A Humble Life: A Suspicious Death - 83 Years LaterThis is the fourth part of Stella's story. If you haven't already, I suggest going back and reading Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 first. By now, you've met and become more acquainted with the Miller family. Both parents, John and Lena, and two brothers, Jacob and Harry, had died by 1928. All but one of the Miller children had married, most starting families of their own. They had made it through World War I, the Great Depression, and two massive floods in the Pittsburgh area (1936 and 1937). The communities in Allegheny County were hopeful for the future; the men were returning to work, children were fed, and positive change was happening in front of their eyes. We have to wonder, though, how many people experiencing mental health issues had slipped deeper into their struggle during the Great Depression. How many had wandered beyond the point of saving, by 1939 psychiatric care standards, never to return? Could Stella overcome the battle in the back of her mind, unseen and unheard to those around her, but overwhelming to the wife and mother? 1939+ West View, Allegheny County, PA - Did she, or didn't she?![]() For many families across the country, skies were blue, fields were green, and the future looked bright by 1939. People were trying to put the hardships behind them and reestablish themselves. The unemployment rate of 24.9% in 1932 had decreased significantly by 1939 to 17.2%. In 1939, the O'Neill family lived on Princeton Ave in the West View burrough of Ross Township. The 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 1,218 sq ft house was a little cramped for the family of six, but they had made it into a home. The schools were good, the neighborhood was growing, and they could reach local stores in a short time. Walter hasn't returned to work yet, but the family is making ends meet. By December of 1939, William was 17 and had grown into a young man. He was tall, youthfully sturdy, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was no longer attending school and had been looking for work. Dorothy was 15, growing too quickly for her parents' liking. Her dark wavy hair, parted down the middle, framed her heart-shaped face. She was thin but healthy, with eyes that held so much hope. Madeline was 13, likely looking forward to Christmas with her family, where small trees were decorated with handmade ornaments and garlands, and children would be lucky to receive a new toy on Christmas morning. Little Bobby had just turned 11 a month prior, spending his free time playing with other neighborhood boys, maybe offering to shovel snow for neighbors in exchange for a penny or two. An opportunity to earn a few cents to spend on penny candy would motivate many young boys at the time. If he was determined, he could save his money and purchase a wind-up car/train or cap gun for a quarter, or a wind-up plane that flew through the air for 60 cents! Alas, a wholesome Christmas morning for the O'Neill family was not to be. Two weeks before Christmas, on Monday the 11th, Stella woke and started her morning routine, rousing the children from their warm beds and preparing breakfast for them. Dorothy, Madeline, and Bobby got dressed and gathered around the table to eat. Their usual morning chatter, interrupted by a few yawns and the occasional wiped mouth, gave no indication of what was to come. Had the children sensed something strange that morning? Had Stella known, when she opened her eyes that day, that it would be her last? When Death arrived in their home, was it truly invisible? Had its procurement been wholly unexpected? Had they all seen it, unable to comprehend what its arrival truly meant? Or had it lingered for such a time that they no longer felt the permeating fear that naturally occurs in its presence? ![]() Stella stopped in the entryway and made sure the children had their hats, coats, and mittens on. The trio set off for school, waving 'goodbye' to their mom as she stood, waving back, on the front steps. Their last morning, their last 'goodbye', the last time they would see their mother alive. Stella went back inside and started the morning chores. She washed the dishes from breakfast, dried each one, and put them away. Walter sat with their son, William, discussing possible upcoming work and making plans for the day. Stella tidied up around the house, made the beds, and gathered dirty laundry that she would wash that afternoon. With her morning chores finished, Stella sat down with the previous day's newspaper, noting the sales that were going on at the local shops. Many of the retailers in the area were excited for the two-week period leading up to Christmas, hoping that it would be as good, if not better, than the 1929 holiday season. Stella skipped over the housewares, clothing, and automobile ads, and tried to ignore headlines and articles that would only serve to make her anxious. She may have mended some of Bobby's clothes, knowing how rough little boys were on their clothing. Before she knew it, the morning had turned to midday. She made lunch for Walter and William, maybe mentioning some errands she planned to run that day or the next. After their lunch, the men readied themselves to leave the house. Stella tidied the kitchen once again then went down into the basement to do laundry, ready to mark one more chore off her list for the day. At 1:15 pm, Walter and William set off, leaving Stella in the quiet house. Dorothy arrived home from school that afternoon to an empty house. She called out a greeting to her mother as she closed the front door but received no reply. As she walked from room to room, Dorothy was a little confused but not yet worried. On the kitchen table, she found a note that instructed her to prepare dinner for the family. The note was short, giving no explanation for Stella's absence, but Dorothy didn't question her parents when told to do something. She would prepare dinner, keep an eye on her younger siblings when they got home from school, and ask her father about it when he returned. ![]() That evening Walter opened the front door, the children looking expectantly toward the sound. When Dorothy realized that it was her father, not her mother returning, she grew worried. She quietly asked him if he knew where her mother had gone, telling him about the note she had found that afternoon. Walter furrowed his brow, looking down at her past his crooked nose, unsure how to answer, and responded that he wasn't aware that Stella had gone out that day. As he would later tell the police, Stella had never stayed away from home overnight, except for December 9th, two days before her disappearance. Walter reported that she had been away overnight without warning, and, upon her return, she said that she had stayed with his sister, Helen. According to Walter, Helen denied that Stella had visited or stayed the night. Walter waited five days, finally notifying the police on December 16th. As each day passed, Dorothy's concern for her mother had intensified, but she knew that she had to keep her wits about her. Someone had to keep the house in order and look after Madeline and Bobby. After lights were turned out and the family, minus Stella, went to bed, every creak around the house, every noise outside their windows became fireflies, sudden bursts of light in their darkness, bringing hope that only lasted a moment. Is someone at the front door? Were those footsteps outside? Did I hear someone talking? Tossing beneath the covers until exhaustion dampened their imaginations. Investigators would be back soon, more questions to ask and no answers to give. The dance of uncertainty had begun; a dance marathon that none of them signed up for and no prizes at the end. News of Stella's disappearance would be splashed across newspapers county-wide in the following weeks. The first article that mentions Stella was printed January 2, 1940, twenty-two days after she was last seen. After looking at every newspaper from Dec 16, 1939 - Jan 2, 1940, it suggests that the newspapers weren't informed of the missing persons investigation until the new year. In a two-day span, several articles popped up in local papers and in adjacent counties. The search for Stella, delayed as it was, had begun.
Sidenote: This photo was in the newspaper next to the above photo of Walter and Dorothy. It is the only photo I've been able to find of Stella. County police, members of the community, Boy Scouts from Bellevue, West View and Ross Township, and St. Athanasius Church congregants banded together to search for Stella. Development of surrounding farmland had not yet occurred in 1939, leaving Princeton Avenue nearly surrounded by woodland. As you can see from the map and overlay (I created the overlay based on 1939/1940 maps), there were several areas that would have been of interest to investigators. The number of people who came out to help with the search was a testament to the strength of their community. Though the sun had risen that Tuesday morning, it offered little in the way of light or warmth. The dense cloud ceiling sagged, like an overfilled sieve, flurries of powdered sugar drifting down as the day went by. Temperatures would peak at 18 degrees (F) on January 2nd, with a low of 8 degrees. As searchers gathered at the meeting point, the reality of what they might find was undeniable. The weather wasn't doing them any favors, but they were determined to cover as much ground as they could. They would walk the woods of Shannopin Country Club, Highland Country Club, the Salvation Army Camp, and any other nearby area that Stella could have reached on foot. They were operating on the assumption that she had not gone a great distance, though it was just as likely that she had walked the two blocks to Center Ave. and boarded a streetcar bound for Pittsburgh, Bellevue, or Emsworth. The map below shows the likely streetcar routes that Stella, and others in the area, would take to get to Pittsburgh (and back). I tried to get the route as accurate as possible based on 1920 trolley books, 1935 maps of Allegheny County, and Pittsburgh city directories from 1915 to 1940. The second map shows routes that could have taken Stella to the communities on the Ohio River (Emsworth, Bon Avon, Avalon, Bellevue). Two days of searching in unfavorable weather, some days with single-digit average temperatures, concluded Thursday, January 4th. Despite all their efforts, the search parties and investigators did not find Stella in the woods near her home. For the safety of the searchers and police, the search would be put on hold until the weather permitted further searches. Police admitted to local newspapers that they had "gotten nowhere" in their search for Stella. One newspaper wrote "A West View mother of four children has disappeared from her home, vanishing in so mysterious a fashion as to leave county detectives without a single clue." County Detective Sam Graham would later report that they had been unable to find a single person who had seen Stella leave the house that day. Investigators had done their due diligence, talking to neighbors, shop owners and employees, and church members. Stella was well-known in the area, having lived almost all of her life in the North Hills. Every knock on the door brought mixed emotions for the O'Neill children: hopeful that their mother had returned, hopeful but worried that the police were outside, scared that bad news was waiting on the doorstep. Stella's siblings couldn't understand how she had simply flickered out of existence that day in December. Her brother, William, stayed in touch with the county investigators. He had buried his brothers, his parents, and his daughter (stillborn caused by use of forceps). His marriage had fallen apart quickly after the loss of baby Helen Marie. When he wasn't working as a signal repairman for the railroad, William was trying to bring his sister home. In Part 5, the headlines about Stella will change. The case of the missing mother became nearly as cold as the Pittsburgh winter after the searches in early January. Detectives had searched high and low, unable to find even the tiniest clue, but they didn't give up on Stella. They didn't give up on William, Dorothy, Madeline, and Bobby. When the case seemed impossible with everything stacked against them, they thought of Stella's four children, still holding on to the tattered remnants of hope. Some questions will be answered, but some will remain after more than eight decades.
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EmilyTrue crime, cold case, long-term missing/unidentified, and all things mystery. I've always been interested, but now I'm involved in the search. Archives
June 2023
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Jinx!, Damian Gadal