One of the most haunting scenes in The Ed Gein Story on Netflix was watching the killer abduct and murder babysitter, Evelyn Hartley. But, the true story of what happened to her is quite different to this. Well, from what we know.
In the show, we saw Evelyn Hartley become a victim of Ed Gein’s obsession. He would watch her out and about, as she recovered from polio. At the time, Gein had been picking up jobs as a babysitter. Then, Evelyn returned to her work as a babysitter. Gein hated that she had taken his job. As a result, he abducted her. He then tormented her with a dead body he’d dug up, and killed her with a hammer.
Addison Rae’s character in the show is based on a real person, but what Netflix showed is actually just a theory of what may have happened to her. Her true fate to this day remains unknown. Here’s what we know about her real life story.
via Netflix
What actually happened to babysitter Evelyn Hartley and is she connected to Ed Gein?
Babysitter Evelyn Hartley was just 15 when she vanished on October 24th 1953, in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. She has never been found. Over the years, her name has been linked to Ed Gein, though authorities never confirmed she was one of his victims.
The real Evelyn Grace Hartley was born in 1937, and was the daughter of a biology professor. She went missing from a home in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she was babysitting the 20-month-old daughter of another professor, Viggo Rasmussen. 2,000 people were involved in a search party to find her, but she was never discovered.
It is true that Ed Gein took work locally as a babysitter, but it’s never been confirmed that this caused him to have a run-in with Evelyn. When he was arrested for murder, Gein was questioned over the disappearance of Evelyn and another local girl, but he denied any involved. No DNA evidence linked him to Evelyn, either.
There are still theories about Gein’s involvement, but what happened to Evelyn remains a mystery.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.
