4. Mary Agnes Moroney was just an infant when she was taken from her Chicago home in 1930, and nobody knows what became of her
Mary Agnes Moroney had just turned two when she was taken from her Chicago home in the spring of 1930. Her parents never saw her again. What’s more, they never learned what happened to their little girl. Even today, the kidnapping of baby Mary remains one of the most intriguing ‘cold cases’ in American criminal history. Over the years, a number of theories and suspects have been put forward. However, the file in the Chicago Missing Persons Bureau remains open to this day.
The parents were young and, like many people at the time, very poor. Mary’s mother, Catherine, was still a teenager herself, struggling to cope with two young daughters. Her father made a meagre amount of money handing bills out on the streets of Chicago. They needed help. A relative of Catherine’s wrote to a local charity requesting assistance. Somehow, the family’s personal details were leaked. A few days later, a lady knocked on the door. She said her name was Julia Otis and that she had been sent to help. She offered to take Mary to California for a couple of months of sunshine and healthy living. Catherine, of course, refused and the matter was dropped.
The next day, ‘Julia Otis’ returned. This time, she offered to take Mary to the local store for some new clothes. Catherine agreed, albeit reluctantly. And that was the last she saw of her little girl. They did get a letter, though. Just the next day, a note arrived. It stated: “Please don’t be alarmed. I have taken your little girl to California with me.” She promised to be back in two months. But she never returned. A second arrived soon after. It was signed by someone claiming to be a relative of Julia Otis. It claimed that Julia was simply grieving for a baby she had lost. The police concluded the same person penned both letters.
There were a number of false leads but nothing concrete. Nothing of Mary or her kidnapper was even uncovered. In the 1950s, a woman came forward saying she was Mary, but her claims were met with suspicion. Years later, DNA tests confirmed that she was not the missing girl. Today, the case remains as mysterious as ever, though amateur sleuths still work hard to try and solve the riddle.