Update per The Charley Project: “In 2023, a DNA test proved Mary was Jeanette Buchard, who spent the first six years of her life in Chicago. She had been raised by Jeanette Celarek Derris Anderson and Frank Ferris as their only child, and in 1934 the family moved to Virginia. In 2003, Buchard’s died in Florida. DNA comparison between Buchard’s daughter, Terri Arnold, and members of Mary’s family has confirmed they are related.”
CHICAGO — On May 14, 1930, a young mother named Catherine Moroney received a strange visit from Julia Otis. Julia claimed that a social worker named Mrs. Henderson sent her to the Moroney residence to help the family.
Catherine and her husband, Michael, had publicly appealed for Michael’s job in the Chicago Daily Tribune. They already had two children – two-year-old Mary Agnes and a one-year-old girl named Anastasia – plus a third child on the way. The Moroneys were poor, and they did not make enough to support their young family.
The two women chatted briefly, and Catherine told Julia about their financial difficulties.
The woman appeared to come from out of nowhere. Despite never seeing this woman before this day, Catherine instantly felt she could trust her. The woman was very kind, well-dressed, and spoke in a soft, cultured voice.
When Julia spotted two-year-old Mary Agnes playing nearby, she looked at her very lovingly and with yearning. Catherine noticed but thought nothing of it because people often reacted to her daughter in that manner.
Julia said she would love to take the little girl to California, but of course, like any normal mother, Catherine wasn’t going to let her toddler go off with a stranger, especially to a place that far away.
Before she left, Julia handed Catherine $2 and suggested Catherine and her husband go to a show that night.
The next day, May 15, Julia returned. She begged Catherine to let her take Mary Agnes to a store to buy her some clothes. The weather outside was decent, and Catherine had no reason not to trust this woman. As Julia and Mary Agnes left, the little toddler, sensing something wasn’t right, cried out for her mama as the stranger led her away.
Catherine never saw Mary Agnes again.
When Mary Agnes and the woman had not returned by the time Catherine’s husband returned home from work that night, they called the police. Catherine wasn’t able to give the best description of Julia Otis. All she could say was the woman was beautiful, about 22 or 23 years old, 5’2″, and weighed about 125 pounds. Catherine described the young woman’s gray suit with blue trimmings and a lace hat. She also wore a pearl necklace and a jeweled wristwatch.
Police immediately checked buses and trains going to California but to no avail.
Several witnesses reported seeing a woman matching Julia’s description dictating a letter to an older woman in a downtown Chicago store’s restroom. This woman had a small child with her who resembled Mary Agnes.
On May 16, Catherine received a letter and money from Julia:
Please don’t be alarmed. I have taken your little girl to California with me. I have hired a special nurse to care for her. We’ll be back in two months; by that time you will be on your feet again and will be able to care for her. She didn’t even cry a bit. She is outfitted like a princess. In the meantime, I’ll help all I can to get you on your feet. Don’t worry about her or anything else. When you get this letter we’ll be on our way already.
As ever,
Julia Otis
Several days after the first letter, the Moroneys received another letter from Mrs. Alice Henderson, who described herself as a cousin to Julia. She stated that Julia was a fine young woman who recently lost her husband and child within the last two years and wanted to raise another child.
Mrs. Otis had pined for the company of a child, due to losing her own, and that is why she took your little girl.
Alice promised that Julia would return the child soon after, but the police never found Julia or the child again, nor did they locate this woman who called herself Alice Henderson.
One year after Mary Agnes was abducted, a little girl of the same age and description was found with an Indian woman named Martha Thompson, who was arrested in Rockford, Illinois. However, when Catherine went to Rockford with authorities to identify the young girl as her own, she said, “That is not my baby.” She had thoroughly examined the girl – checked her teeth and other physical characteristics, but decided this little girl was not Mary Agnes.
Mary Agnes had a red mark on her arm, and this little girl did not. However, authorities stated this little girl was tanned from the sun, and the mark could have been hidden.
Martha eventually told the police that the little girl with her was not her child but begged the officers to keep her. It is not clear if they did so. The little girl’s real identity remains a mystery.
In September 1952, a 24-year-old woman named Mary McClelland claimed she was Mary Agnes Moroney. She was adopted within a year after Mary Agnes was kidnapped and bore a striking resemblance to one of the Moroney children. Catherine met with this woman and was sure this was not her missing daughter.
An anthropologist who examined Mary McClelland’s teeth said she was a relative of Moroney. However, a doctor’s records showed that he delivered McClelland at 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 17, 1927. Mary Agnes was born on May 9, 1928. McClelland did not have the scar Mary Agnes bore from a naval rupture at birth.
2005 DNA testing proved that Mary McClelland was not Mary Agnes Moroney.
Eighty-five years after Mary Agnes was kidnapped, her case remains unsolved, and the whereabouts of her and Julia Otis are still unknown.
Source: The Chicago Tribune
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
It struck me as odd that Catherine could not give a better physical description of Julia. All she said was that Julia was no older than 23, stood about 5’2′, was beautiful, and spoke like a well-educated woman.
How could she not have given more of a PHYSICAL description to the police? Hair color? Eye color? The shape of the nose and lips? Was she wearing glasses? Any birthmarks, scars, moles, etc?
Julia hesitated when Catherine asked her name, which struck me as odd, too. Julia was well prepared for this abduction, yet didn’t she think the family would ask her name?
How did Julia Otis know that the Moroneys had a two-year-old girl? Was it mentioned in the public appeal? Why did she take Mary Agnes instead of Anastasia? Had she been stalking the family before the abduction and had set her eyes on Mary Agnes?
I believe the woman Julia was dictating the note to in the restroom was “Alice Henderson,” who wrote the second letter to Catherine. It does make sense that Julia lost a child, and that was the reason for taking Mary Agnes.
At the time of the abduction, the Moroney family lived at 5200 Wentworth Avenue in Chicago. Witnesses saw a woman and child matching Julia’s and the toddler’s description in a restroom at a downtown store.
Downtown Chicago is several miles away from the Moroney’s home on Wentworth, so did Julia live downtown, or was she headed toward Union Station? By the time the police were called that day, Julia and the girl could easily have gotten on a train and headed out of Chicago by the time the police arrived. The police went to the home first to talk to Catherine and Michael, THEN searched the bus and train stations. All of this was after Michael returned home later in the day.
Is it possible that Julia stayed in Chicago? It’s a big city plus there are the suburbs as well. Even in 1930, the Chicagoland area would still have been rather large. As Mary Agnes got older, her looks would have changed dramatically to the point that her family probably would not have recognized her or anyone else. So, Julia could have easily stayed in Chicago and raised the child there.
This case is mysterious, and we will never know what happened to Mary Agnes. Julia is long gone, and Mary Agnes may very well be deceased. If not, she would be 87 years old.
6 comments
First of all yes my ex-husband is related to Mary Agnes (we have a child together so I’m correcting you for her). My ex-husband is the Great-nephew of Mary Agnes, and we have researched this case more than you can imagine. No Catherine and Michael were not involved in Mary’s disappearance they were cleared by the police within the first days of the investigation. The police and FBI had the handwriting analyzed it was not a match to Catherine, the letters were written by two different people but the envelopes they came in were addressed by the same person. Let me get this straight you think because she “MIGHT” have been raised in a good home it’s okay that she was kidnapped. This DESTROYED this family they were never the same. Michael’s dying words were “they never found my baby” this was 27 years after Mary was taken. Catherine actually was able to describe Julia Otis she did it on the radio while being hypnotized (I have a copy of the actual recording). About Julia Otis well she was a real person from the Chicago area from a wealthy family. I found her on the SSI death index she died in 1999. I talked to a cold case detective with the Chicago police. He did a little research and discovered that the Julia Otis who died in California in 1999 was from Chicago. Catherine and Michael had 7 other children besides Mary Agnes. Of those 7 only 2 are still alive. The family would still like to find Mary Agnes they never really stopped looking. They just stopped getting the publicity after the story in the 1950’s about Mary McCLelland being Mary Agnes. The “experts” said that Mary McClelland was Mary Agnes so they stopped doing stories about it. They did do a movie on the Pall Mall Hour about the kidnapping and the case being “solved” also in the 1950’s. Can you imagine growing up knowing you have an older sister but you never got to meet her because she was kidnapped??? Going through life watching it kill your parents with grief?? Catherine gave birth 2 months after Mary Agnes was taken….they were so worried she was going to go into labor early and lose that baby from all the stress and grief. Think about it…this was 1930 things like this just didn’t happen. This was BEFORE the LIndburgh kidnapping when usually only the local police investigated, but because the letter the next day said she was taking her to California the FBI were right there. They stopped trains in 3 different states to search for her. This is not a story with a happy ending no matter how you look at it!!! Mary was still kidnapped and she and her family suffered for it.
I appreciate you commenting on this case; however, I will not apologize for what I wrote. Nor do my readers need to apologize for their opinions. In case you had not noticed, this is an opinion-based blog.
Not one place in this post did I say it was ok to kidnap a child if the point was to raise the child. So stop putting words into my mouth.
Was it a possibility that the parents sold their own child for money? Of course. They were poor. I, as an outsider looking in, will not rule anything out until the truth is revealed.
It is also strange, not to mention stupid, that Julia would have given her real name if her intention was to kidnap someone’s child. So, maybe the Julia Otis you found isn’t the one you’re looking for.
You also need to know that I write with the information I am able to obtain. I make a lot of things clear in my Disclaimer. Maybe you should check it out.
An FYI, crimes against children were happening long before 1930. You just didn’t hear about it because the media coverage wasn’t like it is today. Chicago was still a big city back then. To let your child just go off with a complete stranger, well, that just wasn’t smart, now was it? Even during that time, I can’t imagine many mothers would have allowed this to happen, regardless of how trusting a stranger seemed. Still a stranger. Mary Agnes made it clear she didn’t want to go with this woman, yet off she went. Kids are smart and sensitive. She probably sensed something was very wrong and she was ignored.
I think perhaps the mother might’ve been too trusting or could’ve sold the child to this lady and didn’t realize it. With two kids under 2 and one on the way she could’ve been just over it. And realized the trouble she was in when the husband got home. Maybe Julia told her she would make it look like they were friends and that’s why she wrote the letter stating she would bring her home. Julia probably did stalk her and planned on taking the child. I know back in the day people were more trusting but she could not have been too tired to look at Julia and get a better look at this lady she let in her house. I think Julia gave the child the life she needed. It’s sad that this child grew up never knowing she was kidnapped.
I had thought about the possibility of Catherine selling the child, too. She was given money by Julia so, like you said, maybe she did so without realizing it.
This sounds like a real life raising Arizona. I think Mary Agnes had a good life, at least she wasn’t taken to be sex slave or something like that. I found a copy of Julia’s letter but not alices. I’d like to compare the handwriting.
I agree. I think she was raised in a good home by a woman who loved her. I couldn’t find a copy either. I’m with you…comparing the handwriting would be interesting!
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