Elsie Paroubek was a four-year-old Chicago girl who vanished on April 8, 1911, after leaving to visit her aunt. Her disappearance triggered a massive search across Illinois and neighboring states, with police, volunteers and many reported sightings — including leads that sent investigators to Roma camps — but none produced Elsie alive.

On May 9, 1911 a body was found floating in a drainage canal near Lockport, Illinois. Her parents, Czech immigrants Frank and Karolina Paroubek, identified the remains as their daughter. Early reports said she had drowned with no marks of violence, but later inquiries and an autopsy found she had not drowned; suffocation or strangulation was suggested while the official cause of death remained listed as unknown.

Elsie’s funeral on May 12 drew an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 mourners. Despite widespread attention and numerous theories, no conclusive evidence ever pointed to who was responsible and no one was charged. Did anyone in the Chicago area at the time have information that could finally explain what happened to Elsie?