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See website for details. 53 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.919 You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking 54 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.039 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 55 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:26.400 written about them Gasey, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker DTK. Every 56 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:30.080 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 57 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.400 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your 58 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:52.599 host journalist and author Dan Zufanski. Good Evening nineteen fifty seven, Sycamore, Illinois. 59 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.319 Christmas was three weeks away, and seven year old Maria 60 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:59.719 Riddle went out to play. Soon after, a figure of 61 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.199 merged out of the falling snow. He was very friendly. 62 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:10.400 Minutes later, Maria vanished, leaving behind an abandoned doll and 63 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:20.000 footsteps in the snow. In April, a spring thaw gave 64 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.639 up Maria's body in a nearby wooded area. The case 65 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:27.879 attracted national attention, including that of the FBI and President Eisenhower. 66 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.479 In all, seventy four men and three women fell under suspicion, 67 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.879 but no one was ever charged with the crime. Incredibly, 68 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.080 fifty five years later, the coldest case in the history 69 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:44.439 of American jurisprudence would be reopened. It happened after a 70 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.400 seventy four year old former neighbor of the adults named 71 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:51.560 Eileen Tessier made a stunning deathbed confession to her family 72 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.919 about a dark past and a darker secret they knew 73 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.319 nothing about. Two families would be joined by despair and retribution, 74 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:04.000 and in an astounding turn of events, Maria Riddolph's killer 75 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:07.639 would finally be brought to justice. The book that we 76 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:11.680 are featuring this evening is Footsteps in the Snow, One 77 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:16.639 shocking crime, two shattered families, and the coldest case in 78 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:21.800 US history, with my special guest, journalist and author Charles Lochman. 79 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.959 Welcome to the program, and thank you for agreeing to 80 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:28.759 this interview. Charles Lochman, Thank you for having me, Dan, 81 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:34.600 Thank you very much. Incredible and fascinating book about the 82 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:41.519 as we mentioned, the coldest case in US history. Tell us, Charles, 83 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.279 how you came without really giving anything away in this story, 84 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:47.959 but how you came to be the author of this book. 85 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.319 What brought you to this story Footsteps. 86 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:56.439 In the Snow, Well, it's an interesting story. I think 87 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:01.160 I sort of had a trimming Capodi moment in my life. 88 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.079 You might have heard the story about how Truman Capote 89 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:10.319 was reading The New York Times in his apartment in 90 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:14.800 Brooklyn back in the late nineteen fifties, and he saw 91 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:19.560 this small item about the murder of a family of 92 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.959 four in this little town in Kansas, and he turned 93 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.399 to his close friend Harpily and said, Hey, this might 94 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.000 be interesting. I think I'll go check it out, or 95 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.519 words of that effect. Well, I'm not comparing myself to 96 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:34.639 Truman Capote, but I had a similar moment, an epiphany, 97 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:36.879 if you will. I was reading the Sunday New York 98 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:40.879 Times a number of years ago, and it told in 99 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:44.399 a paragraph or two about the arrest of a elderly 100 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:48.600 man who was charged with committing a crime back in 101 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:52.279 nineteen fifty seven. At that point, the case was fifty 102 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.160 five years old. And I turned to my wife, who 103 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:01.199 I guess is my version of Harperley. I said, this 104 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:04.199 sounds like it might be worth it checking out. And 105 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:08.560 I reached out to the family, the family Maria Ridolph, 106 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.800 she had two surviving siblings, and reached out to law enforcement, 107 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:18.160 and reached out to the accused killer and his family, 108 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.319 and it all came together. 109 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:27.399 Fantastic. Now just before we start, so we can just 110 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:32.560 get just a sense of where this occurred. This is 111 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.879 in as we mentioned, Sycamore, Illinois, so in relation to Chicago. 112 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.120 Tell us where Sycamore might be, and also tell us 113 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.000 a little bit about Sycamore, Illinois, the town itself, and 114 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:46.959 how tell us how big or small this place is. 115 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.879 Sure, well, it's about an hour and a half a 116 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.879 drive outside Chicago. It's in De Calb County. It's a 117 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.879 back in nineteen fifty seven, the population was about seven thousand, 118 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:05.279 very pleasant to raise a family, and it was filled 119 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:11.160 with factories. One fellow told me that you could get 120 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:17.160 a job very quickly there in a wire factory, which 121 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.720 was the town's specialty, quit a few weeks weeks later, 122 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.839 and then get a job the next day and another factory. 123 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:28.959 So it was a thriving, lower middle class, middle class community. 124 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:34.439 A lot of gi settled there after the war. It's, 125 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:41.120 as you can imagine in northern Illinois, a freezing climate 126 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:47.199 in the winter, pleasant in the summer. Maria's family had 127 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:56.319 lived there for many years, very much a town a 128 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:01.439 pure Americana. Christmas was celebrated in in a very traditional way. 129 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:04.800 Thanksgiving was a huge deal there, as it was in 130 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.959 all small towns in America, and so up until the 131 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:15.000 time of Maria's kidnapping, which was unheard of in that community, 132 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:17.120 it was a great place to raise a kid. 133 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:22.759 Now, this occurs in nineteen fifty seven, so we're talking 134 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.959 about December. As we mentioned in the opening, Maria Ridolf 135 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:31.000 is seven years old and her father is named Mike, 136 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:36.200 and so tell us about the Ridolph family. Just tell 137 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:38.360 us briefly about the family itself. 138 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:44.039 They had the Ridolf's original name was Ridolfo. They had 139 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:48.840 come from Sicily around the turn of the century. Mike, 140 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.399 Maria's father had actually been born in Sicily, but came 141 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:55.320 here as a young man, and he was one of 142 00:08:55.320 --> 00:09:00.480 those fellows who worked in a wire factory and he 143 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:07.679 met a woman named Francis, who was a striver. She 144 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:12.120 actually co owned and ran a restaurant when they met, 145 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:17.080 and then they got married. She was a very intelligent women. 146 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:27.200 They had four children and all in all a happy, 147 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:34.200 thriving household up until the night of December seventh, nineteen 148 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:34.799 fifty seven. 149 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:41.399 Now you start with this very dramatic opening, and it 150 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:45.639 is certainly a dramatic opening where you talk about that 151 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:50.840 it was Maria wanted to play, and she had a 152 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:55.200 friend that lived five doors down named Kathy Sigmund. And so, 153 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.480 as you explain in the opening, tell us about how 154 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:01.840 it came to be that on this day that they 155 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.399 were around, say supper time, tell us about what time 156 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:07.759 of the day this was, and how these girls came 157 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:10.039 to be to be playing outside and what were they 158 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:11.559 doing playing outside? 159 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:15.279 Right, I actually misspoke a minute ago. It's December third, 160 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:19.679 nineteen fifty seven. It was a Tuesday night. They had 161 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:23.480 had a traditional day at school. Their school was actually 162 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:27.279 kind of catechorted from where they lived, and it was 163 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:31.080 an exciting night because it was the first snowfall of 164 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:36.679 the winter season, and Maria had just finished dinner and 165 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:41.600 she very excitedly asked her parents if she could go 166 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:45.360 out and meet her best friend, Kathy Siegmund, to play 167 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:48.639 in the snow and the two little kids seven and 168 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.799 eight years old, and the first snowfall of the winter 169 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:56.080 is a huge deal for all kids, so the parents 170 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:00.360 said sure. So she bundled up, wore her kind of 171 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:05.879 hand me down a winter coat, got all dressed up 172 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:10.679 in her mittens, and stepped outside and met Kathy who 173 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:14.519 lived just four or five houses away outside, and then 174 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:17.399 they began to play in the snow. They had invented 175 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:20.440 a game of their own called duck the cars, which 176 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.559 basically meant that they hid behind a big oak tree 177 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.039 on their street as a car would pass by with 178 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.799 the headlights on, and if the headlights hit you, you lose, 179 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:34.159 and you had to kind of swing around a pole. 180 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:38.679 That was the game. And then out of nowhere, out 181 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:43.080 of the darkness, a young man appeared. He was walking 182 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.480 up to them, and they didn't recognize him. It was 183 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:52.879 strange because he wore just a multi colored sweater, he 184 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.039 had no jacket on, he had a cap. Under the cap, 185 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:59.120 they could tell that he had kind of blondish hair. 186 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:06.480 And he introduced himself as a Johnny and asked Maria 187 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:11.440 and Kathy whether they would like him to give them 188 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:15.639 a piggyback ride. And bear in mind, this is the 189 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:20.799 late nineteen fifties, the Eisenhower era, different ways, different way 190 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:23.240 of bringing up kids and kids. Although they may have 191 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:26.840 been told about being aware of strangers, they didn't have 192 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:32.960 the same sensibility that we have today. So Maria hopped 193 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:39.480 on Johnny's shoulders. He lowed himself so that she could 194 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:44.320 climb on board, and then he stood and kind of 195 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:49.159 ran up and then back down the street. And Maria 196 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:54.759 thought this was great, and then she ran into her 197 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.919 home to get her doll, her favorite dog, because Johnny 198 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.279 asked her whether she would like another piggyback ride, this 199 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:04.799 time holding a doll, and her parents remember her kind 200 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:10.240 of running through the house. She asked mom whether she 201 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:13.279 could carry her or take out her best favorite doll. 202 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.679 Mom said no, take out the other doll, which was 203 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:19.600 a kind of a cheaper rub a doll, and Maria 204 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:22.399 ran back out again. She said, not a word, that 205 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:29.480 this strange young man had been waiting for her, waiting 206 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.440 to give her another piggyback ride. So she came out again, 207 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:39.519 and at that point that Kathy Sigmund, her best friend, 208 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:43.519 said that her hands were getting cold and said to 209 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.840 Johnny that she wanted to run back to her house 210 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:49.360 to retrieve a pair of mittens, which she did, and 211 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:53.600 then when she came back, lo and behold, no Johnny, 212 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:57.039 and more significantly, no, Maria. 213 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.840 Let's just go back slow lightly. When Maria went home 214 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:06.919 to get her doll because Johnny had requested, he said, 215 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:08.759 do you have a doll. I'd give you another ride 216 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:11.279 if you had a dollie. So she went home excitingly 217 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:16.639 and got this doll. What did Kathy say that Johnny 218 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:20.960 said to her about a you know, a piggyback ride 219 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:23.240 or a ride in general. And what was her response 220 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.840 in that close room when Maria was gone. 221 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.159 Right, it was a very creepy thing. Actually, they were 222 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:36.320 there alone waiting for Maria to come back, and and 223 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:40.080 there was a kind of a moment of silence, and 224 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:44.919 then Johnny looked at Kathy and said words to the 225 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:52.279 effect of I like you. And she was kind of 226 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:56.200 taken aback and said, well, I like you too, as 227 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.679 the way kind of a little girl would say. And 228 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:03.919 then and he said, would you like to go on 229 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.519 a bus or a train ride? And she told him 230 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:12.960 I don't want any ride. And so the conversation ended 231 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:17.919 because Maria came back. But again, that was a red 232 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:21.440 flag that this guy was a total creep. 233 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.799 Now, you say, when Kathy comes back, she doesn't see 234 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:32.399 the stranger Johnny, doesn't see her friend Maria. So what 235 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:39.360 does she immediately do? What does she immediately do? 236 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:44.559 Right? She thought that Maria may have been hiding playing 237 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:48.639 another game. So she went to the Riddolph's house and 238 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:54.240 knocked on the door. Maria's brother Chuck answered, and Kathy 239 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:57.600 told him, told him the situation is Maria here, I 240 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:00.399 can't find her. And Chuck said, well, he must be 241 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:03.919 hiding from you, and so he closed the door and 242 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.840 Kathy stood there for a moment and then when up 243 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.440 and up and down the streets calling out Maria's name. 244 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:13.919 Imagine the haunting moment when you she's little Kathy who's 245 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:17.679 who's eight years old, is walking down the street which 246 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:21.440 is lit by street lamps, and the snow is falling, 247 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:26.320 and she's calling out Maria, Maria, and no answer, No Maria. 248 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:31.639 So she very smartly went back to the Ridolph home 249 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:36.679 knocked on the door again. Chuck answered, and Kathy said 250 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:40.759 she can't find Maria. Well, at that point, Chuck, who's 251 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:45.559 a smart young kid, went to tell his parents that 252 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:49.840 that his kids sister appeared to be uh be missing 253 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:57.519 in action. So Kathy went back home while Maria's parents, 254 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:02.879 the Ridolph's, put their coats on and went outside looking 255 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.720 for the little girl, and they couldn't find anything. They 256 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:12.240 roamed the neighborhood. All they found was a trail of 257 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:15.079 steps in the snow, hence the title of my book. 258 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:21.640 It was a very spooky thing because the trail consisted 259 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:27.599 of the footprints in the snow of an adult male 260 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:34.440 and then the smaller footprints of a child, presumably seven 261 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:40.440 year old Maria. And they followed the footsteps, and at 262 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:47.440 some point the little girl's footsteps disappear, and the presumption 263 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:54.240 was that Johnny the kidnapper lifted her up. Whether he 264 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.720 did that because she was resisting or or he wanted 265 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:01.920 to abduct her remains a mystery. But he lifted her 266 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.359 up because her footsteps had vanished, but his continued. And 267 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:12.160 they followed the footsteps to what appears to be where 268 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.920 he had parked his car, because they could see the 269 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:19.720 footsteps ending and the beginning of a trail of snow 270 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:25.880 tie prints that led off to the nearest route. 271 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:29.960 Before all of this, Mike is a little hesitant to 272 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:32.799 contact the police. He doesn't not to blame him, but 273 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:35.759 he is a little Maria's father is a little hesitant 274 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:40.079 to contact the police, whereas Francis contacts Kathy Sigmund's mother, 275 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:43.599 Edna and gets the story about the piggyback ride and 276 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:47.079 immediately recognizes that even though, like you say, it's the 277 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:50.880 late fifties. She recognizes and rushes to the police, and 278 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.680 to the credit, police treat this very seriously, this kidnap. 279 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.359 They believe it's a kidnapping, right initially from the beginning, 280 00:18:58.359 --> 00:18:58.759 don't they. 281 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:05.720 It was clear that this was a very very serious issue. 282 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.960 And you're right about Mike. He didn't want to make 283 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:13.240 a fuss. Bear in mind, he was just a low 284 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:18.519 key guy and the idea of notifying the police was 285 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:26.839 must have been anathema to his mindset. But the mom 286 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.119 had the opposite point of view. She needed to tell 287 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:36.200 the authorities, and it was her aggressiveness that alerted the 288 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:39.039 police in a speedily way. 289 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:46.319 Now, the reaction from the community is profound and again 290 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:50.759 very very very dramatic. So tell us about the reaction 291 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:55.160 from the media, but especially the community. How serious do 292 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:58.200 they take this and how involved are they in this 293 00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:59.680 search for this missing child? 294 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:03.759 Well, the alarm was instantly raised. Bear in mind that 295 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:08.200 this is a small community where everyone knew everyone else. 296 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:14.279 So as word went up and down the block, there 297 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:20.640 was an immediate posse, if you will, of civilians that 298 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:24.000 was formed. There are only a handful of cops in 299 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:27.640 the local Sycamore Police department, so they needed the assistance 300 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:31.599 of the civilians, so really militia was formed. In a 301 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:37.799 matter of a few minutes, the alarm was raised. People 302 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.160 went to house to house there's a little girl missing, 303 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:47.119 and then the police cruiser was put out on the 304 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:52.440 street and a loud speaker made the announcement that the 305 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.960 little girl is missing. It. It actually went up and 306 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.839 down every street in Sycamore, asking people to step outside 307 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.000 to check their sellers, to check their front lawns, their 308 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:07.960 back lawns, and accesspols looking for the missing girl. And 309 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:13.960 it galvanized the community. Hundreds of younger men and uh 310 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.799 and uh uh and uh and uh and uh and 311 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.880 husbands went out and they uh. A lot of them 312 00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:25.960 were armed. Bear in mind again small town American Midwest community, 313 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:30.240 a lot of firearms uh small uh uh side arms 314 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:37.720 and also rifles and uh the uh. There's also a 315 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:40.039 lot of I have to say, drinking going on because 316 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.279 it was a freezing night, and they kind of fortified 317 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.839 themselves with with the with the U some booz some 318 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:51.880 of the men and uh. But they found nothing. The 319 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:55.200 state police were notified, roadblocks were set up, but again 320 00:21:55.440 --> 00:22:02.559 no no Maria and no, uh, no kidnapper people, Josh 321 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:05.279 should say people, if I could add just one other things, 322 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:09.960 And that night was generally considered to be the most 323 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.680 eventful night in the history of Sycamore, which at that 324 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:19.079 point was one hundred years old. And people from that 325 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:27.200 night still remember their precise movements for the way somebody 326 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.680 of our generation, say, would remember nine to eleven or 327 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:34.359 even the Kennedy assassination. You could tell exactly where you 328 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:39.119 were on those two historic, terrible days. That's how the 329 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.279 people of Sycamore considered the night of December third, nineteen 330 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:47.480 fifty seven, a night that the Maria Ridolf was kidnapped on. 331 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:51.720 This evening too very very interesting to the panic and 332 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:57.920 the fear. The Assistant State Attorney James Boyle, was on 333 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.759 the crime scene, knew about the rubber doll, and as 334 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:04.200 you say in the book, he thought there was a 335 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:06.160 lot more importance to this doll. He thought the whole 336 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:09.440 case might hinge on this doll. So with that same 337 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:11.839 public address system that they were announcing that they were 338 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:15.119 going to go door to door and you know, people 339 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.279 were going to submit to a search, he also went 340 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:19.880 on a public address system and talked about that doll. 341 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:21.599 So tell us a little bit about what he said 342 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:24.559 to the public about this doll. 343 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:30.079 Right. The doll was the doll that Maria had run 344 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:33.559 to her home to take so that she could have 345 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:41.880 a piggyback ride with Johnny, and evidently during the final piggyback. 346 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:45.400 Ride she hello, it is Ryan and I was on 347 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:47.160 a flight the other day playing one of my favorite 348 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:49.960 social spin slot games on Chumpa Casino dot com. I 349 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.200 looked over the person sitting next to me, and you 350 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.160 know what they were doing. They were also playing Chumba Casino. Coincidence, 351 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:57.680 I think not everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumpa 352 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:00.400 Casino's home to hundreds of casino style games you play 353 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:04.160 for free anytime, anywhere, even at thirty thousand feet. So 354 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:06.599 sign up now at Chumbuck Casino dot com to claim 355 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:09.799 you're free. Welcome bonut A's Chumbuck Casino dot com. And 356 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.799 lived the chumber line Nover Necessary dail where everybody lost 357 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:13.839 in terms conditions eighteen. 358 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:16.759 Pluss as he was kidnapping her. When she realized this 359 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:21.200 was something terrible was happening to her, she dropped the doll. 360 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.160 What was curious about the doll was that the police 361 00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:31.720 had conducted a search just early in the evening, and 362 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.880 then later in the evening in the same location that 363 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:38.240 had been thoroughly searched by the local cops, the doll 364 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:44.000 suddenly appeared. So Boyle, who was the highest ranking law 365 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:47.680 enforcement on the scene at that time, he was absolutely 366 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:53.519 convinced that the doll's presence was very meaningful could in 367 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:56.279 fact be the key to solving the mystery of what 368 00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.279 happened to Maria. There were a couple of theories about 369 00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:05.039 the doll. One is that it had been dropped elsewhere 370 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:11.119 and a citizen of Sycamore saw it and on his 371 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:15.640 or her property, didn't want to get involved, picked up 372 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:22.640 the doll and deposited somewhere else. So Boyle felt that 373 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:26.000 if he could find out where the original what the 374 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:30.440 original location of the doll was, it might offer significant 375 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:34.960 clues as to what precisely happened to Maria. But no 376 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:38.359 one ever fessed up, and it remains a mystery to 377 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:41.759 this day as to how the doll ended up where 378 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:42.400 it was found. 379 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:48.359 Now you've talked about we mentioned about the FBI being 380 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:52.240 involved here, and maybe you can explain how that came 381 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:54.200 to be other than that they were overwhelmed in this 382 00:25:54.559 --> 00:26:01.079 small community. But you talk about a FBI agent, Chured Auerbach, 383 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:04.519 that takes over this case, and they talk about the 384 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:09.519 possibility or the theory that Maria and the killer had 385 00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:13.759 crossed state lines. Is that why the FBI were so 386 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:16.880 involved and could they get involved just based on the theory. 387 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:19.119 Tell us a little bit more about the FBI involvement, 388 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:21.519 because it's interesting when you talk about them actually moving 389 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:25.240 into the Ridolph's house home right right. 390 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:33.680 The FBI was called to Sycamore twenty four hours after Maria. 391 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.759 Is a kidnapping under the Limberg Law, they had to 392 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:41.799 wait that period of time, the presumption being that the 393 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:46.039 kidnapped the child had crossed the state lines, making it 394 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:50.359 a federal offense. So Alback was in charge of the 395 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.519 Chicago Field office in the late nineteen fifties, and he 396 00:26:54.640 --> 00:27:03.079 and several dozen men moved mass to Sycamore. This was 397 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:06.559 a huge deal, the kidnapp being of a child. These days, 398 00:27:06.599 --> 00:27:10.720 it's huge national news, as you know, back then, it 399 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:16.319 was incredible news. This didn't happen in nineteen fifty seven America. 400 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:25.440 So even President Eisenhower asked to be briefed and get 401 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.160