The murder of the Grimes sisters is one of the most notorious unsolved cases in the history of Chicago. On December 28, 1956, Barbara and Patricia Grimes, aged 15 and 12 respectively, disappeared after watching an Elvis Presley movie at a local theater. Their bodies were found almost a month later, naked and frozen, by the side of a road in Willow Springs. The official cause of death was secondary shock due to exposure to the elements, but many questions remain unanswered about who killed them and why.
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The Disappearance of the Grimes Sisters
Barbara and Patricia Grimes were inseparable sisters and devoted fans of Elvis Presley. They had seen his film Love Me Tender eleven times and decided to watch it again on the night of December 28, 1956. They left their home in McKinley Park around 7:30 p.m., promising their mother they would be back before midnight. They had about $2.50 in their possession, enough to pay for the bus fare and the movie tickets.
The sisters never returned home that night. Their mother, Loretta, became worried and called the police around 2:15 a.m. The police initially dismissed the case as a runaway, assuming the girls had gone to see Elvis Presley, who was performing in Chicago the next day. However, Loretta insisted that her daughters would never do such a thing and pleaded for help.
The disappearance of the Grimes sisters sparked one of the largest missing persons investigations in Chicago. Thousands of flyers were distributed, hundreds of leads were followed, and dozens of suspects were interrogated. Elvis Presley himself made a public appeal for the girls to come home, saying “If you are good Presley fans, you’ll go home and ease your mother’s worries.” The case attracted nationwide attention and media coverage, but no trace of the sisters was found.
The Discovery of the Grimes Sisters’ Bodies
On January 22, 1957, almost a month after the sisters vanished, a construction worker named Leonard Prescott spotted two bodies lying in a ditch along German Church Road in Willow Springs. He initially thought they were mannequins, but upon closer inspection, he realized they were the corpses of the Grimes sisters. He ran to a nearby tavern and called the police.
The police arrived at the scene and confirmed the identity of the bodies. They were naked, bruised, and frozen. Barbara had three puncture wounds on her chest, which were later determined to be from an ice pick. Patricia had a black eye and a swollen nose. Both had multiple injuries on their faces and bodies, suggesting they had been beaten. However, the autopsy report concluded that they had died within five hours of their last confirmed sighting, and that the cause of death was secondary shock due to exposure to the elements. The report also stated that there was no evidence of sexual assault, although some experts disputed this finding.
The discovery of the Grimes sisters’ bodies shocked and saddened the public. Their funeral was attended by thousands of mourners, who paid their respects to the innocent victims of a brutal crime. The sisters were buried at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
The Mystery of the Grimes Sisters’ Murder
The murder of the Grimes sisters remains unsolved to this day. Despite the extensive investigation, no conclusive evidence or motive was ever found. The police questioned several suspects, including a 17-year-old boy who confessed to the crime but later recanted, a 53-year-old drifter who claimed he had seen the girls alive after their disappearance, and a 69-year-old man who was arrested for molesting two other girls. However, none of these suspects could be linked to the crime scene or the victims.
Another mystery surrounding the case is the numerous sightings of the sisters after their disappearance. Many witnesses claimed to have seen the girls alive in various locations, such as a restaurant, a bus, a train, and a hotel. Some of these sightings were corroborated by other people, but none were verified by the police. Some investigators believed that the sisters were held captive by their killer or killers for several days or weeks before being killed, while others dismissed the sightings as hoaxes or mistakes.
The case of the Grimes sisters has been revisited by several journalists, authors, and amateur sleuths over the years. Some have proposed new theories or suspects, while others have tried to find new clues or evidence. However, none of these efforts have resulted in a definitive solution or closure. The case remains one of the most baffling and tragic mysteries in Chicago’s history.
According to NewsNation, a half-hour true crime special airing on Chicago’s NewsNation affiliate WGN-TV revives one of the cases oldest and most infamous cold cases. The special, titled “Innocence Lost: The Grimes Sisters Murders”, features new leads and information on the unsolved killings that changed Chicago forever. The special premieres on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. CT on WGN-TV, the WGN9+ app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV and online at wgntv.com. An encore presentation will be aired on Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. CT on all WGN-TV platforms.
