Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos

Marjorie Croude McKinley Chillingworth




Marjorie, date, approximate 1955; Joseph Peel; Floyd Holzapfel; George Lincoln
Date Missing 06/14/1955
Missing From
West Palm Beach, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
White
Age 56 years old
Height and Weight Unknown
Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a nightgown, a robe and slippers.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Marjorie's nickname is Margie.
Details of Disappearance Marjorie was last seen with her husband, Curtis, at a dinner in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 14, 1955. They left the dinner at approximately 10:00 p.m. to return to their home in the 200 block of Dyer Road in Manalapan, Florida. Neither of the Chillingworths have been heard from again.
Curtis and Marjorie had hired a carpenter to build a playground for their grandchildren at their home. The carpenter arrived as scheduled at 8:00 a.m. on June 15 and found the house deserted and the door open. Curtis was scheduled to preside over a hearing in West Palm Beach at 10:00 a.m., but never arrived.
Authorities went to search the Chillingworth residence at noon. The porch light was shattered and there were blood drops on the walkway to the beach. Two used spools of adhesive tape were located, one on the beach and one in the living room.
The Chillingworths' swimming suits were left behind, as was some cash. Curtis's Plymouth was located at the residence with the keys still it in the ignition.
An extensive search turned up no sign of either Curtis or Marjorie. They were declared ly dead in 1957 and were given a headstone in Oak Lawn Cemetery in West Palm Beach.
In 1960, Joseph Alexander Peel Jr. was charged with murdering the Chillingworths. He was the municipal judge for West Palm Beach in 1955, and noted for his corruption and incompetence.
Curtis was the senior circuit judge of Palm Beach County and Peel's superior; he had gotten the job at age 26, the youngest person in Florida history to do so. Curtis had warned Peel several times about his judicial misconduct.
In 1953, after Peel represented both sides in a divorce , Curtis told him it was his last chance and he would face disciplinary action next time. In retaliation, Peel ordered Floyd Albert "Lucky" Holzapfel to kill the Chillingworths. Photographs of Peel and Holzapfel are posted with this summary.
Holzapfel confessed to the Chillingworths' murders in 1960. He stated he and a friend, George David "Bobby" Lincoln, had killed Curtis and Marjorie together. A photograph of Lincoln is posted with this summary. Holzapfel and Peel were both arrested after the confession.
Lincoln was already incarcerated in a federal prison on unrelated charges by 1960. He was granted immunity from prosecution for the murders in return for agreeing to testify as a witness. Holzapfel pleaded guilty to both murders and agreed to testify against Peel. He was sentenced to death.
At Peel's trial, Lincoln and Holzapfel stated they had taken Curtis and Marjorie out into the ocean on a boat, taped their hands, strapped lead weights to their bodies and threw them overboard, still alive.
Curtis was still able to swim in spite of his taped hands and the weights. Lincoln and Holzapfel hit him with a shotgun, but he continued to float. They had to pull him back onto the board and put an additional weight on him before he sank. Lincoln and Holzapfel stated they had not received payment from Peel for committing the murders.
Peel was convicted of being an accessory to Curtis's murder and pleaded no contest to his role in Marjorie's death. He served eighteen years in a Florida state prison, then was released in 1979 to serve a federal sentence in Missouri for an unrelated mail fraud conviction. He was paroled in 1981.
Peel was suffering from cancer by this time and died only nine days after his release from prison. Days before his death, he gave a newspaper interview wherein he stated he had not ordered the Chillingworths' murders, but he had been aware of them and had done nothing to stop them.
Holzapfel's death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1966. He was a model prisoner and died in 1996, still incarcerated. Lincoln finished his federal prison term in 1962. He died in 2004.
Marjorie belonged to the local Garden Club in 1955 and had won awards for her gerbera flowers. She and Curtis had three children together.
Although their bodies were never recovered, foul play is suspected in their s due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
561-688-3000
Other
The Doe Network
The Palm Beach Post

Missing Person Photos

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe. By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Photos