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Concerning his three quarreling sisters Robert said, "Those three sisters are good as gold, but they just don't seem to understand each other all the time. And then there are stories about 'boy friends' and it is all rot and just made up for spite." He felt that strife in the family may have caused
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Both sisters denied the charges against them in court, claiming that they merely wished to console their sister and to inquire about
Winifred's foot deformity in order to help identify her body. Upon being sentenced, the two sisters screamed furiously and disrupted the court, requiring the judge to
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One of the sisters, Ms. Gibbs, accused
Winifred's mother, of spreading "stories" about Elmo. She said that, "If it hadn't been for your family, he'd still be alive." She further claimed that she "warned Elmo not to have anything to do with her ... Winnie could make him do about anything she wanted
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Robert Noakes (Elmo's brother) responded to the media by saying, "There's been trouble in the family for years, I guess that's why Elmo went away." Robert also claimed that "There was trouble in the Pierce home, Mrs. Pierce and her husband didn't get along sometimes. My brother made a home for
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Discovery of the girls' bodies started a nationwide media frenzy resulting in many false leads as to the identities of the girls. Photographs of the children lying on a blanket were printed in newspapers across the country. Thousands came to view the bodies in hopes of identifying them.
262:, believed that Elmo Noakes did not kill the girls because, "His affection for the children was known all over the community." He believed that automobile exhaust accidentally killed them. Then Noakes and Pierce, stricken with fear of being held responsible, committed suicide.
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were made before burial to aid in the search for the girls' identities. Some clothing, towels, and children's books were found, but labels which may have contained their names had been torn off. Only the name "Norma" was found in one of the children's books.
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Noakes and Pierce fled so that they could be together. Noakes's inability to find work and the threat of starvation was too much for Noakes and Pierce, and the girls were suffocated to prevent further suffering. They thought it would be better for the
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On July 28, 1923, Elmo married Mary Isabel
Hayford, who had a daughter named Norma Sedgwick from her previous marriage to Roland Burningham Sedgwick. Noakes and Hayford had two children, Dewilla (born May 2, 1924) and Cordelia (born June 2, 1926).
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1934: Noakes is known to have a good reputation and a non-violent nature. He has a good job and lives in a good home well stocked with food. His niece, Winifred Pierce, works during the days in Noakes' home taking care of his
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Under
November Skies: Pennsylvania's Haunting "Babes in the Woods" Case of 1934. Found in the book Judge Crater, The Most Missingest Person: How He Disappeared and Why They Couldn't Find Him by John Winslow
240:
Using the description of the car, the reasoning for this identification the physical features of the dead girls, and Elmo Noakes' fingerprints on military records, the bodies were identified.
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November 24, 1934: Norma, Dewilla, and
Cordelia were found dead under a blanket in Pine Grove Furnace Park. The cause of their death was determined to be "suffocation by external means."
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After the bodies had been identified, two of Elmo's sisters were each given a suspended 90-day sentence for disturbing the peace by harassing a third sister (Winifred Pierce's mother).
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Elmo to leave — "Sometimes I don't blame Elmo, because in 1930 I went away for a couple of years myself to Tucson, Ariz. to get away from it. I think that's just what he did."
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Difficulties within the family and rumors of their romantic relationship led to feelings of hopelessness. A murder-suicide pact was then formed between Noakes and Pierce.
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September 1934: Noakes acquired life insurance policies on his children and changed the beneficiary of his own life insurance from the children to his sister, Mrs. Pierce.
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On
November 24, 1934, John Clark and Clark Jardine found the bodies of Norma Sedgwick, 12, Dewilla Noakes, 10, and Cordelia Noakes, 8, under a blanket in the woods along
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In 1968, Pennsylvania highway workers installed a blue and yellow sign which reads, "On this spot were found three babes in the woods — Nov. 24, 1934" The site is at
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A publication of the Noakes family history states that
Winifred Pierce died at the age of 18 and that "Elmo J. Noakes and his children died in an auto accident."
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434:, to her parents, Hugh Pierce and Pearl Noakes (who was Elmo's older sister). Winifred's family moved to Roseville, California, where she attended high school.
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the day after discovery of the girls' bodies. Pierce had a gunshot wound to the heart and another to the head. Noakes had a single gunshot wound to the head.
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In March 1935, the
Pennsylvania General Assembly discussed a bill sponsored by Representative John L. Powers to fingerprint all school children in the state.
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were pallbearers, and prayers were recited by various local religious leaders. Noakes and Pierce were buried in the same cemetery as the three girls. The
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November 11/12, 1934: Noakes left home with
Winifred Pierce (his niece) and the three girls, leaving behind two weeks' pay ($ 50) that was owed to him.
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213:. Pierce, with her breast exposed, had been shot through the heart and then in the head. Noakes was killed by a single gunshot wound to his head.
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killing due to a "sign" or mystic symbol found upon the head of Norma
Sedgwick. But other experts believed that it was a head wound.
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Case photographs, newspaper articles, and artifacts can be viewed at the Pennsylvania State Police Museum, located in Hershey, PA.
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honored Noakes for his military service with full military honors, about 100 feet from the graves of his daughters.
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Mary Noakes, née Hayford, died from "septicemia hemolytic" following a self-induced abortion on July 10, 1932, in
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October 31, 1934: Noakes purchased a blue sedan, which was later found abandoned near the place of his suicide.
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Winifred. It was more pleasant there, and so when he left I suppose she felt she would be happier with him."
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The next day, Elmo shot and killed his 18-year-old niece Winifred Pierce, then himself with a .22 rifle.
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Noakes was mentally ill and fleeing an imaginary evil. The children were killed to protect them from it.
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485:"Babes in the Woods, girls smothered to death by their dad when he ran out of money: notorious murders"
360:. Some of these include a graphic picture of the deceased girls at the site where they were discovered.
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Cumberland County paid $ 997.75 to doctors, coroners, and photographers who investigated the deaths.
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Elmo and his brother Robert served in the United States Marine Corps from 1920 to 1922.
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November 23, 1934: Having failed to sell Noakes' spectacles, Pierce sold her coat. In
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November 25, 1934: Noakes and Pierce were found dead in a railroad station near
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case in which the bodies of three girls were found in Pennsylvania woodland.
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Funeral services for the three girls were attended by thousands of people.
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404:. He was the youngest son of John Thomas Noakes and Amilla Ann Guymon.
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Others speculated that the family were being pursued by an armed gang.
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At the age of 18, she was working for Elmo Noakes as a housekeeper.
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There are many theories which purport to account for the tragedy.
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November, 1934: Noakes and Pierce abandoned their blue sedan at
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The Evening Record, Ellensburg, Washington, December 1st, 1934
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November, 1934: The girls' bodies were placed in the woods of
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Gazette and Bulletin, Williamsport, PA. December 1st, 1934.
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203:, Noakes bought a .22 rifle with $ 2.55 from the coat sale.
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Noakes and Pierce were found over 100 miles away, near
765:
State of Utah Death Certificate for Mary Isabel Noakes
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The memory of these events is kept alive by numerous
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67:between 11/12 and 23 November 1934 (date of death)
589:"Notorious Pa. Murders: Babes in the Woods, 1934"
170:November, 1934: The family stopped at a diner in
430:Winifred Pierce was born September 1, 1916, in
400:Elmo James Noakes was born January 8, 1903, in
57:Cooke Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
471:"The Babes in the Woods by Pennsylvania Jack"
8:
699:Noakes Pioneers of Utah by Arthur D. Coleman
34:
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640:San Jose Evening News, December 1st, 1934
21:Babes in the Wood murders (Stanley Park)
16:Murder of three children in Pennsylvania
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396:Robert (left) & Elmo (right) Noakes
69:24 November 1934 (date body discovered)
515:The Evening Independent - Nov 30, 1934
506:The Evening Independent - Nov 30, 1934
418:. Noakes then took the three girls to
756:Berkeley Daily Gazette - Dec 10, 1934
578:The Windsor Daily Star - Nov 23, 1935
542:The Windsor Daily Star - Nov 23, 1935
7:
830:Missing person cases in Pennsylvania
551:Berkeley Daily Gazette - Dec 6, 1934
533:Berkeley Daily Gazette - Dec 6, 1934
825:Incidents of violence against girls
747:St. Petersburg Times - Nov 30, 1934
452:List of solved missing person cases
447:List of murdered American children
14:
835:Child murder in the United States
805:1934 murders in the United States
667:Gettysburg Times - Nov 15, 1968
612:Gettysburg Times - Dec 28, 1934
569:The Deseret News - Dec 21, 1934
560:Gettysburg Times - Nov 15, 1968
524:Gettysburg Times - Nov 15, 1968
130:is a name that was used in the
815:Filicides in the United States
710:"Photos from The Patriot News"
251:Early speculations included a
1:
258:Chief of Police E.E. York of
179:Pine Grove Furnace State Park
128:The Babes in the Wood Murders
53:Pine Grove Furnace State Park
735:"Babes in The Woods Murders"
218:Identification of the bodies
152:Events preceding the murders
59:, U.S. (discovery of bodies)
690:Reading Eagle - Jul 8, 1935
658:Reading Eagle - Mar 6, 1935
856:
795:1930s missing person cases
497:Reading Eagle, Dec 2, 1934
211:Duncansville, Pennsylvania
18:
33:
29:Babes in the Wood murders
19:Not to be confused with
820:Formerly missing people
335:40.065933°N 77.304983°W
190:McVeytown, Pennsylvania
840:Murder in Pennsylvania
810:Crimes in Pennsylvania
397:
388:Elmo and Robert Noakes
183:Carlisle, Pennsylvania
143:Pennsylvania Route 233
42:Pennsylvania Route 233
420:Roseville, California
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340:40.065933; -77.304983
260:Roseville, California
235:Altoona, Pennsylvania
201:Altoona, Pennsylvania
800:1934 in Pennsylvania
678:"Babes In The Woods"
432:Bingham Canyon, Utah
416:Salt Lake City, Utah
268:Other theories are:
192:, and hitchhiked to
331: /
776:"FamilySearch.org"
398:
244:Competing theories
174:and shared a meal.
105:Cordelia Noakes, 8
103:Dewilla Noakes, 10
101:Norma Sedgwick, 12
680:. Geocaching.com.
402:Springville, Utah
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40:Memorial sign on
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194:Blair County
172:Philadelphia
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136:child murder
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89:child murder
378:Girl Scouts
338: /
326:77°18.299′W
323:40°03.956′N
227:Death masks
113:Elmo Noakes
110:Perpetrator
75:Attack type
789:Categories
720:2013-07-17
599:2013-07-17
458:References
374:Boy Scouts
358:web pages
308:Aftermath
292:him to."
158:children.
441:See also
84:homicide
49:Location
121:Unknown
98:Victims
82:Triple
622:Gibson
118:Motive
273:kids.
181:near
132:media
376:and
253:cult
64:Date
791::
55:,
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23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
