Traffic Officer Loren Briese said. Garity said that,
although he believed the girl had been kidnaped, every part of the immediate vicinity would be searched. He said he expected
the "break" in the case to come from' some place farther away, probably a large city. One party Saturday hunted yard by yard
over a small wood near the Weckler farm where a light had been seen Friday night. They found nothing.
Check Lake Geneva Angle Another angle led the investigation to Lake Geneva where a man was reported to have tried to entice
a girl into his car Thursday night. Rowe Hopkins, chief of police at Lake Geneva, said that a man, believed driving a Ford ca r,
had offered an 8 year old girl $1 to enter his car. He said descriptions of the car varied, and that because of darkness the girl
and her companions could not give a description of Man. The incident happened across the street from the chief's home he said
believed only a attempted search would be unsuccessful.
The Weckler mail was searched for ransom note, but none appeared. The little girl was believed to have taken a large amount
of mail from the box just before she disappeared, Thursday. A strong lead in the case seemed to be a Ford car.
Seeks Car in Lane
About the time Georgia Jean disappeared, Marvin Thom, 41, hand on a neighbors farm, was driving a tractor on Highway 12
past the byroad leading to the Weckler farm. He said he saw a black car backing down the Weckler lane. The car, he said, backed
200 feet to the highway, then headed west. He described it as a black 1936 Ford two door sedan with a spotlight painted gray. It
contained one visible passenger, he said, a man about 25 with medium brown hair, appearing medium height. The driver, Thom
said, was unshaved and "rough looking." A black car also was seen acting suspiciously to the east of Fort Atkinson.
Girl's Description - Journal Staff Correspondence
Fort Atkinson, Wis. Here is a description of Georgia Jean Weckler, the missing girl: Age, 8; height, 4 feet 3 inches; weight,
70 pounds; hair, blond; eyes, brown; clothing, pink button sweater over a blue "T" shirt, blue jeans, blue flowered skirt,
rubbers and a brown flowered scarf.

10
 The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Sunday, May 4. 1947
Clues Fail; Hope Wanes for Lost Girl
State Waits Anxiously for News as Ft. Atkinson Farm Child Vanishes
Officers, Left Without Leads, Wait 'Break'
Posses of 1,000 Men Call off Two Day Hunt Planes Search On
By JOHN NEWHOUSE (State Journal Staff Writer)
BULLETIN
Police in this area late Saturday night sought to turn back S. S. Feastes, Camp McCoy truck driver, who had given Ft.
Atkinson police some information on a. car which might have been involved in the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler.
Officials sought to have him return and point out the exact place where he had seen a car weave across the road near where a
little girl was standing. He was forced to pass on the right side, then his view was hidden as he went over the hill, he said. His
report corroborated one about such a car given earlier to authorities.
FT. ATKINSON - Hope of finding Georgia Jean Weckler, missing since Thursday, when a neighbor dropped her at a mailbox
at the head of a road leading to her farm home, was waning rapidly Saturday; night. No real clues were found during the day,
and rumors proved foundationless upon investigation.
Posses Give Up
Planes still flew over the area, checking woods and lakes, with the aerial search, extended into, parts of Dana County, but the
posses which had number as high as 1,000 men called off its search A. thorough check of the area for miles around, with
searchers peering into cisterns, wells, culverts, and buildings had revealed not the slightest trace of the girl, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. George Weckler, who live 6 miles north of Ft. Atkinson.
Wait for `Break'
As the case came to the grim job of waiting for a first "break," Dist. Atty. Francis Garity told the press that his men were at a
standstill. "We haven't a clue to follow," he said. Reports of a girl struggling in a car on a Ft. Atkinson intersection were
investigated, but nothing new developed. Sam Klement, Ft. Atkinson, said that he had been waiting for a stop light to change at the
S. Main St. and Milwaukee Ave. intersection Thursday when he had seen a little girl struggling to get out of a dark car. A man
who had just left the car returned and either hit or covered the head of the child, with other men going to the car and cars behind
him honking, Klement drove on.
No Witnesses Found
Though an appeal was sent out for the witnesses of the incident to contact police authorities, no response was made. The
father of the girl, at a loss for an explanation, believed that she had started down the half-mile long road to the farm home and
been picked up by someone driving into the lane who had then backed out.
The belief was bolstered by the story of Ernie Simdon, who had been driving north on Highway 12 and had found a dark cat
ahead of him when he came over the brow of a hill before the farm lane. It had not been ahead of him before, he said.
Farmers Match Reward
A reward of $1.000 for the apprehension of whoever had kidnaped the girl or any clue leading to her rescue was being matched
by tired farmers of the area who had been searching the woods and fields for two days and nights. At the suggestion of Erwin
Pantel, who contributed an initial $25, Will Northey was made treasurer of a fund to match the reward offer of the father of the
missing girl. Farmers stepped up to Northey standing a few paces from the mailbox where the girl was last seen and dug into
their pockets for cold cash. Within 5 minutes, they had contributed $250 and the fund raising was still going on into the night.
Erling Mickalson, operator of Mickalson's Flying Service, Charles Ward, and Dick Smith, each with observers in their planes,
took to the air for their second day of searching the area. The J. C. Penney store in Ft. Atkinson paid for flying time the first
day, and Mickalson said he was continuing the second day search because "somebody's got to do it."
Out of Grief, Nightmare Looms A Nameless'Him'
(By Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON -There was only the waiting Saturday on the George Weckler farm the hard, cruel, senseless waiting. The
waiting and the person, formless and nameless like a man in a nightmare that they thought of only as "him." Believe 'He' is
Kidnaper "He" was the man, or woman, or man and woman, who they felt had kidnaped their daughter, Georgia Jean, only 8
years old. They tried not to refer to "him," but it slipped out. "I don't know why 'he' had to take such a little girl," said Mrs.
Weckler, helpless, choking back the rebellion at her helplessness. That feeling had its beginning Thursday afternoon. The other
two grade school children, La Verne, 12, and Joan, 10, had come home from school.
"Feels Bit of Anxiety"
Where's Georgia?" she had asked, and she had felt a twinge of anxiety when they said that she had come home with Mrs. Carl
Floerke, a neighbor, earlier. After a while she went to Mrs. Floerke's home, and the feeling heightened when she learned that
the little girl had got out at the mailbox, a half mile from their home. Perhaps her husband had picked up the little girl, but
when he came home at 6, he was alone.
Hope Persists
They had called the sheriff and the possess had come in, and hope still persisted, but it was not easy. "We gave `him' too
much time," said Mrs. Weckler, twisting a handkerchief in her hands as she sat in the living room of their home. "We just game
`him' too much time."

11
The neighbor women bustled about, feeding the men who came and went, from stores of food that "just appeared." And those
of them who had nothing to do went to scouring the ice box, and the wood work. 'They felt that they had to be doing
something. "Poor George," said Mrs. Weckler. "His father he's 85 is sick in the Fort hospital, and. he'll' wonder why George
can't come in to see him. We haven't told him, and he'll wonder."
Never Any News
The long day dragged along. People no longer jumped when the telephone rang. There was never any news. "We thought we'd
been through the worst when the children had polio last August," said Mrs. Weckler, her face twisting into a mirthless smile. "It
would be better if she had been killed on the highway. Then, at least we'd know ... "The planes droned overhead, and a
dank rain began to patter against the windows, "She always had a fear of kidnaping," said Mrs. Weckler "You could tell it when
there were stories in the paper. "Oh, why did 'he' have to take such a little girl?" The specter of "him" hung over the knots of
people in the front yard, who stood and talked, went out to check rumors went through the barns and poked into the wells and
cesspool again.
'Nothing'
"There just isn't anything that I we know," said the father of the missing girl helplessly. 'East- west - north - south - we don't know
where 'he' is. "There isn't a clue not a' ' piece of cloth, or a note nothing." The long day dragged to a close. 'As the light faded,
Weckler told the men that they might as well go home to their chores. There was nothing more that could be done. There was just
the waiting "the waiting and the wondering what "he" was doing, or what "he" had done.
Girl, 17, Missing in Waukesha County
The Waukesha county sheriff Saturday night asked state authorities' aid in seeking information as to the where bouts of Shirley
Mae Church, 17, reported missing from home since Friday at 6 p. m. She is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has
light brown hair, blue eyes and a small scar on her left cheek and chin. When last seen she was wearing a grey pin stripe suit, a
light tan trench coat, a yellow scarf with red flowers, and black and white oxford shoes.

Focal point of interest of thousands of people in this area and state today is the Ft. Atkinson area farm home of Mr. and Mrs.
George Weckler, whose 8-year-old daughter has been missing since Thursday and is feared, kidnaped. The corner where she
was dropped by a neighbor bringing her home from school is shown in the foreground of the picture at the upper left, with the
half mile road leading to the home in the background. The farm home is at the right above. Search included a checking of all
vacant houses, culverts, cisterns, and wells. In the picture at the lower left, a group of the searchers is probing a well. At the
lower right are the mother of the missing girl and one of the sisters, Katherine.
Photos by John Newhouse and Arthur M.Vinie

12
 Neighbors Match $1,000 Reward for Missing Girl

Weary with their hunt, farmers flocked to subscribe hard cash to match a reward of $1,000 offered by George Weckler,
father of the missing girl. At the upper left, they're shown about a car, paying their cash near the mail box where 8-yearold
Georgia Jean Weckler was last seen. At the upper right is the mail box on Highway 12 about 8 miles north of Ft. Atkinson,
where the little girl picked up the mail and was starting for home when she vanished.
Left to right in the foreground are Clayton Monogue and Lyle Hartman. In the background, left to right, are Morville
Chapman and William Northey. At the lower left are William Northey, treasurer of the reward fund started by the farmers,
and at the lower right Jefferson County Sheriff is talking with Mrs. Carl Floerke, neighbor who dropped the little girl off at
the mail box after school and Mary, her daughter, who was the last person to see Georgia Jean as they drove away.
MILWAUKEE SENTINEL
SUNDAY, MAY 4, 1947
$1,000 Offered for Missing State Girl
Family Frantic; Neighbors Chip in

Georgia Jean Weckler, R8; of Fort Atkinson, is still missing. As a public service, the Sentinel again publishes this picture in the
hope it will help find her. She is blond and brown eyed, weighs 68 pounds and is 82 inches tall. When last seen she was wearing
blue jeans, a blue skirt with a moon pattern, a blue T shirt and a brown kerchief around her head. If you know of this girl's
whereabouts, notify the police at once. Then call the City Editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, Daly 3900.
Child, 8, Long Had Fear of Being Kidnaped
FORT ATKINSON, Wis., May 3-(Special) - Distraught after two days and nights of fruitless searching for his missing 8 year old
daughter, George C. Weckler late today offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to her recovery or arrest of her kidnaper.
"I have been certain since it happened that she has been abducted," the father said. "Money means nothing now. We've got to do
something. "I will' pay $1,000 for a definite tip or information leading to the recovery of my daughter or the arrest of' the
abductor."
NEIGHBORS GIVE
"Georgia has been afraid of being kidnaped," Mrs. Weckler said. No sooner had Weckler announced his reward than neighbors
who had been aiding in the hunt signed up and laid down their additions to the $1,000 reward. The first to sign was William
Northey. He was followed by Erwin Pantel, Fred Bell, Walter Hupke, Merton Missfelt, Henry Ebbert, Mr. and Mrs. William
Scherwitz, Harold Gross, George Draeger, Forrest Regelein, Erwin Ebbert, Vernon Bolger, Leslie Mundt and Wilbur Markey.
Sheriff Checks Leads to Mysterious Black Auto
Seen In Neighborhood
Check Many Leads
Others followed as the growing list passed from hand to hand. By 6:30 pm the additional amount was $325 and Northey said he
had "sheets and sheets of folks pledging to add more." Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson County reported "dozens of leads about
the black car seen in the neighborhood" had been followed but without, turning up a single clue. "I'm convinced the girl's alive

13
and that she'll show up alive," Perry said. The posses moved toward Stoughton tonight, the third successive night of the search, as
the sheriff said: "The investigation is continuing along several lines, in addition to running down leads volunteered. Jefferson and
Dane County authorities and state traffic patrolmen are cooperating in the hunt for the black car."
HEARS GIRL'S CRY
The car has' been reported at several spots in the area, and one Fort Atkinson 'Man, Sam Klement, said he had seen such a vehicle
in town. He said he heard a little girl cry, "Let me lout." Klement said the man in the car either "threw something over her head or
hit her." Klement said he thought no more of the incident until he learned of the Weckler girl's disappearance. The fear and
desperation of the father spread to the more than 200 possemen as they slogged through muddy fields, along creeks and into
heavily wooded areas seeking a clue to the disappearance of blond haired, brown eyed Georgia Jean. The girl, in the third grade at
Oakland Center School, vanished at 3:30 p. m. Thursday after a neighbor had dropped her at the roadway to her home en route
from school.
PICKING FLOWERS
Her last word was, "I'm going into the woods to pick some flowers, for my May basket." Meanwhile, in the Weckler farm home
the atmosphere was desperately hopeful. Mrs. Weckler, her son LaVerne, 12, and daughters Joan, 10, and Katherine, 16, went
through their daily chores. But there seemed no connection between hand and mind. Their minds remembered all too clearly
Georgia Jean's fear of kidnaping.
RECALLS DEGNAN CASE
"Whether it was kidnaping itself or a fear 'that she herself might sometime be kidnaped, I don't know," the anxious mother recalled.
"But I remember Georgia mentioning it to me many times,' particularly after Suzanne Degnan was taken and "here she choked back
tears killed in Chicago." Neighbors were stunned. Helping with the farm chores and in the kitchen, Mrs. Ivan Jones, Mrs. Edgar
Armstrong, Mrs. Edgar Burrow, Mrs. Carl Floerke and Mrs. Donald Miller, the missing girl's teacher, shook their heads you read
about these things happening in the city, but not here. "It's particularly tragic that it had to happen to someone as sweet as
Georgia."She's witty, bright, obedient and cheerful, and rather reserved a delightful youngster." The Weckler tragedy struck
particularly hard because, as Mrs. Jones said, "You seldom see the mother and father go anywhere without their children. The
parents were devoted to (Please Turn to Page 17, Col. 1) missing page

Neighbors Add to $1,000 Reward

Offered for Missing Girl

Eyes riveted on the road from which their sister disappeared, Katherine, 16; Joan, 10, and La Verne, 12, (left to right) sit on the
farmhouse steps waiting and hoping.

14
Erwin Pantel, farmer neighbor of the Wecklers, adds his contribution to the $1,000 reward offered the father of the missing girl,
Others in the searching party crowd forward to make their contributions. Money means nothing, we've got to do something,"
says George Weckler left) in offering the $1,000 reward yesterday for information leading to the, return of his daughter and to
her abductor. Sheriff George Perry is at the right.
Misc Articles - Sunday 4th, 1947
Missing Girl Hunted (Story in adjoining column)

Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, who disappeared at Fort Atkinson, Wis.

(Associated Press wirephoto)

POSSES SEARCHING FOR GIRL MISSING, FOR THIRD DAY

Fort Atkinson, Wis., May special- The hunt for Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, entered its third day today with posses searching the
countryside near her farm home. Agents of the federal bureau of investigation reportedly had been called in to aid the search.
The girl's father, George C. Weckler, announced his belief she had been kidnaped and offered a reward of $1,000 for information
leading to the abductor's arrest and conviction. Neighboring farmers began adding to the reward offer.
Heard Girl in Car
The kidnaping theory apparently was bolstered by information given Fort Atkinson Police Chief Harry O. Mueller by Sam
Klement, a retired farmer living here. Klement said he heard, but did not see, a girl in a black automobile parked near a
downtown intersection shortly after the hour of the kidnaping Thursday afternoon. "Let me out of here. I want to go home,"
Klement quoted the girl as crying. He said a man and a women were walking away from the car, and that the man returned and
either threw a blanket over the girl or struck her. Klement did not connect the incident with the disappearance of Georgia Jean
until today.
Posses Seach Area
Posses which at times numbered 1,000 persons, were searching rural areas of western Jefferson and eastern Dane counties,
investigating abandoned buildings, probing under culverts, and tracking thru wooded areas The last person who reported seeing
the girl was Mrs. Car Floerke, a neighbor of the Wecklers, who drove Georgia Jean home from the Oakland Center school and
let her out of the car at 3:3 p. m. Thursday, at the entrance to the Weckler farm on LT. S. highway 12, six miles west of here.
Mrs. Floerke said the girl took the Wecklers mail from the mailbox by the roadside and started down the one-half mile gravel
lane to her home. Three boys aiding the posses, including the missing girl's brother, La Vern, 12, found a footprint in the lane
which fitted her shoes, according to Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson County.
Says Girl Feared Kidnaping
A neighbor, Mrs. Ivan L. Jones, recalled that Georgia Jean had said after hearing of the kidnaping and slaying of Suzanne
Degnan in Chicago that she had "always feared kidnaping." What prompted her fear was not known. Sheriff Perry and the girl's
father, who is the Oakland township treasurer, were still aiding in the hunt today although both were near exhaustion having
gone without sleep since her disappearance. The Wecklers have three other children, Joan, 10, Catherine, 16, and La Vern. All
four were stricken with poliomyelitis last September, Georgia Jean being most severely stricken, but all recovered.

15
 Daily Jefferson County Union
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Monday, May 5, 1947
Still Seek Missing Child
Search for Girl or Body Remains Fruitless;
Father and Friends Offer Liberal Rewards Search Goes On
The mills of justice are grinding slowly, and producing little but chaff 96 hours after eight year-old Georgia Weckler disappeared
from near her farm home Thursday afternoon. Enforcement officers admit they are a little closer to a solution to the case than
when the frantic father telephoned local police and the sheriff's office Thursday night. The only alternative definitely eliminated
seems to be the possibility that Georgia disappeared' voluntarily or met with an accident. The accident possibility has been
thoroughly blasted by an intensive search which has covered practically every inch of adjacent area. The hope that this may have
been kidnaping for ransom fades with each passing hour. There have been ample opportunities for the delivery of a ransom note.
None like to contemplate the other possibilities. The most acceptable current theory seems to be that, a few seconds after the girl
got out of, Mrs. Floerke's car, picked up the' mail from the mail box, and started down the driveway, a much discussed "black car"
whisked in, the driver persuaded her to enter in the belief that she was headed for home, the car backed out onto the highway
again and sped away. The "black car" theory figures in the stories of several volunteer witnesses.
Mrs Lawrence Twist, teacher at Ives school south of Oakland Center, reports a car loitering in the vicinity just after the close of
school, Marvin Thom, 41 year -old farm hand riding a tractor in a nearby field gave more detailed description of the car and the
unshaven, rough, looking man driving it. Sam Klement had reported a car answering the general description in the streets of Fort
Atkinson. Mr. Klement reported that a girl in the rear seat had pled to be taken home, but the man and woman who accompanied
her quieted her with rough treatment. A local paper carrier boy reported a similar incident in east Fort Atkinson the same day.
Mr. Klement's report of a young girl being roughly quieted in a parked car off Main street Thursday afternoon has been backed
up by Mrs. Ralph Rumary, of 606 Whitewater Avenue, who has reported that she witnessed the incident while en route home
between 3:30 and 3:45 p. m. Thurs day. She said the child was mishandled by a "roughly dressed" couple who got in the car and
drove down Milwaukee Ave. E. Most definite information about the "black car" has been furnished by S. L. Feaster, a septic tank
cleaning operator from Wisconsin Rapids. Mr. Feaster was driving from Camp McCoy to Fort Sheridan right behind a black
sedan. The sedan made a left hand turn directly into a farm driveway in front of Mr. Feaster, and the things he said to the driver
were very vigorous indeed. Mr. Feaster is now convinced that the driveway into which the car turned was the Weckler driveway.
He drove back to Fort from Sparta yesterday, and is standing by to furnish needed information.
The Weckler children had been carefully instructed not to enter cars driven by strangers, but the father points out that it is not
unlikely that she might have got into a car within the driveway. The driveway is a dead end road leading to the Weckler home,
and Georgia would naturally assume that a driver headed in that direction was en route to conduct business with her father, who
is town treasurer. Numerous black cars, several of them without license plates, have been halted by police, but the drivers have
been able to furnish reasonable alibis. The Daniels brothers of North Shore were questioned last night when their sedan, without
license plates and loaded with a radio, stove pipe, mop and pail, clothing, picture frame and Sunday newspapers, was discovered
in Fort. They were questioned briefly and released.
A search of vacant houses all over the area has not yielded anything which seems to apply to the Weckler case. officials have
said repeatedly that the FBI is not in the case yet, since there is no conclusive evidence that federal laws have been invaded. The
Ft. Atkinson Junior Chamber of Commerce today offered to aid city street department in the search of all manholes and catch
basins in the city. The Fort Red Cross chapter, which aided in the distribution of food to searchers Friday, is still standing by
for further aid.
In Chicago, a Fort Knox, Ky., sergeant has been released after deep questioning. The soldier was picked up after a parking lot
attendant said his car had blood stains on the back seat.
Another development of the case is that a former military intelligence agent, Oscar Menzel, Milwaukee, has offered to act as a
go -between for the return of the child. Menzel, a close friend of the family, says there have been so many police around the
Weckler home that no kidnaper would risk attempting a contact.
District attorney Francis Garity has termed the girl's disappearance "definitely a kidnaping." No ransom note has been received
and Garity believes that the 8-year-old's abductor may be a pervert.
Checking every possibility that the disappearance of Georgia Weckler might have been a strictly local crime,' officers this
morning redoubled their search for the body. Two dozen farmers dug through a rubbish pile near the Weckler farm, but found
no evidence.
$2,500 Reward
The reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the abductor, or the return of Georgia Weckler had reached
$2,500 last night, and was growing rapidly. Neighbors quickly raised another $1,500. This morning the Fort Atkinson Chamber of
Commerce launched a similar fund in the city, and donations are growing by the hour.
The Wecklers, from the father and mother to the children, faced the tragedy with amazing courage. George Weckler is obviously a
shocked and dazed man, but clings to the hope that no news is good news. "We won't give up," he keeps saying.

16
Only once or twice have the Wecklers broken down, and then only briefly. "I guess it's the kindness of folks from country and city
that's kept us going," said Mr. Weckler.
Friday, for instance, loud speaker appeals were sent out 'for volunteer searching parties. More than 300 searchers from Fort responded
in a half hour, joined by 700 more farmers and residents of Cambridge and Edgerton.
The long vigil began at dusk Thursday night when Georgia's absence first became a serious concern. The father notified local
and county officers, and ran for the woods southeast of the Weckler home with a flashlight. "My first thought," he said, "was that
Georgia might have been struck and injured by a falling tree limb, and lying helpless in the woods."
How the news spread so rapidly he doesn't know, but near the top of the hillside he saw flashlights approaching from the opposite
side. Since then the Weckler's have been surrounded by friends, many of whom snatch only a few brief hours of sleep' each night.
Mr. Weckler reserved some of his choicest praise for the press. While newsmen have been barred from talking with Mrs. Weckler,
whose strain was emphasized by constant questioning, Mr. Weckler himself has been ready and willing to answer all questions
lie turned thumbs down on a proposal to bar newsmen from the farm. "They're trying to help," he said. "I'm a firm believer in
publicity in a case like this."
And the press to the Midwest has responded with the cream of their reporters. Two of the leading figures last night were soft
spoken Lou Paris of the Chicago Times; credited with "'breaking" the Degnan case, and slender Adams of the United Press. The
parade continued this morning as Fort becomes the mecca for the mighty newsmen and cameramen of the nation and the weary
search goes on from one flimsy clue to another.

Thief Ransacks Home Here; Car Stolen, Found

Police today attempted to tie up the disappearance, Georgia Weckler with a break in this morning at the home of Mrs. E. R.
Parker, route 2, and a trail of stolen cars starting at Melrose Park, Ill., leading into the Fort, and then to Geneva township.
The Parker home was entered this morning about 9:30 by a man described by Mrs. Warren Parker, who confronted him in the
back yard of her home as about 20, large and blond, wearing bibless overalls and a tan sports shirt. The man fled when
approached by Mrs. Parker and sped toward Whitewater on highway 12. The Parker home was ransacked, but it was not known
what items were taken.
And the trail of stolen cars: E. W. Frohmader, 212 Roosevelt St., reported this morning that a blue car a 1941 Plymouth coach
with no license plates had been abandoned in front of his home since sometime Saturday. The car is believed to be the property of
Louis Goesswein, Melrose Park, Ill. Such a car has been reported missing by Sterling, Ill., police.
The automobile of Earl Dunlap, 718 Sherman Ave., W., was stolen (Saturday night or Sunday morning from in front of the
Dunlap home. It has been recovered in Geneva, near Elkhorn in Walworth County. At Geneva, a black, 1936 Chevrolet was
reported stolen early Sunday morning.

17
 From Near This Spot, 8-Year-Old Georgia Jean Weckler Was Taken Taken

Scene of Georgia Weckler's disappearance is shown in this Daily Union photo. To the extreme left the mail box from which she
removed what the mailman described as 'quite a bunch of mail. The two men just to the right are District Attorney Garity (black
coat) and the father, George Weckler. At the moment the photo was snapped, Weckler was' preparing to announce the posting of a
$1,000 reward. A few minutes later the group of men, part of whom are shown at the extreme right, had collected $250 more.
Now the fund is believed to be approaching $4,000 and just this morning the Fort Chamber of Commerce launched a Main Street
drive for reward funds. The arrow points to the buildings on the Weckler farm at the end of a deadend road about a half mile from
the highway.
The Start of One of the Many Searched for Kidnap Clues

Thirty minutes after John Briggs had made a street by street appeal for volunteers to tramp the woods south of the George
Weckler farm in search of Georgia Weckler, more than 300 men had gathered at the Fort Municipal building Friday. A portion of
the group, composed of business men, laborers and high school students, is shown here heading for the woods. Overhead at
frequent intervals roared the plane of Erling Mickalson, Mid City Airport manager, who has devoted more than two days to the
search. "Even at a time like this, it's nice to know how many kind and friendly people there are in the world," said the grief
stricken father.
The Fort Daily News
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Monday May 5, 1947
Anyone Seen This Bright Eyed Youngster?

This picture was taken of Georgia Jean Weckler about a

year ago at the age of 7 years. She is blond with brown
eyes. A nationwide search is being made for her since she
disappeared last Thursday afternoon.

18
 For 8-Year Old Girl Continues Over Wide Area
The search for 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler continues over a wide area today. Press and radio have broadcast the news to the
world. But over the weekend only hope, rumor, despair were brought to the family and friends. Reporters, photographers and
radio men from Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison have been here giving the news to the world and working with the officers in
trying to track down every clue as soon as it appears. But nothing of a definite, tangible nature has as yet been uncovered which
will help solve the mystery no ransom notes, no word from anyone, have as yet been received by the grief stricken parents. All
are waiting for some word from Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, who disappeared from the driveway leading to her farm home six
miles west of' ort Atkinson Thursday afternoon. No definite news has brought the case any nearer solution by 2 p.m. today. A
picture of what has happened in the area has been established, however.
The area, covering 16 miles square, has been searched and, probed carefully by hundreds of friends and neighbors. It has been
surveyed closely from the air by Erling Mickalson, and other flyers from the Mid-City airport. The immediate farm area and all
buildings have been sifted over and over. Nothing tangible has been found. Nothing that has fitted into the picture to point a
definite direction has been found, with the exception of incidents on highway; 12 in the vicinity of the driveway.
The complete facilities of the law enforcement officers of Jefferson and Dane counties are still pounding on in their investigation
and checking and rechecking every bit of information that can be gleaned. George Weckler, the girl's father, has said that he has
always, since the beginning, felt that his daughter was abducted. Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity has said that he
believes the child has been abducted. State Traffic Patrolman Toren Briese, working closely with Garity, and the sheriffs of
Jefferson and Dane counties in the case, says he believes the child was abducted. Marvin Thom, who works with Edgar Burrow,
Save the officer, a story from which to work and that story stands and has gained in credence as the evidence piles' in. S. L.
Feaster, Wisconsin Pavids, arrived here Sunday evening to back up Thorn's story.
The story involves a black. 1936 Ford tudor sedan, which was at the Weckler driveway at the time Georgia was at the mailbox
after being let out of the car of Mrs. Carl Floerke, who drove her home from school.
Feaster's story starts the chain. Shortly after 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon, Feaster was driving his sewer cleaning truck from
Cambridge toward Fort Atkinson on U. S. Highway 12. As he came within about a of the Weckler farm, he passed a black Ford
car, parked) on the side of the road. As he passed it, the car was started up and came up behind him and passed him. It preceded
him on the way toward Fort Atkinson, at one time swerving sharply across the highway. As the two vehicles approached the
Weckler driveway, the black car ahead, Feaster noticed a little girl a few feet from the Weckler driveway.
At the same time, the driver of the black car made a sharp swing into the Weckler driveway, stopping and turning so suddenly
that Feaster was forced to come to a stop, too, and turn out on the shoulder of the highway and pass at the black car's rear, on the
wrong side of the highway for passing. Feaster and the driver of the black car exchanged the usual comments and grimace's,
Feaster reports, and then Feaster continued on.
As he continued, Feaster noticed another car ahead of him which suddenly disappeared. It has been established that this car was
the Floerke car, which had just left Georgia off and Mrs. Floerke and her daughter, Mary, saw Georgia take the mail from the
Weckler mail box. The Floerke car turned off into a road at the crest of the hill to drive to the Floerke home.
Next in the series at the Weckler driveway comes Marvin Thom, who works for Edgar Burrow nearby. He is driving a tractor,
hauling a load of refuse to the dump in the woods at the top of the cut about one-quarter mile from the Weckler driveway.
Thom, as closely as has been connected, was just preparing to come out of the Burrow's driveway with the tractor when the
Feaster truck and the black car went by the Burrow's driveway. He left the Burrows farm at about 3:15. He figures that by 'about
3:25 he drew abreast of the Weckler driveway.
As he drew abreast of the Weckler driveway, he saw a black Ford car with a grey plastic spotlight back out of the Weckler
driveway and headed, off toward Cambridge. He saw a slender young man, somewhat unshaven, blond, hatless, driving the car.
He did not see Georgia. Thom continued east and on to the dump.
It is reported, also, that Ernest Simdon came over the hill from the east, in his car, and remembers that he was aware of having
come up behind a black car that was driving west. He followed the car until he came to the Oakland Center store where he
stopped, it was reported. The car continued on. It was reported that Simdon met Feaster's truck and recognized it.
The search for Georgia is being handled by a strong staff of Jefferson and Dane county officers under the direction of Sheriff
George Perry of Jefferson county and Sheriff Edward "Ace" Fischer of Dane county. The officers working with the sheriffs
includes: Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity, state traffic patrolman Loren Briese, Jefferson county motor police
officers Captain Whitmore, sergeant Rudolph Reichert, Glenn Pattee, Roger Reinei, Deputy Walter Goeglein, state game warden
Willard Leasch, Fort Atkinson Police Chief Harry O. Mueller. The city police and members

Georgia Jean Had Always Feared Kidnapping Mother, Neighbors Recall

Georgia Jean Weckler had always feared kidnapping, the 8 -year-old girl's mother recalled to her friend and neighbor of 18
years, Mrs. Ivan L. Jones, after the 8-year-old girl disappeared from her home Thursday.
Whether it was kidnapping itself or a fear that she herself might sometime be kidnapped, Mrs. Weckler didn't know, but said she
remembered Georgia's frequent comments, particularly after the Suzanne Degner case. Since the disappearance of Georgia Jean
and the growing inference of foul play, farm women living near the Wecklers have expressed horror that "this could I have
happened here." "You read about those things happening in the city, but not here," the closest friends and neighbors of the
Wecklers said this morning.

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"It is particularly tragic that someone as sweet as Georgia has disappeared", the neighbors, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Edgar Armstrong,
Mrs. Edgar Burrow, Mrs. Carl Floerke, and the girl's teacher, Mrs. Donald Miller, said. They described the blonde, brown-eyed
girl as "witty, obedient, bright, cheerful, but not at all forward, rather reserved." "We always enjoyed Georgia so much, because
she is so original," Mrs. Armstrong said. Another particularly poignant factor is that the Weckler family is renowned here for its
unusual devotion. "You seldom see the mother and father go anywhere without their children," Mrs. Jones said. All of them,
mother, father, Georgia Jean, Laverne 12, Joan 10, and Katherine 16, are dependent one upon the other. For instance, the four
children were stricken with polio a year ago in September, Georgia Jean suffering the most, but recovered thru long and careful
nursing by their parents.
One of the last things Joan, who with Georgia and Laverne attended the Oakland Center grade school, had said to her younger
sister when Georgia left school Thursday with a neighbor lady, was, "Now you go right on home." Usually the older children
preceded her home, but because Thursday Georgia was riding in a car instead of on her bike, she returned home first. Mrs. Carl
Floerke, who drove Georgia home, along with her own 7-year-old daughter, Mary, said the girls were having a "jolly time."
Neighbors have gone to the aid of the Wecklers, helping with farm chores and in the kitchen, but the family has not given up to
its grief completely. "They are all brave," their neighbors said.

Tip from Spiritualist send Police and Squad Cars on Wild Search Saturday Night
A tip from a spiritualist in the Georgia Jean Weckler case precipitated one of the biggest rural police raids in recent southern
Wisconsin history Saturday night. It brought out 11 police cars, more than 25 officers, sirens guns and spotlights. The raid had its
start in a trip which Elmer Weckler, an uncle of the girl, made to a spiritualist at Fond du Lac. The spiritualist described a deserted
farmhouse in which the searchers would find the 8-yearold girl. The uncle convinced the officers "to give it a try." In 11 police
cars the men converged by several roads at midnight Friday on an apparently deserted farmhouse in the eastern part of Dane
county. The officers surrounded the structure and lighted it with the spotlights on their cars. They honked the cars' horns and
yelled for the occupant, if any, to come out. No one appeared.
The men observed a. fresh tire trail leading into the yard thence into a dark, foreboding barn. They opened the door and' found
a car with wet tires. In the back seat they found a Jefferson' newspaper in which the story about Georgia's disappearance was
featured. They found a pair of stockings and a flowered scarf. The car license was issued to a Merrill, Wis. man. Those
findings convinced the officers that they were on the right trail. They returned to the house. About to break in the front door,
they were confronted by a man clad in long underwear. He asked what they wanted. They asked if he had a little girl in the
house, and he answered that his 9-year-old daughter was with him. Georgia is almost nine.
More than ever convinced, the officers demanded to see the girl. The house occupant demurred but, realizing the importance of
the request, he led them to the sleeping girl. Weckler said that she was not Georgia. The man convinced the officers that he was a
Merrill man who only recently had come to the Dane county farm. The police left. It was 2:30 a.m.
Fort Group Adds To Reward Fund
Persons in the city of Fort Atkinson today began building up a fund to add to the reward fund of nearly $4,000 which is now
offered by George Weckler and his neighbors. A Fort Atkinson chamber of commerce list declares that the money is for use
as follows:
"We the undersigned hereby, contribute the following sums to be offered as a reward for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the person or persons who kidnapped George Jean Weckler. In the event that any money given here in is not paid
out as a reward, such sum or partial sums collected hereunder shall be refunded to donor if so desired or turned over to the George
Weckler family.
Contributions made through the efforts of the Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce will be added to those already established by
their father and friends. Please call or leave your contribution with Ralph Ebbott, Sr. Chamber of Commerce. Phone 1175."
Report Three Car Thefts Over The Week End
Three stolen cars that appear to be links in a chain of stealing's were reported to local police Sunday, which may or may not have
any connection with the Weckler kidnapping case.
A 1941 blue Plymouth coach which Illinois state traffic police said was stolen in Illinois was reported to local police by E. W.
Frohmader after he found it abandoned in front of his house at 212 Roosevelt Avenue Sunday morning. His neighbor, Coleman
Griffin, Jr., reported seeing the car in front of the Frohmader residence at 1:00 a. m. when he returned home Saturday evening,
and another neighbor, Clarence Heth, said he saw two cars "probably around 12 pm." in front of the house, one of them the
abandoned car.
A black 1939 Chevrolet belonging to W. E. Dunlap, who lives at 718 W. Sherman ave., several blocks away, was stolen
Saturday night, but found in the yard of a farmer about four miles south of Elkhorn on Highway 12, who in turn, had his car
stolen. The Dunlaps heard their dog barking at 11:45 p. m. Saturday night, and Mrs. Ross Freeman, a neighbor, heard the Dunlap
car drive away around that time at an extremely, fast rate of speed. Neither the Dunlaps nor Mrs. Freeman realized the car had
been taken, however, until the farmer called local police here Sunday morning. The keys had not been in the ignition, but the
wires had been switched in the coil.
At 1:00 p. m. that same night the daughter of the farmer where the car was found returned home and later recalled that she saw
two men working on a car with the hood up on Highway 12 just beyond the driveway. When the farmer arose in the morning he I
found the Dunlap car, which had, been shoved into his driveway, and his own car gone from the garage. Local police have made

20
no statement regarding the motives these automobile thefts as to whether they believe there is a connection between them and the
Weckler case.
Information in the Plymouth coach found in front of the Frohmader house bears the name of Louis Goesswein, 1740 N.
22nd Ave., Melrose Park, 111. The address, 333 N. Michigan Ave, was also found. License plates had been stripped from
the car
Attempted Robbery in W. Parker Home
A tip from Mrs. Warren Parker was extremely hot today, but it has faded out. Mrs. Parker, living in the City limits in Fort
Atkinson on Whitewater Ave. today came face to, face at the back door of the home of her mother-in-law, Mrs. E. R, Parker, with
a man who ran, when she stepped to the door of her home and asked if she could be of assistance. Mrs. Parker, who lives in the
converted residence with her husband and three and one-half month old daughter, Penny, gave the following report to police.
As she sat in the living room of her home, feeding her baby, she noticed a man walking west on the highway east of the driveway
to the residence. Next she noticed him approach the door of the senior Parker home. She said she still thought nothing of it, as
various persons often come to the door of the other house. Finishing with the feeding of her daughter, she went into the yard. At
this point she noticed a young, blond, ruddy faced man standing at the rear door of the senior Parker residence. She asked him if
she could be of any assistance. The man said 'NO' and fled. He ceased running when he, reached the highway, walked east, got into
an old, black car, and drove off toward Whitewater. Mrs. Parker immediately called police who gave chase toward Whitewater.
Mrs. E. R. Parker was not at home at the time. Nothing was taken from the residence. Several bureau drawers were opened and left
open, but nothing was missed. Money, lying on a table in the house was not touched. Mrs. Warren Parker said the man was dressed
neatly in blue overalls and light brown sports jacket.
Misc. Articles - May Monday 5th, 1947
Search Goes On for Georgia Weckler,
Fort Atkinson Farm Girl,
Believe Kidnaped

The conviction is general that Georgia Jean was kidnaped, so each mail is carefully checked for possible ransom notes. The
Fort Atkinson postmaster Paul W. Cornish (right) brings mail directly to the little girl's father, George (center) They checked
Monday which contained nothing unusual, with Dist. Atty. Francis Garity (left) (Journal Staff)

A black car, which has been unsuccessfully sought, was reported seen by S. L. Feasier (top), Camp
McCoy, who said it entered the lane where Georgia disappeared, and Marvin Thom, a hired hand, who
told of it backing out. Journal Staff

21
 Rewards for finding Georgia total over $6,000. An uncle, Gus Weckler (left), retired Chicago druggist, added
$1,000 Monday. He posted his money with Ralph W. Abbott, in charge of reward money collections in Fort
Atkinson Journal Staff

A rubbish pile in the woods near where the girl disappeared was searched carefully Monday after reports were
heard that two loads of junk had been dumped since Georgia was missing. Nothing suspicious was turned up,
but a minute inspection was made under Dist. Atty. Garity (hands on hips) and, State .Traffic Officer Loren
Briese (back to camera). Journal Staff

Fort Posse Chases Kidnap Suspect D. A., Missing Girl's Father Confer

Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity who says that it's a 100 to 1 chance that Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, has been kidnaped, is
shown at the left above conferring with George Weckler, father of the missing girl. The picture was taken at the, Weckler's farm home
near Ft. Atkinson. In. the center is L. G. Briese, state traffic officer.

Young Man Flees Dark Car After Ransacking House

Believed Seeking Food or Clothes; Leaves Money Undisturbed on Table
FT. ATKTNSON - Posses streaked out of Ft. Atkinson this morning, hot on the trail of a blond haired young man they believed may
have been the kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl missing since Thursday.
Within a few minutes after the man lead fled from the back door of a. ransacked house and roared off in a dark car parked
down the road, the posse was off in pursuit.
Headed Toward Whitewater
The car was headed toward Whitewater on Highway 12 when it was last seen. The man had apparently been in search of. food or
clothing, officials held. Money laying on a table was not taken. Mrs. E. R. Parker. whose home is just, south of Ft. Atkinson on
Highway 32, saw the man walk up to the nearby home of her mother-in-law, Mrs. E. R. Parker, who was at work at the Chamber
of Commerce offices in Ft. Atkinson. Later, she was in the backyard taking in the clothes when she saw the man come out, of the
back door. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.
Notifies Police
Then the man turned and ran for a dark car parked on the highway about 300 feet away and disappeared. Mrs. Parker notified
police and a, posse gathered before the police station ready to start out on another phase of the search, started in immediate,
chase. She described the man as blond between 20 and 21 years old, with ruddy complexion, and wearing blue jeans and a
loose, tan, short coat.
A check of the house showed that it had been rapidly but thoroughly ransacked. "If he wasn't the kidnaper, he sure picked the
hottest city in the nation to pull a robbery in," was the comment of one police officer.
Since Thursday, when the girl the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, who live 6 miles north of Ft Atkinson disappeared,
the countryside has been swarming with men, many of them armed, searching for some clue of the little girl.

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 Daily Jefferson County Union
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Tuesday, May 6, 1947
Hunt Remains Fruitless
Makes Plea to Kidnaper

George Weckler, father of missing 8-year-old Georgia Jean

Weckler, snatches a bite to eat after hours of leading a search
posse. Another daughter, Joan, 10, stands by his side. Mr.
Weckler made a radio plea to the kidnaper yesterday. (NEA)
FATHER AIR'S A PLEA FOR DAUGHTER'S SAFE RETURN
The greatest manhunt in Fort Atkinson and Jefferson county history entered its sixth day today and city, county, and state law
enforcement officials still were groping blindly for any clue that might lead to a solution in the disappearance of eight-year old
Georgia Jean Weckler. A new instrument was brought into the case yesterday when the stricken father, George C. Weckler, Route
1, and Dist. Atty. Francis Garity made radio appeals from a special hookup in the Jefferson court house for any information that
might pertain to the girl's disappearance. The father pleaded for Georgia's abductor to "have enough conscience to return his
daughter safely. Still hopefu1 that, blond, brown-eyed Georgia, Jean is alive, his speech slowed by pent up emotions, he pleaded:
"Folks all over the country, my plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything that', can lead us to this child, the' sooner`
the better for the child's sake, for the family's sake, and for the party that has the child. I know that their conscience going to feel
100 per cent better: within the next 12 hours if you 'return this child immediately. He added that no harm would come to the
abductor if the girl were returned.
The district attorney asked the cooperation of all law enforcement officers in the state in breaking the case. He especially urged
that county police make an effort to check all back roads, vacant buildings, culverts, 'etc. Garity 'fails to share the father's
optimism about the child's safety. He is especially fearful of Georgia's welfare since no ransom. note has been received.
Newest development in the way of clues centered about a report from the vicinity Sharon, in Walworth county According to that
report unconfirmed pulled up near a wood area on a back road something was seen passed between the two cars, and a child was
heard crying. The cries of the child continued from the vicinity of the wooded area after the cars pulled away, the report said.
The reward for evidence leading to Georgia Jean's safe return, or to the arrest of the kidnaper, has now grown to about $7,000.
The local Chamber of Commerce, whose reward fund totals about $1,300, is still accepting donations at Lacon, Ill., authorities
were holding an 18-year-old veteran this morning at the request of Fort Atkinson police. The youth, identified as Lawrence
Diller; of Benton Harbor, Mich., had been picked up on a vagrancy charge and was found to be carrying a slip of paper with the
names of Georgia Jean and her father on it. However, Lacon officials believe the youth has no connection with the case. Diller
claims he had been coming to Fort to help in the search.
A telephone lineman, Walter Showers, of Fort, entered the picture as a volunteer witness last night. He told police that he worked
on the line between Oakland Center and the Weckler driveway all Thursday afternoon and saw nothing amiss. "If anything
happened," he said, "it must have happened fast."
The telephone worker added that the girl could have been taken while he was out of sight of the driveway or while he was
preoccupied with his work.
Further testimony was volunteered from Watertown residents and by various truck drivers who passed by the kidnapping area about
the time of the girl's disappearance. Various "crank" letters were also flooding into county and city officials today. Police Chief
Harry O. Mueller received such a letter from Newark, N. J., today from a man who described himself as a former intelligence corps
worker. He suggested that police arrest all persons owning dark cars; that police "check" all farmers; and that police "check"
Jefferson. Meanwhile, police throughout the state are still searching for a blond suspect, aged 20 to 25, who was reportedly driving
the mysterious black sedan near the Weckler farm at the time of Georgia's disappearance. A man of the same description ransacked
the home of Mrs. E. R. Parker yesterday reportedly in search of a change of clothes but successfully eluded an almost immediate
23
pursuit by county, and state officers. The intensive searches by local and county authorities and by posses of volunteers have
convinced them that the girl is not within 10 miles of the point where she was last seen. And the multitude of so called clues have
all proved fruitless said Sheriff George Perry, this morning: "We're still working and running down all clues. But there is nothing
'hot' at the present time."

BLACK CAR ...

The confusing barrage of testimony regarding a "black car" in' the Weckler case is no surprise' to most newspaper men. In the
course of practically every baffling crime, stories of a "black car" appear. That's because there are a great number of black cars on
the highways, and, the odds are strongly in favor of one of them behaving suspiciously sooner or later. Furthermore, human
testimony even from honest people is notoriously unreliable. It's not uncommon for well-meaning witnesses in court to differ on
such details as to whether the sun was shining at the moment of the event under investigation, or rain was falling. Officers of the
law know all too well the peculiarities of the human memory. But they have no alternative other than to chase down every
recollection on the assumption that sooner or later one of them may be accurate and productive.
The Fort Daily News
Fort Atkinson, Wis.
May 6, 1947
'All Clues Fade As Search Continues' Over Wide Area
No definite leads as to the whereabouts of Georgia Jean Weckler were available today to the authorities investigating her
disappearance despite radio and press appeals thru out the middle west asking for information from any source. George C. Weckler,
Georgia's father, broadcast over the facilities of radio station WLS Monday afternoon and today, asking that his daughter be
returned safely. He made a strong appeal, suggesting that any possible abductor return Georgia Jean safely to him.
"My plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything that can lead us to this child, the sooner the better, far the family's
sake and for the party that has the child," Mr. Weckler said. "I know that your conscience is' going to feel 100 percent better
within the next 12 hours if you return the child immediately. Sheriff George Perry called on the public and all enforcement
officers to lend their utmost efforts to the search for clues and District Attorney Francis Garity went over the case to aid in placing
in the radio public's mind the importance of some lead. In the meanwhile, crackpot letters began to flow in and the suggestion of
persons with leads acid ideas. They have all proven fruitless. No ransom note has as yet been received. Those close to the
investigation were electrified in the early evening Monday with the tension that arises when a possible break arises.
A call came over police radio stating that one, Lawrence Diller, had been picked up at Lacon, Ill., 1st evening after a truck
driver had seen him acting suspiciously. The man had, in his possession, written material, alluding to George Weckler,
Georgia Weckler and the Fort Atkinson police department. He was cleared, however, of connection with this case because his
Thursday activities were definitely established by authorities.
In the meantime the reward for the apprehension of the person who took Georgia Jean from the Weckler lane last Thursday about
3:30 continues to pile up. Her great uncle, G. A. Weckler, 304 Barrie Street, supplemented the .total by an additional $1,000
reward. He announced the reward late Monday evening. The reward now totals considerable over $6,000, made up by the girl's
father, friends and neighbors in the entire vicinity.
Manholes and Catch Basins Searched Here
All of the manholes and catch basins in Fort Atkinson sewer and utilities connections were searched Monday afternoon by a
crew of city employees and Fort Jaycees, seeking possible Weckler kidnapping case clues. At the suggestion of Chuck Mueller
and authorized by Chief of Police Harry O. Mueller and Sheriff George Perry, city manager E. F. Klement ordered the city
department of public works men to work with the Jaycees on' the project. The search was fruitless.
Truck Driver Picks Up Other Clues?
S. L. Feaster, the truck driver from Wisconsin Rapids, saw two men Saturday evening upon whom he has made reports.
One is the driver of the black car, a slender, blond young man. The other he met here in Fort Atkinson during the time he spent
here Saturday night. This man was also young and blond, but heavy set and of rudy complexion.
This second man said he had quit a job with a farmer near Cambridge, Thursday, and wanted Feaster to give him a new job.
Feaster finally agreed and they agreed to meet later in the evening at Cambridge, the man saying he wanted to go pick up his
clothes. This second man fits into the description of the man Mrs. Warren Parker saw yesterday when he invaded the Mrs. E. R.
Parker home on Whitewater Avenue.

24
 The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, May 6, 1947
'False Stories' Delay Search for Child Housebreaker's Behavior Puzzles Police

WARREN PARKER
Police at Ft. Atkinson are searching for and puzzling over the strange conduct of a blond haired man between 20 and 25 who broke
into the house of Mrs. E. R. Parker, Ft. Atkinson. The man, believed in search of a gun and suspected of being the kidnaper of
Georgia Jean Weckler, pawed through drawers in the bedrooms of the home, but passed up more than $400 worth of jewelry and
scattered coins on a dresser. Above, Warren Parker shows two watches valued at $150 which the housebreaker passed by. At the
right, above, is Oscar Menzel, Milwaukee, who has offered his service as an intermediary and at the lower right is the missing girl.
The reward for information leading to the arrest of her kidnaper has risen officially to $6,200.

OSCAR MENZEL Georgia Jean Weckler

People Didn't Tell Full Truth, Charges Jefferson Sheriff

Father of Missing Girl Sobs Plea Over Radio for Her Return
By JOHN NEWHOUSE (State Journal Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON - False stories told by some of the persons investigated in the search for Georgia Jean Weckler, 8 year-old farm
girl missing since Thursday, set the investigation back by several days at least, Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry said
Monday night. "We thought we were making pretty good progress in reconstructing the events that led up to the disappearance of
little child at the head of the lane leading to her home," the sheriff said. "Now we have to start over again not from the beginning,
but a good ways back.
Urges `Full Truth'
"This investigation would go a lot faster if some people would tell the full truth." The sheriff, who bad led the search for the girl
for the past six days, would not amplify the statement farther.
The announcement that there were no new clues and that some of the old clues were disintegrating came after a day in which
George Weckler, father of the missing girl, had broken down while making a radio plea for the return of the girl and in which a
posse had streaked off in hot pursuit of a blond haired young man who had ransacked a Ft. Atkinson house.
Taking to the air, the father pleaded: "Folks all over the country, my plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything that
can lead us to the child, for the child's sake, for the families and for the party that has the child. I know that their conscience is
going to feel 100 percent better within the next 12 hours if you return this child immediately" At one time during the broadcast,
he broke into tears. At the end of the broadcast, however, he said that he had more hope than ever that the child would be
returned unharmed. Authorities were not so hopeful, and feared that the appeal would go unanswered Dist. Atty. Francis Garity
said that he feared the child had been taken by a sex maniac because no ransom note had been received.
Although Oscar Menzel, 37, Milwaukee friend of the Weckler family had offered to act as intermediary for the surrender of the
child, there was no indication that he had been contacted by persons who had taken the little girl.

25
 Fugitive Not Caught
Although Jefferson county and Ft. Atkinson police had sped off on the trail of a blond man who had entered and ransacked the
house of Mrs. E. R. Parker a few minutes after he fled, the man had not been captured this morning. He had entered the house
through the unlocked front door and was seen by Mrs. Warren Parker, daughter-in-law living next door, who had notified police.
A dark car, resembling that in which he had, fled, was seen later in the Coldspring area, where the search concentrated.
Hopes were raised momentarily early in the night, when sheriff's officials in Tacon, Ill., picked up an 18-year-old ex-
serviceman for questioning. The youth, picked up on a vagrancy charge, had a piece of paper in his pocket with the names of
George Weckler, Georgia Weckler, and Ft. Atkinson police written on it. He was quoted as saying he was on his way to Ft.
Atkinson to "help find the girl."
Sheriff's Deputy Z. R. Graves' opinion was that the youth was "obviously a psycho case." Garity and the sheriff wired the Illinois
authorities to hold the youth for questioning this morning.
In Ft. Atkinson, crews were continuing the job they started Monday of checking the catch basins and manholes. Another bit of
checking Monday was also without result. Following a "hot tip," a group of farmers and law enforcement officials moved and
sifted a 2-ton pile of brush and rubbish in the woods in which it was first feared that Georgia had been lost. There was no trace
of the girl nor clue.
Lost Mail Not Found
Although two newspapers and a check from a Milwaukee stock commission house for three cows and two pigs sold last week
were presumed to have been in the mail which Georgia had carried under her arm when last seen, no trace of them had been
found. One letter, discovered in the rubbish, was pieced together and found to have no bearing on the case.
From Walworth County, Sheriff Jack Cusask reported that a group of a dozen farmers had searched a woods on the Smuck
farm near Sharon after the family had reported hearing a child crying shortly after two suspicious looking cars had parked
before the woods. The search revealed nothing.
Another possible lead exploded Monday afternoon when a Fort Atkinson couple identified themselves as the pair who had
been seen on a Ft. Atkinson street corner with a car in which a little girl was crying. "From what they told me, the child
needed a spanking," said one police official.
Fortune tellers again entered the kidnap case, along with a bloodhound. A creek bed was searched on the advice of a fortune
teller, and a Milwaukee woman arrived with a plump dog which she said was a bloodhound. The bloodhound's main
accomplishment was to get in a tired sort of fight with another dog and to saunter off into the woods later on carrying a bone
which he had tracked down.
C. of C. to Raise Fund Ralph Ebbott, secretary of the Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce, Monday night announced that the
chamber is collecting a fund to offer as a reward for information leading to the return of the missing girl. First contributor was
G. A. Weckler, her uncle. Ebbott asked that contributions be sent to him at the Chamber of Commerce, Fort Atkinson.
The reward money has risen officially to $6,200 for information leading to the arrest of the kidnaper and unofficially, to more
than $8,000. In addition to the $1,000 pledged by the father, $1,225 is in a fund being raised by the Ft. Atkinson Chamber of
Commerce; $1,500 by neighbors, and $2,500 by the Prairie Farmer and Radio Station WLS.
'The Sweetest Pupil:'
Georgia Jean Gone, School Is Closed
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P) - The one room Oakland Center School in Jefferson County has closed for a week. On the school's
bulletin board are several drawings posted because the teacher, Mrs. Donald Miller, thought they were about the best of her
pupils' work. Two of the drawings are those of little Georgia Jean Weckler, whose disappearance has baffled this little
Jefferson county community for five days. "Georgia was an awfully good artist for an 8-Year-old" Mrs. Miller said. "When
she vanished, I felt I just couldn't teach right now. I went to the school board and they agreed to close school for a week.
"Georgia was one of the sweetest students in the class," she said. "She was always the first to help my first graders when I was
busy and couldn't get to them right away." In the deserted school room was a desk drawer littered with report cards. Little
Georgia's was strewn with A's and a few B's to mark the girl's only scholastic struggle in grammar.
In the saddened Weckler home were several more samples of Georgia's childish art. Her father said his little girl loved to sketch
things around the farm. He added that if they didn't suit her, she'd throw them away and try again. In the house too was a little
theme that Georgia had written about a recent trip to Milwaukee with her classmates. She ended her happy account: "We got
home. Wasn't it a wonderful trip?"

26
 Misc Articles - Tuesday May 6th, 1947
OFFERS TO MEET KIDNAPERS

Oscar Menzel Georgia Jean Weckler

VOLUNTEERING as intermeitiary Oscar Menzel waits an answer from possible kidnapers as the search for 8-year-old
Georgia Jean Weckler of Ft. Atkinson, Wis., continues, FBI agents and Chicago police are assisting Ft. Atkinson authorities
in the hunt for the blond third grade pupil, missing May 1st. (International)

Searching Parties Beat Woods for; Missing Girl

Hunt Eight Year Old Near Fort Atkinson After Disappearance on Walk to Home
Journal Special Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Deputy sheriffs and volunteers were beating through woods and fields Friday in an intensive search for 8 year old Georgia
Jean Weckler, who disappeared Thursday in a half mile stretch between Highway 12 and her farm home six miles west of
here. More than 200 Cambridge legionnaires, Cambridge volunteer firemen, neighbors and Jefferson county deputies searched
unsuccessfully for the blond, brown-eyed girl Thursday night.
The only clue appeared to be a statement by a classmate that Georgia had spoken of going into woods to hunt wild flowers for
May baskets. She was said to be familiar with woods near her home. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler,
prominent and well to do farm family Georgia was; last seen shortly after 3 p.m. by Mrs. Carl Florke, a neighbor, who had
given her a ride from school to the family mailbox on Highway 12, a half mile from her home.
Thought to be With Father
Mrs. Weckler said that Georgia and her brother and sister, La Vern, 12, and Joan, 10; usually rode their bicycles to the
Oakland Center school, one and one-half miles from their home, where Georgia is a third grade pupil. Thursday, however,
because of threatening weather, Mrs. Weckler drove them to school in the family car. Georgia's classes were dismissed at 3
p.m., the other children's at 3:30.
Mrs. Weckler said she was not alarmed when Georgia did not appear immediately after school because Mr. Weckler had taken the
car to Jefferson and she had assumed he had picked up Georgia. When Weckler appeared without his daughter at 6 p.m., a search
was organized. The 200 searchers marched four feet apart in a long line. They covered a 20 acre woods, dense with undergrowth,
and beat through smaller wooded tracts and fields. No trace of the girl was found. She was believed to have been carrying a large
amount of mail from the mailbox, but none was found discarded.
Cold Rain and Cold
The search continued until 11 p.m., part of the time in a heavy rain and cold. It was resumed at 9 a.m. Friday. Jefferson County
Sheriff George Perry said he was not discounting the possibility of crime. Georgia was described as 51 inches tall and weighing
70 pounds. She has shoulder length hair and was wearing a pink button sweater over a blue "T" shirt, blue jeans and blue flowered
skirt, rubbers and a brown flowered scarf.
Search Continues For Fort Atkinson Girl
Parents Still Confident that Georgia Jean Is Safe
Ft. Atkinson - The parents of Georgia Jean Weckler are a confident of their daughter's safety. Her father, George Weckler, says he
can't help but feel that his missing eight year old daughter is all right. Weckler is also reported to be bearing up well under the
strain of long days and sleepless nights.
Meanwhile, Harvey Mueller, chief of the Fort Atkinson police, say there are no new developments in the case as it enters its
sixth day, Mueller says that Chamber of Commerce crews would continue their search of catch basins in the out skirting
highway of the city.
District Atty Francis Garity is especially fearful of Georgia's safety because no ransom note has been received. He says the
reward for Georgia's kidnaper is growing so fast that he is unable to keep track of it, but he estimates it as some $7,000.
At Lacon, Illinois, authorities are holding an 18-year-old veteran at the request of Fort Atkinson police. The youth, identified as
Lawrence Diller of Benton Harbor, Michigan, had been picked up on a vagrancy charge and police found a piece of paper in his
pocket with Georgia's name on it and also her father's. However, Lacon officials believe the youth has no connection with the
case. Diller claims he had been going to Fort Atkinson to help in the search for the missing girl.

27
Jefferson county Sheriff George Perry says that the investigation of the disappearance of Georgia Jean would move faster if
"some people would tell the truth." The sheriff did not elaborate the statement, but added that several witnesses, who saw
Georgia, last Thursday have told conflicting stories.

An offer to act as intermediary if the case of

missing 8 year old Georgia Jean Weckler turns out
to be a kidnapping was made Sunday by Oscar
Menzel (above), 37, of 2531 N. Buffum st. -
journal staff
Officers Meet to Consider a Kidnap Clue
Milwaukeean Offers to Act as Go-Between to Help Return Girl, 8; Refuse to Reveal Tip
Journal Staff Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Authorities met here Monday morning to discuss what Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson County described as a "hot lead" in the
search for 8-year old Georgia Jean Weckler
After a five day search of the area, the sheriff and Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said that they were convinced that the third grade
pupil was abducted last Thursday afternoon as she walked toward her farm home near Highway 12, six miles west of here. The
sheriff did not reveal the nature of, the new tip. Scores of other leads have proved false. It was known that the sheriff was trying
to piece together parts of a torn letter brought in Sunday by a searching party working in 'the wooded area near the George
Weckler farm, half a mile north of Highway 12.
Sift Rubbish Pile
Searchers Monday were sifting through a large rubbish heap near Highway 12, west of the farm. Garity apparently attached some
importance to the search, but he did not say why the searchers had been directed to the pile of rubbish. The fund for a reward for
information leading to the arrest of the kidnaper or return of the child stood Monday at approximately $2,500. The father has
offered $1,000, and friends of the family have contributed $1,200 to $1,500 to the reward fund. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, a
family friend announced that he would act as intermediary between the kidnaper and the Weckler family. He is Oscar Menzel, 36,
World War II veteran who operates an electric shop at 1344 N. Fond du Lac Ave., Milwaukee.
Knew Little Girl
Menzel said that he was cooperating with authorities handling the search. He said he had volunteered to act as a go between in the
hope that anyone who has Georgia Jean or knows of her whereabouts would try to get in touch with the family through him. It
would be impossible for anyone to contact the Weckler family at home without being intercepted by authorities, he said Menzel
said that he once worked as a carpenter for Weckler, that he had hunted many times on the Weckler farm and that the family had
done him many favors. His only purpose in offering to act as intermediary, he said, was to help find the girl. He said that he did
not want personal publicity and that "I don't want a penny" for helping in the case. Menzel wants the kidnaper to contact him at
his shop in person or by telephoning Concord 3160, his office number. He said Monday that he was being "pestered" with
telephone calls. He refused to say whether he had received any pertinent information.
FBI Not in Case
Dist. Atty. Garity said that he had notified the federal bureau of investigation that state authorities had listed the case as a
kidnaping. He explained that the FBI cannot immediately enter the case without evidence of a ransom note or injury to the girl. At
Milwaukee, the FBI said Monday that it had not "entered the case officially." Garity said several circumstances pointed to
kidnaping.
"First he said, "the girl was let out of the car in which a neighbor, Mrs. Carl Floerke, brought her home from school in the middle
of the afternoon last Thursday. The girl took the mail from the highway mailbox and started up the side road toward her home,
half a mile from the highway.
"Second, a 1936 black Ford sedan was seen turning into the side road. S. L. Feaster, a civilian truck driver at Camp McCoy; saw
the car enter the road and at the same time he saw Mrs. Floerke's car disappearing over a hill.
"Third, a black sedan, was seen backing out of the side road a few minutes later by Marvin Thom, a hired hand at a neighboring
farm."
Chicago Lead Fails
Authorities leaned more and more on the kidnaping theory after a thorough search of the area had failed to turn up any sign of the
little girl. Hundreds of searcher have worked night and day, crawling through culverts and using powerful electric lanterns in. the

28
heavily wooded area. By Monday they had covered 16 square miles of the rough terrain around the Weckler farm near Highway
12, six miles west of Fort Atkinson.
One lead came to nothing Sunday when authorities in Chicago released an army sergeant from Fort Knox, Ky., after questioning.
A parking lot attendant reported seeing stains resembling bloodstains on the rear seat of the sergeant's automobile. The soldier
convinced authorities that he had come from Fort Knox on Friday with other soldiers on leave.
Another lead being checked Monday was a story of James Barazo, a Fort Atkinson newsboy, who said that on Thursday
afternoon he had seen a young girl struggling with a, man in the rear seat of an automobile.
Truck Driver Returns
Authorities also were looking for s farm hand, said to have a criminal record, who had been fired from a. job on a farm near the
Weckler farm at 10 a.m. Thursday. He was believed to be unable to drive a car and to have hitchhiked toward Milwaukee.
Feaster, the Camp McCoy truck driver, repeated to Garity and other authorities Sunday the story he had told to Fort Atkinson
police Saturday night about seeing the black Ford. He also verified the scene of the incident. Feaster said that he remembered the
automobile well because he had been annoyed at the driver for cutting in front of his truck near the Weckler farm. He said that he
had started to pass the eastbound Ford when the driver suddenly turned left into the road leading to the Weckler farm. At the
same time, Feaster said, he saw a girl answering Georgia Jean's description walk up to the car. Feaster told authorities that he
was fairly certain that the occupants of the Ford were a young man and woman.
Officials Stumped in Search for Girl
Lack of Ransom Note Dims Hope for Return of Georgia Weckler, Missing Five Days Pictures on
Picture Page Journal Staff Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Hopes of finding 8 year old Georgia Jean Weckler dwindled here Tuesday after authorities admitted they were "up against a
stone wall" after five days and nights of searching and investigation. Asst. Atty. Francis Garity and Sheriff George Perry said
they were positive that the blond third grade pupil was kidnaped last Thursday afternoon as she walked on a side road toward the
George Weckler farm 12 miles west of here.
The farm is half a mile off Highway 12. Georgia Jean was last seen by a neighbor who drove her from school and let her of at the
Weckler mail box on the highway. Garity said that lack of any ransom demand had led him to fear ' that the girl was abducted by
a sex maniac. Under sheriff George Schreiber said that a thorough search of the area by authorities and volunteers had convinced
him that the girl was not anywhere within a 10 mile radius of the Weckler farm.
Deputies Busy
Searchers on Tuesday were concentrating on rubbish piles in the area. A large rubbish pile near the side road was moved
Monday without revealing any trace of the missing girl. Meanwhile, deputies were busy chasing down numerous reports of old
black sedans in the area. S. L. Feester, a civilian truck driver from Camp McCoy, and Marvin Thom, a farm hand, and other: had
reported seeing a 10 year old back Ford sedan on the side road at about the time Georgia Jean disappeared.
The girl's father said Tuesday, "I feel better today than at any time since she was lost," but he gave no reason for expressing
hope. Walter Showers, Port Atkinson, an employs of the Wisconsin Telephone Co., told authorities late Monday that he had been
working all last Thursday afternoon on a line from' the Weckler side road to a point one mile west of Highway 12. He said that
he had not seen anything unusual happen during the afternoon along the highway.
Many Write Sheriff
Sheriff Perry said that there were developments Tuesday. He said that each mail brought persons interested in the case, but that
the letters contained little information. "We are running down all clues he said.
In Milwaukee, Oscar Menzel, 36 a World War II veteran who had offered to act as intermediary, said Tuesday that he had heard
"nothing definite" concerning the missing girl. Menzel, a friend of the Weckler family, operates an electric shop at 1344 N. Fond
du Lac av. He said he hoped that anyone who knows Georgia Jean's whereabouts would write to him or telephone him at Concord
3160. The rural school which the girl attended near Fort Atkinson has been closed for a week, at the request of the teacher, Mrs.
Donald Miller.
Reward Over $6,000
The reward offered for information leading to the return of the girl or the arrest and conviction of a kidnaper stood Tuesday at
more than $6,000. The father started the fund with $1,000. Friends and neighbors have collected another $1,500 An uncle of the
girl's father, G. A Weckler, Route 1, Fort Atkinson, added $1,000 Monday afternoon. Radio station WLS, Chicago, and the Prairie
Farmer, a farm publication, gave $2,500 Monday. The Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce has started a drive to increase the
reward fund.
Georgia Jean's father broke down Monday afternoon while broadcasting an appeal over station WLS. He spoke from the
sheriff's office a Jefferson. "Folks all over the country," he said, "my plea is to the person or persons, for any clue or anything
that can lead us to this child, and the sooner the better, for the child' sake, for the family's sake, and for the party that has the
child.
Tips Prove False
"I know that their conscience is going to feel 100% better within the next 12 hours if they return this child immediately." Weckler
said in a choked voice that his wife's health depended upon the safe return of Georgia Jean. Several clues were run down Monday
and Tuesday and ended in nothing. The sheriff reported that he had pieced together a torn letter found by the searchers and that
had no connection with the case.
Investigation of a report that a small girl was seen trying to get out of a parked automobile in Fort Atkinson the day that Georgia
Jean was kidnapped ended with the discovery that little girl was the daughter of a Fort Atkinson resident. The Sheriff discounted
29
the theory prowler who had fled from a Fort Atkinson home Monday without loot might have been the girl's abductor. The man
escaped in a dark coupe. Two witnesses said seen near the Weckler farm last Thursday afternoon was a black Ford two door
sedan. The description of the tall blond prowler tallied in general with a description of the driver of the black Ford.
Has Name in Pocket
Another tip faded Tuesday when a 17 year old boy arrested at Henry, Ill., with Georgia Jean's name and address in his pocket,
was listed by authorities there as "a mental case." The boy, a native of St. Joseph, Mich., said he had marked down the name
because he had intended to help in the search. He had been hitchhiking around Illinois. He was arrested after he had returned a
watch he had stolen from a filling station attendant. Dist. Atty. Garity is attempting learn whether any checks were in the mail
delivered to the Weckler mail box Thursday. The girl picked up the mail before starting up the side road to her home. Weckler is
the town treasurer. Banks here and at Cambridge and Jefferson were to be alerted on the theory that anyone who had abducted
Georgia Jean might try to cash a check found in the mail.
Ponder Stolen Cars
The Fort Atkinson Junior Chamber of Commerce was directing a search of all catch basins in the, city sewerage system. Police
Chief Harry Mueller, Fort Atkinson, said that three stolen automobiles reported since Georgia Jean disappeared might have been
used by the kidnaper. He said that a blue Plymouth coach stolen in Melrose Park, Ill., had been abandoned Friday night in front
of the home of E. W. Fromader of Fort Atkinson. A neighbor, W. E. Dunlap, reported that hi 1939 black Chevrolet had been
stolen the same night. The Dunlap car was abandoned early Sunday at the farm home of Herbert C. Clauer near Elkhorn. The
driver then stole Clauer's 1936 Chevrolet sedan. The Clauer car has not been found.
Stories Slow Kidnap Hunt
Sheriff Slaps Conf1icting Reports, Asks for 'the Full Truth'
Journal Staff Correspondence, Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Conflicting stories of witnesses about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance Thursday of 8 year old Georgia Jean
Weckler are hampering police investigation, Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson County said Wednesday. "If some people would
tell the full truth the case might be solved faster," the Sheriff said. He did not explain his statement.
There was a widespread report Tuesday that an arrest was impending but authorities said they could not confirm it. The six day
investigation has left authorities "without even any good rumors to work on," Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said. He and Perry have
listed the case as a kidnaping. Garity, who has said he suspects a sex maniac because of the lack of a ransom note, reported,
"We're completely in the dark." The girl disappeared Thursday afternoon on her way home from school. A neighbor gave her a
ride as far as the mail box on Highway 12 at the entrance to a side road leading to the farm of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C.
Weckler, half a mile from the highway.
Search Plowed Field
S. L. Feaster a civilian truck driver from Camp McCoy, and Marvin Thom, a farm hand, have reported seeing an old black Ford
sedan entering and leaving the side road after Georgia Jean had picked up the Weckler mail and started home. The wooded area
for miles around the Weckler farm has been searched. The search of area has been virtually abandoned.
Nationwide interest in the case is indicated, the sheriff said, by his mail. Many of the letters are from persons who consider
themselves sleuths, he said. A letter received Tuesday from New Jersey instructed him to "check Jefferson, then question all
farmers."
City Turns Suspicious
The little girl's disappearance has turned this quiet city into a suspicious, buzzing detective bureau. Almost everyone who owns
a black Ford has been stopped at least once. Scores of persons who have seen lack Fords have flooded the police department
with tips.
Everyone has his own theory in the case ranging from accidental drowning in Red Cedar lake about one and one-half miles from
the Weckler home to abduction by a childless though child loving couple and little groups are seen on street corners in serious
discussion. Many persons believe the girl is still in the vicinity, in spite of the futile searching.
Strangers are eyed with suspicion and at least one reporter photographer pair, seen prowling through a wooded area, was halted
and questioned by two farmers. Parents who have warned children since babyhood about approaching strangers have redoubled
their efforts. They are worried, and they have placed many new restrictions on their children. There is a movement under way
to set up a 10 p.m. curfew hour similar to that of other communities in the area.
Reward Over $7,000
The reward offered for information leading to the return of the girl or the arrest and conviction of a kidnaper topped $7,000 on
Tuesday, her father reported. Walworth county deputies and farmers searched a patch of woods a few miles north of Illinois state
line Monday night and Tuesday after a report from the Schmuck farm, three miles east of Sharon. Members of the family said
that an automobile stopped in their driveway about 2 a.m. Saturday they heard voices, they said after the car had driven away
thought they heard a girl crying in the woods. They did not report the incident until Monday, after they learned of the Weckler
case.
Sheriff John Cusack of Walworth County said Tuesday that the search had been abandoned after a thorough check of the
woods failed to reveal anything.
At Milwaukee, Oscar Menzel, who had offered to act as intermediary between any kidnaper and the parents reported Wednesday
that he had heard nothing. Although organized searching parties have quit, neighbors and friends of the Wecklers have refused to
give up hope. They were operating in small independent groups Wednesday walking.

30
 Fort Atkinson Pupils Donate to Reward for Missing Girl
Journal Special Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Pupils at Fort Atkinson high school added to the fund usable for the return of missing Georgia Jean Weckler Thursday as search
for the 8 year old farm girl failed to uncover any clue to her whereabouts. The pupils have pledged $296 to the girl's father,
George Weckler, to be used "as he sees fit" or to be added to the growing total of reward money for the return of the missing
child. The reward money now totals around $7,000. A searching party of 30 men, organized by the Fort Atkinson Junior
Chamber of Commerce and led by Sheriff George Perry and Dist. Atty. Francis Garity again combed two wooded areas near the
girl' home late Wednesday. "We turned over practically ever leaf," Perry said, "and found nothing, eliminating any possibility
that the girl still is in the area." The missing girl was given a ride from her rural school to the Weckler mail box on Highway 12
last Thursday. She picked up the mail and had mentioned that she might pick some flowers on her way home, she has not been
seen since. A truck driver said he saw a black Ford sedan turn into the side road at about the time Georgia Jean was walking
home. A hired hand on nearby farm said he saw a black sedan back out of the Weckler driveway, driven by a "hard looking
man."
Gypsies Traced for Clue of Girl
Another Hunt Made in Upper Michigan
The search for little Georgia Jean Weckler extended today to the trail reportedly taken by a band of gypsies who had camped
about 6 miles from her farm home, and to Upper Michigan where a filling station attendant reported seeing a suspicious acting
man with "a young kid.' The gypsies were reported to have left their campsite, along Highway 12 in Dane county, just across the
Jefferson county line from the Weckler home, last Friday, the day after Georgia Jean disappeared.
'Would be back'
Residents of the neighborhood reported the gypsies said they were going to St. Louis, Mo. and would be back in a couple of
weeks. Jefferson county officials were, working on the theory that the gypsies may have learned girl's father often received
money by mail as he was town treasurer, and might have picked up Georgia: Jean, 8, as she carried the day's mail down the lane
to her home.
However, Dane county officials ' investigated the abandoned camp site and found no evidence which would indicate Georgia
Jean had been held there. The filling station attendant Upper Michigan, between Marquette and Munising, reported man about
50, acting suspicious and nerviousous," had entered the' station stating he wanted to buy crackers for a "young kid" in his car.
The Michigan state police said they did not believe the man would have mentioned the youngest if he been a kidnaper.
However, they continued a search today for the traveler.
Other Leads
Dane county sheriff's officials received a report of a kidnapper's car" parked on a lane along Lake Koshkonong on the George
Clark farm Thursday night, but the "kidnappers" turned out; to be two young-lovers.
Madison police found a car parked on Langdon St. with blood spattered on the side. Investigation revealed that the car's driver
had a wisdom tooth pulled and dad spat out the window while driving home
Flying Deputy Squad Seeks Clues From Air
Ft. Atkinson four planes of the Green county sheriff's flying squad of deputy sheriffs today was combing the area within a 50
mile radius of the home of Georgia Jean Weckler, missing farm girl. The flying deputy piloting the planes were, Gilbert Baltzer,
Donlald Alston, Louis Blanc, and Charles Smith. With them, as observors were Jack Stoltz, John Grossen, and Harold Schultz,
and Tay Breitweiser.
Formation of the group was recently announced by Green County Sheriff Evan Chambers, who appointed them to deputies status
The four men furnished $2,000 bonds and have their own liability insurance. Their work, Chamber announced, is "strictly on a no
charge basis." All the men engaged in the aerial search today are from Monroe with the exception of Breit
Missing Farmhand Sought; Check Suspect in Pennsylvania
Journal Special Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
An intensive search was under way Monday for curly haired farmhand who disappeared from this locality that little George Jean
Weckler was believed kidnaped. Sheriff George Perry said Monday that the farmhand, who speaks with an accent and reportedly
confided to acquaintances that he was an ex-convict from Pennsylvania, would be questioned if he is found.
Admittedly authorities we grasping at the slightest of clues their effort to break the two week old case of the little farm girl's
disappearance. Dist. Atty. Franc Garity said Monday that he had started a complete requisitioning everyone in the case in an
effort round up new clues.
The search for the farmhand was: brought to light when Perry ask Pennsylvania police to try to establish a link between the
abduction of rape-slaying of a 5 year old Norristown (Pa.) girl Saturday and the disappearance of the 8 year of Georgia Jean.
Perry called Norristown authorities when he heard that they had a young man who drove a black car was being hunted in the
rape slaying of Carol Thompson. The "man answered the description of man reported to have been seen near the place the
Weckler girl disappeared.
Perry stressed that the call was merely an effort to leave no stone unturned. He said that if the Norristown police found their
suspect they would question him in the, Weckler case. Norristown authorities said that someone thoroughly familiar with the
territory around Carol Thompson's house had enticed the blue eye little girl into his automobile and less than an hour later dumped
her battered and ravished body down a cistern.

31
 'Refuse Rides,'
Waukesha, Wis., City and county law enforcement officials Monday warned all Waukesha county parents to instruct their
children to refuse offers of rides from strangers. Chief of Police Harold Owen and Sheriff Leslie Rockteacher joined in urging
county residents and persons owning summer homes in the county to report immediately every suspicious stranger loitering
around schools or groups of children. The warning, he said, was occasioned by the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8
year old Jefferson county girl who is object, of a wide search. In recent weeks, said, authorities in Waukesha' we've received no
complaints but a month or so ago.

The Wisconsin State Journal

Madison, Wednesday, May 7 1947
Still Hopeful

GEORGE WECKLER
As he waits, still hopeful of news about his missing 8 year-old daughter, Georgia,
George Weckler, Ft. Atkinson finds himself smoking too many cigarets and his
calm veneer is fast wearing thin.
Hunt for Girl Stalls as Leads Keep Fading
By JOHN NEWHOUSE (State Journal staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON - After six days of following false leads and tracking down baseless rumors, in the search for Georgia Jean
Weckler, 3, missing since last Thursday, has come to a standstill.
Authorities say that they have followed all leads as far as they can be checked and admit that they have no new leads to follow.
"It looks as though any break will have to come from the outside," Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, red-eyed from
lack of sleep and unshaven, told reporters Tuesday night before he went home to bed at midnight. "We haven't a 'loose thread
among the few leads we had," he said, 'except that black car and that hasn't been easy to find.'
The black car, thought to be a 1936 Ford, was seen by several persons Thursday at the entrance to the farm lane leading to the
home of George Weckler, father of the missing girl.
For the first night since the girl's disappearance electrified the countryside, the room "across the hall from the police station, in
which authorities had interviewed persons connected with the case was dark. And, for the first time in almost a week, the city,
county, and state patrol cars were not bringing in persons for questioning or darting out to investigate empty houses where strange
lights showed or other suspicious circumstances had been reported.
S. S. Feaster, Camp McCoy employee who had been driving a truck past the road leading to the farm of Weckler when he saw
a black car enter the drive and saw the little girl near the mail box, had climbed aboard his truck and gone home a little concerned
with the work he had missed during his stay in Ft. Atkinson. Marvin Thom, hired man on a neighbor's farm who had been
driving a tractor past the farm road when he saw a black car back out of the driveway, is still wishing he had taken a better look.
'If I'd Known'
"If I'd known then what I know now," he has said a score of times, "I'd have seen three times as much." On the Weckler farm,
neighbor women are still congregated to help out with the meals, but they'll' have to be going back home again. There aren't so
many people dropping in for food or to warm up, and they have work at their own homes.
Weckler, who is smoking far too many cigarets with all the punishment he has been taking, still preserves an outer calm but the
veneer is thin. He and his wife left the farm together Tuesday for the first time, since last Thursday, driving down the lane to
Highway 12 over the route their little girl should have come' home from school.
Passed the Place
Somewhere along the route, they passed the place where she disappeared, but where it was neither of them knew. "I thought it
would do her some good to get out of the house," said Weckler. Besides, they had to visit his father, William Weckler, 85, wh o
is ill in Fort Memorial hospital. He hasn't been told about the disappearance of G eorgia, his favorite. He's wondered about his

32
son, too because he hasn't been in to see him at the hospital since Sunday. He's Wondering "Dad's pretty shrewd," said Weckle r,
dragging nervously on his cigaret. "He's wondering why he isn't getting the papers." By rights, he's well enough to have gotten
out a couple of days ago, but the doctor figures the shock wouldn't be good for him." His father's heart isn't too good. "I've had
a lot of my friends going in to see him so he won't notice so much that I have n't been able to be there," said Weckler. "At a time
like this you really find out what friends are." He took another deep pull on his cigaret. "Well," he said, tossing the cigar et away,
"I guess there's nothing to do but wait."
Sheboygan Boy, 12, Charges Kidnaping
CHICAGO - (UP) - Conway Yurk, a 12-year-old Sheboygan, Wis., schoolboy told Chicago police today that he was kidaped on
his way to school and released in Chicago 10 hours later. After he left home Tuesday for his sixth grade classroom at the Holy
Name parochial school in Sheboygan, he said, he was stopped by a "fat man in a green coupe," who forced him into the car after
asking the way to U. S. Highway 41. He said he was blindfolded and shoved into the back seat of the car, and that when he was
released at 7 Tuesday night he was in Chicago.
Discarded Blue Dress 'Gives New False Hope'
Dane county sheriff's officials were sent on another "wild goose chase" this morning, when a child's blue apron dress, similar to the
blue skirt worn by the missing Georgia Jean Weckler, was found torn and discarded along Highway19, about 1 1/2 miles east of
Madison. Investigation revealed that the discarded clothing was not that worn by the missing girl. The dress had been found by two
county highway department patrolmen, Carl Lothe and George Strand, Sun Prairie.
Misc Articles - Thursday May 8th, 1947
Elderly Man Sought as Fort Kidnap Suspect
FT. ATKINSON-(U.P)-Sheriff George Perry today asked authorities in 'northern Wisconsin to 'hunt for an elderly man
driving a "steel grey car with a crumpled fender" as the possible kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl
missing a week today. The appeal to officials in the area around Green Bay, 130 miles north of here, was prompted by a new
lead given Perry today, the tip came from Mrs. John Worachek, operator of a tavern in the village of Larrabee, 17 miles north
of Manitowoc.
Very Nervous
Mrs. Worachek said "an elderly man with the, brightest blue eyes have ever seen" entered her tavern at noon Saturday. He
ordered glass of beer. The man appeared very new us," she said. "In fact, he was o nervous he could hardly hold the glass of
beer. Just then I heard a child crying outside. It sounded like a girl and was very plain. She seemed to be saying: `Let me o ut!
Let me out!' Mrs. Worachek said she remarked to the elderly man that "someone's cooped up out there" but the man claimed
"he didn't hear a thing." When Mrs. Worachek started from behind the bar to investigate, the man stepped forward and though
to block her way.
Boy Interrupts
Just then a boy entered the tavern and bought an ice cream bar he left immediately. "How much are the bar?" Mrs Worachek
quoted the elderly in as asking. When she told him he 'said I'll take one of them, no, you better make it two." As soon as he had
made his change, the man left the tavern hurriedly. By the time Mrs. Worachek got to the door, the car was on the highway,
moving north. She noted that the car was steel-grey in color and had damaged right rear fender.
Again Notices Car
On Monday, Mrs. Worachek visited friends in Peshtigo, some 70 miles north of her home. On the way back she noticed the
same car, parked near some tourist cottages north of Green Bay. She thought the cottages were at Duck Creek, but, was not
certain. Upon returning to Larabee she notified the Manitowoc county sheriff, Arthur Truttschell, of the series of incidents.
Truttschell relayed the information to Perry here. Perry said he "is sold on the idea that the girl was picked up in a car" when
she disappeared while on her way home from school May 1. He said it would have been impossible for her to have become
lost.
The girl's father, George C. Weckler, is a well to do farmer, but authorities are of the opinion that she was kidnaped by a sex
maniac rather than by someone seeking ransom. An exhaustive search of the woods near the girl's home revealed no clue to
her disappearance Wednesday.
Trunk, Car Clues in Case Fail Here
A mysterious trunk from a "haunted" house and suspicious black cars were investigated by Dane county police Wednesday
night, but no information concerning the missing Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, was uncovered despite the suspicions of Deerfield
area residents and Jefferson County police. All Deerfield was aroused by the finding of a large, old fashioned traveling trunk
behind tobacco shed on the Clair and Marlow Smithback farm, about miles west of Deerfield. Several calls were received at the
jail from residents of the neighborhood that they feared the trunk might contain the 8-year-old girl' body.
Boys Get Trunk
Sheriff Edward A. Fischer and Under Sheriff Elmer Ottum investigated and learned that the trunk had been dragged from a vacant
house on the Vernon Olson farm, about 1 mile away from the Smithback farm, by three Madison boys, aged 9 to 12. The youths,
who spent weekend vacations in the Deerfield area, and they believed the vacant house was haunted and took the trunk from
there, hoping to use it in setting up a "detective's club" of their own. The trunk is owned by Anton Feggestad, an elderly farmer
and previous resident of the "haunted" house, who now lives on another farm in the area. It contained old clothing, books, and
letters.
Check on Car
County officers were also called out about 8 p. m. to investigate a report by a farm woman that a mysterious black car, fitting the
description of the one seen near the Weckler farm in Ft. Atkinson he day of Georgia Jean's disappearance, was driven into the
marsh along Koskonong creek, north of Deerfield. About 30 residents of the area joined in the search, but no car was found.

33
Deputy Sheriffs George Graves and Gilbert Kapelke stopped a suspicious black car near Cambridge about midnight, on radio
request from the Jefferson county police, but the car occupants were released after they identified themselves as tourists returning
their homes in Rockford, Ill.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Saturday, May 10, 1947
Sheriff Checks Kidnap Clue Milwaukee
Governor, Madison Police Offer Aid to Fort Police
MILWAUKEE - U.P - Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson county came to Milwaukee today to "run down a possible clue" to the
disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, believed to have been kidnaped from her farm home near Ft. Atkinson, more
than a week ago. Perry refused to divulge the nature of his clue. Immediately up on arrival here he went to the Milwaukee Safety
bldg. and conferred with officials of the city detective force.
Morris, Nee at Fort
Meanwhile, Gov. Rennebohm pledged state cooperation in the ' search for the little girl. Police officials of Madison also placed
facilities of their department at the disposal of local investigators. Rennebohm, Inspector H. J. Morris and Detective Thomas Nee
of the Madison police department, SHERIFF checks pile up as AD 1 met at Ft. Atkinson Friday afternoon for two hours with
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity and Sheriff George Perry. They discussed all aspects of the case, Garity said, and examined the farm
where the 8-year-old girl disappeared nine days ago.
Madison Aid Offered
"I am interested in the case like all of the people in the state," the governor said. "However, there is nothing the state can do now
to aid the county authorities who are doing all that is humanly possible." Nee and Morris offered the services of the Madison
police department, the equipment, or any of its crime experts if they were needed. Garity explained there was nothing to be done
except run down leads that were reported. "We spent the day surveying again all the leads and information we have on the case,"
Garity reported wearily. "Absolutely nothing new has developed except for some amateur detectives' reports. And of course we
have to track them down too always hoping.
Father Sent to Bed
The district attorney said George Weckler, 45-year old farmer and father of the missing girl, was ordered to rest during the day.
"He's been under a terrific strain with no letup," Garity said. "We told him to go to bed and we would call him if anything
developed. Nothing did. Mrs. Weckler has been getting quite a bit of rest." It was reported Weckler was under a doctor's care who
administered opiates, but Garity could not confirm the report. The Weckler farm home, 6 miles west of here, was closed all af-
ternoon and evening to visitors so the family could relax and remain undisturbed.
Offer State Aid in Girl Governor and Madison Police Pledge Cooperation in Case
Journal Special Correspondence Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Authorities here Saturday said that Gov. Rennebohm had pledged them the cooperation of any state agency in the nine day old search
for Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, who is believed to have been kidnaped. The governor, with Capt. H. J. Morris and Detective Thomas
Nee of the Madison police department, conferred for two hours here Friday with Dist. Atty. Francis Garity and Sheriff George Perry.
Garity said they spent the day reviewing the case and examining the site where the little girl was last seen. Nee and Morris offered
the services of the Madison police department or any of its crime experts, if needed, Garity added. "I am interested in the case like
all of the people of the state," Rennebohm said. "However, there is nothing the state can do now to aid the county authorities, who
are doing all that is humanly possible."
Observers in four planes of the Green county sheriff's volunteer aerial patrol made a three hour search of a 50 square mile area
around the Weckler farm Friday, hoping to discover "breaks in the ground pattern" such as tracks across plowed fields, but found
nothing. "Absolutely nothing new has developed in the case," Garity reported, "except for some amateur detectives' reports. Of
course, we have to track them down, too always hoping."
Local Police Offer Hunt Aid Will Help Probe Disappearance of State Girl if Asked
Jefferson county authorities Saturday had assurances that every agency of the state and the polices departments of Milwaukee and
Madison would co-operate in the 10 day old search for Georgia Jean Weckler, missing Fort Atkinson farm girl who is believed to
have been kidnaped. Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson County conferred with Lt. John Niederkorn, acting captain of detectives,
and Inspector Hubert Dax here on the case Saturday, and was assured that facilities of the Milwaukee police department were at
his complete disposal.
Dax told the weary Perry, who has spent the last week tracking down fruitless clues, that "if the governor calls on Milwaukee
police for assistance, we will be willing to send you our best detectives."
Perry also conferred with Oscar Menzel, a Milwaukee friend of the Weckler family, who has offered to act as an intermediary in
the case, and checked on a telegram received by the family a week ago from Milwaukee.
The telegram said
"Dear friend: Don't be fooled. The fortune teller spoke the truth. Go back to your farm house at once. Georgia Jean, your little
daughter, is there. They changed her clothes and dyed her hair. Her own clothes are in the back section of the garage or in the
house. Rose Greenwald." Police said the writer had no additional information on the case.
Search Spreads
Meanwhile, the search for the missing girl into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois as the Jefferson county district attorney
said that "it's a 100 to 1 shot that the little girl has been kidnaped."

34
 Other Developments Other developments were:
ONE. A soldier on leave from Ft. Knots, Ky., was seized in Chicago Sunday night by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (4
agents for questioning after parking lot attendants had reported what they believed to be bloodstains in his car. He was later
cleared and released.
TWO. A Ft. Atkinson woman reported to authorities that she had been on a Ft. Atkinson street corner Thursday afternoon and
heard a little girl crying to be released from a dark car. The report corroborated an earlier story by Sam Klement, Ft. Atkinson.
THREE. Dozens of black, 1936 Ford cars of Jefferson and neighboring counties were checked in an effort to find the kidnap
vehicle.
FOUR. Reward money for apprehension of the kidnapper or, clues leading to his arrest was raised to $3,700.
FIVE. Oscar Menzel, 37, Milwaukee friend of the Weckler family and formerly with army intelligence, offered to act as
interrnediary.
SIX. Police were checking on, a series of three stolen cars in the Ft. Atkinson and the area.
SEVEN. Volunteers were beginning a search of the catch basin and manholes of Ft. Atkinson, with members of the Ft. Atkinson
Chamber of Commerce aiding
An appeal to all persons, in cities or on farms, in the region of the south of Ft. Atkinson in southern Wisconsin and, northern
Illinois to check their vacant lots, empty houses, wells, and culverts was made today by Jefferson' County Dist. Atty. Francis
Garity. "We've searched the area in the vicinity of the Weckler home with a fine-toothed comb," he said, "and it is evident `that
the search will have to spread farther. It's a 100 to 1 shot that she's, been kidnaped."
More Data on Car
Returning to Ft. Atkinson, S. Feastes, Camp McCoy truck driver, gave more details of a black Ford car which he had noted near
the entrance to the Weckler home Thursday afternoon at about 3:30 the time that the little girl returning from school had been
dropped at the mail box corner a half mile from her farm home by a neighbor woman.
Going from Cambridge to Ft. Atkinson, he had passed the car, parked by the side of Highway 12 about a mile before he came to
the Weckler drive he told county authorities who took him over the road Sunday night. A half mail farther the car had passed him.
The car was just ahead of him when they arrived at the Weckler drive, where a little girl was walking down the farm lane.
The car pulled to the left and into the drive Feastes said. As he passed it on the right, he shouted at the driver of the black car, but
did not see him well.
Story Checks With Others
His story checked with two others at the corner at about the same time. Marvin Thorn, farmer hauling rubbish to a dump near
corner, said that he had seen a black car backing from the corner and that an occupant was a man 25 to 30 years of age with no
cap. Feaster said that he noticed the tractor and that the driver was not sitting squarely in the seat. Thom said that, due to a spine
injury, he never sat squarely on the tractor seat.
Feastes also said that he had noticed a car at the top of a hill to the south of the Weckler drive on Highway 12 which disappeared
before he went over the hill. The car was believed to be that of Mrs. Carl Floerke, neighbor woman who had brought the missing
girl home from school.
Feaster also reported that, while in Ft. Atkinson, a blond hitchhiker whose description roughly matched that of the man who had
entered the Parker house had asked him for a ride. The man had not showed up at the appointed time however.
Crying Child Struck
Meanwhile a Ft. Atkinson woman, Mrs. Ralph Rumary, 808 Whitewater Ave., reported that she had been on the corner of
Milwaukee Ave. and Main St waiting for a stop light, when she noticed a man and woman leave a black parked car. A child in the
car began crying to leave the cars, she told The Wisconsin State Journal Ft. Atkinson correspondent.
The man and woman were part way across the street which the woman said, "I told you she wouldn't stay in that car." Mrs.
Rumary reported. The pair turned back to the parked car, and the man began hitting the girl, she said. As Mrs. Rumary was about
to interfere a woman asked her what she was looking at, and by the time she had explain the pair had got in the car, backed out
and headed east on Milwaukee Ave.
The incident was believed to be the same as that reported earlier last week by Kelment. The time was between 3:45 and 4p.m.
Thursday. The couple was roughly dressed.
Check on Stolen Cars
Police were looking for a connection between a series of stolen cars and the baffling case. E. W. Fromader, 212 Roosevelt Rd,
Saturday night reported a blue Plymouth 1941 coupe abandon in his driveway with the license plate torn off. A check showed
stolen Louis Goesswein , Melrose Park, Ill Shortly afterward Elkhorn police reported the recovery of a car owned by W. Earl
Dunlap, of 718 Sherman Ave, Ft. Atkinson The car was recovered before Dunlap knew it was missing. The Fromader and the
Dunlap homes are about two blocks apart.
FBI in Contact
Authorities were also checking the theft of a third car from the town of Genvea, in Walwurth county. In Milwaukee the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it had been in close contact with local officials, but had not entered the case
Weckler, father of the missing girl, boosted his reward offer to $2.500 and friendly neighbors raised the fund to $3,700. In Ft.
Atkinson another addition to the fund was being raised at the Chamber of Commerce, with Executive Secretary Ralph Ebbott in
charge or collections.
35
 Some Still Search Area
A few parties of farmers were still checking the area at spasmodic intervals, but organized: search was called off after three days
and four nights of checking houses, woods, ravines and culverts. The searchers reported that they had covered 16 square miles of
rough terrain surrounding the Weckler farm.
Both Garity and Ft. Atkinson Police Chief Harry O Mueller said that they were without further clues. "I have notified the FBI that
the girl is missing and that we have classified it as a kidnaping" Garity said. "But the FBI cannot move into the case until some
definite evidence turns up in the way of a ransom note or that she has been injured. About five to seven days, must elapse before
the FBI may enter the case on the assumption that she has been harmed or taken across a state line. No ransom note has been
received.
Only Interested In Girl Menzel
With military government intelligence division in Germany, after the service a lieutenant in the air forces, said that he believed
that the large number of searchers and police in the area might be holding back delivery of a ransom note. His offer to the
kidnapers was "Everything will be confidential, Turn the child over to me and I'll return her to the parents. If police enter the case
later and want a description of you, that's out. I'm just interested in returning Georgia Jean back alive." "Even If I recognize you
when you turn over the child the identification will remain a secret with me. My home phone number Is Galena 2164R in
Milwaukee, my shop number is Concord 2160."

The legend on this aerial photograph of important points in the apparent kidnaping of 8 year old Georgia Jean Weckler, her
family's farm near Fort Atkinson is indicated. She was left out of a neighbor's car on her way home from school last Thursday
at the mailbox on United States Highway 12. She had mentioned she hoped to gather wild flowers in the wood along the
highway. The woods and all the surrounding country have been searched Journal Staff
Misc Articles - Monday May 12th, 1947
Georgia's School Opens With Three Seats Vacant
FT. ATKINSON - Schoolmates of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, returned to their rural school Monday for the first time since the little
girl disappeared May 1st.. Three of the seats of the one room school were vacant, however, and drew the silent attention of the
eight pupils back at school. The seats were those of Georgia Jean, her sister, Joan, 10, and her brother, LaVerne, 12. The Oakland
Center school board had decided that "things were quiet enough" to permit the opening of school, Mrs. Donald Miller, teacher,
said, as the search for the missing girl entered its 12th day.
Seven suspects who have been checked a number of times since the hunt began are still under surveillance, Jefferson county
authorities said. They added that they are still in contact with Norristown, Pa., authorities on the possibility that the man hunted in
the rape-slaying of Carol Ann Thompson, 6, at Norristown Saturday right might be the driver of the black Ford sedan wanted in
the Weckler case.

36
 Daily Jefferson County Union
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Thursday, May 15, 1947
They Found Some Real and Genuine Service to Perform

These 10 tractors made quick work of the 26-acre field on the Weckler farm east of the driveway yesterday morning. Roaring
behind each other around and around the wet field, they finished the plowing task between 10 a. m. and noon. "We're mighty
happy to do it for George," said Emery Davis Oakland Town Board chairman, "but plowing at home is going to seem like
awful slow work after this Clarence Trieloff, uncle of the missing Georgia Jean Weckler his son Carroll rode one of the tractors
jokingly told the boys "Don't work to fast or it won't last until dinner!" . But the boys didn't need to worry. At noon the
Weckler dining table was groaning with food, which disappeared miraculously as the hungry farmers attacked it.
More Volunteer Plowmen

Over in the north field the work went slower on the sticky clay hillside. But after dinrier the other tractors pitched in to help - a
dozen tractors in all. Volunteer plowmen were: Herman Heise, Clarence Matthews, Emery Davis, Harold Draeger, Allen Hetts,
Ervin Pontell, Carroll Trieloff, Clarence Trieloff, Frances Mulle, James Thompson, Gene Armstrong, Edgar Armstrong,
Lawrence Falk, Orin Mode, Willard Tellefson, Sam Chapman and Loren 'Becker.
Things Are a Little Brighter at The Weckler Farm Today
By United Press
Things are a little brighter at the farm home of George Weckler near Fort Atkinson today, even, though his eight-year-old
daughter still is missing. They're brighter because a group of neighbors found a practical way to show their sympathy. They
noticed that Weckler's fields were unplowed, his sheep unsheared. He hasn't been interested in farming since May 1, when
Georgia Jean disappeared.
He's been spending his days tramping' with a posse through the woods in search of his daughter or trying to console his
heartbroken wife. He just couldn't bring himself to do the spring plowing, or any of the farm work. So 15 neighboring farmers
talked it over and paid Weckler a. visit. Their spokesman was Loren Becker.
George he said `there hasn't been anything the boys could do so far to help you directly. But now," he added; "I think we can."
But now he added, "I think we can." Weckler watched as his friends drove a dozen tractors onto his farm` and set to work on
the 26 acres east of the farmhouse. He couldn't' help crying. While the men worked the fields, six farm wives took over the
Weckler kitchen and prepared a chicken dinner. Meanwhile, three other men sheared Weckler's 10 sheep.
When the work was done, the farmers climbed down from their tractors and went in for dinner. But before they sat down to
the table, they bowed their heads for a prayer by the Rev. Alban G. Lippins, of St. John's Community church. "Lord," he
said, "we pray that Georgia. Jean may soon be returned to her parents. And comfort them until she is returned."
Then they headed down the lane to their homes again, motors roaring and plow's clanking as they set off. "Blamed glad we
had a chance to help," said one of the last as he climbed to his tractor seat and gunned the engine before letting out the
clutch. "At a time like this, everyone wants to help."
Perry Confident of "Break" Soon
Jefferson County Sheriff George said today he was concerned Georgia Jean Weckler missing for two weeks from her home.
The sheriff says authorities are still without a. definite lead, but he thinks that intensive investigation is bound to give them a
37
lead soon. Dist. Atty. Francis. Garity, who is more firmly convinced ever that the 8-year-old girl kidnapped, reported that
officials have been handicapped by the long start the kidnapper had. He said that the search for, little blond third-grader did not
start until about three hours after she was reported missing and he adds that the search has been confined to the vicinity of the
Weckler home.
But now, Garity said, the authorities are sifting scores of letters from all over the state in which people have been asking, if all
possible territory has been searched. The district attorney claims that every 'square inch of ground has been given a thorough
going over.
The United Press reports that at 25-year-old ex-convict denied in the New York police lineup today that he killed a 5-year-old
girl in Norristown, Pa., last Saturday. Bucktoothed Arnold Turner, who was arrested in New York, last night, said he had
never, even been in the township in which little Carol Thompson was slain. Turner was to be arraigned late today. He said he
would waive extradition to Pennsylvania that time. Sheriff Perry has been in contact with Norristown law enforcement officials
concerning the similarity in the two cases. Turner will therefore undoubtedly be questioned concerning his where about on
May 1st the date of Georgia Jean's disappearance.
Misc. Articles - May 15, 1947
Sympathetic Friends Tackle Wecklers' Unheeded Chores
Fort Atkinson, Wis.-(AP)- The 200 acre farm of George Weckler, bleak and barren the last two weeks, assumed new life
Wednesday as 13 arm neighbors and their wives took over for a day. It was a fortnight ago that 8 year old Georgia Jean
Weckler disappeared on her way home from school; leaving not a clue to assist desperate searching parties. Her parents, grief
stricken as day followed day with no word of her hereabouts, have taken little interest in anything but the search. Farm frie nds,
unable to help materially since the first few frantic days of combing the nearby wooded areas, felt keenly their failure to "good
neighbors" in the traditional rural spirit.
Wednesday the men arrived with 12 tractors equipped with plows, the omen with arms loaded with good things to eat. Thirty
acres of the farm were plowed and readied for planting under the direction of Clarence Trieloff, president of the Fort Farmerst
club. Chester Saunders sheared 10 of Wecklers sheep, while Loren Becker worked at repairing fences. Sam Chapman brought
over his cultipacker to follow the plows, but the soil was a bit too wet and he promised to bring his equipment back later.
At noon the boys knocked off work and the women took over. Mrs. Trieloff and her crew had been assisting Mrs. Weckler in the
farm kitchen and the men sat down to a meal starting with roast beef and ending with rhubarb pie. In between were mashed
potatoes, asparagus, scalloped corn and salad. "It was a regular threshers' meal," smiled Mrs. Trieloff.
The whole project started a week or so ago when Trieloff dropped into Hugo Fry's Oakland Center store. He commented on
the need "to help George." Several other neighbors agreed and a date was set.
Law enforcement officers mean while continued to sift all tips which might lead to discovery of Georgia Jean, but admitted they
were "no further ahead than the day we started."
12 friends Turn Out to Help Grieving Father of Missing Girl
By JOHN NEWHOUSE, (State Journal Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON - Wednesday morning George Weckler had 31 acres to plow and the seaso n was late for plowing
Wednesday afternoon the land was all plowed. And 12 of his neighbors were heading their tractors down the lane to their
homes, glad in the knowledge that they had been able to help out the man whose daugh ter 8-year-old Georgia Jean had
disappeared from that same lane two weeks before.
The project had its start in the Oakland Center store three days before when Clarence Trieloff got to talking with Hugo Frey the
storekeeper. "George is way behind with his work," said Trieloff. "He's been up night and day in the hunt for his daughter no time
to sleep and hardly time to eat an no time to get his spring's work done either "Wonder if the folks around here would go for a
plowing bee . . ?"
Hugo opined that they would and three farmers sitting in the store said that they'd jump at the chance. "Get out a piece of paper,"
said Trieloff, and, pretty soon they had to quit taking names because there was no sense putting too many tractors on a piece of
land.
By 9:30 Wednesday morning there were 12 tractors snorting around a 22-acre field. On the seats were Emery Davis, Allen Hetts,
Orrin Mode, Willard Tellefson, Lawrence Falk, Clarence Mathews, Herman Heise, Francis Mullen, Norman Thompson, Erwin
Pantel, Edgar Armstrong, and Carol Trieloff, the son of Clarence Trieloff. Each tractor was pulling a gang plow, with a pair of 14-
inch bottoms; and one round of the field with all 12 carved off 56 feet! And that's plowing! "It's a lot of fun to see a big job like
that done in a hurry," said Armstrong. "And when you've got a dozen tractors coming down the same land man, that's a sight to
see!" By noon they had finished the 22 acres, and headed for the house for a dozen man sized dinners prepared by Mrs. Clarence
Trieloff, Mrs. Albert Mode, Mrs. Sam Chapman, and Mrs. Lloyd Weckler.
It was a pretty cheerful dinner, even considering the shadow that" hung over the house. In the afternoon, Weckler had to leave on
business, and the crew headed out for a 9-acre field behind the woods. Armstrong had a spot of tough luck, when he broke the axle of
his Ford tractor, and Davis broke a part to his plow. They had to hookup the tractors in tandem to get through the heavy pulling, but
they finished by 3:30. And, by that time, Harold Draeger who had been seeing that the Weckler's 10 sheep go sheared had finished
his job, too.

38
Then they headed down the lane to their homes again, motors roaring and plows clanking as hey set off. "Blamed glad we had a
chance to help," said one of the last as he climbed to his tractor seat and gunned the engine before letting out the clutch. "At a
time like this, everyone wants to help."

Neighbors Help Plow Weckler's Fields

State Journal Staff Photos

A dozen neighbors of George Weckler, farmer near Fort Atkinson whose daughter, Georgia Jean disappeared two weeks ago,
turned up Wednesday to help Weckler with his plowing. The picture at the bottom shows a portion of the tractor line heading
down the field and at the top is a shot of a part of the grief that is a farmer's portion. Edgar Armstrong in the center is pointing
to the broken axle of his tractor while farmers who left their tractors to help him out are looking on.
Misc. Articles - May 19th, 1947
William Weckler, 85, Dies Today
Had been in ill health for the past 10 years. At the hospital at the time of the disappearance of his grand William Weckler, 85,
town of Oakland pioneer farmer, dies at Memorial hospital here at 12:35 p. m. today. He daughter, Georgia Jean, May 1, the
news was kept from him for more than a week. He was at home for a few days, later, but returned last Thursday. He suffered a
stroke on Monday. William Weckler was born November 22, 1862, at the Oakland township family farm home. He was married
October 25, 1899, to Katherine Henrietta Zahn, town of Oakland, in the township.
Mrs. Weckler preceded her husband in death on March 7, 1922. Surviving are four children, George C., Elmer W., Mrs.
Harold Draeger and Lloyd Weckler, all of Fort Atkinson; and two brothers, E. C. Weckler, Park Falls, Wis., and G. A.
Weckler, Fort Atkinson, and 16 grandchildren.
The pioneer retired to live at Fort Atkinson on March 1, 1928. On December 1, 1945, he moved to the farm home of his
son, Lloyd.
Funeral services are expected to be held at 2 p. m. Saturday, unless otherwise announced on Thursday. They will be held at the
St. John's Community church Oakland, the Rev, Albin Tippins officiating. Burial will be at Union cemetery, Sumner.
The Downing Funeral Service has charge of arrangements.
Misc Articles - October 1948
Ashes to Be Tested in Weckler Mystery
Crime Lab Action OK'd by Fairchild After D.A. Refuses
By JUNE DIECKMANN (State Journal Staff Writer)
Ashes from a killer's hideout were to be analyzed at the state crime laboratory here today for clues concerning the mystery of
little Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared nearly two years ago, The State Journal
learned late Wednesday night.
Officials who were investigating reports that the child's body had been burned found the ashes last October in the woods
near Richland Center at the dugout hiding place of Buford Sennett, convicted murderer-rapist and confessed kidnaper of
Georgia Jean.
39
 Kept by Girl's Parents
For the four months since the discovery, the ashes have been kept by the bereaved parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, at
their farm home because Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity refused to send them to the crime laboratory for
examination, The State Journal learned. Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Fairchild late Wednesday authorized Charles M. Wilson,
crime laboratory director, to analyze the ashes after he had been informed of Garity's refusal and had received reports of lack
of cooperation among officials investigating the Weckler case. At the request of the father, the ashes were brought to
Madison Wednesday by Police Officer Otto Flaig, Ft. Atkinson.
Weckler Clues Sought in Ashes
Crime Lab Gets Case After D.A.'s Refusal
(continued from Page 1 )
Three Senators Help
Three senators, Chester Dempsey (R-Hartland), J. Earls Leverich (R-Sparta), and Bernhard Gettelman (R-Milwaukee), helped
Officer Flaig obtain the attorney general's authorization for examination of the ashes. It has been the policy of crime laboratory
to examine evidentiary material which been referred to the laboratory' with the approval of the Dist Attorney in whose county
crime was committed, Dire Wilson said. "Regardless of whether ashes reveal anything, they should be analyzed to ease the
doubt in the minds of the little girl's parents," Wilson declared. Mr. and Mrs. Weckler have clung to hope that their daughter
is still alive because her body never has been found.
Collected at Hideout
Weckler, Officer Flaig, and Atty. William H. Rogers, Ft. Atkinson, collected the ashes from topsoil at Sennett's hideout last Oct.
9, after they had been led thereby a 25-year-old Ft. Atkinson woman who claimed she witnessed the burning of Georgia Jean's
body, Flaig said. The following day, Dist. Atty. Garity questioned the woman and reported that she had given him a signed
statement that her whole story was just a figment of her imagination." He refused to authorize a examination of the ashes, which
Georgia Jean's father carried to his office in a tightly woven cloth bag, and ordered the woman released.
Released After Lie Test
On Nov. 1, the woman was picked up again upon orders of Garity and Jefferson County Sheriff Roland Gibson and was held for a
month for investigation. They released her on Dec when Gibson reported that she had been given a lie detector test which
convinced him that she was not involved in Georgia Jean's disappearance Weckler and he wanted an examination of the ashes of
an basis on an earlier story given by the woman on Oct. 6th to Officer Flaig and city Atty. Harold C. Smith, Ft. Atkinson. At that
time, Flaig said that woman told them that Sennett had discussed with her his plans for kidnaping the Weckler child and holding
her for ransom because he needed money.
To Have Been Go-Between
She said she was to have been a go-between, but because of the many police and sheriff', officers at the Weckler farm after
Georgia Jean disappeared May 1, 1947; she was unable to deliver the ransom demand to the parents.
Flaig said she claimed that Sennett and a woman she did not know, drove her to the hideout about 3 miles south of Richland
Center where they found Georgia Jean's body, guarded by a man she refused to identify The little girl had died from, a dose
of sleeping pills, the woman told Flaig. Sennett and the man poured acid on the body and burned her in a raging fire, Flaig
said woman claimed.
Says Threatened Her
She said Sennett threatened her with the same fate if she revealed the story to officers, Flaig reported. Officer Flaig said the
woman led the way to the spot where the ashes were found. Tree limbs above where she said the fire was built "had been killed
from some cause," Flaig reported.
Sennett, along with Robert Winslow, his accomplice in the slaying of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, is serving
a life sentence in Waupun state prison. After Sennett had repeatedly; denied any connection with the Weckler case, Dist. Atty.
Garity announced on Dec. 15, 1947, that he had obtained a confession from the killer at the prison.
Blames Pal for Death
In the confession, Garity said Sennett had admitted that he and an unidentified friend had abducted Georgia Jean, given her two
sleeping pills, and drove her in Sennett's car to the wooded hid out area south of Richland Center. Sennett blamed the unidentified
friend for the girl's death explaining that she had been given more sleeping pills and was dead when he returned to the woods after
spending the night at home in Richland Center. Garity said Sennett confessed "weighting down" the girl's body' and throwing it off
the Blue River bridge into the Wisconsin river, the same site where officials recovered the body of Carlson. However, intensive
dragging and diving operations failed to uncover the body or any evidence of the little girl.
Analysis of Ashes Reveals No Clues in Weckler Case
The ashes from a killer's hideout failed to reveal any clues to the mysterious disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler,'
Atty. Gen Thomas E. Fairchild told The State Journal Wednesday night. The ashes, which were analyzed by Director Charles M.
Wilson and his staff at the state crime laboratory, were gathered by the little girl's father, George Weckler, and Police Officer Otto
Flaig, Ft. Atkinson, last October at the hideout near Richland Center of Buford Sennett, convicted murderer of Carl L. Carlson,
University of Wisconsin student. Shortly after Sennett and Robert Winslow were sentenced to life terms in Waupun state prison last
November, Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity reported that he had obtained admissions from Sennett that he (Sennett) and
an unidentified accomplice had kidnaped Georgia Jean, and dumped her body in the Wisconsin River after she had died of an
overdose of sleeping pills. A 25-year-old Ft. Atkinson woman, who claimed to be an acquaintance of Sennett, later told conflicting
stories concerning Georgia Jean's body having been burned at Sennett's hideout, which caused Flaig and Weckler to collect the ashes.

40
 Misc Article - October 31, 1954
ADMITS KILLING' 'CHILD, 8, WHO VANISHED IN '47
Lifer Says He Helped Kidnap Girl
Jefferson, Wis., Oct. '31 [Special]-Sheriff Rudolph Reichert of Jefferson county, tonight disclosed that a murderer serving life in
the Nebraska state penitentiary has confessed he kidnaped and killed Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, a Wisconsin farmer's daughter
who vanished mysteriously 7 years ago. The sheriff said Charles McClelland, 25, of Booneville, Mo., related he and an
accomplice kidnaped the girl for ransom, May 1, 1947.
Tells Burial in Creek
According to the confession, the kidnappers took the girl to southern Illinois, became afraid to try to collect the ransom, and killed
her May 4, 1947. McClelland said they buried her in a creek bottom near a country road east of U. S. highway 51 and 2 miles
south of Du Quoin.
Sheriff Reichert said he and his deputies had found the spot described by McClelland and had twice searched for a, body there.
They did not find it. However, the sheriff said experts had informed him that yearly flooding of the, creek made it unlikely the
body ever would be found.
The sheriff refused to say how McClelland said the girl was killed, and he would not identify McClelland's accomplice, who is
being sought, other than to say he is a man about 28 years old.
Confession Kept Secret
McClelland first came to Reichert's attention when he wrote him last December, saying he was responsible for Georgia Jean's
disappearance. The sheriff went to the Nebraska penitentiary at Lincoln and obtained the confession, in the form of both a taped
recording and signed statement, on Dec. 4. It had been kept secret until now while Wisconsin authorities and the FBI sought
McClelland's accomplice. Mention of it was made last week in McClelland's trial at Lincoln for another murder that of John
Claussen, 70, Nebraska penitentiary print shop superintendent knifed to death in the print shop April 16. McClelland was
acquitted on Friday.
McClelland is serving two life terms for the slaying of Mr. and, Mrs. R. L. May, both 22, of Alexandria, Va., whose bodies were
found beside a, highway near Omaha Aug. 28, 1947. The Mays had picked up McClelland as a hitchhiker. Georgia Jean was the
daughter of George C. Weckler, farmer living near Fort Atkinson. She disappeared en route home from school while on the half
mile road leading to the Weckler farm off highway 12.
Articles from Wisconsin State Journal - Sunday. February 22, 1987

SEARCH FOR GEORGIA Show above is the foot search of an Oakland woods that took place in May 1947 after 8-year-old
Georgia can Weckler disappeared after being dropped off from school at the lane leading to her family's farm. The apparent
abduction was never solved, despite various "confessions" by convicted criminals who later recanted their stories. This afternoon,
however, Jefferson and Walworth law enforcement officials were expected to investigate a Delavan-area man's claims that he saw
two men bury what might be Weckler's body beneath what today is a greenhouse in Delavan. A related story appears on page 1.
Sennett a longtime suspect in case
(Continued from page 1)
On Dec. 15, 1947, then District ,attorney Francis Garity obtained confession to the crime from Sennett, who with Winslow were
serving life sentences at what then the Wisconsin State prison in Waupun for the murder a University of Wisconsin Madison
student and rape of the student's sister-in-law the previous month Sennett, later recanted the oral confession. In the confession,
Sennett, then 22, claimed that he and man a believed to have been Winslow had planned the kidnapping ransom, but that Weckler
died from an overdose of sleeping pills while held in a car parked in a woods near Richland Center. He stated that on May 3,
1947, they dumped the girl's body into the Wisconsin River near the Blue River Bridge; however, no body was ever recovered in
a search.

41
 Arrest jogs recall of 1947 murder
By Richard W. Jaeger
Regional reporter
JEFFERSON Rudy Reichert, former Jefferson County sheriff, dusted off his yellowing scrapbook when he heard that Buford
Sennett was being sent back to prison for sexually assaulting two juvenile girls. Sennett, 62, who was sentenced Jan. 27 for the
sexual assault, has been sentenced to life in 1947 for the murder of Robert Carlson, a UW Madison medical student. He was
paroled in 1974 after serving 27 years of that sentence. Also in 1947, Sennett was at the center of one of Jefferson County's most
publicized crimes when he confessed to kidnapping Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, from the driveway of her rural Fort Atkinson farm.
Reichert was a deputy sheriff at that time and took part in the investigation. Sennett later recanted his confession, and the case
remains unsolved. The Weckler girl never was found. Two Jefferson County detectives recently interviewed Sennett at the Dodge
Correctional Center in Waupun. He talked to them but repeatedly denied any involvement in the Weckler disappearance. Since his
parole, Sennett had been living in Appleton. Robert Winslow, his accomplice in the Carlson killing, also was paroled in 1974 and
lives in the Union Grove area. Sennett's recent arrest rekindled some strong memories of the Weckler kidnapping for Reichert and
other old timers in Jefferson County. "We thought we had the thing solved when Sennett confessed to doing it back then," Reichert
said, thumbing the frayed pages of a scrapbook put together by his wife, Marie, that contains newspaper clippings of the Weckler
investigation. Reichert initially doubted Sennett's involvement in the Weckler kidnapping, and he still does. "It wasn't his kind of
crime fooling with little girls," said Reichert, acknowledging the recent arrest may alter that analysis. "There also was a gap in his
story about his plans to hold the youngster for ransom. He couldn't have known she would be picked up at school that day and not
on the bus," he added. Reichert recalls going to Waupun with former District Attorney Francis Garity to interview Sennett in
prison. "He said just enough on that first visit to lead us to believe he knew something about the Weckler case. After several other
visits by Garity, he confessed, giving all kinds of details," Reichert said. Garity, now deceased, was convinced by the confession
and arranged to have Sennett taken from prison to a Wisconsin River bridge near Blue River where he said he had dumped the
Weckler girl's body the same area where Carlson's body was recovered. Reichert took part in that Blue River bridge search,
spending 10 days on the icy river assisting divers probing for a body they never found. "I always figured he conned us into taking
him there so he could try to escape, but we had him too heavily guarded," Reichert said. Sennett said he had an accomplice in
Weckler's kidnapping, but he wouldn't name the person. The accomplice, he said, accidently gave the youngster an overdose of
sleeping pills that killed her. There was speculation that Winslow was the accomplice, but Garity and others, ruled out the former
Owen native because he was unfamiliar with the county. Garity Same information with some missing pagey continued to believe
in Sennett's involvement even after the recanted confession. A former law partner said Garity based that belief on information
provided by Sennett that only the kidnapper would have known. "Sennett told Garity he saw a farmer driving down the lane at the
Weckler farm and described the odd way the fellow turned his head to look about, almost as if it were on a swiveled Well, Garity
took a farmer neighbor of the Wecklers over to their place and had him drive down the lane and told him to look back as he drove
the guy's head swiveled just as Sennett had said. That was enough to convince Garity," the former law partner, who asked not to
be identified, said. Reichert's scrapbook contains stories about other clues that popped up long after Sennett's confession,
including one about a diary found on a Janesville bus describing incidents that corresponded to the youngster's disappearance.
Reichert recalls checking clues of his own after he took office as sheriff m 1951, including a trip to a Nebraska prison. Nebraska
convict Charles McClelland confessed he had buried the child in a shallow grave in Northern Illinois. "We went and dug around
but found nothing," Reichert said. Ed Gein, the notorious grave robber and murderer from Plainfield, also was among those
checked early in the 1950s. Gein drove a black 1937 Ford similar to a car seen near the Weckler farm. "Of course, I think the only
color Ford they made back then was black," Reichert said. The last active look at the Weckler file was in 1983, Sheriff Keith
Mueller said. "We really didn't turn anything up other than talking to some people who said they heard other people talking about
the case. Other than ' that we've received reports off and on from other states concerning the finding of skeletons of children,"
Mueller said. "Sennett's arrest has caused us to take another look at the Weckler case," said Richard Wellner, sergeant of
detectives for the Jefferson County sheriff's department. "After all, it is still an open case."

42
Jefferson County Sheriff Keith Mueller, left, and former sheriff Rudy Reichert, review old newspaper clippings on the 1947
kidnapping case -- State Journal photo by Carolyn Pflasterer

No early parole for (7-26-95)

We were pleased to hear state Parole Commission Chairman John Husz's pledge to not grant early parole to inmates who have
committed violent offenses in an effort to ease prison overcrowding. We just hope that Buford Sennett's name is on the list to
remain behind bars.
Sennett is among six murderers and 363 inmates last week recommended for parole because of prison overcrowding. The
Department of Corrections had recently advised its more than 1,000 parole agents to review their files and recommend extra
prisoners for parole because the prison system is 3,000 persons over capacity.
If the name Buford Sennett name sounds familiar, that's because the 69-year-old man at one time confessed to the May 1, 1947,
abduction of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, the Fort Atkinson girl last seen trudging down the farm lane toward home by her
school bus driver.
Now, we have no proof that Sennett abducted or killed Georgia Jean, though we know some former sheriffs deputies who are
convinced he did. But Sennett's past record speaks for itself in deciding whether he is either violent or a parole risk.
As a boy of 14, Sennett was taken into juvenile court for allegedly sexually assaulting and abusing an 8 - year-old girl who had
been staying with his family. While he received only a stern reprimand, a school official closely involved in the incident said later
that, "a little intelligent treatment of the case at the time might have saved a great deal of tragedy later."
Quite true.
After high school, Sennett was convicted of schoolhouse burglaries and given a three -year term in the Green Bay reformatory. In
September 1943, he escaped the reformatory farm and went home, but his father turned him in and Sennett got an extra year in
detention.
Four years later, in November 1947, a 22-year-old Sennett was sentenced to life in prison for a four-day crime spree that included
the murder, with an accomplice, of a University of Wisconsin medical student and rape of a woman. It happened a week after his
parole agent wrote him this note: "You served your parole in a fine way and I trust that your future conduct will be such as to
never again cause you to become involved with the law." Several years later, a Milwaukee Journal reporter would write, "Parole
was clearly a joke to Buford Sennett and he must have indulged in one of his infrequent smiles when he got that note. Man, what
a good one!"
Sennett was paroled Dec. 15, 1974, after serving 27 years for the rape and murder. But before he was freed, he told Jefferson
County authorities that he and an accomplice had abducted Weckler and dumped her body in the Wisconsin River off the Blue
River bridge after she died of an overdose of sleeping pills. However, he never signed the confession and later would neither
confirm nor deny that he did the deed. The case remains open today.
Then in 1987, Sennett was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the 1985 sexual assault of a minor in Appleton. The term runs
consecutive to the remainder of Sennett's sentence for the 1947 murder, rape and kidnapping convictions.
We'll probably never know whether Buford Sennett was truly responsible for Georgia Jean Weckler 's disappearance. But we do
know that he was for rape and murder and assault of a child, three "violent offenses" which deserve punishment to the fullest
extent of the law.
He's abused parole over and over again, and even at age 70, does not merit early release. Certainly, prison overcrowding is a
serious problem, but letting the likes of Buford Sennett back out into society is no solution.

43
 Articles from Thursday 29, February 29. 1996
KIDNAPPED Forty-nine years ago, 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared after being dropped off after school in the
driveway of her Town of Oakland farm.

Man says girl's body under Delavan greenhouse

Weckler death claim probe
Union staff reports
DELAVAN Jefferson and Walworth county authorities are investigating a man's claim that the body of a rural Fort Atkinson
girl kidnapped a half century ago is buried beneath a Delavan floral shop. Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme was to meet
today with Walworth County Sheriff's Department deputies to check the veracity of statements by Ed J. Lindloff of Delavan, who
says that in 1947 he witnessed two men dump what he believes might have been the body of Georgia Jean Weckler. Chief Deputy
Mike Sullivan of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department confirmed that Jefferson and Walworth authorities were to look into
Lindloffs claim this afternoon. He added that dealing with a 49-year-old case is difficult. "We're going on recollection here,"
Sullivan said. "It's still an open investigation and we'd like to solve this thing." According to Sullivan, his department will be
talking with people who were involved with the case when it was first opened in 1947, including some retired officers. The 8-
year-old Weckler girl disappeared on May 1, 1947, after a neighbor apparently dropped her off at the lane leading to her family's
farm after attending Oakland Center School. She was believed to have lingered in a wooded area near the long driveway to pick
flowers for May baskets. The blonde, brown-eyed youngster was never seen again. On Dec. 15, 1947, then District Attorney
Francis Garity obtained a confession to the crime from Buford Sennett, who, with a Robert Winslow, were serving life sentences
at what was then the Wisconsin State Prison in Waupun for the murder of a University of Wisconsin Madison student and rape of
the victim's sister-in-law the previous month. Sennett later recanted the oral confession (see related story). On Wednesday,
Channel 12 TV in Milwaukee aired a piece which indicated that Lindloff had seen two men bury a package about 4 1/2 feet in
length the size of a child beneath what today is a Delavan greenhouse owned by
(Continued on page 9)
Weckler case eyed
(Continued from page 1)
Richard Hermann. He repeated his story to the Daily Union today. "I'll start it at the beginning," Lindloff said, noting how he lived
on a farm "a few doors east" of where the present day greenhouse and floral shop are located, with his wife and two children. He was
27 at the time. Lindloff recalled that he was working up a field for a neighbor in preparation for the spring corn planting when the
construction of a greenhouse peaked his curiosity, prompting him to talk with workers at the site. "The boiler room foundation of the
greenhouse had been poured and was waiting for the construction of the greenhouse on the west side," Lindloff explained. "I saw two
men starting to lay out a portion of the greenhouse to start construction." In speaking with the two men, one of whom was an Elmer
Spahn, Lindloff discovered that they were working for a company based in Illinois. The other man did not introduce himself. The
next day, a Friday morning, Lindloff recalled, he heard them talking, as he was working quite close to the construction site. "We
ought to go out looking for some girls this weekend," said the unnamed man, according to Lindloff. "Sounds like a good idea,"
responded Spahn, Lindloff remembered. "How young do you like them?" "The younger the better," replied the unnamed individual,
Lindloff reported. Returning to work in the afternoon, Lindloff found that the men had left, and they did not return until Monday
morning. Lindloff again began planting Monday morning, and said he saw the two men pull up to the construction site at about 9:15.
"They backed up Elmer Spahn's black 1937 Ford two-door automobile towards the foundation of the boiler room, opened the trunk,
and got a package out of the back of the trunk that I would judge to be about 4 1/2 feet long, and about the size of a pretty good sized
pumpkin in diameter," he recalled. "Elmer Spahn carried it in both arms over to the foundation of the boiler ream and threw it into
the excavated area and they immediately started to cover up whatever they threw in there with dirt, with two shovels," he continued.
"With my trips across the field, I would judge it took them a good 20 minutes to cover this up," recounted Lindloff. By about
Wednesday of that same week, Lindloff said, he saw the story of Weckler's disappearance in a Beloit newspaper, which stated that
someone had seen a black Ford car go down the Weckler driveway and pick up the young girl. "I started thinking about this, and
thought `there's something wrong here,' " Lindloff said. While making egg deliveries as part of his farmwork shortly thereafter,
Lindloff ran into the Walworth County sheriff at the time, Chester Barnes, and relayed his suspicions., "I told the sheriff what I had
seen," Lindloff said. "But lie didn't do anything about it." Lindloff claims he told the sheriff his story again, three to four months
44
later, and he said that Barnes took some notes. When Lindloff again saw the sheriff a few months later, he questioned the sheriff. In
the meantime, Lindloff said, Spahn had been arrested for child molestation and was sentenced to three years in prison. Barnes
reportedly questioned Spahn, who claimed he didn't know anything about the incident. The other construction worker could not be
located, as he was no longer working for an Illinois construction company, Barnes apparently told Lindloff. While Lindloff recounted
his story to several people, he did not push the issue to the limit, he said, because his wife was "a nervous person." But the Lindloffs
were obviously very concerned for the safety of their daughter, who was six at the time, and their son, who was three. "Immediately
after I saw these two guys bury what I'm sure was a body, either my wife or myself would take my daughter up to the school bus in
the morning and we would meet the school bus at night to make sure she got back in the house," Lindloff said. This was a ritual the
young couple continued until the two men finished the greenhouse and left town. "Now I told a lot of people about this over the
period of years," Lindloff noted. "But no one seemed to pay any attention to it until I reported it to Sheriff Dean McKenzie," who is
the current Walworth County sheriff. Lindloff said he first approached McKenzie with the information about two years ago. Lindloff
spoke with a deputy and McKenzie, and McKenzie also contacted Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme, according to Lindloff.
Lindloff next contacted the local media, he said. Last Monday, he and the Delavan newspaper staff spent about 4 1/2 hours talking
with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. Following the interview, Lindloff said, members of the Jefferson County Sheriff's
Department returned to Delavan with him to look at the site where he believes Weckler's body is buried. "The thing that's bothered
me all these years is the fact that I thought the family should know where their little girl is buried. And I'm sure that is where she is
buried," Lindloff said with certainty in his voice. "Everything checks out." "I would like to see this finalized because I've had this on
my mind since 1947. I have thought about it almost daily becoming very perturbed about the fact that there was a complete lack of
investigation for this when I first reported it. I haven't had any success until Sheriff McKenzie and also Sheriff Quamme got on
this," Lind-loff added. Lindloff said that he is reliable person. He has been an alderman in the City of Delavan for eight years, he
has been the Town of Delavan chairperson for six years, and is currently on the town plan commission, as well as several other
committees. He has lived in Delevan nearly all his life, and was in the construction business for 35 years in the area. Hermann,
owner of the floral shop where Lindloff believes the body is buried, however, questions Lindloffs story. "The odds are so
unlikely," Hermann said this morning. "I think it's a figment of his imagination, to be quite honest with you. You're dealing with
so many `ifs,' that its very unlikely. This thing happened 50 years ago." He was not optimistic about the future of the case. "To
me, I think its beyond logic to pursue it further," Hermann said. "To come in here and tear a whole store up thinking that yo u're
going to find something that may or may not be there, to me, would be very unfounded." Meanwhile, Sullivan said the claim
made by Lindloff is not something new in regards to the Weckler case. He said that there have been reports of people seeing
things being buried more than once before. "A while back, they dug up Highway 12," Sullivan said. "I also remember a rock
quarry being dug up, as well." "If it turns out that they can't find anything, at least I've done my duty. But there is no qu estion,
whatsoever, in my mind that what I saw was the burial of this poor little 8-year-old girl," Lindloff concluded.

Sennett a longtime suspect in case

By Christine Spangler Union managing editor
If proven true, claims that the body of Georgia Jean Weckler is buried beneath a Delavan greenhouse would close the file on one
of Jefferson County's oldest and most baffling mysteries. Jefferson and Walworth county law enforcement officials this afternoon
were slated to look into statements by Ed Lindloff of Delavan, who on Wednesday said he witnessed two men dump what he
believes might have been Weckler's body at the Delavan site back in 1947 (see related story). The two men he saw possibly could
have been Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow, since Sennett at one time confessed to the abduction and, despite his recantation
later, has always been considered a possible player in the abduction. The 8-year-old disappeared on May 1, 1947, after a neighbor
apparently dropped her off at the lane leading to her family's farm after attending Oakland Center School. She was believed to
have lingered in a wooded area near the long driveway to pick flowers for May baskets. The blonde, brown-eyed youngster was
never seen or heard from again.
(Continued on page 9)
"I was involved in the Weckler case, Mr. Garity, but I was not alone," Sennett said in his confession. "A friend of mine, whose name
I refuse to disclose, who was acquainted in Jefferson County and knew of the Weckler family, planned to kidnap the little girl for
ransom." Sennett also stated at the time that "it was not hard to get her into the car" and that he backed out of the drive and traveled
east on U.S. Highway 12, turning right on the first crossroad. "We talked about whether or not we should go through with our plans
of abducting her," Sennett told Garity. "After a few minutes, I drove back to Highway 12 and down Highway 12 to the Weckler drive
and again turned into the Weckler drive, driving down a short distance. We then again decided to go through with our plan of
abducting the girl." Sennett said he again backed out of the drive and went west: "A man on a tractor pulling a wagon was going by
the Weckler drive," he said. He noted that his companion gave the girl two sleeping pills as they drove toward Richland Center; he
left the girl with his friend in a woods and then went out on a date. "That night, I remained at home and the next morning I drove
back to the woods, where I found that my friend had given the girl the rest of the sleeping pills in the box except two, and that at that
time I found that she was dead;" according to the confession. "You will find, Mr. Garity that she was shot, but I know that she died
from the sleeping pills." In his confession, Sennett said they remained in the woods that day and night and then weighted down the
body and took it to the Blue River Bridge, "where we dropped the body from the middle span at a point which is just opposite from
where the body of (Carl Carlson the university student murdered) was dropped." He concluded: "At no time did I assault that little
girl, Mr. Garity. She did not cry at any time, but did ask, `When are you going to take me home?' Sennett refused to sign the
confession and no concrete evidence was ever found to bring up charges in that crime. However, former Sheriff Roger Reinel, who
had just began his duties as a patrolman the day of the kidnapping and responded to the missing girl report, always believed in the
confession. In a 1987 interview, Reinel said there was a seven minute gap that the FBI and other authorities could not close, adding
that it involved a telephone repairman who was working in the area of the Weckler farm. "The lineman was on the pole in the drive
leading to the Weckler farm and when the car pulled into the driveway, his truck wasn't there," Reinel was quoted as saying. "He

45
had left and gone down the road to do some other work. When (Sennett) came back the telephone truck was in the yard." Reinel,
who died late last year, said he took photos of the gravel displaced from a vehicle turning around on the lane, and that there was
indeed a farmer on a manure spreader nearby. Also, he said, the 1936 Ford matched descriptions given deputies. A year after the
Weckler girl's disappearance, Garity told the Daily Union he had met with Sennett for three hours and the inmate did not
contradict the previous story that lie would not formally offer as a written confession. "That man just could not have told me
things he did unless he had a part in the crime," Garity stated. "Sennett told me several things about that crime that we of the law
enforcement agencies did not know ourselves." Garity said Sennett filled in unexplained details of the time schedule, and
described the girl, her clothing, the farm driveway and other items which no one could have recounted from the closest reading of
newspaper accounts. Sennett himself was convicted' of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison Nov. 18, 1947. He was
22 and from Richland Center, and was paroled Dec. 15, 1974, after serving 27 years. At the time of his sentencing to that charge,
former Dane County Judge Roy H. Proctor said that if Wisconsin had the death penalty, he would have no qualms in sentencing
Sennett and Robert Winslow to the gas chamber, electric chair or hangman's noose. It. was while serving time for the murder that
Sennett gave the confession to the Weckler abduction. Sennett and Winslow, who met in prison while the former was serving
time for a schoolhouse burglary, picked up Carl Carlson, 25, and his 19-year-old sister-in-law, who were hitchhiking on a
Madison Street Nov. 14, 1947. Carlson had met his sister-in-law at the train depot but the train was late, so they missed their buy
to Badger Village near Baraboo where Carlson, a World War 11 Navy veteran, his wife and their 2-year-old daughter lived. The
two men offered to drive the pair to Badger Village however, along the way, Sennett pulled out a revolver and shot Carlson. The
men then repeatedly raped the woman, who escaped the next day. Sennett and Winslow were captured on a Clark County farm
several days later. They pleaded guilty to rape, murder and kidnapping. More recently, in 1987, Sennett pleaded no contest to first
degree sexual assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Outgamie County judge. The sentence is running
consecutively to the life sentence. In that instance, Sennett, who moved to the Appleton area alter his parole, was originally
charged with having sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl on a weekly basis during the summer of 1983 and with a 13-year-old
girl in February 1986, all in Appleton. When the series of incidents in 1985 came to light, he was prosecuted on those charges.
The 9-year-old girl told police that Sennett, who was residing with the girl's mother at the time of the offenses, threatened her
with being forced to live in a foster home if she told her mother what was happening. By the way, Sennett was not the only man
to confess to the Weckler kidnapping. In October 1954, Charles Edward McClelland, 25, who admitted to four other murders and
was being tried in Nebraska for the death of a prison guard there, also said he was involved in the Weckler disappearance. He said
the girl was strangled to death and that her body was buried near a creek bed in Illinois. The area was searched but no evidence
was found. He claimed he and an accomplice came to southern Wisconsin in search of easy money via robbery and break ins, and
that they did not consider kidnapping Weckler until they saw her near the long driveway of the family farm. He said they lured
her into the car with a promise of taking her to the circus and offering her a pony McClelland later said he made up the story
when he read about the Weckler girl in an Omaha newspaper.

46
 From Court House Steps Website
(contains some of the same information)
Jefferson county authorities Saturday had assurances that every agency of the state and the polices departments of Milwaukee and
Madison would co-operate in the 10 day old search for Georgia Jean Weckler, missing Fort Atkinson farm girl who is believed to
have been kidnaped.
Sheriff George Perry, of Jefferson county conferred with Lt. John Niederkorn, acting captain of detectives, and Inspector Hubert
Dax here on the case Saturday, and was assured that facilities of the Milwaukee police department were at his complete disposal.
Dax told the weary Perry, who has spent the last week tracking down fruitless clues, that "if the governor calls on Milwaukee
police for assistance, we will be willing to send you our best detectives."
Perry also conferred with Oscar Menzel, a Milwaukee friend of the Weckler family, who has offered to act as an intermediary in
the case, and checked on a telegram received by the family a week ago from Milwaukee.
The telegram said:
"Dear friend: Don't be fooled. The fortune teller spoke the truth. Go back to your farm house at once. Georgia Jean, your little
daughter, is there. They changed her clothes and dyed her hair. Her own clothes are in the back section of the garage or In the
house. Rose Greenwald." Police said the writer had no additional information on the case.
Meanwhile, the search for the missing girl into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois as the Jefferson
County district attorney said that "it's a 100 to 1 shot that the little girl has been kidnaped."
March 2, 1996
Published in Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI) on March 2, 1996
snip:
A man's claim that the body of a girl kidnapped in 1947 might be buried beneath a Delavan greenhouse doesn't provide enough
evidence to justify further investigation, authorities said Friday.
Statements by Ed J. Lindloff of Delavan, don't make a clear link between the greenhouse and the abduction of 8-year-old Georgia
Jean Weckler of rural Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme said.
Georgia disappeared May 1, 1947.
Arrest jogs recall of 1947 murder
Rudy Reichert, former Jefferson County sheriff, dusted off his yellowing scrapbook when he heard that Buford Sennett was being
sent back to prison for sexually assaulting two juvenile girls. Sennett, 62, who was sentenced Jan. 27 for the sexual assault, has
been sentenced to life in 1947 for the murder of Robert Carlson, a UW Madison medical student.
He was paroled in 1974 after serving 27 years of that sentence. Also in 1947, Sennett was at the center of one of Jefferson
County's most publicized crimes when he confessed to kidnapping Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, from the driveway of her rural Fort
Atkinson farm. Reichert was a deputy sheriff at that time and took part in the investigation.
Sennett later recanted his confession, and the case remains unsolved. The Weckler girl never was found.
Two Jefferson County detectives recently interviewed Sennett at the Dodge Correctional Center in Waupun. He talked to them
but repeatedly denied any involvement in the Weckler disappearance.
Since his parole, Sennett had been living in Appleton.
Robert Winslow, his accomplice in the Carlson killing, also was paroled in 1974 and lives in the Union Grove area.
Sennett's recent arrest rekindled some strong memories of the Weckler kidnapping for Reichert and other old timers in Jefferson
County. "We thought we had the thing solved when Sennett confessed to doing it back then," Reichert said, thumbing the frayed
pages of a scrapbook put together by his wife, Marie, that contains newspaper clippings of the Weckler investigation. Reichert
initially doubted Sennett's involvement in the Weckler kidnapping, and he still does. "It wasn't his kind of crime fooling with little
girls," said Reichert, acknowledging the recent arrest may alter that analysis. "There also was a gap in his story about his plans to
hold the youngster for ransom. He couldn't have known she would be picked up at school that day and not on the bus," he added.
Reichert recalls going to Waupun with former District Attorney Francis Garity to interview Sennett in prison. "He said just
enough on that first visit to lead us to believe he knew something about the Weckler case.
After several other visits by Garity, he confessed, giving all kinds of details," Reichert said. Garity, now deceased, was convinced
by the confession and arranged to have Sennett taken from prison to a Wisconsin River bridge near Blue River where he said he
had dumped the Weckler girl's body the same area where Carlson's body was recovered.
Reichert took part in that Blue River bridge search, spending 10 days on the icy river assisting divers probing for a body they
never found. "I always figured he conned us into taking him there so he could try to escape, but we had him too heavily guarded,"
Reichert said.
Sennett said he had an accomplice in Weckler's kidnapping, but he wouldn't name the person. The accomplice, he said, accidently
gave the youngster an overdose of sleeping pills that killed her. There was speculation that Winslow was the accomplice, but
Garity and others, ruled out the former Owen native because he was unfamiliar with the county.
Garily continued to believe in Sennett's involvement even after the recanted confession. A former law partner said Garity based
that belief on information provided by Sennett that only the kidnapper would have known. "Sennett told Garity he saw a farmer
47
driving down the lane at the Weckler farm and described the odd way the fellow turned his head to look about, almost as if it were
on a swiveled well, Garity took a farmer neighbor of the Wecklers over to their place and had him drive down the lane and told
him to look back as he drove the guy's head swiveled just as Sennett had said.
That was enough to convince Garity," the former law partner, who asked not to be identified, said. Rei-chert's scrapbook contains
stories about other clues that popped up long after Sennett's confession, including one about a diary found on a Janesville bus
describing incidents that corresponded to the youngster's disappearance.
Reichert recalls checking clues of his own after he took office as sheriff m 1951, including a trip to a Nebraska prison. Nebraska
convict Charles McClelland confessed he had buried the child in a shallow grave in Northern Illinois. "We went and dug around
but found nothing," Reichert said.
Ed Gein, the notorious grave robber and murderer from Plainfield, also was among those checked early in the 1950s. Gein drove a
black 1937 Ford similar to a car seen near the Weckler farm. "Of course, I think the only color Ford they made back then was
black," Reichert said.
The last active look at the Weckler file was in 1983, Sheriff Keith Mueller said. "We really didn't turn anything up other than talking
to some people who said they heard other people talking about the case. Other than ' that we've received reports off and on from other
states concerning the finding of skeletons of children," Mueller said. "Sennett's arrest has caused us to take another look at the
Weckler case," said Richard Wellner, sergeant of detectives for the Jefferson County sheriff's department. "After all, it is still an
open case."
Jefferson County Sheriff George said today he was concerned Georgia Jean Weckler missing for two weeks from her home. The
sheriff says authorities are still without a. definite lead, but he thinks that intensive investigation is bound to give them a lead soon.
Dist. Atty. Francis. Garity, who is more firmly convinced ever that the 8-year-old girl kidnapped, reported that officials have been
handicapped by the long start the kidnapper had. He said that the search for, little blond third-grader did not start until about three
hours after she was reported missing and he adds that the search has been confined to the vicinity of the Weckler home.
But now, Garity said, the authorities are sifting scores of letters from all over the state in which people have been asking, if all
possible territory has been searched. The district attorney claims that every 'square inch of ground has been given a thorough
going over.
The United Press reports that at 25-year-old ex-convict denied in the New York police lineup today that he killed a 5-year-old girl
in Norristown, Pa., last Saturday. Bucktoothed Arnold Turner, who was arrested in New York, last night, said he had never, even
been in the township in which little Carol Thompson was slain. Turner was to be arraigned late today. He said he would waive
extradition to Pennsylvania that time.
Sheriff Perry has been in contact with Norristown law enforcement officials concerning the similarity in the two cases. Turner
will therefore undoubtedly be questioned concerning his where abouts on May 1st the date of Georgia Jean's disappearance.
The Wisconsin State Journal
May 4, 1947
FT. ATKINSON - Hope of finding Georgia Jean Weckler, missing since Thursday, when a neighbor dropped her at a mailbox at
the head of a road leading to her farm home, was waning rapidly Saturday; night. No real clues were found during the day, and
rumors proved foundationless upon investigation.
Posses Give Up
Planes still flew over the area, checking woods and lakes, with the aerial search, extended into, parts of Dana County, but the
posses which had number as high as 1,000 men called off its search A. thorough check of the area for miles around, with
searchers peering into cisterns, wells, culverts, and buildings had revealed not the slightest trace of the girl, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. George Weckler, who live 6 miles north of Ft. Atkinson.
Wait for `Break'
As the case came to the grim job of waiting for a first "break," Dist. Atty. Francis Garity told the press that his men were at a
standstill. "We haven't a clue to follow," he said. Reports of a girl struggling in a car on a Ft. Atkinson intersection were
investigated, but nothing new developed. Sam Klement, Ft. Atkinson, said that he had been waiting for a stop light to change at
the S. Main St. and Milwaukee Ave. intersection Thursday when he had seen a little girl struggling to get out of a dark car. A man
who had just left the car returned and either hit or covered the head of the child, with other men going to the car and cars behind
him honking, Klement drove on.
No Witnesses Found
Though an appeal was sent out for the witnesses of the incident to contact police authorities, no response was made. The father of
the girl, at a loss for an explanation, believed that she had started down the half mile long road to the farm home and been picked
up by someone driving into the lane who had then backed out.
The belief was bolstered by the story of Ernie Simdon, who had been driving north on Highway 12 and had found a dark cat
ahead of him when he came over the brow of a hill before the farm lane. It had not been ahead of him before, he said.
Farmers Match Reward
A reward of $1.000 for the apprehension of whoever had kidnaped the girl or any clue leading to her rescue was being matched
by tired farmers of the area who had been searching the woods and fields for two days and nights. At the suggestion of Erwin
Pantel, who contributed an initial $25, Will Northey was mad treasurer of a fund to match the reward offer of the father of the
missing girl. Farmers stepped up to Northey standing a few paces from the mailbox where the girl was last seen and dug into their
pockets for cold cash. Within 5 minutes, they had contributed $250 and the fund raising was still going on into the night.
48
Erling Mickalson, operator of Mickalson's Flying Service, Charles Ward, and Dick Smith, each with observers in their planes,
took to the air for their second day of searching the area. The J. C. Penney store in Ft. Atkinson paid for flying time the first day,
and Mickalson said he was continuing the second day search because "somebody's got to do it."
Tip from Spiritualist send Police and Squad Cars on Wild Search Saturday Night
A tip from a spiritualist in the Georgia Jean Weckler case precipitated one of the biggest rural police raids in recent southern
Wisconsin history Saturday night. It brought out 11 police cars, more than 25 officers, sirens guns and spotlights. The raid had its
start in a trip which Elmer Weckler, an uncle of the girl, made to a spiritualist at Fond du Lac. The spiritualist described a deserted
farmhouse in which the searchers would find the 8-yearold girl. The uncle convinced the officers "to give it a try." In 11 police cars
the men converged by several roads at midnight Friday on an apparently deserted farmhouse in the eastern part of Dane county.
The officers surrounded the structure and lighted it with the spotlights on their cars. They honked the cars' horns and yelled for the
occupant, if any, to come out, No one appeared.
The men observed a. fresh tire trail leading into the yard thence into a dark, foreboding barn. They opened the door and' found a
car with wet tires. In the back seat they found a Jefferson' newspaper in which the story about Georgia's disappearance was
featured. They found a pair of stockings and a flowered scarf. The car license was issued to a Merrill,Wis., man. Those findings
convinced the officers that they were on the right trail. They returned to the house. About to break in the front door, they were
confronted by a man clad in long underwear. He asked what they wanted. They asked if he had a little girl in the house, and he
answered that his 9-year-old daughter was with him. Georgia is almost nine.
More than ever convinced, the officers demanded to see the girl. The house occupant demurred but, realizing the importance of
the request, he led their to the sleeping girl. Weckler said that she was not Georgia. The man convinced the officers that he was a
Merrill man who only recently had come to the Dane county farm. The police left. It was 2:30 a.m
October 1948
Ashes from a killer's hideout were to be analyzed at the state crime laboratory here today for clues concerning the mystery of little
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared nearly two years ago, The State Journal learned late
Wednesday night.
Officials who were investigating reports that the child's body had been burned found the ashes last October in the woods near
Richland Center at the dugout hiding place of Buford Sennett, convicted murderer-rapist and confessed kidnaper of Georgia Jean.
For the four months since the discovery, the ashes have been kept by the bereaved parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, at their
farm home because Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity refused to send them to the crime laboratory for examination, The
State Journal learned. Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Fairchild late Wednesday authorized Charles M. Wilson, crime laboratory director,
to analyze the ashes after he had been informed of Garity's refusal and had received reports of lack of cooperation among officials
investigating the Weckler case. At the request of the father, the ashes were brought to Madison Wednesday by Police Officer Otto
Flaig, Ft. Atkinson.
Three senators, Chester Dempsey (R-Hartland), J. Earls Leverich (R-Sparta), and Bernhard Gettelman (R-Milwaukee), helped
Officer Flaig obtain the attorney general's authorization for examination of the ashes. It has been the policy of crime laboratory to
examine evidentiary material which been referred to the laboratory' with the approval of the Dist. Attorney in whose county crime
was committed, Dire Wilson said. "Regardless of whether ashes reveal anything, they should be analyzed to ease the doubt in the
minds of the little girl's parents," Wilson declared. Mr. and Mrs. Weckler has clung to hope that their daughter is still alive
because her body never been found.
Weckler, Officer Flaig, and Atty. William H. Rogers, Ft. Atkinson, collected the ashes from topsoil at Sennett's hideout last Oct.
9, after they had been led thereby a 25-year-old Ft. Atkinson woman who claimed she witnessed the burning of Georgia Jean's
body, Flaig said. The following day, Dist. Atty. Garity questioned the woman and reported that she had given him a signed
statement that her whole story was just a figment of her imagination." He refused to authorize a examination of the ashes, which
Georgia Jean's father carried to his office in a tightly woven cloth bag, and ordered the woman released.
On Nov. 1, the woman was picked up again upon orders of Garity and Jefferson County Sheriff Roland Gibson and was held for a
month for investigation. They released her on Dec when Gibson reported that she had been given a lie detector test which
convinced him that she was not involved in Georgia Jean's disappearance Weckler and he wanted an examination of the ashes of
an basis on an earlier story given by the woman on Oct. 6th to Officer Flaig and city Atty. Harold C. Smith, Ft. Atkinson. At that
time, Flaig said that woman told them that Sennett had discussed with her his plans for kidnaping the Weckler child and holding
her for ransom because he needed money.
She said she was to have been a go-between, but because of the many police and sheriff', officers at the Weckler farm after
Georgia Jean disappeared May 1, 1947, she was unable to deliver the ransom demand to the parents.
Flaig said she claimed that Sennett and a woman she did not know, drove her to the hideout about 3 miles south of Richland
Center where they found Georgia Jean's body, guarded by a man she refused to identify The little girl had died from, a dose of
sleeping pills, the woman told Flaig. Sennett and the man poured acid on the body and burned her in a raging fire, Flaig said
woman claimed.
She said Sennett threatened her with the same fate if she revealed the story to officers, Flaig reported. Officer Flaig said the
woman led the way to the spot where the ashes were found. Tree limbs above where she said the fire was built "had been killed
from some cause," Flaig reported.
Sennett, along with Robert Winslow, his accomplice in the slaying of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, is serving
a life sentence in Waupun state prison. After Sennett had repeatedly; denied any connection with the Weckler case, Dist. Atty.
Garity announced on Dec. 15, 1947, that he had obtained a confession from her killer at the prison.
49
In the confession, Garity said Sennett had admitted that he and an unidentified friend had abducted Georgia Jean, given her two
sleeping pills, and drove her in Sennett's car to the wooded hid out area south of Richland Center. Sennett blamed the unidentified
friend for the girl's death explaining that she had been given more sleeping pills and was dead when he returned to the woods after
spending the night at home in Richland Center. Garity said Sennett confessed "weighting down" the girl's body' and throwing it off
the Blue River bridge into the Wisconsin river, the same site where officials recovered the body of Carlson. However, intensive
dragging and diving operations failed to uncover the body or any evidence of the little girl.
The ashes from a killer's hideout failed to reveal any clues to the mysterious disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler,'
Atty. Gen Thomas E. Fairchild told The State Journal Wednesday night. The ashes, which were analyzed by Director Charles M.
Wilson and his staff at the state crime laboratory, were gathered by the little girl's father, George Weckler, and Police Officer Otto
Flaig, Ft. Atkinson, last October at the hideout near Richland Center of Buford Sennett, convicted murderer of Carl L. Carlson,
University of Wisconsin student. Shortly after Sennett and Robert Winslow were sentenced to life terms in Waupun state prison
last November, Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity reported that he had obtained admissions from Sennett that he
(Sennett) and an unidentified accomplice had kidnaped Georgia Jean, and dumped her body in the Wisconsin river after she had
died of an overdose of sleeping pills. A 25-year-old Ft. Atkinson woman, who claimed to be an acquaintance of Sennett, later told
conflicting stories concerning Georgia Jean's body having been burned at Sennett's hideout, which caused Flaig and Weckler to
collect the ashes.
October 31, 1954
Jefferson, Wis., Oct. '31 [Special] Sheriff Rudolph Reichert of Jefferson County, tonight disclosed that a murderer serving life in
the Nebraska state penitentiary has confessed he kidnaped and killed Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, a Wisconsin farmer's daughter
who vanished mysteriously 7 years ago. The sheriff said Charles McClelland, 25, of Booneville, Mo., related he and an
accomplice kidnaped the girl for ransom, May 1, 1947.
According to the confession, the kidnappers took the girl to southern Illinois, became afraid to try to collect the ransom, and killed
her May 4, 1947. McClelland said they buried her in a creek bottom near a country road east of U. S. highway 51 and 2 miles
south of Du Quoin.
Sheriff Reichert said he and his deputies had found the spot described by McClelland and had twice searched for a, body there.
They did not find it. However, the sheriff said experts had informed him that yearly flooding of the, creek made it unlikely the
body ever would be found.
The sheriff refused to say how McClelland said the girl was killed, and he would not identify McClelland's accomplice, Who is
being sought, other than to say he is a man about 28 years old.
McClelland first came to Reichert's attention when he wrote him last December, saying he was responsible for Georgia Jean's
disappearance. The sheriff went to the Nebraska penitentiary at Lincoln and obtained the confession, in the form of both a taped
recording and signed statement, on Dec. 4. It had been kept secret until now while Wisconsin authorities and the FBI sought
McClelland's accomplice. Mention of it was made last week in McClelland's trial at Lincoln for another murder that of John
Claussen, 70, Nebraska penitentiary print shop superintendent knifed to death in the print shop April 16. McClelland was acquitted
on Friday.
McClelland is serving two life terms for the slaying of Mr. and, Mrs. R. L. May, both 22, of Alexandria, Va., whose bodies were
found beside a, highway near Omaha Aug. 28, 1947. The Mays had picked up McClelland as a hitchhiker. Georgia Jean was the
daughter of George C. Weckler, farmer living near Fort Atkinson. She disappeared en route home from school while on the half
mile road leading to the Weckler farm off highway12 I
May 3rd, 1947
FT. ATKINSON-The report of a girl struggling to get out of dark car parked on a Ft. Atkinson street Thursday, shortly after
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, had been last seen, today brought the fear of kidnaping into the case. After a report that a man who' got
out of the car returned ands, either hit the girl or covered her head with a blanket, Ft. Atkinson police were asking witnesses of the
incident to check with the police station or sheriff's office.
FBI in Close Contact
While members of the girl's family said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been called into the case, H. K. Johnson, agent
in charge of the Milwaukee district, said. "We have been in close contact with local authorities and there is no indication of federal
violations within the investigation jurisdiction of the FBI at the present time. Sara Klemens FT. Atkinson reported the incident
which again involved a dark car which had been reported several times in the area in which the girl had disappeared to Police
Chief Harry Mueller. Stopping for a traffic light between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Thursday at S. Main st. and Milwaukee ave. in Ft.
Atkinson. he had noted a 'car parked across the street, ', Klement said. As he waited, a youngster in the car of approximately the
age of the missing girl began sobbing, he said, and called out.
"Let me out! I want to go home!"
A man and woman had just left the car, Klement said, and were in the middle of the street. He believed that another person was in
the car, possibly holding the girl. The man returned from the middle of the street to the car where he either hit the girl or put
something over her head.
Others Saw Incident
Klement moved to get out of the car, but noted two men who had also witnessed the incident coming toward the car from the
street corner where they had been standing. Cars behind him began honking as the street light changed, and he started his car,
believing that the two men on the corner could handle the situation. The incident was between a half hour and an hour after Mrs.
Carl Floerke had taken the missing girl home and dropped her at the entrance to the half-mile long farm lane leading to the home
of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler, 6 miles west of Ft. Atkinson.
50
A dark car had been seen in the area twice before. Ernie Simdon, Ft. Atkinson, told officers that he drove to Oakland about 3:45
Thursday and that a dark car had pulled out ahead of him in the vicinity of the Weckler drive and stayed ahead of him until he
reached Oakland Center. Deep tire tracks, possibly made by a car starting out fast, were found Friday at the entrance to the drive.
Noticed Similar Car
A Mrs. Twist, teacher at the nearby Ives school, told police that she had noted a similar car drive ' slowly by the school at about
3:50 Thursday and then pull up and stop ahead of her car. The driver sat there, looking back, for about 5 minutes and then pulled
out fast when she walked from the school toward her car.
Footprint Found
Other developments in the three-day-old case included the finding of a footprint in a wooded area 2 miles south of the farm on
which the little girl lived; search for a hired man from a farm about 5 miles away who had been fired the morning the girl
disappeared, and the ending of the organized search which had included up to 500 men scouring the countryside.
The footprint was found by three youths, one of them a brother of the missing girl, in a woods on the Borchart farm between
Rockdale and Highway 106. A shoe of the girl matched the footprint exactly, Rudy Reichert, Jefferson county traffic officer,
reported. Officers later said that the print was that of a little neighbor girl, Eileen Armstrong, who said that she was picking
flowers in the woods in the vicinity where the print was found.
Search was continuing today for the hired man who had left his job Thursday morning. He had walked to Highway 18 and hitch
hiked to Jefferson where he intended to get a bus for Milwaukee, police officials learned.
Had Record
His employer said that the youth had a reform school record, but that he could not drive a car. It was not known whether he knew
the missing girl. His picture was taken to Jefferson County Sheriff George. Perry. After two days of searching, organized search
was abandoned this morning. Planes piloted by Erling Mickelson and Wilson Beebe had reported that flying at low level over
leafless trees gave an excellent view of the ground and that they were able to see 10 to 12 feet down in nearby lakes.
Police also were checking a report involving two youths seen walking down the road near the entrance to the Weckler farm
Thursday afternoon. They were seen by Mr. and Mrs. "Stub" Swenson and Iver Nelson employed at the Ube Bros. electrical plant
in Ft. Atkinson, as they were driving down the road. One wore a white sailor's cap and the other a black and white checked shirt,
they told Neal Smithback, Dane county night jailer who lives in Cambridge.
Fortune Teller Tip on Kidnap; Proves False
Dane county was left virtually without patrol squad car protection late Friday night and early this morning when officers sped
towards Cambridge to investigate a kidnaping "hot tip" which originated it was ultimately was learned with a fortune teller.
At 11:30 Friday night, a Jefferson squad car radioed to Madison and Dane county officers, asking for all available cars to come to
the stop light on Highway 12 at the edge of Cambridge. "We've got a hot tip." they said Asked what it was, they said it was too
hot to put on the air.
With county lines meaning nothing, some 35 cars congregated at the traffic light, where they were told that it had been learned that
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, missing since Thursday from near her home near Ft. Atkinson, would be found in a vacant house west of
her home. If she were found within 24 hours, she would be alive. And if not she would be dead. All of the Dane county sheriff's
office and traffic department's cars were there but one. Plus cars from Madison, the town of Madison, Maple Bluff, the town of
Blooming Grove, and state patrol cars in the area were there. They searched for hours. They found nothing. And it finally
developed that an uncle of the missing girl had gone to a fortune teller to get the "hot tip."
Daily Jefferson County Union, May 6, 1947
The greatest manhunt in Fort Atkinson and Jefferson county history entered its sixth day today and city, county, and state law
enforcement officials still were groping blindly for any clue that might lead to a solution in the disappearance of eight-year-old
Georgia Jean Weckler. A new instrument was brought into the case yesterday when the stricken father, George C. Weckler, Route
1, and Dist. Atty. Francis Garity made radio appeals from a special hookup in the Jefferson court house for any information that
might pertain to the girl's disappearance. The father pleaded for Georgia's abductor to "have enough conscience to return his
daughter safely. Still hopefu1 that, blond, brown-eyed Georgia, Jean is alive, his speech slowed by pent up emotions, he pleaded:
"Folks all over the country, my plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything that', can lead us to this child, the' sooner`
the better for the child's sake, for the family's sake, and for the party that has the child. I know that their conscience going to feel
100 per cent better: within the next 12 hours if you 'return this child immediately. He added that no harm would come to the
abductor if the girl were returned.
The district attorney asked the cooperation of all law enforcement officers in the state in breaking the case. He especially urged
that county police make an effort to check all back roads, vacant buildings, culverts, 'etc. Garity 'fails to share the father's
optimism about the child's safety. He is especially fearful of Georgia's welfare since no ransom. note has been received.
Newest development in the way of clues centered about a report from the vicinity Sharon, in Walworth county According to that
report unconfirmed pulled up near a wood area on a back road something was seen passed between the two cars, and a child was
heard crying. The cries of the child continued from the vicinity of the wooded area after the cars pulled away, the report said.
The reward for evidence leading to Georgia Jean's safe return, or to the arrest of the kidnaper, has now grown to about $7,000.
The local Chamber of Commerce, whose reward fund totals about $1,300, is still accepting donations at Lacon, Ill., authorities
were holding an 18-year-old veteran this morning at the request of Fort Atkinson police. The youth, identified as Lawrence Diller;
of Benton Harbor, Mich., had been picked up on a vagrancy charge and was found to be carrying a slip of paper with the names of
Georgia Jean and her father on it. However, Lacon officials believe the youth has no connection with the case. Diller claims he
had been coming to Fort to help in the search.
51
A telephone lineman, Walter Showers, of Fort, entered the picture as a volunteer witness last night. He told police that he worked
on the line between Oakland Center and the Weckler driveway all Thursday afternoon and saw nothing amiss. "If anything
happened," he said, "it must have happened fast."
The telephone worker added that the girl could have been taken while he was out of sight of the driveway or while he was
preoccupied with his work.
Further testimony was volunteered from Watertown residents and by various truck drivers who passed by the kidnapping area
about the time of the girl's disappearance. Various "crank" letters were also flooding into county and city officials today. Police
Chief Harry O. Mueller received such a letter from Newark, N. J., today from a man who described himself as a former
intelligence corps worker. He suggested that police arrest all persons owning dark cars; that police "check" all farmers; and that
police "check" Jefferson. Meanwhile, police throughout the state are still searching for a blond suspect, aged 20 to 25, who was
reportedly driving the mysterious black sedan near the Weckler farm at the time of Georgia's disappearance. A man of the same
description ransacked the home of Mrs. E. R. Parker yesterday reportedly in search of a change of clothes but successfully eluded
an almost immediate pursuit by county and state officers. The intensive searches by local and county authorities and by posses of
volunteers have convinced them that the girl is not within 10 miles of the point where she was last seen. And the multitude of so
called clues has all proved fruitless said Sheriff George Perry, this morning: "We're still working and running down all clues. But
there is nothing 'hot' at the present time."
The confusing barrage of testimony regarding a "black car" in the Weckler case is no surprise to most newspaper men. In the
course of practically every baffling crime, stories of a "black car" appear. That's because there are a great number of black cars on
the highways, and, the odds are strongly in favor of one of them behaving suspiciously sooner or later. Furthermore, human
testimony even from honest people is notoriously unreliable. It's not uncommon for well-meaning witnesses in court to differ on
such details as to whether the sun was shining at the moment of the event under investigation, or rain was falling. Officers of the
law know all too well the peculiarities of the human memory. But they have no alternative other than to chase down every
recollection on the assumption that sooner or later one of them may be accurate and productive.
Buford Sennett
If the name Buford Sennett name sounds familiar, that's because the 69-year-old man at one time confessed to the May 1, 1947,
abduction of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, the Fort Atkinson girl last seen trudging down the farm lane toward home by her
school bus driver.
Now, we have no proof that Sennett abducted or killed Georgia Jean, though we know some former sheriffs deputies who are
convinced he did. But Sennett's past record speaks for itself in deciding whether he is either violent or a parole risk.
As a boy of 14, Sennett was taken into juvenile court for allegedly sexually assaulting and abusing an 8-year-old girl who had
been staying with his family. While he received only a stern reprimand, a school official closely involved in the incident said later
that, "a little intelligent treatment of the case at the time might have saved a great deal of tragedy later."
Quite True.
After high school, Sennett was convicted of schoolhouse burglaries and given a three-year term in the Green Bay reformatory. In
September 1943, he escaped the reformatory farm and went home, but his father turned him in and Sennett got an extra year in
detention.
Four years later, in November 1947, a 22-year-old Sennett was sentenced to life in prison for a four-day crime spree that included
the murder, with an accomplice, of a University of Wisconsin medical student and rape of a woman. It happened a week after his
parole agent wrote him this note: "You served your parole in a fine way and I trust that your future conduct will be such as to
never again cause you to become involved with the law." Several years later, a Milwaukee Journal reporter would write, "Parole
was clearly a joke to Buford Sennett and he must have indulged in one of his infrequent smiles when he got that note. Man, what
a good one!"
Sennett was paroled Dec. 15, 1974, after serving 27 years for the rape and murder. But before he was freed, he told Jefferson
County authorities that he and an accomplice had abducted Weckler and dumped her body in the Wisconsin River off the Blue
River bridge after she died of an overdose of sleeping pills. However, he never signed the confession and later would neither
confirm nor deny that he did the deed. The case remains open today.
Then in 1987, Sennett was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the 1985 sexual assault of a minor in Appleton. The term runs
consecutive to the remainder of Sennett's sentence for the 1947 murder, rape and kidnapping convictions.
We'll probably never know whether Buford Sennett was truly responsible for Georgia Jean Weckler's disappearance. But we do
know that he was for rape and murder and assault of a child, three "violent offenses" which deserve punishment to the fullest
extent of the law.
He's abused parole over and over again, and even at age 70, does not merit early release. Certainly, prison overcrowding is a
serious problem, but letting the likes of Buford Sennett back out into society is no solution.
*** Sennett died in 2008 shortly after he was transferred from the Dodge state prison to a supervised living facility, according to
Wisconsin Department of Corrections records, spokeswoman Joy Staab said. He was 82.

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 The Fort Daily News May 6, 1947
No definite leads as to the whereabouts of Georgia Jean Weckler were available today to the authorities investigating her
disappearance despite radio and press appeals thru out the middle west asking for information from any source. George C.
Weckler, Georgia's father, broadcast over the facilities of radio station WLS Monday afternoon and today, asking that his
daughter be returned safely. He made a strong appeal, suggesting that any possible abductor return Georgia Jean safely to him.
"My plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything that can lead us to this child, the sooner the better, far the family's
sake and for the party that has the child," Mr. Weckler said. "I know that your conscience is' going to feel 100 percent better
within the next 12 hours if you return the child immediately. Sheriff George Perry called on the public and all enforcement
officers to lend their utmost efforts to the search for clues and District Attorney Francis Garity went over the case to aid in placing
in the radio public's mind the importance of some lead. In the meanwhile, crackpot letters began to flow in and the suggestion of
persons with leads acid ideas. They have all proven fruitless. No ransom note has as yet been received. Those close to the
investigation were electrified in the early evening Monday with the tension that arises when a possible break arises.
A call came over police radio stating that one, Lawrence Diller, had been picked up at Lacon, Ill., 1st evening after a truck driver
had seen him acting suspiciously. The man had, in his possession, written material, alluding to George Weckler, Georgia Weckler
and the Fort Atkinson police department.
He was cleared, however, of connection with this case because his Thursday activities were definitely established by authorities.
In the meantime the reward for the apprehension of the person who took Georgia. Jean from the Weckler lane last Thursday
about 3:30 continues to pile up. Her great uncle, G. A. Weckler, 304 Barrie street, supplemented the .total by an additional
$1,000 reward. He announced the reward late Monday evening. The reward now totals considerable over $6,000, made up by
the girl's father, friends and neighbors in the entire vicinity.
All of the manholes and catch basins in Fort Atkinson sewer and utilities connections were searched Monday afternoon by a crew
of city employees and Fort Jaycees, seeking possible Weckler kidnapping case clues. At the suggestion of Chuck Mueller and
authorized by Chief of Police Harry O. Mueller and Sheriff George Perry, city manager E. F. Klement ordered the city department
of public works men to work with the Jaycees on' the project. The search was fruitless.
S. L. Feaster, the truck driver from Wisconsin Rapids, saw two men Saturday evening upon whom he has made reports.
One is the driver of the black car, a slender, blond young man. The other he met here in Fort Atkinson during the time he spent
here Saturday night. This man was also young and blond, but heavy set and of ruddy complexion.
This second man said he had quit a job with a farmer near Cambridge, Thursday, and wanted Feaster to give him a new job.
Feaster finally agreed and they agreed to meet later in the evening at Cambridge, the man saying he wanted to go pick up his
clothes. This second man fits into the description of the man Mrs. Warren Parker saw yesterday when he invaded the Mrs. E. R.
Parker home on Whitewater Avenue.
The Wisconsin State Journal May 6, 1947
Police at Ft. Atkinson are searching for and puzzling over the strange conduct of a blond haired man between 20 and 25 who broke
into the house of Mrs. E. R. Parker, Ft. Atkinson. The man, believed in search of a gun and suspected of being the kidnaper of
Georgia Jean Weckler, pawed through drawers in the bedrooms of the home, but passed up more than $400 worth of jewelry and
scattered coins on a dresser. Above, Warren Parker shows two watches valued at $150 which the housebreaker passed by. At the
right, above, is Oscar Menzel, Milwaukee, who has offered his service as an intermediary and at the lower right is the missing girl.
The reward for information leading to the arrest of her kidnaper has risen officially to $6,200.
FT. ATKINSON - False stories told by some of the persons investigated in the search for Georgia Jean Weckler, 8 year-old farm
girl missing since Thursday, set the investigation back by several days at least, Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry said Monday
night. "We thought we were making pretty good progress in reconstructing the events that led up to the disappearance of little child
at the head of the lane leading to her home," the sheriff said. "Now we have to start over again not from the beginning, but a good
ways back.
"This investigation would go a lot faster if some people would tell the full truth." The sheriff, who bad led the search for the girl
for the past six days, would not amplify the statement farther.
The announcement that there were no new clues and that some of the old clues were disintegrating came after a day in which
George Weckler, father of the missing girl, had broken down while making a radio plea for the return of the girl and in which a
posse had streaked off in hot pursuit of a blond haired young man who had ransacked a Ft. Atkinson house.
Taking to the air, the father pleaded: "Folks all over the country, my plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything that
can lead us to the child, for the child's sake, for the family's and for the party that has the child. I know that their cons cience is
going to feel 100 percent better within the next 12 hours if you return this child immediately" At one time during the broadcast,
he broke into tears. At the end of the broadcast, however, he said that he had more hope than ever that the child would be
returned unharmed. Authorities were not so hopeful, and feared that the appeal would go unanswered. Dist. Atty. Francis Garity
said that he feared the child had been taken by a sex maniac because no ransom note had been received.
Although Oscar Menzel, 37, Milwaukee friend of the Weckler family had offered to act as intermediary for the surrender of the
child, there was no indication that he had been contacted by persons who had taken the little girl.
Although Jefferson county and Ft. Atkinson police had sped off on the trail of a blond man who had entered and ransacked the
house of Mrs. E. R. Parker a few minutes after he fled, the man had not been captured this morning. He had entered the house

53
through the unlocked front door and was seen by Mrs. Warren Parker, daughter-in-law living next door, who had notified police.
A dark car, resembling that in which he had, fled, was seen later in the Cold Spring area, where the search concentrated.
Hopes were raised momentarily early in the night, when sheriff's officials in Tacon, Ill., picked up an 18-year-old ex-serviceman
for questioning. The youth, picked up on a vagrancy charge, had a piece of paper in his pocket with the names of George Weckler,
Georgia Weckler, and Ft. Atkinson police written on it. He was quoted as saying he was on his way to Ft. Atkinson to "help find
the girl."
Sheriff's Deputy Z. R. Graves' opinion was that the youth was "obviously a psycho case." Garity and the sheriff wired the Illinois
authorities to hold the youth for questioning this morning.
In Ft. Atkinson, crews were continuing the job they started Monday of checking the catch basins and manholes. Another bit of
checking Monday was also without result. Following a "hot tip," a group of farmers and law enforcement officials moved and
sifted a 2-ton pile of brush and rubbish in the woods in which it was first feared that Georgia had been lost. There was no trace of
the girl nor clue.
Although two newspapers and a check from a Milwaukee stock commission house for three cows and two pigs sold last week
were presumed to have been in the mail which Georgia had carried under her arm when last seen, no trace of them had been
found. One letter, discovered in the rubbish, was pieced together and found to have no bearing on the case.
From Walworth County, Sheriff Jack Cusask reported that a group of a dozen farmers had searched a woods on the Smuck farm
near Sharon after the family had reported hearing a child crying shortly after two suspicious looking cars had parked before the
woods. The search revealed nothing.
Another possible lead exploded Monday afternoon when a Fort Atkinson couple identified themselves as the pair who had been
seen on a Ft. Atkinson street corner with a car in which a little girl was crying. "From what they told me, the child needed a
spanking," said one police official.
Fortune tellers again entered the kidnap case, along with a bloodhound. A creek bed was searched on the advice of a fortune
teller, and a Milwaukee woman arrived with a plump dog which she said was a bloodhound. The bloodhound's main
accomplishment was to get in a tired sort of fight with another dog and to saunter off into the woods later on carrying a bone
which he had tracked down.
The Wisconsin State Journal May 10, 1947
(MILWAUKEE - N.P) - Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson county came to Milwaukee today to "run down a possible clue" to the
disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, believed to have been kidnaped from her farm home near Ft. Atkinson, more
than a week ago. Perry refused to divulge the nature of his clue. Immediately up on arrival here he went to the Milwaukee Safety
bldg. and conferred with officials of the city detective force.
Meanwhile, Gov. Rennebohm pledged state cooperation in the ' search for the little girl. Police officials of Madison also placed
facilities of their department at the disposal of local investigators. Rennebohm, Inspector H. J. Morris and Detective Thomas Nee
of the Madison police department, SHERIFF checks pile up as AD 1 met at Ft. Atkinson Friday afternoon for two hours with
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity and Sheriff George Perry. They discussed all aspects of the case, Garity said, and examined the farm
where the 8-year-old girl disappeared nine days ago.
"I am interested in the case like all of the people in the state," the governor said. "However, there is nothing the state can do now
to aid the county authorities who are doing all that is humanly possible." Nee and Morris offered the services of the Madison
police department, the equipment, or any of its crime experts if they were needed. Garity explained there was nothing to be done
except run down leads that were reported. "We spent the day surveying again all the leads and information we have on the case,"
Garity reported wearily. "Absolutely nothing new has developed except for some amateur detectives' reports. And of course we
have to track them down too always hoping.'
The district attorney said George Weckler, 45-year old farmer and father of the missing girl, was ordered to rest during the day.
"He's been under a terrific strain with no letup," Garity said. "We told him to go to bed and we would call him if anything
developed. Nothing did. Mrs. Weckler has been getting quite a bit of rest." It was reported Weckler was under a doctor's care who
administered opiates, but Garity could not confirm the report. The Weckler farm home, 6 miles west of here, was closed all
afternoon and evening to visitors so the family could relax and remain undisturbed.
A kidnaper was sought Friday in the disappearance of 8 year old Georgia Jean Weckler. The little girl has been missing since
Thursday afternoon, when, after being given a "lift" home from school, she turned into the familar lane leading to the home of her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler, well to do farmers living off Highway 12 six miles west of here. Since that time, search
parties numbering as high as 300 have hunted through the rolling farm country for the child. The search widened Saturday to the
district east of Fort Atkinson. No clue to her disappearance has been found.
Two incidents, related to authorities, have started a hunt for a man in his late twenties, driving a black, four door 1936 Ford sedan,
equipped with a spotlight and a spare tire carried on the rear. The black car, it was related, had been seen twice near the Weckler
farm about the time the girl disappeared. The two stories told to the men of Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson county contained
some contradictions between them, especially in time, which was not closely noted: They were:
1. About 3:40 p.m. Thursday, some 10 minutes after Georgia Jean was seen last, Ernie Simdon, Fort Atkinson, was driving east
on Highway 12. A black Ford sedan turned out of a byway ahead of him and he followed it to the city. He believes that the side
road was the lane leading to the Weckler farm.

54
2. About 3:50 p.m. the teacher of the Ives school, about two and one-half miles southwest of the Weckler home, noticed a car.
School had been dismissed and she remained alone, putting the Friday lessons on the blackboard. The car, on the side road running
past the school, moved slowly and hesitantly. The teacher went to the door and looked out. The car speeded up and went away. It
resembled the one seen by Simdon.
A third story is being checked by Fort Atkinson police sometime between 3:30 and p.m., Sam Klement of Fort Atkinson stopped
his car at an arterial sign near the Fort Atkinson telephone exchange. "An "old" car parked, and a man and woman got out, he told
Police Chief Harry O. Mueller. As they were half way across the street, a little girl in the back seat of the automobile cried, "Let me
out. I want to go home." The man, he related, turned back, reached into the car and appeared to strike the girl or pull something
over her head. Klement said the incident also was seen by two men standing on a corner and possibly by pickets marching in front
of the telephone building. The account of the missing girl's actions Thursday afternoon follows a comfortable, familiar pattern
until the point where she entered the familiar lane leading to her home. Then it ends abruptly.
Intended to Pick Flowers until 3 p.m. Georgia Jean was at the Oakland Center School, a short distance west of her home. She is a
third grade pupil. She had been driven to school by her mother her way home she was given a ride by Mrs. Carl Floerke, a
neighbor. In the car Georgia Jean mentioned that she thought she would pick flowers for a May basket. Mrs. Floerke let the girl
out at the entrance to the lane leading to the Weckler 200 acre farm. As she drove away, her daughter, Mary, 6, looked out the
back window. "She's reaching into the mailbox, mama," she said. That was the last anyone was known to have seen Georgia Jean.
The box was believed to have contained a great deal of mail. Georgia Jean's father, treasurer of the town of Oakland, receives a
great deal of mail, especially at the first of the month. No trace of any mail the girl may have been carrying has been found. Mrs.
Weckler was not alarmed at first by Georgia Jean's failure to arrive home. Weckler had driven to Fort Atkinson and she believed
that he had picked up Georgia Jean and taken her along.
But when Weckler returned without the girl at 6 p.m., a search was organized. It continued, by a small group, throughout the
night. Friday morning, a big search started. The Oakland Center School was dismissed by the teacher, Mrs. Don Miller. The Fort
Atkinson high school dismissed any boy pupils who wanted to join the hunt. Fort Atkinson factories extended the same privilege
to male workers. A sound truck, driven by John Briggs, went through Fort Atkinson streets, telling of the lost girl and asking for
volunteers. A total of 116 cars appeared within half an hour. Upward of 300 searchers were in the hunt at one time Friday
afternoon. Two airplanes droned overhead. The country around the Weckler home is farm land wide tracts of field and pasture,
smaller groves of trees, the largest of them not much more than 40 acres. There are two lakes nearby, Lake Ripley, where there is
a cottage colony, and Red Cedar Lake, surrounded by marshy shores. The woodlands are fairly open, without much cluttering of
underbrush. Hunters Scour Countryside There is nothing in the neighborhood not to be known fully by an 8 year old girl. Through
this placid countryside the searchers walked, looking in ditches, peering under the over turned rowboats on the Lake Ripley
beaches. Deserted buildings and farm sheds were searched. The lane to the Weckler home was scoured over and over again.
The search spread to a radius of four miles from the Weckler home. One small party, acting on a tip, made a search near
Watertown. Men walked four feet apart through the small woods in which a child might go to pick May flowers. Sheriff deputies
led the larger parties. The smaller adult groups worked by themselves, assigned to a geographical area by Sheriff Perry.
The skies were gray and rain fell intermittently on the searching parties. Friday night, the search took a fantastic turn. Acting on a
report that a Fond du Lac fortune teller had predicted that the girl would be found alive, Elmer Weckler, an uncle of Georgia Jean,
drove to that city: He received this advice:
'Go west from the farm to a gravel road leading southwest. There, in deserted house, Georgia Jean will be found in good shape
with a man' to follow down every possible angle, two county squad cars and a state traffic police car followed the instructions.
They went down a road answering the description and probed into empty buildings. One farm was aroused from sleep, but there
were no discoveries.
Only once did a searching party uncover anything. Georgia Jean's brother, La Verne, 12, was one of the discoverers. With Richard
Northey, 18, and Boddy Frey, 19, he was hunting through a woods near the Ives school, when they found the footprint of a small
girl. One of Georgia Jean's shoes fitted the print. But Saturday Eileen Armstrong, a neighbor girl, said that the footprint was hers.
She said she had made it when picking May flowers.
The big, comfortable Weckler house was turned into tumult by the incidents of the search. Normally, those living there are Georgia
Jean, her father, who is 54; her mother, Eleanor, 42; two sisters, Katharine May, 16, and Joan, 10, and her brother, La Verne. Friday
it was filled with neighbor women, in to help. They brought with them heaping mounds of food and cake, from which they
proferred lunches to the men who were searching. In the afternoon the Red Cross set up a stand there.
Georgia Jean's father, weary eyed, repressing fear beneath an exterior calmness, ate Friday afternoon for the first time since the
search began. Her mother, near a breakdown, was kept for a time under sedatives. Many of the searchers surged through the
house, using respites to gulp a lunch. Others refused. "They got troubles enough," they said, indicating the big farmhouse. And
they went back to the search.
The Wisconsin State Journal May 8th, 1947
FT. ATKINSON-(U.P)-Sheriff George Perry today asked authorities in 'northern Wisconsin to 'hunt for an elderly man driving a
"steel grey car with a crumpled fender" as the possible kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl missing a week
today. The appeal to officials in the area around Green Bay, 130 miles north of here, was prompted by a new lead given Perry
today. the tip came from Mrs. John Worachek, operator of a tavern in the village of Larrabee, 17 miles north of Manitowoc.
Mrs. Worachek said "an elderly man with the, brightest blue eyes have ever seen" entered her tavern at noon Saturday. He
ordered glass of beer. The man appeared very new us," she said. "In fact, he was o nervous he could hardly hold the glass of
55
beer. Just then I heard a child crying outside. It sounded like a girl and was very plain. She seemed to be saying: `Let me o ut!
Let me out!' Mrs. Worachek said she remarked to the elderly man that "someone's cooped up out there" but the man claimed "he
didn't hear a thing." When Mrs. Worachek started from behind the bar to investigate, the man stepped forward and though to
block her way.
Just then a boy entered the tavern and bought an ice cream bar he left immediately. "How much are the bar?" Mrs Worachek
quoted the elderly in as asking. When she told him he 'said I'll take one of them, no, you better make it two." As soon as he had
made his change, the man left the tavern hurriedly. By the time Mrs. Worachek got to the door, the car was on the highway,
moving north. She noted that the car was steel-grey in color and had damaged right rear fender.
On Monday, Mrs. Worachek visited friends in Peshtigo, some 70 miles north of her home. On the way back she noticed the same
car, parked near some tourist cottages north of Green Bay. She thought the cottages were at Duck Creek, but, was not certain.
Upon returning to Larabee she notified the Manitowoc county sheriff, Arthur Truttschell, of the series of incidents. Truttschell
relayed the information to Perry here. Perry said he "is sold on the idea that the girl was picked up in a car" when she disappeared
while on her way home from school May 1. He said it would have been impossible for her to have become lost.
The girl's father, George C. Weckler, is a well to do farmer, but authorities are of the opinion that she was kidnaped by a sex
maniac rather than by someone seeking ransom. An exhaustive search of the woods near the girl's home revealed no clue to her
disappearance Wednesday.
A mysterious trunk from a "haunted" house and suspicious black cars were investigated by Dane county police Wednesday night,
but no information concerning the missing Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, was uncovered despite the suspicions of Deerfield area
residents and Jefferson County police. All Deerfield was aroused by the finding of a large, old fashioned traveling trunk behind
tobacco shed on the Clair an Marlow Smithback farm, about miles west of Deerfield. Several calls were received at the jail from
residents of the neighborhood that they feared the trunk might contain the 8-year-old girl' body.
Sheriff Edward A. Fischer and undersheriff Elmer Ottum investigated and learned that the trunk had been dragged from a vacant
house on the Vernon Olson farm, about 1 mile away from the Smithback farm, by three Madison boys, aged 9 to 12. The youths,
who spent weekend vacations in the Deerfield area, and they believed the vacant house was haunted and took the trunk from
there, hoping to use it in setting up a "detective's club" of their own. The trunk is owned by Anton Feggestad, an elderly farmer
and previous resident of the "haunted" house, who now lives on another farm in the area. It contained old clothing, books, and
letters.
County officers were also called out about 8 p. m. to investigate a report by a farm woman that a mysterious black car, fitting the
description of the one seen near the Weckler farm in Ft. Atkinson he day of Georgia Jean's disappearance, was driven into the
marsh along Koskonong creek, north of Deerfield. About 30 residents of the area joined in the search, but no car was found.
Deputy Sheriffs George Graves and Gilbert Kapelke stopped a suspicious black car near Cambridge about midnight, on radio
request from the Jefferson county police, but the car occupants were released after they identified themselves as tourists returning
their homes in Rockford, Ill.
May 6, 1947 Fort Posse Chases Kidnap Suspect
FT. ATKTNSON - Posses streaked out of Ft. Atkinson this morning, hot on the trail of a blond haired young man they believed
may have been the kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl missing since Thursday. Within a few minutes after
the man lead fled from the back door of a. ransacked house and roared off in a dark car parked down the road, the posse was off in
pursuit.
The car was headed toward Whitewater on Highway 12 when it was last seen. The man had apparently been in search of food or
clothing, officials held. Money lying on a table was not taken. Mrs. E. R,. Parker. whose home is just, south of Ft. Atkinson on
Highway 32, saw the man walk up to the nearby home of her mother-in-law, Mrs. E. R. Parker, who was at work at the Chamber
of Commerce offices in Ft. Atkinson. Later, she was in the backyard taking in the clothes when she saw the man come out, of the
back door. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.
Then the man turned and ran for a dark car parked on the highway about 300 feet away and disappeared. Mrs. Parker notified
police and a, posse gathered before the police station ready to start out on another phase of the search, started in immediate, chase.
She described the man as blond between 20 and 21 years old, with ruddy complexion, and wearing blue jeans and a loose, tan,
short coat.
A check of the house showed that it had been rapidly but thoroughly ransacked. "If he wasn't the kidnaper, he sure picked the hottest
city in the nation to pull a robbery in," was the comment of one police officer.
Since Thursday, when the girl the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, who live 6 miles north of Ft Atkinson disappeared,
the countryside has been swarming with men, many of them armed, searching for some clue of the little girl.
February 29. 1996 DELAVAN
Jefferson and Walworth county authorities are investigating a man's claim that the body of a rural Fort Atkinson girl kidnapped a
half-century ago is buried beneath a Delavan floral shop.
Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme was to meet today with Walworth County Sheriff's Department deputies to check the
veracity of statements by Ed J. Lindloff of Delavan, who says that in 1947 he witnessed two men dump what he believes might
have been the body of Georgia Jean Weckler. Chief Deputy Mike Sullivan of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department confirmed
that Jefferson and Walworth authorities were to look into Lindloffs claim this afternoon. He added that dealing with a 49-year-old
case is difficult. "We're going on recollection here," Sullivan said. "It's still an open investigation and we'd like to solve this thing."

56
According to Sullivan, his department will be talking with people who were involved with the case when it was first opened in
1947, including some retired officers. The 8-year-old Weckler girl disappeared on May 1, 1947, after a neighbor apparently
dropped her off at the lane leading to her family's farm after attending Oakland Center School. She was believed to have lingered
in a wooded area near the long driveway to pick flowers for May baskets. The blonde, brown-eyed youngster was never seen
again.
On Dec. 15, 1947
Then District Attorney Francis Garity obtained a confession to the crime from Buford Sennett, who, with a Robert Winslow, were
serving life sentences at what was then the Wisconsin State Prison in Waupun for the murder of a University of Wisconsin-
Madison student and rape of the victim's sister-in-law the previous month. Sennett later recanted the oral confession.
On Wednesday, Channel 12 TV in Milwaukee aired a piece which indicated that Lindloff had seen two men bury a package about
4 1/2 feet in length the size of a child beneath what today is a Delavan greenhouse owned by Richard Hermann.
He repeated his story to the Daily Union today. "I'll start it at the beginning," Lindloff said, noting how he lived on a farm "a few
doors east" of where the present day greenhouse and floral shop are located, with his wife and two children. He was 27 at the
time. Lindloff recalled that he was working up a field for a neighbor in preparation for the spring corn planting when the
construction of a greenhouse peaked his curiosity, prompting him to talk with workers at the site. "The boiler room foundation of
the greenhouse had been poured and was waiting for the construction of the greenhouse on the west side," Lindloff explained. "I
saw two men starting to lay out a portion of the greenhouse to start construction."
In speaking with the two men, one of whom was an Elmer Spahn, Lindloff discovered that they were working for a company
based in Illinois. The other man did not introduce himself. The next day, a Friday morning, Lindloff recalled, he heard them
talking, as he was working quite close to the construction site. "We ought to go out looking for some girls this weekend," said the
unnamed man, according to Lindloff. "Sounds like a good idea," responded Spahn, Lindloff remembered. "How young do you
like them?" "The younger the better," replied the unnamed individual, Lindloff reported.
Returning to work in the afternoon, Lindloff found that the men had left, and they did not return until Monday morning. Lindloff
again began planting Monday morning, and said he saw the two men pull up to the construction site at about 9:15. "They backed
up Elmer Spahn's black 1937 Ford two-door automobile towards the foundation of the boiler room, opened the trunk, and got a
package out of the back of the trunk that I would judge to be about 4 1/2 feet long, and about the size of a pretty good sized
pumpkin in diameter," he recalled. "Elmer Spahn carried it in both arms over to the foundation of the boiler ream and threw it into
the excavated area and they immediately started to cover up whatever they threw in there with dirt, with two shovels," he
continued. "With my trips across the field, I would judge it took them a good 20 minutes to cover this up," recounted Lindloff.
By about Wednesday of that same week, Lindloff said, he saw the story of Weckler's disappearance in a Beloit newspaper, which
stated that someone had seen a black Ford car go down the Weckler driveway and pick up the young girl. "I started thinking about
this, and thought `there's something wrong here,' " Lindloff said.
While making egg deliveries as part of his farmwork shortly thereafter, Lindloff ran into the Walworth County sheriff at the time,
Chester Barnes, and relayed his suspicions., "I told the sheriff what I had seen," Lindloff said. "But lie didn't do anything about it."
Lindloff claims he told the sheriff his story again, three to four months later, and he said that Barnes took some notes. When
Lindloff again saw the sheriff a few months later, he questioned the sheriff. In the meantime, Lindloff said, Spahn had been
arrested for child molestation and was sentenced to three years in prison. Barnes reportedly questioned Spahn, who claimed he
didn't know anything about the incident. The other construction worker could not be located, as he was no longer working for an
Illinois construction company, Barnes apparently told Lindloff.
While Lindloff recounted his story to several people, he did not push the issue to the limit, he said, because his wife was "a nervous
person." But the Lindloffs were obviously very concerned for the safety of their daughter, who was six at the time, and their son,
who was three. "Immediately after I saw these two guys bury what I'm sure was a body, either my wife or myself would take my
daughter up to the school bus in the morning and we would meet the school bus at night to make sure she got back in the house,"
Lindloff said. This was a ritual the young couple continued until the two men finished the greenhouse and left town.
"Now I told a lot of people about this over the period of years," Lindloff noted. "But no one seemed to pay any attention to it until
I reported it to Sheriff Dean McKenzie," who is the current Walworth County sheriff. Lindloff said he first approached McKenzie
with the information about two years ago. Lindloff spoke with a deputy and McKenzie, and McKenzie also contacted Jefferson
County Sheriff Orval Quamme, according to Lindloff.
Lindloff next contacted the local media, he said. Last Monday, he and the Delavan newspaper staff spent about 4 1/2 hours talking
with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. Following the interview Lindloff said, members of the Jefferson County Sheriff's
Department returned to Delavan with him to look at the site where he believes Weckler's body is buried. "The thing that's bothered
me all these years is the fact that I thought the family should know where their little girl is buried. And I'm sure that is where she is
buried," Lindloff said with certainty in his voice. "Everything checks out." "I would like to see this finalized because I've had this
on my mind since 1947. I have thought about it almost daily, becoming very perturbed about the fact that there was a complete lack
of investigation for this when I first reported it. I havent had any success until Sheriff McKenzie and also Sheriff Quamme got on
this," Lindloff added.
Lindloff said that he is reliable person. He has been an alderman in the City of Delavan for eight years, he has been the Town of
Delavan chairperson for six years, and is currently on the town plan commission, as well as several other committees. He has
lived in Delevan nearly all his life, and was in the construction business for 35 years in the area. Hermann, owner of the floral
shop where Lindloff believes the body is buried, however, questions Lindloffs story. "The odds are so unlikely," Hermann said

57
this morning. "I think it's a figment of his imagination, to be quite honest with you. You're dealing with so many `ifs,' that its very
unlikely. This thing happened 50 years ago." He was not optimistic about the future of the case. "To me, I think its beyond logic
to pursue it further," Hermann said. "To come in here and tear a whole store up thinking that you're going to find something that
may or may not be there, to me, would be very unfounded."
Meanwhile, Sullivan said the claim made by Lindloff is not something new in regards to the Weckler case. He said that there have
been reports of people seeing things being buried more than once before. "A while back, they dug up Highway 12," Sullivan said.
"I also remember a rock quarry being dug up, as well." "If it turns out that they can't find anything, at least I've done my duty. But
there is no question, whatsoever, in my mind that what I saw was the burial of this poor little 8-year-old girl," Lindloff concluded.
If proven true, claims that the body of Georgia Jean Weckler is buried beneath a Delavan greenhouse would close the file on one
of Jefferson County's oldest and most-baffling mysteries. Jefferson and Walworth county law enforcement officials this afternoon
were slated to look into statements by Ed Lindloff of Delavan, who on Wednesday said he witnessed two men dump what he
believes might have been Weckler's body at the Delavan site back in 1947.
The two men he saw possibly could have been Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow, since Sennett at one time confessed to the
abduction and, despite his recantation later, has always been considered a possible player in the abduction. The 8-year-old
disappeared on May 1, 1947, after a neighbor apparently dropped her off at the lane leading to her family's farm after attending
Oakland Center School. She was believed to have lingered in a wooded area near the long driveway to pick flowers for May
baskets. The blonde, brown-eyed youngster was never seen or heard from again.
"I was involved in the Weckler case, Mr. Garity, but I was not alone," Sennett said in his confession. "A friend of mine, whose
name I refuse to disclose, who was acquainted in Jefferson County and knew of the Weckler family, planned to kidnap the little
girl for ransom." Sennett also stated at the time that "it was not hard to get her into the car" and that he backed out of the drive and
traveled east on U.S. Highway 12, turning right on the first crossroad. "We talked about whether or not we should go through with
our plans of abducting her," Sennett told Garity. "After a few minutes, I drove back to Highway 12 and down Highway 12 to the
Weckler drive and again turned into the Weckler drive, driving down a short distance. We then again decided to go through with
our plan of abducting the girl." Sennett said he again backed out of the drive and went west: "A man on a tractor pulling a wagon
was going by the Weckler drive," he said. He noted that his companion gave the girl two sleeping pills as they drove toward
Richland Center; he left the girl with his friend in a woods and then went out on a date.
"That night, I remained at home and the next morning I drove back to the woods, where I found that my friend had given the girl
the rest of the sleeping pills in the box except two, and that at that time I found that she was dead;" according to the confession.
"You will find, Mr. Garity that she was shot, but I know that she died from the sleeping pills."
In his confession, Sennett said they remained in the woods that day and night and then weighted down the body and took it to the
Blue River bridge, "where we dropped the body from the middle span at a point which is just opposite from where the body of
(Carl Carlson the university student murdered) was dropped."
He concluded: "At no time did I assault that little girl, Mr. Garity. She did not cry at any time, but did ask, `When are you going
to take me home?' "Sennett refused to sign the confession and no concrete evidence was ever found to bring up charges in that
crime. However, former Sheriff Roger Reinel, who had just began his duties as a patrolman the day of the kidnapping and
responded to the missing girl report, always believed in the confession.
In a 1987 interview, Reinel said there was a seven minute gap that the FBI and other authorities could not close, adding that it
involved a telephone repairman who was working in the area of the Weckler farm. "The lineman was on the pole in the drive
leading to the Weckler farm and when the car pulled into the driveway, his truck wasn't there," Reinel was quoted as saying. "He
had left and gone down the road to do some other work. When (Sennett) came back the telephone truck was in the yard." Reinel,
who died late last year, said he took photos of the gravel displaced from a vehicle turning around on the lane, and that there was
indeed a farmer on a manure spreader nearby. Also, he said, the 1936 Ford matched descriptions given deputies.
A year after the Weckler girl's disappearance, Garity told the Daily Union he had met with Sennett for three hours and the inmate
did not contradict the previous story that lie would not formally offer as a written confession. "That man just could not have told
me things he did unless he had a part in the crime," Garity stated. "Sennett told me several things about that crime that we of the
law enforcement agencies did not know ourselves." Garity said Sennett filled in unexplained details of the time schedule, and
described the girl, her clothing, the farm driveway and other items which no one could have recounted from the closest reading of
newspaper accounts.
Sennett himself was convicted' of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison Nov. 18, 1947. He was 22 and from Richland
Center, and was paroled Dec. 15, 1974, after serving 27 years. At the time of his sentencing to that charge, former Dane County
Judge Roy H. Proctor said that if Wisconsin had the death penalty, he would have no qualms in sentencing Sennett and Robert
Winslow to the gas chamber, electric chair or hangman's noose. It. was while serving time for the murder that Sennett gave the
confession to the Weckler abduction.
Sennett and Winslow, who met in prison while the former was serving time for a schoolhouse burglary, picked up Carl Carlson, 25,
and his 19-year-old sister-in-law, who were hitchhiking on a Madison Street Nov. 14, 1947. Carlson had met his sister-in-law at the
train depot but the train was late, so they missed their buy to Badger Village near Baraboo where Carlson, a World War 11 Navy
veteran, his wife and their 2-year-old daughter lived. The two men offered to drive the pair to Badger Village; however, along the
way, Sennett pulled out a revolver and shot Carlson. The men then repeatedly raped the woman, who escaped the next day.

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Sennett and Winslow were captured on a Clark County farm several days later. They pleaded guilty to rape, murder and
kidnapping. More recently, in 1987, Sennett pleaded no contest to first degree sexual assault and was sentenced to 20 years in
prison by an Outgamie County judge. The sentence is running consecutively to the life sentence. In that instance, Sennett, who
moved to the Appleton area alter his parole, was originally charged with having sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl on a weekly
basis during the summer of 1983 and with a 13-year-old girl in February 1986, all in Appleton. When the series of incidents in
1985 came to light, he was prosecuted on those charges. The 9-year-old girl told police that Sennett, who was residing with the
girl's mother at the time of the offenses, threatened her with being forced to live in a foster home if she told her mother what was
happening.
By the way, Sennett was not the only man to confess to the Weckler kidnapping. In October 1954, Charles Edward McClelland,
25, who admitted to four other murders and was being tried in Nebraska for the death of a prison guard there, also said he was
involved in the Weckler disappearance. He said the girl was strangled to death and that her body was buried near a creek bed in
Illinois. The area was searched but no evidence was found. He claimed he and an accomplice came to southern Wisconsin in
search of easy money via robbery and break-ins, and that they did not consider kidnapping Weckler until they saw her near the
long driveway of the family farm. He said they lured her into the car with a promise of taking her to the circus and offering her a
pony McClelland later said he made up the story when he read about the Weckler girl in an Omaha newspaper.

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 From Charley Project Website
Georgia Jean Weckler

Above: Weckler, circa 1947

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: May 1, 1947 from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Age: 8 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair, blue eyes.
Details of Disappearance
Weckler was last seen near her farm home in rural Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin at approximately 3:30 p.m. on May 1, 1947. A
neighbor gave her a ride part of the way home from school, dropping her off at the entrance to the half-mile-long driveway
leading up to her home. Weckler told the neighbor that she would go into the woods and pick some flowers for a May Day basket
before going home.
The neighbor saw Weckler collect some letters from her family's mailbox and start walking up the driveway, but she never arrived
at her house. She has never been heard from again and the mail she was carrying at the time of her disappearance has never been
found.
Witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored 1936 Ford sedan in the vicinity that afternoon. The car vanished at the same time
Weckler did, and tire tracks were found on the road. It was being driven by a blond man, 20 to 25 years old. This man is the prime
suspect in Weckler's presumed abduction. He has never been identified, though many individuals were questioned over the years.
At first investigators believed Weckler had been kidnapped for ransom, as her father was a man of means. Days passed and no
ransom demands were made, however. Authorities now believe Weckler was taken by a sexual predator.
Buford Sennett, a convicted murderer who had just started serving a life sentence in prison, confessed to Weckler's murder in the
fall of 1947. He claimed that he and a companion he refused to name had kidnapped her for ransom purposes and given her some
sleeping pills and she had accidentally overdosed and died. Sennett said he had tossed Weckler's remains into the Blue River near
the town of Blue River, Wisconsin. A search of the river turned up no sign of Weckler, however. Sennett was never charged in
connection with her case and police are not certain whether he was involved.
Weckler's case received additional attention ten years later, in 1957, when authorities in Plainfield, Wisconsin arrested Edward
Theodore Gein for murdering a local female tavern keeper. A photograph of Gein is posted below this case summary. Investigators
uncovered a gruesome scene at his farm which is still legendary; many body parts and items such as lampshades made from human
skin were located. Almost all of them turned out to be from local cemeteries; Gein confessed only to the murders of two tavern
keepers. He was declared insane and sent to a mental hospital, where he died in 1984. Gein is considered a possible suspect in
Weckler's disappearance and also in the disappearance of Evelyn Hartley, who was abducted from Lacrosse, Wisconsin in 1953.
Neither of them have ever been found. They do not fit the profile for Gein's known victims; both of the people he killed were
middle-aged women. Gein also does not match the description of the man believed to be Weckler's abductor, but he did own a
Ford. Weckler's disappearance is no longer under investigation by police, but it continues to puzzle people.

Above: Edward Gein

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 The Doe Network:
Case File 1727DFWI

Weckler, circa 1947

Georgia Jean Weckler
Missing since May 1, 1947 from Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: 1939-1940
Age at Time of Disappearance: 8 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'3"; 70 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde shoulder length straight hair; brown eyes.
Clothing: Pink button sweater over a blue T-shirt, blue jeans, blue flowered skirt, rubbers and a brown flowered head
scarf.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Weckler was last seen at approximately 3:30 p.m. near her farm home in rural Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin on May 1, 1947. A
neighbor gave her a ride part of the way home from school, dropping her off at the entrance to the half-mile-long driveway
leading up to her home. Weckler told the neighbor that she would go into the woods and pick some flowers for a May Day basket
before going home.
Georgia, a first-year 4H club member, reportedly "knew" the wood area and the possibility of her getting lost is, believed to be
slim. The neighbor saw Weckler collect some letters from her family's mailbox and start walking up the driveway, but she never
arrived at her house. She has never been heard from again and the mail she was carrying at the time of her disappearance has
never been found.
Witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored 1936 Ford sedan in the vicinity that afternoon. The car vanished at the same time
Weckler did, and tire tracks were found on the road. It was being driven by a blond man, 20 to 25 years old. This man is the prime
suspect in Weckler's presumed abduction. He has never been identified, though many individuals were questioned over the years.
At first, investigators believed Weckler had been kidnapped for ransom, as her father was a man of means. Days passed and no
ransom demands were made, however. Authorities now believe Weckler was taken by a sexual predator. Buford Sennett, a
convicted murderer who had just started serving a life sentence in prison, confessed to Weckler's murder in the fall of 1947. He
claimed that he and a companion he refused to name had kidnapped her for ransom purposes and given her some sleeping pills and
she had accidentally overdosed and died. Sennett said he had tossed Weckler's remains into the Blue River near the town of Blue
River, Wisconsin. A search of the river turned up no sign of Weckler, however. Sennett was never charged in connection with her
case and police are not certain whether he was involved.
Weckler's case received additional attention ten years later, in 1957, when authorities in Plainfield, Wisconsin arrested Edward
Theodore Gein for murdering a local female tavern keeper. Gein confessed only to the murders of two tavern keepers. He was
declared insane and sent to a mental hospital, where he died in 1984. Gein is considered a possible suspect in Weckler's
disappearance and also in the disappearance of Evelyn Hartley who was abducted from La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1953. Neither of
them have ever been found. They do not fit the profile for Gein's known victims; both of the people he killed were middle-aged
women. Gein also does not match the description of the man believed to be Weckler's abductor, but he did own a Ford.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Friday May 2nd, 1947
Girl, 8, Vanishes Near Ft. Atkinson
24-Hour Search Fails to Locate Georgia Weckler
Last Seen Half-Mile From Her Home After Leaving Rural School
Fort Atkinson.Eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, route 1, who disappeared
Thursday afternoon while on her way home from the Oakland Center rural school, has been the object of an intensive search by
200 volunteers for the past 24 hours.
The child, a third grader has been missing since shortly after 1 p. m. Thursday when Mrs. Carl Floerke, whose daughter is also a
pupil at the school, dropped her at the dirt road off U. S. Highway 12 leading to the Weckler home about one-half mile from the
house after giving her an automobile ride from the school, a mile distant. Mrs. Floerke and her daughter watched Georgia Jean
approach the mail box, take out its contents, and start walking down the road to her home. She has not been seen since, nor have
the contents of the mail box been found.
Members of the Cambridge fire department, the American Legion post and groups of the Wecklers' neighbors joined last night in
a search of the 20 acres of woods nearby hoping to find the child. A schoolmate, Beverly Ebersohl, reported that Georgia had
planned to go into the woods to gather flowers for May baskets. The hunt vas continued Friday morning, with searchers travelling
about four feet apart, in an effort to cover every inch of the woods.
200 More Join Search
Searching parties left Fort Atkinson at 12:45 p. m. today to cover Borchardt's woods and all of the territory around the Weckler
farm for several miles. Loudspeakers mounted on trucks went through the city's streets announcing the formation of the parties
and about 200 volunteered for the search. Paul Cornish of the American Legion is promoting the parties.
Investigation by Sheriff George Perry and members of the Jefferson county sheriffs department, summoned by the Weckler
family when their daughter failed to arrive home at a reasonable time, as led to the questioning of an 18 year-old Whitewater
youth, said to be in possession of a car answering the description of a vehicle seen in the neighborhood at about the time the child
disappeared. The lad reportedly could account for his time from 5:30 to p. m. on, but was unable to do so for the earlier hours.
Search was also instituted for a man 25 to 30 years old, driving a 1936 Ford sport coach of light color with a built-in trunk. The
car was seen driving on highway 12, near the spot where the girl as last seen.
Usually Rode Bicycle
Mrs. Weckler told a Gazette reporter this morning that ordinarily the Weckler children; Laverne 12, Joan 10, and Georgia rode
bicycles to school, but Thursday corning she took them to school in the car because of the rain. Georgia left school before her
sister since her work at school is completed at 3 p. m. while the others are studying until 3:30. The Wecklers have another
daughter, Catherine May, 16. Mr. Weckler is treasurer of Oakland Township.
Georgia Jean stands 51 to 52 inches tall, weighs about 70 pounds, has blonde straight hair parted in the middle and bobbed
shoulder length. Yesterday she was wearing a pink cardigan sweater over a blue cotton T-shirt and blue jeans. Over the jeans she
had a blue cotton skirt dotted with moon-shaped figures, her head was protected by a brown flower scarf.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Monday, May 12th, 1947
Seek Ex-Convict in Kidnap Case,
Probe Link Between Slaying of Girl, 5, and Weckler Case
Jefferson Sheriff George Perry of Jefferson county said today that a curly-haired ex-convict who disappeared from this locality on
the day when little Georgia Jean Weckler was believed stolen, May 1, had become the object of an intensive search.
He is a young man with dark curly hair and speaks with an accent, the sheriff said. Perry said the suspect had been working as a
farmhand, and had confided to acquaintances that he was an ex-convict from Pennsylvania.
The new angle in Georgia Jean's case was brought to light when Pennsylvania police sought to establish a link between the
abduction-rape-slaying of a five-year-old girl at Norristown Saturday and disappearance of the eight-year-old farm girl from
Jefferson County at the request of Sheriff George Perry. Pennsylvania state police and county authorities however expressed
belief the slayer of the Thompson girI was a local man who knew the backroads of the county.
Meanwhile the search for eight-year-old Georgia Jean remained stalemated. In a new effort to solve the child's disappearance
Sheriff Perry sought help from the Milwaukee detective bureau and received the assurance of Lt. J. M. Niederkorn that all clues
leading to Milwaukee would be thoroughly investigated.
In St. John's community church at Oakland, which the Wecklers attend, the Rev. Alban Tippins urged the congregation in his
Mother's day sermon to pray for the family which has been so sorely tried. "As we are one together, their loss is our loss," he said,
"and their sadness is ours to share. The prayers of united Christians avail much."
A bouquet of spring flowers was taken to Mrs. Weckler after the service. Only member of the family present was William
Weckler, grandfather of the lost child.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Wednesday, May 14th, 1947
Neighbors Hold Bee to Aid Father of Missing Fort Girl
Fort AtkinsonSixteen farmers equipped with 11 tractors, appeared about 8:30 this morning at the 30 acre George Weckler farm
on route 1 for a plowing bee. Unable to start his spring work because of the disappearance of his eight-year-old daughter, Georgia
Jean, on May 1, Mr, Wackier is receiving the welcome assistance of his neighbors. The "bee" was organized by 'Clarence
Trieloff, president of the Fort Farmers club.
Meanwhile county and City officials are pressing the search for the little girl who vanished while on her way home from the
Oakland Center school. The finding of a bloodstained tan overcoat in Outagamie County was looked upon as a possible clue and
the garment has been sent to the FBI laboratories in Washington, D. C., for testing.
Farmers plowing at the Weckler farm today are: Carol Trieloff, Clarence Matthews, Norman Thompson, Francis Mullen, Emery
Davis, Allan Hats. Willard Tellefson, Edgar Armstrong, Orrin Mode, Herman Heise, Erwin Pantel and Lawrence Falk. Helping
with the work, also are Loren Becker, Harold Draeger, Sam Chapman, Clarrace Trieloff.
Brodhead Council Gives Camp Area to Boy Scouts
BrodheadThe city council at its last meeting granted to Troop 108 the exclusive use of the area at Decatur which the Scouts
have been using for weekend training camp. Thus comes into being a permanent year around camp.
Last Saturday afternoon the Scouts of Troop 108 assisted the police in an intensive search of the woods and open areas at Decatur
for a possible trace of little Georgia Jean Weckler at the request of Fort Atkinson authorities.
Sunday morning seven mothers appeared wearing corsages of red, white and blue flowers to which was attached a small red heart
bearing the Scout insignia. These were the mothers of Brodhead's seven life Scouts, the only persons, other than Scouts, entitled
to wear this-insignia. They were gifts for Mother's day.
Wednesday night several troops from Green county district will come to Brodhead to attend a real court of honor at which the
following will receive awards: Werner Weissenfluh, Guy Pierce, John Derning, Don Conway, Jack Pinnow, Eugene Stuessy,
Robert Bliss, Robert Conway, Robert Reigie, Curtis Erickson and Jack Covert.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Tuesday, November 25th, 1947
Weckler Neighbors Will Go to View Possible Suspect in Prison After Seeing Car
Madison AP - A number of "key witnesses" in the disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler in Jefferson county last
May will be taken to the Waupun state prison to view Buford Sennett, 22, who is serving a life term for murder, Dist. Atty. Edwin
Wilke said today.
Sennett and his companion, Robert Winslow, 24, also sentenced to life for first degree murder in the slaying of Carl Carlson, a
University of Wisconsin student, denied any connection with the Weckler case when questioned last week by Dist. Atty. Francis
Garity of Jefferson county. Sennett said he was working at a farm near Richland Center last spring and also was employed at a
bowling alley.

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Several witnesses who saw an automobile near the scene of the Weckler girl's disappearance on May 1 were taken to Richland
Center yesterday and viewed an automobile which Sennett owned at the time the child was last seen. Wilkie said the, witnesses
were asked not to form a definite conclusion until they had viewed Sennett at the prison. The Dane county prosecutor said
preliminary investigation had established that Sennett was working at Richland Center last May. Garity said evidence indicated
Sennett "worked but little" the week of the girl's disappearance.
Garity added that the information obtained yesterday was 'inconclusive," but did not entirely eliminate Sennett as a suspect.
NEIGHBORS FAIL TO IDENTIFY AUTOMOBILE
Fort Atkinson - Neighbors of Georgia Jean Weckler, who disappeared from the farm home of her parents on route 1 May 1, were
un-able to identify the automobile of Buford Sennett at Richland Center Monday. Accompanied by Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of
Jefferson County and other officials, four neighbors visited the home of a former employer of Sennett. Mr. Garity reported on his
return: "Not much was learned but the investigation is being continued."
On and prior to May 1, Mrs. Hollis Olson, Walter Retzlaff. Louis Behrn and Marvin, Thom reported seeing a 1936 black Ford in
the Weckler neighborhood. The Jefferson County district attorney professed belief that Sennett, who said he was employed in a
bowling alley at Richland Center at the time the eight-year-old girl disappeared, might have been involved. The childs father,
George Weckler, accompanied the group to Richland Center.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Thursday, December 11th, 1947
Hunt Weckler Grave in Appleton
Anonymous Note Leads Officers to Cemeteries
Kaukauna Girl Sought on Story of Threat by Motorist
Appleton AP - The dramatic Georgia Jean Weckler investigation, which has blazed throughout the midwest on a score of clue
since the eight-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl disappeared May 1, centered in this central Wisconsin city today, where
authorities were trying to learn the identity of the author of an anonymous letter.
Dist. Atty, Elmer Honkamp said last night he would appeal to press and radio for a girl from nearby Kaukauna, who wrote letter
concerning a pair of convicted murderers, to come forward identify herself in confidence and give information he believes might
be pertinent to the Weckler case.
Honkamp said he received the girl's letter Wednesday from Dist Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County, and that the note had
been written following the newspaper publication of photographs of Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow who were sentenced to
life terms for the slaying of Carl Carlton of Superior, a University of Wisconsin medical student
Threatened with Death
The letter, Honkamp said, identified one of the convicts fit did not specify which one as a man who picked the writer up while she
was hitchhiking to Appleton last summer. The driver, the writer said, made advances and frightened her. Forced to stop by a flat
tire, the driver told the girl not to try to run away, or she would get what that girl in the Appleton cemetery got.
Honkamp said a package, containing a newspaper clipping of the Weckler girl's disappearance, pages of a detective story and a
Wisconsin road map, had been found in en Appleton cemetery last June, about a month after the girls disappearance.
Cemetery Tail Is Tall
Re declined at present to say in which cemetery the find was made. The district attorney said an investigation probably would be
made Of the cemetery, but that he hoped first to locate and talk to the girl who wrote the letter. He said the note had been written
to Dane County Diet Atty. Edwin Wilkie who, in turn forwarded it to Garity.
Further details on the Appleton cemetery development were disclosed today by Police Chief Herbert W. Kapp of Appleton. Kapp
said his department was notified the night of June 18 by two women that a mysterious automobile parked in Riverside cemetery
on the east side of the city. Officers investigated, he said, but the car was gone. Its occupant was described by the women as tall
and dark, wearing dark clothing, rough-looking, and "rather young."
Wecklers News Clippings
The officers found a pile of debris beside a tree, Kapp said. An attempt had been made to burn it without success. The pile
included parts of Milwaukee and Chicago newspapers of May 4 with pictures and stories of the Weckler girl's disappearance, the
fiction section
of a detective story magazine, a wallet containing a lock of hair and a piece of cloth. The latter, Kapp said, appeared to be part of
the shoulder section of a girl's dress. It contained padding, he said, and appeared to be spattered with blood. The finds were turned
over to Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry and Garity of Jefferson county. Kapp said.
Garity Discounts Clues
At Jefferson, Garity said he "didn't recall" any blood-stained fragment of cloth among the cemetery findings. I sent all that stuff to
the FBI for checking," the Jefferson County district attorney said, and don't remember their report showing anything about blood.
I remember the cloth and I believe I showed it to the Weckler family. They didn't think it resembled anything Georgia Jean wore
if my memory is correct, "I had an awful lot of things on my mind at that time." Earlier Wednesday, Sennett refused flatly to
submit to a lie detector test in connection with the Weckler case, despite tearful pleas from his parents and his brother, who
visited him in Waupun prison. Dist. Atty. Leo Lownik of Richland County said the convict ended a three-hour meeting with his
family with the words, "I don't like law enforcement officers." Garity said he questioned Sennett extensively at Waupun last night
end that the youth didnt close the door completely on lie detector test. He would give any particular reason for not taking it now.
Garity said, just as I leaving he said he might be willing to take the test at some later time. According to Garity, Sennett

64
companion in the Carlson murder, Winslow, volunteered to take the lie detector test last night after repeated denials he had any
connection with the Weckler child.
Winslow Tells Truth?
"We haven't gone over the findings of the test thoroughly as yet" Garity said, "but on the basis of a preliminary analysis they
more or less indicate he was to telling the truth end wasn't involved in that matter." This might be supported by information made
public at Richland Center to the effect that Winslon came to the Sennett home to live August
Officers at Richland Center Wednesday indicate that they were "positive" that Sennett was the abductor of the Fort Atkinson girl,
but today's developments insofar as they were made public added little to their position. They said Wednesday that innumerable
"pieces of circumstantial evidence tied the Waupun prisoner to the Weckler case. Lownik said Sennett talked freely about
"having buried a spotlight in the backyard of his home in 1943." Lownik continued "He said he dug around there this fall too.
According to what he told us, he was looking for the spotlight."
Authorities, digging in the Sennett yard at Richland Center Tuesday uncovered the remains of retrench 41/2 feet by 2 feet by 3
feet, but Lownik said "whatever had F sheen in it had been dug up sometime before frost set in." Following the digging, however,
Wilkie said at Madison that "certain evidential material" had been discovered in the search, but he declined to disclose the nature
of the find.
Called Temporary Grave
Digging operations which brought to light the trench, excavated possible twice within recent months, followed a report by a friend
of Sennett's mother, that Mrs. Sennett had told of seeing her son digging in the yard. Sheriff Marshall on Wednesday went so far as
to say that he believed the Weckler girl's body may have been buried there temporarily and later moved. The hole it was contended,
was too large for the concealing of stolen articles, and no thefts of any importance had been reported in the area.
While inspecting the Sennett home and yard, officers also found a hide-out which Sennett had built located under a stairway with
a secret entrance concealed by a bathdoor cabinet. Their investigation also uncovered the fact that Sennett had been sentenced by
a juvenile court at 14, while he was a high school sophomore, for a morals case involving a 7-year-old girl.
Distance Not Far
Another find at the home, regarded as important by Richland Center officers was a calendar pad upon which Sennett had recorded
work at a Richland Center bowling alley. The pad revealed that on April 30, May 1, and May 2, he had not worked, while on May
3, it was recorded that he worked 23 1ines. The child disappeared at Fort Atkinson on May 1.
At Richland Center, Sennett's home town, officers discounted the theory that Fort Atkinson was too far away for the man to have
had anything to do with the Weckler case. Dist. Atty, Lownig there said "distance meant nothing" to Sennett, and disclosed that
his investigation showed that the man frequently made automobile trips to Rockford, Ill., just for a date returning the same night.
He also was found to have had girl friends in Beloit, Oshkosh and Baraboo, often driving to see them and beck home in a single
night. Lownik also pointed to Sennett's and Winlow's admission that they drove more than 150 miles from their home to Phillips,
Wis., where they confessed to shooting and injuring two girls.
Text of Girls Letter
Following is a copy of the letter received by Wilkie from the Kaukauna girl: "Maybe I better tell you what happened to me one
evening in the summer when I was walking along to highway near Kaukauna when a fellow in a car picked me up and gave me a
ride. But when he started to get fresh I noticed that he had been drinking, I sure was "Then he started to curse something awful
because his rear tire went flat. Before he got out to fix the tire he warned be if I tried run away from him I would get same
medicine the other little girl got that he hid in cemetery at Appleton. Just then another stopped beside us with an elderly man and
lady in it, to ask the fellow if he needed any help. "I asked them if I could ride along with them to Kaukauna and they told me that
I could. I sure was glad to get away from that mean fellow, but you should have seen the dirty look he gave me. I could see he
was plenty mad at me. He looks just like one of those fellows whose picture was in the paper. It gives me the creeps to think at a
narrow escape I had, but swear he is the same one who confessed murdering that student in Madison last week. I'm afraid to tell
my folks about this, maybe there is some truth in what this fellow told me about little girl."
Janesville Daily Gazette
Monday, December 15th, 1947
Sennett Confesses Kidnap-Death Of Weckler Girl; Body in River
Says Child Died From Overdose of Sleeping Pills
BULLETIN
Blue River, Wis. (AP) Buford Sennett confessed slayer of eight-year-old Georgia Jean Wielder, was brought from the
state prison at Waupun under heavy guard today to help officers dragging the Blue river here for the girl's body.
Jefferson - AP) - A confession from a lifer's cell to day tied together two of Wisconsin's most heinous crime and brought the long
search for eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler to a grisly close.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said he had obtained written confession from Buford Sennett, 22, sentenced to life imprisonment last
month for the murder of Carl Carlson, a University of Wisconsin student, that he and an unnamed accomplice gave Georgia Jean
Weckler of Fort Atkinson a fatal overdose of sleeping pills last May 1, after kidnaping her from the lane of her rural home.
The body, Garity said the confession continued, was dumped into the Blue river in Western Wisconsin from the same span
Sennett and Robert Winslow, 24, wrapped Carlson's body after an all-night orgy of rape and murder Nov. 14. "We dropped the
body just opposite the place we dropped Carlson's body," Garity said the confession related. "It was well weighted and you should

65
find it nearby." Garity said dragging operations had begun. Sennett refused to divulge the name of his companion, Garity said,
adding he was convinced it was not Winslow.
Planned Ransom Demand
The confession said the pair intended originally to kidnap the child, whose parents are well-to-do farmers, and hold her for
ransom.
They picked the child up in the lane of her farm home after she had been dropped off by a neighbor giving her a ride home from
school. Sennett said his car was used in the original phases of the crime, and that he drove while his friend kept the little girl on
the floor of the rear seat. The pair drove to a woods near Richland Center, Sennett's home, Garity said and got into the friend's car.
They gave the girl two sleeping pills.
Sennett said he then drove away to keep a date with a girlfriend, leaving the other man and the Weckler child alone in the car
parked in the woods. The next morning, the confession continued, Sennett returned to the woods and found the girl dead. Garity
quoted the confession: "You will find, Mr. Garity, she was shot, but I know she died of the sleeping pills." The district attorney
said he was unable at this time to explain the shooting or when it happened.
Throw Body in River
Sennett related, Garity said, that he and his friend stayed in the woods with the girl's body all that day and night. Then, he said,
they weighted the body and took it to the Blue river, a tributary of the Wisconsin river, where they dumped it off the middle of the
span just opposite the place we dropped Carlson's body. "It was well weighted," the confession said, and you should find it
nearby.
At no time," the confession continued, "did I assault that little girl. She asked once 'When are you going to take me home,' but I
never touched her." Garity said it appeared positive Winslow was not involved in the ease, but that he did not know who the
accomplice was and was continuing to investigate.
Sennett Confession
Garity said Sennet confession, In substance, is as follows: "I was involved in the Weckler case, Mr. Garity, but I was not alone 'a
friend of mine, whose name I refuse to disclose, who was I acquainted in Jefferson county and knew of the Weckler family,
planned to kidnap the little girl for ransom. With this plan in mind, we left Richland Center, but left my friend's car in the woods
about three miles south from the city of Richland Center and then drove to Jefferson County in my car. "The little girl was
walking down the Weckler drive to her home, and I turned my car and drove down the Weckler drive to her. It was not hard to get
her into the car and she was placed into the rear seat down on the floor with my friend.
"I then backed out of the Weckler drive and headed east on highway 12 to the first crossroad and then turned right and drove
down this road a short distance and stopped my car. We then talked about whether or not we should go through with our plans of
abducting her, After a few minutes, I drove back to highway 12 and down highway 12 to the Weckler drive and again turned into
the Weckler drive, driving down a short distance.
Headed for Madison
"We then again decided to go through with our plan of abducting the girl, I again backed my car out of the drive and after I turned
at the head of the drive to proceed in a westerly direction, a man on a tractor pulling a wagon was going by the Weckler drive. "At
this time my friend and the Weckler girl were on the floor of the car by the rear seat. I drove west on highway 12 in the direction
of Madison. but turned right at the first blacktop road, which ran in a northerly direction. After going up this road some distance. I
got lost, but after driving around for some time, I again came out on highway 12 and headed toward Madison. "I drove through
Madison with my friend and the girl in the back seat and headed toward Richland Center, stopping in the woods, where my friend
had previously left his car. The Weckler girl and my friend got into the other car and I gave the Weckler girl two sleeping pills
and then gave the box of sleeping pills to my friend who remained in his car in the woods with the Weckler girl all night.
Finds Child Dead
"I drove into Richland Center in my own car, arriving there about 6:30 and that evening I had I date with a girlfriend that night I
remained at home and the next morning I drove back to the woods where I found that my friend had given the girl the rest of the
sleeping pills in the box except two and at that time I found that she was dead. You will 'find, Mr. Garity, that she was shot, but I
know that she died from the sleeping pills. "We remained in the woods all that day and that night. After weighting down her body,
we took he body to the Blue River Bridge; there we dropped the body from the middle span at a point which is just opposite from
where the body of Carlson was dropped. It is well weighted down and should be near the spot where the Carlson body was found.
"At no time did I assault that little girl. Mr. Garity. She did not cry at any time, but she ask, 'When are you going to take me
home?"
Continue Dragging
Dragging operations continued for the second day today at Blue River, 20 miles southwest of here. Rapid current and high water
impeded yesterday's dragging, although lowering of the Wisconsin river was started Saturday night by closing locks of the dam at
Prairie du Sac. Originally operations were scheduled to begin today but Mr. Garity said it was feared the river would freeze before
today.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Tuesday, December 16, 1947
Ice Floes Halt Dragging for Body
Coffer Dam May Be Used to Aid Weckler Search
Dist. Atty. Garity Well Satisfied Sennett Involved in Case
Blue River The raging, ice flecked torrent of the Wisconsin River today stubbornly resisted efforts to recover the body of an
eight-year-old girl who, a convicted killer said, was thrown from the bridge after her abduction last May 1
Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center, already sentenced to life imprisonment for one vicious orgy of fun and murder, pointed out
yesterday where he said he had thrown the drugged and bullet-pierced body of blue-eyed Georgia Jean Weckler, Fort Atkinson
farm child. All dragging operations were cancelled today and the possibilities of utilizing other methods of conducting the search
were being considered.
Richland County Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik said he had asked the attorney general's office and the state public service
commission regarding possibility of diverting waters of the river into a tributary, which flows off-stream not far from the Blue
River Bridge. This action, Lownik said, would lower the water level considerably, thus enabling dragging crews and divers to
operate with a greater degree of efficiency.
Coffer Dam Suggested
At Madison the public service commission said that if no formal protest was made against placing a coffer dam below one of the
three bridge spans it was probable that searchers could go ahead with such a dam, if it did not interfere with navigation.
It was pointed out that there was practically no navigation on the river at this time of the year. Edward T. Kaveny, PSC secretary
said the state agency would cooperate in the searching efforts as much as possible. Atty. Gen. John E. Martin said a conference
with authorities from the four counties involved in the search was planned in connection with a request for state financial aid.
Sennett, now serving a life term for slaying of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student confessed Saturday to Francis
Garity, district attorney of Jefferson county that he and a friend, whose name Sennett would not disclose, had dumped the girl's
body into the river after she had died of an overdose of sleeping pills during the kidnaping. Carbon's body was found a short
distance from the present searching operations.
Confession Not Signed
Garity said today in Jefferson that long hours of questioning not magic words," were responsible for obtaining the confession
which Garity announced yesterday. Garity said he had spent "Many long hours doggedly running down hundreds of clues, and
had gone almost without any sleep for the last three days. The confession, Garity explained was not in the form of a document, "I
reconstructed the account, giving Sennett's version in substance.' Sennett told me that he would never tell who the other party was
the district attorney said. Answering insinuations printed in a Milwaukee morning newspaper that Sennett's "confession" to
complicity was manufactured by the convict under pressure. Dist. Atty. Garity said, "There is no doubt in ' my mind but that
Sennett is involved in the Weckler case."
Garity outlined in detail for newsmen his procedure in gaining the verbal statement regarding the fate of the eight-year-old farm
girl and told of going to Waupun Saturday for a final try at obtaining a lie-detector test. The two talked: all afternoon, Garity said,
and continued discussing the Weckler disappearance after a dinner recess. Sennetts story to the Jefferson' county district attorney
was complete by 11:30 p. m.
Described Girls Clothing
Credulity was added to Sennetts, story, the district attorney said when the man discussed in detail the rainy, cold weather of May
1 and 2, the clothing worn by the little girl, the location of the Weckler farm and other salient facts. Garity said he had talked with
Sennett for some time before the prisoner indicated he had guilty knowledge of the Weckler case. Garity quoted Sennett as
follows: Mr. Garity, what would happen if I told you I did have some connection with the Weckler case? Then, according to the
district attorney, Sennett asked: "What would happen to me if I told you where the body is?" After Garity had answered, Sennett
said "She died of an overdose of sleeping pills." then proceeded to relate his story. The district attorney said Sennett read and
approved a transcript of his statement but refused to sign it. Garity said he did not press the point.
Aides Are Praised
Garity paid high tribute to various county officers who have worked on the case since its beginning under his direction. Assisting
in the search of the missing child have been Rudy Reichert and Glenn Pattee of the county traffic patrol: Willard Laeach,
conservation warden; Loren Briese, formerly of the county traffic patrol and now associated with the state traffic patrol and:
Wally Goeglein a deputy sheriff.
Aid of several local resident has been sought in recent weeks S. L. Fuester, a Stevens Point truck driver, who reported seeing a car
in the Weckler driveway on May 1, was among those who were taken to Richland Center to view a 1936 Ford reportedly owned
by Buford Sennett last spring Marvin Thom, who passed the Weckler driveway driving a tractor and hauling a wagon load of
rubbish to a nearby dump, may have been the man on the tractor cited in Sennett's confession" on Saturday.
Other neighbors of the Wecklers, who were taken to view the car and later taken to Waupun to see Sennett, were Louis Behm,
Walter Retzlaff and Mrs. Hollis Olson. Dr. D. M. Angevine, chairman of the pathology department of the University of
Wisconsin medical school said that There is a reasonable expectancy that, if a body had been placed in the river seven month
ago, it still would he there, with temperature and rate of flow of water important factors in matter of preservation."
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 Current Is Fast
Some observers expressed doubt that any trace could remain of a body thrown into one of the Wisconsin's several main channels,
which in springtime carry, some of the fastest water on the continent. The raging current fought against a diver sent down after
the body yesterday. The river is running "very fast" and is about 8 to 10 feet deep under the bridge. The dragging yesterday was
directed by Louis Marshall, superintendent of the rough fisheries division of the state conservation commission, with a crew of 14
men from rough fish removal camps.
Sennett stood on the bridge for 40 minutes yesterday after all spectators had been removed at his request. Then he was returned to
the Waupun state prison, where he made the confession Saturday. A month ago Sennett stood on the same bridge and pointed out
where he had tossed the trussed and weighted body of Carlson, a young medical student. Carlson's body was recovered, and
Sennett and Robert Winslow, 24, were sentenced to life terms for the killing which was a part of a night-long horror of blood and
lust. A University of Michigan co-ed was raped several times during the orgy. Both killers were trapped in a backwoods farm
building. They gave up after a 15-hour bloodless siege.
Winslow has been cleared of any connection with the Weckler case, Garity said. Sennett, whimpering that "At no time did I
assault the little girl, Mr. Garity." said in a statement that a "friend" had accompanied him in the kidnaping, but refused to identify
him. His statement said that after they coaxed the little girl into their car, they discussed giving up their kidnaping and ransom
plans, but instead went to a woods near Richland Center, where she was given sleeping tablets. Sennett had a "date with a
girlfriend" that night and when he returned to the woods he found her dead of an overdose of drugs. "You will find, Mr. Garity,
that she was shot," the statement said. "But I know she died from the sleeping pills." At Fort Atkinson, George Weckler, father of
Georgia Jean, said "We are relieved to know our little girl is beyond suffering." He declared Mrs. Weckler "is taking it pretty
hard."
No Punishment Can Meet the Crime
A sympathetic world waits intently for further word of the fate of little Georgia Jean Weckler. After months of cruel anxiety the
Jefferson family, whose lovely child was spirited away last May, at last know the worst of this inhuman crime. Their child is
gone. Their waiting is ended.
Society cannot assuage their grief, nor mete out punishment adequate to those who kidnapped Georgia Jean. Already one
murderer, sentenced to life, has confessed he is "involved" and implicates another. His story eliminates the rumors and various
clues that have kept officials searching for substantial evidence these long months. Dist. Atty. Francis Garity has followed clue
after clue, often without the help he needed, and his success in obtaining the confession from Buford Sennett, the admitted slayer
of Carl Carlson, should be given full credit. The only way that society can atone for this heinous crime is in analysis of the
elements that contributed to Sennett's
criminal tendencies and correction of these influences. Home background, the school, child playmates, circumstances, parental
influence or lack of it, youthful interests, and reactions, early attempts at correction tor his wayward trend; the courts all have a
bearing upon this murderer's career.
Society can do something about these influences. The people of this community and other communities in Wisconsin face a
problem. It involves youth and the training of youth. It involves family life, work habits, moral stamina, youth activities, the
schools, the churches, youth agencies and opportunity. The tragedy of Georgia Jean Weckler could serve to stir Mr. and Mrs.
Wisconsin Citizen out of their lethargy to recognize their responsibilities and to do something about it.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Wednesday, December 17th, 1947
Barge Moved to Blue River in Weckler Case
Water Diversion Held Impractical by State Engineers
Blue River, Wis. UPI - State and county officials who are searching the Wisconsin River bottom neat here for the body of
Georgia Jean Weckler planned today to move a barge to the Blue River Bridge from which diving and dragging operations could
be continued. Meanwhile at Madison, state engineers who conferred with other officials decided that a proposal to change the
course of the river to help the search would not be practical.
A few workers hampered by cold and floating ice continued dragging the river bottom today above the bridge where Buford
Sennett. Richland Center, confessed killer, admitted he threw the drugged and bullet-pierced body of the 8 year-old Fort Atkinson
girl. Under the new plan of operation decided upon today, John Perry, Jefferson county highway commissioner, planned to
arrange for use of the barge anchored near the bridge.
At the Madison conference, engineers declared that the proposal for diversion of the river would be to impractical to be
worthwhile, and would be much more expensive than originally estimated. The engineers agreed that use of the barge would be a
better solution, at least for the present.
Try Jet Equipment
The conservation department crews planned to use later today jetting' equipment which was being brought down from the forest
ranger station at Friendship. The equipment is capable of moving sand and rocks by means of a powerful jet of water. It was
planned to sink the equipment and try to move sand on the river bottom of hopes of uncovering the body. Divers and draggers
have been battling the ice-flecked water since 22-year-old Buford Sennett, already under life sentence for one of Wisconsins
most revolting crime, whimpered a confession that he and an unnamed companion kidnapped the 8-year-old child from the lane
of her Fort Atkinson home last May 1, and later hurled her body from the Blue River bridge.

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 Attorneys in Middle
The waters of the river hampered divers working in the spot pointed out by Sennett, so yesterday the district attorneys of Jeffers's.
Dane, Richland. Grant and Outagamie counties met with Atty. Gen. John Z. Martin to appeal for aid. Martin said the officers had
discussed the possibility of building a temporary dam or of sinking a surplus navy barge to divert the flow, but that in either case
war department approval would be needed before obstructing a navigable stream. Be said, however he believed such approval
would be given readily in a case such as this, Martin said it also had been proposed that the state be asked for 5,000 for the
construction of a coffer dam to divert the flow and commented, "If I could find in the statutes where state money could come from
for this purpose I would be glad to recommend it" Martin said the "possible prosecution of Sennett was discussed briefly, and that
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity stated he believed it I would be possible to bring the case to trial "with the evidence now on hand," even
though the body is not immediately recovered. Martin said, however that the authorities planned to continue the dragging
operations as long as the weather permits, or until the engineers succeed in diversion attempts.

Janesville Daily Gazette

Thursday, December 18th, 1947
Use Hydraulic Equipment for Weckler Search
Long Barges Lashed Together to Form Ice Barrier
BULLETIN
Blue River, Wis. AP- Technical delays in setting up divers equipment today slowed the search of the sandy Wisconsin
River bottom. Using a 63-foot barge as a base, two divers will descent into the ice-flecked stream tomorrow and attempt to
dislodge a large "object" which authorities believe was used to weight down the body of Georgia Jean Weckler, kidnapped
Fort Atkinson girl.
Blue River, Wis. AP - Armed with hydraulic digging equipment, law officers, engineers and volunteers today began an
exhaustive search of a 20 to 30 foot square area of the sandy Wisconsin river bottom, which, they believe, holds the body of a
brutal kidnap-killing victim.
Four days of dragging operations in the shifting sand and ice-packed water below the Blue River bridge had failed to yield a trace
of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, who was stolen from her Fort Atkinson farm home last May 1. Authorities believe the girl's
body was weighted with 75 to 100 pounds of stones when it was dropped from the bridge end that it remained beneath the span,
covered with' the river bottom's constantly shifting sand.
Diver in Charge
George Lehman of Watertown, a former navy diver, was placed in complete charge of all operations late yesterday the authorities
said. Lehmann conducted an. underwater search for the body Sunday, but since then has been unable to dive because of large
chunks of ice whipped along by the rapid current.
Three long barges were lashed together behind the center span of the bridge, however, and it was hoped this would make it
possible for Lehmann to descend and direct from the bottom the use of jetting equipment, which utilizes a powerful stream of
water to blow away sand and rocks, and a "digger clam" which is equipped with hydraulic buckets and can dig out the river bed.
Depth Nine Feet
The jetting equipment was used briefly yesterday, and blew up much debris from the river bottom, but unearth nothing of any
import. Lehmann said that Frank Mareska of Chicago, who served with Lehmann in the navy, was expected to arrive at the bridge
today to aid in diving operations and to supply a derrick and other heavy equipment.
The river Is 180 to 200 yards wide at the bridge, and ordinarily s about 15 feet deep under the span, where the search is centered.
The level has been dropped to about nine feet under the span, however, by closing a dam at Sauk City. A few paces beyond the
search area the sand bottom drops off to a depth of about 20 feet.
Sennett Refuses Questioning in Unsolved Crime
Rhinelander Officers Balked in Probe of North Woods Death
Rhineland AP - Lifer Buford Sennett has refused to submit to questioning in connection with an unsolved murder in Wisconsin
north woods last fall, Mrs. Gordon Taggart, Oneida county sheriff revealed today. Mrs. Taggart said her undersheriff, Melford
Krause, visited this state prison to question the 22-year-old Richland Center youth now serving life for the murder of a University
of Wisconsin medical student and recent confessor of the slaying of Georgia Jean Weckler, Fort Atkinson farm girl.
Krause sought information on the death of a middle-aged woman still unidentified, whose body was found in a crude grave some
20 miles north of here near Hahurst last September, Mrs. Taggart explained.
"He would not submit to question," Mrs. Taggart said. "You know, a prisoner has that right and without a court order, which
Krause did not have at that Sennett could not be compelled to see him."
However, Mrs. Taggart said Robert Winslow, 24, of Owen. Sennett companion in the murder of Carlson, state university medical
student last Nov. 11, did agree to see Krause and "didn't seem to know anything about our case." "He had heard about it reading
the newspapers I guess," Mrs. Taggart said, "but told my undersheriff he had no connecting with it." Mrs. Taggart said it was
possible to obtain a court order to compel Sennett's presence at a later questioning but declined to whether one would be asked.
The case is still open of course, she said, and maybe eventually well get one.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Friday, December 19th, 1947
Accomplice of Sennett Must Be Found Garity
Job Only Partly Done With Confession in Weckler Case
Fort Atkinson - District Attorney Francis Garity, in an interview this morning after having taken an evening off from supervision
of dragging operations at Blue River, said "Our job is only partly done and will not be done until the other party connected with
the case is apprehended." He stated this in referring to the investigation of the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler of Fort
Atkinson, which he inferred was only partly solved by the confession of Buford Sennett, Richland Center convicted killer. Sennett
has said another person is involved in the kidnap-killing, and it is this person's apprehension is which Garity referred.
Mr.. Garity also pointed out that he and the men who have worked with him are putting every effort and encouragement they can
muster to the task of recovering the child's body from the spot where Sennett says it was dropped in the Wisconsin River.
Provide Cooperation
He lauded the cooperation of other county and state agencies. "Everything is set now and we have all the help we need at the
river," he assured a Gazette representative. The Jefferson county official said the stage now is set to determine this afternoon
whether or not they can comb the river bed successfully from the barge which has been anchored at the spot described by Sennett.
He added that George Lehman, a Watertown diver who has been giving constant aid in the search, now has a diver from Chicago
assisting him, plus a crew of three men. Working front a tug, the divers operate behind the barge for protection from swirling ice
cakes. "If this setup does not work, we will have to figure some other way," Garity decided. The district attorney who was at
Jefferson overnight, left for Blue River at 11 a. m. today.
Weckler Voice Gratitude
While Garity was in Jefferson, George C. Weckler, father of the murdered child gave newspaper men a statement supporting the
district attorney's efforts and progress. He declared "Frank Garity, a man who has done and is doing a whale of a job, is the
recognized sparkplug of the investigation and I want to extend to him and the men with whom he is working, my I support and
gratitude."
He said has he has visited the river scene and has noted two things, First, that the divers have an extremely hazardous job and
even though I am anxiously awaiting the outcome, I can see that they must be allowed plenty of time to proceed cautiously and
thoroughy. Secondly, "It is apparent that, Frank Garity is in charge of the entire investigation. Questions are always "Where is
Garity?" ,"Frank, how shall we do this?" "Garity is the logical man to head the job," Weckler explained, "because he and his men
have been pounding, pounding, pounding, at this thing since it first happened and they know just where every little detail fits into
the picture."
RELEASED TUG TOWS BARGE TO DIVIN SCENE
Blue River, Wis. AP - A 63-foot barge was pulled up stream and anchored at the Wisconsin River bridge near here today from
which divers planned tip probe the river bottom for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler. The divers George Lehmann, Watertown,
and 'Frank Mariska, Chicago, working with Grant and Richland county employees, freed a tug from ice below the bridge with
torches brought from Richland Center earlier today and the tug pulled the barge into place. The tug had been icebound because its
rudder was frozen.
Lehmann and Mariska planned to descend into the swift, icy stream later today to break loose a large "object," imbedded in the
sand in the river bottom.
Authorities believe the "object" Might be the stone used to weigh down the body of eight-year-old girl who was kidnaped from
her Fort Atkinson farm home last May 1. Buford Sennett, 22, confessed rapist-slayer has admitted, according to Jefferson County
Dist. Atty. Francis Gerity that he threw the little girl into the river from the bridge. Dist. Atty. Lee Lownik and Sheriff Laren
Marshall of Richland County said that they planned to search a wooded area near Richland Center where Sennett said Georgia
Jean was held overnight in an automobile. Lownik said a thorough search could not be made until the snow melts in the area of
300 to 400 acres. He will try to find mail which Georgia Jean was supposed to have been carrying when she was kidnaped, or any
other evidence to substantiate Sennett's confession.
Janesville Man Tried to Help Sennett in Boyhood
Buford Sennett, under sentence of life for one murder and confessed abduct or of Georgia Jean Weckler of Fort Atkinson, missed
a chance for a useful Christian life when he refused help of a church group which was sought to curb his wild ways, it was learned
here today. Authority for the observation is Robert Foreman, former Richland Center resident now employed at the Rock county
airport.
As superintendent in the Nazarene church at Richland Center, Mr. Foreman made repeated efforts to bring Sennett into a youth
group, and frequently visited the Sennett home. The few times that the boy, then about 16, did attend he was in a class instructed
by Mrs. Foreman. The Nazarene church was particularly interested in welfare work and in attempts to aid youths such as Sennett,
Mr. Foreman said, and in that particular case made special efforts to influence Sennett because he was a leader of a group of three
or four of his neighborhood boys and his interest in youth work would have meant, that the entire number would be aided.
Others who were associated with Sennett in his boyhood "gang" turned out to be law-abiding citizens and several were in service
during the war, one killed overseas Mr. Foreman said. Blame for Sennett's lack of interest in wholesome youthful activities was
placed on lack of paternal co-operation by Mr. Foreman. He said that during the period he attempted to work with Sennett as a
boy he had not received much help in the home. Sennett's father was at that time a truck driver, and the family was in poor
financial circumstances, he said. It has been about eight years since he has seen Sennett, Mr. Foreman said.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Saturday, December 20th, 1947
2 Divers Again Foiled by River
Efforts to Get Slab of Cement Fail in Weckler Hunt
Blue River, Wis. AP - Efforts to find an object believed to be the weight used by lifer Buford Sennett when be dropped the body
of eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler in the Wisconsin river were unsuccessful today. The girl's body was tossed in the river,
Sennett said, following the kidnaping from her Jefferson county farm home last May.
Diver George Lehman of Watertown said he was unable, in two dives today, to locate an object he discovered on the river bottom
yesterday. He described the object as a flat piece of cement. Sennett said he used a similar piece of material to weight the girl's
body.
Delay was encountered in using an underwater light. It was expected to be brought into service later today when proper electric
wiring could be obtained.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County said the description of the weight fitted that given by Sennett, now serving life for
another murder.
Lehmann was unable to raise his find to the surface yesterday. A sudden break in his diving suit forced him to make a rapid ascent
and a movement of the barge from which operation are being conducted shifted his buoy marking the object.
The Dane county sheriffs office announced donation of an underwater light. Previously Lehmann and his helpers, Frank Mariska
of Chicago and Thomas J. Skailles of Baraboo have been handicapped by darkness. "It seem like a stone quarry down there,"
Lehmann said when to came up from his fourth dive yesterday.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Friday, December 26th, 1947
Possible Clue In Weckler Case Discovered Here
Diary Found on Bus Bears Three Notations About "Buford"
Some valuable leads in the Weckler investigation being conducted by Dist Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson county may result
from information obtained during the past few days by Janesville police, it was revealed here today by Police Chief Jasper Webb.
The latest bit of evidence, which Chief Webb thought the Jefferson prosecutor might be able to fit into his investigation, is a small
black date and address book found on a Cardinal Lines bus here Tuesday morning and turned ewer to police today. The book was
taken to Jefferson this morning. The book was dated 1948 but police here thought it possible it might have been used to record
activities of the owner in 1947.
In three places in the book were the notations, "Buford was home today. Pages dated May 2 to May 8 had been neatly cut from
the book with a sharp instrument such as a razor blade, Chief Webb said. On the September pages in two places were notations.
Went to Blue River and met." The name was not revealed by police.
It was learned at the bus lines office that the book was found in one of two buses but attendants there could not remember all the
details of the discovery. There was no information regarding the possible owner of the book or when the book was lost or left in
the bus.
Chief Webb also revealed that interviews with a Janesville youth who formerly lived in Richland Center and was a companion of
Buford Sennett had produced names of several other Sennett companions. It was believed here that names furnished by the
Janesville youth might help Dist. Atty. Garity in his search for the accomplice mentioned by Sennett in his story of the kidnaping
and death of Georgia Jean Weckler from the lane leading to her farm home near Fort Atkinson last May 1.
The Janesville youth, who is employed in an industrial plant here, told of Sennett's habits and hangouts, and police were able to
see some possible connection of the book found on the bus and the fact that Sennett spent much time around a Richland Center oil
station frequented by truck drivers.
The youth interviewed here said he had not seen Sennett often since early in 1946 but that he had met him on a few occasions,
once just before his arrest which led to a life term in prison for the murder of a University of Wisconsin student.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Monday, December 29th, 1947
District Attorneys Discuss Finding of Notebook on Bus
Jefferson - AP - A mysterious notebook found on an intercity bus at Janesville last week, was to be discussed today at a meeting
of district attorneys of three counties in Madison, according to Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County.
Garity said he would confer with Dist. Attys. Leo Lownik of Richland County and Edwin Wilkie of Dane county, in Wilkie's
office on possible steps to be taken to link the notebook with the eight-month old Georgia Jean Weckler case.
Operations to recover the eight-year-old Fort Atkinson girl's body from the Wisconsin River at Blue River, where rapist-murderer
Buford Sennett told Garity he threw It, have been discontinued temporarily because of weather, Garity said. .

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The notebook discovered on a bus operating between Beaver Dam and Janesville, mentions the name 'Buford" three times, Garity
disclosed. It refers also, he said, to Blue River, Fennimore and Muscoda and pages from May 2 to May 8 are missing. The
Weckler child disappeared May 1.
Janesville Daily Gazette
January 7th, 1948
Sennett Friends Are Questioned by Authorities
Jefferson- AP - District Attorney Francis Garity said today that authorities of Richton& and Jefferson counties were questioning
several friends and acquaintances of Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center murderer, in an attempt to learn the identity of his
companion in the Georgia Jean Weckler kidnaping.
Richland authorities have questioned about seven acquaintances of Sennett, Garity said, and have cleared them of any connection
with the case.
More than a score of others will be "screened," he added.

Janesville Daily Gazette

January 7th, 1948
Sennett Friends Are Questioned by Authorities
Jefferson AP - District Attorney Francis Garity said today that authorities of Richland and Jefferson counties were questioning
several friends and acquaintances of Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center murderer, in an attempt to learn the identity of his
companion in the Georgia Jean Weckler kidnaping. Richland authorities have questioned about seven acquaintances of Sennett.
Garity said, and have cleared them of any connection with the case. More than a score of others will be "screened," he added.
Janesville Daily Gazette
April 30th, 1948
Jefferson County Officials Still Working on Weckler Case Year After Kidnaping
Fort Atkinson - It was a still day just about like this one a year ago tomorrow and children stopped on the way home from school
to pick May flowers to brighten the home. But in a comfortable farm house not far from Fort Atkinson the flowers never arrived
at neither did the girl who stopped to pick them little Georgia Jean Weckler, the blond, brown-eye-eight-year-old daughter of Mr.
at Mrs. George Weckler.
Georgia Jean disappeared from the lane leading to her home alto being dropped there by a neighbor who had given her a ride from
the Oakland Center School on the Thursday afternoon of May 1.
Today, just a year from the tragic afternoon, little Georgia Jean is still missing. Her kidnaping and murder have been confessed
but no trace of her body he been found.
Jefferson Countys district attorney, Francis Caries is authority for the statement that the case is not closed but he announced
today that there is little to work on. He has an appointment next week with Richland county officials to discuss possible action at
the Blue River Bridge where the body was supposed to have been thrown but he stated he believes everything possible has been
done at that spot
The long search at the Blue River Bridge, which recently collapsed was made after Buford Sennett confessed the kidnaping of the
Weckler girl and said the body was heavily weighted and tossed into the river.
Wont Identify Accomplice
Dist. Atty. Garity spent three hours Wednesday with Sennett but obtained no new information. The confessed kidnaper slayer
refuses to answer questions pertaining to the mysterious accomplice in the crime.
"We went over parts of the story Sennett told in December and there were no contradictions." said the District. Attorney "he
would give no answers to questions pertaining to the accomplice he mentioned but refused to identify. He reiterated that he would
never reveal the identity of his accomplice on the trip he says ended in the death of Georgia Jean Weckler from an overdose of
sleeping pills administered after the kidnaping.
Hardly a day passes but what we are led off on some point of the Weckler case and we are working just as hard today as we have
at any time during the past year but the leads seem to be growing thinner all the time. Our search for the unidentified accomplice
described by Sennett has produced nothing for publication to date but that search is being continued by police authorities in
various parts, of the country, particularly those in Richland County, Wis., the home of Sennett.
Hundreds at Tips
Georgia Jean failed to arrive home from school on the afternoon of May 1, 1947. An immediate search of the countryside was
started when it was learned she had left the car of a neighbor to walk down the half mile lane to her home. As days passed the
posse grew larger, the search more thorough and rewards increased to a. figure above $5,000.

Days stretched too weeks and there were hundreds of tips and sues to be run down but all led to nothing. Members of the Weckler
family were grief stricken and neighbors planted their crops. Then on a November Saturday evening following a football game at
Madison a young University of Wisconsin student was kidnaped and murdered. Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center, and his

72
companion, Robert Winslow, were captured in Clark county Nov. 17. They admitted the murder of the university student and the
raping of his sister-in-law. They drew life terms in the state prison and were suspected of complicity in the Weckler case.
Confession Last December
Finally on Dec. 15, Sennett confessed the Weckler kidnaping-murder to Dist. Atty. Garity and said the body was dumped into the
river. Today a year from the kidnaping, little Georgia Jean is still missing. Perhaps her murderer has been found but the parents
must be among the many who wonder if the murder confession was authentic. After all, they could, theorize that the young man
told his story from 'a murderer's cell, in the state prison, where he had been sent for the rest of his life. He had nothing to lose by
admitting one more crime. He admitted he had always hated police and causing them to search a cold raging river might satisfy to
some extent his warped desires to see policemen engaged in fruitless work.
Yes, it is true that members of the Weckler family have said they believe the confession of Buford Sennett to be true but the
failure of law enforcing agencies to produce the body of their little girl leaves an emptiness in their hearts. The lack of this
evidence must still leave the thought in their minds that maybe Georgia Jean was not tossed into the Wisconsin River at Blue
River as the confessor stated.
Garity Believes Confession
Among the believers of confession is Dist. Atty. Garity, who got the story, piece by piece, durng the long interview with Sennett
in prison. "That man just could not have old me things he did unless he tad a part in the crime," said Garity when questioned this
week in the possibility that the confession might have been in the words of the district attorney and just agreed to by the suspect.
Garity points out he could expect no personal glory in obtaining a confession placing the blame for the terrible crime on a "fall
guy. That wouldn't satisfy anyone who knows the Weckler family. It wouldn't satisfy any parent who might lose a child the same
way some time.
Sennett told me several things about that crime that we of the law enforcement agencies did not know ourselves." said Garity. "He
filled in many of the unexplained details of the time schedule. He described the girl, her clothing, the farm driveway and. other
items which no one could have recounted from the closest reading of newspaper accounts of the little girl's disappearance."
Many Repercussions
What effect has the Weckler case had on Jefferson County in addition to the sorrow brought to the entire community? It has
touched off a demand of the citizenry for better crime prevention. There was agitation for township police forces which was lost.
There was agitation for a state police force to bolster local, departments with additional criminal investigation experience and
scientific crime detection equipment, an item which may in the not too distant future be fully realized in Wisconsin. At least a
start has been made and the director of the state's criminal laboratory has already been active in the Weckler case.
A Jefferson county sheriff resigned under fire with some opponent mentioning bungling of certain aspects of the Weckler case as
reasons for their opposition. More power is being given the sheriff's department under the newly appointed officer. All of these
things and others which still may follow as an aftermath of the tragic case can do nothing to lessen the sorrow of the Weckler
family hut can perhaps prevent such a thing from happening to other children.
As the case enters its second year Saturday there will still be people "working on the case." Law enforcement agencies will not
stop until the entire story is unfolded. Private individuals will continue to offer theories and ideas. There is assurance from the
Jefferson county district attorney that all tips will he investigated to the point of being proved false.
In the meantime other little girls will stop to pick flowers on their way home from school. Parents, remembering the Weckler
case, will be more watchful and law enforcers will continue their drive to rid the country of those who would interfere with the
normal living of normal people.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
May 10th, 1948
Weckler Search Postponed by Rainy Weather
Richland Center - Rain end high water forced postponement of the hunt for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler along the
Wisconsin River yesterday.
George Jean, an eight year old Fort Atkinson farm girl, disappeared May 1, 1947, while on her way home from school. Buford
Sennett, a convicted murderer, has told authorities he and an accomplice kidnaped the child and threw her body into the
Wisconsin River.
Jefferson county authorities under Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, traveled to Richland Center early yesterday to join deputies under
Richland County Sheriff Loren Marshall in the search.
By noon all attempts to push the search were abandoned because of adverse weather conditions. Date for resuming the search has
not been set.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Tuesday, May 11th, 1948
Posse of 56 to Search River
Richland Center AP - A posse of 56 men will resume the search for the hotly of Georgia Jean Weckler along the Wisconsin
river May 23. Dist. Atty. Leo Lownik of Richland County announced the plans yesterday. Bad weather and high water forced
postponement of the hunt Sunday.
Georgia Jean, eight-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler has been missing since May 1,
1947.
Lownik said 18 small boats, each manned by two men, and 20 additional men for patrol work along the banks, would take part in
the search. Officers from Dane, Jefferson and Richland counties will participate. The posse will concentrate Its search along the
Wisconsin River from the Blue River bridge to Boscobel.
Buford Sennett, a convicted murderer, has told authorities he and an accomplice kidnaped the child and threw her body into the
river from the Blue River Bridge.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Feburary 4th 1949
Dist. Atty. Garity Incensed as Fort Officer Carries Weckler Clue to Madison
Fort Atkinson - A review of the actions of Police Officer Otto Flaig, Fort Atkinson, in connection with his investigations in the
disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler was requested by Dist. Atty. Francis Garity in a telephone conversation with City
Manager Elmore Klement Thursday.
Garity told Klement that some of the statements allegedly made by Flaig concerning the Weckler case were unfounded. The city
manager told him that any action would have to be taken by the fire and police commission upon the filing of complaints or
charges.
Garity's request followed announcement in Madison that Flaig had brought for analysis by the state crime laboratory ashes found
in a cave hideout in Richland Center used by Buford Sennett, confessed abductor of the girl.
The ashes were taken to Madison after authorization had been granted by Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Fairchild upon the request of
three members of the legislature. It had been reported that Garity had refused to authorize the analysis.
"I didn't have any knowledge that those ashes even existed," Garity stated Thursday. "And I certainly never received any re-quest
from anyone concerning having an analysis made of them."
Leaving for Madison "to get to the bottom of this," Garity said that he never had been contacted by the attorney general or the
head of the crime laboratory. He also stated that the three senators had not attempted to ascertain from him whether he had ever
refused the authorization.
The ashes' were obtained from the cave by Flaig. George Weckler and Atty. William H. Rogers after they had been led there by a
25-year-old Fort Atkinson woman who claimed she witnessed the burning of the girl's body.
The woman was held in custody by county officials for a month while her story was being investigated. Later, after lie detector
tests showed her story false, she signed a statement that it was a hoax.
The ashes, however, were kept in the Weckler home for four months.
Sennett, who is serving a life term in Waupun for the murder of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, has confessed that
he and an accomplice he refuses to identify kidnaped the girl and held her near Richland Center. He said that the other man had
given her an overdose of sleeping pills causing her death. He said the two of them then disposed of the body in the Wisconsin
River. Dragging of the river a year later failed to disclose signs of the body.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
February 9th, 1949
Complaint Filed on Fort Officer
Officer Flaig Named in Paper Drawn by Dist. Atty. Garity
Fort Atkinson Dist. Atty. Francis Garity has filed a complaint in writing with City Manager Elmore Klement with regard to a
statement released last week by Otto Flaig, police officer to a Madison newspaper in regard to the disappearance of Georgia Jean
Weckler.
Mr. Klement said today the complaint had been turned over to Harold Smith, city attorney, for advice as to procedure. He said no
further statement would be made until the fire and police commission had seen the statement.
The complaint is the outcome of Flaig's action of taking ashes found in a cave hideout in Richland Center used by Buford Sennett,
confessed abductor of the girl, to the state crime laboratory in Madison. Garity had claimed previously that some of the statements
allegedly made by Flaig concerning the Weckler case were unfounded.
Janesville Daily Gazette
February 10, 1949
Ashes Yield No Weckler Case Clues
Madison - Atty. Gen. Thomas Fairchild reported last night that ashes from a killer's hideout failed to reveal any clues to the
disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, Fort Atkinson farm girl, May 1, 1947.
Analyzed by Charles M. Wilson, director of the state crime laboratory, the ashes were gathered by the girl's father, George
Weckler, and Police Officer Otto Flaig, Fort Atkinson.
Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow were sentenced to life terms in state prison in November, 1947, for the slaying of a
University of Wisconsin student. Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity obtained an admission from Sennett that he and an
unidentified accomplice had kidnapped the girl and dumped her body in the Wisconsin River near Blue River (Richland County).
Sennett told Garity he had given Georgia Jean an overdose of sleeping pills. The body never was found, although an extensive
search was conducted by state and county authorities.
A 25-year-old Fort Atkinson woman, who claimed to be an acquaintance of Sennett, later told conflicting stories concerning
Georgia Jean's body having been burned at Sennett's hideout, which caused Flaig and Weckler to collect the ashes.
City Manager Elmore Klement, Fort Atkinson, reported yesterday that Garity had filed a written complaint against Flaig. Garity
charged that Flaig had said the district attorney refused to have the ashes analyzed. Garity claimed he did not know about the
ashes until they were turned over to Wilson last week. The complaint was turned over to Harold Smith, Fort Atkinson city
attorney.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Saturday, April 30th 1949
Weckler Case Continues Mystery After Two Years
Fort AtkinsonTwo years ago tomorrow a cute eight-year-old girl started down a lane toward her farm home near here.
She never reached her home, nor was she ever seen again. What happened to Georgia Jean Weckler became, and still is, a nation-
wide mystery. The family of the girl is resigned that Georgia is dead. "But we'd feel a lot better if her body were recovered." says
her father. George Weckler. Seven thousand dollars in reward money still awaits the person who can clear up the disappearance.
A convicted murderer, now serving a life term in the state prison at Waupun, said he knew what happened to Georgia Jean.
Buford Sennett told authorities he and an unnamed companion abducted the girl in their car. She died of an overdose of sleeping
pills while they held her, said Sennett, so they weighted her body and threw it into the Wisconsin river from the, bridge at Blue
River. Wis.
Despite frequent and thorough dragging of the river area there, however, no trace of the girl's body was found. Sennett is serving
life for the shooting of Carl L. Carlson, a University of Wisconsin medical student. Carlson's body was recovered from the
Wisconsin river at the same spot where Sennett later said Georgia's body could be found.
The girl's father says he doesn't believe all of the convicted murderer's story. Weckler says he believes Sennett had something to
do with his daughter's vanishing, but that he doubts the body was thrown into the river at the Blue River Bridge.
Georgia Jean was coming home from school on that May 1 in 1947. A neighbor had given her a ride to the lane entrance to her
home. Books in hand, Georgia started down the lane.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Wednesday, July 26, 1950
Release Suspect in Weckler Case
Jefferson - Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said today he had released from custody a man questioned in the Georgia
Jean Weckler kidnapping case.
Garity said two days of investigation had established that the man was not in Wisconsin May, 1947 the day the little girl
disappeared from near the farm home of her parents.
The suspect was one of several still wanted for questioning in the case. Garity said. He was traced throughout the southern and
western states and was picked up a few days ago while traveling under an assumed name which, the suspect claimed he used so
that a former wife would not have him arrested for failure to pay alimony.

Janesville Daily Gazette

Friday, October 29, 1954
Weckler Kidnaping Case of 1947 Solved? Officers Testify Nebraska Slayer Told of Killing
LINCOLN, Neb - Is the Georgia Jean Weckler kidnap case solved? The second confession in the seven-year-old mystery of the
little Fort Atkinson girl who never returned home from school has been made by a sallow-faced convicted Nebraska murderer
facing possible death in the electric chair. Three Jefferson County police officers who appeared on the stand here today in the trial
of Charles Edward McClelland, 25, said the former carnival worker and known sex pervert, told them he and an accomplice
kidnaped the 8-year-old girl May 1, 1947, killed her and then buried her body. McClelland, a short, slim man, has served nearly
five years in the Nebraska state Penitentiary here on a double life sentence for four murders. He is on trial today in Lancaster
County District Court for the alleged slaying of a prison guard. The jury was expected to be charged this afternoon.
Two Confessions Obtained
Sheriff, Rudy Reichert, Capt. Glen Pattee of the Jefferson County Motor police and Deputy Roger Reinel told the court that
McClelland had made a tape recording and signed a confession admitting the murder of the blonde, 3rd grade pupil.
RECALLS CONFESSION
JEFFERSONFrancis Garity, Jefferson attorney who served as district attorney at the time Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared,
said he accompanied officers who went to Lincoln, Neb. last Dec. 3 to obtain the confessions of murder from Charles
McClelland. He said he helped question McClelland because of his past participation in the case.
One of the state's most baffling mysteries, the Weckler case was at one time believed solved by the confession of Buford H.
Sennett, 22, Richland Center, who said he and an unidentified companion threw Georgia Jean's body into the Wisconsin River at
the Blue River bridge. But dragging operations failed to reveal the body. Capt. Pattee said that McClelland offered his confession
in Lincoln several months ago. He added that "complications" have arisen in the search for the body. The investigation will be
continued when the officers return to Jefferson County from Lincoln, he said.
McClelland was sentenced here for murdering a young newlywed couple from Virginia in 1949. He also confessed to two other
murders Capt. Pattee said. "The case has too many factors for us to disregard," Capt. Pattee declared. He added that strong
credence was given to McClelland's story because the man had accurately described places involved in the girl's disappearance.
Await Trial Results
Capt. Pattee said the officers probably would wait until the trial is over before returning to Wisconsin. He indicated that the
outcome of the trial would determine whether or not an attempt will be made to return McClelland to Jefferson County.
Prosecuting Attorney Frederick H. Wagner called us here to verify the two confession made by McClelland, Capt. Pattee said. He
stated that McClelland had changed his story since being brought to trial for the prison guard murder. McClelland is about 5 feet 8
inches tall, weighing about 145 pounds and has a sallow complexion. He is known to be a sex pervert, Capt. Pattee said. The
accomplice mentioned by McClelland in the two confessions has not been found, Capt. Pattee said.
Object of Wide Search
Georgia Jean, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, disappeared from the lane leading to her farm home near Fort Atkinson
after being dropped there by a neighbor who had given her a ride home from Oakland Center School on the Thursday afternoon of
May 1, 1947. An immediate search of the countryside was started. Rewards were offered amounting to nearly $7,000.
Hundreds of tips were run down, but all led to nothing until a Saturday evening in November of the same year, when a young
University of Wisconsin student was kidnaped and murdered. Buford Sennett and his companion, Robert Winslow, admitted the
murder of the university student and the, rape of his sister-in-law. They drew life terms in the state prison. On Dec. 15 while in
Waupun penitentiary Sennett confessed the Weckler kidnaping-murder to then Dist. Atty. Francis' Garity. Garity said he believed
Sennett's confession. "That man just could not have told me things he did unless he had a part in the crime," said Garity. In the
years since many suspects have been questioned but no new facts were uncovered.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Monday, November 1st, 1954
Continue Check on"Confession"
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. AP - A conference of crime investigators in Jefferson County Sunday night pursued a comparison of
the facts in the seven year old disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, and the story related by r life termer in a Nebraska
prison.
Dist. Atty. Thorpe Merriman, , Sheriff Rudolph Reichert, and a , group of the sheriff's officers continued the investigation begun
last December when Edward McClelland, 25, a convicted slayer, wrote and said he was responsible for the child's death. His story
was later repudiated by his attorney.
Number of "Confessions"
McClelland's claims came to light last Friday at Lincoln, Neb., when he was cleared of the slaying of a Nebraska prison guard.
Sheriff Reichert and other county officers were in Lincoln and took part in the trial. They related that McClelland's signed
statement admitted he took the girl's life.
Counsel for McClelland told the court the prisoner made a number of "confessions" to murders "he could not have done" and that
the Wisconsin crime was one of them. Merriman said the conference listened to a two-hour transcription of the statement made by
McClelland. He did not discuss its content. He said "The investigation of leads is continuing. When evidence is found to verify
them, any prosecution indicated win be immediately commenced and vigorously carried through.
Merriman would not discuss other subjects at the meeting. He added that the story told by McClelland does merit "checking
through." He said it may take weeks to check out the story.
"Told Too Much"
Capt. Glen Pattee of-the Jefferson county police said Friday in Lincoln that "McClelland has told us too much, so much that we
don't have to prove his guilt." McClelland is serving two life terms for the slaying of a Virginia tourist coupe near Omaha in
August, 1987.
Georgia Jean disappeared while returning home from school May 1, 1947. There have been other "confessions" in the case but
none has been proved out.

Janesville Daily Gazette

Tuesday, November 2nd, 1954

77
 Janesville Daily Gazette
Thursday, November 18th, 1954
Weckler Figure Lied Merriman
Phony Confession Proved by Tests of Nebraska Slayer
JEFFERSONLie detector test have borne out a repudiated confession of the kidnap-murder of Georgia Jean Weckler, Dist,
Atty. Thorpe Merriman said today. Charles E. McClelland "positively was lying" when he confessed to abducting the 8-year-old
blonde Fort Atkinson farm girl in 1947, Merriman said. Accompanied by Sheriff - elect Roger Reinel and Charles M. Wilson,
director of the state crime laboratory, Merriman went to Lincoln, Neb., this week and obtained final statements from the convicted
Nebraska murderer, who is serving double life sentences in the state penitentiary. Merriman described McClelland as an, amateur
fiction writer who got the idea for the confession from a newspaper story. Details were filled in by "vivid imagination," Merriman
added.
Made Tape Recording
McClelland had made a tape recording nearly a year ago confessing to the Weckler girl kidnaping. He said that he and an
accomplice buried her body in Southern Illinois. Details Of the confession were revealed two weeks ago when Sheriff Rudy
Reichert, Capt. Glen Pattee of the county motor police and Reinel were called to testify in McClelland's trial for the slaying of a
prison guard. McClelland was acquitted.
The confession was the second in the Weckler case, one of the most baffling mysteries in Wisconsin crime history. Buford
Sennett, ad-mitted rapist and killer now serving life at Waupun for murder, told authorities he and a companion kidnaped the little
girl, that she died of an overdose of sleeping pills and that her body was thrown into the Wisconsin River at Blue River. A search
of the river revealed nothing.
Statement by Merriman
Merriman said in a statement following his return from Lincoln, Wednesday evening. Another lead in the case of the
disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler from her Jefferson County farm home on May 1, 1947, has proven worthless. Charles
Edward McClelland, serving a life sentence in the Nebraska State Penitentiary, was interrogated by representatives of the
Wisconsin state crime laboratory and Jefferson County officials and examined on the lie detector Tuesday. "McClelland
positively was lying in previous statements he had made admitting the abduction of the Weckler girl. It was learned that the
previous statements were found by McClelland in a newspaper story. "He filled in the details of the story with a vivid
imagination. McClelland is an amateur writer of fiction stories. The result of the investigation was to definitely establish that
McClelland has no knowledge of and did not participate in the disappearance of the Weckler girl. The investigation of him has
closed.
No "Logical Reason"
Merriman said he asked McClelland why he had made the previous statements. "I have no logical reason," McClelland replied. "I
was in confinement at the time and thought if I sent a letter the warden might censure it and release me from confinement."
Merriman explained that there were three grades of confinement (missing continuing page)

Janesville Daily Gazette

February 4th, 1956
Geo. Weckler Dies, Still in Belief Girl Missing for Nine Years Is Alive
FORT ATKINSON The father of Georgia Jean Weckler, the 8-year old girl whose disappearance May 1, 1947 continues as
one of Wisconsins unsolved mysteries, died today at his farm home near here. Death was caused by a heart attack. He was
George C. Weckler. 54.
Although Buford Sennett, Richland Center, now serving a life sentence in the state prison for his part in the murder of a
University of Wisconsin student in 1947, said that he and two accomplices kidnaped and killed the little girl his story never was
substantiated. The grief - stricken father had, offered a reward for information, leading to whereabouts of Georgia Jean.
Confession Unproved
The little girl had been given a ride home from her school to a driveway a half mile from her home. A neighbor, Mrs. Carl
Floerke, had seen Georgia Jean take mail from the Weckler mailbox and walk down the driveway toward her home. That was the
last time she was seen.
In prison, Sennett claimed he participated in a plot to kidnap, and hold the child for ransom and Georgia Jean was given an
overdose of sleeping pills which caused her death.
Sennett said the girl's body was dropped in the Wisconsin River extensive dragging operations failed to locate the girl's body.

78
In October, 1951 Edward McCleland, 25, serving a life term in theft Nebraska State Prison for two slayings, admitted the
kidnaping, both Nebraska and Wisconsin officials termed the confession a fake. McClelland had confessed" to a number of
murders which he could not have committed including the Wisconsin crime, Nebraska officials stated.
The father of the missing girl insisted up to his death that he believed the girl is still living. Members of his family also hold this
belief.
Former Oakland Official George Carl Weckler was a life-long resident of the area and was a well-known farmer residing on Rte.
1, Fort Atkinson. Until forced to retire because of ill health a year ago, he had been treasurer of the Town of Oakland for 17 years,
and was a past director of Jefferson County Dairy Herd Improvement Association. He was a member of the council of St. John's
Community Church, Oakland, for many years. For several years he was a deputy sheriff and, had a personal part in the futile
investigation of his daughter's disappearance.
He was the son of the late William and Katherine Zahn Weckler and was born Dec. 31, 1901, on the farm on which he spent his
lifetime. He attended the rural school and Jefferson High School. He was married June 9, 1927, to Eleanor Brounty.
Surviving are his wife, two daughters, Mrs. Neil Oestrelch of Rte. 1, Fort Atkinson, and Miss Joann Weckler, a student nurse at
Mercy Hospital, Janesville: one son, LaVern, at home, two brothers, Elmer of Fort Atkinson, and Lloyd, of Warsaw, Ind., a sister,
Mrs. Harold Draeger of Rte. 1, Fort Atkinson, and one grandchild. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in St. John's
Community Church, Dr. Alban Tippins officiating. Burial will be in Union Cemetery, Town of Sumner.
Friends may call at the Royal Hayes Funeral Home in Fort Atkinson between 2 and 9 p.m. Sunday. The body may also be viewed
at the church Monday. The Fort Atkinson Odd Fellows., of which he was a member, will hold services in the funeral home at 8
p.m. Sunday.
Janesville Daily Gazette
May 1st 1957
After Ten Years, Weckler Case Is Still Unsolved
By ROGER HARKINS
May 1, 1947, is a date grimly remembered by Southern Wisconsin. Ten years ago today pretty Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, Rte. 1, Fort Atkinson, vanished. Authorities now have given up hope of solving her
disappearance. Her father, George C. Weckler, died Feb. 4, 1956, believing his daughter was alive. Mrs. Weckler lives on the
farm home located off Highway 12 with her daughter, son-in-law and a grandson.
It began on a sunny Thursday afternoon at about 3 p.m. The child, a third grader, was given a ride home from the Oakland Center
School by Mrs. Carl Floerke, whose daughter also was a pupil at the school. Georgia Jean got out of the car at the dirt road
leading to the Weckler home, about half a mile from the house. Mrs. Floerke and, her daughter watched her approach the mail
box, take out its contents and start walking down the road to her home. She has not been seen since. Contents of the mail box
were never found.

Members of the Cambridge Fire Department, American Legion Post and groups of the Wecklers neighbors joined in a search of
the 20 acres of nearby woods. A schoolmate, Beverly Ebersohl, reported that Georgia had planned to go into the woods to gather
flowers for May baskets. The hunt was continued on Friday morning with searchers traveling about four feet apart, in an effort to
cover every inch of the woods. Parties covered Borchardt's woods and all the surrounding area. Loudspeakers mounted on trucks
went through city streets asking for volunteers to assist in the search and about 200 responded.

Many crimes have remained unsolved because of a lack of clues. But the Weckler case seemed to suffer from too much alleged
evidence, an 18-year-old Whitewater youth was questioned because he was said to be in possession of a, car, that answered the
description of a vehicle seen in the neighborhood. Search was also instituted for a man, 25 to 30, driving a 1936 Ford sport coach
of light color with a built-in trunk. The car was seen driving on the highway near the spot where Georgia Jean was last seen.

Buford Sennett, Richland Center, now serving a life term in the State Prison at Waupun for his part in the murder of a University
of Wisconsin student in 1947, said that he and two accomplices kidnaped and killed the girl. Many believed his story but it was
never substantiated.

Sennett said that he had given the child an overdose of sleeping pills and that her body was dropped in the Wisconsin River. It
was originally planned to hold the child for ransom, he said. Extensive dragging failed to locate the body.

In October 1954, Edward Ma-Cleland, 25, serving a life term in the Nebraska state prison for two slayings, said he killed the girl,
but both Nebraska and Wisconsin officials termed the confession a fake.
So today, 10 years later, no one knows what happened to Georgia Jean Weckler.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Monday, October 28th 1957
State Won't Drop Added Charges Against Murder Pair Serving Life Terms
MADISON AP - Dist. Atty. Joseph Bloodgood said here Saturday afternoon he will oppose dropping charges against two
Wisconsin men convicted of murder a decade ago after a sensational kidnap-murder and subsequent chase.
The men are Buford Sennett, 32; and Robert Winslow, 34. Both were sentenced to life after admitting they kidnaped a University
of Wisconsin premedical student, Carl Carlson, of Superior and a woman companion.
Carlson was slain and the woman was raped before she escaped. Sennett also told authorities he had a hand in another earlier
sensational Wisconsin kidnaping which still is technically unsolved.
Sennett said he and an unidentified companion kidnaped eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler from the driveway of her Ft.
Atkinson farm home on May 1, 1947. He claimed the child was drugged to keep her quiet and died, and that her body was
dumped into the Wisconsin River at Blue River. However no trace of the girl was found there, or elsewhere. The two were
sentenced from Dane County in the Carlson killing.
Sennett now 32, was from Richland Center and Winslow, 34, from Owen. They were sentenced Nov. 18, 1947, following their
admission they killed Carlson.
After the pair was imprisoned the then Dist. Atty. Edwin Wilkie filed detainer warrants against the pair, charging them with
kidnaping and rape. The warrants accused Sennett and Winslow of kidnaping Carlson and the woman, and with rape.
Bloodgood said he received a letter from Sennett asking if it would be possible to drop the kidnaping and rape charges so he and
Winslow could submit applications for parole. Bloodgood said he wrote Warden John Burke saying that "under no circumstances
would we drop the detainers.
Sennett and Winslow gave Carlson and the woman with him a ride. They were hitchhiking. After shooting Carlson, they admitted
they dumped his body in the Wisconsin River near Blue River. Sennett and Winslow were captured near Neillsville.
Janesville Daily Gazette
Wednesday, November 20, 1957
Mrs.Hogan One Of Victims, Is New Evidence
Tavern Operator Who Vanished in 1954 Slain, Indication
MADISON AP - A source close to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory disclosed today that questioning of Ed Gein thus far, in
a lie detector test that began Tuesday, indicates that he killed two of the women whose partial cadavers were found on his horror
farm.
Gein, 51-year-old bachelor from Plainfield, Wis., has admitted the butchery killing of Mrs. Bernice Worden last Saturday. The
Crime Lab source said the test thus far also indicated he killed Mrs. Mary Hogan, 54, who disappeared nearly three years ago
from the tavern she operated about six miles from Gein's farm.
Recognized Face
Tuesday Portage County Sheriff Herbert Wanserski told newsmen that he recognized the face of Mary Hogan among nearly a
dozen human heads, or portions of heads, found in Gein's living quarters.
The frail appearing semi-recluse claimed that he dug all the heads from graves in the area, and that he killed only Mrs. Worden, a
58-year-old Plainfield store operator.
Joseph Wilimowski, the lab's lie detector expert, said that Gein so far has spent a total of 30 minutes under polygraph recording
19 minutes Tuesday and 11 today. The rest of the time, Wilimowski said, has been occupied with interviews and general
questioning.
Charles Wilson, head of the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory, said he could not detect any remorse, "just a sort of detachment."
Gein, brought to Madison for interrogation in connection with the butchering of Mrs. Bernice Worden of Plainfield, Wis., faced
further questioning today.
Doubts Cemetery Raids
Wanserski told newsmen that he did not believe Gein's story that he had taken the assortment skulls and grisly human remains
from cemeteries. The sheriff said: "We have found the face and head of Mary Hogan among the objects in Gein farm home." He
said Mrs. Hogan was a 54-year-old Portage County divorcee who disappeared in December 1954 from the rural tavern she
operated at Bancroft, about six miles from Gein's farm.
Wanserski said he had taken part in the investigation since it started Saturday night , after the discovery of Mrs. Worden's
butchered body. Gein has admitted butchering the 58-year-old widow after dragging her bloody corpse from the hardware store
she operated in Plainfield. He insisted, however, he did not remember actually killing Mrs. Worden.
Gein, a handyman and some of time baby sitter, has maintains that the skulls and other human relics found in his house had been
looted from graves "while I was in a daze-like."

80
Gein's attorney William Belte said he had not verified report that parts of 15 female bodies had been found in Gein's house. He
said an officer at the Gein farm whom he did not know, had told him there were some "extra" human noses found. Belter added
the officer told him "they didn't seem to go with the faces."
Sheriff Wanserski told newsmen that the heads found in the farmhouse had been skinned. The detached portion, he said, made up
faces of a regular size, well preserved, with hair, ears, lips and nose."
Will Plead Insanity
The sheriff said he examined 10 such objects, apart from the skulls found in the building, and that "all but two of them are faces.
The others are only scalps. The ones with the faces have no eyes, only holes." He confirmed that other items fabricated of human
skin were found.
Belter said that he will enter a plea of innocent by reason of insanity when Gein is arraigned in Waushara County Court Monday
on a charge of armed robbery. He is being held under $10,000 bond on the charge in connection with the theft of a cash register in
Mrs. Warden's store. The state attorney general's office Tuesday night warned Kileen about giving information on the case lest
"rights to a fair trial might be violated."
Up to State
Atty. Gen. Stewart Honeck said he did not personally issue the warning to Kileen but acknowledged it came from his office.
Kileen said at Wautoma he was not interested in opening any graves. Gein has said he gathered the skulls from cemeteries. "I
want no part in opening graves to prove anything, "Kileen said Just think how the poor relatives would feel."
NO WECKLER CONNECTION
JEFFERSONThere is no indication so far of a connection between the Plainfield murders, the disappearance 10 years ago of 8 -
year - old Georgia Jean Weckler and the disappearance last August of Irene Mae Keating, according to word received this
morning from Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Harold Eberhardt.
Eberhardt, who went to Plaint' field with other county officials, stated that his office was de-pendent on the state crime lab-oratory
to establish any connection between Edward Gein, the Plainfield confessed woman slayer and grave robber, and the crime in
Jefferson County.

Janesville Daily Gazette

Thursday, November 21st, 1957
Butcher-Slayer Enters Insanity County Judge Holds Gein for Murder Trial
WAUTOMA AP - Edward Gein, admitted butcher-slayer of a middle-aged business woman, pleaded innocent by reason of
insanity today when he was arraigned on a charge of first degree murder. He was ordered held without bond for trial in Circuit
Court.
Waushara County Judge Boyd Clark, after accepting the plea, found "probable cause" that the crime had been committed and that
the 51-year-old bachelor farmer should be held for trial.
The farmer-handyman is accused of the premeditated killing of Mrs. Bernice Warden, whose mutilated body was found hanging
by the heels from a rafter in Gein's farm home late Saturday night. Gein also is charged with robbing her hardware store, Gein's
attorney waived preliminary hearing.
To Circuit Court
The case now goes before Circuit Judge Herbert A. Bunde who will decide whether Gein is sane and capable of standing trial or
is insane and should be committed to the Central State Hospital at Waupun State Prison without standing trial for murder.
Judge Bunde also could permit Gein to go on trial but has the authority to stop the proceedings at any time he finds Gein
insufficiently sane to stand trial. Gein also has admitted the fatal shooting of Mrs. Mary Hogan, 54, a tavern keeper in adjoining
Portage County. The admission of the second slaying was the result of lie detector examination at Madison Wednesday.
Gein's arrest followed the discovery of Mrs. Warden's mutilated corpse in the summer kitchen of his central Wisconsin farm-
house. Horrified officers also found 10 other skulls, skin masks, bones and scalps in the farmhouse.

81
 Brief Appearance
Today's County Court proceedings lasted only five minutes. Gein, clean-shaven, glassy-eyed and trembling slightly, stood before
the judge in company with his attorney and a clergyman, the Rev. Kenneth Engelman, pastor of the Methodist church, who
Wednesday conducted funeral services for Mrs. Warden.
Gein spoke only two words. He acknowledged his identity and said "yes" when Judge Clark asked him if he was represented by
an attorney.
Under questioning at the State Crime Laboratory at Madison Wednesday, Gein admitted, according to Director Charles Wilson,
that he killed and butchered Mrs. Bernice Warden, 58-year-old Plainfield hardware store operator, and Mrs. Mary Hogan, 54,
Bancroft tavern operator who had been missing since Dec. 8, 1954.
First degree murder is a pre-mediated killing. Conviction carries a mandatory life term. "We want to get this thing over with as
quickly as possible," said Kileen. "Our only interest is seeing that justice is done in the killing of Mrs. Warden."
No Weckler Link
The lie detector tests cleared v Gein of any connection with the Georgia Jean Weckler disappearance in Jefferson County and the
mystery surrounding the vanishing of Evelyn Hartley in La Crosse County. The Chicago Tribune said in a copyrighted story
today that Gein had told authorities in the Crime Lab examination of "a strange sex complex that motivated his sadistic rampage."
The Tribune said that Gein also "divulged new and more horrifying details of his ghoulish activities."
POSSIBILITY OF SEX COMPLEX IS SEEN
MADISON-AP Charles Wilson, director of the state Crime Lab oratory, said today an excessive mother-love may have been the
compulsion that drove 51-year-old Edward Gein of Plainfield to commit crimes of horror.
Gein is the Waushara County bachelor who has admitted the slaying of two women. "I suspect that we may have an Oedipus
complex involved here," Wilson said. The Crime Lab chief stressed this was merely suspicion on his part. Webster's dictionary
defines an Oedipus complex as "a complex arising from early childhood, and involving a primary attachment to the parent of the
opposite sex, with hostility to the other." Wilson said he had no comment at this time on a Chicago news-paper story saying Gein
told authorities of a strange complex that motivated his actions.
Acquaintances Held Murder Talk Big Joke, Kidded Gein About Hogan Case When Woman Vanished
PLAINFIELD, Wis. AP - Edward Gein's neighbors remember now. They believed he was joking when he told them of doing
away with persons who were reported missing. Gein, a 51-year-old bachelor described as bashful and mild, has admitted two
murders.
Both of his victims were women, Mrs. Bernice Worden of Plainfield and Miss Mary Hogan of Bancroft.
Bob Hill, a 16-year-old high school student from Plainfield, said he had been shown what appeared to the "two shrunken heads"
at Gein's farm some time ago. "He said they were sent to him by a cousin from the Philippines," Hill recalled. "I didn't think
anything about it at the time." Authorities came upon a collection of skulls Gein kept on the farm. He told police he robbed
graves.
"He was a little peculiar," Mrs. Morris Diggles said. "Like that time Mary Hogan disappeared. People would kid Ed about it and
he'd say, sure, he did it. Whenever there was any crime anywhere Ed would confess to it. Everbody thought it was a big joke."
Mrs. Donald Foster said, "He's admitted to us he did away with Mary Hogan. We'd kid him about it, like everybody else, and he'd
say, 'Yes, I went and got her in my little pickup truck and took her home.' And then he'd grin. Of course, nobody believed him not
then.

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
Feburary 3rd, 1958
Weckler Tip Leads
JEFFERSON A former mental patient supplied a false lead to the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, Fort Atkinson,
that had Jefferson and Dane County police authorities digging without success in the dirt basement of a sexton's house in a
Jefferson County cemetery.
"It was just a routine investigation. We have checked hundreds of such leads," said Sheriff Roger Reinel.
Jefferson authorities received the tip when a Madison man walked into the Dane County sheriff's office Saturday afternoon and
said that he knew where the girl's body was buried.
After digging several hours Sunday night without success authorities learned that the man had recently been released from a
mental institution.
Sheriff Reinel said today that the man was taken to Mendota Hospital for examination.
Georgia Jean disappeared from near her farm home in 1947. Authorities obtained a confession of her death from a man now
serving a life term in prison, but his story was doubted by many. The body was never found.
Janesville Daily Gazette
January 20th, 1966
Francis J. Garity Dies; Ex-Jefferson District Attorney
JEFFERSON Francis J. Garity, 57, of 505 E. Elm St., former Jefferson County district attorney and Jefferson city attorney,
died at 10 p.m. yesterday after suffering a heart attack.
He was a veteran of World War II and held the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He received a
commission as lieutenant (jg) in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was assigned to aviation duties at the naval air station, Quonset Point,
R.I. He served three years.
Garity became widely known throughout the state when he conducted the investigation into the kidnaping of Georgia Jean
Weckler, who disappeared from her farm home in Jefferson County on May 1, 1947. After months of investigation, Buford
Sennett, serving a life term in Waupun for the murder of a university student, Carl Carlson, confessed to Garity at the prison that
he and a companion kidnapped Georgia Jean. Sennett refused to name his companion and the girl's body was never recovered,
He was assistant district attorney of Jefferson County from 1937-40, district attorney after 1941, and in 1950 a candidate for
attorney general of Wisconsin.
Born Aug. 18, 1908, at Oconomowoc, the son of Emett and Ethel Olwell Garity, he was a graduate of the University of
Wisconsin, receiving his B.S. degree in 1932 and his law degree
in 1934. He practiced one year in Oconomowoc before coming to Jefferson.
He was married to Hazel Klett May 19, 1940.
Garity was a member of St. John the Baptist Catholic
Church, the Naval Reserve and Naval Reserve Officers Association; American Legion Post 164, VFW Post 3589, Wisconsin
State Bar Association, Jefferson County Bar Association, Knights of Columbus, Elks, Kiwanis and the Wisconsin Alumni
Association.
Surviving are his wife; two daughters, Mrs. David Smits, DeKalb, Ill., and Virginia, Mad-ison; a son, Michael, at home; two
grandchildren; six sisters, Mmes. Donald Kehr, Watertown, Gene Hayden, Royal Oak, Mich., Arthur Enters, Thomas Bowen and
Fred Boreck, all of Oconomowoc, and Miss Loretta Garity, Chicago; two brothers, Earl, Oconomowoc, and Larry, St. Paul.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the Matters Funeral Home, with the funeral Mass at 11 in St. John the Baptist Catholic
Church, Msgr. Edward Brill officiating. Burial will be in the parish cemetery. Friends may call after 3 p.m. tomorrow at the
funeral home, where the Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m.

FRANCIS J. GARITY

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 Janesville Daily Gazette
May 1 1967
The Georgia Jean Weckler Case Remains a Mystery
By Larry Van Goethem,
FORT ATKINSON Police hate to close the book on a major unsolved crime. The file is never really closed. It remains in the
parlance of crime fighters, "inactive." Somebody always remembers' the crime. Tips filter in which the police check out. So it is
with the bulky file of , the abduction 20 years ago today of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler in daylight within sight of her
parents' farm just 6 miles west of Fort Atkinson off Highway 12.

Today the kidnaping which jolted Southern Wisconsin is still unsolved and mystery deepened and darkened by the years shrouds
the case. Georgia Jean is 28 years old now if she is alive. Or she is dust in an unmarked, perhaps a watery grave. This uncertainty
concerning her fate has tormented the Weckler family for 20 years. Her father, George Weckler, died in February, 1956,
convinced she was alive. Her mother, who still I lives on the old Weckler farm, a long stone's throw from the lane where Georgia
Jean disappeared, still hopes and prays for her return.

Her sister, Mrs. Neil Oestreich, imagines sometimes what she would do if a voice told her over the telephone that it was her long
lost sister. And Undersheriff Roger Reinel, who worked on the case as a rookie Jefferson County deputy sheriff in 1947, still
checks out "about a half dozen leads a year."
Checks Them All
Reinel, who sends a man out when somebody reports sunken ground in a field a possible grave or finds discarded clothing, notes
that "It was my first case. I'm one of the few who still remembers around here." What happened to Georgia Jean? Nobody knows.

After school closed in the afternoon at the Oakland Center School where she was a 3rd grader, Georgia Jean was given a ride to
her farm lane by Mrs. Carl Floerke, whose daughter attended the same school. Mrs. Floerke saw the girl take the family's mail
from the mail box along the highway and stroll down the lane. She was never seen again. The mail was never found.

A massive manhunt began after the girl failed to come home. Volunteers including some from Janesville combed the woods along
the lane for clues to her whereabouts. Tracks of a vehicle were seen in the lane, perhaps 50 or 75 yards from the highway, Later a
telephone company repairman working on lines said he saw a 1936 Ford car drive into the lane, then pull suddenly out and speed
away.
The FBI entered the case. But despite one of the most intensive hunts in the history of this area, neither the girl nor any abductors
were ever found. The one man who might end the mystery is silent. He is Buford Sennett, formerly of Richland Center, now
serving a life term at Waupun State Prison for murder and kidnaping of University of Wisconsin coed in 1947.
Confessed to Abduction
Sennett confessed to the Weckler abduction after he was imprisoned, to Francis Garity, then Jefferson County district attorney
who has since died. Garity and Reinel tended to believe Sennett's story that he had kidnaped the girl with two accomplices for
ransom but fed her an overdose of sleeping pills and dumped her lifeless body in the Blue River. Garity, died believing the
confession was true. But Sennett changed his story several times. Once he said the body was buried but police dug up the ground
he led them to and never found the body. He took police to the Blue River hut divers couldn't, find the body. And Sennett refused
to sign a statement.

Waupun State Prison Warden John C. Burke, who was present when Garity interrogated Sennett in the warden's office several
times told the Gazette last week he believed it is possible Sennett deliberately misled Garity because he was being "bothered"
about the Weckler, case. "He figured he was in already and maybe they would stop bothering him," Burke speculated. Whatever
the case, many people around Fort Atkinson didn't believe the story. The last time Reinel saw Sennett was in 1958 when he tried
one last time to elicit the truth from him. He recalls that Sennett told him, "Why should I confess? If I say I did it then I'm in
trouble. If say I didn't I'm still in trouble...
Denied Parole
Sennett was eligible for parole after 11-1/2 years but has, been turned down repeatedly for release by the state parole board.
Reinel, formerly the Jefferson sheriff his wife is sheriff now considers Sennett the likely suspect but he admits to checking out a
half dozen leads a year three in the past year. "I don't imagine it will ever be closed,'' he said "It will always be on file."
Just recently he investigated a report of feminine clothing found in a field. But it belonged to a grown woman, he said. Reinel
even checked out a man's story, that he had communicated with Georgia Jean's spirit through a seance in Pennsylvania.
He said he won't ignore any, possibility even if it sounds "crackpot" because he wants to solve the case so badly.
He noted that every year people in the county call his office because they have a sunken area in a field or have found what ' looks
like a grave or a body. It is usually nothing, he says, or in some cases, it's a dead animal'' perhaps a cow Reinel doesn't tell the
Wecklers when he checks out a new lead. You always open up those old wounds," he said.

Mrs. Weckler, 63 a greying woman, now lives with her, daughter, who was 16 when Georgia Jean disappeared, and son-in-law,
Neil Oestreich. Another daughter, Mrs. Joanne Cushman, lives at rural Jefferson. A son, La Verne Weckler, lives on Fort
Atkinson Road nearby.
Still Own Farm
Mr. and Mrs. Oestreich own and operate the family farm. They all still cling to faint hope that Georgia .Jean is alive. "You take a
childlike that what would she remember?" Mrs. Weckler said. She remembers vividly even after two decades. "I think about it all
84
the time. That's what you do keep praying. "How do you forget something like that?" asked Neil Oestreich. His wife, Katherine,
said "Everytime you hear of a crime on the radio or newspaper you think about it. You know how they feel.

Mrs. Weckler believes the crime led to her husband's, death in 1956 of a heart attack. One day Mrs. Weckler thought she saw her
daughter. "We drove into the lane one night and somebody was there walking. I said Oh my but it was the hired man. "I've
often thought what I would do if somebody told me over the telephone that she was Georgia," said Mrs. Oestreich. "Could you
really believe that it's her or would it be someone else with the same name" Tragedy struck the Oestreich family last summer
when their 12-year-old son, Danny, died after a farm accident. They still have a 6-yearold son, Dale. "But this is worse," said
Oestreich, of the little girl's disappearance. "This is worse. All you can do is go on praying.

85
 The La Crosse Tribune
Tuesday, May 6th, 1947
Clues Fade In Missing Girl Search
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. AP Another "hot" lead has sputtered out in the six-day old hunt for eight year old Georgia Jean
Weckler, who authorities believe was abducted but her father has not given up hope for her return. "I have more hope than ever
she is alive," George C. Weckler said. Weckler broke into tears yesterday during a radio talk from the sheriff's office at Jefferson.
He pleaded "from the bottom or my heart" for the return of his blond, blue-eyed daughter.
Many Reward
The talk was broadcast from station WLS, Chicago. The station and Prairie Farmer farm newspaper, offered $2,500 for
"information leading to the safe return of the girl or evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of the kidnaper." In all, reward
money for the girl now totals $7,225, including $1,000 offered by the girls father, a Fort Atkinson farmer. The city's Chamber of
Commerce has started a campaign to increase the reward.
Search Woods, Dumps
Meanwhile, a blond youth who ransacked a Fort Atkinson home yesterday and was seen fleeing in a black car was the object of a
widespread but unsuccessful search, although Sheriff George Perry said he did not believe he was linked to the Weckler case. He
said the youth's car was a coupe while that a man seen near the Weckler home last Thursday, when Gloria disappeared was a
Tudor. Nothing was reported taken from the home.
Crews of men, working under sponsorship of the Fort Atkinson Junior Chamber of Commerce, were lifting all manhole covers
and searching catch basins in the city. A large dump east of the Wecker farm home was leveled by farmers in the search
yesterday, and another group of farmers began a thorough search of woods several miles west of the home.

The La Crosse Tribune

Wednesday, May 7th, 1947
Hope Fades For Missing Girl
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. AP - Weary law enforcement officials were "just waiting for a lucky break" today after another day
of fruitless searching for eight-year old Georgia Jean Weckler who disappeared from a road near her home last Thursday.
A few of the 1,000 volunteer searchers, who have covered the surrounding area, still were poking about the brush, following their
own hunches, but officially the investigation was at a stalemate. Undersheriff George Schreiber said, last night there were "no
new 'clues, no new leads, no new developments, nothing."
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said the search for the girl, who is believed to have been abducted, "has brought us no further than we
were the day she disappeared." He said "We are just waiting for a lucky break."
The district attorney added "We're still working completely in the dark, We've covered every inch of ground In a 10-mile radius
without finding a single clue, not a scrap of clothing, not a letter or a piece of paper from the mail we know she was carrying,
nothing. "We might have been walking right over something, but I don't see how. We've turned over rubbish heaps, hay mows
and gone under corn cribs, all without result."
Sheriff George Perry said that tips still were being received about the whereabouts of a black sedan reportedly seen driving out of
the farm road a few minutes after the girl entered the road, but none of these, Perry said, has proved to be of value.

The La Crosse Tribune

Sunday, May 11th, 1947
Milwaukee Police Department Offers Weckler Case Help
MILWAUKEE - AP - Jefferson county authorities Saturday were offered the help of the Milwaukee police department in the hunt
for eight-year-old Georgia Weckler, believed kidnaped from her Fort Atkinson farm home. Previously, the Madison police and
state agencies were offered in the search for the missing girl.
Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry conferred Saturday with Lt. John Niederkorn, acting captain of the Milwaukee detective
bureau, and Inspector Hubert Dax. He was assured facilities of the Milwaukee department were at his disposal.
Dax said "If the governor calls on Milwaukee police for assistance we will be willing to send you (Perry) our best detectives."
Sheriff Perry also conferred with Oscar Menzel, a friend of the Weckler family, who has offered to act as intermediary in the case.
Perry said he did not plan to confer with the FBI which so far has not entered the case officially.

The La Crosse Tribune

Thursday, May 15th, 1947
Neighbors Pitch In To Help Family Of Missing Child
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. - (AP) - The 200-acre farm of George Weckler, bleak and barren the past two weeks, assumed new life
Wednesday as 13 farm neighbors and their wives took over for a day.
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It was a fortnight ago that eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared on her way home from school, leaving not a clue to
assist desperate searching parties, Her parents, grief stricken as day has followed day with no word of her whereabouts, have
taken interest in little else than the search.
Farm friends, unable to help materially since the first few frantic days of combing the wooded areas nearby, felt keenly their
failure to be "good neighbors" in the traditional rural spirit. Yesterday the men arrived with 12 tractors equipped with plows, the
women with arms loaded with good things to eat.
Thirty acres of the farm were plowed and readied for planting under the direction of Clarence Trieloff, president of the Fort
Farmers club. Chester Saunders sheared 10 of Weckler's sheep, while Loren Becker worked at repairing fences, Sam Chapman
brought over his cultipacker to follow the plows, but the soil was a bit too wet and he promised to bring has equipment back later.
At noon the boys knocked off work and the women took over. Mrs. Trieloff and her crew had been assisting Mrs.Wecker in the
farm kitchen and then sat down to a meal starting with roast beef and ending with rhubarb pie. In between were mashed potatoes,
asparagus, scalloped corn and salad. "It was a regular threshers meal," smiled Mrs. Trieloff.

The La Crosse Tribune

Tuesday, May 20th, 1947
Long Trip By Sheriff In Weckler Case Yields No New Information
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. AP A trip which Sheriff George Perry took him several hundred miles north of here yesterday failed
to develop any information concerning the fate of eight-year-Georgia Jean Weckler, farm girl missing since May 1.
Sheriff George Perry, who declined to discuss the nature of his trip, said he planned to "talk with several people right around here
today." "I don't want to give out who Im conferring with,' Perry said, "but Ill be right around close all day. I'll be checking into
everything close to home."

The La Crosse Tribune

Thursday, May 22nd, 1947
Dirt Pile Clue In Weckler Case Fails
FORT ATKINSON, WIS. AP - District Attorney Francis Garity of Jefferson County said yesterday state traffic officers had dug
up the soft shoulder of the road on highway 12, a mile from the farm home of missing eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, but
had found nothing.
The truck driver had reported seeing a man digging on that spot 10 hours after the child's disappearance on the afternoon of May
1, but said he had not reported the incident earlier because he thought the man might have been attempting to get his car out of the
mud. Sheriff George Perry said a recent check of clues on the disappearance of the girl had taken him to several trailer camps, but
when located, trailer dwellers he was seeking were cleared of connection with the case.
The La Crosse Tribune
Thursday, August 21st, 1947
Postpone Lie Detector Test For Farmhand
JEFFERSON, Wis. AP - Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said yesterday a lie detector test for Robert Schaar, 34, was postponed until
today because the lie detector was broken.
Garity said he planned to test Schaar, a farmhand held by Green county authorities on a charge of taking indecent liberties with a
13 year old boy, in connection with the mysterious disappearance last May of eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler of Fort
Atkinson.
The La Crosse Tribune
Friday, August 22nd, 1947
Lie Detector Tests Fail To Shed
Light On Weckler Mystery
JEFFERSON, Wis. AP - Results of lie detector tests given to ten persons were being analyzed Friday although Dist. Atty.
Francis Garrity said Thursday night they apparently failed to shed any light on the mysterious disappearance of eight-year-old
Georgia Jean Weckler.
The tests were concluded last night on the ten persons who had submitted voluntarily because, Garity said, most of them wanted
to clear up any rumors about their connection with the case. 'Garity declared the test failed to show any discrepancies in the story
of Robert J. Schaar that he was not near Fort Atkinson when the girl disappeared last May 1. Schaar was being held at Monroe on
a charge of taking indecent liberties with a 13-year-old boy. "The tests revealed nothing to indicate any of the ten persons was
involved," Garity said. Alex Gregory of the Leonardo Keeler institute in Chicago conducted the tests.

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 The La Crosse Tribune
Thursday, December 11th, 1947
Seek Anonymous Letter Writer In Weckler Case
Intensify Probe After Arrest Of Buford Sennett
Disclose Findings In Cemetery At Appleton After Girl Disappeared In May
APPLETON, Wis. AP - The dramatic Georgia Jean Weckler investigation, which has blazed throughout the Midwest on score
of clues since the eight- 8-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl disappeared May 1, centered in this central Wisconsin city today
where authorities were trying to learn the identity of the author of an anonymous letter.
Dist. Atty. Elmer Honkamp said last night be would appeal by press and radio for a girl from nearby Kaukauna, who wrote a
letter concerning a pair of convicted murders, to came forward, identify herself in confidence and give information he believes
might be pertinent to the Weckler case.
Writer Frightened
Honkamp said he received the girl's letter yesterday from Dist. Ally, Francis Garity, of Jeffcrson County, and that the note had
been written following the newspaper publication of photographs of Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow, who were sentenced to
life terms for the slaying of Carl Carlson, of Superior, a University of Wisconsin medical student. The letter, Honkamp said,
identified one of the convicts (it did not specify which one) as a man who picked up the writer while she was hitchhiking to
Appleton last summer. The driver, the writer said made advances and frightened her. Forced to stop by a flat tire, the driver told
the girl not to try to run away, or she would "get what that girl in the Appleton cemetery got."
Map Clipping Found
Honkamp said a package, containing a newspaper clipping of the Weckler girl's disappearance, pages of a detective story and a
Wisconsin road map, had been found in an Appleton cemetery last June, about a month after the girl's disappearance. He declined
at present to say in which cemetery the find was made. The district attorney said an investigation probably would be made of the
cemetery, but that he hoped first to locate and talk to the girl who wrote the letter. He said the note had been written to Dane
County Dist. Atty. Edwin Wilkie, who, in turn, forwarded it to Garity, Fort Atkinson is in Jefferson County, in south central
Wisconsin.
Parents Plead
Earlier yesterday. Sennett refused flatly to submit to a lie detector test in connection with the Weckler case, despite tearful pleas
from his parents and his brother, Robert, 18, who visited him at Waupun prison. Dist. Atty. Leo Lownik of Richland County said
the convict ended a three hour meeting with his faintly with the words, don't like law enforcement officers."
Lownik said Sennett talked freely about "having buried a spotlight in the backyard of his home in 1943." Lownik continued, 'He
said he dug around there this fall, too. According to what he told us, he was looking for the spotlight," Authorities, digging in the
Sennett yard at Richland Center Tuesday, uncovered the remains of a trench 41/2 feet by 2 feet by three feet, but Lownik said
"whatever had been in it had been dug up sometime before frost set in. Following the digging, however, Wilkie said at Madison
that "certain evidential material" had been discovered in the search, but he declined to disclose the nature of the find.
Find Hair, Cloth
Further details of the Appleton cemetery development were disclosed today by Police Chief Herbert W, Kapp of Appleton. Kapp
said his department was notified the night of June 18 by two women that a mysterious automobile was parked in Riverside
cemetery on the east side of the city. Officers investigated, he said, but the car was gone. Its occupant was described by the
women as tall and dark, wearing dark clothing, rough-looking and "rather young." The officers found a pile of debris beside a
tree, Kapp said. An attempt had been made to burn it without success. The pile included parts of Milwaukee and Chicago
newspapers of May 4 with pictures and stories of the Weckler girl's disappearance, the fiction section of a detective story
magazine, a wallet containing a lock of hair and a piece of cloth. The latter, Kapp said, appeared to be part of the shoulder section
of a girl's dress, It contained padding, he said, and appeared to be spattered with blood. The finds were turned over to Jefferson
County Sheriff George Perry and Garity of Jefferson County, Kapp said.

The La Crosse Tribune

Friday, December 12th, 1947
Confer On Weckler Case
MADISON, Wis. AP A conference on conduct of an investigation into disappearance May 1 of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, Fort
Atkinson farm girl, was schedule for this afternoon by Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, Dane County Dist. Atty.
Edwin Wilkie and Charles Wilson, director of the state crime laboratory.
Before leaving Jefferson for the conference, Garity said that identity of a Kaukauna girl who wrote a letter declaring she had been
threatened last summer by one of the murderers of Carl L. Carlson University of Wisconsin student had not been established.
Garity said that search for the writer of the anonymous letter being conducted by Outagamie County Dist. Atty. Elmer Honkump.
Because the letter referred to little girl in a cemetery, Honkump is checking cemeteries in the Appleton area Garity said.
The investigation recently had been concentrated on activities of Buford Sennett, Richland Center and Robert Winslow, Owen,
who are serving life terms in state prison at Waupun for the Carlson slaying. Both men denied implication in the Weckler case,
Winslow's claims apparently having been supported by a lie detector test. Sennett thus far refused to take the test

88
At Appleton, Outagamie County Sheriff Lyman B. Clark said that he planned to have virtually every school teacher in Kaukauna
inspect the anonymous letter in an effort to learn the identity of the writer. Clark said an Appleton man, Lawrence D. Schroeder,
described by the sheriff as a handwriting expert, had examined the penmanship and branded the letter a hoax. Schroeder said he
thought it was written by a "thrill seeker", but he did not explain how he arrived at the conclusion. The sheriff said Schroeder's
observation would not deter the hunt for the letter writer.

The La Crosse Tribune

Sunday, December 14th, 1947
Lower River In Search For Weckler Clues
MADISON, Wis. AP - Lowering of the Wisconsin River level below Prairie du Sac started Saturday night in preparation for the
dragging of the river Monday in search for clues in the disappearance of Georgia lean Weckler. Gates of the Wisconsin Power
and Light Co. dam north of Prairie du Sac will hold the waters back and reduce the river's flow to a minimum.
State agency and law enforcement officers decided at a conference Friday to start separate dragging operations at several bridges
across the river between Boscobel and Spring Green. The body of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, was found in
river at Blue River. Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center, serving a life term for Carlson's murder, has denied implication in the
Weckler case.
The La Crosse Tribune
Monday, December 15th, 1947
Sennett Admits Involvement
In Death Of Weckler Child, Says Girl Died Of Overdose Of Sleeping Pills
Sennett Insists Another Man Was Involved Dumped Body In Blue River
JEFFERSON, Wis. - AP - Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said today Buford Sennett has admitted his involved in the disappearance
and death" of Georgia Jean Weckler, eight-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl. Garity said Sennett, now serving a life term for the
murder of University of Wisconsin student, admitted he and another man gave the girl an overdose of sleeping pills and then
dumped her body in the Blue River near the Village of Blue River. Garity declined to reveal the name of Sennetts companion.
The body of the girl, missing from her home since May 1, was dropped into the river near the place where Sennett and Robert
Winslow dumped the body of Carl Carlson, Wisconsin medical student the nite they shot him three times after raping his sister-in-
law during an all-night orgy Nov. 14

Obtain Confession
The district attorney said he obtained a written confession from Sennett Saturday night at Waupun state prison. Sennett refused to
disclose the name of the friend involved with him in the slaying, Garity said, but declared the man was acquainted in Jefferson
county and knew the Weckler family.
The confession said the pair intended originally to kidnap the child, whose parents are well-to-do farmers, and hold her for
ransom. They picked the child up in the lane of her farm home, after she had been dropped off by a neighbor giving her a ride
home from school. Sennett said his car was used in the original phases of the crime, and that he drove while his friend kept the
little girl on the floor of the rear seat.
Gave Her Sleeping Pills
The pair drove to a wood's near Richland Center, Sennett's home, Garity said, and got into the friends car. They gave the girl two
sleeping pills. Sennett said lie then drove away to keep a, date with a girlfriend, leaving the other man and the Weckler child
alone in the car parked in the woods. The next morning, the confession continued, Sennett returned to the woods and found the
girl dead. Garity quoted the confession: "You will find, Mr. Garity, she was shot, but I know she died of the sleeping pills." The
district attorney said he was unable at this time to explain the shooting or when it happened.
Threw Body In Blue River
Sennett related, Garity said, that he and his friend stayed in the woods with the girl's body all that day and night. Then, he said
they weighed the body and took it to the Blue River, a tributary of the Wisconsin river, where they dumped it off the middle of the
span "just opposite the place we dropped Carlson's body, "It was well weighted," the confession said, "and you should find it
nearby."

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"At no time," the confession continued, "didnt I assault that little girl. She asked once when are you going to take me home, but I
never touched her." Garity said it appeared positive Winslow was not involved in the case, but that he did not know who the
accomplice was end was continuing to investigate.
Confession Statement
Garity said Sennett's confession, in substance, is as follows: "I was involved in the Weckler case, Mr. Garity, but I was not alone.
A friend of mine, whose name I refuse to disclose, who was acquainted in Jefferson County and, knew of the Weckler family,
planned to kidnap the little girl for ransom. With this plan in mind, we left Richland Center but left my friend's car in a woods
about three miles south from the city of Richland Center And then drove to Jefferson county in my car. 'The little girl was
walking down the Weckler drive to her home, and I turned my car and drove down the Weckler drive to her. It was not hard to get
he .into the car and she was placed in the rear seat down on the floor with my friend.
"I then backed out of the Weckler drive and headed east or highway 12 to the first crossroad and then turned right and drove down
this road a short distance and stopped my car. We then talked about whether or not we should go through with our plan of
abducting her. After a few minutes, I drove back to highway 12 and down highway 12 to the Weckler drive and again turned into
the Weekler drive, driving down a short distance. "We then again decided to go through with our plan of abducting the girl. I
again backed my car out of the drive and after I turned at the head of the drive to proceed in a westerly direction, a man on a
tractor pulling a wagon was going by the Weckler drive.
"At this time my friend and the Weckler girl were on the floor of the car in the rear seat. I drove west on highway 12 in the
direction of Madison but turned right at the first black-top road which ran in a northerly direction. After going up this road some
distance, I got lost, but after driving around for some time, I again came out on highway 12 and headed toward Madison. "I drove
through Madison with my friend and the girl in the back seat and headed toward Richland Center, stopping in the woods where
my friend had previously left his car. The Weckler girl and my friend got into the other car and I gave the Weckler girl two
sleeping pills and then gave the box of sleeping pills to my friend who remained in his car in the wood, with the Weckler girl all
night.
"I drove into Richland Center in my own car arriving there about 6:30 and that evening I had .a. date with a girlfriend. That night
I remained at home and the next morning I drove back to the woods where I found that my friend had given the girl the rest of the
sleeping pills in the box except two and that that time I found that she was dead. You will find, Mr. Garity that she was shot, but I
know that she died from the sleeping pills.
"We remained in the woods all that day and that night. After weighting down her body, we took the body to the Blue river bridge
where we dropped the body from the middle span at a point which is just opposite from where the body of Carlson was dropped.
It is well weighted down and should be near the spot where the Carbon body was found, "At no time did I assault that little girl,
Mr. Garity. She did not cry at any time, but she did ask, "when are you going to take me home?"
Helps Drag River
BLUE RIVER, Wis. AP - Buford Sennett, confessed slayer a little eight-year-old Georgia Scan Weckler, was brought front the
state prison at Waupun under heavy guard today to help officers dragging the Blue River here for the girl's body.
Chronology Of Weckler Case
JEFFERSON, Wis. AP Here is the chronology of the search, for little Georgia Jean Weckler eight-year-old farm girl, which
ended today when Buford Sennett serving a life term at Waupun for another murder, confessed her abduction and slaying.
May 1 - Georgia Jean disappeared while walking home from Oakland Center School; family believes she may have wanders away
to pick wildflowers,
May 3 - As fruitless search raises question of abduction George Weckler, wealthy farmer offers $1,000 for arrest of persons who
stole his daughter.
May 5 - Lends collapse as hug posse wearies; rewards total $5,500.
May 6 - Father expresses belief Georgia Jean still lives as broadcast rouses national sympathy; officers report black sedan seen in
driveway day of disappearance.
May 7 - Authorities say "lucky break" now only hope of finding child in nearby countryside.
May 8 - Final combing of area blanks hopes of searchers.
May 9 - All clues collapse, police have no further leads.
May 15 - Farm friends rally to help stricken Wecklers put crops in.
May 20 - New tip which leads authorities hundreds of miles north fizzle.
May 23 - Search turns briefly back to Jefferson County as tons of earth sifted where road shoulder disturbed.
May 24 - Another of many /also clues collapses when man accused of enticing Viroqua girl into car proves he was not in Fort
Atkinson area at time of disappearance.
Aug. 12 - Farm hand sought for months for questioning, caught 'on morals charge but convinces police of Weckler innocence.
Aug, 21 - Lie detector tests for those questioned previously begin but reveal nothing.
Aug. 27 - Leg bones found on Lake Michigan beach near Manitowoc douse hopes of ending case, but FBI identify as dog bones.

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Nov. 14 - Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, and a relative, a University of Michigan co-ed, abducted in Madison;
Carlson slain and dumped into Blue river, girl raped repeatedly in night-long orgy.
Nov. 17 - Sennett and Robert Winslow trapped in isolated Clark county farmhouse; surrender after 15 hour silent siege by
hundreds of armed possemen.
Nov. 18Sennett and Winslow sentenced' to life imprisonment for Carlson murder; Jefferson county authorities announce will
question pair about Weckler.
Dec. 8Police announce Winslow cleared self of Weckler complicity in lie detector test.
Dec. 9Sennett refuses to take lie detector test.
Dec, 10Authorities begin close search of Sennett's Richland Center, Wis., home surroundings.
Dec, 11Owen search uncovers "evidential matter" as Kaukauna girl writes letter to police identifying Sennett as man who
picked her up, threatened her; grilling of Sennett continues at prison.
Dec. 15Sennett's confession announced.

The La Crosse Tribune

Tuesday, December 16th, 1947
George Weckler Declines To Comment On Daughter's Fate
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. - AP - George Weckler, father of eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, declined to comment Monday
on the admission by convict Buford Sennett the little girl had been slain. Weckler, owner of a large farm near here, said his wife
had been told of the signed confession obtained by Dis. Atty. Francis Garity at the Waupun state prison. Saturday night and "is
taking it pretty hard." The girl's father said "a lot of credit is due" the sister-in-law of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin
medical student murdered by Sennett and Robert Winslow, 24, of Owen, the night of Nov. 14, for the capture of the pair. The girl,
University of Michigan coed raped repeatedly by the men the night of Carlson's murder provided authorities with clues which led
to their arrest and conviction.
The La Crosse Tribune
Friday, December 19th, 1947
Divers Search For Body
BLUE RIVER, Wis. - AP Two divers planned today to probe the chill waters of the Wisconsin River in another effort to locate
the body of Georgia Jean Weckler.
Technical problems yesterday delayed the plans for the divers to descend from a 63-foot barge in an attempt to dislodge a large
object. Authorities believes the "object" might be the stone used to weigh down the body of the eight-year-old girl who was
kidnaped from her Fort Atkinson farm home last May.
Buford Sennett, 22, confessed rapist-slayer has admitted, according to Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, that he threw
the little girl into the river from the bridge. He previously admitted tossing from the same span the body of Carl Carlson, 25, of
Superior, after shooting him to death and raping Carlson's sister-in-law in a night long ride. He and Robert Winslow, 24, are
serving life terms for the murder. Carlson's body was recovered.

The La Crosse Tribune

Wednesday, December 31st, 1947
Sennett-Winslow Capture Top Story In 47, Editors Decide
The sensational apprehension and conviction of Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow after a weekend orgy of rape and murder
was Wisconsin's biggest news story of 1947, in the opinion of editors polled by the Associated Press. The story was ruled No, 1
by a wide margin in the voting among representatives of Associated Press newspapers in the state. This story began In Madison
when a University of Michigan-coed reported that she and her brother-in-law had been abducted by two men in their car. She said
they shot her brother-in-law, raped her repeatedly and dumped his body into the Wisconsin River. Sennett and Winslow were
cornered and captured near Neillsville, sentenced to life in prison. (Georgia Jean Weckler was tied for second place).
Will Search Wooded Area In Hunt For Weckler Girl's Body
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. - AP - A wooded area south of this city will be searched by authorities in an effort to find the body
of Georgia Jean Weckler, eight-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl missing since last May. Dist. Atty. Leo Lownik of Richland
County said the area includes the dugout mentioned by Buford Sennett, convicted murderer who told Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, of
Jefferson County he and a companion kidnapped and drugged the girl before throwing her body into the Wisconsin River at the
Blue River bridge. Lownik said the search could not begin immediately because of the snow the area involved is about five miles
south of this city on county trunk Q.

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 The La Crosse Tribune
Wednesday, April 21st, 1948
'Bloody' Bridge Near Boscobel Falls Into Wisconsin River
BOSCOBEL, Wis.- AP The center span of the Blue River, bridge which figured in two of Wisconsin's most heinous murders
collapsed yesterday and tumbled into the swirling Wisconsin river. It was from this center span that Buford Sennett and Robert
Winslow threw the bullet-riddled body of youthful Carl Carlson, of Superior, a University of Wisconsin medical student.
The malevolent pair had picked up Carlson and his sister-in-law University of Michigan co-ed on the night before the Michigan-
Wisconsin football game. They shot Carlson to death and repeatedly raped the girl throughout the night. Sennett and Winslow
were sentenced to life terms in Waupun.
Later, from his lifer's cell, Sennett told authorities he was responsible for the kidnapping of eight-year old Georgia Jean Weckler
from her Fort Atkinson farm home last May. He said he and a companion, whom he refused to name, kidnapped the tot and later
tied her body to a rock and dropped it from the center other side of the same center span.
The river was dragged and tons of the bottom soils were sifted before ice halted operations last winter, but no trace of the tiny
body which Sennett said also bore the marks of a bullet was found.
The span's collapse followed the passage of a heavily-laden tobacco truck over the bridge, located nine miles northeast of here.
When the steel-and-concrete section fell, the truck slipped back into the 20-foot deep channel. The driver, who was not identified,
jumped from his cab pad; was pulled from the water by passersby.

The La Crosse Tribune

Friday, April 23, 1948
Westby Driver Unhurt In Bridge Collapse
WESTBY Wis. (Special) Harold Hagen can thank his lucky stars he is alive and not drowned. Driving a truck loaded to
capacity with tobacco, Hagen was crossing the Blue River Monday over the bridge near Bescobel and had gotten to the center
span when the bridge collapsed. Truck, tobacco and Hagen dropped into the swift running river for an unscheduled bath.
Hagen was pulled from the water by passersby and is suffering no more than what anyone would having gone for a swim In April,
plus some shock. Hagen was driving for Stafsliens of Viroqua.
This was the bridge that the murderers. Winslow and Sennett, threw the body of Carl Carlson into the Blue river, and the same
bridge from which Sennett confessed he threw the body of eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler.
The La Crosse Tribune
Tuesday, May 11th, 1948
Delay Search In Weckler Case
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. AP - A posse of 56 men will resume the search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler along the
Wisconsin river May 23. District Attorney Leo Lownik of Richland County announced the plans yesterday. Bad weather and high
water forced postponement of the hunt Sunday,
Georgia Jean, eight-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl, has been missing for more than a year. Lownik said 18 small boats, each
manned by two men, and 20 additional men for patrol work along the banks, would take part in the search. Officers from Dana,
Jefferson and Richland Counties will participate.
The posse will concentrate its search along the Wisconsin River from the Blue River Bridge to Boscobel. Buford Sennett, a
convicted murderer, has told authorities he and an accomplice kidnaped the child and threw her body into the river from the Blue
River Bridge.
The La Crosse Tribune
Friday, November 6th, 1948
Weckler Girl Disappearance Flares Again
JEFFERSON, Wis. AP - The disappearance of a Fort Atkinson farm girl flared again today with a report that "somebody" was
being held in connection with the Weckler case but there were denials from several sources.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County said he knew nothing about the development. He said that to his knowledge, "no
one" is in custody. Deputy Sheriff Don Rumary said at the county jail that there was "nothing to the report." Rumary said he
talked to Sheriff Roland Gibson this morning and the latter told him he "didn't know how the report got out." Gibson could not be
reached for comment.
Since Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, disappeared from the lane leading to her Fort Atkinson farm home on May 1, 1947, authorities
have chased threads of a hundred clues back and forth across the state without finding trace of the tyke.Buford Sennett, now
serving a life term in Waupun prison for the brutal slaying of a University of Wisconsin medical student told authorities that he
and a companion he refused to name kidnaped the Weckler girl and threw her body into the Blue River from the same bridge from
which he and Robert Winslow tossed the medical student's body.
Thorough search by drivers and hedging equipment failed to turn up a trace of the girl, however.
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 The La Crosse Tribune
Tuesday, November 30th, 1948
Weckler Case Flares Briefly, Then Dies
JANESVILLE, Wis. AP - The Weckler case flared briefly here last night, and then died once more.
Police Chief Jasper Webb said a Jefferson county man was picked up in Janesville tavern yesterday where he had been heard,
making references to Buford Sennett and the Weckler case. Sennett, now serving a life term at Waupun for another murder, has
told authorities that he and an unnamed companion kidnapped eight-year old Georgia Jean Weckler from her Fort Atkinson farm
home May l, 1947.
Although Sennett claimed the tyke's body was thrown into the Wisconsin River from the Blue River bridge, extensive dragging
operations have yielded no trace of the child. Neither have authorities been able to learn the identity of Sennett's companion.
Webb said that Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, and Sheriff Roland, and Gibson drove here from Jefferson last night to question the
arrested man, but that he subsequently was released and the Jefferson authorities returned home. Webb said, however, 'a further'
check would be made.

The La Crosse Tribune

Thursday, February 3th, 1949
Sift Ashes For Weckler Clues
MADISON, Wis. AP - State C rime Laboratory Director Charles M. Wilson was analyzing a small quantity of ashes Thursday
in hopes of uncovering a clue in the slaying of Georgia Jean Weckler, eight-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl. Wilson said the
ashes were brought to him by Otto Flaig, Fort Atkinson police officer, who said they were reported to have been taken from a
hideout of Buford Sennett Richland Center, confessed killer of the girl.
It may be possible to make a report next week, Wilson said, to learn if the ashes were from human bones. Sennett, who is serving
a life term at Waupun for the slaying of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student from Superior, said he killed the girl
and threw her body into the Wisconsin River near the Village of Blue River in May, 1947. No trace of the body was found,
however, despite an extended search.
The La Crosse Tribune
Wednesday, July 26, 1950
DA Releases Man After Questioning In Weckler Case
JEFFERSON, Wis. - AP - Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity said Wednesday he had released from custody a man
questioned in the Georgia Jean Weckler kidnaping case. Garity said two days of investigation had established that the man was
not in Wisconsin May 1, 1947, the day the little girl disappeared from near the farm home of her parents.

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 Oshkosh Daily Northwestern
10/30/54
McClelland Story
Later Repudiates Statement He Slew Girl
LINCOLN, Neb, AP - Does the repudiated statement of a life-term Nebraska convict hold a clue to one of Wisconsin's major
mysteries the disappearance seven years ago of a Jefferson county farm girl?
Three officers from Wisconsin and local authorities sought the answer today in further questioning of Edward McClelland, 25,
serving life for two slayings. He was found innocent Friday night on a charge of killing a prison guard.
T he o fficers said Fr iday that McClelland last Decemb er signed a statement in which he said he kidnaped
and killed Georgia Jean W eckler, 8, near her Fort Atkin so n, W is., ho me on May 1 . 194 7.
During McClelland's trial for the killing of a Nebraska penitentiary guard his defense counsel contended the prisoner made a
number of "confessions" to murders "he could not have done" and that the Wisconsin crime was one of them.
Says Story Made Up
On Frida y, Mc Clella nd said he made up the sto ry about kidnap ing the Weckler girl after read ing
a b o u t i t i n a n O m a h a n e w s paper in October, 1953. A letter from McClelland to Wisconsin officials led them to question
him.
" Mc C l e l l a n d h a s t o l d u s t o o mu c h , s o mu c h t h a t we d o n 't h a v e t o p r o v e h i s g u i l t , " C ap t . G l e n P a t t e e o f
t h e J e ffe r so n C o u n t y p o l i c e s a id h er e Fr i d a y. " H e wi l l h a v e t o p r o v e h i s i n n o c e n c e ."
Capt. Pattee, Jefferso n County Sher iff Rudolph Reichert and Dep uty Ro ger Reinel came here to testify in
McClelland's trial for the slaying o f priso n guard John Claussen last April 16. McClelland was serving two
life terms for the slaying of a Vir ginia to urist co uple near Omaha in August, 1947 -
Puttee reported that McClelland said he had an accomplice in the kidnaping of the Weckler girl, but that he
himself had killed her. Pattee s aid McClelland had ac counted for his whereabouts in Wisconsin from May 1
to May 4 in 1947 and had named his ac complice, now being sought. No motive was disclosed. M c C l e l l a n d
p r o v i d e d o f f i cers with a map, Pattee said, but a search in Illinois failed to turn up the girl's bod y. The officer
indicated that another search will be made later.
This is not the first time a con vict has told authorities of being involved in the Weckler case. Bu ford
Sennett, shortly after he was sent to the Wisconsin State Pr ison at Waupun for the murder of Carl Carlson, a
University of Wisconsin student, signed a statement that he had kidnaped the girl, given her an overdose of
sleeping p i l l s a n d t h e n d u mp e d h e r b o d y i n t o t h e W i s co n s i n R i v e r a t t h e Blue River bridge near Rich land
Center.
Extensive dragging opera tions failed to turn up the body. C arlson's body was recovered from the river near the spot
where Sennett said he and an unnamed accomplice threw the Weckler girl. Sennett had made his statement seven months
after the Weckler girl's disappearance. Georgia Jean vanished shortly after a neighbor who had driven her
home from school let her out near the road leading to the Weckler home. Widespread searching rewards and appeals
by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, were fruitless.
Oshkosh Daily Northwestern
Felon's Story About Weckler Girl Dismissed
11/18/54
Jefferson, Wis, APWisconsin authorities have dismissed as "vivid imagination" the yes-and-, no story of a Nebraska convict
who said he was responsible for the seven-year-old disappearance of a little farm girl then denied it Dist. Atty. Thorpe Merriman
said Wednesday night that after final questioning and a lie test of Charles McClelland 25-year-old convicted Nebraska murderer.
He was convinced McClelland "had nothing at all to do with- Georgia Jean Weckler case. Actually, although no trace ever was
found of the pretty little Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared from her driveway in 1947. A home-grown desperado admitted
the kidnap killing a few months after it happened. Buford Sennett. admitted rapist and killer now serving life at Waupun for
murder told authorities he and a companion kidnapped the little girl, that she died of an overdose of sleeping pills he gave her to
keep her quiet and that her body was thrown in the Wisconsin River at the Blue River. Fast water and shifting channel at that site
eliminated chance of proving his story and he never stood trial.
McCllelland contacted Jefferson County officials about a year ago and said he kidnaped and a companion killed the girl. He
declared be buried her body in Illinois and provided a map for recovering at. No trace was found of body or grave and Merriman
said that he was convinced McCllelland read about the crime then filled in the details with his vivid imagination from newspaper
comparisons Merrnaan said he made the trip to Lincoln with Carl Wilson, director of state crime laboratory, and Roger Renneal
sheriff-elect of Jefferson County.

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 Racine Journal Times
Saturday, May 3rd, 1947
Girl, 8, Hunted For Third Day
BULLETIN
FORT ATKINSIN. Wis. UPI - Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry said that a mysterious black automobile was
being sought us a clue in the disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler. Three persons told authorities they had
seen the black ear in the vicinity of the farm home of the little girl.
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. AP - The search went into a third day for a blonde, blue-eyed 8-year-old girl missing since Thursday
afternoon when she was returning from school. Other than a footprint, no traces of the missing girl were found by the posse which
searched the area up until late Friday night.
Sheriff George Perry said "We are operating on the theory there may have been foul play." The girl, Georgia Jean Weckler,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler, was last seen at 3:30 p. m. Thursday when a neighbor left her off at a driveway to
her farm home after driving her from Oakland Center School.
Sheriff Perry said three boys aiding the posse, had found a foot-print of a child's shoe. A shoe of the missing girl fitted the
imprint. More than 200 persons were in the searching party late yesterday. They included the Cambridge Volunteer Fire
Department, the American Legion Post members of the Fort Atkinson Junior Chamber of Commerce and neighbors of the missing
child.
Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, May 6th, 1947
'Return My Girl,' Is Father's Plea
FORT ATKINSON, Wis., - AP - Another "hot" lead has sputtered' out in the six-day old hunt for eight year old Georgia Jean
Weckler, who authorities believe was abducted but her father has not given up hope for her return. "I have more hope than ever
she iIs alive," George C. Weckler said.
Weckler broke into tears Monday during a radio talk from the sheriffs office at Jefferson. He pleaded "from the bottom of my
heart" for the return of his blond, blue-eyed daughter. The talk was broadcast from station WLS, Chicago. The station and Prairie
Farmer, farm newspaper, offered $2,500 for "information leading to the safe return of the girl or evidence leading to the arrest and
conviction of the kidnaper or kidnapers."
$7,225 Reward Offer
In all, reward money for the girl now totals $7,225 including $1.000 offered by the girl's father, a Fort Atkinson famer. The city's
Chamber of Commerce has started a campaign to increase the reward.
Meanwhile a blond youth who ransacked a Fort Atkinson home Monday and was seen fleeing in a black car was the object of a
wide-spread but unsuccessful search, although Sheriff George Perry said he did not believe he was linked to the Weckler case. He
said the youth's car was a coupe while that of a man seen near the Weckler home last Thursday, when Georgia disappeared, was a
Tudor. Nothing was reported taken from the home.
Comb Neighborhood
Crews of men, working under sponsorship of the Fort Atkinson Junior Chamber of Commerce, were lifting all manhole covers
and searching catch basins in the city. A large dump east of the Weckler farm home was leveled by farmers in the search, and
another group of farmers began a thorough search of woods several miles west of the home.

95
 Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, May 7th, 1947
Search for Girl Hits Stalemate
Bulletins
FT. ATKINSON. Wis. - AP - Sheriff George Perry said he "has a feeling" that 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler will be
found alive even though his investigation of her disappearance last Thursday has "bogged down to a standstill."
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. AP - Weary law enforcement officials were "just waiting for a lucky break" today after another day of
fruitless searching for eight-year old Georgia Jean Weckler who disappeared from a road near her home last Thursday.
A few of the 1,000 volunteer searchers, who have covered the surrounding area, still were poking about the brush following their
own hunches, but officially the investigation was at a stalemate. Undersheriff George Schreiber said last night there were "no new
clues, no new leads, no new developments - nothing."
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said the search for the girl, who is believed to have been abducted has brought us no further than we
were the day she disappeared." he said "we are just waiting for a lucky break." The district attorney added "We're still working
completely in the dark. We've covered every inch of ground in a 10-mile radius without finding a single clue - not a scrap of
clothing, not a letter or a piece of paper from the mail we know she was carrying - nothing.
"We might have been walking right over something, but I don't see how. We've turned over rubbish heaps, hay mows, and gone
under corn cribs, all without result." Sheriff George Perry said that tips still were being received about the whereabouts of a black
sedan reportedly seen driving out of the farm road a few minutes after the girl entered the road, but none of these, Perry said, has
proved to be of value.
Racine Journal Times
Thursday, May 8th, 1947
New Tip on Car Spurs Hunt For Farm Girl's Kidnaper
FT. ATKINSON. Wis. UPI - Sheriff George Perry today asked authorities in northeastern Wisconsin to hunt for an elderly man
driving a "steel grey car with a crumpled fender" as the possible kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl missing a
week today.
The appeal to officials in the area around Green Bay, 130 miles north of here, was prompted by a new lead given Perry today. The
tip came from Mrs. John Worachek, operator of a tavern in the village of Larrabee, 17 miles north of Manitowoc, Wis. Mrs.
Worachek said "an elderly man with the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen" entered her tavern at noon Saturday. He ordered a
glass of beer.
Heard Child Cry.
"The man appeared very nervous." she said. "In fact he was so nervous he could hardly hold the glass of beer. "Just then I heard a
child crying outside. It sounded like a girl and was very plain. She seemed to be saying, 'Let me out! Let me out!' Mrs. Worachek
said she re-marked to the elderly man that "someone's cooped up out there" but the man claimed "he didn't hear a thing."
When Mrs. Worachek started from behind the bar to investigate, the man stepped forward as though to block her way. Just then a
boy entered the tavern and bought an ice cream bar. He left immediately. "How much are the bars?" Mrs. Worachek quoted the
elderly man as asking.
Buys Two Bars.
When she told him, he said: "I'll take one of them - no, you'd better make it two." As soon as he had his change, the man left the
tavern hurriedly. By the time Mrs. Worachek got to the door, the car was on the highway, moving north.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, May 9th, 1947
New Clues Fail To Locate Girl
FORT ATKINSON. - AP - Several new 'leads" in the mysterious disappearance of eight year old Georgia Weckler produced no
results yesterday but Sheriff George Perry said he was "not discouraged." "We have nothing really 'hot' but we still have some
evidence to work on," Perry declared, adding the case was "not closed yet."
Perry said he had investigated a band of Gypsies, reported to have left their campsite five miles from the Weckler home the day
after the girl disappeared, but that he believed they had nothing to do with the case. He said the Gypsies moved to Dane County
and planned to go to Minneapolis.
Track Down Tips.
The sheriff also said a tip from Manitowoc County and another from Upper Michigan had failed to disclose any new evidence. A
Manitowoc County woman tavern keeper had reported that a man stopped at her tavern Saturday and ordered a beer, Perry said.
The woman related she heard a girl crying "Let me out of here" and that when she tried to investigate, the man barred her way.
Last Monday, the woman was driving to Peshligo and saw the car in a tourist camp near Green Bay and she telephoned the
information to the Manitowoc sheriff who relayed it to Fort Atkinson, Perry said. A check of northern counties did not bring any
additional information, Perry added.

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 Man Mentions Child.
In the Upper Michigan tip, a tilling station proprietor told state police a man "acting suspicious and nervous" entered his
establishment yesterday. The proprietor said the man asked for crackers and said he had a "young kid" in his car and that she was
hungry. Upper Michigan authorities were alerted to be on the lookout for the car. Sheriff Perry said, however, he did not believe
the man had anything to do with the Weckler case because, he pointed out, a kidnaper would not have mentioned the child. Perry
said his office was receiving tips from "all over the country" and that an attempt was being made to run down all clues, no matter
how slight.
Racine Journal Times
Saturday, May 10th, 1947
Kidnaper Tips Probed in Racine
Racine police have made numerous investigations of "tips" which might lead to the apprehension of the kidnaper of Georgia Jean
Weekler. 8-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl who has been missing nine days, police records indicated today. No positive leads
have been found, however.
John Secanky, desk officer who was on duty early this week when one Racine woman called to report a man and child in a car in
front of her house, today related the story of what happened. The woman had charged in a letter that the police had refused to
investigate her "tip."
Other Side of the Story.
"When I received the call from this woman," Secanky said, "I did ask her if she didn't think these two might be a father and
daughter, from the friendly way she said they acted. She admitted this was possible. "I then asked her if the car was there now.
She said it was not and she hadn't thought of calling the police until she noticed the story of the kidnaping in the newspaper that
night. I asked the woman for a description of the car and she said it was a black sedan, but she hadn't taken the license number.
"As long as the car had left quite a while before and the woman had no further description of the car to offer, I did not think it was
necessary to send a squad car to investigate this call," Secanky said.
Racine Journal Times
Monday, May 19th, 1947
Last Clues Fade In Kidnaping Case
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. - AP - District Attorney Francis Garity said that the search for eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler
was stalemated as remaining clues to the little farm girl's disappearance trickled out. Garity said the only new report over the
weekend involved an auto seen near Tomah by Fort Atkinson residents who reported one of the occupants resembled Georgia
Jean, but added that he was confident there was no connection with the case.
Racine Journal Times
Thursday, May 22nd, 1947
Searchers Dig But Fail to Find Missing Farm Girl
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. - AP - District Attorney Francis Garity of Jefferson County said Wednesday state traffic officers had
dug up the soft shoulder of the road on, Highway 12 a mile from the farm home of missing eight-year old Georgia Jean Weckler
but had found nothing.
A truck driver had reported seeing a man digging on that spot ten hours after the childs disappearance on the afternoon m May 1,
but said he had not reported the incident earlier because he thought the man might have been attempting to get his car out of the
mud.
Sherriff George Perry said a recent check of the clues on the disappearance of the girl had taken him to several trailer camps, but
when he located trailer dwellers he was seeking they were cleared of any connection with the case.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, May 23rd, 1947
Weckler Tragedy Leaves Scars
On Placid Rural Community
Editor's note: On May 1, pretty Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared from her father's home. She is believed to have been
kidnaped, and killed perhaps, by a sex fiend. The following article, written by the editor of the local newspaper, describes
graphically the things that happen to a small community when tragedy strikes.
BY LEROY GORE Editor, Jefferson County Daily Union.
FT. ATKINSON, Wis. - AP - Stark tragedy does strange and terrible and sometimes wonderful things to a placid rural
community. On May 1, 1947, Fort Atkinson was saturated with faith. In rustic Oakland Township a friendly sun beamed down
upon the wooded hills adjoining George Weckler's quiet acres.
Fort Atkinson and Oakland Township had read years ago about Leopold and Loeb. They'd read more recently about the Degnan
case. They'd shuddered briefly in their sympathy for the parents but only briefly. After all, that was Chicago and Chicago was an
evil, far-away city. Things like that just didn't happen in Fort Atkinson and Oakland Township.

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 Never Be the Same
Georgia Jean Weckler - pretty and sharp and 8 years old was saturated with the faith of the neighboring city and the countryside,
too. She knew in a vague sort of way there were evil people in the world she'd been warned by her parents and her teacher to
refuse rides in strange cars but she really didn't believe that these evil people would invade the peaceful environs of Oakland
Township.
Georgia Jean, happily excited over the prospect of hanging May baskets that evening, jumped out of a neighbor's car. After the
car had passed, she darted across the highway, and started down the half-mile driveway toward home. What happened during the
next few minute, the world is still waiting to discover after 508 long and anguished hours of waiting. In those minutes Georgia
Jean disappeared as effectively, apparently, as though an earthquake had swallowed her.
The Rock River still ripples through Fort Atkinson but neither Fort Atkinson nor the Town of Oakland are the same and will
never be quite the same in this generation. The thing that couldn't happen did happen. Faith has not evaporated with Georgia Jean,
but it's no longer the simple faith of a simple, unafraid people, untouched by tragedy.
Doors Locked Now
Fort Atkinson was a city of unlocked doors, night and day. That was part of the Fort's unquestioning faith. But tonight the doors
of Fort homes will be locked when the families retire and they have been locked for the past 20 nights since Georgia Jean
disappeared.
Those locked doors are just one symptom of the deep and lasting hurt tragedy has inflicted upon the community. You can read the
same symptom in the strain on the faces of fathers and mothers and the anguished query which has multiplied rather than
decreased with each passing hour: "Why can't they find her?" You can read frustration and bewilderment on the lean features of
District Attorney Francis Garity, himself a young father. You can read it on the faces of the business and professional men who
participated in successive searches of the surrounding area. The response to these appeals was an amazing thing - amazing to
those who do not understand rural communities where farmers and business men are neighbors and friends.
Closer Friendship Ties
In the middle of a search one recent afternoon, for instance, Ed Hedburg, cashier of the Citizens State bank and one of the Fort's
busiest men, walked grimly besides Dr. A. E Blum, dentist. The bank cashier had run out on a half dozen pressing appointments
and the dentist had sent three willing patients home.
Just a few days ago, in spite of the late, wet spring and the crying need for attention to their own acres, neighboring farmers
flocked to the Weckler farm to do his plowing first. That's the way it is in Fort Atkinson and Oakland Township. Maybe a simple
faith has been destroyed, but there's a new and closer tie between neighbors and friends.
Racine Journal Times
Saturday, May 25th, 1947
Winona Salesman Questioned About Weckler 'Kidnap
VIROQUA. Wis. - UPI - A traveling salesman arrested on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a nine-year-old girl was
questioned in connection with the "kidnap" disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler.
He was Warren Eliseuson, 31 and married, a salesman from Winona, Minn., whose route extends from Minnesota southward
through western Iowa and northern Wisconsin.
Sheriff Morris Moon said that Eliseuson denied that he attempted to abduct 9-year-old Phyllis Staley at Hillsboro, Wis. Friday
and had "clammed up fast" when questioned about the disappearance of the Weckler girl from her farm near Ft. Atkinson, Wis.,
May 1.
Moon said Elismison's automobile was the same type as that reported seen in the vicinity of the Weckler farm the day Georgia
Jean disappeared. He said Eliseuson was arrested at Wonewoc, after the Staley girl reported to Hillsboro authorities that Eliseuson
ordered her to get into his automobile. Eliseuson told authorities he only wanted to get road directions from her. Authorities said
they talked by telephone to Eliseuson's wife at Winona. They said she told them Eliseuson had told her recently that he believed
he should talk to a psychiatrist.
Racine Journal Times
Monday, May 26th, 1947
Link 'Kidnaping' To Fiend Case
MILWAUKEE. - AP - Wisconsin police officials who for 25 days have sought a trace of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler. this
morning were alerted for the assailant of a 6-year-old Milwaukee girl, brutally beaten and criminally assaulted here Sunday. The
mangled 6-year-old, found amid bloodstained debris in an old garage, remained in critical condition at County Emergency
Hospital, while hundreds of policemen aided by sheriffs deputies, carried their search through the city and suburbs.
State Asked to Help
Detective Captain Adolph Kramer said that 20 detectives were directing the manhunt and that all law enforcement officers in the
state had been asked to assist. Meanwhile, 50 miles west of Milwaukee, where Georgia Jean vanished from the lane of her farm
home May 1, Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity said he would discuss with Milwaukee police the possibility that
he two cases were related. No inkling of Georgia Jean's fate has been uncovered.

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 Description Similar
Garity said that a description furnished Milwaukee officers of the younger child's assailant tallies very closely" with the
description of a Weckler case suspect who has not been located.

Racine Journal Times

Tuesday, May 27th, 1947
Bond Set at $3,000 For Winona Salesman
VIROQUA, Wis. - UP - Warren Elisenson, 30-year-old Winona, Minn., salesman, was arraigned in county court Monday on a
charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and bound over to circuit court for trial. Bond was set at $3,000.
Elisenson was charged with asking a 9-year-old Hillsboro girl to get into his car last Friday. Police said Elisenson had been
questioned in connection with the disappearance May 1 of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Fort Atkinson girl, but had proved
he was not in the Fort Atkinson area at that time.
Girls' Attacker Still at Large
MILWAUKEE - AP - Police continued a house to house search within a one mile radius of a garage in which a five year old girl
was attacked and brutally mangled Sunday night.
Police said six suspects were taken in for questioning last night and three were released. The other three were held for further
interrogation today No charges have been placed against them. The girl, who suffered a fractured skull, was found in the garage.
Bits of candy were discovered on the blood-spattered floor and police believed she had been lured into the garage by offers of the
candy. Her condition today still was critical.
Seen Boarding Bus.
A man was seen fleeing from the garage shortly before the girl was found. He boarded a street car, then transferred to a bus and
got off the bus only eight blocks from the scene of the attack. Detective Capt. Adolph Kraemer, who ordered the area searched,
said he believed the girl's attacker lived near the garage.
Earlier, Wisconsin police officials attempted to link the assailant with a man sought in the disappearance of eight year old Georgia
Jean Weckler, missing for 26 days from her Fort Atkinson farm home.
No Connection Found.
Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said a description furnished by Milwaukee officers tallied "very closely" with that of a
man sought in the Weckler case. However, Capt. Kraemer said he did not believe there was a connection between the two cases.
Racine Journal Times
Monday, June 9th, 1947
Weckler Girl Seen In Illinois, Report
CHICAGO. - AP - Police are investigating a woman's report that she had seen Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Fort Atkinson
girl missing from her home since May 1.
Mrs. Martha Fritz of Des Plaines told authorities Saturday she was "positive" she had seen Georgia Jean in the company of a tall
man who looked like an Indian. Mrs. Fritz said the man and a little blond haired girl were crossing a Des Plaines River bridge and
headed toward Chicago on a highway. Mrs. Fritz said the little girl fitted pictures and descriptions of the child, who disappeared
after she picked up the mail at the Weckler's box in front of their home.
Racine Journal Times
Saturday, August 2nd, 1947
Quiz Man in Pittsburgh
In Weckler Girl Case
JEFFERSON, Wis. - UP - Jefferson County authorities await the results of their latest attempt to learn what happened to eight-
year-old Georgia Jean Weckler who disappeared from her home here three months ago.
Authorities late Friday asked Pittsburgh police to question John Henry Fay, about the girl's disappearance. Pittsburgh authorities
said Fay confessed the murder of Carol Thompson, 5, last May 10. There had been no trace of Georgia Jean since her
disappearance.
Racine Journal Times
Sunday, August 3rd, 1947
Hunt for Girl Goes on Daily
FT. ATKINSON, Wis. - UP - District Attorney Francis Garity said that one good clue would smash the apparent "perfect crime"
disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, exactly three months ago. The girls disappearance prompted a gigantic search
of the entire Jefferson county area. Thousands joined in the quest for some clue to the mysterious case. But Garity admitted that
authorities still were I as baffled today as the day the blond third-grader vanished.
Acting Governor Oscar Rennebohm pledged the co-operation of the state in the case. Authorities in Illinois, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio volunteered their services.

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 All Tips Fruitless.
George Weckler, father of the missing girl, made a dramatic radio appeal begging the abductor to "have enough conscience to
bring her back safely," and the reward fund sky-rocketed to $7,000 almost overnight. But nothing cleared the mystery of the
youngster who got out of the car of a neighbor and started up the half-mile driveway to her home, never to be seen again.
"Actually, I don't believe in a perfect crime," Garity said. "It is just a case where the kidnaper got away and we haven't a thing I
on him yet." Garity said however, he was confident still that the uncovering of a single substantial clue would break the case wide
open. "A kid-naper like that is very likely to strike again," he said. For that reason, he said his office was checking almost daily
reports of mysterious cars and strange men with young girls.
"We've run them down, but they've all proven fruitless," he said. The search for the kidnaper was renewed in July when Garity
asked Lincoln, Neb., authorities to question George Thomas Lee, formerly of Oconto, Wis., about Georgia Jean. However, Lee,
confessed sex slayer of 8-year-old Charles Mulholland, had been in a Nevada prison, May 1.
Parents Still Hope
George Weckler visits Garity at least twice weekly. Garity said Weckler and his wife still hope and pray for their daughter's
return. This small community has just about recovered from the shock of the kidnaping. But residents have not forgotten the
friendly little girl most of them knew personally. For each day, in the Jefferson County Daily Union newspaper, front page box
carrying Georgias picture. Today the legend beside the photograph read: "Lest we forget, Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared 93
days ago."
Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, August 19th, 1947
Link Bones Found on Beach With Missing Weckler Girl
MANITOWO, Wis. - UP - Sheriff Arthur Trutischell said a pair of shoes, bits of cloth and a glove were found near where
human remains thought to be those of Georgia Jean Weckler were discovered.
MANITOWOC, Wis. - UP - Authorities of two counties are searching the beaches of Lake Michigan for the remains of Georgia
Jean Weckler, 8, who disappeared from her home at Ft. Atkinson Wis., last May 1. The hunt was ordered Monday after
picnickers discovered the leg bones of a young child under hollow tree stump, and sheriff deputies found a piece of shriveled
flesh in the same area.Coroner Wesley Van Vanten of Sheboygan, Wis., said the bone were those of a boy or girl between the
ages of eight and 10. The bones were discovered by Ted Wilkier and Eugene Gunther both of Sheboygan. The deputies searched
the area by the light of handlamps and found a piece of shriveled, hardened flesh, six inches in diameter. It was believed the flesh
had clung to bones.
Authorities said that District Attorney Francis Garity of Jefferson County, from which Georgia Jean disappeared, had asked for a
complete search of the area. Garity was expected to arrive to aid in the search. Sheriffs Theodore J. Mosch of Sheboygan and
Arthur Truttshell of Manitowoc said that the Federal Burueau of Investigation had been notified. They said the bones and the
flesh would be sent to the FBI laboratory for further analysis.
Meanwhile, in Fort Atkinson. home of the girl who disappeared on her way home from school, her father, George Weckler, knew
of the latest report in the case. Manitowoc sheriff's deputies said there was nothing found which could establish identity
conclusively.
Racine Journal Times
Thursday, August 21st, 1947
10 Take Lie Tests In Weckler Case
JEFFERSON, Wis. - UP - Ten persons, eight of whom had been questioned previously are being given lie detector tests here in
connection with the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, on May 1.
Dr. Leonarde Keeler of Northwestern University was giving the tests to Robert Scharr, Monticello, and Elmer Spann, Delavan
Lake, both accused of molesting children and to eight others. The eight offered to take the tests in an effort to clear themselves of
any connection with the case, officials explained.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, August 22nd, 1947
Lie Tests Fail To Implicate 10
JEFFERSON. Wis. - AP - Results of lie detector tests given to 10 persons were being analyzed although Dist. Atty. Francis Garity
said they apparently failed to shed any light on the mysterious disappearance of eight year old Georgia Jean Weckler. The tests
were concluded last night on the 10 persons who had submitted voluntarily because Garity said, most of them wanted to clear up
any rumors about their connection with the case.
Garity declared the test failed to show any discrepancies in the story of Robert J. Schaar that he was not near Fort Atkinson when
the girl disappeared last May 1. Schaar was being held at Monroe on a charge of taking indecent liberties with a 13 year old boy.
"The tests revealed nothing to indicate any of the 10 persons was involved," Garity said.

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 Racine Journal Times
Saturday, August 23rd, 1947
Mystery Bones A Dog, Says FBI
MANITOWOC, Wis. - AP - Dr. Theodore Teitgen, Manitowoc County coroner, said last night he had "no explanation" of a
preliminary report from the FBI in Washington that bones found on a beach Sunday were those of a dog.
He declared there was "no question" in his mind that the bones forwarded were "the right leg and foot of a child." The bones had
been sent the federal agency for study to determine if they had any connection with the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8,
from her Ft. Atkinson farm home May 1.

Racine Journal Times

Sunday November 2nd, 1947
Still No Clue To Lost Girl
FT. ATKINSON, Wis. - UP - The disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler from her Jefferson county farm home
remained as mystifying today as it was when the blond youngster vanished six months ago. Francis Garity, Jefferson county
District attorney, admitted that no clues had been discovered in the past several months. The little girl disappeared May 1 only a
short way from her farm home. The first few weeks after her disappearance were filled with tips, clues and leads.
Police Lose Hope
All dissipated, however, and not a trace of the little girl, her clothes or her apparent abductor were found. Authorities tracked
down hundreds of leads, questioned scores of suspects and halted all vehicles answering the description of the "dark car"
reportedly seen in the vicinity of the lane leading to the Weckler farm, where the little girl was last seen.
As the months wore on, clues became more infrequent, Garity and Sheriff George Perry, who went almost sleepless the first week
after the girl's disappearance, admitted they were doubtful whether the case would ever be solved, but they said every possible tip
still was being followed. Unable to share authorities pessimism was George Weckler, well-to-do farmer father of the missing
youngster.
Father Optimistic
Garity said Weckler dropped in to see him almost daily to inquire hopefully about any news. The community of a little over 6,000
also had had little chance to forget in an upper corner of the Jefferson County Daily Union is a tiny picture of the little girl. Next
to the photograph is the caption. Lest we forget Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared 183 days ago
Racine Journal Times
Monday, November 3rd, 1947
Clears Suspect In Weckler Case
JEFFERSON, Wis. - AP - Some seven months after pretty little Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared from the lane of her farm
home, District Attorney Francis Garity said that the file of one of the most eagerly sought personalities in the case had been
cleared. Garity said that Matthew Warren, 28-year-old Patterson, N. J., farmhand who left this area May 2, day after 8-year-old
Georgia Jean disappeared, had been questioned during the weekend and definitely established he had no connection with the case.
Warren was arrested at Crown Point, Ind., Garity said, on a charge of indecent exposure.
Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, November 18, 1947
River Gives Up Murder Victim 2 Killers Plead Guilty
MADISON, Wis. - UP - Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow, two young ex-convicts who killed a University of Wisconsin
student who hitch-hiked a ride with them last Friday night, pleaded guilty to first degree murder charges here.
MADISON, Wis. - UP - First degree murder charges were filed here this morning against two youthful ex-convicts who
confessed killing a University of Wisconsin student and raping his sister-in-law for "just no reason at all." Dane County District
Atty. Edwin Wilkie at Madison said rape and car thefts probably would be filed against the pair later. The United States district
attorney's office here said federal charges against them of transporting a stolen car across state lines would be dismissed so the
state could take them over. The federal charges were issued to enable the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take part in the case.
The accused murderers are Buford Sennett, 22, and Robert Winsow, 23, who were captured late Monday by a posse that trapped
hem in a farmhouse near Longwood, Wis., about 150 miles north of here.
Find Body in River.
The body of their victim, Carl Carlson, 25-year-old senior at the University of Wisconsin, was found this morning in the
Wisconsin River near the Blue River Bridge 80 miles west of here. That was the spot where Carlson's sister-in-law told officials
Winslow and Sennett dumped it after hiding it in the trunk of their car for several hours. The two ex-convicts claimed the body
was thrown into the river at Boscobel, Wis., some 15 miles east of Blue River.

Officials at Madison said Jefferson County authorities also wanted to question Sennett and Winslow about the disappearance of
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-31d girl who has been missing from her farm home in southeastern Wisconsin since last May.
Carlson's sister-in-law, a 19-year-old University of Michigan student from Cleveland, told police that the men raped her several
times during the 12 hours they held her captive after they killed Carlson. Winslow admitted his part in another crime the shooting
of two teen-aged girls at Phillips, Wis., last August. He named Sennett as the man who fired the shots, however.

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Clark County District Attorney Bruce Beilfuss said Winslow admitted that on Aug. 15, he and Sennett shot Betty Kudrna, 16, and
her sister, Irene, 14, and attempted to kidnap Dorothy Vey, 15, as the girls walked along a highway near Phillips. Miss Vey
escaped, Irene Kudrna has recovered but Betty had the .32 caliber bullet removed from her lung at a Madison hospital last week.
Sennett and Winslow gave themselves up without resistance when authorities told them over a loudspeaker that they would be
"hurt" unless they came out with their hands up.
Spurned by Relative.
They had been sought since Saturday when a 19-year-old University of Michigan student from Cleveland told police that the men
had shot and killed her brother-in-law, Carlson, and then raped her several times. (It is a violation of Wisconsin law to publish the
name of a rape victim or the victim of a rape attempt). Monday the two men sought refuge at the farm of Winslow's brother-in-
law, George Shultz, near Colby, Wis. Schultz refused to take them in and then notified authorities as soon as they had driven
away. Authorities questioned Schultz and learned that Winslow was acquainted at the farm of Peter Pomputis, 66, near
Longwood, Wis. The officers built up an elaborate cordon of roadblocks around the Pomputis farm. The fugitives, meanwhile,
drove to the Pomputis farm, arriving there at 5 a. m. as Pomputis' twc sons, Anthony, 23, and Alfred, 21 were milking the cows.
The officers, expecting a furious battle, were armed with Thompson sub-machine guns, shotguns, rifles and pistols. They never
had to use them.

A deputy sheriff, speaking over a loudspeaker, told the fugitives who were hiding in the barn, "You are surrounded by officer
from Clark County and other surrounding counties and communities. Come out one at a time will your hands up within 10 minute
or you are going to get hurt." Sennett came out first, meekly and with his hands held high Winslow followed him a few seconds
later. "They looked just like the punk they really are," one officer said.

The two men said they were hiding in the haymow when the officers arrived. They said they threw the .32 caliber pistol used in
the murder "someplace in the hay." The men confessed shortly after they gave up. They told Deputy District Attorney William J.
Coyne of Madison that they "didn't plan the killing and rape until they actually happened." They gained just 40 cents and
Carlson's watch. Coyne said they told of picking up their victims on a highway just outside of Madison last Friday. Carlson had
just met the girl in Madison where she intended to see the Wisconsin-Michigan football game Saturday. Carlson and the girl were
hitchhiking to Badger Village, student-veteran housing project near Baraboo, Wis., where Carlson lived with his wife and 3-
month-old daughter. Carlson, a World War II veteran, was 'attending the University of Wisconsin. Sennett told Coyne that
Carlson and the girl were in the front seat with Winslow, who was driving.
Tells of Assault
"I dozed off and when I woke up the man (Carlson) was looking at Bob with sort of a vague expression on his face." Coyne
quoted Sennett as saying. "I figuered he was suspicious of us so I shot him twice in the head and once in the ribs."Then I dragged
the girl in the back seat with me." Coyne said Winslow later took the gun from Sennett and fired one more shot into the body
sprawled beside him "just to make sure he was good and dead."
The young women told officers that Winslow and Sennett stuffed her brother-in-law's body in the car trunk and drove about for
several hours. Then they weighted it with a large rock and a six-foot log chain and dumped it in the river. After 12 hours of terror,
the girl escaped at Hillsboro, Wis., when the car went into a ditch. She ran away while they were trying to get it out of the mud.

Farmer Tells How Fugitives Asked for Aid to Cover Crime

(Editor's Note: Robert Winslow, 23, and Buford Sennett, 22, hid at the farm home of Peter Pomputis, 66, Monday as
officers closed in upon them for the slaying of a University of Wisconsin student and the rape of his sister-in-law.
Pomputis' son. Anthony. 23, tells the family's story here.)
By Anthony Pomputis. As Told to United Press
LONGWOOD, Wis. - UP - My younger brother, Alfred, and I were milking the cows when Bob Winslow walked into the barn. I
was glad to see Bob. Hardly anybody around here knew about, that murder and rape business down toward Madison and our
family sure didn't know Bob was mixed up with it.

Bob said he and a friend was in a jam, that they had a hot car they'd stolen over to Westby and wanted to repaint it in our barn.
They wanted us to go into town and get the paint and some cigarettes, Al and I didn't want to get mixed up with it. I went in the
house and told pa and ma about it, Pa said he didn't want either of them around.

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 Gives Officers Tip
I didn't like to run Bob off the farm, though, because I knew him since we were kids. He used to work on the farm my sister and
brother-in-law (Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rinehart) work next door. And we knew his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. John
Winslow, who live on a farm about four miles from here. Then Bob and his friend, Sennett, told us about the killing and rape.
That settled us that we had to get rid of them and let the police know they were around.

About 7 a. m. a couple of law officers came to the house looking for them. I went to the officers car and talked to them, I told
them Bob and the other fellow were in the barn. When the officers went away, I told Bob they had come to talk to me about a
traffic scrape I got into recently. Bob and his friend never threatened us, although they showed us their gun. I don't think any of us
were afraid of them. We just wanted to stay out of trouble. They acted sort of nervous and kept moving from the house to the barn
and around the farm yard. Sometimes they'd go up to the haymow. They argued, too. Sennett wanted to get going but Bob said
they were safe here.

Finally Al and I went to get the paint and cigarettes. The police had time to get a road block up and met them about a mile
down the road. They sent a deputy to town with us for the paint and then we came back to the road block.
Rushed Parents Away.
The officers told us to get our folks away from the house at all costs because there was almost sure to be shooting. We made up a
story about my sister, Mrs. Julia Twait at Owens, being sick and having to take the folks over there. But we didn't have to use it
because Bob and Sennett weren't in sight when we got home.

We rushed the folks into the car and hurried back past the road block. Then we waited for the shooting but it never came. The
police said Bob and his friend had given up without filing a shot. I'm glad there wasn't any shooting and that nobody got hurt. But
Im sorry that Bob was mixed up in such a terrible affair. He's been in trouble before but never anything as bad as this.
Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, November 25th, 1947
Weckler Witnesses To View Waupun Lifer
MADISON, Wis. - AP - A number of "key witnesses" in the disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler in Jefferson
County last May will be taken to the Waupun State Prison to view Buford Sennett, 22, who is serving a life term for murder, Dist.
Atty. Edwin Wilkie said.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, December 5, 1947
Slayer Again Denies Abducting Weckler Girl
JEFFERSON. Wis. - UP - Buford Sennett, convicted rape-slayer, Thursday again denied any connection with the disappearance
of Georgia Jean Weckler from her Fort Atkinson farm home. District Attorney Francis Garity said. Garity planned to question
four witnesses who said they saw a car, similar to one Sennett owned, near the Weckler farm the day the girl disappeared. The
witnesses traveled to Waupun State Prison with Garity and three Madison law enforcement officials to view Sennett. Garity said
there was a possibility he would ask Sennett to submit to a lie detector test, but "not until we have all the evidence we need."
Racine Journal Times
Thursday, December 11th, 1947
Killer Refuses Test for Lies
WAUPUN, Wis. - UP - Authorities said that a mounting collection of circumstantial evidence pointed toward a youthful
convicted murderer as the kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, who disappeared from her FT Atkinson, Wis., home last May 1.
Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center, Wis., one of two men who murdered a University of Wisconsin student and raped his sister-
in-law last month, was "definitely linked" to the disappearance by "evidentiary material" found at his home Tuesday, authorities
said.
Hates Cops, Be Asserts
Richland County District Attorney Leo Lownik questioned Sennett at the State Prison for several hours Wednesday. The surly
convict refused take a lie detector test despite pleas of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Sennett, who accompanied Lownik to
Waupun. "I'm taking no test of any kind," Sennett snarled. "I got no use for cops." Lownik said that despite Sennett's lack of co-
operation, he had at least three points linking the youthful criminal with the disappearance of the Weckler girl.
At the same time, Appleton, Wis., law enforcement officials said they had received an anonymous letter which they thought might
aid in solving the mystery of Georgia' Jean's disappearance. The letter, postmarked Kaukauna. Wis., was from a young woman
who said she had been picked up while hitch-hiking last summer by a man who threatened to give her "the same thing" he gave
another girl, she submitted to his advances.
She, said she had seen pictures of Sennett and his companion in the murder of Carl L. Carlson, a University of Wisconsin student.
She said she recognized one of them as "the one who picked me up." She did not say whether it was Sennett or his companion,
Robert Winslow, 25. Lownik said that one of the principal clues connecting Sennett with the kidnaping of the Weckler child was
the fact that Sennett last May owned a car similar to one seen near the Weckler farm the day she disappeared.

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 Built 'Hideaway
He said also that Sennett's description tallied closely with that of the young man seen in the car by several witnesses. The third
clue which indicated Sennett had something to do with Georgia Jean's disappearance was a secret hideaway discovered under a
stairway in the Sennett home, Lownik said. Sennett allegedly built the secret closet last May and told his mother he would hide
there "if anybody ever comes looking for me."
Elmer Honkannp, District Attorney at Appleton, said he was not putting too much credence on the anonymous letter as such, but
that he was appealing to the writer to contact him. He said that last summer, a few months after the Weckler girl's disappearance
authorities found a parcel beside a tree in an Appleton cemetery. In it he said was a picture of the missing girl, a newspaper article
about the case, a road map of Wisconsin and some articles which had been burned.
Honkamp said he did not know what a statement in the letter about "the girl in the Appleton cemetery" referred to. He said no
trace had ever been found of the Weckler girl and that she might have been buried secretly there. At present the cemetery is
covered with three inches of ice.

Racine Journal Times

Friday, December 12th, 1947
Weckler Case Probers Meet for Conference
MADISON. Wis. - AP - A conference on conduct of an investigation into disappearance May 1 of Georgia Jean Weckler. 8, Fort
Atkinson farm girl, was scheduled for today afternoon by Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, Dane County Dist. Atty.
Merin Wilkie and Charles Wilson, director of the state crime laboratory.
Before leaving Jefferson for the conference, Garity said that identity of a Kaukauna girl who wrote a letter declaring she had been
threatened last summer by one of the murderers of Carl L Carlson, University of Wisconsin student had not been established.
Calendar Enters Kidnap Probe
FT. ATKINSON, - UP - Authorities believed that notations on a calendar belonging to Buford Seemed. 22-year-old convicted
murderer added to the list of circumstantial evidence linking him to the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, last May 1.
Authorities at Richland Center, Wis., said the calendar showed entries up to April 21, skipped three days, and resumed entries on
May 3. Sennett could not recall where he was, but may he may have gone fishing.
Sennett and Robert Winslow. 25, were sentenced to life imprisonment after confessing the slaying of Carl L. Carbon, a University
of Wisconsin student. Meanwhile, Appleton, Wis., authorities sought the writer of an anonymous letter who said she had been
threatened by Sennett or Winslow.
The writer said one of them bad threatened "to give her the same thing" he gave another girl who he said was in the Appleton
cemetery. The authorities said that a parcel was found in the cemetery last, containing a picture of Georgia and a news story about
her disappearance.
Racine Journal Times
Monday, December 15th, 1947
Convict Tells How Weckler Girl Died
BLUE RIVER. Wis. - UP - Buford Sennett confessed slayer of little eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler was brought
from State Prison at Waupun under heavy guard to help officers dragging the Blue River here for the girl's body.
JEFFERSON, Wis. - AP - Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said this morning Buford Sennett has admitted he was involved in the
"disappearance and death" of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl. Garity said Sennett, now serving a life
term for the murder of a University of Wisconsin student, admitted he and another man gave the girl an overdose of sleeping pills
and then dumped her body in the Blue River near the Village of Blue River.
Refuses to Name Partner.
Garity declined to reveal the name of Sennet's companion. The body of the girl, missing from her home since May 1, was dropped
into the river near the place where Sennett and Robert Winslow dumped the body of Carl Carlson, Wisconsin medical student,
after they shot him three times after raping his sister-in-law during an all-night orgy Nov. 14. The district attorney said he
obtained a written confession from Sennett Saturday night at Waupun state prison. Sennett refused to disclose the name of the
friend involved with him in the slaying, Garity said, but declared the man was acquainted in Jefferson County and knew the
Weckler family.
Gave Her Sleeping Pills.
The confession said the pair intended originally to kidnap the child, whose parents are well-to-do farmers, and hold her for
ransom.
They picked the child up in the lane of her farm home after she had been dropped off by a neighbor giving her a ride home from
school. Sennett said his car was used in the original phases of the crime, and that he drove while his friend kept the little girl on
the floor of the rear seat. The pair drove to a woods near Richland Center, Sennett's home Garity said, and got into the friend's car.
They gave the girl two sleeping pills. Sennett said he then drove away to keep a date with a girlfriend leaving the other man and
the Weckler child alone in the car parked in the woods. The next morning, the confession continued. Sennett returned to the
woods and I found the girl dead.

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 Denies Assault.
Garity quoted the confession: "You will find. Mr. Garity, she was shot, but I know she died of the sleeping pills." The district
attorney said he was unable at this time to explain the shooting or when it happened. Sennett related, Garity said that he and his
friend stayed in the woods with the girl's body all that day and night. Then, he said, they weighted the body and took it to the Blue
River, a tributary of the Wisconsin River, where they dumped it off the middle of the span "just opposite the place we dropped
Carbon's body." "It was well weighted," the confession said, "and you should find it nearby." "At no time." the confession
continued, "did I assault that little girl. She asked once 'When are you going to take me home.' but I never touched her." Garity
said it appeared positive Winslow was not involved in the case, but that he did not know who the accomplice was and was
continuing to investigate.
His Confession
Cerny said Somers confession, in substance is as follows: "I was involved in the Weckler case, Mr. Garity, but I was not alone. A
friend of mine, whose name I refuse to disclose, who was acquainted in Jefferson County and knew of the Weckler family
planned to kidnap the little girl for ransom. With this plan in mind we left Richland Center, but left my friend's car in a woods
about three miles south from the city of Richland Center and then drove to Jefferson County in my car. "The little girl was
walking down the Weckler drive to her home, and I turned my car and drove down the Weckler drive to her. It was not hard to get
her into the car and she was placed in the rear seat down on the fpor with my friend. "I then backed out of the Weckler drive and
headed east on Highway 12 to the first crossroad and then turned right and drove down this road a short distance and stopped my
car. We then talked about whether or not we should go through with our plans of abducting her. After a few minutes, I drove back
to Highway 12 and down Highway 12 to the Weckler drive and again turned into the Weckler drive driving down a short distance.
"We then again decided to go through with our plan of abducting the girl. I again backed my car out of the drive and after I turned
at the head of the drive to proceed in a westerly direction, man on a tractor pulling a wag-mi was going by the Weckler drive.
Girl Shot, He Discloses
"At this time my friend and the Weckler girl were on the floor A the car in the rear seat. I drove west on Highway 12 in the
direction of Madison but turned right at the first blacktop road which ran in a northerly direction. After going up this road some
distance, I got lost, but after driving around for some time, I again came out on Highway 12 and headed toward Madison. "I drove
through Madison with my friend and the girl in the back seat and headed toward Richland Center, stopping in the woods where
my friend had previously left his car. The Weckler girl and my friend got into the other car and I gave the Weckler girl 'two
sleeping pills and then gave the box of sleeping pills to my friend who remained in his car in the woods with the Weckler girl all
night. "I drove into Richland Center in my own car, arriving there about 6:30 and that evening I had a date with a girlfriend. That
night I remained at home and he next morning I drove back to the woods where I found that my friend had given the girl the rest
of the sleeping pills in the box except two and that at that time I found she was dead. You will find, Mr. Garity that she was shot,
but I know that she died from the sleeping pills.
Begged To Go Home.
"We remained in the woods all that day and that night. After weighting down her body, we took the body to the Blue river bridge
where we dropped the body from the middle span to a point which is just opposite from where the body of Carlson was dropped.
It is well weighted down and should be near the spot where the Carlson body was found. "At no time did I assault that little girl
Mr. Garity, she did not cry at any time, but she did ask 'When are you going to take me home?"
Chronology of Case.
Here is the chronology of the search for Georgia Jean Weckler:
May 1 - Georgia Jean disappears while walking home from Oakland Center school.
May 3 - As fruitless search raises question of abduction George Weckler wealthy farmer, offers $1,000 for arrest of persons who
stole his daughter.
May 5 - Leads collapse as huge posse wearies: rewards total $5,500.
May 6 - Father expresses belief Georgia Jean still lives as broadcast rouses national sympathy; officers report black sedan seen in
driveway day of disappearance.
May 7 - Authorities say lucky break" now only hope of finding child in nearby countryside.
Searchers Give Up Hope.
May 8 - Final combing of are blanks hopes of searchers.
May 9 - All clues collapse, police have no further leads.
May 13- Farm friends rally to help stricken Wecklers put crop in.
May 21- New tip which leads authorities hundreds of miles north fizzles.
May 23 - Search turns briefly back to Jefferson County as tons of earth sifted where road shoulder disturbed.
May 24 - Another of many false clues collapses when man accused of enticing Viroqua girl into car proves not in Fort Atkinson
at time of disappearance.
Aug. 12 - Farm hand sought for months for questioning caught on morals charge but convinces police of Weckler innocence.
Aug. 21 - Lie detector tests for those questioned previously begin but reveal nothing.
Aug. 27 - Leg bones found on Lake Michigan beach near Manitowoc rouse hopes of ending case, but FBI identify as dog bones.
Nov. 14 - Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student and a relative, a University of Michigan co-ed. abducted in Madison
Carlson slain and dumped in Blue River, girl raped repeatedly in night-long orgy.
Two Killers Trapped.
Nov. 17 - Sennett and Robert Winslow trapped in isolated Clark county farmhouse; surrender after 15 hour "silent siege" by
hundreds of armed posse men.
Nov. 19 - Sennett and Winslow sentenced to life imprisonment for Carlson murder. Jefferson county authorities announce will
question pair about Weckler case.
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Dec. 1 - Police announce Winslow cleared self of Weckler complicity in lie detector test.
Dec. 9 - Sennett refuses to take lie detector test.
Dec. 10 - Authorities begin close search of Sennett's Richland Center Wis. home surroundings.
Dec. 11 - Owen search uncovers "evidential matter" as Kaukauna girl writes letter to police identifying Sennett as man who
picked her up, threatened her; grilling of Sennett continues at prison.
Dec. 15 - Sennett's confession announced.

Racine Journal Times

Tuesday, December 16th, 1947
Icy River Balks Search for Girl
BLUE RIVER, Wis. - AP - The raging, ice-flecked torrent of the Wisconsin River stubbornly resisted efforts to recover the body
of an 8-year-old tyke who, a convicted killer said was thrown from the bridge after her abduction last spring. Buford Sennett, 22,
already sentenced to life imprisonment for one vicious orgy of lust and murder, pointed out Monday where he said he had thrown
the drugged and bullet-pierced body of blue-eyed Georgia Jean Weckler, Fort Atkinson farm child.
Seek Other Methods
All dragging operations were canceled and the possibility of utilizing other methods of conducting the search were being
considered. Richland County Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik said he had asked the attorney general's office and the State Public
Service Commission regarding possibility of diverting waters of the river into a tributary which flows off stream not far from the
Blue River Bridge.
This action Lownik said would lower the water level considerably, thus enabling dragging crews and divers to operate with a
greater degree of efficiency. At Madison the Public Service Commission said that it no formal protest was made against placing a
coffer dam below one of the three bridge span it was probable that searchers could go ahead with such a dam if it did not interfere
with navigation.
Little Navigation Now
It was pointed out that there was practically no navigation on the river at this time of the year. Edward T. Kaveny, commission
secretary, said the state agency would co-operate in the searching efforts as much as possible. Atty. Gen. John E. Martin said a
conference with authorities from the four counties involved in the search was planned In connection with a request for state
financial aid.
Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center, now serving a life term for slaying of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student,
confessed Saturday to Francis Garity, district attorney of Jefferson County that he and a friend whose name Sennett would not
disclose, had dumped the girl's body into the river after she had died of an overdose of sleeping pills during the kidnaping.
Carlson's body was found a short distance from the present searching operations.
"Not Magic Words"
Garity said that "long hours of questioning, not magic words were responsible for obtaining the confession which Garity
announced Monday. Garity said he had spent "many long hours doggedly running down hundreds of clues, and had gone almost
without any sleep for the last three days." The confession Garity explained, was not in the form of a signed document. "I
reconstructed the account, giving Sennett's version in substance, "Sennett told me that he would never tell who the other party
was," the district attorney said, adding "I had been to see Sennett at the prison on many occasions, but he always denied he had
anything to do with the case, and he refused to take a lie detector test. We kept presenting certain bits of information and we told
him there was no doubt in our minds that he was connected with the girl's disappearance.
"Went Over Every Detail"
"Saturday I went alone to the prison and went over every detail with him,"That night when I returned he didn't want to explain
anything at first, but bit by bit he finally told me the story." Garity said he had talked with Sennett for some time before the
prisoner indicated he had guilty knowledge of the Weckler case. Garity quoted Sennett as follows: "'Mr. Garity, what would
happen if I told you I did have some connection with the Weckler case? Then, according to 'the district attorney, Sennett asked:
"What would happen to me if I told you where the body is" After Garrity had answered, Sennett said "She died of an overdose of
sleeping pills." then proceeded to relate his story.
The district attorney said Sennett read and approved a transcript of his statement but refused to sign it. Garity said he did not press
the point. "There is no doubt in my mind from the information I have obtained from Sennett but that he is connected with the
Weckler case." Garity told reporters.

106
Dr. D. M. Angevine, chairman of the pathology department of the University of Wisconsin Medical School, said that "there is a
reasonable expectancy that if a body had been placed in the river seven months ago it still would be there with temperature and
rate of flow of water important factors in the matter of preservation." Some observers expressed doubt that any trace could remain
of a body thrown into one of the Wisconsin's several main channels, which in springtime carry some of the fastest water on the
continent.
Current Fights Diver
The raging current fought against a diver sent down after the body Monday. Authorities had planned to plant a large snow plow in
the indicated channel as a breakwater to help the diver's search. Sennett stood on the bridge for 40 minutes Monday after all
spectators had been removed at his request. Then he was snatched back to Waupun State Prison.
A month ago Sennett had stood on the bridge and pointed out where he had tossed the trussed and weighted body of Carlson, a
young medical student. Carlson's body was recovered, and Sennett and Robert Winslow. 24 were sentenced to life terms for the
killing which was a part of a night-long horror of blood and lust. Carlson's sister-in-law, a University of Michigan co-ed, was
raped several times during the orgy. Both killers were trapped in a backwoods farm building. They gave up after a 15-hour
bloodless siege. Winslow has been cleared of any connection with the Weckler case, Garity said.
Refuses to Name"Friend"
Sennett, whimpering that "at no time did I assault the little girl Mr. Garity," said in his statement that a "friend" had accompanied
him in the kidnaping but refused to identify him. His statement said after they coaxed the little girl into their car, they discussed
giving up their kidnaping and ransom plans but instead went to a woods near Richland Center where she was given sleeping
tablets. Sennett had a "date with a girlfriend" that night and he said that when he returned to the woods he found her dead of an
overdose of drugs. "You will find, Mr. Garity, that she was shot," the statement said. "But I know she died from the sleeping
pills." At Fort Atkinson, George Weckler, father of Georgia Jean said We are relieved to know our little girl is beyond
suffering." He declared Mrs. Weckler "is taking it pretty hard."
D.A. AWAITS CALL ON ANONYMOUS LETTER
APPLETON, Wis. - UP - A telephone call from a woman in Green Bay regarding an anonymous letter was awaited by Dist. Atty.
Elmer Honkamp, Outagamie County. The woman called Honkamp Monday night while he was out and told the official's daughter
to "tell him I want to talk to him on the Sennett case. I'll call back tomorrow."
Honkamp believed the caller was the woman, thought to live in Kaukauna, who wrote a letter saying she had been threatened last
summer by a man resembling one of the killers of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student. However, she did not say
whether it was Buford Sennett or Robert Winslow. She said the man picked her up while she was hitchhiking to Appleton. She
told authorities he threatened to give her the same treatment he did a girl he said was in an Appleton cemetery when she resister
his advance.
Honkamp said he would wait a "few days and go to Sennett regarding the letter." The district attorney originally had planned to
question the convict at Waupun State Prison, but decided to wait "because I know authorities will question him more at Blue
River regarding his accomplice. "The letter question is comparatively mild and is of relatively little importance, although I would
like to have certain local happenings cleared up," Honkamp said.
Sennett's 3 Crimes Baffle Wisconsin State Psychiatrist
MADISON, Wis., Quo Buford Sennett's three vicious crimes baffled a state psychiatrist Dr. Peter Bell. Psychiatrist for the
Wisconsin Welfare Department said that the 22-year-old killer showed "no vicious tendency whatsoever" when he examined
Sennett at the State Reformatory four times from 1943 through 1946. From his examinations, the psychiatrist said he "would not
have suspected" that Sennett would turn into a killer and kidnaper.
No Previous Sex Record
Bell said he had no idea of "what got into Sennett' since he left the reformatory that would cause him to kidnap little Georgia Jean
Weckler, kill a University of Wisconsin student and rape his sister-in-law and shoot two teenaged girls. Sennett was paroled from
the reformatory in November. 1946 after serving two years for robbing several rural school houses, and an extra year for escape
from the institution. Sennett, who has confessed an three crimes admitted that be shot student Carl Carlson for "just about no
reason at all."
At the reformatory. Bell said. Sennett 'didn't seem unbalance and he had no phobia about anything." The convict's intelligence is
above average he said and the welfare department has no record that he was involved in any sex crime before the rape-slaying last
month.
Bell has not examined Sennett since he was sent to prison Nov. 18 to serve a life sentence for the Carlson killing but will question
him soon.
Feared No Violence
B.O. Odegard, member of the State Parole Board, said Sennett was listless and didnt seem to have any sense of values when he
was in the reformatory. He believed the convict was a poor prospect for parole last year. Odegard said he thought Sennett might
steal some cars or make petty thefts, but did not suspect he would commit any crimes of violence.
Sennett was paroled to give him a chance to go straight and avoid the danger of his becoming over-institutionalized, Odegard
said. The convict kidnaped the Weckler child and shot two-teen aged girls near Phillips while he was on parole. He killed Carlson
only eight days after his year of parole was ended.

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 Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, December 17th, 1947
Icy Winds Chill River Searchers
By ARTHUR BYSTROM
BLUE RIVER, Wis. - AP - The search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler in the swift Wis. cousin River waters here has been
a monotonous, back-breaking task in bitter cold for workers of the Conservation Department, the University of Wisconsin life-
saving crew and law enforcement officials.
Engaging in the actual dragging operations are alternating shift of a 14-man rough fish removal crew lent by the Conservator
Department. They are dressed in clothes that emphasize variety and warmth rather than style. Heavy parka and rubber boots
predominate, but one young fellow astonished on lookers in the near-zero wind Tuesday by probing from a boat for two hours
with his light coat flapping open, and no ear muffs
Strike Hard Object
The searchers are armed with long pike poles which have a sharp iron tip and curved hoed at the end. Some of the poles have
several prongs. It is a back breaking, weary work to hold the long pole against the strong current in nine feet of water, and try to
dig it into the sandy bottom. The men work from the boat tied at both ends to the bridge by ropes which run under the boat seats.
Every now and then cake of ice as big as six or eight feel across sweep down the half mile of open water above the bridge and the
workers must stop and break up the ice jam.
Monday there were four boats two men in each lined up side by side at the spot where Buford Sennett, Waupun life prisoner, said
he and an accomplice tossed the body of 8-year-old Georgia Jean, after weighting it.
Tuesday, because of the ice, there were only two boats and they concentrated all day long or some heavy object on the bottom,
but were unable to dislodge it or bring it to the surface. It could have been a stump, a large rock, possibly even part of the bridge
pier but there was too much ice to send the diver George Lehmann, Watertown, Wis. down. He has not been down since Sunday.
Today three boats were used.
Curious Haunt Area.
On the bridge a hastily-built windbreak of old cardboard cartons, fastened to the railing, gives some protection to the members of
the search group who remain on the bridge. A ladder from the bridge to the small platform of ice at the edge of the bridge pier
gives the men in the boats a chance to get up and down, and also to receive servings of hot coffee. Authorities have barred
spectators from the bridge, but they have not forbidden cars, so there is a constant stream of the curious, driving slowly across,
turning around, and driving back again in the hope of seeing something.
The bitter wind whistles fiercely down the valley between the high wooded bluffs, and spectators and searchers alike keep close
to the two fires maintained on shore. Chilled newspapermen and authorities alike have been amazed at the number of people who
bring small children down to the river to see the spectacle. Babies in their mothers' arms are a frequent sight, and one woman was
heard to tell her 3-year-old, 'See, that's where they're going to find the body of the little girl."

Pledge Aid of State Engineers In Search for Weckler Girl

BLUE RIVER - Dragging operations were resumed today in the search for the body of eight-year-old Georgia Jean
Weckler who was believed thrown from a bridge near here by a confessed killer. The Conservation Department crews
planned to use later today jetting equipment which was being brought down from the forest ranger station at Friendship.
The equipment is capable of moving sand and rocks by means of a powerful jet of water.
MADISON. - AP - The aid of state engineers was promised to law enforcement officers who have failed to force the charging
Wisconsin River to yield the tiny body of Georgia Jean Weckler thrown from a bridge by a malevolent killer.
Divers and draggers have been battling the ice-flecked water since 22-year-old Buford Sennett already under life sentence for one
of Wisconsin's most revolting crimes whimpered a confession that he and an unnamed companion kidnaped the 8-year-old girl
from the lane of her Fort Atkinson home last May 1, and later hurled her drugged and bullet-pierced body from the Blue River
bridge.

108
 Survey Under Way
It was from the same bridge that Sennett and Robert Winslow 24 threw the body of Carl Carlson 25, of Superior, a University of
Wisconsin medical student, and father of two small children in an all-night orgy Nov. 14.
Both Sennett and Winslow were sentenced to life for the Carlson; murder. Winslow, after a lie detector test, freed himself from
connection with the Weckler case, however.
Martin said the meeting was called to determine what could be done to divert the flow and lower the level of the river to aid in the
search. He declared, "We are lawyers, not engineers and said the advice of experts was needed as a result of the conference.
Martin said engineers will be assigned from the State Highway Commission, the State Public Service Commission and the
University of Wisconsin to survey the situation.
Dragging Continues
Martin said the officers had discussed the possibility of building a temporary dam or of sinking a surplus Navy barge to divert the
flow. Martin said it also had been proposed that the state be asked for $5,000 for the construction of a coffer dam to divert the
flow and commented, "If I could find in the statutes where state money could come from for this purpose. I would be glad to
recommend it."
Martin said the "possible prosecution" of Sennett was discussed briefly and that Dist. Atty. Francis Garity stated he believed it
would be possible to bring the case to trial "with the evidence now on hand." even though the body is not immediately recovered.
Martin said, however, that the authorities planned to continue the dragging operations as long as the weather permits, or until the
engineers succeed in diversion attempts.
Bulletins
BLUE River, Wis. - AP - State and county officials who are searching the Wisconsin River bottom for the body of Georgia
Jean Weckler planned to bring a barge from which diving and dragging operations could be continued.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, December 19th, 1947
Renew Search Of River Bed
BLUE RIVER, Wis. - AP - 63-foot barge was pulled upstream and anchored at the Wisconsin River bridge from which divers
planned to probe the river bottom for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler. The divers George Lehmann, Watertown, and Frank
Mariska, planned to descend into the swift, icy stream to break loose a large "object" imbedded in the river bottom.
Authorities believe the "object" might be the stone used.to weigh down the body of 8-year-old girl who was kidnaped from her
Fort Atkinson farm home last May 1.
DEFERS INVESTIGATION OF CASSIA IN SLAYING
RHINELANDER, Wis. - UP - Undersheriff Melford Kourze, Oneida County, said he temporarily had dropped plans to question
Buford Sennett, 22-year-old murderer who confessed kidnaping Georgia Jean Weckler, in the unsolved slaying of an unidentified
woman.
Kourze said he would question Sennett "after the Weckler case is cleared up." Last Sept. 14 the body of the middle-aged woman,
thought to be about 55, was found in a shallow grave near a cranberry marsh, a few miles from Cassian, Wis.
Racine Journal Times
Saturday, December 20th, 1947
Weckler Clue Eludes Divers
BLUE RIVER, Wis. - AP - An underwater light was to be used by divers seeking to locate again and raise to the surface an object
believed to be the weight used by lifer Buford Sennett when he dropped the body of little Georgia Jean Weckler into the
Wisconsin River last May .
Diver George Lehmann of Watertown late Friday found something he described as a flat piece of cement, some two by four feet
in size, partly imbedded in the sand at the bottom of the river. He said it bore no wires nor ropes, but that he was unable to
examine it closely in the half-light of the racing water.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County said the description fitted that given by Sennett, now serving life for another
murder, of the block he used to weight the body of the 8-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl when he and an unnamed accomplice
threw it off the bridge here last May 2.
To Use Jet Pump.
Lehmann was unable to raise his find to the surface Friday. A sudden break in his diving suit forced him to make a rapid ascent
and a movement of the barge from which operations are being conducted shifted his buoy marking the object. Darkness halted
operations before the suit could be repaired.
The Dane County sheriff's office announced donation of an under-water light for use in future diving. Previously Lehmann and
his helpers, Frank Mariska of Chicago and Thomas J Skailles of Baraboo have been handicapped by darkness. "It seems like a
stone quarry gown there.' Lehmann said when he came up from his fourth dive. The divers were to be aided also by a hand jet
pump with which they can force sand away from any object they wish to investigate.

109
 Racine Journal Times
Saturday, December 27th, 1947
Diary Is Clue In Weckler Case
JEFFERSON, Wis. - UP -District Attorney Francis Garity hoped to find time to study carefully a diary believed to have some
connection with the Georgia Jean Weckler case. The district attorney said the book found Tuesday on a bus at Janesville, might be
a clue since pages for May 2 through May 8 were missing and the name Buford appeared several times.
Buford Sennett, 22, serving a life sentence in Waupun prison for slaying a University of Wisconsin student last month, confessed
to Garity two weeks ago he and an unnamed friend kidnaped Georgia Jean last May I. Sennett said the girl died and he blamed his
accomplice who said he gave her too many sleeping tablets.
Garity said he had glanced through the diary and, noted the names of several girls and a few addresses. He planned to check them.
He said the book also mentioned Blue River, Boscobel and other towns in the same area. Sennett, a Richland Center youth told
the Jefferson county official he and his accomplice dumped the child's weighted body into the Wisconsin river at Blue River
bridge.
A search of the river at that spot was halted Wednesday without success. Garity said he would confer with Leo Lownik, Richland
county district attorney next week about resuming the search.
Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, December 30th, 1947
Slayer Denies Notebook Link
WAUPUN, Wis. - AP - Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity talked with rapist-slayer Buford Sennett in the state prison
Monday night and declared he had learned nothing new about a mysterious notebook. Garity said Sennett claimed to have no
knowledge of the notebook which was found on an intercity bus at Janesville last week.
The notebook mentions the name "Buford" three times and refers to Blue River, Fennimore and Muscoda, Garity said. He
declared a further investigation of the notebook would be made.
Pages in the notebook for May 2 to May 8 are missing and an attempt has been made to link the book with the disappearance of 8-
year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, Fort Atkinson farm girl, believed to have been kidnaped from her home May 1. Sennett has
confessed throwing the girl's body into the Blue River.
Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, December 31st, 1947
Search in Weckler Case Temporarily Stalemated
JEFFERSON. Wis. - UP - District Attorney Francis Garity said this morning the search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler
"temporarily had reached a stalemate" until the weather changes and snow melts. Garity said he had not given up the idea of
searching the Wisconsin River farther where Sennett confessed he tossed the body of the little eight-year-old girl who was killed
after he and a companion kidnaped her May 1.
Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, April 21st, 1948
Bridge Breaks At Boscobel
BOSCOBEL. Wis. AP - The center span of the Blue river bridge which figured in two of Wisconsin's most heinous murders
collapsed Tuesday and tumbled into the swirling Wisconsin River. It was from this center span that Buford Sennett and Robert
Winslow threw the bullet-riddled body of youthful Carl Carlson, of Superior, a University of Wisconsin medical student. The
malevolent pair had picked up Carlson and his sister-in-law, a University of Michigan co-ed, on the night before the Michigan-
Wisconsin football game. They shot Carlson to death and repeatedly raped the girl throughout the night.
Given Life Terms
Sennett and Winslow were sentenced to life terms in Waupun. Later, from the lifer's cell, Sennett told authorities he was
responsible for the kidnaping of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, from her Fort Atkinson farm home last May. He said he and a
companion, whom he refused to name, kidnapped the tot and later tied her body to a rock and dropped it from the other side of the
same center span. The river was dragged and tons of the bottom soil were sifted before ice halted operations last winter, but no
trace of the tiny body which Sennett said also bore the mark of a bullet were found.
Truck Causes Collapse
The span's collapse followed the Passage of a heavily-laden tobacco truck over the bridge, located northeast of here. When the
steel-and-concrete section fell, the truck slipped back into the 20-foot deep channel. The driver, who was not identified, jumped
from his cab and was pulled from the water by passersby.

110
 Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, May 4th, 1948
Will Plan Hunt For Dead Girl
MADISON, Wis. - AP - Plans for an extensive search for evidence in the Georgia Jean Weckler case will be made at a meeting at
Richland Center Friday. Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity said plans for the meeting were made at a conference
of officials of three counties here yesterday. He said authorities from six counties will participate in the session at Richland
Center.
Georgia Jean, 8-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl, disappeared May 1, 1947. Buford Sennett, Richland Center, said he and an
unnamed companion abducted the girl and threw her body into the Wisconsin River near Blue River after she had died from an
over-dose of sleeping potion.
Sennett and Robert Winslow, Owen, are serving life sentences in the State Prison for slaying of Carl L. Carlson, University of
Wisconsin student, last November. A search of the river failed to yield the girl's body. Carlson's body was found in the vicinity
where Sennett said he tossed Georgia Jean's body.
Garity said the meeting would consider possibilities of resuming the river search. He added that state officials told him the river
bottom in the area is not being disturbed during repairs to a bridge span which recently collapsed under a truck.

Racine Journal Times

Tuesday, May 11th, 1948
56 to Search For Girl's Body
RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. - AP - A posse of 56 men will resume the search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler along the
Wisconsin River May 23. Dist. Atty. Leo Lownik of Richland County announced the plans. Bad weather and high water forced
postponement of the hunt Sunday.
Georgia Jean, 8,-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl, has been missing for more than a year. Lownik said 18 small boats each
manned by two men and 20 additional men for patrol work along the banks, would take part in the search. Officers from Dane,
Jefferson and Richland counties will participate.
The posse will concentrate its search along the Wisconsin River from the Blue River Bridge to Boscobel. Buford Sennett, a
convicted murderer, has told authorities he and an accomplice kidnaped the child and threw her body into the river from the Blue
River Bridge.
Rain Blocks Search For Slain Girl's Body
RICHLAND CENTER - AP - Rain and high water forced postponement of the hunt for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler along
the Wisconsin River Sunday. Georgia Jean, an 8 year old Fort Atkinson farm girl, disappeared May 1, 1947, while on her way
home from school. Buford Sennett, a. convicted murderer, has told authorities he and an accomplice kidnaped the child and threw
her body into the Wisconsin River.
Racine Journal Times
Monday, August 2nd, 1948
No Weckler Clue In River Find
BOSCOBEL, Wis. - AP - A diver found cloth, wire and a cement block on the bottom of the Wisconsin River over the weekend
but they are believed to have no connection with the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8 of Fort Atkinson.
District Attorney Francis Garity of Jefferson County said the cloth apparently was part of a man's suit. It was found well removed
from the spot where the girl's body was reported thrown into the river in May, 1947.
Buford Sennett, now serving a life sentence for another slaying, admitted that he kidnaped Georgia Jean and threw her weighted
body into the river at Blue River Bridge about 15 miles upstream from Boscobel. He said he tied the body to a block with wire.
George Weckler, father of the girl, hired the diver, Thomas J. Skailes, of Baraboo, to conduct the search here in the belief that the
body might have washed down.
Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, September 8th, 1948
Boxer Injures Buford Sennett
WAUPUN, Wis. - AP - Buford Sennett, admitted kidnaper, rapist and convicted murderer; had a rough holiday at the state prison.
Sennett received attention at the prison hospital for a broken nose and other injuries inflicted during a Labor Day ball game by
Tony Bruno, former Milwaukee boxer, prison officials said last night. Bruno now is serving a term for perjury in connection with
a gang killing at Kenosha, Wis., in 1946. Bruno was taken to solitary confinement for his actions, after guards separated the pair.
Prison officials said the cause of the altercation was not known. Sennett and Robert Winslow were sentenced to life terms last fall
after confessing to the murder of Carl Carlson, university pre-medical student. He also has said he and another confederate
kidnaped little Georgia Jean Weckler last year and threw her lifeless body into the Wisconsin River. The child never was found.

111
 Racine Journal Times
Sunday, November 7th, 1948
Admits Holding Weckler Suspect
JEFFERSON, Wis. - AP - Jefferson County Sheriff Roland J. Gibson said flatly that a man is being held in jail for questioning in
the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler. A report that someone was in custody was discounted by. Dist. Atty. Francis Garity
and other officials but' Gibson did not deny it specifically.
Gibson said "the man is being held until we can check a couple of things he told us Friday afternoon." Eight-year-old Georgia
Jean disappeared while en route to her farm home near Fort Atkinson, May 1, 1947, after attending school. No trace of her has,
been found. Buford Sennett, convicted murderer and confessed rapist, made a statement to Dist. Atty. Garity to the effect that he
and an unnamed accomplice had abducted the girl and thrown her body into the channel of the Wisconsin River at Blue River
after she died of an overdose of sleeping pills.
Gibson said no charges relating to the girl's disappearance had been filed against the man held in jail. But he said there were
several charges under which the man could be held.

Racine Journal Times

Thursday, November 11th, 1948
Release New Suspect in Weckler Case
FORT ATKINSON, Wis. - AP - A man held for questioning in connection with the disappearance last year of 8-year-old Georgia
Jean Weckler has been, released, Jefferson County Sheriff Roland J. Gibson said.
The sheriff said the man, whose identity was withheld, failed to provide any new information concerning the child who was seen
last near her farm home May 1, 1947.
Racine Journal Times
Tuesday, November 30th, 1948
Weckler Case Flares, Then Dies-Once More
JANESVILLE, Wis. - AP - The Weckler case flared briefly here Monday night, and then died once more. Police Chief Jasper
Webb said a Jefferson County man was picked up in a Janesville tavern Monday where he had been heard making references to
Buford Sennett and the Weckler case.
Sennett, now serving a life term at Waupun for another murder, has told authorities that he and an unnamed companion kidnaped
8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, from her Fort Atkinson farm home May 1. 1947. Webb said that Dist. Atty. Francis Garity and
Sheriff Roland Gibson drove here from Jefferson Monday night to question the arrested man, but that he subsequently was
released and the Jefferson authorities returned home. Webb said, however, a further check would be made.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, December 3rd, 1948
Clear Woman In Kidnap Case
FT. ATKINSON, Wis. - UP - Authorities released a 25-year-old working girl who claimed she was supposed to collect the
ransom in the Georgia. Jean Weckler kidnaping. Sheriff Roland J. Gibson said he freed the girl after more than a month of
questioning and investigation "because her whole story was just a figment of her imagination."
Told Fantastic Tale
Georgia Jean, 8, disappeared from her Ft. Atkinson farm home May 1, 1947. Buford Sennett, convicted murderer, confessed that
he and an accomplice kidnaped her and threw her body in the Wisconsin River at Blue River. The woman was taken into custody
Nov. 1, Gibson said, when she told a "fantastic" story of taking part in the kidnaping plot.
"We finally eliminated her as a suspect yesterday," he said, "when lie detector tests at Madison proved her story was all wrong."
Gibson said the woman said she was approached by a man she couldn't identify and asked if she would help collect the ransom.
She was told, she said, that she would be given a cut of any profit. The sheriff refused to identify the girl because "she is a
working girl and it wouldn't serve any useful purpose to say who she is."
"Following Any Leads."
Gibson at first denied that a suspect was being held when the rumor first began to circulate last month. He said he did this to
protect the girl until such a time as she might be proved guilty. Gibson said another suspect, a man, was questioned and released
last Monday. We're still following up any leads that come along," he said. "We spent more than a month and went all over the
state tracking down this girl's story."

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 Racine Journal Times
Thursday, February 3rd, 1949
Analyze Ashes In Weckler Case
MADISON, - Wis. AP - State Crime Laboratory Director Charles M. Wilson is analyzing a small quantity of ashes in hopes of
uncovering a clue in the slaying of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Fort Atkinson farm girl.
Wilson said the ashes were brought to him by Otto Flaig, Fort Atkinson police officer, who said they were reported to have been
taken from a hideout of Buford Sennett, Richland Center, confessed killer of the girl.
It may be possible to make a report next week, Wilson said, to learn if the ashes were from human bones.
Sennett, who is serving a life term at Waupun for the slaying of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student from Superior,
said he killed the girl and threw her body in the Wisconsin River near the Village of Blue River in May, 1947.
No trace of the body was found, however, despite an extended search.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, February 11th, 1949
Ash Test Fails In Weckler Case
MADISON, Wis., - AP - Atty. Gen. Thomas Fairchild reported that ashes from a killer's hideout failed to reveal any clues to the
disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, Fort Atkinson farm girl, May 1, 1947.
Analyzed by Charles M. Wilson, director of the State Crime Laboratory, the ashes were gathered by the girl's father, George
Weckler, and Police Officer Otto Flaig, of Fort Atkinson.
Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow were sentenced to life terms in state prison last November for the slaying of a University of
Wisconsin student. Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity obtained an admission from Sennett that he and an unidentified
accomplice had kidnaped the girl and dumped her body in the Wisconsin River near Blue River (Richland County) Sennett told
Garity he had given Georgia Jean an overdose of sleeping pills.
The body never was found.
Racine Journal Times
Saturday, April 30th, 1949
Weckler Girl Missing 2 Years
FORT ATKINSON, Wis.--WP)Two years ago tomorrow a cute 8-year-old girl started down a lane toward her farm home near
here. She never reached her home nor was she ever seen again. What happened to Georgia Jean Weckler became, and still is a
nation-wide mystery. The family of the girl is resigned that Georgia is dead. "But we'd feel a lot better if her body were
recovered," says her father, George Weckler.
$7,000 Reward Offered.
Seven thousand dollars in reward money still awaits the person who can clear up the disappearance. A convicted murderer now
serving a life term in the Wisconsin state prison at Waupun said he knew what happened to Georgia Jean. Buford Sennett told
authorities he and an unnamed companion abducted the girl in their car. She died of an overdose of sleeping pills while they held
her said Sennett, so they weighted her body and threw it into the Wisconsin River from the bridge at Blue River, Wis. Despite
frequent and thorough dragging of the river area there, however, no trace of the girl's body was found.
Serving Life Term.
Sennett is serving life for the shooting of Carl L. Carlson, a University of Wisconsin medical student. Carlson's body was
recovered from the Wisconsin River at the same spot where Sennett later said Georgia's body could be found. The girl's father
says he doesn't believe all of the convicted murderer's story. Weckler says he believes Sennett had something to do with his
daughter's vanishing, but that he doubts the body was thrown into the river at the Blue River Bridge.
Georgia Jean was coming home from school on that May 1 day in 1947. A neighbor had given her a ride to the lane entrance to
her home. Books in hand, Georgia started down the lane . . .
Racine Journal Times
Monday, August 29th, 1949
Quiz Ex-Convict In Weckler Case
MONROE, Wis. - UP - Robert Schaar, 37-year-old ex-convict faced questioning about the unsolved disappearance of 8-year-old -
Georgia Jean Weckler from her farm home at Ft. Atkinson, Wis. two years ago. Schaar, 37, was arrested recently on a morals
charge involving a boy and a girl. He previously served a short term in Waupun state prison in 1947 on a morals conviction.
Disappeared May 1, 47.
Georgia Jean, the pretty daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, disappeared May 1, 1947, as she gathered flowers for a May
basket on the lane leading to her parents farm home. Hundreds of persons engaged in a search for her but no clue was ever found.
Schaar was questioned when Samuel Kliment, a farmer, reported seeing him driving a car in Ft. Atkinson which answered the
description of a car seen near where Georgia Jean disappeared. Kliment told authorities he saw the car stop and heard a girl's
voice cry: "Let me out of here. I want 'to go home." Then, Kliment said, the driver dragged the girl back into the car.

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 Gives Alibi.
At the time, Schaar gave what appeared to be an iron-clad alibi. He said he was in Beloit, Wis., paying a doctor bill on that day.
He went to prison on the earlier morals charge soon afterward. However, Beloit police announced Sunday they had learned he
was not in their town on May 1, 1947. They said they had reinvestigated Schaar's alibi at the request of Sheriff Roland Gibson of
Ft. Atkinson. Schaar is scheduled for arraignment on the morals charge involving the boy and girl and will be taken to Madison,
the state capital, for lie tests at the state crime laboratory in connection with that case.
Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, March 22nd, 1950
Quiz Escaped Mental Patient On Vanished Georgia Weckler
FREEPORT, Ill. UPI - Two Wisconsin officials questioned an escaped mental patient concerning the disappearance three years
ago of Georgia Jean Weckler from her farm home at Ft. Atkinson, Wis., but said they had nothing to report.
Sheriff R. T. Gibson and District Attorney Francis Garity of Jefferson County, Wis., came here from Ft. Atkinson Tuesday and
questioned the suspect, an escapee from the Northern Colony and Training School at Chippewa Falls, Wis.
Tried to Date, Girl 11.
The suspect was seized Monday night by a deputy sheriff here after he attempted to date an 11-year-old girl and wrote her several
mash notes. Authorities said the suspect, who escaped from the colony in 1942, had relatives at Ft. Atkinson and owned a type of
car similar to one seen near the point where 8-year-old Georgia Jean disappeared on May 1, 1947. Gibson and Garity said they
questioned the man "for hours, but made no headway" toward connecting him with the girl disappearance. Georgia Jean, daughter
of a well-to-do Jefferson County farmer, disappeared from the lane leading to her home as she paused on her way from school to
gather wild flowers for a May basket.
Body Never Found.
The only real clue ever found to the case was a report by a passerby that he saw a dark-colored automobile near the lane. Buford
Sennett, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a man, confessed that he kidnaped the little girl, killed her and threw her
body in the Wisconsin River. Authorities, however, were unable to find the body and have tended to doubt Sennett's confession.
Racine Journal Times
Wednesday, July 26, 1950
JEFFERSON - AP - Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity said he had released from custody a man questioned in the
Georgia Jean Weckler kidnaping case. Garity said two days of investigation had established that the man was not in Wisconsin
May 1, 1947, the day the little girl disappeared from near the farm home of her parents.
Racine Journal Times
Monday, November 1st 1954
Jefferson County Studies Weckler Mystery Again
FORT ATKTNSON, Wis. -AP - A conference of crime investigators in. Jefferson county Sunday night pursued a comparison of
the facts in the seven year old disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 7, and the story related by a life termer in a Nebraska
prison. Dist. Atty. Thorpe Merriman, Sheriff Rudolph Reichert, and al group of the sheriff's officers, continued the investigation
begun last December when Edward McCleland, 25, a convicted slayer, wrote and said he was responsible for the child's death.
His story was later repudiated by his attorney.
McClelland's claims came to light last Friday at Lincoln, Neb., when he was cleared of the slaying of a Nebraska prison guard.
Sheriff Reichert and other county officers were in Lincoln and took part in the trial. They related that McClelland's signed
statement admitted he took the girl's life. Counsel for McClelland told the court the prisoner made a number of "confessions" to
murders "he could not have done" and that the Wisconsin crime was one of them.
Merriman said the conference listened to a two-hour transcription of the statement made by McClelland. He did not discuss its
content. He said "The investigation of leads is continuing. When evidence is found to verify them, any prosecution indicated will
be immediately commenced."
Merriman would not discuss other subjects at the meeting. He added that the story told by McClelland does merit "checking
through." He said it may take weeks to check out the story. Capt. Glen Pattee of the Jefferson county police said Friday in Lincoln
that "McClelland has told us too much, so much that we don't have to prove his guilt." McClelland is serving two life terms for
the slaying of a Virginia, tourist couple near Omaha in August, 1947. Georgia Jean disappeared while returning home from school
May 1, 1947. There have been other "confessions" in the case but none has been proved out.
Racine Journal Times
Friday, November 29th, 1954
Convict in Nebraska Asserts He Slew Ft. Atkinson Girl in '47
JEFFERSON, Wis. - UP - Wisconsin officials said a Nebraska convict on trial at Lincoln for murdering a prison guard had given
them a confession that he kidnaped and murdered a Fort Atkinson girl in 1947.
Sheriff Rudolph Rickert and Capt. Glen Pattee of Jefferson County testified in the murder trial of Charles R. McClelland today.
They said McClelland gave them full co-operation when they questioned him about the disappearance of nine-year-old Georgia
Jean Weckler, from in front of her parent's home near Fort Atkinson, May 1, 1947.

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The officers said they had both a signed confession and a tape-recorded confession, and that many of the details "did fit" the
Weckler case, which has baffled authorities. They said McClelland gave them a "detailed map" of the place in Illinois where the
body was supposed to be buried, but they said a check of the location revealed no trace of the body.
Testifying in his own defense Thursday, McClelland said he made up the story about kidnaping and killing the Weckler girl when
he read about it in an Omaha newspaper. McClelland testified Thursday he could give "no reason" why he confessed killing the
Weckler girl other than he was "mentally confused" at the time he made the statement.
McClelland, serving a double life sentence for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. May, Alexandria, Va., has confessed to several
murders, then later said his confessions were not true. The inmate said he had confessed killing the Nebraska prison guard, John
Claussen, but on the witness stand said he had nothing to do with it.
Racine Journal Times
Saturday, October 30th, 1954
Still Believe Convict Killed Wisconsin Girl
LINCOLN, Neb. - UP- A Nebraska penitentiary convict, exonerated Friday night on charges of killing a guard, remains the top
suspect in the baffling disappearance of a little Wisconsin girl seven years ago. A jury of eight men and four women found
Charles E. McClelland innocent of charges that he bludgeoned and slashed the throat of guard John Claussen last April 16. But
the sheriff of Jefferson County, Wis., meanwhile planned to consult with a district attorney about filing new charges against
McClelland.
Repudiates Confession
McClelland, 25, "confessed" last Dec. 4 that he killed nine-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler of Fort Atkinson, Wis. He later
repudiated the confession and testified at his trial for the Claussen slaying that he "made up" the admission. But Wisconsin Sheriff
Rudolph Reichert said McClelland's repudiated confession is "even more" convincing than when he first made it. The Weckler
case is one of the most baffling in Wisconsin police annals. The child disappeared from her farm home in 1947. A year later
Buford Sennett, a convicted murder-rapist, confessed slaying her and then denied it.
Hartley Cue Similar
The case was similar to the disappearance a year ago of a La. Crosse, Wis., baby sitter, Evelyn Hartley. McClelland said he got
the idea of confessing the Weckler slaying from reading about the Hartley case. Authorities said McClelland has confessed and
then denied other crimes as he did in the case of the prison guard. He is now serving a double life sentence for the murder of Mr.
and Mrs. R. L. May of Alexandria, Va.
Racine Journal Times
Sunday, October 27th, 1957
D.A. Fights Parole Eligibility For 2 in 1947 Kidnap-Murder
MADISON - AP - Dist. Atty. Joseph Bloodgood said Saturday he will oppose dropping charges against two Wisconsin men
convicted of murder a decade ago after a sensational kidnap-murder and subsequent chase. The men are Buford Sennett, 32, and
Robert Winslow, 34. Both were sentenced to life after admitting they kidnaped a University of Wisconsin pre-medical student,
Carl Carlson, of Superior and a woman companion. Carlson was slain and the woman was raped repeatedly before she escaped.
Other Kidnapping
Sennett also told authorities he had a hand in another earlier sensational Wisconsin kidnaping which still is technically unsolved.
Sennett said he and an unidentified companion kidnapped eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler from the driveway of her Ft.
Atkinson farm home on May 1, 1947. He claimed the child was drugged to keep her quiet and died, and that her body was
dumped into the Wisconsin River at Blue River. However, no trace of the girl was found there, or elsewhere.
The two were sentenced from Dane County in the Carlson killing. Sennett, now 32, was from Richland Center and Winslow, 34,
from Owen. They were sentenced Nov. 18, 1947 following their admission they killed Carlson.
Detainer Warrants
After the pair was imprisoned the then Dist. Atty. Edwin Wilkie filed detainer warrants against the pair, charging them with
kidnaping and rape. The warrants accused Sennett and Winslow of kidnaping Carlson and the woman, and with rape. Bloodgood
said he received a letter from Sennett asking if it would be possible to drop the kidnapping and rape charges so he and Winslow
could submit applications for parole. Bloodgood said he wrote Warden John Burke saying that "under no circumstances would we
drop the detainers."

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, May 2nd, 1947
200 Search for Missing Fort Girl, 8
FT. ATKINSON - More than 200 men were combing a 20-acre woods near Ft. Atkinson today after a. fruitless all night search for
Georgia Weckler, 8, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, Route 1, who has been missing since 3 p. m. Thursday.
Georgia was last seen by a neighbor, Mrs. Carl Floerke, who left the youngster at the Weckler mail box, 1/2 mile from the house,
after driving her home from school. The Weckler farm is off Route 12, 6 miles west of Ft. Atkinson,
The missing girl is described as 51 or 52 Inches tall, with blonde shoulder-length hair parted in the middle, and brown
eyes.
She was wearing a pink button sweater over a blue cotton T shirt. She had on blue jeans, with a light blue skirt over them. The
skirt had one-quarter and one-half moon figures in red colors on it
Georgia and her three sisters, Katherine May, 16; Joan, 10, and LaVerne, 12, usually ride their bicycles to school, but Mrs.
Weckler drove them to school Thursday morning because it was raining.
After school Mrs. Floerke picked up her own daughter and Georgia at 3 p. m. to bring them home. The other Weckler
children get out of school at 3:30 p. m.
Mrs. Floerke let Georgia out of the car at the Weckler mailbox in full view of the house. As she drove away, her daughter said,
"Georgia is going to get their mail." The mail box is across the highway.
Georgia had told classmates that she was going to go through the woods to pick May flowers for May baskets, part of a 20-acre
woods is on the farm property.
More than 200 men from the Cambridge fire department, the American Legion, and neighbors, searched the woods all Thursday
night. The men combed the entire area in a line 4 feet apart.
Wisconsin State Journal
Saturday, May 3rd, 1947
Missing Girl, 8, Believed Kidnaped; Fort Police Spur Search for Dark Car
Youngster Reported Seen in Vehicle, Head Was Covered
-----------
FBI in Contact with Authorities; Clue of Footprint in Woods Fades
------------------
BULLETIN
FT. ATKINSON Convinced that his 8-year old daughter, Georgia Jean Wackier, has been kidnaped, George Weckler
this afternoon offered $1,000 cash reward for the arrest of the kidnaper or any information regarding the whereabouts of
his missing daughter.

FT. ATKINSONThe report of a girl struggling to get out of dark-car parked on a Ft Atkinson street Thursday, shortly after
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, had been last seen, today brought the fear of kidnaping into the case.
After a report that a man who got out of the car returned and either hit the girl or covered her head with a blanket, Ft. Atkinson
police were asking witnesses of the incident to check with the police station or sheriff's office.
FBI in Close Contact
While members of the girl's family said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been called into the case, H. K. Johnson,
agent in charge of the Milwaukee district, said: "We have been in close contact with local authorities and there is no indication of
federal violation within the investigating jurisdiction of the FBI at the present. Sam Klement, Ft. Atkinson, reported the incident,
which again involved a dark car, which had been reported several times in the area in which the girl had disappeared to Police
Chief Harry Mueller.
Stopping for a traffic light between 3:30 and 4 p. m. Thursday at S. Main at and Milwaukee Ave. in Ft. Atkinson, he had noted a
car parked across the street, Klement said. As he waited, a youngster in the car of approximately the age of the missing girl began
sobbing, he said, and called out "Let me out I want to go home" A man and woman had just left the car, Klement said, and were
in the middle of the street. He believed that another person was in the car, possibly holding the girl. The man returned from the
middle of the street to the car, he either hit the girl or put something over her head.
Others Saw Incident
Klement moved to get out of the car, but noted two men who had also witnessed the incident coming toward the car from the
street corner where they had been standing, cars behind him began honking as the street light changed, and he started his car,
believing that the two men on the corner could handle the situation. The incident was between a half hour and an hour after Mrs.
Carl Floerke had taken the missing girl home and dropped her at the entrance to the half-mile long farm lane leading to the home
of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George C. Weckler, 6 miles west of Ft Atkinson. A dark car had been seen in the area twice before.
Ernie Simdon, Ft. Atkinson, told officers that he drove to Oakland about 3:45 Thursday and that a dark car had pulled out ahead
of him in the vicinity of the Weckler drive and stayed ahead of him until he reached Oakland Center. Deep tire tracks, possibly
made by a car starting out fast, were Friday at the entrance to the drive.
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 Noticed Similar Car
A Mrs. Twist, teacher at the Ives school, told police that she had noted a similar car drive slowly by the school at about 3:50
Thursday and then pull up and stop ahead of her car. The driver sat there, looking back, for about 5 minutes and then pulled out
fast when she walked from the school toward her car.
Footprint Found
Other developments in the three-day-old case included the finding of a footprint in a wooded area 2 miles south of the farm on
which the little girl lived; search for a hired man from a farm about 5 miles away who had been fired the morning the girl
disappeared, and the ending of the organized search which had included up to 500 men scouring the countryside.
The footprint was found by three youths, one of them a brother of the missing girl in a woods on the Berchart farm between
Rockdale and Highway 106. A shoe of the girl matched the footprint exactly, Rudy Reichert, Jefferson county traffic officer,
reported. Officers later said that the print was that of a little neighbor girl Eileen Armstrong, who said that she was picking
flowers in the woods in the vicinity where the print was found.
Search was continuing today for the hired man who had left job Thursday morning. He had walked to Highway 18 and hitchhiked
to Jefferson where he intended to get a bus for Milwaukee, police officials learned.
Had Record
His employer said that the youth had a reform school record, but that he could not drive a car. It was not known whether he knew
the missing girl. His picture was taken to Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry.
After two days of searching, organized search was abandoned this morning, Planes piloted by Erling Mickelson and Wilson
Beebe had reported that flying at low level over leafless trees gave an excellent view of the ground and that they were able to see
10 to 12 feet down in nearby lakes.
Police were checking a report involving two youths seen walking down the road near the entrance to the Weckler farm Thursday
afternoon. They were seen, by Mr. and Mrs. "Stub" Swensen and Iver Nelson, employed at the Moe Bros. electrical plant in Ft.
Atkinson as they were driving down the road.
One wore a white sailor's cap and other a black and white checked shirt, they told Neal Smithback, Dane county night jailer who
lives in Cambridge.

Fortune Teller Tip on Kidnap Proves False

Dane county was left virtually without patrol squad car protection late Friday night and early this morning when officers sped
toward Cambridge to investigate a kidnaping "hot tip" which originated - it ultimately was learned - with a fortune teller!
At 11:30 Friday night, a Jefferson squad car radioed to Madison and Dane county officers, asking for all available cars to come to
the stop light on Highway 12 at the edge of Cambridge.
"We've got a hot tip," they said. Asked what it was, they said it was too hot to put on the air. With county lines meaning nothing,
some 35 cars congregated at the traffic light, where they were told that it had been learned that Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, missing
since Thursday from near her home near Ft. Atkinson, would be found in a vacant house west of her home.
If she were found within 21 hours, she would be alive. And if not, she would be dead.
All of the Dane county sheriff's office and traffic department's cars were there but one. Plus cars from Madison, the town of
Madison, Maple Bluff, the town of Blooming Grove, and state patrol cars in the area were there. They searched for hours, they
found nothing,
And it finally developed that an uncle of the missing girl had gone to a fortune teller to get hot tip
Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, May 4th, 1947

117
Focal point of interest of thousands of people in this area and state today is the Ft. Atkinson area farm home of Mr. and Mrs.
George Weckler, whose 8-year-old daughter has been missing since Thursday and is feared kidnaped. The corner where she was
dropped by a neighbor bringing her home from school is shown in the upper foreground of the picture at the upper left, with a half
mile road leading to the home in the background. The farm home is at the right above. Search included a checking of all vacant
houses, culverts, cisterns, and wells. In the picture at the lower left, a group of searchers is probing a well. At the lower right are
the mother of the missing girl and one of the sister, Katherine.
Out of Grief, Nightmare Looms A Nameless 'Him'
(By Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON There was only the waiting Saturday on the George Weckler farm ... the hard, cruel, senseless waiting. The
waiting and the person, formless and, nameless like a man in a nightmare that 'they thought of only as "him."
Believe 'He' is Kidnaper
"He" was the man, or Woman, or man and woman, who they felt had kidnaped their daughter, Georgia Jean, only 8 years old.
They tried not to refer to "him,' but it slipped out. "I don't know why 'he' had to take such a little girl," said Mrs. Weckler,
helpless, choking back, the rebellion at her helplessness. That feeling had its beginning Thursday afternoon. The other two grade
school children, LaVerne, 12, and Joan, 10, had come home from school.
Feels Bit of Anxiety
"Where's Georgia?" she had asked, and she had felt, a twinge of anxiety when they said that she had come home with 'Mrs. Carl
Floerke, a neighbor, earlier. After a while she went to Mrs. Floerke's home and the feeling heightened when she learned that the
little girl had got out at the mailbox, a half mile from their home. Perhaps her husband had picked up the little girl, but when he
came home at 6, he was alone.
Hope Persists
They had called the sheriff and the possess had come in, and hope still persisted, but it was not easy. "We gave 'him' too much
time," said Mrs. Weckler, twisting a handkerchief in her hands as she sat in the living room of their home. "We just gave 'him'
too much time."
The neighbor women bustled about, feeding the men who came and went, from stores of food that "just appeared." And those of
them who had nothing to do went to scouring the ice box, and the wood work. They felt that they had to be doing something.
"Poor George," said Mrs. Weckler. His father - he's 85 - is sick in the Fort hospital, and hell wonder why George can't come in to
see him. We haven't told him, and hell wonder."
Never Any News
The long day dragged along. People no longer jumped when the telephone rang. There was never tiny news. "We thought we'd
been through the worst when the children had polio last August." said Mrs. Weckler, her face twisting into a mirthless smile. "It
would be better if she had been killed on the highway. Then, at least we'd know ... "The planes droned overhead, end a clank
rain began to patter against the windows.
"She always had a fear of kidnaping," said Mrs. Weckler. "You could tell it when there were stories in the paper. "Oh,
why did 'he' have to take such a little girl?" The specter of 'him" hung over the knots of people in the front yard, who stood and
talked, went 1-out to check rumors, went through the barns and poked into the wells and cesspool again.
'Nothing'
"There just isn't anything that I we know," said the father of the missing girl helplessly. "East west north south - we don't
know where heis. "There Isn't a clue . . . not a piece of cloth, or a note ... nothing The long day dragged to a close. As the
light faded, Weckler told the men that they might as well go home to their chores. There was nothing more that could be done.
There was just the waiting the waiting and the wondering what 'he" was doing, or what "he" had done.
Trucker Tells of Car Stopping Near Little Girl
Like Earlier Report; Girl of Georgia's Description 'Sighted'
By JOHN NEWHOUSE
(State Journal Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON - The belief that, Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, missing since Thursday, has been kidnaped was turning to a
certainty Saturday, night when a Camp McCoy truck driver told police that he had seen a dark car apparently corming to a stop to
pick up a little girl between Cambridge and Ft. Atkinson on Highway 12. After reporting to Ft. Atkinson police, the truck driver;
S. S. Feastes, left to return to Camp McCoy and county and state police were trying late Saturday night to intercept him for
further questioning.
Like Another Report
The story, it is believed, will corroborate a report by Marvin Thom, neighbor who said that he saw a dark car backing out of the
drive to the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler Thursday afternoon. Feastes said that he followed a car weaving from
one side of. the road to the other for some distance. When the car pulled to the center of the road near a gravel road leading
to the left where a little girl stood near a mail box, he said that he passed the car on the right. He did not know whether the car
had stopped, he said, since he went over a hill and did not see it again. Feastes, reportedly of Wisconsin Rapids, was sought for
return to identify the place where the truck passed the dark car.
Notices Car Backing Out
Thom earlier had told law enforcement authorities that he had been driving a tractor near the road about 3:30 p. m. Thursday,
when the little girl was dropped at the mailbox a half mile away from her farm home by a neighbor, Mrs. Carl Flotrke, who had
brought her home from school. He had noted a car about 100 feet down the gravel road from the intersection, he said, backing out
to the concrete. He had arrived at the intersection at about the same time as the car, and had noted a man in the car. He had not
noted a girl.

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Further pointing to the "dark car" theory of abduction, Ernie Simdon, Ft. Atkinson, had also earlier reported that he had been
driving to Cambridge and had spotted a dark car ahead of him after he had topped the hill near the Weckler farm road. The car, he
said, had not been ahead of him before, and he believed that it had pulled out of the farm road. Deep tracks at the intersection as
though a car had spun its wheels in starting bore out the theory.
Sees Girl Changing Clothes
Another incident, again involving a dark car, was reported to The Wisconsin State Journal late Saturday night and was being
checked by Dane county police. A Ft. Atkinson attorney, driving down a side road near Cambridge, noted a girl changing clothes
near a car apparently - a black 1936 Ford - while a woman watched. The girl was blond, as was the missing girl, and about the
same age. She wore a pink sweater and was pulling on a pair of blue pants, which again corresponded with the costume worn by
the missing girl.
Other Clues Fail
The new development came at the end of a day which had yielded no real clues and the investigation of rumors which proved to
be foundationless. Planes still flew ever the area, checking woods and lakes, with the aerial search extended into parts of Dane
county, but the posse which had numbered as huge as 1,000 men called off its search
The through check of the area for miles around with searchers peering into cisterns, wells, culverts and buildings had revealed not
the slightest trace of the girl, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, who live 6 miles north of Ft Atkinson.
Wait for Break
As the case came to the grim end of waiting for a first break Dist. Atty. Francis Garity told the press that his men were at a
standstill. we havent a clue to follow, he said. Rumors of a girl struggling in a car at a Ft Atkinson intersection were
investigated, but nothing new developed. Sam Klement, Ft Atkinson, said that had been waiting for a stop light to change at the S.
Main St. and Milwaukee Ave. intersection Thursday when he had seen a little girl struggling to get out of dark car. A man who
had just left the car returned and either hit or covered the head of the child. With other men going to the car and cars behind him
honking, Klement drove on.
No Witnesses Found
Though an appeal was sent out for witnesses of the incident to contact police authorities no response was made. The father of the
girl, at a loss for explanation, believed that she had started down the half-mile road to the farm home and had been picked up by
someone driving into the lane who had been backing out. The belief was bolstered be the story of Ernie Simdon, who had been
driving north on Highway 12 and had found a dark car ahead of him when he came over the ----- of a hill before farm lane. It had
not been ahead of him before , he said. (unreadable/scan able)

Fortune Teller Scares Another Blank in Case

Sheriff Edward Fischer, Undersheriff Edward Ottum, and Stoughton Police Chief Joseph Walker, went on another "wild goose
chase" Saturday in trying to track down on the missing Georgia Jean Weckler.
The girl's uncle had been told by a fortune teller that the girl could he found in on empty farm indicting just west of Stoughton.
'This was the second attempt the fortune teller's part to locate the girl having told the uncle she was in some empty buildings
Friday.
The second tip, like the first, drew a blank and Sheriff Fischer told the girl's uncle "that he was throwing money away by going to
the fortune teller.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
May, Monday 5th, 1947
Fort Posse Chases Kidnap Suspect

Young Man Flees in Dark Car After Ransacking House

Believed Seeking Food or Clothes; Leaves Money Undisturbed on Table
By JOHN NEWHOUSE
(State Journal Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON - Posses streaked out of Ft. Atkinson this morning, hot on the trail of a blond haired young man they believed
may have been the kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl missing since Thursday. Within a few minutes after
the man had fled from the back door of a ransacked, house and roared off in a dark car parked down the road, the posse was off in
pursuit.
Headed Toward Whitewater
The car was headed toward Whitewater on Highway 12 when it was last seen. The man had apparently been in search of food or
clothing, officials held. Money laying on a table was not taken. Mrs. E. R. Parker, whose home is just, south of Ft. Atkinson on
Highway 12, saw the man walk up to the nearby home of her mother-in-law, who was at work at the Chamber of Commerce
offices in Ft. Atkinson. Later, she was in the back yard taking in the clothes when she saw the man come out of the back door. "Is
there anything I can do for you she asked?
Notifies Police
Then the man turned and ran for a dark car parked on the highway about 300 feet away and disappeared. Mrs. Parker notified
police and a posse gathered before the police station ready to start out on another phase of the search, started in immediate chase.
She described the man as blond, between 20 and 25 years old, with ruddy complexion, and wearing blue jeans and. a loose, tan,
short coat.
A check of the house showed that it had been rapidly but thoroughly ransacked. "If he wasn't the kidnaper, he sure picked the
hottest city in the nation to pull a robbery in," was the comment of one police officer. Since Thursday when the girl - the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, who live 6 miles north of Ft. Atkinson - disappeared, the countryside has been swarming with
men, many of them armed, searching for some clue of the little girl.
Search Spreads
Meanwhile, the search for the missing-girl spread deeper into southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois as the Jefferson county
district attorney said that "it's a 100 to 1 shot that the little girl has been kidnaped."
Other Developments
Other developments were:
ONE. A soldier on leave from Ft. Knox, Ky., was seized in Chicago Sunday night by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
agents for questioning after parking lot attendants had reported what they believed to be blood-stains in his car. He was later
cleared and released.
TWO. Another possible lead exploded late this afternoon when a Ft. Atkinson couple identified themselves to police as the couple
who had been seen on a street corner Thursday afternoon with their little girl in a dark car, who had been crying.
THREE. Dozens of black, 1936 Ford cars of Jefferson and neighboring counties were checked in an effort to find the kidnap
vehicle.
FOUR. Reward money for apprehension of the kidnapper or clues leading to his arrest was raised to $3,700.
FIVE. Oscar Menzel, 37, Milwaukee friend of, the Weckler family and formerly with army intelligence, offered to act as
intermediary.

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SIX. Police were checking on a series of three stolen cars in Ft. Atkinson and the area.
SEVEN. Volunteers were beginning a search of the catch basin and manholes of Ft, Atkinson, with members of the Ft. Atkinson
Chamber of Commerce aiding.
An appeal to all persons, in cities or on farm, in the mean to the south of Ft. Atkinson in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois
to check their vacant lots, empty houses, wells, and culverts was made today by Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Franck Garity.
"We've searched the area in the vicinity of the Weckler home with a fine-toothed comb," he said; "and it is evident that the search
will have to spread farther. It's a 100 to 1 shot that she's been kidnaped."
More Data on Car
Returning to Ft. Atkinson, S. S. Feastes, Camp McCoy truck driver, gave more details of a black Ford car which he had noted
near the entrance to the Weckler home Thursday afternoon at about 3:30 - the time that the little girl 'returning from school had
been dropped at the mail box corner a half mile from her farm home by, a neighbor woman.
Going from Cambridge to Ft. Atkinson, he had passed the car parked by the side of Highway 12 about a mile before he came to
the Weckler drive he told county authorities who took him over the road Sunday night. A half mile farther, the car had passed
him. The car was just ahead of him when they arrived at the Weckler drive, where a little girl was, walking down the farm lane.
The car pulled to the left and, into the drive, Feastes said. As he passed it on the right, he shouted at the driver of the black car.,
but did not see him well.
Story Checks With Others
His story checked with two others at the corner at about the same time. Marvin Thom, farmer hauling rubbish to a dump near the
corner, said that he had seen the black car backing from the corner and that an occupant was a man 25 to 30 years of age with no
cap.
Feastes said that he notice, the tractor and that the driver was not sitting squarely in the seat. Thom said that, due to spine injury,
he never sat squarely on the tractor seat.
Feastes also said that he had noticed a car at the top of a hill to the south of the Weckler drive on Highway 12 which disappeared
before he went over the hill. The car was believed to be that of Mrs. Carl Floerke, neighbor woman who had brought the missing
girl home from school.
Feastes also reported that while in Ft. Atkinson, a blond hitchhiker whose description roughly matched that of the man who had
entered the Parker house had asked him for a ride. The man had not showed up at the appointed time, however.
Check on Stolen Cars
Police were looking for a connection between a series of stole cars and the baffling case. E. W Fromader, 212 Roosevelt rd.,
Saturday night reported a blue Plymouth 1941 coupe abandoned in his driveway, with the license plates torn off.
A check showed the car stolen from Louis Goesswein, Melrose Park, Ill. Shortly afterward Elkhorn police reported the recovery
of a car owned by W. Earl Dunlap, of 718 Sherman Ave., Ft. Atkinson. The car was recovered before Dunlap knew it was
missing. The Fromader and the Dunlap homes are about two blocks apart.
FBI in Touch'
Authorities were also checking the theft of a third car from the town of Geneva, in Walworth county. In Milwaukee, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that it had been ''in close contact" with local officials, but had not entered the case.
Weckler, father of the missing girl, boosted his reward offer to $2.500 and friendly neighbor raised the fund to $3,700. In Ft
Atkinson, another addition to the fund was being raised at the Chamber of Commerce, with Executive Secretary Ralph Ebbot in
charge of collections.
Some Still Search Area
A few parties of farmers were still checking the area at spasmodic intervals, but organized search was called off after three days
and four nights of checking houses, woods, ravines and culverts. The searchers reported that they had covered 16 square miles of
rough terrain surrounding the Weckler farm. Both Garity and Ft. Atkinson, Police Chief Harry 0. Mueller said that they were
without further clues. "I have notified the FBI that the girl is missing and that we have classified it as a kidnaping," Garity said.
But the FBI cannot move into the case until some definite evidence turns up in the way of a ransom note or that she has been
injured. About five to seven days must elapse before the FBI may enter the case on the assumption that she has been harmed or
taken across a state line." No ransom note has been received.
Only Interested in Girl
Menzel, with military government intelligence division in Germany after service as a lieutenant in the air forces, said that he
believed that the large number of searchers and police in the area might be holding back delivery of a ransom note. His offer to
the kidnapers was: "Everything will be confidential. Turn the child over to me and I'll return her to the parents. If police
enter the case later and want a description of you, that's out. I'm just interested in getting Georgia Jean back alive."
"Even if I recognize you when you turn over the child the identification will remain a secret with me. My home phone
number is Galena 2164R in Milwaukee: my shop number is Concord 3160."

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, May 6th, 1947
False Stories Delay Search for Child

People Didn't Tell Full Truth, Charges Jefferson Sheriff

Father of Missing Girl Sobs Plea Over Radio for Her Return
By JOHN NEWHOUSE
(State Journal Staff Writer)
FT. ATKINSON False stories told by some of the persons investigated in the search for Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old
farm girl missing since Thursday, set the investigation back by several days at least, Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry said
Monday night.
"We thought we were making pretty good progress in reconstructing the events that led up to the disappearance of the child at the
head of the lane leading to her home, the sheriff said, Now we have to start over again...not from the beginning but a good ways
back.
Urges 'Full Truth'
"This investigation would go a lot faster if some people would tell the full truth." The sheriff, who had led the search for the girl
for the past six days, would not amplify the statement further. The announcement that there were no new clues and that some of
the old clues were disintegrating came after a day in which George Weckler, father of the missing girl, bad broken down while
making a radio plea for the return of the girl and in which a posse had streaked off in hot pursuit of a blond haired young man
who had ransacked a Ft. Atkinson house.
Taking to the air, the father pleaded: "Folks all over the country, my plea is to the person or persons for any clue or anything
that can lead us to the child, for the child's sake, for the family's sake and for the party that has the child, "I know that
their conscience is going to feel 100 per cent better within the next 12 hours if you return this child immediately. At one
time during the broadcast, he broke into tears. At the end of the broadcast, however, he said that he had more hope than ever that
the child would be returned unharmed.
Authorities were not so hopeful and feared that the appeal would go unanswered, Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said that be feared the
child had been taken by a sex maniac because no ransom note had been received. Although Oscar Menzel, 37, Milwaukee friend
of the Weckler family had offered to act as intermediary for the surrender of the child, there was no indication that be had been
contacted by persons who had taken the little girl.
Fugitive Not Caught
Although Jefferson county and Ft. Atkinson police had sped off on the trail of a blond man who had entered and ransacked the
house of Mrs. Z. R. Parker a few minutes after he fled, the man had not been captured this morning. He had entered the house
through the unlocked front door and was seen by Mrs. Warren Parker, daughter-in-law living next door, who had notified police.
A dark car resembling that in which he had fled, was seem later in the Coldspring area, where the search concentrated. Hopes
were raised momentarily early in the night, when sheriffs officials in Tacon, Ill., picked up an 18-year-old ex-serviceman for
questioning. The youth picked up an a vagrancy charge, had a piece of paper in his pocket with the names of George Weckler,
Georgia Weckler, and Ft. Atkinson police written on it. He was quoted as saying he was on his way to Ft. Atkinson to "help find
the girl."
Sheriff's Deputy Z. R. Graves' opinion was that the youth was "obviously a psycho case." Garity and the sheriff wired the Illinois
authorities to hold the youth for questioning this morning. In. Ft. Atkinson, crews ware continuing the job they started Monday of
checking the catch basins and manholes. Another bit of checking Monday was also without result. Following a "hot tip," a group

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of farmers and law enforcement officials moved and sifted a 2-ton pile of brush and rubbish in the woods in which it was first
feared that Georgia had been that. There was no trace of the girl nor clue.
Lost Mail Not Found
Although two newspapers and a check from a Milwaukee stock commission house for three cows and two pigs sold last week
were presumed to have been in the mail which Georgia had carried under her arm when last seen, no trace of them had been
found. One letter, discovered in the rubbish, was pieced together and found to have no bearing on the case. From Walworth
county, Sheriff Jack Cusask reported that a group of a dozen farmers had searched a woods on the Smuck farm near Sharon after
the family had reported hearing a child crying shortly after two suspicious-looking cars had parked before the woods. The search
revealed nothing.
Another possible lead exploded Monday afternoon when a Fort Atkinson couple identified themselves as the pair who had been
seen on a Ft. Atkinson street corner with a car in which a little girl was crying. "From what they told me, the child needed a
spanking," said one police official.
Fortune tellers again entered the kidnap case, along with a bloodhound. A creek bed was searched on the advice of a fortune
teller, and a Milwaukee woman arrived with a plump dog which she said was a bloodhound. The bloodhound's main
accomplishment was to get in a tired sort of fight with another dog and to saunter off into the woods later on carrying a bone
which he had tracked down.
C. of C. to Raise Fund
Ralph Ebbott, secretary of the Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce, Monday night announced that the chamber is collecting a
fund to offer as a reward for information leading to the return of the missing girl. First contributor was G. A. Weckler, her uncle,
Ebbott asked that contributions be sent to him at the Chamber of Commerce, Fort Atkinson. The reward money has risen
officially to $6,200 for information leading to the arrest of the kidnaper and unofficially, to more than $8,000. In addition to the
$1,000 pledged by the father, $1,225 is in a fund being raised by the Ft. Atkinson Chamber of Commerce; $1,500 by neighbors,
and $2,500 by the Prairie Farmer and Radio Station WLS.
'The Sweetest Pupil:' Georgia Jean Gone, School Is Closed
Ft. ATKINSON - UP - The one room Oakland Center School in Jefferson County has closed for a week. On the school's bulletin
board are several drawings posted because the teacher, Mrs. Donald Miller, thought they were about the best of her pupils' work.
Two of the drawings are those of little Georgia Jean Weckler, whose disappearance has baffled this Jefferson county community
for five days.
"Georgia was an awfully good artist for an 8-year-old" Mrs. Miller said. "When she vanished, I felt I just couldn't teach right now.
I went to the school board and they agreed to close the school for a week."
"Georgia was one, of the sweetest-students in the class" she said. "She was always the first to help my first graders when I was
busy and couldn't get to them right away." In the deserted school room was a desk drawer littered with report cards. Little
Georgia's was strewn with As and a few Bs to mark the girl's only scholastic struggle in grammar.
In the saddened Weckier home were several more samples of Georgia's childish art. Her father said his little girl love to, sketch
things around the farm. He added that if they didn't suit her, she'd throw them away and try again. In the house too was a little
theme that Georgia had written about a recent trip to Milwaukee with her classmates. She ended her happy account: "We got
home, Wasn't It a wonderful trip?"

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, May 7th, 1947
Hunt for Girl Stalls as Leads Keep Fading !
Still Hopeful

As he waits, still hopeful of news about his missing 8-year-old daughter, Georgia, George Weckler, Ft., Atkinson, finds
himself smoking too many cigarets and his calm veneer is fast wearing thin.
By JOHN NEWHOUSE (State Journal Staff Writer)
FT ATKINSON After six days of following false leads and tracking down baseless rumors, the search for Georgia Jean
Weckler, 8, missing since last Thursday, has come to a standstill.
Authorities say that they have followed all leads as far as they can be checked and admit that they have no new leads to follow. "It
looks as though any break will have to come from the outside," Jefferson County. Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, red-eyed from lack
of sleep and unshaven, told reporters Tuesday night before he went home to bed at midnight.
"We haven't a loose thread among the few leads we had," he said, "except that black car and that hasn't been easy to find."
The black car, thought to be a 1938 Ford, was seen by several persons Thursday at the entrance to the farm lane leading to the
home of George Weckler, father of the missing girl.
For the first night since the girl's disappearance electrified the countryside, the room across the hall from the police station, in
which authorities had interviewed persons connected with the case was dark.
And, for the first time in almost a week, the city, county, and state patrol cars were not bringing in persons for questioning or
darting
(Continued on Page 2, - Missing page)
Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, May 8th, 1947
Kidnap Suspect Alarm Given, Elderly Man Sought Upstate
Ft ATKINSON - (U.P) - Sheriff George Perry today asked authorities in northern Wisconsin to hunt for an elderly man driving a
steel grey car' with a crumpled fender, as the possible kidnaper of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl missing a week
today.
The appeal to officials in the area around Green Bay 130 miles north of here was prompted by a new lead given Perry today. The
tip came from Mrs. John Worachek, operator of a tavern in the village of Larrabee, 17 miles north of Manitowoc.
'Very Nervous'
Mrs. Worachek said an elderly man with' the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen" entered her tavern at noon Saturday. He ordered
a glass of beer.
"The man appeared' very nervous," she said. "In fact he was so nervous he could hardly hold the glass of beer.
Just then I hear a child crying outside. It sounded like a, girl and was very plain. She seemed to be saying Let me out: Let me out
"
Mrs, Worachek said she remarked, to the elderly man that "someone's' cooped up out there but the man claimed he didn't hear a
thing.
When Mrs Worachek, started from behind the bar to investigate, the man stepped forward as though to block her way.
Boy Interrupts
Just then a boy entered the tavern and bought an ice cream bar. He left immediately. "How much are the bar?" Mrs. ,Worachek
quoted the elderly man as asking.,

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When she told him, he said: "I'll take one of them - no, you'd better make it two."
As soon as he had made his change, the man left the tavern hurriedly. By the time Mrs. Worachek got to the door, the car was on
the highway, moving north.
She noted that the car was steel-grey in color and had a damaged right rear fender.
Again Notices Car
On Monday, Mrs. Worachek visited friends in Peshtigo, some 70 miles north of her home. On the way back she noticed the same
car, parked near some tourist cottages north of Green Bay, She thought the cottages were at Duck Creek, but was not certain.
Upon returning to Larabee she notified the Manitowoc county sheriff, Arthur Truttschell, of the series of incidents. Truttschell
relayed the information to Perry here,
Perry said he "Is sold on the idea that the girl was picked up in a car" when she' disappeared while on her way home from school
May 1, he said it would have been impossible for her to have become lost.
The girl's father, George C Weckler, is a well-to-do farmer, but authorities are of the opinion that she was kidnaped by a sex maniac
rather than by someone seeking ransom.
An exhaustive search of the woods near the girl's home revealed no clue to her disappearance Wednesday.
Trunk, Car Clues in Case Fail Here
A mysterious trunk from a "haunted" house and suspicious black cars were investigated by Dane county police Wednesday night,
but no information concerning the missing Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, was uncovered despite the suspicions of Deerfield area
residents and Jefferson county police.
All Deerfield was aroused by the finding of a large, old-fashioned traveling trunk behind a tobacco shed on the Clair and Marlow
Smithback farm, about 5 miles west of Deerfield. Several calls were received at the jail from residents of the neighbor-hood that
they feared the trunk might contain the 8-year-old girl's body.
Boys Get Trunk
Sheriff Edward A. Fischer and Undersheriff Elmer Otturn investigated and learned that the trunk had been dragged from a vacant
house on the Vernon Olson farm, about 1 mile away from the Smithback farm, by three Madison boys, aged 9 to 12.
The youths, who spent weekend vacations in the Deerfield area, said they believed the vacant house was haunted and took the trunk
from there, hoping to use it in setting up a "detective's club" of their own,
The trunk is owned by Anton Feggestad, an elderly farmer and previous resident of the "haunted" house, who now lives on another
farm in the area. It contained old clothing, books, and letters.
Check on Car
County officers were also called out about 8 p. m. to investigate a report by a farm woman that a mysterious black car, fitting the
description of the one seen near the Weckler farm in Ft. Atkinson the day of Georgia Jean's disappearance, was driven into the
marsh along Koskonong creek, north of Deerfield. About 30 residents of the area joined in the search, but no car was found.
Deputy Sheriffs George Graves and Gilbert Kapelke stopped a suspicious black car near Cambridge about midnight, on radio
request from the Jefferson county police, but the car occupants were released after they identified themselves as tourists returning
to their homes in Rockford, Ill.
Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, May 11th, 1947
Weckler Search Lacks New Clues, Milwaukee Police Offer 'Cooperation
FT. ATKINSON The absence of clues continued to slow down the search for eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler Saturday, as
the Milwaukee police department joined in pledging full co-operation with Jefferson county authorities in the search.
George Perry, Jefferson county sheriff, went to Milwaukee Saturday to "run down a possible clue" as to the whereabouts of the
girl missing since May 1, but returned with no new information. It was while conferring in Milwaukee with John Neiderkorn,
acting captain of detectives in the city, that Perry received the pledge of Milwaukee police support.
Perry also checked up on a telegram sent from Milwaukee. It said that Georgia Jean was "back in your farm house" and that her
clothing was changed and her hair dyed. The telegram was signed by Rose Greenwald and sent to the Weekler family on their
farm, 6 miles west of Ft. Atkinson., It failed to prove anything, Perry said.
Dane' County Sheriff Edward Fischer, Undersheriff Elmer Ottum, and Dist Atty. Edwin Wilke, "reviewed and rechecked previous
leads" near Cambridge and Rockdale Saturday, but failed to uncover any new clues.
A physician confined the missing girl's father George C. Weckler, a well-to-do middle aged farmer to bed. Weckler, who was a
member of searching parties and had broadcast tearful appeals for the, safe return of the child, broke down under the strain.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, May 12th, 1947
Rumors of Georgia's Being Found Denied
FT. ATKINSON - Harry O. Mueller, Ft. Atkinson police chief, today denied rumors that the body of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8,
missing from her farm home near Ft. Atkinson since May 1 had been found.
The office of Sheriff George Perry at Jefferson also denied the rumors, insisting there's nothing new in the case today.
The rumors brought numerous telephone calls to The State Journal this afternoon.
Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, May 13th, 1947
Georgia's School Opens With Three Seats Vacant
FT. ATKINSON - Schoolmates of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, returned to their rural school Monday for the first time since the
little girl disappeared May 1.
Three of the seats of the one-room school were vacant, however, and drew the silent attention of the eight pupils back at school.
The seats were those of Georgia Jean, her sister, Joan, 10, and her brother, LaVerne, 12.
The Oakland Center school board had decided that "things were quiet enough" to permit the opening of school, Mrs. Donald
Miller, teacher, said, as the search for the missing girl entered its 12th day.
Seven suspects who have been checked a number of times since the hunt began are still under surveillance, Jefferson county
authorities said. They added that they are still in contact with Norristown, Pa., authorities on the possibility that the man hunted in
the rape-slaying of Carol Ann Thompson, 6, at Norristown Saturday night might be the driver of the black Ford sedan wanted in
the Weckler case.
Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, May 14th, 1947
Bloody Coat May Be Link to Lost Girl
APPLETON - (U.P) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was to examine a blood spattered coat today as a possible link in
the Ft. Atkinson kidnap case of little Georgia Jean Weckler.
The garment a man's raincoat, was found on Highway 47 near here Tuesday by county road employees. Outagamie County
Sheriff Lyman Clark sent the coat to the FBI to determine whether the blood was human.
He also informed Francis Garity; district attorney of Jefferson County where the girl vanished of the discovery.
Clark said that no Identification was found in the coat.
Eight-year-oId -Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared from her rural farm home on May 1 Jefferson county authorities have been
unable to find a trace of the blonde girl and believe she was kidnaped.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, May 16th, 1947
Still Hopeful of Clue to Girl, Sheriff States
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - Sheriff George Perry said today he was "not discouraged" by the lack of clues it the search for 8-year-
old Georgia Jean Weckler.
Perry said that he had the utmost confidence in his department and that he expected a break in the case before long.
"We are sifting every possible clue," he said. "We're trying to get a foothold. All we're looking for now is a starting point. Once
we get that, we'll make better progress.
"Until we do get something substantial to work on, we have to check every lead and every letter, no matter how phoney they
seem."
Georgia Jean disappeared more than two weeks ago while on her way home from school. Authorities believe she was kidnaped by
a sex maniac.
Police Check on Car Left in Franklin Field
Police today were investigating black sedan which was found abandoned in Franklin field, South Madison playground and
parking lot. A bank receipt from Portland, Ore, and a pair of small sized red bobby socks were round in the car. The socks have
no connection with the missing Georgia Jean Weckler, Jefferson county farm girl, police said.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, May 18th, 1947
Boy Who Sent Weckler Note Ordered Held
DULUTH, Minn, - (U.P.) - A 15-year-old Duluth messenger boy waived preliminary hearing Saturday on a charge of attempting
to extort $1,000 from George S. Weckler, Ft. Atkinson, Wis., father of missing Georgia Weckler, 8.
U.S. Court Commissioner, Wellington J. Brown ordered the youth bound over to U. S. district court, and he was remanded to jail
in lieu of $5,000 bond.
The boy was charged with writing Weckler May 9, demanding $1,000 be sent to a "Morgan A, Kepter" in care of the Duluth bus
depot.
The note promised safe return of little Georgia, who was abducted May 1. Kepter was a fictitious name.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrested the youth when he attempted to pick up a package addressed to Kepler.
Agents had tailed the boy for about a week in an attempt to link him with the actual abduction but he was absolved of blame in
taking Georgia from her Ft. Atkinson farm home.
Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, May 19th, 1947
Sheriff Investigates New Weckler Clue
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - Jefferson County Sheriff George Perry was expected to return here tonight after tracking down a new
suspect in the Weckler kidnaping case.
Perry left here Sunday night to investigate the new lead, which he said he found out about Sunday afternoon.
Perry said that his trip would lake him somewhere in Wisconsin but wouldn't reveal where. He said the new suspect "had
possibilities" and may give authorities a starting point in their search for the 8-year-old missing girl.
Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared from her rural farm home near here on May 1. Authorities believe she was kidnaped.
Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, May 20th, 1947
Sheriff Drops Clue After 36-Hour Hunt
Missing Weckler Girl Case Leads Perry to Northern Trailer Camp
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - Sheriff George Perry returned to his office for a few hours today but left immediately to check a new
lead in the search for 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, believed to have been kidnaped May 1.
Perry said he had been in "Northern Wisconsin" for the past 35 hours but refused to say what town. He also refused to identify his
new destination other than to say it was "north of here."
The sheriff had been gone since Sunday night. Since that time, he said he had visited several trailer camps in the northern section
of Wisconsin checking on a couple who left here in their trailer about the time Georgia Jean disappeared.
Perry said he had slept only a few hours Sunday night. He appeared exhausted, but did not take time for rest before leaving town
again.
Georgia Jean is believed to have been abducted by a sex maniac. She disappeared three weeks ago as she walked down a farm
lane on her way home from school.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity admitted that chances for a quick solution of the case "looked bad." However, he added that no one was
giving up, and that he had received excellent cooperation from authorities in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and
Pennsylvania.
Despite this, he said, not a single good clue had turned up in the case.
Authorities are continuing their check of suspicious persons, particularly sex offenders who were known to be, or could have
been, this area the day the girl disappeared.
Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, May 20th, 1947
Sheriff Drops Clue After 36-Hour Hunt
Missing Weckler Girl Case Leads Perry to Northern Trailer Camp
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - Sheriff George Perry returned to his office for a few hours today but left immediately to check a new
lead in the search for 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, believed to have been kidnaped May 1.
Perry said he had been in "Northern Wisconsin" for the past 35 hours but refused to say what town. He also refused to identify his
new destination other than to say it was "north of here."

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The sheriff had been gone since Sunday night. Since that time, he said he had visited several trailer camps in the northern section
of Wisconsin checking on a couple who left here in their trailer about the time Georgia Jean disappeared.
Perry said he had slept only a few hours Sunday night. He appeared exhausted, but did not take time for rest before leaving town
again.
Georgia Jean is believed to have been abducted by a sex maniac. She disappeared three weeks ago as she walked down a farm
lane on her way home from school.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity admitted that chances for a quick solution of the case "looked bad." However, he added that no one was
giving up, and that he had received excellent cooperation from authorities in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and
Pennsylvania.
Despite this, he said, not a single good clue had turned up in the case.
Authorities are continuing their check of suspicious persons, particularly sex offenders who were known to be, or could have
been, this area the day the girl disappeared.
Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, May 22nd, 1947
Crew to Rip Up Highway 12 for Weckler Clue
D. A. Doubtful Digging Will Reveal Anything; Follows Trucker's Tip
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - A road construction crew was ordered to tear up a section of U. S. Highway 12 today to check whether
the body of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler lies buried beneath the macadam pavement.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said he "seriously doubted" that the workmen would find anything but "we want to make certain we're
not overlooking any possibilities."
The road crew was instructed to rip out a short strip of macadam which was laid alongside the main slab since the girl disappeared
May 1.
Near Farm Lane
The spot is located just a half mile from the lane which leads to the farm home owned by the girl's father, George Weckler.
Georgia Jean is believed to have been kidnaped by a sex fiend as she walked down the lane on her way home from school.
A La Crosse truck driver told authorities that at 2 a.m, on May 2, about 10 hours after the girl disappeared, he saw a man digging
a grave like hole in the road shoulder. A car was parked nearby.
Investigators visited the spot with the truck driver Wednesday but found that a new macadam strip had been laid over the shoulder
since that time.

Wants to Be Sure
Garity said he did not believe the incident was connected with the case, but he wanted to make certain. He said the night of May 1
- 2 was rainy and the mysterious digger may only have been an unlucky motorist whose car stalled on the soft shoulder.
He said the mucky shoulder had been the reason for the recent surfacing.
Meanwhile, Garity said, he planned to recall all the witnesses in the case for questioning. "I think we're in' for a long siege on this
case," he said, "I'm not even certain that I'll still be district attorney by the time it is finally solved.
Get Statements on Paper
"For that reason I want to get the witnesses' statements down on paper, complete in every detail. Then we're going to correlate all
of the known facts, add them up and see what we've got maybe we can learn something that way. As things stand now, we haven't
learned a thing from all our investigating."
Garity said he had appealed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to enter the case but that the government agents had not
moved into it yet.
Wisconsin State Journal
Saturday, May 24th, 1947
Salesman Held for Questioning in Weckler Case
Eliseuson Charged at Viroqua in Try to Lure Girl, 9
VIROQUA - (U.P.) - A traveling salesman, arrested on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a 9-year-old girl, was
questioned today as a suspect in the "kidnap" disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler. He was Warren Eliseuson, 31
and married, a wax product salesman from Winona, Minn., whose route extends from Minnesota southward through western Iowa
and northern Wisconsin.
Denies Abduction Try
Sheriff Morris Moon said that, Eliseuson denied that he attempted to abduct 9-year-old Phyllis Staley, at Hillsboro, Friday and
had "clammed up fast" when questioned about the disappearance of the Weckler girl from her farm near Ft. Atkinson, May 1.

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Moon said Eliseuson's automobile was the same type as that reported seen in the vicinity of The Weckler farm the day Georgia
Jean disappeared.
He said Eliseuson was arrested at Vironewoc, after, the Staley girl reported to Hillsboro authorities that Eliseuson ordered her to
get into his automobile. Eliseuson told authoriteis he only wanted to get road directions from her. The sheriff said Eliseuson was
familiar with the area.
The Staley girl, and Dorothy Degner and Genette Petake, two other fifth grade pupils, were en route to school in the early
afternoon, she said, when Eliseuson stopped his car and told the others to go on.
Said He Opened Door
She said he opened the door of the automobile and told her to get in because "I want to show you something."
"My mother told me never to get into stranger's cars," she said.
She said he threatened her and she ran away.
The sheriff said he had found several small toys and new pennies in the automobile.
Authorities said they talked by telephone to Eliseuson's wife at Winona. They said she told them that Eliseuson had told her
recently that he believed he should, talk to a psychiatrist.
Moon said Eliseuson had asked his wife to send a lawyer from Winona to defend him at his arraignment Monday on the
delinquency charges.
Moon said he was keeping county law enforcement officers at Ft. Atkinson posted on all developments.
Eliseuson's sales route extends through Hillsboro but does not include Ft. Atkinson, Moon said.
Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, May 25th, 1947
Latest Kidnap Suspect Is Cleared
VIROQUA(UP) The latest suspect in the possible kidnaping of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler of Ft. Atkinson, was
cleared Saturday night by Vernon County Dist. Atty. Martin Gulbranson,
Gulbranson said he was satisfied that Warren Eliseuson, 31, Winona, Minn., had no connection with the disappearance of Georgia
Jean. The child vanished May 1 from a lane near her farm home.
Under questioning, Eliseuson kept insisting that he was in Winona on May 1.
Authorities said a check with Winona authorities had convinced them that the salesman had nothing to do with the case.
Eliseuson, salesman of wax products, was arrested Friday on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after he
allegedly tried to pick up a 9-year-old girl at Hillsboro.
Sheriff Morris Moon said Eliaeuson "clammed up fast" when questioned about the Weckler case. The sheriff said that Eliseuson's
automobile was similar to the strange car reported in the Ft. Atkinson case.
The salesman was questioned about the Weckler case at the request of Dist. Atty. Francis Garity at Jefferson .

Wisconsin State Journal

Sunday, June 8th, 1947
'I Saw Georgia on Thursday,' Woman Says
DES PlAINES, Ill. - (U.P) - Mrs Martha Fritz, a suburban housewife reported that she had seen a little girl resembling 8-year-old
Georgia Jean Weckler, who disappeared from her Ft. Atkinson, Wis., home May 1.
Mrs. Fritz said she saw the little girl last Thursday on a bridge over the Des Plaines river in Des Plaines. She said the child was
accompanied by a tall dark-haired man "who looked like he needed a haircut."
She said she recognized the little girl from newspaper pictures.
"I'm just sure it's the same girl Mrs. Fritz said,
Mrs. Fritz said the little girl turned and looked at her pleadingly. She reached out her hand to the child, she said, but the man
hurried her away. She said they continued across the bridge and onto a highway running into Chicago.
Mrs. Fritz described the man as about 6 feet 2 inches and weighing 100 pounds. He wore a blue overcoat and new hat she said.
She said he carried a bundle of what appeared to be blankets and extra clothing.
Garity Doubtful `Clue Will Help
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, of Jefferson, told the State Journal Saturday night that he had received no word on the latest report
from Des Plaines, Ill.
"It happens almost every day that someone thinks they have seen the child." Garity said, "and they all prove wrong. However,
every report is followed up so that no possibilities of finding the little Weckler girl are over-looked.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, June 9th, 1947
Police Seek 'Indian' in Weckler Case
DES PLAINES, Ill. - (U.P.) - Police patrolling the forest preserves fringing Chicago were on the lookout today for a "half-breed
Indian" for questioning in connection with the kidnaping of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson, Wis., farm girl who
disappeared May 1,
Mrs. Martha Fritz, housewife, told police she saw a man who looked like an Indian, with black hair falling to his shoulder,
tugging a girl who resembled Georgia Jean behind him as he walked along a suburban road.
She said that because her husband is a police sergeant she always took careful note of crime pictures in the newspapers and
therefore remembered the features of Georgia Jean. The Incident took place last Thursday.
She said she was "just sure" the girl she noticed was the Weckler child.
The girl looked around pleadingly as the pair crossed a bridge, Mrs. Fritz said, but the man hurried her on down the road.
Sheriff George F. Perry of Jefferson, Wis., messaged Chicago officials that he considered the lead "worth looking into."
Sgt. Edward Hinks organized a search party of volunteers which swept through the northwestern park woods. Hinks questioned
two families from Oklahoma living north of Des Plaines to determine whether a man and girl among them might have been the
ones seen by Mrs. Fritz.
He said the men in the families were outside workers and deeply tanned but no members of the two families reported having been
in Des Plaines last Thursday.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, June 27th, 1947
Weckler Girl's Birthday Today; Missing 57 Days
FT. ATKINSON - Today marks the ninth birthday of Georgia Jean Weckler, Ft. Atkinson farm girl who has been missing since
she was seen last entering the farm lane to her home 57 days ago.
County authorities, who never have had a "real" clue to follow, admit that they are still at a loss to explain her disappearance. She
is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, who live near Highway 12 several miles north of Ft. Atkinson.
Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, July 23rd, 1947
Oconto Boy Killer Eyed in Georgia Jean Kidnaping
FT. ATKINSON - Jefferson county officials today were checking the possibility that a 17-year-old wanderer, seized in Nebraska
after he had killed an 8-year-old boy in a sex crime, may have killed Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old girl who has been missing
since May 1.
The youth, George Thomas Lee, today told police that he killed 8-year-old Charles Mulholland because he was "mad at the
world" but that he is sorry for the crime now.
Lee formerly lived at Oconto, where he finished the eighth grade. He also told officials that he was confined to a mental institute
at Mendota for 30 days about three years ago He was discharged from the Carson City, Nev., penitentiary last April after serving
seven months of a 1 to 5-year term for burglary and since then has lived an itinerant, life, he said.
Dist. Atty, Francis Garity, of Jefferson county, has asked Goon to authorities to investigate Lee's whereabouts on the day that
Georgia Jean disappeared. She was believed to have been kidnaped and killed by a sex maniac.
Lee signed a 48-page confession in which he admitted choking the boy with his hands, assaulting him criminally, and then
strangling him with a necktie.
"Why did you do it?" County Ally, Fritz Wagoner asked.
"I was mad with the world," Lee said.
Are you sorry?"
Lees voice was almost a whisper as he replied; "Yes."

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, July 24th, 1947
Oconto Boy Cleared in Disappearance of Weckler Girl
FT. ATKINSON - George Thomas Lee, 16, former Oconto youth questioned in the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, Ft.
Atkinson farm girl was in the state prison at Carson City, Nev. when the child disappeared, he told authorities Wednesday.
Lee seized in Nebraska after he had kilted an 8-year-old boy in a sex crime told Lincoln Neb., authorities that he had never been
in Ft. Atkinson. Records also showed he received a conditional pardon at Carson City, May 5, four days after the 8-year-old
Georgia Jean disappeared.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, of Jefferson County, had asked Oconto and Nebraska authorities to check on Lee's whereabouts on like
day Georgia Jean disappeared.
Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, July 26th, 1947
Father Keeps Search On for Georgia Jean
RICHLAND CENTER - The search for the body of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler moved from a bridge over the Wisconsin
river to a bridge over the Blue river during the weekend.
This time the search is being conducted under the direction of the third grader's father George Weckler. A commercial diver,
Thomas J. Shailes, Baraboo, has been retained by Weckler to search the river bottoms.
Finds Nothing
Working on the Wisconsin river bottom at Blue River Saturday and Sunday, the diver was visible from the surface. He said he
had discovered nothing new that would have any bearing on the case.
Sunday afternoon operations were shifted to the Blue River. The diver worked for as long as two and one-half hours in the 17-foot
deep water.
Weckler reported that he was satisfied that "nothing would be found under the Blue river bridge" but that other spots in the area
are to be searched.
Move to Boscobel
The next point of operations is to be the Boscobel span over the Wisconsin River.
Assisting in the weekend search were Leo Hollowoy, and Percy Button, Richland county deputy sheriffs: Melvin Gillen, Grant
county sheriff; Roland Gibson, Jefferson county sheriff; and Claude Fry and. Martin Joyce, Baraboo, state highway patrolmen.
Buford Sennett, convicted murderer of a University of Wisconsin student, said he and an accomplice kidnaped the girl May 1,
3947, from a lane at her Ft Atkinson farm home and threw her body into the Wisconsin river at the Blue river bridge.
Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, August 19th, 1947
Pieces of Cloth Spur Searchers in Weckler Hunt
Manitowoc Beach Scanned as Leg Bones Are Found
MANITOWOC - (U.P.) - Sheriff Arthur Truttschell said today a pair of shoes, bits of cloth and a glove were found near where
human remains thought to be those of Georgia Jean Weckler were discovered.
Truttschell, Manitowoc county sheriff, said about 15 men from his office and from the Sheboygan county sheriff's office searched
the Lake Michigan shore this morning.
Picnickers Make Discovery
The hunt was ordered Monday after picnickers discovered the leg bones of a young child under a hollow stump and a piece of
shriveled flesh.
It was thought the remains might be those of the eight-year-old girl who disappeared from her rural Fort Atkinson home May 1.
Truttschell said he found the shoes himself about a half mile from the wooded beach area where the remains were found.
"We don't know yet who they might belong to," Truttschell said, ''The shoes could be worn by 'a small girl 7 or 8 years old. They
are brown with a patch on the left shoe at the toe."
Mrs. George Weckler, mother of the missing girl, said her daughter was wearing brown shoes when she disappeared,
"As far as I know," Mrs. Weckler said, "they weren't patched. But of course they could have been patched later."
When Georgia Jean disappeared she was wearing a pink button sweater over a blue "T'' shirt, blue jeans, blue flowered skirt, a
brown flowered scarf, and rubbers over her shoes,
Meanwhile, Francis Garity, Jefferson county district attorney who directed the search for the missing girl, was reported en-route
here.
The sheriff said bits of black and white cloth and a single glove also were found.

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 Await FBI Aid
No other traces 'of human flesh or bones were discovered by the searchers. Truttshell said the parts found were in the Sheboygan
county morgue awaiting inspection by an FBI agent.
Coroner Wesley Van Vanten, Sheboygan, said the bones were those of a boy or girl between the ages of 8 and 10. He said he
could not identify them,
The bones were discovered by Ted Wilkier and Eugene Gunther, both of Sheboygan, Sunday. Sheriff's deputies returned to the
scene with the picnickers Monday night after they reported the finding.
Garity to Help
The deputies searched the area by the light of headlamps and found a piece of shriveled, hardened flesh, six Inches in diameter. It
was believed the flesh had clung to the bones, Darkness prevented further search.
Manitowoc authorities said that Dist. Atty, Francis Garity, Jefferson county, from which Georgia Jean disappeared, had asked for
a complete search of the area. Garity was expected to arrive today to aid in the search.
Sheriffs Theodore T. Mosch, Sheboygan, and Arthur Truttshell, Manitowoc, said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
had been notified. They said the bones and the flesh would be sent to the FBI laboratory for further analysis.
Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, August 21st, 1947
10 Will Take Lie Tests in Weckler Case
JEFFERSON- Ten persons, eight of whom had been questioned previously, were being given lie detector tests at the Jefferson
county courthouse today in connection with the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, on May 1.
Dr. Leonarde Keeler of the Northwestern university crime laboratory was giving the tests to two persons connected with
molesting children and to the eight previously questioned.
The eight all offered to take the tests and were anxious to clear themselves of connections with the case, Francis Garity, Jefferson
county district attorney, explained, Garity said all were from the Jefferson and Ft. Atkinson vicinities where Georgia Jean was
reported missing on her w a y home from school. He did not reveal the names of the eight.
Green county officials brought Robert Schaar, Monticello, charged with molesting a 7-year-old boy, and Walworth officials
brought Elmer Spann, 42, Delavan Lake, charged with molesting a 5-year-old girl to take the tests. Spann previously was familiar
with the Ft. Atkinson and Jefferson area.
Meanwhile George Weckler, father of Georgia Jean, was positive shoes found near Manitowoc did not belong to his daughter, but
said he was anxious to see a belt found near the bones of a child on the Lake Michigan shore.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, August 29th, 1947
Coroners Maintain Bones Found Were Child's, Not Dog's
MANITOWOC - (U.P.) - Two county coroners today still maintained that bones found near here Aug. 18 by picnickers were
those of a child and not a dog's bones as the FBI reported.
Dr. Theodore Teitgen Manitowoc county coroner said he had forwarded photographs or the bones found near the Lake Michigan
shore to the FBI laboratories in Washington. He believed there may have been a mixup and the FBI had the wrong bones.
Teitgen and Dr. Leslie van Zanten, Sheboygan county coroner, both identified the bones as those of a small child. The bones at
first were thought to have some connection with the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, who disappeared from her home
near Ft. Atkinson May 1 without a trace.
The FBI informed Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, Jefferson County, Who directed the Weckler search, that the Smithsonian Institute
declared the bones were those of a dog.
Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, October 16th, 1947
Prisoner Quizzed in Disappearance of Georgia Weckler
MONROE - Hobert J. Schaar, 34, sentenced to a prison term on a morals charge, Tuesday was questioned in the disappearance of
Georgia Jean Weckler, Ft, Atkinson farm girl who has been missing since last May.
George F. Perry, Jefferson county sheriff who conducted the investigation into the disappearance of the 8-year-old girl,
interrogated the prisoner.
Schaar was taken to the state prison at Waupun Wednesday to start serving a 12 to 18 months sentence on charges invoicing a
Monticello youth. He had been held in the Green county jail since Aug. 10.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, November 17th, 1947
2 Slaying Suspects Surrounded, Threaten to Kill Farm Family
Closing In, Officers All Set to Shoot Pair
BULLETIN
Armed police were ready to shoot to kill late this afternoon as they closed in on an isolated farmhouse in Clark county where the
two murder-kidnap-rape suspects were holding a farm family at gunpoint.
Officers converging on the farm, 130 miles from here, said they understood three persons, a farmer, his wife and daughter were
held captive by the two.
At Neillsville, the sheriff's office said the fugitives sent the farmer out with a note saying his wife and the daughter would be
killed if the posse moved toward the house, the farmer then returned.
By JUNE DIECKMANN
(State Journal Staff Writer)
Two men suspected of the brutal slaying of a University of Wisconsin student and raping of his sister-in-law were near capture
this afternoon in a farm house in Clark County, 130 miles from Madison. A big posse of sheriff's deputies had surrounded a
farmhouse at long-wood, Wis., where the two men are holding a farm family captive.
Try to Avoid Gun Fire
The two cornered suspects are Buford Sennett, 22, Richland Center, and Robert Winslow, 24, Owen, Wis., who have been
identified from pictures by the 19-year-old University of Michigan co-ed as the men who shot and killed her brother-in law, Carl
L Carlson, 25, a University of Wisconsin student, near Middleton Friday night, raped her, and held her captive for 12 hours
during a wild ride through southwestern Wisconsin.
The farmhouse area was surrounded by officers of several counties armed with machine guns. Officers fearing the safety of the
farm family asked for loud speaker equipment to attempt to persuade the fugitives to surrender.
Dane county police were seeking searchlights to the farm area at the request of the Clark County sheriff who said the siege might
go into the night.
Journal Reporter Flies to Scene; Contacts Police
An airplane, carrying June Dieckmann, State Journal reporter, was reported over the farmhouse area late today and was in contact
with police cars converging on the scene.
Sheriff Edward Fischer and four deputes, armed with tommy guns, sped to Clark County this afternoon to aid officials converging
on the farm house.
Tipped Off by Farmer
The Clark county sheriff's office was tipped by an informant that Sennett and Winslow were hiding out on the Panpupus farm in
an isolated section between Longwood and Witbee. A deputy found a frightened farmer who whispered that he had been warned
by one of the men that he would be killed if he "talked."
The deputy called for help and law officers started converging on the farmhouse.
William Harris, 27, Richland Center stone mason, who drove the co-ed to sheriff's headquarters Saturday morning after her daring
escape from the gunmen a on the icy Stetzer hill near Hillsboro, also identified the killers.
Says He Knows Sennett
He told Deputy Dist. Atty. William J. Coyne he recognized Sennett on the Hillsboro hill, after having seen him numerous times 3
in Richland Center, and he positively identified Winslow from pictures.
Federal agents joined state and county officials in the hunt today, after it was learned the murder car had been stolen in September
at Galena. Ill., and driven across state lines.
Meanwhile, the dragging operations were continued in the Wisconsin River at the Spring Green and Blue River bridges, in search
of Carlson's body. Authorities from Dane, Grant, Iowa, Sauk, and Richland counties were being aided in the river operations by
university lifeguards and policemen assigned to duty by Pres. Fred, and by state conservation workers.
Re-travels Horror Route
The co-ed, who was released from Methodist hospital Sunday after being treated for the shock suffered in her night of horror with
the killers, was driven over river roads and around Richland Center by sheriff's officials in an effort to aid her in identifying the
route taken by the gunmen in their night flight.
The identified the center bridge of the three-span Blue River Bridge as the place where the slayers weighted Carlson's body with
chains and rocks and dumped it in the river.
However, because the steel lattice-work sides of the Spring Green Bridge are similar to the Blue River center span, official were
also dragging for the body there today.
It was the Blue River bridge which the killers returned at day break Saturday "to see if the body could be seen," the co-ed said.
Officers reasoned that the men might have traveled to that bridge in order to confuse the co-ed in identification of the bridge from
which they tossed the body before dawn.

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 Dragging Work hampered
Dragging operations were being severely hampered by the swift current and high water level of the river, and by numerous stone
ledges and sand bars which varied the river depth from 4 to 40 feet. The complete three-span bridge at Blue River is about 1/2
mile long, while the river is about 600 feet wide at Spring Green.
The co-ed also identified an area near Springfield Corners, north of Middleton on Highway 12 as the place where she said
Sennett, sitting in the back seat of the car, shot her brother-in-law twice in the head without provocation.
The placing of the crime in Dane county means that the bunted killers wilt be prosecuted here, Deputy Dist. Atty. Edwin 31.
Wilkie said.
After looking at some 30 bridges in the swamp and river area of Vernon and Richland counties, the rape victim identified the
Miller's Grove bridge over the Pine river about 1 mile from Richland Center, as the spot where Winslow concealed her under the
bridge while Sennett drove the escape car to Richland Center to change clothes at his home and purchase gasoline.
Gum She Dropped Found
A half stick of chewing gum, which the co-ed said she remembered dropping, was found under the bridge. Charles M. Wilson,
head of the new state crime laboratory, took casts of footprints found under the bridge.
At the hill near Hillsboro, on which the kidnaper had stalled and then skidded into a ditch where the gunmen abandoned it, the co-
cd re-enacted her daring escape for officials.
She said she had seen Sennett transfer the death gun to Winslow earlier, and when she saw Winslow walk across the road to get a
piece of fence wire for use in repairing the car chains, she quietly opened the back door of the car.
Tells of Taking Risk
If you make a break you're the first one that'll get knocked off," Sennett snarled from the front seat, the co-ed related.
She said she decided to "run for her life," despite the threat, and jumped from the car screaming. She said she first ran to an Iowa
car, which was also stalled on the icy bill, and was refused help by the occupants, who thought she was intoxicated.
George Deice, Valton, whose milk truck was also stalled on the hill, said she ran to his truck screaming, but he was "leery" of her
because of blood on her clothing - blood which had spattered on her when she sat beside her brother-in-law at the time he was
killed.
Harris, the stone mason, who was stalled on the hill with his wife and two children in the car, said the co-ed ran to his car
screaming, "They killed my brother ... they're gonna kill me."
Harris said Sennett got out of the car, which was about 30 feet from Harris' car, and walked about half way toward the girl, yelling
to Harris that "she's crazy, don't believe her."
Tosses Car Keys Away
It was at that time that Harris recognized Sennett, he said.
When Harris suggested that the co-ed get inside his car and "cool off." Sennett walked across the read to where Winslow was
busy obtaining some fence wire.
Harris walked up to the murder car took the ignition keys, and tossed them into a snow drift. He said he "wasn't sure, but he
thought there might be something to the girl's hysterical claims." and wanted to make it impossible for the two men to get away.
Run Past Car
When Winslow and Sennett returned to find the ignition keys gone and saw the girl in the other car. Harris said they ran past his
car and disappeared up highway 80 toward Richland Center. He was unable to chase them because his car was also stuck in a
snow drift,
Mrs. Donald Liska, who was alone in her farm home nearby, said the two men ran into her house asking for a car. When she
offered to get her husband from the field to pull their stalled car out of the ditch with a tractor, they refused the offer and ran back
out of the house.
Weasel Stepka, Liska's neighboring farmer, said he walked up the highway with the two men for a short distance, and then they
disappeared across a deep ditch into a thick wooded plat.
Find Names in Car
Harris drove the girl to Vernon county authorities In Hillsboro, who later brought her to Madison Saturday.
The murder car was removed from the hill and placed in the custody of Deputy Sherriff Melvin Mitchell at Hillsboro. Inside the
car officials found personal papers containing the two suspects' names, two shotguns a box of .22 caliber bullets,blood-stained
blankets, a 5-gallon can of gasoline, blood stains in the front seat and trunk, a pair of brown shoes, believed to have belonged to
the dead man, and the co-ed's purse and suitcase.
Dr. F. L. Kozelka: state toxicologist, today was analyzing samples of the blood stains found in the car, on the blanket, and on the
co-ed's clothing.
Also found in the car was a package of chipped beef and cheese sandwiches, which Sennett's mother. Mrs. Leslie Sennett, told
officials she had fixed for her son when he came home to change clothes about 7 a. m. Saturday. It was at 7 a.m that the co-ed
said her one attacker had kept her under the bridge while the other man left to change clothes.

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 Quotes Him as Owen-Bound
Mrs. Sennett, interviewed in their ramshackle five-room home in Richland Center, told Deputy Dist. Atty. Coyne that her son had
told her he was going to an ''abandoned farm near Owen" with Winslow.
Clark county and FBI agents started scouring the Owen area for the gunmen, and road blocks were set up when a filling station
operator, Fred Schultz, at Colby, near Owen, reported a man had stopped In his station for gasoline at 4:30 a. m, today and
declared his name was "Robert Winslow."
The two men are believed to be driving a 1937 maroon two-door Oldsmobile, which was stolen about 11:30 p. m. Saturday from
the farm home of Lester Graves, Yuba, 17 miles north of Richland Center.
Car Described
The car has no license plates, a dented right front fender, maroon seat covers, and about 60,000 miles on the speedometer.
Mrs. Sennett also told. Coyne that her son and Winslow had left Richland Center late Friday, telling her they were going to
Baraboo to visit Sennett's girlfriend.,
Coyne said Sauk county officials had been notified to try and locate the girl. He said it was learned also that Sennett and Winslow
had "friends" in Madison, who were to be checked today, and that they made "frequent" visits here.
The license plates on the abandoned murder car were issued to Sennett's father, but the car was one stolen Sept. 13 from LeRoy
Brimpkler, city water superintendent of Galena, Ill.
Sells Car, Keeps Plates.
Coyne Said he learned from Sennett's mother that the plates were originally used on a Ford which Sennett sold to Orville Groh,
Richland Center filling station operator. Sennett kept the plates.
Sennett then purchased a Packard, but a few weeks later, was seen driving the blue-green Plymouth, which had been painted
black, Groh told officials. The Plymouth is the murder car, which was stolen from Illinois.
Groh is the service station operator who sold Sennett the tank of gas, and an extra 5-gallon drum of gas early Saturday.
Sennett's black and white plaid jacket, trousers, and shirt, which he left at his parents' home when he changed clothes Saturday
morning, contained a "couple" stains which appeared to be blood, Coyne said. They were turned over to Dr. Kozelka for analysis.
When the girl was being escorted over some 200 miles of highways Sunday by sheriffs officials, she pointed out a section of road
on Highway 12 in Dane county where she said she believed at least one of the attacks on her took place.
Both gunmen attacked her, she said, a total of three times, all while her brother-in-law's body was slumped in the front seat of the
car.
Feared They Would Kill Her
The co-ed said the men asked her if she would "turn them in" if they set her free. When she replied, 'Yes," they said, "Maybe
you'll change your mind in about a week."
She asked them if they intended to attack her again. They refused to answer.
Although they refused to tell her if they planned to kill her, she said she believed they intended to.
In another area during her re-traveling of the roads, the co-ed pointed out a "Y" intersection on the Bellmora rd., a short-cut
between Highways 60 and 80 near Richland Center, where she said the two men slept from about 2:45 to 5:30 a. m. Saturday.
One of them laid in the back seat holding her, so that she could not escape while they slept. She said she was so exhausted, she
"dozed slightly."
Along Highway 60, near Blue River, the co-ed pointed out an area where she said she believed the gunmen picked up a large
stone to use in weighting Carlson's body before dumping it in the river.
Remembers Rust on Spans
Although there are numerous bridges over the Pine river in the area, and seven bridges across the Wisconsin river between Sauk
City and Prairie du Chien, the rape victim said she particularly identified the Blue River bridge by the rust on the spans.
Sennett and Winslow first met while they were serving terms in the Green Bay reformatory in 1943, During the past summer,
Winslow has been living at Sennett's home in Richland Center and both of them have been working part time at the Richland
bowling alleys there, Sennett also worked "spasmodically" at the Gateway Lumber CO. in Richland Center, but had not shown up
for work for the past week, his employers reported.
Fairly Brilliant'
Sennett was a "fairly brilliant' high school student, graduating a 17. His father is employed by the Richland county highway
department. Winslow is the son of a farm family, Mr. and Mrs. John Winslow, near Owen.
Winslow was sentenced to Green Bay on June 16, 1943, for a one-to-three year term for car theft. He escaped, and when
recaptured was sent to the state prison, at Waupun for one year. He was released Nov. 5, 1946. His behavior at the prison was
good, but his application for parole had been refused.
Sennett was committed to Green Bay on Oct. 29, 1943 for a one-to-three year term for a schoolhouse burglary in Grant county.
He escaped from one of the institution's farms on Apr. 3. 1945, and was captured the next day in Richland Center after stealing
cars in DePere, Oshkosh, and Baraboo.

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 Paroled Dec,1946
On Dec, 7, 1946, Sennett was granted a parole, and he was discharged from parole last Nov. 6.
He was granted a parole, state welfare department officials said today because with the exception of his escape attempt his
conduct had been good.
"He had served three years, he was a boy of high intelligence, and we thought he should be given a chance on parole," a welfare
department spokesman said "In some cases, too much institution can do more damage than good. We thought that was the case
with him."
Richland County Sheriff Loren Marshall aided Dane officials all night Sunday in sending the descriptions of the two hunted men
to authorities in Wisconsin and surrounding states.
Madison and Dane county radio engineer, Ray Groenier, installed additional radio equipment for use between Madison,
Hillsboro, and Richland Center Sunday, to facilitate communication between officials.
Suspects Face Questions in Weckler Case, Too
JEFFRSON - Suspects in the Carl L, Carlson murder will be questioned in connection with the disappearance of Georgia Jean
Weckler from her Jefferson county farm home May 1, it was announced today.
Jefferson county officials announced they will question Carlson murder suspects when the men are returned to Madison.
Francis Garity, Jefferson county district attorney, and Sheriff George Perry still are seeking clues in the Weckler case, after every
lead failed without a trace of the child.
U. S. Warrant Out Here on Theft of Death Car
The federal government officially entered the case today when U. S. Commissioner J. J. McManamy issued a warrant, at the
request of the FBI, charging Robert A. Winslow and Buford Sennett with interstate transportation of a stolen car. The men were
accused of driving the murder car from Galena, Ill., to the spot where it was found near Hillsboro.
Richland Burglaries Linked to Suspects
RICHLAND CENTER Theft of a .22 caliber rifle and a small amount of cash in three burglaries at Richland Center homes and
the high school Saturday night were connected today with the flight of two suspects in the murder of Carl L. Carlson, 25,
University of Wisconsin student.
The rifle was taken from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Smith, Jefferson St. The theft was discovered at 8:05 p. m, Saturday.
Charles Beran, high school janitor, discovered at 9:30 p. m. Saturday that the school offices had been ransacked and a small
amount of cash taken. The burglars suffered cuts when they broke a window to enter the building, and Beran found considerable
blood about the building.
Nothing was obtained at the home of Mrs. Louis Brewer, which was entered before the other two places. The Brewer home is
near the high school while the Smith home is farther away but also in the north side of Richland Center,
Officials held it possible the murder suspects were attempting to obtain clothes, cash, and a weapon for their flight.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, November 18th, 1947
Carlson 's Slayers Plead Guilty, Get Life Terms; Body of Victim Found
Sennett, Winslow Tell of Gun Assault on Girls at Phillips
Solve Mystery of Roadside Case, Puzzler to Police for Four Months
By JUNE DIECKMANN
(State Journal Staff Writer)
NEILLSVILLE One of the killers of a University of Wisconsin student today accused his fellow murderer of the wanton
shooting of two girls and attack of a third last August as the trio walked down a road near Phillips.
Told that Buford Sennett, Richland Center, had accused him of the shooting. Robert Winslow, Owen, angrily denied that he had
handled the gun and said that the shots had been fired by Sennett.
The confession was obtained by Herbert Hammond, Price county sheriff, who came to Neillsville early this morning after
learning the description of Sennett and Winslow, had tallied with the description of the assailants of the three girls.
Learning that Sennett had pumped four shots into the head of Carl I. Carlson, 25, university student, he surmised that Sennett had
taken the initiative in the crime at Phillips.
Admits Driving Car
Angered at the seeming betrayal by his partner, Winslow denied that he had fired the shots. "It was Buford," he said. He admitted
that he had been driving the car, however.
The two had been driving down the road with no apparent thought of crime, he said, when Sennett spotted the three girls.
There are three girls, and we want one of them,"' Winslow quoted Sennett as saying. Winslow told the Price county, sheriff
that he pleaded with Sennett not to shoot the trio, but said that Sennett had rolled down the window and started shooting before he
could stop him.
4-Month Mystery
The confession brought a solution to a mystery attack, with no apparent motive, which had puzzled Price county officials for four
months.
The three girls - Betty Kudrna, 16, her sister, Irene, 14, and a friend, Dorothy Vel, 15 - were walking down a road on the outskirts
of Phillips at 10:50 the night of Aug. 15.
A car drove slowly past and a gun appeared in a window. Two shots were fired, one striking Betty in the lung and the other hitting
Irene in the abdomen. The two girls fell to the ground.
One Girl Escapes
A man jumped from the car and grappled with Dorothy. During the tussle, he shouted "Bob help."
Dorothy slipped from her sweater and fled to the nearby Wilkins farm, shouting that it was her home.
The two men apparently fled in the car.
Betty is still at Madison General hospital, in Madison, recovering from the wound. Irene has been released and is back at Phillips
high school, where she is a sophomore.
Hammond recovered the bullets with which the two girls had been shot. They were .32 caliber, the same caliber missile with
which Carlson was shot by Sennett and Winslow.
Hammond, who drove 107 miles to Neillsville from the Price county seat, arrived after the two killers had gone to their cells for
the night. He was given permission to question the pair by Ray Kutsehe, Clark county sheriff.
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The Price county sheriff was to return to Phillips today but will come to Madison within a few days to file charges for the crime in
August against the two killers.

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 Bob's Friend Tells Own Tale of Hideout
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Robert Winslow, 24, and Buford Sennett, 22, hid at the farm home of Peter Pomputis, 66, Monday as officers
close in on him for the slaying of a University of Wisconsin student and the rape of his sister-in-law. Pomputiss son Anthony, 21,
tells the family's story here.)
By ANTHONY POMPUTIS
( As Told to United Press)
LONGWOOD - My younger brother, Alfred, and I were milking the cows when Bob Winslow walked into the barn. I was glad
to see Bob Hardly anybody around here knew about that murder and rape business down toward Madison and out family sure
didn't know Bob was mixed up with it.
Bob said he and a friend were in a jam, that they had a hot car they'd stolen over to Westby and wanted to repaint it in our barn.
They wanted us to go into town and get the paint and some cigarets.
Al and I didn't want to get mixed up with it. I went in the house and told Pa and Ma about it. Pa said he didn't want either of them
around.
I didn't like to run Bob off the farm, though, because I knew him since we were kids. He used to work on the farm my sister and
brother-in-law (Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rinehart) work next door. And we knew his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. John
Winslow, who live on a farm about 4 miles from here.
Then Bob and his friend, Sennett, told us about the killing and rape. That settled us that we had to get rid of them and let the
police know they were around. About 7 a. m, a couple of law officers came to the house looking for them, I went to the officers'
car and talked to them. I told them Bob and the other fellow were in the barn.
When the officers went away, I told Bob they had come to talk to me about a traffic scrape I got into recently.
Bob and his friend never threatened us, although they showed us their gun. I don't think any of us were afraid of them. We just
wanted to stay out of trouble.
sort of nervous
They acted sort of nervous and kept moving from the house to the barn and around the farm yard. Sometimes they'd go up to the
haymow. They argued, too. Sennett wanted to get going but Bob said they were safe here.
Finally Al and I went to get the paint and cigarets. The police had had time to get a road block up and we met them about a mile
down the road. They sent a deputy to town with us for the paint and then we came back to the road block.
The officers told us to get our folks away from the house at all costs because there was almost sure to be shooting. We made up a
story about my sister, Mrs. Julia Twait at Owen, being sick and having to take the folks over there. But we didn't have to use it
because Bob and Sennett weren't in sight when we got home.
We rushed the folks into the car and hurried back to the road block. Then we waited for the shooting but it never came. The police
said Bob and his friend had given up without firing a shot.
I'm glad there wasn't any shooting and that nobody got hurt, But I'm sorry that Bob was mixed up in such a terrible affair. Hes
been in trouble before but never anything as bad as this.

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 I'd Pronounce Death Penalty If I Could, Proctor Tells Killers
Student's Murderers, Captured After Siege, Admit Shooting and Raping
By JUNE DIECKMANN
(State Journal Staff Writer)
Declaring he would impose the death sentence if Wisconsin law permitted. Superior judge Roy H. Proctor late today sentenced
Buford C. Sennett and Robert A. Winslow to life imprisonment for the vicious slaying of a University of Wisconsin student.
Without emotion the killers stood before the judge and a packed court room pleading guilty to the most serious offense known to
the law.
"I do not believe that ever in the history of Dane county ...has there ever been a more cold-blooded, cruel, and revolting crime
committed than this one which has been perpetrated by you two ruffians," Judge Proctor said scornfully.
"I don't believe that I would have any qualms whatever ... to sentence 'you to the gas chamber, the electric chair, or to be hanged
by the neck until dead," the judge declared.
Deputy Dist. Atty. William J. Coyne spent more than an hour relating to the court how Sennett and Winslow had killed Carl L.
Carlson, without provocation, and kidnaped and raped his 19-year-old sister-in-law.
Bennett Called Brains of Pair
Coyne described Sennett, who fired the first three shots at Carlson, as the "brains and financier of the pair:" Besides firing the
fourth shot into Carlson's body and joining Sennett in the raping of the girl, 'Winslow was "so low" as to steal 30 cents and a
wristwatch from the dead man before dumping him into the river, Coyne declared.
There is a possibility that other charges, in addition to the murder count, will be filed against Sennett; 22, Richland. Center, 24,
Owen, by authorities from other counties. Their sentences on any other charges would be in addition to the like penalty imposed
for Carlson's murder, and would make the possibility of pardon or parole less likely.
Sennett also admitted shooting and severely injuring two sisters from Phillips, aged 14 and 16. The confession came after his
partner in crime, Winslow, told officers of the unprovoked shooting.
Arthur Carlson, 15 K Gorham St., brother of the slain University of Wisconsin medical student, identified the body this morning
at the gruesome scene where officials had found it after a 3-day search in the Wisconsin river near the Blue River bridge.
The face was distorted almost beyond recognition by ropes the slayers had tied through the mouth, but the brother identified the
body from the hair and clothing. He was also to view the body late today at Wisconsin General hospital, where a post mortem
examination will be made.
Besieged for nearly 12 hours by a posse of officers, are two vicious killers meekly surrendered late Monday from their hideout in
a central Wisconsin farm home near Neillsville without a shot being fired.
The handcuffed slayers confessed Monday night in the courthouse there that they had fired four shots into Carlson's body and
tossed it into the Wisconsin River.
Both Admit Rape
They both admitted the rape of Carlson's 19-year-old sister-in-law, a University of Michigan coed, who escaped her relative's fate
only by making a daring escape from the brutal pair.
Deputy Dist. Atty. William J. Coyne and Richland County Dist., Atty. Leo P, Lownik obtained the confessions from the men.
Coyne said it was definitely established that the fatal shots were fired on Highway 12 in Dane county between Middleton and
Sauk City.
The attacks on the co-ed may have taken place both in Dane and adjacent counties, Coyne said. The slayers admitted raping the
girl a total of three times immediately after they had killed Carlson. The attacks occurred in the car while they continued driving
with the body of Carlson slumped in the front seat.
Killers Show No Remorse
Coyne said Sennett and Winslow showed no remorse for their offenses. ''They were just indifferent about it all," he said.
The peaceful Clark county farm area was turned into a turmoil as the news spread fast that the killers were trapped in the farm
house of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Pomputis, Lithuanian farmers living just outside the little village of Longwood, about 130 miles from
here.
Nearly 100 reporters and photographers from all parts of the Midwest filled every vacant hotel room. Farmers stopped their work
to travel to the Pomputis farm.
During the 5-hour questioning of the killers in an ante-room of the courthouse, the circuit court room was packed with adults and
children as young as 5, who just wanted to see what a killer looked like.
The end of the 3-day, statewide man hunt started early Monday when Winslow's brother-in-law, George Schultz, Colby, reported
to officials that the two killers had stopped at his house and were expected to hide out in the neighborhood of Neillsville.
Five Counties Join in Search
The two had confessed the murder of Carlson to Schultz, and in refused to let them stay at his home. Immediately upon receipt of
Schultz's information, about 5 a. m., officials of Clark and four adjoining counties banded together to make a thorough search of

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the area for the stolen car the killers were believed to have been driving. The car, a 1946 cream-colored Studebaker, was stolen by
the fugitives Sunday night from the home of Raymond Powers Westby.
A. A. Clumpner and Morris Dussow, Clark county officers spotted the stolen car parked in the farm lot at the Pomputis home.
Dane County Joins Posse
Five police cars were immediately dispatched to the scene and the day-long vigil began. Officials feared for the lives of Mr. and
Mrs. Pomputis and their two sons, Anthony, 23, and Alfred, 21, if an attempt should be made by police to rush the farmhouse and
shoot it out with the killers,
So the officers awaited an opportunity as they took strategic posts around the hollow in which the 3-room white house, red barn
bunk house, well house, and machine house of the Pomputis farm were located.
Dane county officials arrived on the scene about 3 p. m. with a carload of machine guns, tear gas bombs, and other radio
equipment.
The authorities conferred on the snow-drifted road in front of the house and decided to make a move. They assigned a group of
picked men to start advancing toward the house, with their machine guns ready in case the killers inside should start to fire.
But instead of a burst of gun fire, Tony, the eldest Pomputis son, came from the house to meet them, He told the officers the
slayers were then hiding in the hayloff of the barn. Winslow had been a good friend of the Pomputis family since childhood, Tony
said. He had also worked on the adjacent farm of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rinehart, daughter and son-in-law of the Pomputises.
The farm of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Winslow, was just 4 miles away. So when Winslow and a friend (Sennett) arrived at
the Pomputis farm on a surprise visit about 5 a. m., al] members of the Pomputis family were glad to see him, Tony said. They
had a pint of whisky, and finally got Pop to say they could stay, just for the day, Tony told the officers.
Tell of Killing Raping
They said they were in a spot. They had a stolen ear and they wanted it painted. They said they had murdered a man and thrown
the body in the river. And they said they raped a girl.
Tony was at a loss as to what to do, one officer said. He was particularly concerned about a .32 caliber revolver which he had
seen in Winslow's pocket.
"I didn't tell Mom about it because it would scare her," Tony said.
The officials advised Tony to go back in the house and pretend to Winslow and Sennett that he would go into Neillsville to buy
them cigarets and the paint they needed for masquerading the stolen car.
When Tony and his brother. Alfred, drove up the road a little later, officers stopped them and ordered them back to the house to
get their parents 'out, too.
400 Await Outcome
They did, pretending that their sister, Mrs. Julia Twait, Owen, was seriously ill and needed her parents at her bedside. Winslow
and Sennett suspected nothing wrong when the parents also left the house, Tony said.
Nearly a mile up the road away from the home, some 400 spectators were waiting for the outcome of the raid plans, while officers
were preventing them from sneaking closer to the home, for a view of the killers.
The crowd was held back to prevent injuries in case the raid, resulted in gun fire.
Among the group was Mrs. Twait, the daughter who was supposed to be ill. When Mr. and Mrs, Pomputis and their sons came
driving down the road away from the house and the killers the crowd cheered and swarmed around their car to hear their stories.
All four of them insisted that Sennett and Winslow had not molested or threatened them in any way.
"You should have come over to see him he wouldn't have hurt you," Mrs. Pomputis in her dust cap, embroidered with the word
'mother' said to her waiting daughter, Mrs. Twait.
Tony, a war veteran, said just to be safe he had hidden his army rifle, shotgun, and all ammunition before he had left the house so
Bob Winslow couldn't use it.
With the Pomputis family out of the house, the law enforcement officers moved in.
Lownik spoke sternly over a loud speaker on a police car.
"Buford, this is Leo P, Lownik, District Attorney, of Richland county. You are surrounded by law enforcement officers of Clark
county and several surrounding counties, and we advise you to open the door and come out with your hands upraised or you will
be hurt.."
Lownik told Sennett he would be allowed 20 minutes in which to surrender.
In exactly five tense minutes, Sennett walked out with his arms raised above his head.
Sheriff Edward A. Fischer and Eau Claire County Sheriff L. B. Thompson hurried across the form yard to search Sennett.
He was meek, dirty, and tired. His faded plaid jacket and hunting cop were covered with hay seed. He made no resistance to the
officers search, which revealed he was not concealing any weapons in his pockets.

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The same tension continued as Sennett was led to a police car and Lownik gave the still hidden Winslow a similar warning
through the loud speaker system. Winslow, too, walked from the barn with upraised arms and a beaten look. His abnormally large
eyes popped.
Crowd Jeers Pair
As the two killers were driven up the road toward the Neillsville in squad cars, the same crowd of spectators who had cheered the
appearance of the Pomputis 'family jeered at the sullen Sennett and the wild-eyed Winslow. Tony Pomputis told officials later that
Sennett and Winslow had not been afraid because of the officers in evidence around the farm all day, because he had convinced
them the police were there to check up on a car accident he he'd been in.
But" when the Ervin Moritz plane carrying a State Journal photographer and reporter circled the farm home, Tony said the two
killers became "damn scared."
They believed federal agents were using the plane to move in on them and make an arrest, he said, Actually, FBI agents were
among the officers ready to close in on the pair on the ground.
They started work on the case 'Saturday after discovering that the car in which Carlson was killed had been stolen from the water
superintendent of Galena, Ill., and driven across state lines by Sennett in violation of federal laws.
Sennett and Winslow used thee stolen cars in their 3-day reign of terror. The murder car was stolen Sept. 13 in Illinois, and when
it stalled on the icy Hillsboro hill where the co-ed escaped from them, they stole a car from the farm home of Lester Graves,
Yuba.
When they believed it was known by officials they were driving Graves' car they abandoned it at Westby and stole the cream-
colored car which finally revealed their identity to police Monday.
Sennett and Winslow were both treated today at the jail by Dr. F. B. Taylor, police physician, for frozen feet suffered in their
escape through snow-covered country sides. They said they spent Saturday night in a deserted schoolhouse near Yuba and Sunday
night in a school near Westby.
Coyne said questioning of the killers failed to reveal any actual motive for the slaying of Carlson
Sennet, who had requested to sit in the back seat alone in order to get some sleep shortly after they had picked up the co-ed and
her brother-in-Law at Park St. and University Ave. in Madison, could give no adequate reason for firing two shots from the
revolver into Carlson's head and another later into the dead man's ribs.
"I had dozed off in the back seat," Sennett said. "When I woke up, Carlson was staring at Winslow, and 'I didn't trust the way he
was looking. I thought he was going to pull something, so I took out the gun and shot," Sennett said.
The motive for the killing was neither robbery nor rape, both killers declared.
However, before they tossed Carlson's body into the river, Winslow took the dead man's watch, his shoes, and 30 cents in his
pockets.
They vehemently denied they had been drinking at the time of the offenses.
A fourth shot was fired into Carlson's body by Winslow for no reason at all, he said.
Winslow used the same gun as Sennett.
Coyne said the technicality that Carlson was dead at the time Winslow shot him, could not prevent him with being charged the
same as Sennett.
The law provides that anyone aiding in crime can be charged with the same offense as the actual perpetrator of the crime.
The murder gun was being searched for today in the hay loft of the Pomputis barn, where Winslow claimed he threw it before
giving himself up to officials.
Fischer found five revolver bullets in Winslow's pockets.
Both slayers talked freely with reporters unless they were ordered not to do so by the officers.
Winslow said he was driving when the first shots were fired from the back seat by Sennett.
"It scared the heck out of me. I don't know why he wanted to go and shoot him," Winslow claimed.
"I just heard that gun and then stopped the car right away. Then Sennett raped the girl.
Winslow refused to talk of the shot he fired at Carlson or his attack upon the co-ed. He claimed he drove only Where Sennett
directed him because he didn't know the roads.
He insisted he did not know off which river bridge the body was thrown.
Coyne said the questioning revealed the brutal killers had driven about 30 miles after killing Carlson before moving the body to
the trunk of the car.
Sennett admitted to reporters it was an intentional shooting.

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When asked what he gained by the killing, he glared and refused to answer,
Officials had anticipated the pair might hold out overnight in the Pomputis farm house, but a carload of floodlights, flares and
other equipment for night raid work, brought here by Dane county traffic men, was not needed. Coyne said he was investigating
the possibility that Sennett and Winslow were the pair who slugged Paul Meyer, Madison taxicab driver the same night Carlson
and his sister-in-law were picked up. But, Coyne declared, he was convinced the pair had no part in the murder of the LaCrosse
physician the same night,
Jefferson county officials were to question the confessed slayers about the disappearance of little Georgia Jean Weckler, missing
from her home since May 1.
Death Plucks Carlson As Teacher Plans to Correct His Doubts of God
By 'terrific coincidence," an instructor at the University of Wisconsin was reaching for a book on religion Friday night to convert
a youth from atheism at about the same time that a murderer was leveling a gun on the back of the unsuspecting youth's head.
The youth, Carl L. Carlson, 25, University of Wisconsin student, had walked away from the classroom of Edna E. Taylor,
graduate assistant in English, with Miss Taylor a few hours before his death.
(Miss Taylor is the former Edna Taylor Giles, director of Madison theater groups. One of the plays she directed was "Bury the
Dead.")
They had talked of death and religion, Miss Taylor told The Wisconsin State Journal today.
"Carl explained that he was an atheist," Miss Taylor said. "He told me that he did not believe that man had a soul, nor did he
believe that there would be any life after death,
"He said that his philosophy was that 'when you're dead, you're dead' and that was the end of it. He told me that science would
prove that man has no immortal soul."
Miss Taylor argued that only through the premise of the existence of a soul in man could the injustices of the world be explained.
"If man has no soul, if there is nothing after death, then how can there be hope for any ultimate justice in a world in which the
forces of evil can strike down the good and the innocent?" she argued:
They parted, with Miss Taylor going to her home and Carlson on his way to his rendezvous, several hours later, with the killers
who picked him up at Park and University Ave. with his sister-in-law, hitchhiking Badger Village.
After dinner, Miss Taylor thought over what Carlson had told her.
"He was a bright alert boy, a leader in his class," Miss Tyler said, ''and you somehow want to help them along. He hadn't got his
thinking straightened out and I thought I could help.
"He was leaving the study of medicine," he told me, "for some other field in which his intellectual powers would not be so closely
confined, and he seemed to want to probe deeper into philosophy."
So at about the time that the youth was shot to death as the murder car sped along Highway 12 north of Middleton, she was
reaching for a hook on her shelf to loan the youth to convince him that there is a life after death.
Fund Starts, Aids Carlson Wife, Child
An aroused community, spearheaded by a University of Wisconsin student and aided by The Wisconsin State Journal, is coming
to the financial aid of the family of Carl L. Carlson, university student murdered Friday night.
A Carlson fund is being set up on the university campus under the leadership of Leon Jones, first year law student from Beloit, to
which contributions may be made.
An initial contribution of $50 was made' today by The State Journal.
Other contributions, which may be sent to the Carlson fund at The State Journal,' will be listed each day. The money will be
turned into a special bank account and later given to his wife.
"A student's wife and baby can use some money at a time like this," Jones said today.
The two murderers, who were captured Monday, searched Carlson for money shortly before they had killed the 25-year-old man,
They found 30 cents.
Carlson is survived by his wife and his daughter, Carla. Carla is 2 months old.
And, when the matron at the county jail saw the worried mother carrying the infant at a time before the news had been broken to
her, she couldn't keep the tears from her eyes.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, November 19th, 1947
New Charges Bar Killers' Parole
Warrants Issued for Rape, Kidnaping; Mob Threat Bared
Governor's Office Hears Report of Students' Plan for Demonstration
By JUNE DIECKMANN
(State Journal Staff Writer)
Stilt admitting no remorse for their bestial crimes, Buford C. Sennett and Robert A. Winslow were locked inside state prison walls
late Tuesday to serve life sentences for murder, while additional charges of rape and kidnaping were signed today to bar their
parole.
The killers, who from now on will be known as Nos. 29778 and 29779, respectively, were sped away from Madison with seven
sheriff's guards Tuesday, immediately after Superior Judge Roy H. Proctor imposed life sentences on them.
The hurried departure for the prison was caused by a "tip" from Gov. Rennebohm's office to the county jail which informed
officers that University of Wisconsin students were planning a mob demonstration which might result in a lynching.
The students were "aroused to drastic action" by the vicious death of Carl L. Carlson, a university medical student, an anonymous
caller reported to the governor's office.
Some 200 spectators almost blocked the jail driveway as the two police cars with the handed-cuffed prisoners left Madison, but
there was no riotous demonstration. City police cars escorted the prisoner cars out of the city.
The killers will not be taken into court for hearing on the new charges of kidnaping and raping Carlson's 19-year-old sister-in-law,
but the warrants will be filed with the state prison, warden as "detainers," No prisoner is eligible for parole while a detainer
warrant is held against him.
State law provides a penalty of 1 to 30 years for rape and 1 to 15 years for kidnaping. Under present state parole regulations, a
life-term prisoner is eligible for parole after serving 11 years and three months.
A federal commissioner's warrant, charging Sennett and Winslow with transporting the murder car across state lines after they
stole it from Galena, Ill., last September, is also on file in federal court.
While the killers started the prison life, funeral services for their victim were scheduled to be held Thursday in Superior the home
of his father, with Kenneth L. Patton of the First Unitarian society here officiating.
The body will be taken from the Frautschi funeral home to Superior tonight. Burial will also be there.
Survivors of Carlson, 25, his wife, a 6-weeks-old daughter Carla, his father, Herman, brother, Arthur, 15 E. Gorham St. and two
sisters, Mrs. George Sauter, Virginia Beach, Va., and Mrs Stanley Lach. Superior.
Sennett talked freely en-route to prison, re-explaining how he had shot Carlson simply because he "didn't like the way he was
looking at Bob Winslow"
"I can't understand how I could do it, because I wouldn't have to heart to even kill a dog," Sennett said.
Reminded that he also had shot two Phillips girls and severely injured them in August, Sennett shrugged his shoulders
indifferently and declared. "I can't figure that out either."
'I Don't Drink'
The 22-year-old "brains" the brutal pair became angry when Traffic Lieut. A. C. Pope suggested that it might have been liquor
which caused him to commit the shootings and killing.
"I want you to know I dont drink, and I never have;" Sennett indignantly said. He added that he also disliked smoking and
dancing, but that there were three things he "loved," bowling, cars and girls.
Winslow Says Little
Winslow said little during the 50-mile ride to Waupun. His 'pop-eyes.' stared blankly out the car window as he listened to any
occasionally verified Sennett's remarks.
Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie earlier in court said that Winslow who had a fifth-grade education was "far less intelligent" that
Sennett, who was a high school graduate at 17.
Both killers said they ''wished' they could have talked to the families before entering prison Winslow's parents live on a farm rear
Owen and have six other children. Sennett is one of the two sons of a Richland Center family. His father is a highway department
employee there.
Mother Hides Him
Sennett said his mother "always protected" him, and told about how she had hidden him, wrapped a blanket, in the bottom of the
kitchen firewood box two years ago when authorities were searching for him after he escaped from the Green Bay state
reformatory.
"But with my father, it was different," he said, relating how his father had "turned him in when officials were looking for him as a
burglar suspect.
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Monday, when the pair surrendered after a 12-hour siege at the Peter Pomputis farm near Neillsville, Sennett said he thought it
was his father instead of Richland County Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik, whose voice on a loud speaker ordered him to come out
with his hands tip from a hayloft hiding place,
"I've always done what my father ordered me to do." he said.
Sennett claimed he was "very considerate" to Carlson19-year-old sister-in-law Friday night when they held her captive and raped
her in their car. He said he did not intend to kill her, and thought he could "convince her not to turn us in for the murder."
New Warrants Expedited
Detainer warrant: were expected to be signed in Price county, charging Sennett and Winslow with the shooting attack upon the
two girls there in August.
Several officials expressed belief that Sennett might be involved in the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler from her Atkinson
farm home May 1, because at that time he owned a black 1936 Ford, the same model car which was reported seen near the
Weckler farm.
However, Deputy Dist. Atty. William J. Coyne and Dist. Atty. Wilkie, who questioned Sennett or several hours concerning the
Weckler case, said they were convinced from evidence now known that Sennett was not involved.
Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Garity said he planned to continue investigation of Sennett and Winslow as suspects in the Weckler
case.
The ruthless killers, in court earlier Tuesday, showed no emotions and sullenly refused to answer when Judge Proctor asked them
if they were sorry for their crimes.
The judge scorned them, declaring he would have no qualms imposing a death penalty for them.
Utter Contempt'
"Ordinarily the imposition of sentence is the most trying and difficult of all judicial duties, but I do not find it so in your case,"
Judge Proctor told the slayers.
I do not believe that ever in the history of Dane county, perhaps in the entire state of Wisconsin, has there ever been a more cold-
blooded, cruel, and revolting crime committed than this one which has been perpetrated by you two ruffians.
"Words fail me in an attempt to express my utter contempt and scorn for you."
"I think you are fortunate that this offense occurred in the state of Wisconsin," the judge continued. "The citizens of this state
have always opposed capital punishment, but I believe that if we continue to have recurring inhuman and bestial crimes such as
you have admitted, there will be such a demand that we will have provisions for capital punishment.
Asks Careful Parole Study
'Personally, I don't believe that I would have 'any qualms whatever if our constitution provided that in cases Iike this I would have
the power and authority to sentence you to the gas chamber, the electric chair, or to be hanged by the neck until dead. However, I
must be guided by our constitution and statutes."
Judge Proctor said he hoped parole and pardon authorities would "investigate and scrutinize very carefully" the records of the two
killers before considering granting any release from prison.
The judge praised the work of Wilkie Coyne, the sheriff's officials, and the authorities of other counties who investigated the cast
and gave "untiring and ceaseless efforts as well as 'their cooperation and teamwork which resulted in bringing these men to court
and having them admit their guilt and thus avoid having a long involved and expensive trial."
Coyne spent nearly an hour and a half relating for the court record the brutal activities of the killers. Judge Proctor praised him for
an "excellent summation of the evidence."
Wilkie told the court that both men had continually shown "an unexplainable attitude of indifference" about their crimes.
"I have no sympathy, nor has any of the other men who investigated this case. It is only fitting that these men should never be
released from prison," Wilkie declared.
Reis Demands Return to Madison
Circuit Judge Alvin C. Reis today declared that ''as the senior judge in this circuit, I am compelled to request that these men (the
sentenced killers; Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow) be brought back to Madison and charged with rape, kidnaping, and armed
robbery."
"A life sentence for murder does not necessarily mean that the men will serve for life," the judge pointed out in an open' letter to
Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie. "They can be paroled at the end of 11 years and three months, and the mere possibility of this
shocks me as an outrage upon justice."
Learning that Wilkie filed detainer warrants today charging Sennett and Winslow with rape, and kidnapping, Judge Reis included
in his letter that "if these men want a jury trial on the additional 'charges, I shall deem it a privilege to preside at this trial."'
"Sentences on three additional charges (rape,. kidnaping, and armed` robbery) will add a possible 75 years maximum and will just
about guarantee that these men will not be loose on the streets and highways again while they still are at an age of lusty virility,"
Reis wrote, "I am not saying these things in a spirit of vindictiveness and in order to 'punish' the defendants. I am voicing my
thoughts in the interests of the protection of the public."

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 Wilkie Probes. Times Printing of Name
A "John Doe" investigation was started today by Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie, after he announced he was "considering" placing
charges... against the Capital Times for violation of state law with its publication of the name of the 19-year-old co-ed who was'
raped Friday night by Carl L. Carlson's slayers.
The "John Doe" complaint, charging the offense, was issued in superior court today and Wilkie said subpoenas would be issued
late today for witnesses to appear at the ''John Doe" hearing Thursday before Superior Judge Roy H. Proctor
Fred Backs Drive to Aid Carlsons
Contributions so far:
State Journal 50.00
Sigma Chi 80.00
R. C. Baxter 2.00
Bob Wolf 1.00
George Britton 10.00
Jane Carter 5.00
Anonymous Student, wife
and baby 5.00
Anonymous 15.00
Anonymous 5.00
TOTAL 170.00
A campaign to raise funds for the wife and infant daughter of Carlson, University of Wisconsin student murdered Friday right,
was booming today in the city, on the campus, and in neighboring communities.
Pres. Fred Tuesday, officially endorsed student participation in drive, opened Tuesday with a $50 contribution by The Wisconsin
State Journal.
As campus groups organized to collect contributions, Kenneth Little, director of the student personnel services, announced "it is
indeed heartening to see this spontaneous demonstration of good will at a time when faith in the essential goodness of the human
being has been so horribly shaken."
Little, Fred, Dean Paul Trump, Scott Cutlip, Fred's press assistant, and Ray Hilsenhoff, student financial advisor, have opened
their offices to be used as collection points. Intrafraternity council pledged $100 Tuesday night.
As spontaneous contributions were made in nearby communities, a total of $500 was reported given so far by residents of Badger,
the Carlsons' home. About $150 was reported collected in Baraboo and donations also were being made in Prairie du Sac and
Sauk City.

146
 Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, November 21st, 1947
Jefferson Board Oks Anti-Crime Fund
JEFFERSON - The Jefferson county board at its closing session late Wednesday, appropriated $2,500 to the district attorney's
office for investigation of crime and prosecution of criminals.
The fund also will be available to the sheriff's office upon approval of the district attorney, and would be used in such cases as the
disappearance of Georgia Weckler, on which officials have been working since May. 1,
As the same time, the board disapproved three bills submitted by the sheriff's department on the grounds they were incurred
without proper authorization and duplicated work in another department.
The board approved the 1948 budget of $750,430.
Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, November 24th, 1947
Weckler Clue Sought in Sennett's Old Car
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County said he intended to examine today a car once owned by
Buford Sennett in hopes of finding clues to the mysterious disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler.
One of the major leads to the disappearance of the 8-year-old girl last May 1 from her Jefferson county farm home was a black
Ford sedan.
Sennett, 22, and Robert Winslow, 25, now are serving life terms in the state prison for murdering Carl L. Carlson, 25, a
University of Wisconsin student. They also admitted raping a University of Michigan co-ed who was a relative of Carlson.
Sennett said he had owned a car similar to the one reported seen when the Weckler girl disappeared. However, both men denied
they had any knowledge of the girl's disappearance.
Garity traced the auto through used car dealers who handled it after Sennett sold it. He planned to examine the car with Dane
county authorities. The car is owned by a Richland Center man
Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, November 25th, 1947
Sennett Still in Weckler Case, D. A. Says
JEFFERSON - An investigation of Buford Sennett's activities and his car at Richland Center Monday failed to connect him
directly with the mysterious disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler but also failed to "weed him out" of the case, Francis Garity,
Jefferson county district attorney announced today.
Officials attempted to establish that Sennett was not at Richland Center the day Georgia Jean disappeared from her Jefferson
county farm home May 1. While the evidence was "inconclusive," it showed Sennett worked but little at the Richland bowling
alley that week Garity said.
Good Possibility'
"There is a good possibility he was not working that day," Garity said.
Sennett, 22, and Robert Winslow, 25, are serving life terms in Waupun state prison for the murder of Carl L. Carlson, 25, a
University of Wisconsin student, and have confessed raping a University of Michigan co-ed.
Sheriff Loren Marshall of Richland county is continuing the investigation at the Richland alley.
Car Photographed
A car once owned by Sennett was located on a farm near Richland Center and examined by four persons who saw a car suspected
of being involved in the Weckler case. The witnesses were warned not to express an opinion as to whether the car resembles the
one they saw in Jefferson County. Several photographs of the car were taken.
'Lot of Information'
Garity also questioned persons , familiar with Sennett, asking about his background and habits, and questioned Sennett's parents.
"We got a lot of information," Garity said, but he declined to comment further.
Working with Garity in the investigation at Richland Center were Edwin M. Wilkie, Dane county district attorney; Tom Nee,
Madison detective, and Eimer Otturn, Dane county undersheriff.

147
 Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, November 26th, 1947
Weckler Group May See Sennett Four Agree to Make Journey to Waupun
JEFFRSON - (U.P.) - Dist. Atty. Francis Garity of Jefferson County said today he may take four key witnesses in the Georgia
Jean Weckler disappearance case to see Buford Sennett, confessed murder-rapist.
Garity said the four witnesses, had agreed to make the trip with a possibility they may be able to identity Sennett as the driver of a
car seen near Ft. Atkinson before the 8-year-old girl disappeared May 1.
The same witnesses earlier this week inspected a 1938 black Ford once owned by Sennett which was similar to one reported near
the Weckler farm and in Ft. Atkinson at the time of the disappearance. Garity said he asked the witnesses not to discuss anything
they may have noticed and to form no conclusions until they had seen Sennett. He added, however, he had made no arrangements
for the interview with Sennett.
Sennett denied being involved in the Weckler disappearance and Garity said a search of his personal belongings and his former
car tended to bear out the denial. The district attorney also said he was continuing investigation of Sennett.
Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, December 10th, 1947
Richland Authorities Say Evidence Links Him to Weckler Case
Declare They'll Confront Murderer With Positive Proof at Prison Today
By JUNE DIECKMANN
(State Journal Staff Writer)
RICHLAND CENTER - With the web of evidence weaving tighter around Buford Sennett, the two chief law enforcement
officers here declared early today they were "positive" the convicted murderer-rapist was the abductor of 8-year-old Georgia Jean
Weckler.
Riehland County Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik and Sheriff Loren Marshall said they based their decision on definite evidence found
in Sennett's home here and on innumerable pieces of circumstantial evidence which "tied" Sennett to the case of the little Ft.
Atkinson farm girl who disappeared May 1.
Reveal Same Data.
Lownik and Marshall, who have known the 22-year-old Sennett all his life, revealed to The State Journal some of the evidentiary
material uncovered in the month since Sennett and his accomplice, Robert Winslow, were sentenced to life terms for the murder
of Carl L, Carlson, University of Wisconsin student.
But Lownik refused to disclose for publication the "positive" evidence found in the home, explaining that Sennett would be
confronted with the evidence in questioning at the prison today, and he did not want the murderer to be forewarned of the
evidence found against him. Prison officials permit Sennett to see newspapers, he said.
Lownik and Sennett's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Sennett, arrived at the prison shortly before noon today. The parents agreed
Tuesday night to aid in the questioning of their son with the hopes of obtaining a truthful account of Buford's activities the day the
Weckler girl disappeared.
Sheriff Convinced
"Even if he never admits the Weckler crime, we have enough evidence to be convinced in our own minds that he did it," Sheriff
Marshall declared.
Digging in the back yard of the Sennett home here. Tuesday, Dane and Richland county officials discovered a 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 x 3
foot "trench," in which "something had been buried, removed later, and then the trench filled up'," the sheriff said.
The digging operations ,were started after officials learned that Sennett's mother had told a friend she remembered her son's
digging in the back yard last summer.
The mother admitted to the officials that she had seen Buford digging, but denied knowing why he did it. She said she thought he
was burying "things," but did not question him about it.
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 Over-Night Burial Possible
"I believe a body may have been buried there for just overnight or a temporary location and then removed for disposal
somewhere else," Marshall said. "He (Sennett) wouldn't have dug such a large trench to bury some stolen items or something like
that, unless it was something very large, and we have no record of any thefts that point to Buford."
The outlines of the "trench" were easily discernible, the officials said, by the softness of the fill-in dirt and roots which had been
cut off in the original digging.
Some items found in the digging Tuesday, including an old book and a metal box such as the type used to hold paper towels, were
not significant as evidentiary material, Marshal] said.
Marshall and Lownik said Mr. and Mrs. Sennett were attempting to be "very cooperative" in helping to obtain facts, 'even if it
pointed to their son's connection with the Weckler case.
Find Home Hide-Out
In the home the officers found a perfectly concealed hole, which Sennett had cut in a bathroom wall as an entrance to a hiding
place under a stairway. "Undoubtedly, Buford planned to use the hiding place if things got too 'hot' for him," Lownik "He knew
his mother would have given him food and he never would have been found there,"
The opening he had cut in the concealed by a large medicine cabinet. The entirely enclosed space under the stairway was large
enough so Sennett could have stood up or fully stretched out on floor.
"But he didn't have a chance to use it, probably because he knew we were watching the house and he couldn't get back in,.
Marshall said, No evidence of any other person's having been in the hiding place was found,
In checking Sennett's previous criminal record, Lownik discovered that when Sennett was 14 and a sophomore in high school, he
had been taken into juvenile court for criminally assaulting many times a 7-year-old girl, was placed on probation in the custody
of his parents.
Pertinent Remark Recalled
Lownik said he learned from Sennett's father of a pertinent incident which occurred shortly after Winslow started living at the
Sennett home.
The father said he remarked to Winslow, 'Don't go out with any little blondes tonight." Buford Buford flared up," the father said,
and ordered him never to talk of "little blondes" again.
Lownik pointed out that Georgia Jean Weckler had blonde hair.
In the home Tuesday night, Lownik discovered a date pad which Sennett had carefully recorded each night the number of Iines he
had worked at the Richland Center bowling alleys.
On Apr, 30, May 1, and May 2, the date pad revealed that Sennett had not worked. On the May 3 page, Sennett had written that
he worked 23 lines.
Lownik pointed out that previously they had obtained information from the bowling alley records that Sennett had worked less
than one-half the number of lines during the week of May 1 than he did in previous and subsequent weeks, but they had been
unable to narrow the facts down to the actual days not worked.
Sennett was first considered a suspect in the Weckler case after he was arrested for the Carlson killing and officials learned he had
owned a black Ford, a car that fit the description of one seen on May in the vicinity of the Weckler farm.
Marshall said the Richland Center man who had sold the Ford to Sennett, informed the sheriff's department last week that when
he read of the Weckler case, he immediately thought of the black car he had sold to Sennett.
Says Car Gone at Time
The former car owner reported he was so suspicious,' that he went to the Sennett home the morning after the Weckler girl's
disappearance to see if Sennett's car was there. It was missing.
Marshall said the man did not report suspicions at the time beause he thought it was unimportant.
Lownik said the car now owned Raymond Miller, a farmhand near here, is being thoroughly checked by laboratory investigators
for clues.
In the near seven and one-half months since the girl's disappearance many clues have become cold Lownik admitted, but
constant investigation since Sennett was sent to prison has "brought them to light."
'Distance Meant Nothing'
Some officials at first thought the Ft. Atkinson area was "too far out of Sennett's neighborhood" for him to be connected with the
Weckler crime. However, Lownik said that "distance meant nothing" to Sennett pointing out that he frequently drove to Rockford,
Ill, and back here in the same night just for a date."
Sennett had girl friends in Rockford, Beioit, Oshkosh, and Baraboo, whom he often drove to see after finishing work at the
bowling alleys, and then returned home the same night, Lownik said.
The district attorney also referred to Sennett's and Winslow's driving to Phillips, more than 150 miles from Winslow's home
where they were visiting. Sennett has admitted shooting and injuring two girls in Phillips.

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Lownik said he found lurid love magazines and sensuous "calender girls pictures among Buford's belongings in the Sennett
home.
Dane County Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie and Detective Thomas Nee of the Madison police were to join Lownik in the
questioning at Waupun prison today.

Wisconsin State Journal

Thursday, December 11th, 1947
Weckler Case Get New Clue
Letter Describes Threat; Sennett Says No to Test
After questioning Buford Sennett for nearly 10 hours in Waupun prison Wednesday and receiving his steadfast refusal submit to a
lie detector test, D. Richland, and Jefferson county authorities today said they were more than ever convinced he is linked to the
Georgia Jean Weckler case.
Meanwhile, the search for little 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson farm girl, who has been missing since May 1, was extended Outagamie
county, where anonymous letter started officials on a search for an unmarked grave in an ice-covered Apple cemetery.
Tells of Threat
The letter, received by Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie here, from a Kaukauna girl who eve that she had recognized "one the men"
(Sennett and his complice murderer, Robert Winslow) from newspaper pictures printed at the time of their conviction for slaying
Carl L Carlson, University of Wisconsin student.
She said the "one" she recognized had given her a ride in his car near her home last June about a month after the Weckler girl's
disappearance. She repulsed his advances and when he was forced to stop the car because a flat lire, he warned her:
"Don't run away or you'll the same medicine that the little girl in the Appleton cemetery got
Despite the warning, she made her escape when another car approached, she wrote.
Package Found in Cemetery
Outagamie County Dist. Atty. Elmer Honkamp reported that last summer a package was found in the Appleton cemetery which
contained a picture of the Weckler girl, newspaper clippings telling of her disappearance, detective magazines, and the remains of
burned "articles."
Officials today issued a plea the girl who wrote the letter asking her to reveal her identity that it can be learned which one of the
two convicted murders she recognized as the one who made the remark.
They promised to conceal her identity from the public, if she would aid them in the case.
Winslow Takes Test
At the prison, Winslow consented to take a lie detector test Wednesday. The test was given by Charles M. Wilson, head of the
new state crime laboratory, an questions were asked in an attempt to learn if Winslow had in knowledge of Sennett's possible
activities in the Weckler case.
Wilson reported today he was convinced Winslow was "clear of any guilt in the Weckler case and knew nothing of Sennett's
activities.
The crime lab chief declared, that from his experience, Sennett's repeated refusal to take the lie test convinced him that "he's
either guilty of this (Weckler case) or something else."
He offered Sennett the 'test with questions being asked only about the Weckler case, but the prisoner refused.
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 Still Given Chance
Sennett insisted he was ''an usual case" and would probably react unfavorably for himself if he took the test.
When Wilson left the prison Wednesday night, he informed Warden John Burke, in the presence of Sennett, that the lie test would
be available any time Sennett "learned not to be so arbitrary and obstinate and wanted to take the test."
Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Sennett, parents of the murderer, pleaded with their son to take the lie detector test, He persistently refused
coldly declaring that he would take no test of any kind because he "had no use for cops."
Officials said that Sennett was not questioned concerning the Appleton graveyard "lead," but probably will be after a thorough
search of the cemetery is made and if the anonymous letter writer can be located.
Mrs. Weckler Hopes Georgia Still Lives
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P.) - Mrs. George Weckler, Jefferson county farm wife whose 8-year-old daughter vanished without a trace
May 1, said today she "still lived in hopes that Georgia is alive."
Mrs. Weckler, questioned today about her reaction to the report that clues to the little blonde third-graders disappearance might
have been found in an Appleton cemetery said;
I still live in hopes that Georgia is alive, I don't want to think that she is gone. "But I suppose it would be a relief to come to some
definite conclusion." she added sadly.
Wisconsin State Journal
Saturday, December 13th, 1947
Dam Will Be Closed to Aid Search for Weckler Clues
Lowering the Wisconsin River by cutting off water at the dam north of Prairie du Sac will aid an intensive search beginning at 10
a. m. Monday for clues and evidence linking the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, or "other cases" to Buford Sennett,
Richland Center slayer of a University of Wisconsin student.
The water flow from the dam will be "heavy today" until 11 tonight. Then the river flow will be almost shut off until 5 p. m.
Sunday, R. C. Walters of the Wisconsin Power and Light Co. said.
"That will give the searching parties ample time to complete their searches he said.
Officials Map Search
The search was planned at a meeting here Friday of State Crime Laboratory Chief Charles Wilson and officials from Dane,
Jefferson, and Richland counties.
The river dragging operation - one of the biggest in the state's history - will be concentrated on portions of the river near bridges
in Richland, Grant, Iowa, Crawford, and Sauk counties.
The key point of the search will be at the Blue River Bridge.
Officials said it was "a long shot" in trying to find any evidence, "but could not be overlooked."
The search has no definite objective now, but Sennett and Robert Winslow, Owen, the other slayer of the university student, Carl.
L. Carlson, 25, "had a habit of throwing things in the river off of bridges," they remarked.
Evidence Studied
Friday's meeting was called by Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, Jefferson county, where the child lived on a farm outside of Ft
Atkinson, The purpose of the conference was to go over evidence obtained by officials working on the Carlson murder case that
linked, Sennett with the disappearance of the Weckler girl on last May 1.
Sennett had denied kidnaping the child, but at the state prison this week he refused to take a lie detector test concerning the
Weckler case. Officials said he had no alibi for how he spent his time the day the child disappeared from the road leading to her
farm home.
The search probably will be started near the bridge at Blue River from which Sennett and Winslow tossed Carlson's body into the
Wisconsin River after shooting him to death the night of Nov. 14. Winslow has taken a lie detector test at the prison and first
results indicated that he was not connected with the Weckler case.
Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, December 14th, 1947
Weckler Searchers Hope for Good Weather
With the water level of the Wisconsin river dropping continually until 5 p. in. today in preparation for one of the state's biggest
dragging operations to begin at 10 a. m. Monday, officials are hoping for good weather to speed the search for evidence in the
Georgia Jean Weckler disappearance and "other cases."
The dam 1-1/2 miles north of Prairie du Sac was closed late Saturday. The low waters of the Wisconsin River will allow digging
and more efficient dragging.
This "long shot" search will allow hundreds of investigators to drag the river at bridges in Richland, Grant, Iowa, Crawford, and
Sauk counties.
In addition to the state and county agencies, all area law enforcement officers, the state crime laboratory, and the state highway
police will aid in the clue-hunt
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 Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, December 15th, 1947
Buford Sennett Says He and Friend Kidnaped, Killed Georgia Weckler
Tossed Victim's Body off Blue River Span, Richland Man Admits
By JUNE DIECKMANN
(State Journal Staff Writer)
Buford Sennett, 22-year-old convicted murderer, confessed in his Waupun cell that he and an unidentified friend, kidnaped and
killed 8-year-old. Georgia Jean Weckler.
The brutal slayer was taken under heavy guard today from-prison to the Blue River bridge to point out for officials the exact spot
where he and the "friend" dumped the little blonde girl's body seven and a half month ago after shooting her and giving her an
overdose of sleeping pills
Sennett identified a spot about 35 feet from where he had thrown the body of Carl L. Carlson, slain University of Wisconsin
student into the river from the bridge as the location of where the girl's body had been tossed.
He said he had weighted her body with heavy rocks, the same as Carlson's, and suggested to officials that the girl's, body was
"probably covered with sand!' He told them he didn't think the river current would move her body because he had "weighted it
good."
Sennett was at the bridge for about half an hour before being taken back to prison.
The confession was obtained by Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis J. Garity Saturday night after Sennett repeatedly denied any
connection with the Weckler case during questioning for the past month.
Sennett refused to reveal the name of his "Jefferson county friend" but told details of the friend's plan to kidnap the girl for
ransom.
However, the girl was killed just a few hours after her abduction and no attempt was made to collect ransom money, Sennett
admitted.
He said his (Sennett's) car was used in abducting the girl last May 1 from the lane leading to her farm home just off Highway 12
near Ft. Atkinson.
She was given two sleeping pills and was driven to a wood near Richland Center, where Sennett lived.
The friend and the girl stayed in the wood all night while Sennett went to his home, he claimed.
Sennett said that when he returned to the wood in the morning he found that the friend had given the child more sleeping pills and
that she was dead.
"You will find, Mr. Garity, that she was shot, but I know that she died from the sleeping pills," Sennett declared.
Sennett refused to explain how the girl was shot.
He said the girl's body was "weighted down" and thrown by him and the friend off the Blue River bridge into the Wisconsin river
in almost the identical spot where Sennett and his murderer-accomplice Robert Winslow dumped the body of Carl L. Carlson,
university of Wisconsin student, a month ago.
Sennett claimed he did not assault: the little girl.
Dist. Atty. Garity repotted Sennett's confession, in substance, as follows:
"I was involved in the Weckler case, Mr. Garity, but I was not alone. A friend of mine, whose name I refuse to disclose, who was
acquainted in Jefferson county and knew of the Weckler family, planned to kidnap the little girl for ransom.
"With this plan in mind, we left Richland Center but left my friend's car in a woods about 3 miles south from the city of Richland
Center and then drove to Jefferson county in my car.
"The little girl was walking down the Weckler drive toward her home, and I turned my car and drove down the Weckler drive to
her. It was not hard to get her into the car and she was placed in the rear seat down on the floor with my friend.
"I then backed out of the Weckler drive and headed east on Highway 12 to the first crossroad and then turned right and drove,
down this road a short distance and parked my car.
"We then talked about whether or not we should go through with our plan of abducting her. After a few minutes, I drove back to
Highway 12 and down Highway 12 to the Weckler drive and again I turned into the Weckler drive driving down a short distance.
"We then again decided to go through with our plan of abducting the girl. I again backed my car out of the drive and after I turned
at the head of the drive to proceed in a westerly direction a tractor pulling a wagon was going by the Weckler drive,
"At this time my friend and the Weckler girl were on the floor of the car in the rear seat. I drove west on Highway 12 in the
direction of Madison but turned right at the first black-top road which ran north. After going up this road some distance, I got lost,
but after driving around for some time I again came out on Highway 12 and headed toward Madison,
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"I drove through Madison with my friend and the girl in the back seat and headed toward Richland Center, stopping in the woods
where my friend had previously left his car.
"The Weckler girl and my friend got into the other car and I gave the Weckler girl two sleeping pills and then gave the box of
sleeping pills to my friend, who remained in his car in the woods with the Weckler girl all night.
"I drove into Richland Centers in my own car, arriving the about 6:30, and that evening had a date with a girlfriend that night I
remained at home.
"The next morning I drove back to the woods, where I found that my friend had given the girl the rest of the sleeping pills in the
box except two, and at that time I found that she was dead.
'"You will find, Mr. Garity that she was shot, but I know, that she died from the sleeping pills.
"We remained in the woods all that day and that night. After weighting down her body we took the body to the Blue River Bridge
where we dropped the body from the middle span at a point which is just opposite from where the body of Carlson was dropped.
"It is well weighted down and should be near the spot where the Carlson body was found.
"At no time did I assault the little girl. Mr. Garity.
"She did not cry at any time but she did ask, 'When are you going to take me home?
Sennett's confession came as state and county officials continued their intensive search of the river in the hope of finding the body
of Georgia Jean.
The search and dragging operations started Sunday, a day ahead of schedule, to take advantage of favorable weather, but ice and
strong current hampered operations.
Dam Closes Gradually
The Wisconsin Power and Light Co. dam was closed gradually starting Friday, with the approval of the state public service
commission and the bureau of fisheries. The water level of the lower river was to hit its lowest point this morning, officials said.
Participating in the dragging today were officials from Dane, Crawford, Grant, Sauk, Jefferson and Richland counties, town of
Madison volunteers, state conservation department workers, and members of the University of Wisconsin lifesaving crew.
George Lehman, Jr., Watertown, former navy diver, also was continuing today to make numerous dives in the river around the
Blue river bridge where the most intensive operations were in progress. Sunday he was hampered in diving by the strong current
of the river.
There was no ice in the river between 1 and 1-1/2 miles on each side of the Blue River bridge. However, from the Spring Greer
bridge about half-way to Mazomanie the river was filled with ice. If the lowering of the water level failed to break the ice,
officials said they would blast it.
More Bars to Appear
Dane officials reported that a 60 per cent greater area of the sand bars of the river bottom was expected to be exposed with the
water level at its lowest point. The dam cannot be kept closed for "too long a time," because of the flooding of upper river land
officials said. However, the searchers said they believed they would have "ample" time to complete their operations before the
water level is raised again. Ervin Moritz, operator of the Moritz truck lines here, furnished a semi-trailer truck to haul the boats
and dragging equipment to the river.
He also piloted a plane over the river, accompanied by Madison Police Officer Lester Shore, but the air-search was hampered by
the water's blackness.
Made Many Denials
Officials began considering Sennett as a suspect in the Weckler case immediately after he was captured and convicted for the
brutal slaying of Carlson and the rape of a 19-year-old girl.
During consistent questioning at Waupun prison since he began serving a life term there last month. Sennett repeatedly denied
being involved in the Weckler girl's disappearance, but he refused to take a lie detector test.
Dane, Richland, and Jefferson county authorities uncovered evidence Sennett Richland Center home and other circumstantial
evidence which caused Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik, of Richland County to declare for The State Journal last week that he was
"positive of Sennett's guilt in the Weckler crime.
Absent from Job
Officials learned that Sennett was absent from his Richland Center bowling alley job as a pin-boy on Apr. 30, May 1 and 2. The
convicted murderer had no ex-planation for not working those days.
Sennett owned, at the time of the Weckler girl's disappearance, a black car which fit the description of a car which witnesses saw
near the Weckler farm the day of the kidnaping.
Authorities were still working on the theory that the girl's body may have been buried by Sennett in the back yard at his parents'
Richland Center home, before it was tossed in the river.
Evidence that a 4-1/2-foot "trench" had been dug in the back yard was discovered, leading officers to believe it was ward as a
"temporary burying place."

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Officials said they planned to question Sennett further at the prison to obtain a more complete story from him. Each point of his
confession will be checked for verifying evidence, they said.
Confession Puts Earliest Parole at 1969
Buford Sennett's confession of participation in the kidnap-murder of Georgia Jean Weckler means he will remain in Wisconsin
state prison at Waupun, at least until 1969, it appeared today.
Sennett is already serving a life sentence for the murder of Carl L, Carlson, a University of Wisconsin student. If his conduct is
good, he would be eligible to parole at the end of 11 years and three months, his confession in the Weckler case, however, leaves
two courses open to authorities, attorney familiar with criminal law explained today.
If his confession to the Weckler case is substantiated and his part in the girl's death confirmed, Richland county authorities can
file a detainer against Sennett at the prison, which would make him subject to trial in the Weckler case upon his parole for the
Carlson killing he then could be given another life sentence.
If officials prefer, they can try him for the Weckler kidnap-killing as soon as the body is found, and he can be sentenced to
another life term to start at the expiration of his present sentence that would add 10 years to the time Sennett would have to serve
before being eligible for parole.
There is little possibility that Sennett can be turned over to federal officials for prosecution under the Lindbergh law, which the
death penalty can be imposed. That law does not apply unless there is evidence that the kidnap victim was taken across a state
line.
Overcome with Grief, Wecklers Find 'Sort of Relief' in Certainty
FT ATKINSON -Tragic as it was, the report his long-missing little daughter had been kidnaped and murdered came
as "a sort of relief" today to George Weckler but "both Mrs. Weckler and I are overcome with grief," he said.
Mrs. Weckler, stricken with the shock of knowing her child was dead, was in "poor health" this morning, he added.
Until she was told that Buford Sennett had confessed kidnaping 8 -year-old Georgia Jean. Mrs. Weckler had insisted
on believing the little girl was still alive.
Praises Garity
Weckler had no comment on Sennett's confession and asked reporters to get all news from Dist. Atty. Francis Garity
of Jefferson county who, he said unemotionally, "has done a marvelous job" on the case.
The father declined to say how I long he had known of the confession, obtained by Garity at the state prison
Saturday night,
Earlier Weckler had planned to go today to Blue River, where law enforcement officers were dragging the Wisconsin
River on what seemed then a slim chance the girl's body might be there.
Stays With Wife
Upon hearing that Sennett confession included a statement that the weighted body of his child had actually been
thrown into the river from the bridge there, Weckler decided to stay home with his wife and await news by
telephone.
Although Weckler is not a wealthy farmer, he had believed all along that Georgia Jean might have been kidnaped for
ransom. Sennett's account of the crime seemed to confirm his suspicions. The father had insisted when the little girl
vanished 227 days ago as she returned from school that the kidnaper had made a mistake in assuming he had enough
cash for a profitable ransom.
$5,000 Guaranteed
Weckler had guaranteed $2,500 in reward money for information about the disappearance. Friendly neighbors
boosted the fund to $3,700 and other contributions to more than $5,000.
For days after Georgia Jean vanished, Mrs. Weckler was prostrate with grief. Weckler wandered about his farm
dazed, unable to do his farm work. Neighbors came to do the daily farm chores and t he plowing.
For weeks the mother pleaded:
"If only we had some trace of her, a piece of her clothing - just I something to speculate about." Today there was
little to speculate about. The Wecklers at last knew the fate of the little girl they had hoped was only lost in the
woods where she loved to pick wild flowers.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, December 16th, 1947
Officials Consider Temporary Dam to Help in Search for Georgia Jean
Discovery of Wire in River Bed's Sand Spurs Hunt for Body
BULLETIN
Atty. Gen. John E. Martin scheduled a "strategy" meeting for late today with Dane, Richland, and Jefferson county officials
to determine what and if state action can be taken in aiding the search for Georgia Jean Wecklers body in the swift Wisconsin
river. Martin said at present, he knew of no state funds which could be used immediately for the building of a "coffer" dam to
divert the strong river current for the searchers.
By JUNE Dieckmann
(State Journal Staff Writer)
Officials today went into conference to determine the possibly of building a temporary dam in the Wisconsin river to aid in the
search for the body of murdered little Georgia Jean Weckler.
The strong river current at the Blue River Bridge almost stopped operations this morning. Workers at the scene reached the
decision that the swift-moving river channel must be diverted.
A plan to lower a large snowplow blade into the water to divert the current failed because of the 10 to15 foot depth of the water at
the search area. The largest blade available for use was only 5 feet high.
State and county searchers, under the direction of Richland County Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik, scoured the upstream area from the
bridge and mapped preliminary plans for where a temporary coffer dam could be constructed.
The dam, if approved by state officials, would divert the main channel of the river, in which Sennett claimed he dumped the
child's body into smaller channels on each side. The "break" would be made about one-half mile upstream from the bridge.
It was understood that state Public Service Commission approval for the dam must be obtained, since the Wisconsin River is
registered by the federal bureau of inland waterways as a navigable stream.
Diver Praises Plan
George Lehmann, Jr., navy diver from Watertown, who has been attempting to make an underwater search of the bridge area for
three days, declared today, that the temporary dam was the searchers' "best bet," ice floes, from the upper river, badly hampered
the search today, but conservation department workers arrived with extra "probing" equipment and were battling the sand, current,
and cold to keep the search in operation.
The search was spurred late Monday by the finding of a piece of 'binding wire," The wire, of the type which the vicious slayer,
Buford Sennett, confessed was used to attach heavy cement-block weight to the tiny girl's body, was discovered shortly before
dark Monday in the sand of the river bed beneath the Blue River bridge. Sheriff Edward A. Fischer said he believed the wire may
have been used to bind the childs body.
Because of darkness, the searchers stopped operations, but they began again at daybreak today A meeting was held Monday night
at Richland Center at which Dane and Richland county and state conservation department workers laid new plans for combating
the swift current of the river.
May Be Buried Under Sand
The search for Georgia Jean's watery grave was hampered not only by the strong current but also by the thick covering of sand
and silt on the river bed and the coldness of the water.
The ordinary dragging operations, used by officials in locating bodies in water are not effective at the Blue River search scene
because of the sand bars in the river.
Fischer and Louis L, Marshall, who is heading a 14-man crew of searchers from the conservation department said they believed
the girl's body may be buried beneath from 3 to 6 feet of sand.
Rather than dragging, the officials today were "probing" and digging in the sand with long metal rods and wooden pike poles with
hooked forks.
They believed late Monday that an "object" was discovered in about 4 feet of sand at the exact spot where Sennett claimed he
dumped the body from the bridge, but darkness prevented the searchers retrieving it. The "object" may have been a water-soaked
stump, one official said, but plans were made to remove it today.
The estimated 75-pound rock and a piece of the rope which Sennett and his murderer-accomplice, Robert Winslow, used in
weighting the body of Carl L. Carlson, slain University of Wisconsin student were recovered by the searchers Monday afternoon
from the river.
Used Cement Block
Sennett, who was taken under guard from the prison to the bridge Monday, pointed out a spot 35 feet away from where he had
thrown Carlson's body, as the place where Georgia Jean had been tossed off the bridge.
He said he used a cement black from his father's garage in Richland Center as a weight for the girl's body.

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Officials said they thought their best method of recovering the body would be through the operations of divers, but George
Lehmann, Jr., former navy diver from Watertown, reported that the strong river current made it almost impossible to work in
attempts Sunday and Monday.
A diver from the conservation department was to join in the search today.
A large river boat and barge were to be used as headquarters for the diving operations. For the past two days, searchers found that
the four smaller boats from which they were working were unable to "hold position" against the strong current.
When Sennett arrived at the scene Monday in a prison car, he refused to leave the car until officials cleared the bridge of
spectators. He was nervous and evidently feared attack by the on-lookers,
After the bridge was cleared, he walked out on the macadam pavement of the steel span and unhesitatingly pointed out a spot on
the upstream side of the bridge, claiming that was where Georgia Jean's body had been disposed.
Stays Half-Hour
He was returned to Waupun prison after about half an hour. Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, of Jefferson county, who obtained
Sennett's confession Saturday night at the prison, refused to reveal more information concerning the case or to elaborate on the
confession.
He said he had obtained the confession by gaining Sennett's trust, and he did not want to disillusion Sennett in any way which
might impede the investigation of the case.
Sennett hears the radio and reads newspapers at the prison, Garity pointed out, and may refuse to cooperate with authorities if he
hears or reads something to his dislike. Garity said he had told Sennett the substance of his confession that he released for
publication Monday,
It was learned that Sennett flatly refused to go to the Blue River bridge Monday, to point out where the body had been thrown,
until Garity talked to him by telephone and urged him to aid the searchers.
Exclusive:
Diver Tells Problems of Search
EDITOR'S NOTE George Lehmann, Jr former navy diver from Watertown, who is searching the Wisconsin river for the body
of Georgia Jean Weckler describes the problem of finding the little girl's body.
By GEORGE LEHMANN, JR. Told to The Slate Journal)
BLUE RIVER - The best bet for stopping this swift current in the Wisconsin River here is to build a coffer dam upstream from
where the killer pointed out for us the location of the body.
And we have to divert that current in some way before we can continue any intensive diving operation.
We are hampered almost to the point of stopping operation. However, we are overhauling the diving equipment and plan to
continue as best we can until the strong current can be diverted,
To give you an example of our problems, I stepped on an object on the river bed (Monday). It was Just before we had to stop
operations because of the darkness, so we carefully marked the spot with a buoy. I planned to dive for the object this morning.
When we arrived this morning, the swift current and the ice floes had carried our buoy away. While I was down this morning, I
tried to find the object again, but so far I haven't located it.
The river here is moving at about 9 or 10 knots (10-1/8 -11-1/4 miles per hour).
If the current were diverted to the two side channels, I could cover the river thoroughly and in a much shorter time.
Knowing the tremendous amount of sand on the river bed, I believe we will have to do some excavating in the sand to recover the
body or whatever evidence there is left to determine that the body was dumped here.
The excavating cannot be done unless that current is diverted.
I say that I think there will have to be excavating, because I'm considering the other body Buford Sennett threw off the bridge.
(Carl L. Carlson, slain University of Wisconsin student.)
That body was in the water only two days, and it was almost covered by sand. Georgia Jean WeckIer's body has been there for
almost eight months, so you can reason how it will be buried.
It's hard to figure what you will find when you're down on the river bed. Mr. Sennett and I don't mean to call him "Mister." told us
Monday that he weighted the little girl's body with a large chunk of concrete and tied it with copper wire.
Even if the body has decomposed, we would be able to find the remains; copper wire would not have rusted through, allowing the
rock and wire to slip off the body. The concrete chunk he used had rough edges, he said, so that undoubtedly the wire could not
have easily slipped off the rock,
He claimed the concrete he used was heavier than the rock he tied on Carlson's body. We pulled that rock Monday and it must
have weighed nearly, 100 pounds.
So even if the child's body is gone, we would be able to find the rock. That couldn't have been carried away.
The water isn't too cold to hamper our operations. It's really warmer below than for the men on top of the water.

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I think cur best chance to recover any evidence is by diving, and I think we'll get help from the, state in diverting the current so
we can work.
I'm making' arrangements for Frank Mariska, a friend of mine from Chicago who was with me in the navy, to come up and help in
the diving operations.
If the okay would be given today for the building of a coffer dam, it could be completed before the end of the week, and as soon
as the water cleared, we could really go to work.
A few days delay can't make much difference. After all Sennett isn't going any place.
1852 Hanging Led to State Law Which Saved Sennett From Rope
By REX KARNEY
(State Journal Staff Writer)
Buford Sennett, convicted slayer of Carl L. Carlson and confessed kidnaper of Georgia lean Weckler, probably can thank Bohn
McCaffrey for the fact that he is serving a life term in state prison rather than having been "hanged by the neck until dead..."
Wisconsin, for the short span of three years, sentenced convicted murderers 'to the death penalty, and three men died upon the
gallows. John McCaffrey was the last of these.
McCaffrey was a farmer who lived near Kenosha, but he spent more time inventing "gadgets' than he did farming. His wife
frequently berated him for "laziness," and there were many violent quarrels caused by the family's poverty. That was in the
summer of 1852.
Wife Found Strangled
One night, after a quarrel, McCaffrey left home. The next morning a neighbor found Mrs. McCaffrey's body stuffed in a well. She
had been strangled. Upon his return home, McCaffrey showed surprise at the killing, and protested his innocence.
After a 5-day trial, which was marked by neighbors' testimony about previous McCaffrey family quarrels, the farmer-inventor
was found guilty. He was sentenced to be hanged, and the execution was set for Aug. 21, 1852, in the Kenosha public square.
According to historians, Aug. 21, 1852, was "a beautiful summer day," and the little village of Kenosha was jammed with curious
men, women, and children who had journed by wagon to see John McCaffrey die. Estimates of the crowd that packed the little
village ranged from 5,000 to 10,000.
Men whittled, and spat tobacco juice into the dusty street. Women knitted and gossiped. Children tried to play "tag" in the
milling crowd.
Walks to Scaffold
Promptly at noon, John McCaffrey began the block-long walk from the jail to the scaffold, which had been erected where the
Kenosha post office now stands.
He was accompanied by a Priest, He had been blindfolded with a red handkerchief, and a work sack had been tied over his head.
He was asked if he had any last words.
"I am not guilty of . . ."
The scaffold trap was sprung. Out in the crowd, which for a, few seconds had been silenced, a solitary woman screamed. For 10
minutes, John McCalfrey's body strained and thrashed at the end of that rope. Then it was quiet.
Death Penalty Abolished
So was the crowd. In another quarter hour, the square was deserted except for the workmen who began the task of knocking down
the scaffold.
In response to public demand, the 1853 legislature abolished the death penalty, and prescribed life imprisonment as the maximum
punishment. Later, two Indian were sentenced to death in federal courts in Wisconsin, but their sentences were commuted one by
Pres. William Harrison and the other by Pres. Woodrow Wilson
Since that time, 539 person have been sentenced to life term in Wisconsin penal institutions Sennett was the 588th. Not single bill
calling for a change to the death penalty has been introduced in the Wisconsin legislature since 1853. The only time the matter
was discussed was in 1927, when Sen. Bernhard Gettelman, Milwaukee, asked Gov. Zimmerman to introduce such a bill,
Zimmerman refused.
Demoralizes Citizens
Historians and sociologists who have studied capital punishment and Wisconsin's reaction to it in particular have laid this state's
aversion to the death penalty or two factors:
ONE, The "more legalizing of execution does not relieve the state or the executioner himself of the moral responsibility" involved
in the taking of a human life.
TWO, Legalized executions have a "demoralizing effect" upon the state and its citizens. Wisconsin is one of eight states that have
abolished the death penalty; the others are Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Rhode Island.
13 Use Hanging
Thirteen states execute murderers by hanging, 21 by electrocution, and four use lethal gas, North Carolina uses both gas and
electrocution. In Utah, murderers have their choice of hanging or the firing squad.

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The issue of capital punishment has been argued nationwide, and the most prominent foe of the death penalty was the late Warden
Lewis Lawes, who at New York's Sing Sing prison directed the execution of hundreds of murderers.
Lawes always opposed the death penalty for these reasons:
ONE. There is always the possibility that the convicted man may be innocent.
TWO. There is the moral question of deliberately taking a human life.
THREE. In many cases, there is the possibility of reformation.
FOUR. Statistics show that states with only life imprisonment have lower homicide rates as low as or lower than states with the
death penalty.
Five. Statistics indicate that the homicide rate does not drop after a capital punishment law is enacted.
At present, 95 persons are serving life sentences in Wisconsin penal institutions. Forty "lifers" are out on parole, one is free on a
conditional pardon and seven "lifers" whose terms were 7 commuted are on parole.
Those in charge of the state's parole system say that "the average lifer" is a "better risk" on parole than most other types of
prisoners, they except men of Sennett's type" from this statement.
But in most cases, murder is the only crime that the convicted person ever committed in many cases they were crimes committed
in the heat of passion, through accident, or possibly under extreme provocation,
States that have organized gang warfare have a different problem than Wisconsin, parole officials say.
Exclusive:
Garity Sure of Sennett's Connection
Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity declared today that "there is absolutely no doubt that Buford Sennett is connect with
the murder of Georgia Jean Weckler."
Garity's positive statement concerning the brutal slayer's guilt was made today to The State Journal in answer to criticism received
by Garity concerning his refusal to release full details concerning the Weckler case investigation.
Garity obtained Sennett's confession Saturday night at Waupun state prison, after the convicted killer had repeatedly professed his
innocence for a month to authorities of Dane, Richland, and Jefferson counties who questions him. However, Sennett staunchly
refused to take a lie detector test, even upon pleas of his parents.
7-Hour Quiz
Garity said he obtained the confession by gaining Sennett's trust. Questioning the murderer alone at the prison for about seven
hours Saturday, the Jefferson county district attorney said he gained the confession "piece by piece."
Because it was such a long 'conference" between Sennett and Garity, the district attorney said, the entire confession was not
reduced to writing at the time. Sennett also refused to talk in front of a stenographer who would take shorthand notes of his
confession, Garity disclosed.
Garity Digests Story
But after Sennett completed his confession, Garity said, he prepared a written statement containing parts of the killer's admissions,
'I showed the portions of the confession that I had transcribed to Sennett, and he approved, admitting that those were the true
statements of his confession," Garity declared.
"He stated that the facts that I released for publication Monday were the facts as stated by him, but he insisted that he did not want
to sign a confession at this time," the district attorney said.
'Absolutely No Doubt'
Garity refused to comment on his ideas concerning the truth of some points in Sennett's confession particularly Sennett's
allegations concerning his unidentified accomplice in the crime, but Garity repeated that he had "absolutely no doubt," that .
Sennett was "in" on the kidnaping and slaying of the little girl.
Garity said he did not want to break Sennett's faith in him in' any way which might impede the investigation of the case.
'I Won't Rest.. ! - Weckler Has Doubt About Story
FT. ATKINSON His face drawn and weary as he waited word from officials probing the account of his daughter's murder by a
man he was among the first to suspect, George Weckler today lacked even the grim consolation of knowing what had happened to
8-year-old Georgia Jean,
"I won't be able to rest until I know Georgia is in her casket." he said.
He still had no news from Blue River, where the Wisconsin River was being dragged for the body of the little girl. Killer Buford
Sennett has confessed throwing it from a bridge, 7-1/2 months ago.
And after all the long months of waiting, Weckler still was in doubt as to whether the truth has been learned even yet.
I don't know about Sennett. I can't say whether he is fooling about this horrible thing or not, maybe he is," Weckler said wearily.
"After all, any man who could drive around with a corpse in his car, doing the things he did, might tell anything.

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"If as he says my little girl was given sleeping pills before she died - well it helps to think that maybe she didn't suffer. But how
can we tell, how will we know?
"A man as brutal as Sennett would say anything that might occur to him."
He had suspected Sennett of being involved in Georgia Jean's disappearance ever since the 22-year-old Richland Center man had
been captured in the murder of Carl Carlson and the attacks on Mr. Carlson's companion, Weckler said.
Young Carlson's body was recovered from the river a month ago after Sennett confessed and pointed out the shot where he threw
it, near where he told officers Saturday night he hurled Georgia Jean.
When Sennett was arrested, "I went to Madison," Weckler revealed.
"I sat through Sennett's trial. I was there at the very beginning: in fact I was the only one there at that time from this county," he
said.
He watched the murderer when he was sentenced. He talked to people who knew him. He learned that even Sennett's friends
called him "a bad, bad person a dangerous character."
"One can hardly believe he would take a little 8-year-old child and deliberately kill her," Weckler said ... But during the weeks
after Sennett began his life sentence in the state prison, insistently denying knowledge of Georgia Jean's disappearance, the
father's suspicion grew.
Now - "The very thought that at same time Sennett might be freed haunts me," he said.
As he waited the word that would confirm the worst of Sennett's confession, Weckler was concerned most about his wife -
prostrated by the news he forced himself to tell her for fear she would hear it otherwise on the radio and his other children,
Katherine, May, Joan, and LaVerne.
"Christmas wouldn't mean much to me anyway this year, but now . . . the other children, it's pretty tough for them, too."
"May, the month Georgia disappeared, was the 100th anniversary of the founding of this farm. My children are the fourth
generation to live here. 'My grandparents came from Germany and built a log cabin right here. My father built this house and of
course, we've added to it.
"It seems unbelievable that this horrible thing could happen to us - I can't believe it yet."
Woman Calls Official About Sennett Note
APPLETON - (U.P.) - A telephone call from a woman in Green Bay regarding an anonymous letter was awaited today by Dist.
Atty. Elmer Honkamp, Outagamie County.
The woman called Honkamp Monday night while he was out, and told the official's daughter to tell him I want to talk to him on
the Sennett case. I'll call back tomorrow."
Honkamp believed the caller 'as the woman, thought to live Kaukauna, who wrote a letter saying she had been threatened last
summer by a man resembling one of the killers of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student. However, she did not say,
whether it was Buford Sennett, or Robert Winslow.
She said the man picked her up while she was hitchhiking to Appleton. She told authorities he threaten to give her the same
treatment he did a girl he said was an Appleton cemetery when is resisted his advance.
Honkamp said he would wait "few days and go to Sennett regarding the letter." The district attorney originally had planned
question the convict at Waupun state prison, but decided to wait because I know authorities will question him more at Blue River,
regarding his accomplice.
"The letter question is comparatively mild and is of relatively little importance, although I would like to have certain local
happenings cleared up," Honkamp said.
Sennett's 3 Crimes Baffle Psychiatrist.
Doctor Says Examinations Showed `No Vicious Tendency Whatsoever`
Buford Sennett's three vicious crimes baffled a state psychiatrist today.
Dr. Peter Bell, psychiatrist for the Wisconsin welfare department, said today that the 22-year- old killer showed "no vicious
tendency whatsoever" when he examined him (Sennett) at the state reformatory four times from 1943 through 1946.
From his examination, the psychiatrist said, he "would not have suspected" that Sennett would turn into a killer and kidnapper.
Has No Idea
Bell said he had no idea 'what got into Sennett" since left the reformatory that would cause him to kidnap little Georgia Jean
Weckler, kill a University of Wisconsin student, rape his sister-in-law, and shoot two teenaged girls.
Sennett was paroled from the reformatory in November, 1941 after serving two years for robbing several rural school house and
an extra year for escaping from the institution.
Sennett, who has confessed all three crimes, admitted that he shot Student Carl Carlson for "just about no reason at all."

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 No Phobias
At the reformatory, Bell said Sennett "didn't seem unbalance and he had no phobia about anything." The convict's intelligent is
above average, he said, and the welfare department has no record that he was involved in any sex crime before the rape-slaying
last month.
Bell has not examined Sennett since he was sent to prison Nov.18 to serve a life sentence for the Carlson killing, but will question
him soon.
B. O. Odegard, member of the state parole board, said Sennett was listless and "didn't seem to have any sense of values" when he
was in the reformatory. He believed the convict was a "poor prospect" for parole last year Odegard said he thought Sennett might
steal some cars or make some petty thefts, but did not suspect he would commit any crime of violence,
Given a Chance
Sennett was paroled to give him a chance to "go straight" and to avoid the danger of his becoming "over institutionalized,"
Odegard said.
The convict kidnaped the Weckler child and shot two-teen aged girls near Phillips while he was on parole. He killed Carlson only
eight days after his year of parole was ended.

Wisconsin State Journal

Wednesday, December 17th, 1947
New Plan Tried in Weckler Search
Barge May Cut River Flow, Permit Diving
By JUNE Dieckmann
(State Journal Staff Writer)
With hopes shattered for obtaining state funds to aid combatting the strong current of the ice-filled Wisconsin river, tireless
county and conservation department workers today started a new plan of search for the body of murdered little Georgia Jean
Weckler.
The new search procedure, agreed upon at a meeting here of state engineers, University of Wisconsin professors, and district
attorneys, includes the use of a huge 63-foot river barge,, which is hoped will "cut" the river current enough to permit Diver
George Lehmann, Jr., to complete an underwater probe of the river bed.
Try to Raise Cement Block
The "probers" began at daybreak today -the fourth day of the river search - with determination to bring up a huge chunk of cement
which they believe is the weight used on the 8,year-old girl's body by Buford Sennett, vicious life-term slayer Waupun prison.
The large cement weight was discovered Tuesday by the searchers who "probed" the river bed in the Blue River bridge area from
boats with steel rods and pike poles.
But for more than four hours, struggling against the on-surge of ice floes, some as large as 6 feet in diameter, the searchers were
unable to haul the cement block to the surface.
Buried Under Sand
It is buried beneath more than a foot of sand and silt, they reported, and is in about 10 feet of water at almost the exact, spot where
Sennett confessed tossing the body the searchers said it was too heavy to be removed except by a diver's operations.
Conservation department workers took underwater "blowing" equipment to the scene this morning, but it was not effective in
dislodging sand from around the located cement block.
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 Study River Blueprints
The use of the large river barge was suggested at the conference of officials, who met this morning in the courthouse here to study
blueprints of the Wisconsin river in the Blue River bridge area.
The officials meeting were Engineering Profs. James G. Woodburn, Arno T.Lenz, and Gerard t. Rohlich; George P. Steinmetz,
chief engineer of the Public Service Commission (PSC); Charles H. Kirsh, bridge engineer of the state highway commission, and
the district attorneys of Dane, Jefferson, and Richland counties.
Lehmann the former navy diver from Watertown, also joined in the conference and said he believed the big river barge
would 'cut" the current at about the top 3 feet of the water level.
He said he thought that stoppage would "probably" be enough to permit his diving operations. He explained that the current was
most hazardous to a diver upon entering and emerging from the water, and that the current was less swift on the river bottom.
Owner Approves Plan
The 63-foot barge was to be anchored by steel cables from the cement abutments of the Blue River bridge middle span, which are
about 70 feet apart. The use of the barge was approved by the owner Paul Pendergast, of the Industrial Contracting Co,. Winona,
Minn., who had it anchor, in the river 'for use next spring in construction work on the Spring Green Bridge.
Dane County Deputy Dist. Atty. George E. Rapp is one of the heads of the newly planned search. As he returned to Blue River
today for his fourth consecutive day, he was on familiar ground because he had spent three days at the bridge a month ago
assisting in the recovery the body of Carl L. Carlson, university student slain by Sennett and Robert Winslow.
Other heads of the operation were to be Richland County Highway Commissioner V. W. Robinson and John Perry, Jefferson
county highway commissioner.
Sheriffs, Crews 'Return
Sheriff Edward A. Fischer and Richland County Sheriff Loren Marshall were also back at the scene today, along with crews of
deputies from both counties an state conservation workers.
Richland County ' Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik said he "felt lot better" today about the process of the search. "I was pretty down in
the dumps when we learned from the attorney general that the state could not help us in financing a temporary darn to divert the
current, but I think we're getting someplace now,
"These state engineers have given a lot of good ideas, and we will exhaust all possible method to recover the body most
economically before we will try to raise money for a dam," Lownik declared.
Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said he was "certain" that his and Lownik's counties would support them in an
reasonable request for extra money, "Everybody is interested in recovering that little girls body and getting this case closed,' he
said.
Atty. John E. Martin late Tuesday informed officials heading the search that state funds cannot be used to build a proposed
temporary dam to divert the river current.
He explained that there is no law to permit state funds to be used in the investigation of a criminal action, unless it is a case before
the Supreme Court and the attorney general's office has been requested by county officials to take part in the investigation.
Promises All Possible Aid
The meeting in Martin's office was attended by Dane County Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie, Deputy Dist. Atty. George E. Rapp,
Richland County Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik, Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garrity, Outa-gamie County Dist. Atty. Elmer
Honkamp, State Crime Laboratory Chief Charles M. Wilson and Asst. Atty. Gen. William . A. Platz.
Martin, however, promised the county officials "all the aid possible" in the form of manpower and equipment available from state
departments.
Federal permission to build a dam for diverting the channel would have to be obtained since the Wisconsin river is registered as a
navigable stream with the war department.
Fear Cost Prohibitive
The county officials looked glum as they left Martin's office, realizing that without state aid, the cost of a dam would probably be
too much for them to convince their respective county boards to spend.
Glummest of all was Lownik, who originally suggested that perhaps the state could aid in the expense of the search, since the
several counties have been connected officially with Sennett's activities and the Weckler crime was of such state-wide interest.
Lownik pointed out that only $200 has been appropriated by the Richland county board for investigations expenses by his office.
Here the board appropriated $1,000 for Wilkie's use next year for "investigation and extradition," This year, only $500 was
appropriated, but after expenses incurred by the extraditing of three narcotics robbery suspects from Texas, the board added
another $400.
Garity said the Jefferson county board appropriated $2,500 for his office's use next year, compared to $300 this year. Honkamp
reported Outagamie County designated $1,000 to his office for investigations.

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 Doubt Other Boards' O.K.
However, if Sennett's confession is true in all respects, the prosecution in the Weckler case would in the hands of officials of
Jefferson county, where the girl was kidnaped, and in Richland county, where he claimed his "unidentified friend" killed her with
sleeping tablets.
"Since we other counties would have no part in the prosecution of the case, we doubt if our board would approve of spending any
of our funds," Honkamp said "After all, we may have case within the year in our counties which would call for the expenditure of
our investigation funds.'
Lownik said unofficial estimate were that a coffer dam would cost about $5,000, and he was unable to estimate the coat of a wing
dam.
Seek Strong 'Rake'
Lownik was to confer with Richland county highway officials today in an attempt to devise some kind of a strong, long-pronged
"rake" which could be used for "clawing" in the sand and silt.
"But the prongs would have to be plenty strong," he" declared, pointing out that Sennett claimed the cement block he wired to
Georgia Jean's body was heavier than the rock which he used to weight the body of Carl L. Carlson, slain University of Wisconsin
student.
The rock which was used to weight Carlson's body weighed 97 pounds on the scales at the jail here.
When searchers recovered Carlson's body just about 35 feet from where Sennett claims he tossed the child's body, they were
forced to cut the binding ropes and let the rock fall back into the water because of the extreme weight.
The rock and piece of rope were found Sunday by Georgia Jean's searchers.
The searchers have also recovered a piece of binding wire which they believe may have been used in weighting Georgia Jean's
body.
Many Seek Army Barges
Crime Lab Chief Wilson said he would investigate to determine if any steel barges could be "borrowed" from Army surplus
supplies or some federal agency at a minimum cost, for use if the present plan of diving operations proves futile. It is possible, he
said, that the barges could be sunk upstream from the bridge to form a dam to divert the channel, the later emerged and returned
to the loaning agency.
Heavy hooked forks, taken to the scene Tuesday by conservation men, were not strong enough to lift the block.
Hundreds of spectators have gathered at the scene daily, some of them crowding onto the barge which will now be used in the
search. Others lined the river roads and filled the bridge, causing a traffic problem.
Mother, Baby Watch
Some on-lookers took lunches and stayed all day at the scent Tuesday. One young mother, with her baby bundled in a GI blanket,
stood on the bridge for nearly two hours.
The river is the dividing line between Richland and Grant counties, but the spot where Sennett claimed he tossed the body is in
Grant County.
Far from Capture, Jefferson Group's Hunch Still Paid Off
While a posse of law enforcement officers surrounded Buford Sennett and Robert Winslow in a Clark county farm house just a
month ago today, the Jefferson county board and Dist. Atty. Francis Garity were involved in the routine business of "winding up"
their annual budget session:
They were nearly 150 miles away from the scene of the two vicious slayers' capture, but they were interested because "maybe" the
killers had also been the abductors of Jefferson county's little Georgia Jean Weckler.
The board had already approved a $300 appropriation for Garity for investigative work during 1948. But when Garity made a last-
minute request for additional funds, the board members asked no questions. They increased his appropriation to $2,500.
"We were all thinking the same thing," Garity today remembered. Anybody as vicious as those two could have been involved in
Georgia Jean's disappearance, and any amount of money needed to find the facts was all right with any of the board members."
Exclusive:
New Sennett Search Due With Thaw
A new search to reveal the activities of Buford Sennett will be started "with the first thaw, Richland County Dist. Atty. Leo P.
Lownik declared Tuesday night.
The search will be made in the wooded area about 3 miles south of Richland Center where the brutal slayer confessed that little
Georgia Jean Weckler was held and killed by him and an unidentified friend last May.
Evidence may be uncovered to determine whether Sennett was truthful in his claims that he had an accomplice in the Weckier
kidnaping and slaying Lownik said.
Other evidence may be found in connection with his confession in the Weckler case and perhaps concerning additional activities
by him," the district attorney added.

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 Covered With Snow
The area at least a 300-acre wooded plat is now covered with about 8 inches of snow making complete search impossible.
However, Lownik said that if weather conditions follow trends of other years in Richland County, there will be a thaw next month
which may permit the search.
Lownik said he and Richland Sheriff Loren Marshal: had tried to find evidence of where Sennett claimed the child was killed, but
"if the evidence was there, the snow had covered it.
Tells of Hideout
Lownik revealed that Sennett also admitted that he and Robert Winslow, his murderer-accomplice in the Carl L. Carlson killing
last month, had "dug out' a hiding place in a ridge in the same wooded area.
They built the hiding place in August, but were foiled in their attempt to use it at the time of the Carlson murder because of the
intensive manhunt for them by officials in that area.
Lownik said records showed that Sennett had used the wooded area as a hiding place for stolen articles five and six years ago,
before he was sentenced to Green Bay reformatory at the age of 17. Those stolen articles were taken by Sennett and a 5-man
"gang" which he led from numerous burglaries of homes and school houses, mostly in Grant county, The "gang" had headquarters
at Sennett's home in Richland Center, Lownik said.
Weckler Hails Board's Action, Commends Fund for Crime Study
JEFFERSONGeorge Weckler, father of murdered Georgia Jean Weckler, Tuesday commended the Jefferson county board for
appropriating $2,500 for crime investigation last November.. The letter was read at a board session Tuesday.

Wisconsin State Journal

Thursday, December 18, 1947
Diver Sure He Can Lift Cement Chunk from Weckler Grave
Surface Workers Uncover Weight, But Shifting Sand Buries It Again
Searchers began their fifth day of attempts to overpower the ice and strong current of the Wisconsin river today with assurance
from their main diver that he will recover the large chunk of cement believed to be the one used in weighting the body of slain
Georgia Jean Weckler.
The large weight was discovered by "probing" with metal rods and pike poles Tuesday, but because of the weight of the chunk,
searchers working Iron the river surface have been unable to lift it from the river bed.
Believed to weigh 100 pounds
George Lehmann, Jr diver from Watertown, said he believes the cement weighs more than 100 pounds, but that he would be able
to recover it by underwater operations,
Another diver, Frank Mariska Chicago, who served with Lehmann in the navy, arrived at the Blue River scene today to aid in the
diving operations. Three friends of Lehmann from Watertown also were to aid in, the search, serving as "surface tenders" for
Lehmann and Mariska in their dives.
Surface workers attempted Wednesday to release the "chunk" from' its foot-deep lodging place in the river bed sand with air
hoses and "blowing" equipment which is capable of moving sand by means of a powerful jet of water.
Sand Reburies It
The equipment partially uncovered the object but fast-shifting sand and silt immediately covered it again on each attempt.
Lehmann said he would use the "blowing" equipment in his underwater search. He anticipated that it would not "cloud up" the
water too much to hamper diving operations. '
A 15-foot barge owned by the, state conservation department, and two 63-foot barges and a tugboat owned by a Winona, Minn.,
bridge construction firm were to be used not only as headquarters for the diving operations,. but also I as obstructions to "cut" the
strong surface current.
The surface current forced Lehmann to stop diving operations.
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 Consider Clam Dredge
The highway commissioners and district attorneys of Dane, Richland, and Jefferson counties, and conservation workers met in
Richland Center Wednesday-night to discuss the feasibility of obtaining a clam dredge to dig up the bottom of the river for as
deep as 5 to 6 feet.
The dredging operation, however would cost between $2,000 and $3,000, they estimated, and will not be started unless the diving
and probing operations in progress now prove unsuccessful.
Sennett Eyed for 3rd Slaying, Oneida Suspects Him, Seeks Quiz
RHINELANDER - (A.P.) - Buford -Sennett, 22-year-old farm youth who has confessed to two of the most vicious murders in
Wisconsin's history, was implicated today in a third slaying authorities said.
Undersheriff Melford Krouze of Oneida county sought a court order authorizing him to question Sennett about the unsolved
slaying of an unidentified woman whose body was found in the woods near Cassian, Wis., last Sept. 14.
Cassian is a small village about 5 miles north of Tomahawk.
The woman had been strangled. Her body was found in a shallow grave near a cranberry marsh.
Refuses to Be Questioned
Sennett is serving a life sentence in Wisconsin state prison at Waupun for killing Carl Carlson, a University of Wisconsin student.
He also has confessed that he helped murder Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old farm girl last May.
Sennett refused to submit to questioning regarding the unsolved slaying at Cassian. Because he was under prison protection, a
court order was necessary to allow officials to question him against his wish.
Krouze visited the prison Wednesday. After Sennett refused to talk, the undersheriff questioned Robert Winslow, 23, Sennett's
accomplice in the cold-blooded slaying of Carlson. Winslow also I has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.
Winslow Offers Help
Winslow offered to aid in any way he could in solving the Cassian mystery. He said he had read about the killing but knew
nothing of it personally.
He said he did not know whether, Sennett committed the crime but "wouldn't be surprised if he did" because he did not know of
Sennett's activities about the time the woman's body was found.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, December 19th, 1947
Diver Locates Slab, But Not Girl's Body
Barge Moved to Hold Back River Current
By ED MERCER
(State Journal Staff Writer)
BLUE RIVER - George Lehman, Jr. Watertown diver, went down into the Wisconsin river four times this afternoon but found no
trace of the body of murdered Georgia Jean Weckler.
On his fourth try Lehman "contacted" a flat piece of cement but could feel no wires on the exposed portion. The slab, about 4 feet
long and 2 feet wide, was embedded in the river bottom at exactly the spot at which Buford Sennett said he dumped the body of
the 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson girl.
Tom Skaile, Baraboo, former navy diver, was helping in the search and Diver Frank Mariska, Chicago, was scheduled to go to the
river bottom in another try. The divers stay on the bottom about 3 or 4 minutes at a time. Lehmann's diving suit began filling with
water on the fourth time down.
A 63-foot barge was towed above the Blue River Bridge this morning and anchored in front of the spot where convict Buford ford
Sennett said he threw the body of the girl.
The barge was used to break the surface current and also as a base of operations for two former navy divers, George Lehmann, Jr.,
Watertown, and Frank Mariska, Chicago.
The divers planned to try to dislodge the large rock or concrete block which officials believe may be the object used to weight the:
body.
Both divers said they believed it would be an easy job to remove the object. The water at that point is between 8 and 9 feet deep.
The barge, which had been anchored directly below the bridge was moved upriver by a tug which had been anchored next to it.
Sennett, now serving a life term for the murder of a University of Wisconsin student, Carl L. Carlson, has admitted that he and an
unidentified accompliee kidnaped Georgia Jean and threw her from the Blue River Bridge after she died from an overdose of
sleeping pills.

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 Sennett's Accomplice May Have Been a Girl
LAKE MILLS - The unidentified friend, who murderer Buford Sennett claims was his accomplice in the kidnaping and killing of
Georgia Jean Weckler may be a blonde young woman, Ernie Bodeman the night marshal here, has informed authorities.
Bodeman, a friend of the Weckler family who has visited many times in their Ft. Atkinson farm home, reported he saw Georgia
Jean with the blonde woman in the Tyranena cafe here the night she was abducted.
The young woman, who was about 16 or 17 years old and was wearing a grey coat, brought Georgia Jean into the cafe about
10:45 p. m., he said. The woman purchased $2.40 worth of potato chips and ice cream, and left hurriedly, jerking the child with
her, when a car horn blew outside.
The little girl had been crying, he said. He did not know until the next day that Georgia Jean had been kidnaped.
Bodeman said he jokingly suggested to the two that he help them eat the ice cream. Neither of them answered, he reported.
"The horn blew out front, and Georgia flinched as if she didn't want to go. But the older girl jerked her and they hastened, away,"
Bodeman declared. I know it was Georgia Jean Weckler, I wish Id would have known she was missing from her home."
Quiz on 3rd Slaying Temporarily Dropped
RHINELANDER - (U.P.) - Undersheriff Melford Kourze, Oneida County, said today he temporarily had dropped plans to
question Buford Sennett, 22-year-old murderer who confessed kidnaping Georgia Jean Weckler, in the unsolved slaying of an
unidentified woman.
Kourze said he would question Sennett "after the Weckler case is cleared up."
Last Sept. 14 the body of the middle aged woman, thought to be about 55, was found in a shallow grave near a cranberry marsh.
The body was discovered by berry pickers a few miles from Cassian, Wis., about 5 miles north of Tomahawk.

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 Wisconsin State Journal
Saturday, December 20th, 1947
Divers Push Search of River Bottom for Georgia Jean's Body
BLUE RIVER- (U.P.) - Divers began working on the floor of the swiftly-flowing Wisconsin river again today as the search for
the body of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old FL Atkinson girl, entered its seventh day.
Former Navy Diver George Lehmann, Jr., Watertown made four trips to the bottom of the river Friday but sprung a leak in the leg
of his diver's suit on the final trip which halted operation for the day.
New Uniform Secured
However, a new diver's uniform and equipment from Milwaukee were obtained today and operations were continuing under
"good conditions," Deputy Dist. Atty. George E. Rapp reported.
Rapp said underwater flood lights, obtained from the University of Wisconsin, and bright sunshine increased the visibility of the
divers under water.
The chunk of concrete, which surface workers discovered by probing and which may be the weight used on the little girls body,
was covered again by the fast shifting sands on the river bed Friday night after diving operations stopped.
Concrete Slab Found
On his second trip Friday Lehmann found the flat, smooth piece of concrete which he said was four feet long and two feet wide.
Authorities have been probing for this object since convict Buford Sennett pointed out the spot under the Blue River Bridge
where he said he threw the body of Georgia Jean,
Sennett has confessed kidnaping Georgia Jean and then throwing her body from the bridge after she died from an overdose of
sleeping tablets.
Lehmann said he hadn't been able to find any ropes or wires on the concrete to indicate that it was the stone used to weight down
the body of the girl.
Third Diver Added
Lehmann 'thought it would be possible to hook a line on an exposed portion of the concrete so it could be dislodged.
Lehmann and fellow diver George Mariska, Chicago, were joined Friday by Toro Skailes, Baraboo, a veteran army and civilian
diver.
The men are using a 63-foot barge as a base of operations. The barge, which is anchored directly above the bridge, also breaks the
surface current and protects the divers from the ice floes.
In Madison, however, Dane County Sheriff Edward A. Fischer said he believed the searchers would be forced to resort to a clam
dredge which would scoop bucketful of sand from the floor of the river.
Fischer, who has been participating in the operations, said the swift current would immediate cover with sand any small holes
which divers could dig.
Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, December 21st, 1947
Dredge to Seek Weckler Clues
Sands to Be Sifted; Diving Continues
Shifting sands in the Wisconsin River which have hindered diving operations in the search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler
are to be lifted from beneath the Blue river bridge by a clam-dredge beginning Monday and then sifted for possible clues.
Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik of Richland County emphasized that the diving operations while successful in the "surface search" of
the river bed could not be expected to probe beneath the surface.
Work on Hands, Knees
Divers worked on their hands and knees all day Saturday, trying to peer into the darkness of the fast-moving Wisconsin River.
A new light sent to the scene by Capt. Harvey Black of the University of Wisconsin lifesaving crew aided the three divers but
shifting sands were the most hampering aspect of the search.
One diver laid a 1-inch iron bar used for probing down on the river bed for "just a minute" and it was covered by the sand almost
immediately.
Despite the cold divers stayed down as long as one half hour at a time Saturday in the most successful day of the operation.
Slab Turns Out to Be Rock
The slab of concrete believed to have been the rock tied to the body of the slain girl, turned out to be merely a flat rock. When the
bridge was built 20 years ago, many such rocks were tossed into the river bed to strengthen the pillars of the bridge.
The clam dredge is scheduled to go into operation early Monday on the upstream side of the Blue river bridge.
The dredge has a capacity of 1/2 yard and will hoist the sand directly into trucks on the bridge.

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 Sand to Be Sifted
As each truck is full, it will drive off to the side of the river bank where the sand can be sifted through wire screens, Lownik said.
"Any small clue at all, will, help," he noted.
Officials recalled the hesitation of Buford Sennett, confessed murderer, when he pointed out the exact spot where he tossed the
girl's body off the bridge.
"Those many spans on the bridge all look alike," they said, and indicated that future operations would have to include "all spans
of the bridge."
Divers Will Continue
Divers were to continue operations today, though officials pinned most hopes for clues on the dredging.
In the meantime, a national construction firm offered advice on how to use the clam machine.
As the sands shift continually, the clam will probably dig at one spot, with the sides of the hole caving in almost as fast as the
sand is dug out, the firm noted.
George Lehmann, Watertown, and George Morioka, and Tom Skailes, all veteran divers, teamed up Saturday to search the bottom
of the river bed inch by inch. Even on their hands and knees they could see only a foot ahead of them.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, December 24th, 1947
Where Sennett Says Georgia Jean Was Killed
Search-for Body Continues; to Stop for Christmas Day
JEFFERSON - (U.P.) - Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said today operations would stop for Christmas at Blue River where the
Wisconsin River is being probed for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler.
A clam digger is removing sand in the river bed where Buford Sennett confessed he threw the girl's body after she was killed
following her kidnaping by him and an unnamed companion. She failed to return to her home near Ft. Atkinson last May 1.
The digger was moved to a new spot today closer to a cement bridge abutment, Garity said several hours of digging would
remove much sand as advisable without weakening the bridge. He said operations then would stop until after Christmas.
A diver still is standing by to explore the river bed after sand is removed. Since the probing began in the river more than a week
ago, no evidence of the girl's body has been found.
Sennett, serving a life term in the state prison for the murder of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, said the body of
the girl was weighted with a concrete slab and thrown into deep water from the bridge.

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 The Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, December 28th, 1947
New Evidence Boosts Interest in 'Lost' Diary
FT. ATKINSON -The belief that a pocket day book found Tuesday on a bus at Janesville may be linked with the Weckler case
was strengthened Saturday by evidence submitted by the bus driver.
The book, in which the name of "Buford" was mentioned three times, was first seen by the driver the day before Buford Sennett's
confession, that he and an unnamed friend had kidnaped and killed Georgia Jean Weckler was made public.
Sennett. 22, Richland Center is serving a life term in Waupun prison for the slaying of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin
student from Superior.
The driver of the Cardinal Lines bus told Jefferson Count/ Dist. Atty. Francis Garity that he had first noted the book at Beaver
Dam Dec. 14 but that he had not examined it until Tuesday when the book turned up again in cleaning. Sennett's confession was
not made public until Dec. 15.
Garity doubted that the book had been left in the bus as a hoax, partly because of the time element and partly because there is so
little in the book."
"Anyone leaving the book as a hoax probably would have been more thorough," the district attorney said,
The page for May 2 through 8 had been neatly cut from the book. Garity said. The Weckler girl was kidnaped and killed May 1.
The book also contained the first names of about 10 girls and there were such penciled references as "Buford was in Boscobel"
and "Buford was in town."
Prison Too Small for Both Him, Sennett
WAUPUN - Convict Roman Franken, captured after his Christmas day escape, was back in Waupun state prison today.
Franken, captured Saturday entering his mother's home in Milwaukee with a box of candy under his arm, told official he couldn't
stand being in the same prison with Buford Sennett.
"I've got too big ideals to associate with fellows like that," the 22-year-old robber said.
Franken said that every prisoner in Waupun hates Sennett, the convicted slayer of Carl Carlson, University of Wisconsin student,
and admitted kidnaper of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler.
Besides the candy, Franken had $38.76 when he was captured, and he said he stole both from a house in the town of Greenfield.
Franken made a key from a pan handle to get out of the prison kitchen, jumped from the bullpen to the wall, and then jumped
from the wall to the outside grounds.
He was sentenced to the state prison Sept. 4, 1946 for three to 25 years for armed robbery and assault. He blamed his young wife
for his start in crime. She threatened to leave him while he was on duty in the South Pacific, he said.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Tuesday, December 30th, 1947
Sennett Denies Any Link to Diary
Buford Sennett, confessed slayer, has disclaimed knowledge al a diary in which his name is entered in several places, Dist. Atty.
Francis Garity, of Jefferson County, said today.
Garity questioned Sennett about the notebook at Waupun prison Monday in an attempt to shed further light on the murder of
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, daughter of a Ft. Atkinson farm family.
Pages of the book dated from May 2 to 8 were missing when it was found last week on a bus in Janesville, The kidnap slaying of
the child occurred during those days, according to Sennett's confession.
The notebook also refers to Blue River, Muscoda, and Fennimore. Sennett has confessed throwing the child's body in the Blue
River.
A further investigation of the book will be made, Garity said.
The Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, December 31st, 1947
Sheriff Perry, Jefferson, Quits, Says Health Forces Him to Leave Office
Sheriff George F. Perry of Jefferson County resigned his office today, effective immediately.
In a letter of resignation addressed to County Clerk James D Hyer, said he was giving up his office "because of my physical
condition and the necessity for further treatment and hospitalization."
The resignation was signed at 10:15 today in Gov. Rennehohms office, after a brief meeting attended by the governor, Jefferson
County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, Atty. Gen, John E. Martin, and Publisher James LaChance of the Palmyra Enterprise.
LaChance is chairman of the Jefferson county Republican voluntary committee.

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Perry's past year in office was marked by the disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson girl, the subsequent
search for her abductors, and finally the futile search for the girl's body after Buford Sennett, convicted slayer of Carl L. Carlson
admitted a part in Georgia Jean's disappearance and death.
Ferry was elected to the sheriff's office in 1944 and had another year to run in his second term. Before his election he operated a
tavern in Oxonia.
Gov. Rennebohrn will appoint successor Friday, LaChance said.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, March 3rd, 1948
Weckler Case Reviewed; Search to Await Thaw
Officials of three counties and the state met Thursday in Jefferson to review the files in the case of Georgia Jean Weckler, Ft.
Atkinson farm girl who disappeared from her home May 1, 1947.
Attending the meeting were State Crime Laboratory Chief 1Charles M. Wilson; Dane County Undersheriff Elmer Ottum;
Richland Dist. Atty. Leo Lownik, and Jefferson Dist. Atty. Francis Garity.
No plans will be made to resume the search for the girl's body until the spring thaw, they said. The Wisconsin River was dragged
late last year after Buford Sennett, life-term murderer, confessed that he and an unnamed accomplice had kidnaped and killed the
little girl.
Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, April 15th, 1948
Weckler Search Not Over,Garity Says
JEFFERSON - UP - Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity said today he hoped to be able to resume search for the body of
Georgia Jean Weckler later in the year, although the swift current of the Wisconsin River made such an operation impossible at
the present time.
Garity's report came after he visited the Blue River bridge earlier this week with Sheriff Roland Gibson and George Weckler,
father of the 8-year-old girl who was kidnaped last May 1. Buford Sennett, Richland Center youth serving a life term for the
murder of a University of Wisconsin student, confessed last December that he and an unnamed accomplice kidnaped and killed
the little third grader and dumped her body into the Wisconsin River.
First Search Failed
An intensive search last winter failed to produce any trace of the child's body. Although Garity said it would be futile to resume
the search now because of the swift current and shifting sands, he added that he had not given up hope that the search might be
resumed late in the summer when the river level became reduced and the current slowed up. He said resumption of digging
operations now would be merely a repetition of the search conducted last winter after Sennett's confession. He said he was
satisfied that officials did as much as they could in that attempt.
Father Still Hopes
Weckler said he had not given up hope that the body of his daughter might be found some day. He said that he too was satisfied
that authorities had done a good job in their efforts to find a trace of the youngster.
Accomplice Never Found
Until Sennett's confession, authorities had no tangible clues to the baffling mystery. The companion of Sennett has never been
found, despite efforts by Garity to question all known friends of the slayer. Sentenced with Sennett was Robert Winslow, Owen.
The two youths admitted they killed Carl L. Carlson of Superior, and then took a girl relative on an all night terror ride in which
they raped her several times. They were captured on a Clark county farm several days after the crime, after authorities surrounded
the farm during a dramatic all-day vigil.
Wisconsin State Journal
Saturday, May 1st, 1948
Georgia Jean Vanished One Year Ago Today
FT. ATKINSON - Today is the first anniversary of the disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler who vanished without
a clue while on her way home from school on May day a year ago. "We're resigned to the fact that Georgia's dead," her father said
Friday, "but we'd feel a lot better if we could find her body." The girl's father stated that a reward of $7,000 awaits anyone who
can furnish information concerning the missing girl.
The reward money was contributed by 400 persons, mostly Jefferson county residents. Only break in the case, after months of
questioning and searching, came when Buford Sennett, confessed killer of a University of Wisconsin student, said he and an
accomplice had accidently killed the girl with an overdose of sleeping tablets. Sennett said the girl's body had been dumped into
the Wisconsin river off the Blue River bridge. Dredging of the area failed to locate the body. Weckler expressed doubt Friday that
the body had been thrown into the river. He said he believed "only part of Sennett's confession."

170
 Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, May 3rd, 1948
Officials Meet Here to Plan Weckler Search
Law enforcement officials from Dane, Richland, and Jefferson counties met today in Dist. Atty. Edwin M. Wilkie's office to lay
plans for resuming the search for Georgia Jean Weckler, Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared from her home a year ago
Saturday.
Attending the conference were Wilkie, Sheriff Edward A. Fischer, Richland Dist. Atty. Leo P. Lownik, Richland Sheriff Loren
Mar-shall, Jefferson Dist. Atty. Francis Garity, and. Jefferson Sheriff Roland Gibson.
Buford Sennett, convicted slayer of a University of Wisconsin student, confessed six months ago that he and an unidentified
accomplice had killed the Wackier girl and thrown her body in the Wisconsin river at the Blue River bridge. However, an
intensive underwater search failed to reveal the girl's body.
Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, May 5th, 1948
Officials Plan New Meeting on Weckler Search
Plans for intensifying the search for clues to solve the disappearance of little Georgia Jean Weckler, will be discussed again
Friday night in Richland Center at a meeting of officials from Dane, Jefferson, and Richland counties.
The sheriffs and district attorneys from the three counties, and State Crime Laboratory Chief Charles M. Wilson met in Dist. Atty.
Edwin M. Wilkie's office here Monday and reviewed the work which has been done on the case since Georgia Sean disappeared
from her Ft. Atkinson farm home more than a year ago.
No definite decision was reached as to how the search will he continued, but suggested plans will be discussed. Friday night the
officials said. The officials will continue to investigate a confession given Buford Sennett, convicted slayer of a University of
Wisconsin student, that he and an unidentified accomplice killed the little girl and tossed her body off the Blue River bridge,
Because of the time which has elapsed since the girls disappearance, there is some doubt if her body will be found. The recent
collapse of the Blue River bridge will net deter any future underwater search for the body there the officials said.

Wisconsin State Journal

Friday, May 7th, 1948
Search Planned for Georgia Jean
River Hunt Sunday at Five Bridges
JEFFERSON An intensive search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler, kidnaped farm girl, will be made in the Wisconsin
river between Spring Green and Boscobel on Sunday, Francis Garity, district attorney of Jefferson county, announced today.
Weather permitting, crews of river men who know the river and its currents will conduct the search, Garity said before he left for
a conference of law enforcement officials of Jefferson, Dane, and Richland counties at Richland Center tonight.
The crews will concentrate the search at Wisconsin River bridges at Spring Green, Lone Rock, Muscoda, Blue River, and
Boscobel.
Garity said that the search will, be organized under the supervision of Loren Marshall, Richland county sheriff, and will be
completed in the one day.
Ice and high water made impossible a thorough search for the girl's body last winter.
Georgia Jean, 8-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, was kidnaped May 1, 1947.
Buford Sennett, Richland Center youth serving a life term for the murder of a University of Wisconsin student, confessed last
December that he and an accomplice kidnaped and killed the third grader and dumped her body into the Wisconsin River from the
Blue River Bridge.

171
 Wisconsin State Journal
Saturday, May 8th, 1948
50 to Hunt , River Sunday for Georgia
RICHLAND CENTER - Some 50 volunteers will search the Wisconsin River Sunday for clues to the disappearance of 8-year-old
Georgia Jean Weckler. Dist Atty. Leo Lownik said the party would cover the 35 mile stretch of water from the Spring Green
bridge to Boscobel in river boats close to shore rather than drag the river as was done last winter. The river bank from Blue River
to Boscobel also will be combed for articles of clothing and other possessions that might have belonged to the child.
Lownik asked that all persons wishing to lend their boats for use, in the search contact Sheriff Loren Marshall at Richland Center.
The search will start at 8 am Sunday.
The Ft. Atkinson girl disappeared May 1, 1947, from a lane leading to her farm home. Buford Sennett, now serving a life term for
the murder of a University of Wisconsin student, told police, he and an unidentified accomplice kidnapped and killed Georgia
Jean and threw her body into the river at Blue River. However an extensive search of the water at Blue River produced no trace of
the girl's body.
Sheriff Loren Marshall will direct the search Sunday. He will be aided by sheriffs from Dane, Sauk, Iowa, Grant, Crawford, and
Jefferson counties.
The search was scheduled for only one day, Lownik said. Plans were made at a meeting here Friday night of the sheriff and State
Crime Laboratory Director Charles Wilson.
Wisconsin State Journal
Monday, May 10th, 1948
Heavy Rain Cancels Search of River for Weckler Clues
Plans to search the banks of the Wisconsin River Sunday from Spring Green to Boscobel, a distance of 35 miles, for possible
clues to the disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, had to be called off before noon because of the heavy rain which
swept the area all day.
Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, July 21st, 1948
Jefferson Objects to $1,702 Bill in Georgia Jean Search
JEFFERSON - The sheriff's committee of the Jefferson county board Tuesday recommended that the board reject a $1,702 bill for
diving operations in the futile search for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler in the Wisconsin river near the Blue river bridge.
R. J. Conklin, Watertown, chairman of the committee, told the board that the committee decided that the bill, presented by the
Lehman Construction Co., was too high. He said that the company had refused settling the bill for 50 per cent of the amount.
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity appeared before the board and said that he had ordered the operations, but that the bill was
"unreasonable and excessive."
Garity said that he could not recommend "payment in full."
He pointed out that the company had billed the county for equipment that had not been used in the operations.
The board tabled the proposal to reject the bill until a later meeting, but many members clearly indicated they didn't favor paying
the bill in full.

Wisconsin State Journal

Wednesday, September 8th, 1948
Buford's Beezer Bopped by Burly Boxer Brun

Buford Sennett, the brutal rapist-murderer who was sentenced to life imprisonment after a statewide manhunt, last November,
was, severely beaten by another inmate at Waupun state prison Monday during a Labor Day baseball game it was learned today.
The beating was inflicted by Tony Bruno, ex-Milwaukee prize fighter who is serving a three to four year term for perjury in
connection with a Kenosha murder case.

172
 Didn't Fight Back
Sennett, with other prisoners were standing in centerfield of the inside-the-walls baseball park watching the game between the
prison team and Cudahy players.
Bruno made his way toward Sennett and slugged him several times with his fists before prison guards could restrain him.
Bruno, who was one of the outstanding middleweight boxing contenders in this area for many years, has a "punch like the kick of
a horse" and Sennett was unable to fight back, prison officials said.
Sennett suffered a fractured nose and multiple face and head bruises during the brief assault. He has been confined to the prison
hospital since the attack.
Given Solitary
Bruno was placed in solitary confinement.
Prison officials said they were unable to learn what agitated Bruno into striking Sennett.
Sennett and Robert Winslow, both of Richland Center were sentenced to life terms by Superior Judge Roy H. Proctor for the
murder of Carl L. Carlson, University of Wisconsin student, and the rape of a girl.
Sennett also has admitted kidnaping Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Jefferson county farm girl and dumping her body in the
Wisconisn River.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, November 5th, 1948
'Fort' Hears Weckler Case Suspect Held
FT ATKINSON - Although reports were sweeping this city today that a man was being held in connection with the kidnaping of
Georgia Jean Weckler, county officials refused to confirm them.
One press association quoted Sheriff Roland Gibson of Jefferson County as announcing the arrest.
But Gibson, out on another case, could not be reached, and a deputy declared "we are holding nobody."
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity called the story "just a rumor."
"I've heard it three times this morning but that's all I know about it," he said.
He had not checked with Gibson since hearing the report, he explained, but had talked to him with a few hours before the reports
began and had not been told of an arrest.
Georgia Jean, an 8-year-old farm girl disappeared May 1, 1947.
Late last year Buford Sennett told authorities that he and an unidentified friend kidnaped the girl, and said that her body was
thrown into the Wisconsin River after she had been given a fatal dose of sleeping pills. The body never was found.
Sennett is serving a life sentence at Waupun state prison for another murder he confessed.
Wisconsin State Journal
Friday, December 3rd, 1948
Proved Liar, Weckler Case Suspect Freed
FT. ATKINSON - (U.P) - Authorities today released a 25-year-old working girl who claimed she was supposed to collect the
ransom in the Georgia Jean Weckler kidnaping.
Sheriff Roland J. Gibson said he freed the girl after more than a month of questioning and investigation "because her whole story
was just a figment of her imagination."
Georgia Jean, 8, disappeared from her Ft. Atkinson farm home May 1, 1947, and has never been seen since.
Buford Sennett, convicted murderer, confessed that he and an accomplice kidnapped her and threw her body in the Wisconsin'
river at Blue River.
The woman was taken into custody Nov. 1, Gibson said, when she told a "fantastic" story of taking part in the kidnaping plot.
"We finally eliminated her as a suspect," he said, "when lie detector tests at Madison proved her story was all wrong."
Gibson said the woman said she was approached by a man she couldn't identify and asked if she would help collect the ransom,
She was told, she said, that she would be given a cut of any profit.
The sheriff refused to identify the girl because "she is a working girl and it wouldn't serve any useful purpose to say who she is."
Gibson at first denied that al suspect was being held when the rumor first began to circulate last month. He said he did this to
protect the girl until such a time as she might be proved guilty.
Although Sennett admitted slaying Georgia Jean, neither her body nor the alleged accomplice has been found. Gibson said
another suspect, a man, was questioned and released last Monday.
"We're still following up any leads that come along," he said. "We spent more than a month and went all over the state tracking
down this girl's story."

173
 Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, February 3rd, 1949
Ashes to Be Tested in Weckler Mystery
Crime Lab Action OKd by Fairchild After D.A. Refuses
By JUNE DIECKIVIANN (State Journal Staff Writer)
Ashes from a killer's hideout were to be analyzed at the state crime laboratory here today for clues concerning the mystery of little
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared nearly two years ago, The State Journal learned late
Wednesday night. Officials who were investigating reports that the child's body had been burned found the ashes last October in
the woods near Richland Center at the dugout hiding place of Buford Sennett, convicted murderer-rapist and confessed kidnaper
of Georgia Jean.
Kept by Girl's Parents
For the four months since the discovery, the ashes have been kept by the bereaved parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Weckler, at their
farm home because Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity refused to send them to the crime laboratory for examination, The
State Journal learned. Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Fairchild late Wednesday authorized Charles M. Wilson, crime laboratory
director, to analyze the ashes after he had been informed of Garity's refusal and had received reports of lack of
cooperation among officials investigating the Weckler case. At the request of the father, the ashes were brought to Madison
Wednesday by Police Officer Otto Flaig, Ft. Atkinson.
Three Senators Help
Three senators, Chester E. Dempsey (R-Hartland), J. Earl Leverich (R-Sparta), and Bernhard Gettelman (R-Milwaukee), helped
Officer Flaig obtain the attorney general's authorization for examination of the ashes. It has been the policy of the crime
laboratory to examine only evidentiary material which has . been referred to the laboratory with the approval of the district
attorney in whose county the crime was committed, Director Wilson said. "Regardless of whether the ashes reveal anything, they
should he analyzed to ease the doubt in the minds of the little girl's parents," Wilson declared. Mr. and Mrs. Weckler have clung
to hope that their daughter is still alive because her body has never been found.
Collected at Hideout
Weckler, Officer Flaig, and Atty. William H. Rogers, Ft. Atkinson, collected the ashes from topsoil at Sennett's hideout last Oct.
9, after they had been located there by a 25-year-old Ft. Atkinson woman who claimed she witnessed the burning of Georgia'
Jean's body, Flaig said. The following day, Dist. Atty. Garity questioned the woman and reported that she had given him a signed
statement that "her, whole story was just a figment of her imagination." He refused to authorize an examination of the ashes,
which Georgia Jean's father carried to his office in a tightly-woven cloth bag, and ordered the woman, released.
Released After Lie Test
On Nov. 1, the woman was, picked up again upon orders of 1 Garity and Jefferson County Sheriff Roland Gibson and was held
for a month for investigation. They released her on Dec. when Gibson reported that she had been given a lie detector test; which
convinced him that she was not involved in Georgia Jean's disappearance. Weckler said he wanted an examination of the ashes on
the basis of an earlier story given by the woman on Oct. 6 to Officer Flaig and City Atty. Harold C.1 Smith, Ft. Atkinson. At that
time, Flaig said the, woman told them that Sennett had discussed with her his plans for kidnaping the Weckler child and holding
her for ransom because he needed money.
To Have Been Go-Between
She said she was to have been, the go-between, but because of the many police and sheriff's officers at the Weckler farm after
Georgia Jean disappeared on May 1,1947, she was unable to deliver the ransom demand to the parents. Flaig said she claimed that
Sennett and a woman she did not know, drove her to the hideout about 3 miles south of Richland. Center where they found
Georgia Jean's body, guarded by a man she refused to identify. The little girl had died from an overdose of sleeping pills, the
woman told Flaig. Sennett and the man poured, acid on the body and burned it in a "raging fire," Flaig said the woman claimed.
Says Threatened Her
She said Sennett threatened' her with the same fate if she, revealed the story to officers, Flaig reported. Officer Flaig said the
woman led the way to the spot where ''the ashes were found. Tree limbs above where she said the fire was built "had been killed
from some cause," Flaig reported. Sennett, along with Robert Winslow, his accomplice in the slaying of Carl L. Carlson,
University of Wisconsin student, is serving a life sentence in Waupun state prison. After Sennett had repeatedly denied any
connection with the Weckler case, Dist. Atty. Garity announced on Dec. 15, 1947, that he had obtained a confession from the
killer at the prison.
Blames Pal for Death
In the confession, Garity said Sennett had admitted that he and an unidentified friend had abducted Georgia Jean given her two
sleeping pills, and drove her in Sennett's car to the wooded hideout area south of Richland Center. Sennett blamed the
"unidentified friend" for the girl's death, explaining that she had been given more sleeping pills and was dead when he returned to
the woods after spending the night at home in Richland Center. Garity said Sennett confessed "weighting down" the girl's body
and throwing it off the Blue River bridge into the Wisconsin River, the same site where officials recovered the body of Carlson.
However, intensive dragging and diving operations failed to uncover the body or any evidence of the little girl.

174
 Wisconsin State Journal
Thursday, February 10th, 1949
Analysis of Ashes Reveals No Clues in Weckler Case
The ashes from a killer's hide-out failed to reveal any clues to the mysterious disappearance of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler,
Atty. Gen. Thomas E. Fairchild told The State Journal Wednesday night. The ashes, which were analyzed by Director Charles M.
Wilson and his staff at the state crime laboratory, were gathered by the little girl's father, George Weckler, and Police Officer Otto
Flaig, Ft. Atkinson, last October at the hideout near Richland Center of Buford Sennett, convicted murderer of Carl L. Carlson,
University of Wisconsin student.
Shortly after Sennett and Robert Winslow were sentenced to life terms in Waupun state prison last November, Jefferson County
Dist. Atty. Francis Garity reported that he had obtained admissions from Sennett that he (Sennett) and an unidentified accomplice
had kidnaped Georgia lean, and dumped her body in the Wisconsin river after she had died of an overdose of sleeping pills.
A 25-year-old Ft. Atkinson woman, who claimed to be an acquaintance of Sennett, later old conflicting stories concerning
Georgia Jean's body having been burned at Sennett's hideout, which caused Flaig and Weckler to collect the ashes.
Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, Februrary 27th, 1949
Police Commission at Fort To Hear Officer's Views
FT. ATKINSONPolice Officer Otto Flaig will be called before the Ft. Atkinson police and fire commission to present "his side
of the story" in regard to a complaint filed against him by Jefferson County Dist. Atty. Francis Garity.
Garity complained in writing to the commission about the Ft. Atkinson officer's statements that Garity had refused to send ashes,
believed to be concerned with the Georgia Jean Weckler case, to the state crime laboratory for analysis. Garity denied that he
knew the ashes existed. The ashes, which were found at the Richland Center hideout of Buford Sennett, were revealed by
laboratory examination to have no connection with the Weckler case.
City Manager Elmore Klement said the commission felt that Flaig should be permitted to answer Garity's complaints because
there "probably are two sides to the issue."
The Capital Times
Monday, August 29th, 1949
Won't Question Shaar About Weckler Case
Man Held at Monroe Is Not Involved, Jefferson County Sheriff Declares
MONROE, Wis. - Jefferson County Sheriff Roland. Gibson today denied reports that he would question Robert Schaar, 37-Year-
old ex-convict, about the unsolved disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, from her farm home near Ft. Atkinson about two
years ago.
Schaar, who was arrested recently on a morals charge involving a boy and girl, is being held in the Green county jail here pending
arraignment this week. He previously served a short term in Waupun prison in 1947 on a morals charge.
"The investigation Schaar shortly after Georgia Jean's disappearance revealed that he was not involved in, the case," Gibson said.
It was rumored here Sunday that Gibson would question Schaar after Beloit police notified him that Schaar had not paid a doctor
bill there as he claimed on May 1, 1947, the day Georgia Jean vanished.
At that time Schaar was questioned after a Jefferson county farmer reported that a man resembling him was seen in Ft. Atkinson
driving a car which answered the description of the car in which Georgia Jean was believed to have been kidnapped.
Green County Dist. Atty. Rodney Kittleson said he may request a mental examination for Schaar, and possibly will ask him to
submit to lie detector tests concerning other moral cases in Green County.

Wisconsin State Journal

Thursday, September 1st, 1949
Farmer Cleared in Weckler Case
Man Admits Other Crimes Brodhead Suspect Tells Sex Offenses
MONROE - A 37-year-old Brodhead farmer was cleared of suspicion in the famed Georgia Jean Weckler disappearance case
Wednesday, but admitted several other sex crimes in Green County, the district attorney's office reported Wednesday night.
Dist. Atty. Rodney 0 Kittleson told The State Journal that Robert Schaar admitted to him of taking indecent liberties with two
minors and of other sex cases in Green County while the latter was taking lie detector tests at the state crime laboratory in
Madison.
"We examined and questioned him in connection with several morals cases," Kittelson said, "and he admitted the two
counts we have charged him with.
"He also admitted other morals crimes in the county including one with a 13 year-old girl which we didn't know about.

175
"There was no indication that he had anything to do with the Weckler case," Kittelson continued, "and we are not going to push
that investigation any further."
The 8-year-old Weckler girl disappeared from her Ft. Atkinson farm home May 1. 1947.
Schaar has been held in the county jail since last week on morals charges involving a boy and a girl. Kittelson said he would be
brought to trial sometime after Labor day.
In the meantime, Kittelson said he would seek to have Schaar given mental examinations, with the possibility of having him
committed to a mental institution.
"He has already served time in penitentiaries for this sort of thing," Kittelson said," and prisons don't seem to do him any good."
Schaar had been questioned by Jefferson county authorities at the time Georgia Jean disappeared.
He was questioned then after a Jefferson county farmer reported that a man resembling him was seen in Ft. Atkinson driving a car
answering the description of a car in which the Weckler girl was believed to have been kidnapped.
Schaar testified then he was in Beloit paying a doctor bill.
Wisconsin State Journal
Wednesday, September 14th, 1949
Schaar Sentenced on Moral Counts
Clarno Man, 37, Gets 4-5 Years Was Twice Questioned in Weckler Case
MONROE - Robert A. Schaar, 37-year old Clarno area farmhand who was twice questioned in the Weckler kidnaping case, was
sentenced to Waupun state prison on "repeater" and two morals charges Tuesday.
Schaar was sentenced by Green County Judge Harold J. Lamboley to four to five years at Waupun on a state repeater statute and
to separate sentences of one to two years on two admitted charges of taking indecent liberties with minors the sentences to run
concurrently.
Took Lie Test
Schaar was twice questioned on the kidnaping of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared May
1, 1947, but a lie detector test Aug. 30 by the state crime laboratory at Madison failed to reveal any connection with the case.
A contemplated third charge involving a minor girl was dropped because of lack of sufficient evidence, Dist. Atty. Rodney 0.
Kittelsen said.
The morals charges on which Schaar was convicted involved a 10-year-old girl and a boy, 13.
Sentenced in 1947
Schaar was first sentenced to Waupun for 12 to 18 months in the Green county court in October, 1947, on a similar charge and
was released this year.
The farmhand repeatedly expressed his willingness to undergo both physical and mental treatment in an effort to rehabilitate
himself, defense Atty. F. Earl Lamboley said.
Judge Lamboley commended both the defense and district attorneys on their endeavors to find another solution other than the
penitentiary to the Schaar problem, but stated that under existing laws no such alternative is possible.
Schaar was to be taken to Waupun today.

Wisconsin State Journal

Wednesday, September 14th, 1949
Schaar Sentenced on Moral Counts
Clarno Man, 37, Gets 4-5 Years Was Twice Questioned in Weckler Case
MONROE - Robert A. Schaar, 37-year old Clarno area farmhand who was twice questioned in the Weckler kidnaping case, was
sentenced to Waupun state prison on "repeater" and two morals charges Tuesday.
Schaar was sentenced by Green County Judge Harold J. Lamboley to four to five years at Waupun on a state repeater statute and
to separate sentences of one to two years on two admitted charges of taking indecent liberties with minors the sentences to run
concurrently.
Took Lie Test
Schaar was twice questioned on the kidnaping of Georgia Jean Weckler, 8-year-old Ft. Atkinson farm girl who disappeared May
1, 1947, but a lie detector test Aug. 30 by the state crime laboratory at Madison failed to reveal any connection with the case.
A contemplated third charge involving a minor girl was dropped because of lack of sufficient evidence, Dist. Atty. Rodney 0.
Kittelsen said.
The morals charges on which Schaar was convicted involved a 10-year-old girl and a boy, 13.

176
 Sentenced in 1947
Schaar was first sentenced to Waupun for 12 to 18 months in the Green county court in October, 1947, on a similar charge and
was released this year.
The farmhand repeatedly expressed his willingness to undergo both physical and mental treatment in an effort to rehabilitate
himself, defense Atty. F. Earl Lamboley said.
Judge Lamboley commended both the defense and district attorneys on their endeavors to find another solution other than the
penitentiary to the Schaar problem, but stated that under existing laws no such alternative is possible.
Schaar was to be taken to Waupun today.
The Capital Times
Thursday, January 20th, 1966
Francis J. Garity Dies; Attorney in Jefferson Co.
JEFFERSON Francis J. Garity, 57, former district attorney for Jefferson County and a former Jefferson city attorney, died
unexpectedly Wednesday night while returning to his home in Jefferson from an American Legion meeting. Garity became
widely known throughout the state and nation when he conducted the investigation into the disappearance of Georgia Jean
Weckler, who was kidnaped from her farm home on May 1, 1947.
He was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Jefferson. He was a past commander of the
Legion and a past president of the Wisconsin Reserve Officers Association. A veteran of World War II, he was a lieutenant
commander, junior grade, in the Madison Naval Reserve. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, he was a
member of the Wisconsin State Bar and the Jefferson County Bar Association. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus.
Surviving are his w i f e, the former Hazel Klett of East Troy, who he married in Madison in May, 1940; two daughters, Mrs.
David (Patricia) Smitz, DeKaib, a former Madison resident and graduate of the University of Wisconsin in law enforcement, and
Virginia, a student at the University of Wisconsin; a son, Michael, at home; two brothers, Larry, St. Paul, Minn., and Earl, I
Oconomowoc; six sisters, Miss Loret Garity, Chicago, Ill.; Mrs. Donald Kehr, Watertown; Mrs. Arthur Enters, Mrs. Thomas
Bowen, and Mrs. Fred Voreck, all of Oconomowoc; and M r s. Genevieve Haydn, Royal Oaks, Mich; and two grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Saturday, at 10:30 a.m. at the Matters funeral home, and at 11 a.m. at St John the Baptist Catholic
Church, Jefferson. Burial will be I in St. John's Catholic cemetery. Friends may call after 3 p.m. Friday at the funeral home where
the parish and Knights of Columbus rosary will be recited at 8 p.m., Friday.

Wisconsin State Journal

Saturday, March 2nd, 1996
Report not cause enough for exhumation in 1947 killing
AP, State Journal staff - A man's claim that the body of a girl kidnapped in 1947 might be buried beneath a Delavan green-house
doesn't provide enough evidence to justify further investigation, authorities said Friday. Statements by Ed J. Lindloff of Delavan,
don't make a clear link between the greenhouse and the abduction of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler of rural Fort Atkinson,
Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme said. Georgia disappeared May 1, 1947, after a school bus dropped her off at the lane
leading to her family's farm near Cambridge. Months after the disappearance, convicted killer Buford Sennett confessed to the
crime. Sennett was serving a life sentence for the murder of a UW student and a rape. Officials were unable to prosecute Sennett
in the Weckler case because of the manner in which his confession was obtained.
Quamme said he and Walworth County Sheriff Dean McKenzie weren't persuaded by Lindloffs claim the body could be buried
be-neath the Treasure Hut green-house. Lindloff, now in his 70s and a former Delavan official, said he saw two men bury a
package about the size of a child beneath what today is the greenhouse. He was working with a horse and plow in a field east of
the site.
Lindloff told police the following Monday morning he saw the two pull a package from a car trunk and carry it over to the
foundation of the boiler room and throw it into the excavated area and cover it with dirt. He contacted authorities 49 years ago
after reading about the girl's disappearance and a witness comment about seeing a truck that resembled the one driven by the
construction workers. He was told Jefferson investigators checked it out but could not make any connection with the Weckler
disappearance.
Michael Sullivan, chief sheriff deputy in Jefferson, said officers checked where Lindloff said he saw the bundle buried. "There is
a lot of concrete with heat pipe in the floor and a supporting wall and working greenhouse there. It would be pretty costly to
demolish and then rebuild all of that based on such flimsy evidence," Sullivan said.

The Wisconsin State Journal

Sunday, August 18th, 1985
Hitchhikers met tragedy in 47 storm.
By Marvin Balousek Police reporter
Carl L. Carlson, 25, waited in Madison for his sister-in-law's train on a snowy Friday night, Nov. 14, 1947. When the train
arrived, they planned to catch a bus to Badge Village near Baraboo, where he lived with his wife Carol and their 2-month-old
daughter, Carla.

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Carlson, a World War-II Navy veteran, was tired of studying medicine and wanted to pursue studies in an area that was
intellectually less confining. Earlier in the day, he had talked about this and his atheistic beliefs with a graduate English assistant.
"When you're dead, you're dead," he told her, adding that science would prove someday that man has no immortal soul
The train was late, causing Carlson and his sister-in-law, a 19-year-old University of Michigan student, to miss the last 10 p.m.
bus. They hitchhiked at the corner of University Avenue and Park Street, where two young men, Buford Sennett and Robert
Winslow, picked them up.
Sennett, 22, of Richland Center, was intelligent and an early high school graduate. He was sentenced to Green Bay Reformatory
in 1943 for a schoolhouse burglary, where he met Winslow, a beady-eyed grade school dropout who was serving time for car
theft.
The Plymouth Winslow was driving that night had been stolen in Galena, Ill. It had been repainted black and Sennett had put
plate on it issued to a car his father had sold.
After driving though Middleton Sennett suggested that Carlson and his sister-in-law sit in front so he could lay down in back.
They changed seats and drove west on Highway 12.
Without warning near Springfield Corners, Sennett pulled out a revolver and fired two shots into the back of Carlson head and
one in his ribs. Carlson body toppled on to his sister-in-law, spilling blood on her suit. Later, Sennett said, "I didn't like I the way
he was looking at Bob." The woman was forced into the back seat, where Sennett and Winslow repeatedly raped her while they
took turns driving. Winslow fired a fourth shot into Carlson's body. "We've got a bullet left for you," he told the terrified woman.
The two men stopped the car and stuffed Carlson's body into the trunk. They stopped at a bridge near Blue River and weighted the
body with chains and a rock. Winslow went through Carlson's pockets, removing 30 cents and a wristwatch before dropping the
body into the Wisconsin River
As a bitter wind whipped snow across highways and knocked down power lines, the men drove crisscrossing Columbia, Sauk,
Richland, Vernon and Grant counties. They pulled off on to a rural road near Richland Center and slept for about four hours,
taking turns holding the woman so she wouldn't escape. At daybreak, they drove back to Blue River to see if the body had
surfaced. Sennett and Winslow stopped again about 7 a.m. at a Pine River bridge about a mile from Richland Center. Winslow
held the woman under the culvert-like bridge while Sennett drove home to change clothes.
Sennett took off his blood-stained plaid jacket, pants and shirt. His mother fixed him some cheese sandwiches and he told her that
he and a friend were headed for an abandoned farm near Owen.
When he stopped for gas in Richland Center, an attendant noticed the snow caked on the car and remarked that he must have been
out all night. "You don't know the half of it," Sennett replied.
He picked up Winslow and the woman, then drove north on Highway 80 from Richland Center, but the car stalled on an ice-
covered hill. They tried to back down the hill, but the car skidded into a ditch. Winslow started across the road to get a piece of
fence wire to repair the car's tire chains. As he got of the car, he stuck the death gun in his pocket. The woman quietly opened the
back door "If you make a break, you're the first one that'll get knocked off," the unarmed Sennett snarled from the front seat. The
woman jumped screaming from the car, then ran to other vehicles stalled on the hill. A milk truck driver and the driver of a car
with Iowa plates thought she was drunk and refused help. Then she ran to a car driven by William Harris of Richland Center, a
stone mason. His wife and two children were in the car. "They killed my brother," she screamed. "They're gonna kill me."
Harris watched as Sennett got out of the car and walked about halfway toward the girl. "She's crazy, don't believe her," Sennett
said. But Harris recognized Sennett. He told the woman to get in his car and "cool off." Sennett walked across the road to' help
Winslow with the fence wire. Harris got out of the car. He walked slowly up to the stolen car, grabbed the ignition keys and threw
them in a snow drift, then quietly returned to his car.
When Winslow and Sennett saw the keys were gone and the girl was in the other car, they fled up the highway on foot.
Harris finally got his car going and drove the woman to authorities in Hillsboro. Meanwhile, Sennett and Winslow walked until
almost midnight then stole a car from a farmer near Yuba, about 17 miles north of Richland Center.
They spent the night in an abandoned schoolhouse near Yuba, and then drove north to Westby. Their feet were frozen from
walking through the snow. They spent Sunday night in another school and swapped the car for a Studebaker. They drove to
Owen, where Winslow's brother-in-law refused to take them in and notified police of their whereabouts.
Anthony Pomputis, 24, an acquaintance of Winslow, was milking cows Monday morning on his family's isolated farm near
Longwood when' Winslow walked into the barn. "I was glad to see Bob," Pomputis said later. "Hardly anybody around here knew
about that murder and rape business down toward Madison and our family sure didn't know Bob was mixed up with it."
Winslow said he and a friend was in a jam and needed a hot car repainted in the barn. Pomputis went inside the house and told his
parents. They shared a bottle of whiskey and convinced Pomputis father to let them stay.
About 7 a.m., police officers searching the area on the tip from Winslow's brother-in-law showed up at' he farm. Pomputis
quietly told them that the killers were hiding in the barn. Then he told Winslow, the police just wanted to talk to him about a
minor traffic accident.

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Police officers, armed with machine guns, and reporters converged on the Clark County farm after the family was evacuated from
the farm, police used a bullhorn to ask the fugitives to surrender. A plane with Wisconsin State Journal reporter June Dieckmann
and a photographer aboard circled overhead. The two men heard the plane and feared it was the FBI. After a 12-hour standoff,
Sennett and Winslow surrendered without a shot fired.
The two men confessed to the rape and murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment the following day. They also confessed
to a random shooting a year earlier in Neillsville in which 14-year-old and 16-year-old girls were severely wounded. Detectives
said they were "indifferent" about the crimes.
"I do not believe that ever in the history of Dane County has there ever been a more cold-blooded, cruel and revolting crime than
this one which has been perpetrated by you two ruffians," Judge Roy H. Proctor said. "I don't believe that I would have any
qualms whatever (if Wisconsin had the death penalty) to sentence you to the gas chamber, the electric chair or to be hanged by the
neck until dead." Winslow was paroled in 1972, after serving 24 years, and settled in the Racine area. Sennett was paroled later in
the 1970s.

Madison Today
Thursday, January 29, 1987
Paroled murderer, rapist back in prison

Buford Sennett
APPLETON (AP) - One of two men sentenced to prison in a murder and rape case that drew wide attention in the 1940s has been
sentenced again, this time on a sex charge involving a minor.
Buford Sennett, 62, pleaded no contest to a charge of first-degree sexual assault and was sentenced Tuesday by Outagamie
County Circuit Judge Michael Gage to 20 years in prison.
The judge ordered that the sentence run consecutively to the remainder of Sennett's sentence for a 1947 conviction. The sex
charge involved a minor girl. Originally he had been charged with three counts, all from the summer of 1985.
Sennett was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison by a judge in Madison Nov. 18, 1947. He was 22 and
from Richland Center. Sennett was paroled in 1974 after serving 27 years.
At the time of sentencing on that charge, former Dane County Judge Roy H. Proctor said that if Wisconsin had the death penalty
he would have no qualms in sentencing Sennett and his companion, Robert Winslow, to the gas chamber, electric chair or
hanging.
Sennett and Winslow, who met in prison while the former was serving time for a schoolhouse burglary, picked up Carl Carlson,
25, and his 19-year-old sister-in-law who were hitchhiking on a Madison street Nov. 14, 1947.
Carlson bad met the sister-in-law at the train depot but the train was late so they missed their bus to Badger Village near Baraboo
where Carlson, a World War II Navy veteran, his wife and their 2-year old daughter lived.
The two men offered to drive the pair to Badger Village but along the way Sennett pulled out a revolver and shot Carlson.' The
woman was then forced into the back seat; where Sennett and Winslow repeatedly raped her. She escaped the next day.
The pair was captured on a Clark County farm several days later. They pleaded guilty to rape, murder and kidnapping and were
sentenced to life in prison.

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Originally, Sennett, who moved to the Appleton area after his parole, was charged with having sexual contact with a 9-year-old
girl on a weekly basis during the summer of 1983 and with a 13-year-old girl in February 1986, all, in Appleton. When the series
of incidents in 1985 came to light, he was prosecuted on those charges.
The 9-year-old told police that Sennett, who was residing with the mother at the time of the offenses, threatened her with being
forced to live in a foster home if she told her mother what happening.

The Wisconsin State Journal

Sunday Feburary 22, 1987
Arrest jogs recall of 1947 murder
By Richard W. Jaeger - Regional reporter
JEFFERSON - Rudy Reichert, former Jefferson County sheriff, dusted off his yellowing scrapbook when he heard that Buford
Sennett was being sent back to prison for sexually assaulting two juvenile girls.
Sennett, 62, who was sentenced Jan. 27 for the sexual assault, has been sentenced to life in 1947 for the murder of Robert
Carlson, a UW-Madison medical student. He was paroled in 1974 after serving 27 years of that sentence.
Also in 1947, Sennett was at the center of one of Jefferson County's most publicized crimes when he confessed to kidnapping
Georgia Jean Weckler, 8, from the driveway of her rural Fort Atkinson farm. Reichert was a deputy sheriff at that time and took
part in the investigation. Sennett later recanted his confession, and the case remains unsolved. The Weckler girl never was found.
Two Jefferson County detectives recently interviewed Sennett at the Dodge Correctional Center in Waupun. He talked to them
but repeatedly denied any involvement in the Weckler disappearance. Since his parole, Sennett had been living in Appleton.
Robert Winslow, his accomplice in the Carlson killing, also was paroled in 1974 and lives in the Union Grove area. Sennett's
recent arrest rekindled some strong memories of the Weckler kidnapping for Reichert and other old timers in Jefferson County.
"We thought we had the thing solved when Sennett confessed to doing it back then," Reichert said, thumbing the frayed pages of
a scrapbook put together by his wife, Marie, that contains newspaper clippings of the Weckler investigation.
Reichert initially doubted Sennett's involvement in the Weckler kidnapping, and he still does. "It wasn't his kind of crime fooling
with little girls," said Reichert, acknowledging the recent arrest may alter that analysis. "There also was a gap in his story about
his plans to hold the youngster for ransom. He couldn't have known she would be picked up at school that day and not on the
bus," he added.
Reichert recalls going to Waupun with former District Attorney Francis Garity to interview Sennett in prison. "He said just
enough on that first visit to lead us to believe he knew something about the Weckler case. After several other visits by Garity, he
confessed, giving all kinds of details," Reichert said.
Garity, now deceased, was convinced by the confession and arranged to have Sennett taken from prison to a Wisconsin River
bridge near Blue River where he said he had dumped the Weckler girl's body the same area where Carlson's body was recovered.
Reichert took part in that Blue River bridge search, spending 10 days on the icy river assisting divers probing for a body they
never found. "I always figured he conned us into taking him there so he could try to escape, but we had him too heavily guarded,"
Reichert said. Sennett said he had an accomplice in Weckler's kidnapping, but he wouldn't name the person. The accomplice, he
said, accidently gave the youngster an overdose of sleeping pills that killed her.
There was speculation that Winslow was the accomplice, but Garity and others, ruled out the former Owen native because he was
unfamiliar with the county.
Garity continued to believe in Sennett's involvement even after the recanted confession. A former law partner said Garity based
that belief on information provided by Sennett that only the kidnapper would have known.
"Sennett told Garity he saw a farmer driving down the lane at the Weckler farm and described the odd way the fellow turned his
head to look about, almost as if it were on a swivel. Well, Garity took a farmer neighbor of the Wecklers over to their place and
had him drive down the lane and told him to look back as he drove the guy's head swiveled just as Sennett had said. That was
enough to convince Garity," the former law partner, who asked not to be identified, said.
Reichert's scrapbook contains stories about other clues that popped up long after Sennett's confession, including one about a diary
found on a Janesville bus describing incidents that corresponded to the youngster's disappearance.
Reichert recalls checking clues of his own after he took office as sheriff in 1951, including a trip to a Nebraska prison. Nebraska
convict Charles McClelland confessed he had buried the child in a shallow grave in Northern Illinois. "We went and dug around
but found nothing," Reichert said.
Ed Gein, the notorious grave robber and murderer from Plainfield, also was among those checked early in the 1950s. Gein drove a
black 1937 Ford similar to a car seen near the Weckler farm. "Of course, I think the only color Ford they made back then was
black," Reichert said.
The last active look at the Weckler file was in 1983, Sheriff Keith Mueller said. "We really didn't turn anything up other than
talking to some people who said they heard other people talking about the case. Other than that we've received reports off and on
from other states concerning the finding of skeletons of children," Mueller said.

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"Sennett's arrest has caused us to take another look at the Weckler case," said Richard Wenner, sergeant of detectives for the
Jefferson County sheriff's department." After all, it is still an open case."

Jefferson County Sheriff Keith Mueller, left, and former sheriff, Rudy Reichert, review old newspaper
clippings on the 1947 kidnapping case. State Journal photo by Carolyn Pflasterer

Wisconsin State Journal

Thursday, March 19th, 1987
Former sheriff owes county 1 day's pay
By Richard W. Jaeger - Regional reporter
Former Jefferson County Sheriff Roger Reinel will reimburse the county for his pay and travel expenses for the unauthorized time
he spent interviewing two former convicts about a 40-year-old murder-kidnapping investigation, Willard Hansen, Jefferson
County administrator, said Wednesday. Reinel, the county's emergency government director, will be required to forfeit one day's
pay of $78.08 and repay the county $13.40 in mileage and $4 for a meal for the trip he made to the Dodge Correctional Institution
in Waupun on Feb. 3, Hausen said. Reinel was listed on the Dodge Correctional Institution register as a member of the Dodge
County Sheriffs Department. "I reviewed the situation and as Jefferson County administrator felt that Mr. Reinel's time could
have been better utilized in Jefferson County rather than where he was," Hausen said. He added that he spoke to Reinel about the
matter and the former sheriff agreed to make the reinbursement. Reinel went to the prison receiving center with Dodge County
Sheriff Ed Nehls and Ken Peters, a Dodge County detective, to interview inmate Buford Sennett about the kidnapping of Georgia
Jean Weckler, 8, who disappeared from the driveway of her farm home near Fort Atkinson in 1947. Sennett had confessed to the
girl's kidnapping after being convicted for the kidnapping and murder of Robert Carlson, a UW-Madison medical student that
same year. He later recanted the confession. The girl's disappearance remains unsolved and she has not been found. Sennett was
returned to prison in January on a sexual assault conviction and was being held in the Dodge Correctional Institution when Reinel
interviewed him. Reinel also accompanied Nehls and Peters to Burlington on Feb. 13 to question Robert Winslow, who was
Sennett's accomplice in the Carlson murder. Winslow is on parole.
Hausen said he will not ask Reinel to repay the $11.80 in mileage he collected on Feb. 13 because "he conducted county business
on his return." Reinel's expense voucher showed he made stops in Sullivan and Palmyra, which is near the Jefferson County
border about 20 miles from Burlington. "He should be required to forfeit only one day's pay dividing his time between the two
trips, which were about four hours each," the county administrator said. Reinel's trips and interviews came under fire by Jefferson
County Sheriffs detectives Richard Wellner and Iry Burrow. They complained the interviews may have interfered with their
questioning of Sennett and Winslow, which followed the visits by Reinel and Nehls. Both said Sennett would not cooperate and
denied any involvement in the Weckler kidnapping. Sheriff Keith Mueller also questioned the actions saying, "they may have
botched any chance we had of getting something useful out of Sennett." He charged that Reinel has interfered with his department
operation in the past. "I am sick and tired of him pretending to be sheriff and interfering." Mueller said his detectives plan to
question Reinel on Friday about the interviews. "I may ask the Law Enforcement Committee and district attorney to look at this
matter further if we don't get some satisfactory answers on Friday," Mueller said. Harris Fredrich, chairman of the enforcement
committee, said he felt Reinel's actions interfered with the sheriff department's investigation. He said the committee will review
them at its next meeting in April unless an earlier meeting is called by the sheriff. Reinel's post of emergency government director
is under the jurisdiction of the law enforcement committee.

Wisconsin State Journal

November 18th, 1967
20 Years Ago-3 Days, 18 Hours of Horror
By JUNE DIECKMANN Journal Staff writer
Twenty years ago this weekend, lawmen at the Wisconsin-Michigan football game were called from Camp Randall Stadium to
investigate one of the most heinous cases in the annals of Wisconsin crime.

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It involved four days and nights of murder, rape, kidnaping, miraculous escape by a co-ed victim, river search for a weighted
body, stolen cars and cross-stale manhunt, a posse-capture, a lynching-minded mob, and a fast prison sentence by a judge who
said he wished Wisconsin law would allow him to impose the death penalty.
Veteran lawmen, steeled in the atrocities of crime, still talk about the case as if it were fiction. It was bizarre fact.
The convicted criminals Buford C. Sennett, now 42, from Richland Center, and Robert A. Winslow, now 44, from Owen (near
Neillsville) are still in Waupun State Prison after serving 20 years of their life-plus-40 year sentences for murder, rape, being
habitual criminals, and assault with intent to do great bodily harm.
Both men have been denied parole each year since they became eligible to apply in 1961. Sennett's next hearing is next month,
and if granted, he could be released Feb. 18, 1968. Winslow's next hearing is in March for possible release May 18,
The gruesome case started about midnight Friday, Nov. 19, 117, when Carl L. Carlson, 25, a Navy veteran and University of
Wisconsin Medical School student from Superior, and his wife's relative, a 19-year-old co-ed from the University Of Michigan,
accepted a ride in Sennett and Winslow's car while hitch-hiking at Park St. and University Ave.
The Michigan co-ed came to Madison for the football game with Wisconsin, just like many Michigan students did this weekend.
A fierce snowstorm caused her train to be late from Michigan, which resulted in the pair missing the last (10 p.m.) bus to Badger
Village, near Baraboo, a University married couples settlement where Carlson, his wife, and their 2-month-old daughter Carla,
lived.
They had just driven through Middleton on Highway 12 when Sennett, alone in the back seat, killed Carlson without provocation
with two gunshots in his head. For the next two hours, the two men took turns driving and assaulting the hysterical co-ed in the
back seat of the car with Carlson's body still in the front seat.
Before daybreak, Sennett and Winslow fired another shot into Carlson, trussed his body with chains and rocks, and dumped him
into the Wisconsin River off a bridge at Blue River.
The co-ed identified the location for lawmen later by spot fang a Blue River village limits; sign despite the killers' warn-I frig that
they had a "bullet left for her" if she moved from the back-seat floor of the car.
After Sennett re-gassed the ear, while Winslow held the girl at gunpoint under a road culvert, they kept driving in circles in the
area until daybreak when they drove back to the river bridge to see if the body was showing. Then they headed north.
About 9 a.m., Saturday, Nov 15 their car became stalled along with two other cars and a truck on an ice-covered hill near
Hillsboro. When Sennett stuck the gun in his pocket and left the car to see if he could drive around the other stalled vehicles, the
co-ed desperately jumped out the opposite door and ran to the other drivers for help.
The truck driver and occupants of one car thought she was intoxicated and turned her away, but William Harris, a,' Richland
Center stone mason, in the other car listened to her astounding story and drove her, to a deputy sheriff in Hillsboro. Sennett and
Winslow abandoned their stalled car and fled, into woods.
The snowstorm had downed telephone lines and clogged police radio contact. Hillsboro lawmen, also not quite believing the co-
ed, drove her to Madison. Here, too, lawmen were skeptical until Mrs. Carlson, carrying her baby in a pink blanket, arrived at the
jail and confirmed that she had been worried all night because her husband didn't return with her co-ed relative he was to have
met 16 hours before at the train station in Madison.
A statewide manhunt started immediately. Sennett and Winslow were identified from their abandoned car, even though it was
stolen from Galena, Ill., because Sennett had placed his father's license plates on it. They were both on parole from Green Bay
State Reformatory and their pictures were identified by the co-ed victim and sent to lawmen everywhere in the Midwest.
Technicians from the then new Wisconsin Crime Laboratory joined in the search.
Three cars they had stolen and abandoned, and blood from their frozen feet in an abandoned Yuba schoolhouse, kept the lawmen
on their trail north. About 1 a.m., Monday, Nov. 17, an informant tipped a Clark County (Neillsville) deputy i sheriff that the two
fugitives were holed-up at the Peter Pomputis isolated farm house by Longwood, near Neillsville and about 130 miles north of
Madison.
In the house with the killers were Mr. and Mrs. Pomputis, Lithuanian farmers, and their two sons, Alfred and Anthony, the latter
an Army veteran who had been a friend of Winslow when they were younger neighbor in the farm area.
The Pomputis family escaped unharmed by a ruse. Anthony told the killers that his parents were needed by an ailing older sister
and that he and Alfred it would get them paint to change it the color of their latest stolen car.
A posse of 200 lawmen from all parts of Wisconsin, many armed with machine guns, encircled the Pomputis farm buildings for
12 hours with bullhorn calls to the pair urging them to surrender.
They came out, unarmed and a without resistance, when they thought a Wisconsin State Journal plane, carrying a reporter and
photographer in radio contact with the ground lawmen, was bringing federal agents in to arrest them. About the same time, man
dragging the icy Wisconsin River near Blue River, recovered Carlson's chain-trussed body

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During their confessions that night in the courthouse, Sennett and Winslow turned on each other with accusations that the other
had killed Carlson, Winslow told the lawmen that Sennett, three months earlier, had shot and wounded two sisters, aged 14 and 16
and attempted to molest their 15-year-old girlfriend as it they walked along an isolated road near Phillip (Price County).
By 1 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, the Price County sheriff drove the 107 miles to Neillsville with two of the girls (the other still in a
hospital) who identified Sennett and Winslow as their assailants.
At 6 a.m., Sennett and Winslow were moved from the Neillsville jail in a 12-car caravan of armed lawmen to Madison. En-route,
the lawmen were notified by their police car radios that Gov. Oscar Rennebohm's office had been alerted that a "lynching mob"
was massing at the jail and courthouse on the present site of the county parking ramp at Fairchild and Main St.
There were at least 700-persons, mostly University students, in the jail courthouse yard when the caravan arrived. They jeered and
shouted obscenities, but made no move to wrest the prisoners from the lawmen when they were whisked into the jail for food and
treatment of their frozen feet by the jail doctor.
Two hours later, Sennett and Winslow were taken handcuffed before Superior Judge Roy R. Proctor (now retired), who sentenced
them to life imprisonment on their guilty pleas to murdering Carlson. "Words fail me in an attempt to express my utter contempt
and scorn for you," Judge Proctor told Sennett and Winslow.' "I don't believe there has ever, been a more cold-blooded, cruel, and
revolting crime committed than this perpetrated by you two ruffians."
PERSONALLY, I don't believe that I would have any qualms whatever, if our constitution permitted to sentence you to the gas
chamber, the electric chair, or to be hanged by the neck until dead," Proctor for told the two killers. With the courtyard still
jammed with angry spectators, lawmen rushed the prisoners out a side door and into cars for the trip to Waupun. At 6 p.m., Nov.
18, 1947 three days and 18 hours after their crime spree started Sennett and Winslow became Nos. 29778 and 29779 at Waupun
State Prison.

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 UPDATE:
Authorities search for remains of missing 8-year-old Fort Atkinson girl

Police sift through dirt along a tree line on an empty lot Monday morning on the corner of Rotamer and Wright roads in
Janesville.
JANESVILLEAuthorities are sifting dirt on Janesville's northeast side, looking for the body of an 8-year-old girl who was
reported missing in 1947.
According to authorities at the scene:
A man provided information July 30 to detectives at the Rock County Sheriff's Office and Janesville Police Department that led to
the excavation at the northwest corner of Wright and Rotamer roads this morning.
Georgia Jean Weckler of rural Fort Atkinson was reported missing May 1, 1947, after she was last seen getting mail out of her
mailbox. The man who tipped off authorities said he thought she might be buried in the Janesville lot.
Authorities began investigating last week, and trained dogs indicated human remains were at the site where the man described. No
remains have been found.
Investigators from the Rock County and Jefferson County sheriff's offices, Janesville Police Department, Wisconsin Crime Lab
and several dogs are sorting through the wooded lot. Crews are digging holes and sorting through buckets of dirt using a sifting
system.
The lot is the only undeveloped portion of the intersection, and a home was set to be built at the site.
According to Gazette archives, Georgia was abducted in daylight May 1, 1947, within sight of her parents' farm six miles west of
Fort Atkinson off Highway 12.
After school closed in the afternoon at the Oakland Center School where she was a 3rd-grader, Georgia Jean was given a ride to
her farm lane by Mrs. Carl Floerke, whose daughter attended the same school, according to a Gazette story May 1, 1967.
Mrs. Floerke saw the girl take the family's mail from the mail box along the highway and stroll down the lane. She was never
seen again. The mail was never found, the story said.
According to the story:
The FBI was involved in the case, and despite one of the most intensive hunts in the history of the area at the time, neither the girl
nor any abductors were found.
A Richland Center man, Buford Sennett, serving a life term at Waupun State Prison for a different murder and kidnapping,
confessed to the Weckler abduction, but he changed his story several times.
Then-Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity and Jefferson County Undersheriff Roger Reinel, who worked on the
case, tended to believe Sennett's story that he had kidnapped the girl with two accomplices for ransom but fed her an overdose of
sleeping pills and dumped her lifeless body in the Blue River.
Garity died believing the confession was true. But Sennett changed his story several times. Once he said the body was buried,
but police dug up the ground he led them to and never found the body. He took police to the Blue River, but divers couldn't find
the body. And Sennett refused to sign a statement.
Reinel, formerly the Jefferson County sheriff, considered Sennett the likely suspect, but told the Gazette in 1967 he checked out a
half dozen leads a year.
I don't imagine it will ever be closed, he said. It will always be on file.

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The uncertainty over her disappearance tormented her family, according to the story published on the 20th anniversary of her
disappearance. Her father, George Weckler, died in 1956 convinced she was alive.
Tip renews investigation into 1947 disappearance of 8-year-old girl
By Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Journal Sentinel
Sixty-six years after 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared in Jefferson County, a new tip has spurred a digging effort
with the hope of uncovering her remains and the truth behind her disappearance.
Weckler was last seen on May 1, 1947, in the driveway of her home, picking up the mail after a friend's mother had dropped her
off after school, Jerry Haferman, a captain in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, said Monday.
At the time, two neighbors reported seeing a "suspicious 1936 dark-colored Ford" in the area but no evidence was collected,
Haferman said.
It was as if Weckler had vanished "into thin air," he said. Leads were called into the sheriff's office over the years the last one
in 1999 all of them fruitless.
But on July 30, a man who was 16 when Weckler disappeared told the Rock County Sheriff's Office and the Janesville Police
Department that he remembered "suspicious activity in the area of East Rotamer and Wright Roads in Janesville" and that he
believed the girl was buried there, Haferman said.
Detectives from the sheriff's office and the police department began investigating the tip Monday morning, after a K-9 unit was
able to detect possible human remains in the area.
"We have just started to dig," Haferman said. "Sifting through everything: dirt, trees. It could take hours or days."
The two agencies are working with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Wisconsin K-9 SOS Search and Rescue Units "to
expend all available resources in determining if there is a factual basis for the provided information and to identify any evidence
related to the details provided," according to a news release.
Haferman said he didn't why know the informant, now in his 80s, is calling in the tip now.
"He said he just put two and two together," Haferman said.
Missing since 1947 - Rock County investigating possible Weckler lead
Posted: Monday, August 5, 2013 12:30 pm | Updated: 2:43 pm, Mon Aug 5, 2013.
Rock County investigating possible Weckler lead By Ryan Whisner, Daily Union regional editor
Rock County authorities are investigating information that is possibly related to a missing persons case from Jefferson County
dating back 60 years.

Eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared May 1, 1947, after a neighbor apparently dropped her off at the lane leading to
her familys farm after attending Oakland Center School.

She was believed to have lingered in a wooded near the long driveway to pick flowers for May baskets.

The blond, brown-eyed youngster was never seen or heard from again.

Law enforcement personnel are working collaboratively near the intersection of North Wright Road and North Rotamer Road on
the far northeast side of Janesville based on the information, which may be related to Weckler's disappearance.

According to the Rock County Sheriffs Office on Tuesday, July 30 detectives of the Rock County Sheriffs Office and Janesville
Police Department received information from an individual concerning unsolved or cold case.

The only information that ties use to what they are doing, is the complaintant on their end, who at one time identified something
he thought maybe was suspicious linked it to a timeframe in which Jefferson County had a missing child, Georgia Jean Weckler,
Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy Jeff Parker said.

Other than this man believing he saw something concerning to him, for whatever reason he went to the Rock County Sheriffs
Office and reported something he observed many years ago and wondered if it was tied in with the missing person case that
occurred May 1, 1947, Parker said.

The chief deputy noted that for Jefferson County, it is a missing person case that was never solved.

What they have over there or whether or not it is even related to our missing person is unknown at this time, Parker said.

Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Capt. Jerry Haferman and a detective are on scene observing and assisting in any way they can.

At this point nothing has been discovered, Parker noted.

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As a result of that information provided to them, Rock County Sheriffs Office and Janesville Police Department detectives are
currently processing the information for veracity.

We are working in conjunction with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office and Wisconsin K-9 SOS Search and Rescue Units to
expend all available resources in determining if there is a factual basis for the provided information and to identify any evidence
related to the details provided, Rock County Captain Todd Christiansen said.
Jefferson Co. Sheriffs officials receive new info. On 1947 cold case
Posted on: 2:54 pm, August 5, 2013, by Katie DeLong
JEFFERSON COUNTY (WITI) Jefferson County Sheriffs officials say new information has come to light regarding a cold
case dating back to 1947.
Officials say information has been provided to them regarding the case of Georgia Jean Weckler.
Weckler was eight years old when she went missing from her home on May 1st, 1947.
Weckler was last seen being dropped off by a neighbor after school at her residence on Highway 12, a rural home outside of Fort
Atkinson.
Officials say the girl was observed getting mail from the mailbox, but she had also stated that she wanted to go into the woods to
pick some flowers for a May basket. She was never seen again.
Jefferson County Sheriffs officials are working with several agencies on this case. No additional details have been released at
this time.
From Donna Patterson email
Thought you would like to see what is happening here in Wis...this just broke this afternoon...my classmate & best friend, who
lives in Janesville, have talked several times after she heard the story...hope it isn't another goose chase again...we will wait &
see. I will let you know when I know more...it will be interesting where the info came from...L, Donna
--
JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) Investigators began digging up an empty lot in Janesville on Monday after receiving a tip about the
1947 cold case of an 8-year-old girl who disappeared from her family's farm in neighboring Jefferson County.The Rock County
Sheriff's Department said in a statement that an individual provided some information to detectives last month, and they were
checking it out. Authorities did not disclose details.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the case involves Georgia Jean Weckler, who went missing May 1, 1947. She
was last seen being dropped off by a neighbor after school at her parents' farm near Fort Atkinson. The driver saw her get mail
from the mailbox, but the girl also told her neighbor she wanted to go into the woods to pick flowers. She was never seen again,
the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Authorities from both counties were at the scene on Janesville's far northeast side Monday, along with a canine search-and-rescue
unit. Crews were digging holes and sifting through buckets, The Janesville Gazette reported Capt. Jerry Haferman of the Jefferson
County Sheriff's Office told The Associated Press they were working "shovel by shovel" and that the search would likely take a
long time. He said crews expected to keep working until dark and resume digging Tuesday.
A Gazette story that ran on the 20th anniversary of Georgia's disappearance said it led to one of the most intensive hunts in the
history of the area at the time.
A Richland Center man, Buford Sennett, serving a life term at the Waupun state prison for a different 1947 murder and
kidnapping, confessed to abducting and killing Georgia but changed his story several times and was never charged.
Then-Jefferson County District Attorney Francis Garity and Undersheriff Roger Reinel tended to believe Sennett's story that he
kidnapped the girl with two accomplices for ransom but fed her an overdose of sleeping pills and dumped her body in the Blue
River, the newspaper reported.
"Garity died believing the confession was true. But Sennett changed his story several times. Once he said the body was buried,
but police dug up the ground he led them to and never found the body. He took police to the Blue River, but divers couldn't find
the body. And Sennett refused to sign a statement," the 1967 story said.
Sennett died in 2008 shortly after he was transferred from the Dodge state prison to a supervised living facility, according to
Wisconsin Department of Corrections records, spokeswoman Joy Staab said. He was 82.
Reinel told the Gazette in 1967 about the case: "I don't imagine it will ever be closed. It will always be on file."
Eight-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler was last seen walking down a country lane to her family's farm after school. A neighbor
said she was thinking of going into the woods to pick flowers for a May Day basket.
It was May 1, 1947.

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This week, investigators began digging at a vacant lot in Janesville, Wis. after getting a tip that her remains may be buried there.
Rock County Sheriff's Capt Todd Christiansen told reporters that search dogs indicated a body might be buried at a lot on the
City's northeast side, about a mile east of Interstate 90. About 25 to 30 officers started sifting through the site on Monday.
Christiansen said the digging could last days.

Georgia disappeared after a neighbor dropped her at the entrance of her farm lane near Fort Atkinson, Wis. around 3:30 p.m. The
neighbor told police she saw the girl take a bundle of letters from the mailbox at the side of the road and start down the half-mile
gravel lane to her home.

As many as a thousand people combed the countryside in the days afterward, according to a report in the Tribune at the time.
A retired farmer said he heard a girl in the back seat of a black car parked near a downtown intersection about an hour after
Georgia went missing. "Let me out of here. I want to go home," the farmer quoted the girl as crying, the Tribune reported. He said
a man and a woman were walking away from the car, and that the man returned and either threw a blanket over the girl or struck
her.
Authorities initially suspected Georgia was kidnapped for ransom because her father was a public official. But no ransom
demands were ever made.

In the fall, a convicted rapist and murderer confessed to killing the girl, but he later recanted and no sign of the girl was found
where he claimed to have dumped the body.
Georgia's brother, Laverne Weckler, 78, of Fort Atkinson, told the Wisconsin State Journal he was skeptical any remains would
be those of his younger sister.

It could happen and I wouldnt know what to say about that if it does, he said. Its funny something hasnt been detected by
now.

Dan Plutchak Police have cordoned off an area on an empty lot at Rotamer and Wright roads in Janesville. Based on a tip they
received, they are searching for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler, an 8-year-old girl who disappeared in 1947
Officials searched for Weckler in Delavan in 1996 By Dan Plutchak | August 6, 2013 Dan Plutchak Police have cordoned off an
area on an empty lot at Rotamer and Wright roads in Janesville. Based on a tip they received, they are searching for the body of
Georgia Jean Weckler, an 8-year-old girl who disappeared in 1947. Dan Plutchak police have cordoned off an area on an empty
lot at Rotamer and Wright roads in Janesville. Based on a tip they received, they are searching for the body of Georgia Jean
Weckler, an 8-year-old girl who disappeared in 1947. 1 1 JANESVILLE -- Authorities continued digging today on Janesville's
northeast side for the body of Georgia Jean Weckler, the 8-year-old Fort Atkinson girl that vanished in 1947.A tipster led
Janesville police and Rock County Sheriff's deputies to a vacant lot at the corner of Wright and Rotamer roads, saying that they
could find Weckler's body in a shallow grave. But this isn't the first time in recent memory that authorities say they had a credible
tip that Weckler was buried nearby.In 1996, Jefferson County Sheriff's detectives investigated a claim by a Delavan man that

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Weckler had been buried nearly 50 years earlier alongside the foundation of a Delavan business Ed Lindloff, a former town of
Delavan chairman and Delavan City Council member contacted the weekly newspaper to tell a story that had been gnawing at
him for decades Lindloff, who died May 4, 2012, at the age of 92, went to his grave convinced that he knows where Weckler's
body is buried.

JANESVILLE -- The news this week that authorities were digging on Janesvilles northeast side for the body of Georgia Jean
Weckler is just the latest twist in a story that goes back to the day in 1947 that the Fort Atkinson 8-year-old disappeared.

But it isnt the first time in recent memory that authorities say they had a credible tip that Weckler was buried nearby.
In 1996, Jefferson County Sheriffs detectives investigated a claim by a Delavan man that Weckler had been buried nearly 50
years earlier alongside the foundation of a Delavan business.
From the archive: Delavan man says he knows where Georgia Jean Weckler is buried
Ed Lindloff, a former town of Delavan chairman and Delavan City Council member, contacted a staff member of the newspaper
The Week to tell a story that had been gnawing at him for decades.
(The Week merged with CSI Media, publisher of Walworth County Sunday, in 2008.)
Lindloff, who died May 4, 2012, at the age of 92, went to his grave convinced that he had seen two men discard Wecklers body
four days after she was reported missing.
Weckler, a third grader at the time of her disappearance, was dropped off after school at the end of her driveway May 1, 1947, by
a neighbor woman.
According to news reports at the time, the woman watched as Weckler retrieved the mail and began walking down the long
driveway.
The woman drove off, and Weckler never was seen again.
Among the many tips that followed, witnesses described a black car that was seen in the area the day Weckler disappeared.
In a lengthy interview in 1996 with contributing writer Dale Reich, Lindloff said that during the same spring of 1947, he was
preparing a field on Delavans east side for planting.
(Read Reichs original story at CommunityShoppers.com.)
Nearby, a building was under construction, and Lindloff said he struck up a conversation with the two men who were laying the
foundation.
Reich went on to describe Lindloffs recollection:
Then, one day he overhead them talking about the upcoming weekend. Lindloff says it must have been on the morning of May 1,
the same day that Georgia Jean disappeared.
I heard them say, We ought to go out and look for some girls this weekend, Lindloff recalled. The other one said, How
young do you like them?
According to Lindloff, the other man answered, The younger the better.
Lindloff said that when he came back to his field after lunch, the two men were gone. They didnt return to the job site until
Monday morning. Thats when they backed up their 1937 black Ford two-door and opened the trunk.
One man then picked up an object that was about four and a half feet long and dropped it into the excavated area along the base of
the buildings foundation. Lindloff said the object was wrapped in a light colored sheet or blanket.
He said the men quickly grabbed their shovels and began to fill the hole.
At the time, Lindloff was unaware of Wecklers disappearance, but later made the connection.
Lindloff said that despite conversations with the Walworth County Sheriff in the two years following Wecklers disappearance,
he couldnt convince anyone to follow up on his lead.
It was only after the newspaper contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff on Lindloffs behalf in 1996 that authorities took a fresh
look at the case.
Detectives interviewed Lindloff at length, and then took him to the Delavan business where Lindloff showed them where he
believed the object had been buried by the two men.
Right on the other side of here, Lindloff said, tapping the basement wall.
Unlike the current case in Janesville, officials decided not to excavate the site.
They didnt question Lindloffs memory. There just wasnt enough evidence to connect it to the Weckler case, they said at the
time.
The Janesville search started similarly a week ago.

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A tipster told authorities that they could find Wecklers body buried in a vacant lot at the corner of Wright and Rotamer roads on
Janesvilles northeast side.
Janesville police and Rock County Sheriffs deputies brought in specially trained dogs that picked up the scent of what could be
human remains.
Police havent identified the man that tipped them off.
As of Thursday, officials had not announced whether or not they had found Wecklers remains. Digging was expected to continue
throughout the week.
And if officials dont find Weckler in a shallow grave in Janesville, theres always the story of Ed Lindloff who lived his final
days believing Weckler was buried in Delavan.
Authorities dig in Wisconsin for remains of girl missing 66 years
Reuters) - Investigators hoping to solve the disappearance of an 8-year-old girl more than 66 years ago were digging Tuesday in a
vacant lot amid single family homes in Janesville, Wisconsin, based on a tip that she may be buried there, authorities said.
The tipster pointed out the site and trained dogs indicated there may be human remains there, lending credence to the tip and
leading authorities to launch the dig on Monday, investigators said. They have declined to identify the man who gave the tip.
"Whether or not it is her, it is hard to say," Jefferson County Sheriff's Captain Jerry Haferman said. "There is a good chance that
there is something there."
Georgia Jean Weckler was last seen on May 1, 1947, when she was dropped off by a friend's mother at the end of the driveway to
her family farm about half-mile from her house, Haferman said.
"She was going to pick flowers for a May Day basket and the friend recalled looking back and seeing her get the mail out of the
mailbox and that was the last she was ever heard of," he said.
Thousands of people searched for her and several reported seeing a dark-colored 1936 Ford sedan in the area, Haferman said.
Authorities have looked into several tips and even confessions over the years, but none were confirmed, he said.
The tip turned in to Rock County Sheriff's detectives and Janesville police on July 30 was the first since a tip was checked out in
1999, Haferman said.
The latest search is in an area that was partially wooded and rural in neighboring Rock County, south of the Weckler farm, when
she went missing. It was annexed decades later into Janesville and the site is due soon to have a house on it.
No remains were found on Monday by the 25-30 people participating, said Rock County Sheriff's Captain Todd Christiansen. The
dig resumed on Tuesday and could take several days.
Officials mapped out 24 grids about 10 feet by 10 feet each and have been digging with hand tools and sifting the earth,
Christiansen said. They plan to excavate about four feet down during the search, he said.
Janesville excavation for Weckler remains continuing
Posted: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 11:59 am
Janesville excavation for Weckler remains continuing By Randall Dullum and Ryan Whisner, Union staff writers
JANESVILLE Authorities still are in the evidence-gathering phase and excavation of a site in Janesville that might be linked
to the 1947 disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler.
The 8-year-old Weckler disappeared May 1, 1947, after attending Oakland Center School, when a neighbor apparently dropped
her off at the lane leading to her familys farm.
She was believed to have lingered in a wooded area near the long driveway to pick flowers for May baskets. The blond, brown-
eyed youngster never was seen or heard from again.
Rock and Jefferson county law enforcement personnel are working collaboratively near the intersection of North Wright and
North Rotamer roads on the far northeast side of Janesville based on information provided by an elderly Rock County man who
told authorities he saw suspicious activity in that area around the time Weckler went missing.
Work at the site began on Monday with crews of deputies and detectives from all three agencies pitching in to dig 10-square-foot
squares on a nearly 5,000-square-foot section at the back corner of the lot, farthest from either street.
Right now, were just looking for any evidence whatsoever that we can find, whether it be clothing items, buttons, large bone
fragments anything that would tie us to some type of human body, Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Capt. Jeffy Haferman
said.
He has been present at the site for the past three days, with additional detectives, patrol and support service deputies on the scene.
Today he had three detectives and a support services deputy there.
Jefferson County, hopefully, will be able to continue committing as many as five or six individuals to the digging investigation
effort, he said.
Because there is the possibility that it (a body) is connected to our (Jefferson)county, well continue to assist, Haferman said.

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Det. Sgt. Don Hunter, he said, has spoken with Georgia Jean Wecklers brother, Laverne Weckler of the Town of Koshkonong.
However, authorities are waiting to give the brother further updates until, if and when anything is located.
Right now, weve done three to four (sections),Haferman said. How far Rock County is going to go, and how far theyre
going to expand it out, Idont know at this time. I dont know if they plan to do all 24 (sections). I dont know what their plan of
attack is going to be.
Capt. Todd Christiansen of the Rock County Sheriffs Office said his department is not quite finished investigating two of 24
squares in the excavation area, and they just started digging two more this morning. Plans are to expand the excavation further, he
said.
Were hoping to get through four of (the squares) today,Christiansen said. Were now using a backhoe to break the clay up,
and then were sifting through that. So thats going to hopefully make things go a little bit easier than just trying to break that clay
up with a hand shovel.
Echoing Haferman, the captain said authorities are searching for, and hoping to find, human remains.
Were basically searching for any type of human remains bones thats what were looking for,Christiansen said. And
then if we find it, then we have to attempt to identify it, and see if it is Georgia.
He acknowledged that any remains might be as tiny as a tooth or bone fragment, given the disturbance of the soil by tree roots.
It all depends on how deep she was buried originally (and) if any critters were able to get to her, Christiansen said.
If its an undisturbed grave, we could be looking for a completely intact skull, or the larger bones like the leg bones, and femur
could possibly still be intact.
The sifting equipment, he noted, should be able to collect anything as small as a tooth that could remain.
The captain said finding any fabric intact would be highly unlikely.
If we find any type of cloth material that we would come across, we would keep,Christiansen said. But Ican tell you we
havent come across anything like that either.
Nor have authorities managed to locate any buttons from potential articles of clothing the victim might have been wearing, he
said.
Authorities have revealed little about the tipster who led them to the site and whether there was something other than the
timeframe that might have a direct correlation or link with any remains possibly being Wecklers.
Rock County (authorities) talked to him (tipster), but as far as I know and the information that Ive received, it was just that he
saw the suspicious activity, and he recalls the other missing person from Jefferson County during that same time period, so he put
two and two together and thought maybe it would be her, Haferman said.
Christiansen declined to comment further about what the man, in his 80s, told authorities.
However, the tipster currently is not considered a person of interest in connection with Wecklers disappearance, he indicated.
Right now he is just a person who gave us some information, and we are working off his information right now,Christiansen
said.
Prior to the actual digging for a body on Monday, on crews from Rock County and Janesville on Saturday and Sunday had to
clear away a bunch of the brush first at the site.
A total of three search and rescue dogs were brought in Tuesday to sniff at the site at different times throughout the day,
Christiansen said, adding that if the dogs are needed today, their handlers could make them available within a few hours of the
authorities request.
We are being told that they (the dogs) are able to distinguish between human decomposition and any other animal type of
decomposition, he pointed out.
As the excavation proceeds and no indication of any remains is found, he said, the digging will cease and not extend to all 24
squares, he said.
Were just going to go through where the dogs originally hit, and try to get where the roots of the trees in that area extend out
into the next tree root patterns, Christiansen said. And then one or two areas on the south portion, depending upon what we
find.
He also said the search-and-rescue dogs, which have been trained to detect decomposing human remains, will be brought back in
to see if they hit on any additional areas.
Theyre not supposed to hit on an animal, Christiansen said.
As long as the dogs find anything to hit on, the authorities will continue searching the area for any remains, he noted.
Were going to go (search) through Friday I think were going to be done by then, especially since we have the (backhoe)
helping us that is going to pick things up, Christiansen said. Weve have to be conscious of possibly destroying evidence, so
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he (operator) is just scraping a few inches while were watching, and then we take shovels down there and remove the loose stuff
he loosened up, and take it to the sifters.
Hell scrape some more and shovel it out,he added. Otherwise, the deputies and officers just couldnt break it (earth) up with a
(hand) shovel fast enough it was terrible. This (backhoe) is making it a little easier to get the dirt to the sifting stations.
Between Rock County and Janesville agencies, there were considerably fewer deputies and officers on site this morning due to
other commitments such as training.
However, he said he anticipated having more individuals at the excavation later this afternoon.
Reflecting on chilling, cold case the Weckler murder
I sensed the phone call was coming, and Dad rang me Tuesday at The Gazette office. He wanted to know if we'd done a story on
investigators digging on Janesville's northeast side in hopes of finding the remains of a Fort Atkinson girl who disappeared in
1947. Of course, I told him. It was our lead story Tuesday, and a follow-up is on 1A today (Wednesday). Dad has mentioned the
Weckler case from time to time through the years as we discussed various murders, stories that come up too often in my business
of news. He was 16 and remembers being a sophomore at Marshall High School when 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler
disappeared from her rural Fort Atkinson home. Like Georgia Jean, Dad was growing up on a farm, but one county and about 20
miles away. He said her disappearance made headlines in newspapers statewide for weeks. Dad asked how familiar I am with
Highway 12 between Cambridge and Fort Atkinson. Not much, I replied. Dad for years delivered meat for Swift, and his route
often included Highway 12. He's now 82 but remembers George Weckler's farm as including the highest hill on that stretch. He
says it had a long, sloping driveway to the farmhouse across the valley. A Gazette story from 1947 says a woman whose daughter
attended school with Georgia Jean Weckler dropped her off at her farm lane, then saw her get the mail from the mailbox and start
down the driveway. The Weckler girl was never seen again. Dad thinks it was a mistake to let her walk down that long driveway
alone instead of driving her up to the farmhouse. Of course, hindsight is easy today. Our hyper media world today spreads news
of abductions quickly. Back 66 years ago, news of such incidents was rare and I imagine people were seldom concerned that
something sinister might befall a child in broad daylight. No one around Marshall was concerned, Dad says, though lots of rural
kids hoofed it to school those days. He remembers one theory being that Georgia Jean fell victim to the notorious killer Ed Gein
of Plainfield, Wis., though Dad believes that idea farfetched. As today's Gazette reports, a tipster led authorities to believe
Georgia Jean might be buried on the vacant Janesville lot. However, that might not be the best spot to dig. Dan Plutchak reports in
Walworth County Today that in 1996, Jefferson County detectives investigated a claim by a Delavan man that Weckler was
buried alongside the foundation of a Delavan business. Ed Lindloff, a former town of Delavan chairman and Delavan City
Council member, contacted the weekly newspaper to tell a story that gnawed at him for decades. Lindloff, who died in 2012 at
age 92, went to his grave convinced he knew where Weckler's body is buried. Lindloff said he spoke to two men laying a
foundation who talked about going out to find girls, one saying, The younger the better. He later saw them remove from the
trunk of their car an object about 4 feet long and wrapped in a sheet or blanket, place it in a hole along the foundation and
hastily cover it with dirt. Even later, he made the connection with the story about the missing girl. Lindloff said that despite
conversations with Walworth County's sheriff in the two years after Weckler's disappearance, he couldn't convince anyone to
follow up on his lead. After Lindloff's 1996 newspaper interview, authorities reviewed the case but decided not to excavate
because they didn't believe Lindloff's story amounted to sufficient ties to the Weckler case. Maybe authorities will yet uncover
something in Janesville. Or maybe, just maybe, they're digging in the wrong county.

Weckler dig may conclude Friday

Thursday, August 8, 2013 11:01 am | Updated: 11:05 am, Thu Aug 8, 2013.
JANESVILLE The search for any evidence of human remains, clothing, buttons, large bone fragments at a Janesville site that
might be linked to the 1947 disappearance of Georgia Jean Weckler could end Friday.
Nothing was found Wednesday, the third day of an excavation near the intersection of North Wright and North Rotamer roads on
the far northeast side of Janesville.
The plan is, if we dont find anything by tomorrow, we dont know how much more they are going to continue, Jefferson
County Sheriffs Office Capt. Jerry Haferman said.
Law enforcement personnel were led to the vacant residential building lot based on information provided by an elderly Rock
County man who told authorities he saw suspicious activity in that area around the time Weckler went missing.
The 8-year-old disappeared May 1, 1947, after coming home from Oakland Center School. A neighbor drove her home,
apparently dropping her off at the lane leading to her familys Town of Oakland farm.
She was believed to have lingered in a wooded area near the long driveway to pick flowers for May baskets. The blonde, brown-
eyed youngster never was seen or heard from again.
Authorities have revealed little about the tipster who led them to the site and whether there was something other than the
timeframe that might have a direct correlation or link with any remains possibly being Wecklers. However, the man, who is in
his 80s, currently is not considered a person of interest in connection with Wecklers disappearance.
Prior to the start of actual digging for a body on Monday, crews from Rock County and Janesville cleared away brush on Saturday
and Sunday.

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Although now at the edge of the city, the site was a much more rural location in the Town of Harmony at the time Weckler
disappeared 66 years ago.
Work at the site began on Monday with crews of deputies and detectives from Rock and Jefferson County and Janesville agencies
pitching in to dig 10-square-foot squares on a nearly 5,000-square-foot section at the back corner of the lot, farthest from either
street.
Search-and-rescue dogs trained to detect decomposing human remains gave an indication of something being at the site, which
led to the excavation process. Different dogs hit on the same area of the site Monday and again on Tuesday following the first
day of digging.
Haferman said no dogs were brought in Wednesday.
As work continued and digging got deeper, the City of Janesville provided a backhoe after crews found it increasingly more
difficult to get through the tough clay.
The captain noted that the sifting equipment should be able to collect anything as small as a tooth that could remain. However, if
nothing is found today or tomorrow, the effort might be suspended.
We will pretty much be done if we dont find anything tomorrow, Rock County Sheriffs Office Capt. Todd Christiansen said.
He said crews are working on excavating four more grids that they started on this morning. Depending on how long it takes to get
to the desired depth, the search will be concluded if nothing is found.
Throughout its 66 years of investigation, the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office has followed up on hundreds of leads related to
Wecklers disappearance.
Early on, authorities thought they might have had a suspect involved in the third-graders disappearance.
A Richland Center man, Buford Sennett, was serving a life term at the Waupun state prison for a different 1947 murder and
kidnapping when he confessed to abducting and killing Georgia. However, he refused to sign the confession, changed his story
several times and no concrete evidence was ever developed to bring up charges on the crime.
Sennett later recanted the oral confession.
Even so, many authorities still believed he was guilty.
Authorities even considered the possibility of a link between Wecklers disappearance and the notorious murderer and body
snatcher Ed Gein.
In 1957, days after the body of Plainfield hardware store owner Bernice Worden was discovered, former Jefferson County Sheriff
Roger Reinel, former Jefferson County District Attorney and Judge Harold Eberhardt, Undersheriff Mike Heilmeier and former
Deputy Rudy Reichert spent a day at Plainfield probing for clues linking Gein to Fort Atkinson.
Nothing was found, outside of a black Ford automobile in Geins garage.
Also in 1996, a Delavan man came forward about his recollections what occurred in 1947.
He claimed that he had seen two men bury a package about 4 1/2 feet in length the size of a child beneath what at the time
was the Treasure Hut, a greenhouse in Delavan.
Despite his recollections, former Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme said in 1996 that the mans statements did not make a
clear link with Wecklers 1947 disappearance and there was not sufficient evidence to justify further inquiry in the search to
conclude today if no Weckler evidence discovered.
8/9/13
NO EVIDENCE FOUND No evidence has been found after three days of digging at a Janesville site in search of the remains
of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler who has been missing since May of 1947. Rock and Jefferson County authorities, along with
Janesville police, have been actively excavating the site based on information from a tipster who revealed that he observed
something suspicious around the time the girl went missing.
By Lydia Statz, Union staff writer
JANESVILLE The search for Georgia Jean Weckler likely was to conclude today if nothing of interest is found during a
Janesville excavation, authorities announced.
The hunt began Monday, after a tipster drew law enforcement to a vacant residential lot at the corner of North Rotamer and North
Wright roads on Janesvilles northeast side. The Rock County resident, a man in his 80s, claimed to have seen suspicious activity
in that area around the time Weckler went missing on May 1, 1947.
The eight-year-old disappeared from her Town of Oakland driveway after being dropped off by a family friend after school, and
was never seen or heard from again. Over the years, many leads have cropped up, although none have led to any new evidence or
information that authorities deemed credible.
Following the tipster, search-and-rescue dogs trained to detect human remains indicated the presence of something at the site,
leading to the excavation. Different dogs hit on the same area of the site Monday and again on Tuesday following the first day
of digging. No dogs were brought in on Wednesday.

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As work continued and digging got deeper, the City of Janesville provided a backhoe after crews found it nearly impossible to
break through the areas tough clay with their bare hands.
The backhoe is basically because with our hands we couldnt break up the clay and it was just so hard we could hardly break it
up with the shovels, so the backhoe has been coming in and breaking it up, we rake through it to see if we find something in it,
Capt. Todd Christiansen of the Rock County Sheriffs Office said. And if we find something of interest in it, well continue to
hand-sift it with our sifting stations.
He said the dig was to continue today, but not much more is left to search through.
We have a couple more grids that we have to finish digging in, and if nothing is located, then we will shut it down, he said of
the operation.
Authorities divided the lot into 10-square-foot areas to aid the search and began searching systematically by grid Monday,
beginning with a section at the far northwest corner of the lot.
The reason we started where we did is because thats where the dogs indicated, so we did several days up there, and then the last
two days we were down on the south portion doing several portions on the south portion of our layout, said Christiansen. Were
not going to dig all 24 grids, but because of the area we gridded it out, we always had the intent of looking at both ends.
Even if nothing is found this time around, Christiansen said, the authorities will have done everything they could to investigate
this possible lead if the dig concludes today.
Based on the information that we have, were pretty confident that weve hit the main areas that we believe she possibly could
have been buried, he said of Weckler the matter.
1947 disappearance recalled
Weckler siblings have little hope sister will be found

Weckler Siblings
Surviving family members of the longtime missing Georgia Jean Weckler have little hope of closure. Pictured above are the Weckler children, from left:
Katherine Mae, Laverne, Joanne and Georgia Jean, a few years prior to the latters disappearance.
Posted: Friday, August 9, 2013 10:44 am | Updated: 10:58 am, Fri Aug 9, 2013.
By Ryan Whisner, Union regional editor
The siblings of 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler, who went missing on May 1, 1947, have long since given up hope that their
little sister ever will be found.
During this past week, Jefferson and Rock county law enforcement personnel have been excavating a residential lot near the
intersection of North Wright and North Rotamer roads on the far northeast side of Janesville based on a tip from an elderly Rock
County man who reportedly observed something suspicious around the time Georgia Jean disappeared (see related story).
Work was expected to conclude later today if no evidence was found.
The tip marks the latest in hundreds of leads that have been followed up through the past 66 years. Each time, neither Joanne
Cushman of Whitewater nor Laverne Weckler of the Town of Koshkonong has remained optimistic they would lead to solving
this cold case.
Until the day comes one way or another, I just dont think there is going to be something, Laverne said.
Even if Georgia Jean were found at the site in Janesville, Joanne said she is not certain that would bring her any closure.
They say closure, but Idont know if that would close it for me or not, she said, noting that finding remains would not bring
Georgia Jean back to life or explain what happened to her.
The middle of three sisters, Joanne said she remains convinced there never will be any closure, adding that despite the
disappearance, her sister has been with her siblings hearts their entire lives.
It was raining the morning of May 1, 1947, so 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler didnt ride her bike to school like she usually did.
Instead, her mother, Eleanor, drove Georgia, Joanne and Laverne the one-and-a-half miles to Oakland Center School.

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After classes ended at 3 p.m., Mrs. Carl Floerke dropped Georgia Jean off at the end of the lane leading to her familys farm
home. A neighbor and the mother of a fellow student, she saw nothing suspicious as the girl got out of the car. Little did Floerke
know she would become the last known person to see or hear from Georgia Jean in nearly seven decades.
For some reason, they thought she had gone into the woods hunting for May flowers, Laverne recalled.
He noted that his father, George Weckler, had been in downtown Fort Atkinson and did not arrive home until nearly 6 p.m.
When mother asked him (if he knew where Georgia was) and he said no, she aint with me, he went right to the phone and
called Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, Laverne said.
Among Lavernes vivid memories of that evening is watching his father look at the clock as it ticked to 6 p.m. and then rushing to
make the call the sheriffs office.
He then grabbed a flashlight and ran for the woods himself, envisioning his daughter lying injured after falling from a tree she
might have climbed.
Even in the rural setting, word rapidly spread as neighbors turned out to help look for Georgia Jean. That first night, a five-hour
long search by a 200-volunteer party combed the 20-acre wooded tract that abutted the Weckler driveway. Laverne, 12; Joanne,
10; and their older sister, Katherine Mae, 16, were gathered and assigned locations to search, as well.
Joanne recalled that the first several days were cold and rainy, particularly the first night of the search.
And Laverne remembered many days hiding with his father and others as they waited, armed with pistols and deer rifles, waiting
for someone possibly dropping a ransom note off in the mailbox.
Nothing ever came of that either, Laverne said.
From the day Georgia Jean went missing, her siblings were kept out of school for the remainder of that school year.
We never walked to school again after that, Joanne noted.
Our life just stopped, she said. We couldnt go to school, we couldnt go to Sunday school. I guess they were afraid it was
going to happen again.
Georgia Jeans disappearance impacted other area students travel, as well.
Dawn Weckler, Lavernes wife, recalls living in the Town of Sumner when Georgia Jean first went missing.
Thats all the talk there was and, of course, we were all scared when we were on the road walking to school, and if we saw
anything strange or a car going by, I can remember running over to the ditch out of the way until it went by, Dawn said. I think
it left us fearful.
On Wednesday, May 11, 1947, ten days after Georgia Jean disappeared, residents of the Town of Oakland took time off from
searching to do something heart-warmingly normal. A dozen neighboring farmers gathered to plow the Wecklers fields and
prepare them for seeding. The sheep were sheared, a chicken dinner was cooked and a prayer was offered by Rev. Alban Tippins
of St. Johns Community Church.
Four years later, Georgia Jeans father George Weckler stopped farming after suffering a stroke in 1951.
Joanne pointed out that their father was always pushing himself and always wanted to get things done and know things.
Five years later, he died after suffering another stroke or heart attack.
Both Joanne and Laverne agree that Georgia Jeans disappearance played a role in his demise.
It also greatly affected their mother. For the first two or three months after the disappearance, Eleanor C. Weckler never got out of
bed.
I hardly ever saw her, Laverne said.
Joanne agreed.
We went day-by-day and just kept hoping, she said. Life went on.
Eleanor remained on the family farm with Georgia Jeans eldest sister, Katherine Mae, and her husband, Neil Oestreich, for many
years, eventually moving with them to Eagle River. Over the years after Georgia Jean had disappeared, and even after moving to
Eagle River, she is said to have left a light on in the house at night ... apparently in case Georgia came home.
Eleanor died in 1996 at the age of 93.
Katherine Mae experienced more tragedy when her own son, Danny, was killed in a farm accident in 1966. She herself died just
three years ago in April 2010. Her husband, Neil, passed away in 1989.
Meanwhile, Laverne married Dawn Jensen in 1958 and they now live in the Town of Koshkonong.
Joanne was married in 1964 to Bill Cushman and resided on a farm in the Town of Hebron. Today, she and Bill are living at
Fairhaven Senior Services in Whitewater.

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Joanne had one son, Lee, who now lives in Whitewater with his family, including her three grandchildren.
Raising him on the farm, Joanne acknowledge, she was overprotective, mainly due to what happened to Georgia Jean.
I wanted to know where he was all the time, she said. When he got old enough to ride his bike and he wanted to ride in the
evening, if he wasnt home after a while, I started calling people.
Joanne said she felt bad doing it because she didnt want to him feel like he was being reined in. However, Lee was familiar with
the family history later in life and she suspects he understands her reasoning.
Growing up, Laverne said, it got to the point where he was tired of people asking about his connection to Georgia Jean.
Everywhere he went, upon hearing his name, they inevitably would say, Are you related to Georgia Jean Weckler?
It never really went away.
Both siblings recall how the disappearance of Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew in 1980 brought back a flood of memories about
their sister.
Hack and Drew disappeared from a wedding reception at the Concord House in the Town of Concord on Aug. 9, 1980. The 19-
year-old Fort Atkinson High School graduates had arranged to meet friends at Fort Fest after attending the dance, but they never
showed up.
Following what was then labeled as one of the largest manhunts ever in the State of Wisconsin over a period of 72 days, the
couples remains were discovered on Oct. 19, 1980, by two Milwaukee squirrel hunters Oct. 19 on the edge of a woods near a
cornfield off Hustisford Road in the Town of Ixonia, approximately eight miles from the Concord House.
Their slayings remained unsolved for 29 years before DNA evidence brought Edward W. Edwards into custody in 2009,
eventually leading him to plead guilty to the Hack-Drew murders and three others.
The only thing is, they did find them, Laverne said, noting that the case did make him think about his sister again more
strongly.
Last week, it was quite a shock when he answered the door and Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Detective Sgt. Don Hunter
informed him of another lead.
With such passage of time, it had not even occurred to him that it might be related to Georgia Jeans disappearance.
Through the years, former Jefferson County Sheriff Roger Reinel did not always inform the family when he was following up on
leads, for fear of opening old wounds in case they did not pan out. However, more recently, the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office
has at least called family members to advise them a lead is being investigated.
Early on, authorities thought they might have had a suspect involved in the third-graders disappearance. A Richland Center man,
Buford Sennett, was serving a life term at the Waupun state prison for a different 1947 murder and kidnapping when he confessed
to abducting and killing Georgia. However, he refused to sign the confession, changed his story several times and no concrete
evidence was ever developed to bring up charges on the crime.
Sennett later recanted the oral confession.
Even so, many authorities, including Reinel, still believed he was guilty.
Laverne agrees, based on the similar black car and the confession, although nothing was ever found based on the story Sennett
told.
Authorities even considered the possibility of a link between Wecklers disappearance and the notorious murderer and body
snatcher Ed Gein.
In 1957, days after the body of Plainfield hardware store owner Bernice Worden was discovered, Jefferson County law
enforcement officials spent a day at Plainfield probing for clues linking Gein to Fort Atkinson.
Nothing was found, outside of a black Ford automobile in Geins garage.
Also in 1996, a Delavan man came forward about his recollections what occurred in 1947. He claimed that he had seen two men
bury a package about 4 1/2 feet in length - the size of a child - beneath what at the time was the Treasure Hut, a greenhouse in
Delavan.
Despite his recollections, former Jefferson County Sheriff Orval Quamme said in 1996 that the mans statements did not make a
clear link with Wecklers 1947 disappearance and there was not sufficient evidence to justify further inquiry into the matter.
As in the past, Joanne and Laverne are not optimist of the Janesville searchs outcome.
Like this one, I dont have any hope, Joanne said
10/03/13 Call from 9:31 EST - Jefferson County Sheriff Department.
A call from the Jefferson County Sheriff Department had questions about her. They have my website and a lady detective has
been assigned to the case to put all of the old documentation from 1947 to present in order. I have her direct number if I come
across anything new and she will contact me is she has questions.

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They wanted a picture of her with a smile, they have her dental records and a dentist wants to recreate her face and post it
nationwide. I took one of her pictures that was posted and cropped it and enlarge it with just her head. This was posted in a
Chicago Tribune Article.

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 My Theory
1) Buford Sennett and Charles McCllelland mention in the articles have the similar stories that they were there but did not kill
her, but would not say who did. Both mention she was put in a river or creek. McCllelland's story was in a creek in southern Ill.
and Sennett's was in the Wisconsin River. I discount McCllelands story due to the time frame involved. He said she died on May
4th.
2) The unidentified woman was also involved. Since she was the one who lead the police to a hideout of Sennett's.
3) There were sightings of 2 men and a woman and a child? Could this be these 3?
4) Looking at the maps below, I believe she is in the Blue River outside of the City of Blue River and the above people were
involved.

Note - Sennett died in 2008 shortly after he was transferred from the Dodge state prison to a supervised living facility,
according to Wisconsin Department of Corrections records, spokeswoman Joy Staab said. He was 82.

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 10/2013 Theory
1) By reading this I think his accomplice was a girl he was seeing at the time and that nite in question.
Sennett's Accomplice May Have Been a Girl
LAKE MILLS - The unidentified friend, who murderer Buford Sennett claims was his accomplice in the kidnaping and killing of
Georgia Jean Weckler may be a blonde young woman, Ernie Bodeman the night marshal here, has informed authorities.
Bodeman, a friend of the Weckler family who has visited many times in their Ft. Atkinson farm home, reported he saw Georgia
Jean with the blonde woman in the Tyranena cafe here the night she was abducted.
The young woman, who was about 16 or 17 years old and was wearing a grey coat, brought Georgia Jean into the cafe about
10:45 p. m., he said. The woman purchased $2.40 worth of potato chips and ice cream, and left hurriedly, jerking the child with
her, when a car horn blew outside.
The little girl had been crying, he said. He did not know until the next day that Georgia Jean had been kidnaped.
Bodeman said he jokingly suggested to the two that he help them eat the ice cream. Neither of them answered, he reported.
"The horn blew out front, and Georgia flinched as if she didn't want to go. But the older girl jerked her and they hastened, away,"
Bodeman declared. I know it was Georgia Jean Weckler, I wish I would have known she was missing from her home."
2) Do not believe she was put in the Wisconsin River off of the bridge. Reading that they used cement blocks or rocks weighing
90 to 100 lbs., plus her weight of 70lbs. would make it hard to lift and drop were they (he) said they did. Possibly she is in the
Blue River which empties in the Wisconsin River in the areas of the map that was also mentioned.
3) Is it possible she was / still buried some place near his mother and fathers home? They did find a 4-1/2 trench dug there,
bigger than anything that was stolen to hide. That was about her size and she could have been placed there first. His mother did
hide him from the police another time. Which raises a question if she knew what was going on? Depending on that area could the
use ground penetrating radar and search there and the hideout area.
5) The Delavan Greenhouse is not where she is. They would not need to tear it down, but use ground penetrating radar and do a
search under it.
6) The latest was the dig in Janesville and never thought she was there. The only mention of Janesville was a diary found on a bus
that really never really link to the case. Again if they wanted to do a complete search of the area they could use ground
penetrating radar and no digging would be required.
7) Wednesday, April 21st, 1948 - The center span of the Blue river bridge which figured in two of Wisconsin's most heinous
murders collapsed Tuesday and tumbled into the swirling Wisconsin River. It was from this center span that Buford Sennett and
Robert Winslow threw the bullet-riddled body of youthful Carl Carlson, of Superior, a University of Wisconsin medical student.
The malevolent pair had picked up Carlson and his sister-in-law, a University of Michigan co-ed, on the night before the
Michigan-Wisconsin football game. They shot Carlson to death and repeatedly raped the girl throughout the night.
8) *** Sennett died in 2008 shortly after he was transferred from the Dodge state prison to a supervised living facility, according
to Wisconsin Department of Corrections records, spokeswoman Joy Staab said. He was 82.

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 Letter's
To: Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation 123 W. Washington Ave
Madison, WI 53702
From: John Weckler
1200 Ranch Rd
Warsaw IN 46580
DOJ
I'm doing some research on Georgia Jean Weckler, who kidnapped on May 1st 1947 in Ft Atkinson, from her driveway
to her home around 3:00pm after school. From the saved Newspapers (The Wisconsin State Journal and Milwaukee Journal) and
cut out articles that my mother saved. These were the pictures of her in the paper at the time of her kidnapping.

Georgia Jean Weckler was 8 years old at the time.

She has 2 sisters, and a brother
Georgia and her sisters and brother had poliomyelitis hers being the worst, all recovered
This happened sometime after school around 3:30pm
1
/2 mile off of Highway 12
She was reportedly getting the mail, and the picking some flowers
No mail found, which paper work from sales of cows and pigs should have arrived
Black 1936 Ford sedan was spotted it the area at the time (10min after she was last seen)
Another Black Ford and a Steel Gray car was also sought
No ransom note was ever found
Reward was up to $7,000 - $8,000
Governor, Madison and Milwaukee police offer cooperation
FBI was not involved (with missing mail?)
Missing farmhand sought in Pennsylvania
Elderly man was also sought
7 other suspects were being watched
2 other missing or kidnapped kids during this time frame
Reportedly she was burn in a field in the woods near Richland Center in the dugout hiding place of Buford Sennett (convicted
murderer- rapist and confessed kidnaper)
The D.A. refuses to test ashes; some 4 months go by before testing is done
Sennet then confess that he and unidentified friend kidnapped her and gave her 2 sleeping pills, and he went home for the night,
when he returned he found his friend gave her more pills which caused her death. They weighed her down and threw her off of the
Blue River bridge into the Wisconsin River. This is the same site that another body was recovered. They drag and search the area, but
nothing was found.
In 1954 Charles McClelland a murderer serving life in prison in Nebraska, said he and his accomplice kidnapped her for ransom,
and took her to southern Illinois and was afraid to collect the ransom and killed her 4 days later. He said the buried her in a creek
bottom off of county road east of US highway 51 and 2 miles south of DuQuoin. A search was done, but nothing wound be found
due to the yearly flooding.
The other stories were she thrown in the Rock River, or the latest was she was buried in a wall.
If you can help me with any other information to this case or direct me to other sources about this case would be greatly
appreciated. She was my 1st cousin on my dad's side and with all of the recent kidnappings made me think about this. I'm putting
a small book together on her and just maybe find her, so she can have the proper burial.
Thank You

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STATE OF WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JAMES E. DONTE Division of Criminal Investigation AT17OR\EY
GENERAL, James R. Warren. Administrator Burneatta L. Bridge 17 West Main Street
Deputy Attorney General P.O. Box 7857
Madison, WI 53707-7857 608/2661671
V/7TV 1-800-947-3529
September 23, 2002
Mr. John Weckler 1200 Ranch Road Warsaw IN 46580
Dear Mr. Weckler:
I have received your letter regarding the disappearance of your first cousin, Georgia Jean Weckler, from Fort Atkinson,
Wisconsin, on May 1, 1947.
A search of our files at the Department of Justice indicates that the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was not involved in
investigating this disappearance.
If you have not already done so, I would suggest that you contact the Fort Atkinson Police Department and/or the Wisconsin State
Historical Society to obtain any information they might have.
A general search of the web site for Madison Newspapers Inc. for any information regarding the disappearance of your cousin found
one article, and I am attaching that link for your information. I suggest that you check further with Madison Newspapers Inc. as it is
possible they would have more information.
Sincerely,
James R. Warren, Administrator
Division of Criminal Investigation
Robbie R. Lowery, Director Special Assignments Bureau kas
Enclosure

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 House History
Lucile's Letter
7-7-03 Mon.
Dear John
Since you are the one asking all the questions, I will address you with the answers as well as I can.
The Weckler Farm as I knew it was owned by Will & Albert Weckler-known as Weckler Bros.
Peter Weckler (father) died 1890 I believe, leaving the farm to Mary, his wife. My Dad Will, was 18 & Albert 16. Just when the
two boys purchased the farm from their Mother, I do not know, but it may have been when Dad & Mother were married 1899.
(Not sure about that, but it is when both kitchens were built on, making the house for 2 families.
In March 1928, Dad, Lloyd & I moved to town, leaving the farm to George & Elmer partners. Albert still lived there until Elmer
& Hattie married 1935?
At which time, Albert moved to town on Riverside Dr.. He had a housekeeper for several years.
Elmer & Hattie then took over the south apartment for several years. I do not exactly remember how long before Elmer broke the
partnership & went on his own, but believe Joyce & DeAnne were both born there on the farm,or while at the farm.
George took over the farm and got along with a hired man for awhile. Then Katherine married, and Neil Oestreich came into the
family, & worked with George until his health gave out.
I hope you are finding some interesting things about the kidnapping from the old papers They are getting brittle, but hope
readable.
It was pleasant and interesting to be with you visiting at the time we were down to see your Dad. Do come up this way and visit
some of our family get reacquainted. I know what it's like to be the tail-end of a generation, but after all are grown up, we seem to
fit in. Hope I have been of some help.
Love,
Aunt Lucile

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Kates Letter

202
203
Georgia Jean Family Pictures

204
 Flowers on the Church Alter and Family Grave
May 9, 2004

Georgia Jean Weckler (colorized 5/31/06) Georgia Jean and Joanne Georgia Jean

Family Pictures

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The Kids

206
Katherine Mae Oestreich - Weckler

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208
 This was taken from the Jefferson County Daily Union (10/28/13)

LaVerne W. Weckler, 79, Fort Atkinson

LaVerne W. Weckler, 79, of rural Fort Atkinson, passed away at his home on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, with his wife, two faithful cats
and family at his side.
He was born at home in Oakland Township on Aug. 14, 1934, to George and Eleanor (Brounty) Weckler. He graduated from Fort
Atkinson High School and operated the family farm after his fathers death.
On Oct. 13, 1956, LaVerne married Dawn D. Jensen. They continued to farm for two more years before he left farming to work as a
mechanic, and then as a parts man in the agricultural implement business until retirement.
He was a lifelong member of St. Johns Community Church where he served a total of 24 years in positions of deacon, treasurer
and president. He was a groundskeeper for the church and took great pride in this work. He was known for his smile and
willingness to help.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Dawn; sister, Joan (Wm) Cushman of Whitewater; brother-in-law, Dale (Shirley) Jensen of
Flippin, Ark.; sisters-in-law, Jackie (Dean Zweifel) Amundson of Whitewater, Jeri (Dehane) Gjertson of Fort Atkinson and Robin
(John) Blackstone of Arlington, Texas; Aunt Lucile Draeger of Jefferson; his beloved cats, Noah and Connor; and many nieces and
nephews.
Preceding him in death were his parents; sisters, Katherine (Neil) Oestreich and Georgia Jean; and nephews, Danny Oestreich
and Jay Amundson.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at St. Johns Community Church in Fort Atkinson with Pastor Kevin
Butler officiating.
Friends may call at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service.
If desired, memorials may be made to Rainbow Hospice or to St. Johns Community Church.

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 Joanne E. Weckler

JEFFERSON Joanne E. (Weckler) Cushman, 79, formerly of Jefferson, passed away at Fort Memorial Hospital in Fort Atkinson
on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, after a brief illness.

She was born June 21, 1936, in Fort Atkinson, to George and Eleanor (Brounty) Weckler.

Joanne grew up on the family farm in the Town of Oakland, attended Oakland Center School, graduated high school in Fort
Atkinson, and continued her education at Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Janesville, graduating with her RN degree.

On Dec. 19, 1964, Joanne married William L. Cushman. She moved to his family farm outside Hebron. After the birth of their son,
Lee in 1968, Joanne left nursing to stay at home and help with farming.

Joanne was a lifelong member of St. Johns Community Church, as well as a member of Hebron United Methodist Church in her
later years. She was a former member of Eastern Star, enjoyed watching sports, playing cards, and delighted in being a part of her
grandsons lives.

She is survived by her husband of nearly 51 years, Bill; son, Lee (Shannon) Cushman of Whitewater; grandsons, James, Thomas
and David; sister-in-law, Dawn Weckler of Fort Atkinson; and aunt, Lucille Draeger of Jefferson.

Preceding her in death were her parents; sisters, Katherine (Neil) Oestreich and Georgia Jean Weckler; brother, LaVerne Weckler;
and nephew, Danny Oestreich.

The visitation will be Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 to 11 a.m., at Nitardy Funeral Home, 550 N. Newcomb St. in Whitewater, followed at
11 a.m. by a Celebration of Life service officiated by the Rev. Karen Klatt.

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This was my Aunt on my dads side of the family. She is the one that kept the newspaper articles that I used in building the Georgia
Jean site.

Lucile Draeger

Lucile Katherine (Weckler) Draeger passed away at age 103 on December 17, 2015.
Lucile was born on March 27, 1912, in Oakland Township, Jefferson Co, WI, where she was an active participant in the rural
community all of her life. She was the only daughter of the late Wm. F. Weckler and Katherine H .B. (Zahn) Weckler. She helped
raise her youngest brother, Lloyd after the death of their mother in 1927.
After graduation from Fort Atkinson High School in 1930 she served as secretary to the superintendent of the Fort Atkinson School
District until her marriage to Harold W. Draeger in 1933. Together they raised seven children and established the Future Hope
Farm, west of Fort Atkinson, and an internationally recognized bloodline of registered Holstein Dairy Cattle using the same registry
name.
She centered her life on her children, and grandchildren, and supported their activities in music, drama, and sports, 4-H Clubs,
higher education, civic organizations, and the military. She was devoted to a Christian life and was a lifelong member of the St.
Johns Community Church, in the Town of Oakland, where she was baptized, confirmed and married. She was involved in its
musical program, sang in the choir, directed the youth choir, as well as helped to organize a bell choir. She sang for many
weddings & funerals.
Throughout her life time she was involved with and had leadership roles or memberships in many groups and organizations: the
Ives Country School and Mothers Club; Oakland Girls, Ideal Holstein, and Clever Clovers 4-H Clubs; the Blackhawk Homemakers;
the Ladies Aid Society and Friendly Builders Club of the St. Johns Comm. Church; the Fort Atkinson High School Alumni
Association; the County and State Farm Bureau Assn; and the County, State and National Holstein Cattle Association; the Hoard
Historical Museum, and National Dairy Shrine.
She loved sewing, embroidery, and crocheting; gardening and flowers; keeping the cookie jar full; was fond of animals, (especially
cats); was an avid reader, loving history and poetry; music and singing. She was our family historian and will be greatly missed.
She retained a sharp memory and was especially fond of sharing her verbal knowledge of the community, and its history and
families. She was a docent at the National Dairy Shrine in her later years and could impart much history of the dairy industry in WI.
She contributed artifacts and clothing to the museum that are occasionally displayed. She was visited many times by the students
from UW-Whitewater for information from the past. She played the piano for enjoyment until she was nearly 100 yrs. old and was a
proud member of the chime choir at the Alden Estates of Jefferson, where she lived for almost 6 years before her passing.
She is survived by all of her children: Donna Petersen, Roger (Wanda) and W. Peter (Linda) Draeger, Fort Atkinson; Ralph
Draeger, Jefferson; Andrea Louis-Visser (James), Waukesha, WI; Marilyn Frey (Richard), Oxford, MS; and Pamela Andrews
(Dennis), Maricopa, AZ. Grandchildren: Michael Petersen (Carolyn); Todd Petersen (Jeanette); Gregg Petersen (Shirley Reddoch);
Donalyn Germundson (William); Jennifer Anderson (Larry); Adam Draeger (Jill); Joshua Draeger (Therese); Luke Draeger; Shanda
Louis (Richard Pearce); Timothy Louis (Rhonda); Kathryn Draeger; Karson Draeger (Jennifer); Kyle Draeger; Nathan Andrews
(Kassie); Kirsten Andrews (Tyler). Step-grandchild: Jeffrey Dailey (Shelly). Great grandchildren: Alexander (Brittanny Gamache) &
Amanda Petersen; Sieren & Kira Petersen; Rebecca & John Petersen; Zebulon, Amina & Beckett Anderson; Seth & Drew Draeger;
Kai, Kalen & Shae Grieb; Carly & Hunter Louis; Kase, Kenzie, Kalen Draeger; Gracella Andrews. Step-great grandchildren: Justin
(Megan ), Brendan (Becky), Travis Dailey & Troy Schneider (Molly). Former grand-daughters-in-law: Lynnda Petersen (John
Nepsa) & Carla Larsen (Ken). And, many nieces and nephews of several generations in the Weckler and Draeger families.
Lucile was preceded in death by her husband, Harold; three brothers: George, Elmer, and Lloyd Weckler; and a son-in-Law, Albert
V. Petersen, Jr.; daughter-in-Law, Patricia Scherwitz Draeger and grand-daughter-in-law, Kelly Louis
Cremation arrangements are being handled by the Dunlap Memorial Home, with a memorial service and celebration of her life to
be held at a later date, as per her wishes.
Memorials can be made to St Johns Community Church, Hoard Historical Museum or Humane Society of Jefferson County.
A special thank you to Pastor Delisa and Pastor Kevin for their visits; Aldens caregivers: Tracy, Karen, Cassie, Cyndi, Candy, Lori,
Anne, Diane, Virgene and so many others; Kathy N, Joanie, Kathy B of Rainbow Hospice; Dr Smith, Dr Goldman and staff at the
Fort Health Care Wound & Edema Clinic.

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 Email received 3/31/16
Hi John,

Heres the information for the Wisconsin Missing Persons Awareness event on April 24 th. Feel free to share it on Facebook.

Marsha was interviewed earlier today and it just aired on the news:

Thanks,

Detective Leah M. Meyer

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
411 S. Center Ave.
Jefferson, WI 53549

From: Marsha Loritz [mailto:mloritz@new.rr.com]

Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2016 3:16 PM
To: Leah Meyer
Subject: missing persons awareness event

Hi Leah,

My name is Marsha Loritz and my mom has been missing for almost 3 years now. I have written to Governor Scott Walker and he
has proclaimed April to be Missing Persons Awareness Month for the 2nd consecutive year.

Im trying to reach out to families of the missing to invite them to an event I am holding on April 24th at The Brown County Sheriffs
office. Im wondering if you could help me with this Could you reach out to the families in your area that have a missing loved one
and share this with them? They can reach me at mloritz@new.rr.com or on Facebook.

Im enclosing the flyers for the event as well. Im also going to share with you that Lamar Advertising and I have teamed up and
starting Monday, we are launching a billboard campaign showcasing Wisconsins Missing Persons on billboards in and around the
Green Bay area and Milwaukee.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today!!!

Also you could post on your police Facebook page if you have one. :)

Sincerely,
Marsha Loritz

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213
 Georgia Jean Weckler Case: (Taken from a Facebook posting)
She cited the Weckler case as a perfect example. Dating back to 1947, it is the second-oldest missing person case in the state and
it remains open.
The fact that they are still working on that case gives me a lot of hope that my mom wont be forgotten, Loritz said. I just think
none of these people should be forgotten. They were someones loved one.
She acknowledged that it is difficult as the third anniversary of her mothers disappearance nears.
This gives me a positive outlet to do something, Loritz said.
Meyer, who has been assigned to the Weckler case for three years, said she recognizes that at this point, the hope is simply to
bring any remaining family members some amount of closure.
Georgia Jean Weckler disappeared from her Town of Oakland farm driveway after being dropped off by a family friend after school,
and never was seen or heard from again. Over the years, many leads have cropped up, although none led to any new evidence or
information that authorities deemed credible.
Based on Meyers understanding of the file, it was one of the first cases in which the Wisconsin State Crime Lab was utilized.
Meyer was assigned the case in August 2013 as a tip leading to an excavation at a site in Janesville was investigated.
Although Wecklers parents and three siblings have died over the past 69 years she has been missing, her first cousin, John
Weckler of Indiana, has taken over the role as family archivist and has built a website to document Georgia Jeans disappearance.
It includes a lot of historical information and newspaper articles from the 1940s. Visit http://georgiajeanweckler.weebly.com.
It has become pretty evident to me as Ive gone through the file that the most likely suspect was identified years ago on that case,
Meyer said. Unfortunately, they were not able to develop enough evidence to charge and try the person for it.
Although she would not identify the person she believes is the likely suspect, early on, authorities thought they might have had a
suspect involved in the third-graders disappearance. A Richland Center man, Buford Sennett, was serving a life term at the
Waupun state prison for a different 1947 murder and kidnapping when he confessed to abducting and killing Georgia. However, he
refused to sign the confession, changed his story several times and no concrete evidence was ever developed to bring up charges
on the crime.
Sennett later recanted the oral confession.
Even so, many authorities still believed he was guilty. Meyer also indicated that the suspect to which she was referring had been in
custody for another murder.
Meyer noted that when she first was assigned the case during the Janesville excavation, her goal was to try to improve the
identification process chances for Wecklers remains someday by creating a mitochondrial DNA profile.
Nothing in the current file had anything to extract Wecklers DNA.
In order to get a mitochondrial DNA profile it comes through the siblings and the mother, Meyer said.
At the time, two of Georgias siblings, Laverne Weckler and Joanne Cushman, were still alive. Both have since died.
The DNA samples were sent to the Northern University of Texas laboratory, the only other lab in the country outside of the FBIs
crime lab that can create a mitochondrial DNA profile.
By doing that, we then have something to match to if any remains are found, Meyer said. Sometimes if the bones are very old,
they cant extract enough genetic material to create the DNA profile, but they can usually get enough to create a mitochondrial
profile.
The detective said the DNA profile is in addition to a dental profile that she worked with forensic odonatologists to put together.
My focus was to gather the necessary information to improve the identification chances, Meyer said.
All the new information was added to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
For the first year after improving the entry, Meyer received almost monthly hits from cases around the country. Now she still gets
them sporadically whenever remains are found.
Thats what I think would mean the most to her family. I think thats one of the hardest aspects for the people who are the surviving
family members: that constant unknown, Meyer said.

The detective noted that family members never give up hope. However, she acknowledged that at some point for the Weckler
family its been almost 69 years families come to accept the reality of their loss.

Meyer said Wecklers family came to grips with the fact that she likely was deceased very early on.

Youve got to appreciate the position those family members are in and how they probably even felt like they were never going to
get that closure of having their family member come back to them, she said.

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 Girls May Day disappearance remains mystery

Weckler kidnapping 70 years ago

Georgia Jean Weckler

Posted: Monday, May 1, 2017 9:46 am | Updated: 9:46 am, Tue May 2, 2017.

Weckler kidnapping 70 years ago By Ryan Whisner rwhisner@dailyunion.com

OAKLAND The second-oldest missing person case in Wisconsin originated in the Town of Oakland 70 years ago today.

It was raining the morning of May 1, 1947, so 8-year-old Georgia Jean Weckler didnt ride her bike to school as she usually did.
Instead, her mother, Eleanor, drove Georgia and her siblings, Joanne and Laverne, the one-and-a-half miles to Oakland Center
School.

After classes ended at 3 p.m., Mrs. Carl Floerke dropped Georgia Jean off at the end of the half-mile lane leading to her familys
farm home. A neighbor and the mother of a fellow student, she saw nothing suspicious as Georgia got out of the car with the
intention to pick some flowers for a May basket before walking down to the house. Little did Floerke know she would be the last
known person to see or hear from Georgia Jean in seven decades.

George Weckler, meanwhile, had been in downtown Fort Atkinson and did not arrive home until nearly 6 p.m. Eleanor thought that
Georgia was with him, and when she inquired about their third-grade daughter, he called the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office.

Wecklers siblings would recall over the years that their father then grabbed a flashlight and ran for the woods himself, envisioning
his daughter lying injured after falling from a tree she might have climbed.

Even in the rural setting, word rapidly spread as neighbors turned out to help look for Georgia Jean. That first night, a five-hour
long search by a 200-volunteer party combed the 20-acre wooded tract that abutted the Weckler driveway. Laverne, 12; Joanne,
10; and their older sister, Katherine Mae, 16, were gathered and assigned locations to search, as well.

As the investigation unfolded, witnesses reported having seen a dark-colored, four-door 1936 Ford sedan in the vicinity of the farm,
as well as a young girl struggling and pleading with a man inside a car in Fort Atkinson around the time of the disappearance.

From the day Georgia Jean went missing, her siblings were kept out of school for the remainder of that school year.

On Wednesday, May 11, 1947, ten days after Georgia Jean disappeared, residents of the Town of Oakland took time off from
searching to do something heartwarmingly normal. A dozen neighboring farmers gathered to plow the Wecklers fields and prepare
them for seeding. The sheep were sheared, a chicken dinner was cooked and a prayer was offered by Rev. Alban Tippins of St.
Johns Community Church.

George Weckler stopped farming after suffering a stroke in 1951. Five years later, he died after another stroke or heart attack.

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Eleanor remained on the family farm with Katherine Mae and her husband, Neil Oestreich, for many years, eventually moving with
them to Eagle River. Through the years after Georgia Jean had disappeared, and even after moving to Eagle River, Eleanor is said
to have left a light on in the house at night ... apparently in case Georgia came home. She died in 1996 at the age of 93.

Numerous leads have been pursued during the past seven decades, but no suspect ever formally was arrested and no remains
ever have been ever found. Wecklers case is one of four open missing cases in Jefferson County.

Detective Leah Meyer said that, at the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, missing persons cases are never closed.

Meyer was assigned to the Weckler case four years ago following a tip that led to an excavation at a site in Janesville.

An Edgerton man told authorities that, as a boy, he and a friend were picking berries in July of 1947 when they saw what they
thought was a freshly dug grave. As they looked at the area, a man came out of the bushes, scaring them away.

No evidence was found in the 2013 search. It will probably stay with me until Iretire and then it will be passed on to the next
generation of detectives in the department, Meyer said of the Weckler case. Usually there is one assigned detective to each
missing person case.

The detective said such cases are never really considered closed. Based on the length of time from when the person went
missing, a case might be considered inactive, but it is never closed until the individual is located.

We will open them up for investigative purposes when there is a need to, Meyer said.

Approximately 2,300 Americans are reported missing every day and there are more than 90,000 active missing cases in the U.S. at
any given time.

NamUs a nationwide database used by medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement officials and the general public to locate
missing persons lists 135 missing persons in Wisconsin. Last year, further research suggested that there were as many as 163
open cases in the state.

Four of those are in Jefferson County.

Meyer currently holds the file for Georgia Jean Weckler. The file on Catherine Sjoberg, an Oconomowoc teen who vanished after
leaving a post-prom party at the Concord House in the Town of Concord on June 4, 1974, is in process of being reassigned to
another detective, while Detective Sgt. Don Hunter remains the lead investigator on the remaining missing members of the Allen
Krnak family wife Donna and son Thomas of the Helenville area, who vanished July 2, 1998, after leaving for their Waushara
County cottage.

Obviously after a prolonged period of time, the chances of recovering someone alive greatly diminishes, Meyer said.

Based on Meyers understanding of theWeckler file, it was one of the first cases in which the Wisconsin State Crime Lab was
utilized.

For me, it is really mostly about the identification of her remains and getting them back home where they belong, Meyer said of
Georgia Jean Weckler. Idont think it is a realistic that there is a suspect out there who is alive that will be prosecuted for this
case.

The detective pointed out that there always is the possibility that there is someone still alive that has a tidbit of information that
could make the difference.

There are still plenty of community members still alive who know about the case that have plenty of interest in it, she said. I am
always surprised when I do receive calls from older people who have such a clear recollection of what happened. They have their
own personal and vested interest in trying to see a positive outcome, as well.

The detective said she is adamant that she will do everything she can with the case.

I figure as long as it is within my power to do something to hopefully bring a positive outcome, I am going to try every opportunity
Ican even despite the age of the case, Meyer said. Somebody has to advocate for Georgia Jean and right now, that person is me
and I take that seriously.

Although Wecklers parents and three siblings have died over the past 70 years she has been missing, her first cousin, John
Weckler of Indiana, has taken over the role as family archivist and has built a website to document Georgia Jeans disappearance.
It includes a lot of historical information and newspaper articles from the 1940s.

Visit http://georgiajeanweckler.weebly.com for more information.

Meyer has been asked to appear on behalf of Georgia Jean at an event hosted by the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing and
Exploited Children and Adults in remembrance of missing persons. The ceremony is slated for noon on May 25 at the state Capitol

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in Madison and will include remarks by state Attorney General Brad Schimel. Throughout the past 70 years, there have been
numerous suspects and tips regarding where her body might be buried.

Whenever we get new information, we do renew our efforts on the case. In the meantime, unless there is new information coming
in, there is not a lot of new activity, especially with a case this old, she said.

That rang true recently after the Stevens Point Journal ran articles about a missing Plover woman in late March and early April. As
part of that series of articles, the newspaper published one focusing on missing children around Wisconsin.

Among the children listed were two of Jefferson Countys four open missing person cases, Catherine Sjoberg and Georgia Jean
Weckler.

The article included basic summaries and the portion on Weckler included Meyers contact information, which is listed on various
missing person database websites

Meyer said an older woman from the Stevens Point area contacted her upon seeing the article. She previously had been in contact
with Meyer after news of the Janesville excavation had been reported in 2013.

She had just called to give me some additional information due to some contact she had with a former classmate of hers that also
some interest in the case, Meyer said.

An interview with the classmate, a man who lives in California, led the detective to conduct some follow-up investigation in
Richland County, which happens to have been home to one of the prime suspects in the case.

It has become pretty evident to me as Ive gone through the file that the most likely suspect was identified years ago in this case,
Meyer said. However, she acknowledged that does not mean there are not other viable suspects. The detective said she has put
together a spreadsheet of all the suspects, listing the information that caused them to become a suspect and then when and if they
were ruled out.

I have tried to organize that within the file because there was a very large pool of suspects that were identified initially. Then I
added on to that the names that have come to our attention through the years, she said.

Meyer said she keeps coming back to one person in particular.

It was that person that I was doing some more investigative work on this month and also looking into the file further to try and find
any and all documents pertaining to that suspect, she said.

Although she would not identify the person she believes is the likely suspect, authorities early on thought they might have had a
suspect involved in the Wecklers disappearance. A Richland Center man, Buford Sennett, 22, was serving a life term at the
Waupun state prison for the 1947 murder of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student and rape of the victims sister-in-law when,
on Dec. 15, 1947, he confessed to abducting and killing Georgia Jean Weckler.

Sennett claimed that he and one or two accomplices had kidnapped the girl for ransom, but fed her an overdose of sleeping pills
while she was being held in a car parked in the woods near Richland Center. He said he dumped her lifeless body in the Blue
River; divers did not recover any body. A friend of mine, whose name Irefuse to disclose, who was acquainted with Jefferson
County and knew of the Weckler family, planned to kidnap the little girl for ransom, Sennett told Jefferson County authorities.

However, he refused to sign the confession and changed his story several times. No concrete evidence ever was developed to
bring up charges on the crime.

Sennett later recanted the oral confession. However, he reportedly had filled in unexplained details of the time schedule and
described the girl, her clothes, the farm driveway and other items that no one could have recounted from reading the newspaper
accounts.

Without naming anyone, Meyer indicated that the suspect to whom she was referring had been in custody for another murder.

She also noted that after 70 years, all of the primary suspects in the file are deceased, making any further investigation difficult with
no one to interview.

I have to go back and make sure Im finding all the documents pertaining to prior interviews conducted on that person to compare
them against information within the file to see if there is validity in certain areas of the investigation that maybe should be looked at
a little bit closer, she said.

Based on the information provided by a tip a month ago, Meyer reopened the file box and started looking at some of the materials
that were relevant to the information she was receiving.

Through her follow-up on the tip, she reviewed some of the original 1947 and early 1948 documents related to the case.

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You never know when there might be tips that might come in from the older population who were around in 1947 and knew of the
case and had a tidbit of information they felt was relevant, she said.

Meyer said the tip was new clarifying information about details previously received in 1947 when Georgia Jeans disappearance
initially was investigated.

Given the era, the completeness of some of the details in the reports are lacking in terms of locations. Information she received led
to her Richland County to try to find more exact locations of areas referenced in the 1947 investigation when it began.

As part of her analysis, Meyer found that the town roads were not named as they are today. Unless it was a county or state
highway, the road people lived on did not have a specific name. For mailing purposes, they might reside on Rural Route 1, for
instance.

That led to some issues when I had interviewed people recently because they didnt have road names, Meyer said.

Using old plat maps, she was able to find the property based on the owners names and compared them to modern-day maps with
the same configuration of roads. Thus, she learned the roads names today.

A little bit of sleuthing went on there in finding the roads, she said. I was successful in finding the areas I was looking for, just
helping to complete the record more and possibly determine if we need to address old parts of the investigation with new forms of
forensic and evidence techniques that were not available in the 1940s.

Meyer acknowledged that investigating a 70-year-old case is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

She noted that when she first was assigned the case in 2013 during the Janesville excavation, her goal was to improve the
identification process chances for Wecklers remains someday by creating a mitochondrial DNA profile.

Nothing in the file had anything to extract Wecklers DNA.

In order to get a mitochondrial DNA profile, it comes through the siblings and the mother, Meyer said.

At the time, Laverne Weckler and Joanne Cushman still were alive. Both have since died.

The siblings DNA samples were sent to the University of North Texas (Denton, Texas) laboratory, the only other lab in the country
outside of the FBIs crime lab that can create a mitochondrial DNA profile.

By doing that, we then have something to match to if any remains are found, Meyer said. Sometimes if the bones are very old,
they cant extract enough genetic material to create the DNA profile, but they can usually get enough to create a mitochondrial
profile.

The detective said the DNA profile is in addition to a dental profile that she worked with forensic odontologists to put together.

My focus was to gather the necessary information to improve the identification chances, Meyer said.

All the new information was added to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

For the first year after improving the entry, Meyer received almost monthly hits from cases around the country. Now she still gets
them sporadically whenever remains are found or other tips come in.

The detective noted that for most missing person cases, family members never give up hope. However, at some point families
come to accept the reality of their loss.

Meyer said Wecklers family came to grips with the fact that she likely was deceased very early on.

Youve got to appreciate the position those family members were in and how they probably felt like they were never going to get
that closure of having their family member come back to them, she said.

Persons with information relating to the Weckler case may contact Detective Leah Meyer at (920) 674-7365.

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Finding Georgia Jean: New lead in 70-year-old cold case
Courtny Gerrish
10:22 PM, Jun 22, 2017
12:07 PM, Jun 23, 2017

This cold case is a massive undertaking for Detective Meyer; the paperwork alone is
overwhelming. Different suspects were looked at over the years, even as recently as the 90's. But Detective
Meyer is focused on one man. Then 22-year-old Buford Sennett, "he was known as a bad character."
His pattern of crimes makes him a key suspect. "Extremely violent sexually based offender, that I think
would fit the M.O. for a crime like Georgia Jean's," Detective Meyer explained.

Arrested in northern Wisconsin for murder and rape in late 1947, Sennett confessed to abducting Georgia
Jean for ransom. He shared details about the case that were never released to the media. And the physical
description of the suspect in the case matched Sennett. Also witness accounts of a car seen in the area
where she disappeared lined up with the vehicle he drove.
Sennett claimed he and an unnamed accomplice took Georgia Jean to a local hideout, but she reportedly
died from an overdose of sleeping pills. Sennett said he threw the young girl's body in the Wisconsin River.
Detective Meyer isn't sold on that story; telling us she thinks it's a mix of truth and fiction.
A recent tip helped Detective Meyer find Sennett's hideout. The case file never gave an exact location, and
for the first time she's talking about the hideout. "It was nothing more than a giant fox hole," she told
us. She also shared pictures of what it looks like today. "I think it would be important to search that
vicinity, finding any new leads or possibly discovering her remains."
Donna Peterson and her brother, Roger Dreager, are Georgia Jean's cousins. They met us at the family
cemetery. Donna described her cousin as a sweet girl and said life changed when Georgia Jean was taken.
"We couldn't walk to school anymore. People were so frightened; how could it happen?"
Roger was 10 at the time and became emotional looking back. "I think about my cousin, or Georgia Jean's
sister, Joanne. Every Christmas she always had an ornament on her Christmas tree for Georgia Jean."
Georgia Jean's parents and three siblings have all passed on still with so many unanswered questions, and
the burden of what happened on May 1, 1947.
Detective Meyer knows it will be next to impossible to solve this case, because it's so old and the fact so
many people are no longer alive. In the end, she doesn't believe this crime was planned. The offender just
happened to be driving down Highway 12 when Georgia Jean was dropped off after school and decided to
take her.
Buford Sennett was paroled after his 1940's conviction. He reoffended in the 80's and was sentenced for the
sexual assault of two young girls. Investigators questioned him again about Georgia Jean, and Sennett
recanted his previous confession. A confession he never actually signed.
Sennett died in 2008; he was 82.
Detective Meyer hopes by sharing more details of the crime someone will come forward.
To report information on the Georgia Jean Weckler case contact Detective Leah Meyer of the Jefferson
County Sheriff's Office at 920-674-7365.
For more information, you can read these old newspaper articles, compiled by a family member in Indiana.
Video
http://www.tmj4.com/news/i-team/finding-georgia-jean-new-lead-in-70-year-old-cold-case

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 New lead discovered in 70-year-old Weckler case
By Jennifer Eisenbart lifestyles@dailyunion.com
Posted: Friday, June 23, 2017 5:03 pm | Updated: 5:11 pm, Fri Jun 23, 2017.

Shown here is the possible hideout of Buford Sennett, the prime suspect in the 70-year-old cold case of Georgia Jean
Weckler. A new tip led Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Detective Leah Meyer to the location, which she describes
as "essentially a giant foxhole" that has gradually filled in over the years. This photo was taken by Meyer in April
2017.

OAKLAND The JeffersonCounty Sheriffs Office believes it may have a crack in the 70-year-old cold
case of Georgia Jean Weckler.
Weckler, who was 8 years old at the time of her disappearance, was last seen on May 1, 1947, after being
dropped off by a neighbor at the end of the half-mile lane leading to her familys farm.
Numerous leads have been pursued during the past seven decades, but no suspect ever was formally arrested
and no remains ever have been found. Wecklers case is one of four open missing persons cases in Jefferson
County, and is being handled by Detective Leah Meyer of the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office.
Meyer said Friday that she received a tip in April from an area resident that grew up in Richland County.
That person led Meyer to one of their classmates, who now lives in California.
That took Meyer to back to Buford Sennett, then 22, who she said she believes is the most likely suspect in
the case.
The tipster in California led Meyer to what potentially was Sennetts hideout in Richland County. There
were references in the original investigation to the hideout, however, the area was not well labeled from the
1940s. Meyer had to research to pinpoint the exact location, using plat maps to try and place it on a current
map.
Meyer called the hideout essentially a giant foxhole.
When people think of hideout, they think of something more like a cave, Meyer said. This is more of a
hole in the ground.
The original hole, she said, was described to be about 6-foot by 6-foot, but had filled in gradually over the
years.
Authorities early on thought Sennett might be a suspect inWecklers disappearance. At the time, he was
serving a life term at the Waupun state prison for the 1947 murder of a University of Wisconsin-Madison
student and rape of the victims sister-in-law when, on Dec. 15, 1947, he confessed to abducting and killing
Georgia Jean Weckler.
Sennett told police that he had kidnapped her for ransom, but she had died of an accidental overdose of
sleeping pills. He told police he had then disposed of her body in the Wisconsin River.
The river was dragged for about 10 days, Meyer said. Her remains werent found.

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Sennett was released after decades in prison. He committed another offense after being released a sexual
assault against two children in the 1980s. At that time, he recanted his original confession in the Weckler
case. However, he reportedly had filled in unexplained details of the time schedule and described the girl,
her clothes, the farm driveway and other items that no one could have recounted from reading the
newspaper accounts.
Sennett died in 2008.
The new tip, Meyer said, should lead to a better search of the area. She said the goal now is to find out what
new forensics tools can be brought in to try and find more evidence.
Meyer said Sennett was a notorious criminal in the area, and while he never signed the confession, she
believes there is some truth to Sennetts original confession in the Weckler case.
He of all the suspects in all the suspects in the case file is the person I keep coming back to, Meyer said.
I still believe hes the strongest suspect.
Meyer is hoping for new tips, perhaps an idea of who Sennett may have confided in. However, with the
clock extending further and further from the crime, Meyer feels time is of the essence.
Clearly, time is not on our side, she said.
Anyone with information relating to the Weckler case may contact Meyer at (920) 674-7365.

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Hi John,

I finally sent you the information you requested long ago & info from this memorial, yesterday. Roger & I were so glad we
attended this memorial. There are many around here, who keep saying, I wish they would stop taking about thiswe do not
feel this waywe still have a glimmer of hope. Leah is a delightful person & very dedicated to finding a solution.
Donna

Det. Leah Meyer, Roger, Dawn & myself

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Wisconsin Missing Persons Remembrance Ceremony

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