Mr. Michael Ridulph Page marked ”-35-” or “NW 6444 DocId:59162674 Page 20″ FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION INTERVIEW REPORT Date: 1/14/58 The following Investigation was conducted by SA ROBERT L. WILSON: On December 7, 1957, MICHAEL RIDULPH, 616 Archie Place, Sycamore, Illinois, father of victim, advised of the following: On December 3, 1957, the family completed supper about 5:00 p.m. Mr. RIDULPH recalled that from that time until about 6:30 p.m. he read the paper in the living room. He thinks but is not certain that he began to watch television about 6:30 p.m. He thinks the program was “Cheyenne” or the “Jim Bowie” show or perhaps some other frontier program. He cannot recall specifically but thinks MARIA went out to play about 6:15 p.m. He could not specifically recall her asking permission but assumed she would have consulted her mother before going out, Mr. RIDULPH recalls that at an undetermined time while he was watching television, MARIA went into the living room and went to her “corner”. This is the southwest corner of the living room where she keeps some toys. After going to her corner for a moment, MARIA went out. He could not recall if she took anything from the corner or what she was wearing. Mr. RIDULPH was still watching television when he heard KATHY SIGMAN, MARIA’s favorite playmate, talking to his son, CHARLES, who was listening to records in the den with his nextdoor neighbor chum, RANDY STROKBOM. CHARLES came in the living room and told him that KATHY said MARIA could not be found. Mr. RIDULPH then went out the side door of the house and saw KATHY and her eleven year old brother EDWARD in the drive. Ho called MARIA from the steps, then went down to the sidewalk and called, and finally walked down to the corner of Archie Place and Center Cross and called, again with negative results. Mrs. RIDULPH then came out and they took their car and drove around the block searching for MARIA. They returned home. Ho thinks Mrs. RIDULPH then called Mrs. SIGMAN down the block on Archie Place to inquire as to where MARIA might be. Ho could not recall what Mrs. SIGMAN replied. Date Dictated: 1/7/58 Special Agent ROBERT L. WILSON ________________________________________________________________ Mrs. Frances Ivy Ridulph Page marked “-27-” or NW 6444 DocId:59162674 Page 15″ — Frances Ivy Ridulph interview FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION INTERVIEW REPORT January 14, 1958 The following investigation was conducted by SA ROBERT L. WILSON: On December 7, 1957, Mrs. FRANCES IVY RIDULPH, 616 Archie Place, Sycamore, mother of the victim, advised as follows: Mrs. RIDULPH recalled that the family completed dinner about 5:30 PM (on December 3, 1957), as was their custom. She recalled that about 5:50 PM, MARIA went outside to play with her neighbor playmate, KATHY SIGMAN. In this regard, she said after considering the matter, that MARIA had asked her early in the day if she could play outside after dark with KATHY and appeared unusually eager to go out, as if she had a purpose in mind. She said MARIA normally did not play out after supper during the winter because it was dark and cold and she was not the outdoor-type girl. She said in the summer MARIA almost always played outside with the other children, while it was light. She said that MARIA after supper asked again if she could go out and Mrs. RIDULPH gave permission. She said MARIA then rushed to the telephone and called KATHY SIGMAN and said, “I can go out– can you?” and apparently KATHY replied affirmatively. She said MARIA, in preparing to go out, asked if she must wear her shabby tan overcoat which was a seven-year old coat handed down from her brother, CHARLES. Mrs. RIDULPH insisted that she wear it so that she would not wear out her newer coats. Mrs. RIDULPH said that she normally does not grant permission to MARIA to play outside at night but for some reason, she allowed her to do this on this occasion. At about 6:00 or 6:05 PM Mrs. Ridulph and her 15-year old daughter KAY, left the house to drive KAY to her music lesson, and at that time they both saw MARIA on the sidewalk in front of the house with her playmate, KATHY SIGMAN, headed towards the corner of Archie Place and Center Cross Street. About 6:15 PM, as she returned from taking KAY to the music teacher, Mrs. RIDULPH recalled she saw KATHY and MARIA still playing on the corner. On the outbound trip she recalled an oil truck delivering oil to the CLIFFE house at the corner but could not specifically recall the truck being there on her return. She said she thought but was not certain that the oil truck was parked on Center Cross Street in front of the CLIFFE house with its rear end projecting slightly into Archie Place. As she returned she definitely recalls that MARIA and KATHY were on that corner by the big tree and that MARIA called and waved to her as she drove by. There was no other person with them at that time. About 6:40 p.m., while Mrs. RIDULPH was in her first floor bedroom reading the newspaper, MARIA came into the bedroom and said she wanted a doll. Mrs. RIDULPH inquired what doll she wanted and MARIA designated a new, good doll. She refused to allow MARIA to take the doll outside for fear of damaging it and suggested she get an older one. MARIA then left the room and went into the living room where Mr. RIDULPH was watching television. Mrs. RIDULPH heard her rummaging around in her “corner” in the southwest corner of the living room, which is immediately opposite the bedroom wall, and she assumed that she took one of her older dolls from her pile of toys in the corner. She did not see her take this doll and thinks she went outside again but did not see her leave. At this time her daughter PATRICIA was in the dining room of the house doing her homework. Mr. RIDULPH was still watching television in the living room and her son CHARLES was in the den at the rear of the house with his nextdoor neighbor chum RANDY STROMBOM, listening to records. At about 6:45 p.m., Mrs. RIDULPH said KATHY SIGMAN came to the side door of the house and inquired of CHARLES where MARIA was. CHARLES came to the bedroom door and told her that KATHY couldn’t find MARIA. KATHY then left after being told that MARIA was not in the house. About 6:50 p.m., KATHY came back and told CHARLES that MARIA was lost. CHARLES reported this to Mrs. RIDULPH and she went into the living room and told her husband. A few moments later Mr. RIDULPH went out on the side porch and called MARIA. A moment later, Mrs. RIDULPH put on her coat and joined her husband outside. They walked to the corner and called for MARIA with negative results. Out on the sidewalk they encountered KATHY and her 11-year old brother EDWARD. They asked the SIGMAN children where MARIA was and they did not know. It was Mrs. RIDULPH’s impression that EDWARD might have been with KATHY in the area when she came to the house the second time but she could not recall the basis for this idea. The SIGMAN children headed west on Archie Place toward their home. Mrs. RIDULPH said she and her husband then looked in the backyard and at the corner and continued to call for MARIA. Mrs. RIDULPH then returned to the house where she telephoned Mrs. SIGMAN to inquire if MARIA was there. Mrs. SIGMAN said she was not there but her own children were there. Mrs. RIDULPH then went to the front of the house and conferred with her husband while CHARLES and his friend RANDY took a flashlight and went out to look for MARIA. Mrs. RIDULPH went across the street to the WILLIAM LINDSTROM house to inquire about MARIA with negative results. She returned and telephoned Mrs. SIGMAN again. Mrs. SIGMAN now told her a man had been playing with KATHY and MARIA but no further information. Mrs. RIDULPH now backed their car out, picked up her husband and drove to Roosevelt Court, a deadend street parallel to Archie Place and immediately to the north. MARIA had in the past occasionally played with John [name illegible] who lives on this street. Mr. RIDULPH got out of the car with his whistle, whistled for MARIA and he looked in the window of the [name illegible] house but said he saw only two ladies watching television and did not make inquiry there. They next drove west on Dekalb Avenue where they encountered their daughter PATRICA and CHARLES and RANDY, somewhere in the vicinity of Dekalb Avenue and Fair Street. They took them in the car and circled the block and returned home without seeing MARIA. By this time other neighbors in the area were aware of MARIA’s disappearance and were out seeking her also. About 7:25 p.m., KAY returned from her music lesson and was told of MARIA’s disappearance. Sometime after 7:30 p.m., Mrs. RIDULPH called Mrs. SIGMAN to inquire from KATHY what MARIA had taken outside and was told it was a doll. She said she thought Mrs. SIGMAN at this time mentioned something about a man giving the girls piggy-back rides but could not clearly recall. Finally she decided to report MARIA’s disappearance to the police and she and PATRICIA drove to the police station. On the way, however, they drove past a creek on Mill Street on the chance that MARIA might be playing near it and then drove through a lumber yard on Grant Street since she might be playing among the piles of lumber. She said MARIA was not known to frequent these places but they simply went there with the thought of just looking anywhere. She recalled that when she left the house it was about 7:50 p.m. After driving through the above mentioned places, they drove straight to the police station and reported MARIA’s disappearance. After telling the story to the police she understood they dispatched police cars to the area of their home. Mrs. RIDULPH and PATRICIA then drove to Elmwood Cemetery in the event MARIA had wandered up there as she had strayed there a year or so previous and then returned home where the area was being searched by neighbors and authorities. Mrs. RIDULPH said she had wanted to contact the police shortly after MARIA was reported missing but her husband dissuaded her, explaining that MARIA had probably just strayed a short distance away and it would be embarrassing and cause a great commotion if she was located a short distance from home. Mrs. RIDULPH said MARIA has played with KATHY SIGMAN for years and that KATHY is her closest chum. They get along well together with only the minor frictions that would normally be expected of children that age. The RIDULPHs are casually acquainted with the SIGMANs and are on a first name basis but do not have social contact. Mrs. RIDULPH noted that when the two girls play at the SIGMAN house, they are not permitted in the house but must remain in the unheated garage as Mrs. SIGMAN does not want her home dirtied by the children. As a result of this, the two girls usually play at the RIDULPH home when they play indoors as Mrs. RIDULPH displays a more liberal attitude. Mrs. SIGMAN, said Mrs. RIDULPH, is quick to complain to her if MARIA hurts KATHY in their play or in their infrequent arguments and aggressively takes her child’s part. She said the girls occasionally hit each other or fight over something and one or the other gets the worst of it, but the children quickly forget their differences and are as close friends as ever. Mrs. RIDULPH said there is no animosity between the 2 families and she regards the SIGMANs as people of good reputation. Interviewed on: 12/7/1957 (note: report says 12/7/58) Date Dictated: 1/7/58 Special Agent ROBERT L. WILSON (I have the original FBI files i found on a website, if anyone wants them i can send them to you, PDF files)
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 06:31:38 +0000
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