Judith Elwell’s brother speaks out
Judith Elwell’s only surviving family member called The Oklahoman late Saturday.
Her brother, Mark Elwell, 49, said that he had an encounter of sorts with his sister’s kidnapper and that the man “cased” their house for about three weeks before Judith disappeared.
“That was real,” Mark Elwell said. “I saw the car. During this time period, this guy followed me also. He followed me on my newspaper route. I told the police about this, and when I told them this, they said I was a child with a very overactive imagination.
“But I seen the car the night of my sister’s disappearance. About 9:30 or 10 o’clock (at night) … there was a big black car with a man in it, and I could hear my sister crying. I got probably 15 or 20 feet away. I snuck up on it and then bolted and got my father and brought him back.”
By then, he said, the car was gone.
Police were slow to accept that Judith had been taken by a stranger, he said.
“We told them from the get-go that she was kidnapped,” he said. “They were looking for a missing child. They were looking for a child who ran away.”
And, he said, police seemed to focus their investigation on his parents.
“They dug up our front yard,” he said. “They dug up our back yard. They dug up underneath our house. They dug up the place where my father worked. … I couldn’t tell you how many times they took my mother or my father down there (to police headquarters) and grilled them. You don’t seem to understand. My father was a straitlaced Catholic. He never smoked. He never drank. He never cussed. My mother was a straitlaced Baptist.”
At some point, he said, a private detective investigated the case and claimed to have identified the killer — a male nurse who came to Oklahoma from Kansas City.
Elwell thinks the detective was right and that his sister was cut up and cremated in a nursing home incinerator.
But, he said, the detective never told him the nurse’s name.
The Elwell family never recovered from losing Judith, he said.
His mother died of breast cancer about six years after Judith vanished, he said. She mourned Judith until the day she died.
His father, who is also deceased, suffered, too. Elwell said his father had difficulty getting back on his feet and holding a steady job after the disappearance.
Elwell said he thinks about his sister often — even now, 40 years later. Sometimes, he said, she haunts his dreams.
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Comments
My family and I attended St. Patrick’s Church, NW 19 & Portland, the same church Mr. Elwell attended. My mother worried for years about Judith. Every few years we would talk about her and wonder. My mother died in 1992, never failing to mention Judith every so often. She said that she saw Mr. Elwell quite often walking on Portland on his way to/from church and that he looked so bad. (who wouldn’t look bad?)
In the late 1970’s, my parents bought a tiny home at 3524 NW 15. When I went into it’s backyard for the first time, I noticed a large tree in the corner of the yard. There was no grass under it. There was a clear outline of a large rectangle. I hadn’t thought of Judith in years, but I immediately thought “Judith could be buried there.” It wasn’t all that far from her home. I went into the house, looked at my mother, and she said, “Don’t tell me you had the same thought I had!!!”. She had had the same thought as I!!!!!! Then she said, “No, a killer wouldn’t take the time to make a perfect rectangular grave…they’d be in a hurry. They used to bury construction debris…that’s undoubtedly what it is.” In the early 2000’s, I thought of Judith again, and called the OKCPD homicide division to relay this. They weren’t interested. They were rude and arrogant.
The home was sold in the early 1980’s. It was boarded up and abandoned a few years after that. By now, it may have been demolished. But I’ve always wondered. After all, what construction crew would take the time to make a perfect rectangular line, either?
I wish someone would look.
I’m thinking that rectangular area may have once held an old septic tank that simply weakened and collapsed with age and then was filled in with dirt. You can go to http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor and key in the address and see if that is the same house where your folks lived.
I’m also wondering who owned that farmhouse near Harrah and who might have been acquainted with the owner, and therefore familiar with the area. the house is probably long gone, maybe even part of a new housing development by now. Was the old farmhouse and surroundiing land thorougly searched for the other body? If the same person was involved, he might have used the same dumpsite for both bodies.
Coincidence: Brenda White lived on St. Patrick’s Drive. Judith Elwell went to St. Patrick’s Church.
As to the rectangle possibly being a septic tank, it would have been a small one.
Of course, someone could have buried a pet there.
The owner of the property where Brenda’s body was found was identified and contacted by police.
According to an internal police document:
The owner “gave his permission for us to take whatever action we desired toward the land and to do whatever we felt necessary to conduct an appropriate investigation. … (He) said that the property had not been occupied by any one tenant for approximately 5 years and that the last person to reside on the property … is now deceased. … (He) further advised that the clothing (found in the house) came from laborers who used the house to change clothes when they were grading the sections of land adjacent on the west for the purpose of building houses. He said that the apparent destruction to the house was done by vandals who would have had access to the property over the last few years.”
The property was searched extensively, but no other remains were found.
Good observations.
Ken, could the property at 3524 NW 15 be searched? I looked at the Oklahoma County Assessor’s website, and the house is evidently still there. In the photo of it, you can see that there is the large tree in the backyard (mentioned in my earlier posting).
It could be buried construction debris, a buried pet, or whatever, but it’s amazing that two of us, at separate times, looked at it and had the same thought about Judith after having not thought of her in a few years. Bizarre.
Mark
I don’t know if you remember me, Donna Smith, but I lived across the street from you and we use to play together. I remember the night Judith Ann disappeared, I think you and I were playing at the “struck tree” and when we got home no one could find her. I remember the panic and the police coming to talk to all of us etc….I am so sorry to hear about your parents. Would like to hear from you. Please email me if you get this at beachsun@comcast.net.
Was there any evidence, that DNA be tested, or any of the new techniques be used on? It is hard to believe that now we couldn’t find something to help with the Cold Cases from so many years ago-if in fact the evidence is still filed away. Prayers for those involved.
Dear Mark Elwell, I was a young mother with twin boys in 1967 when I went to St. Patrick’s Church. I remember well when your sister went missing. The whole church was devastated; we loved your family and admired you all very much. The one thing that impressed us was that on Sunday mornings your parents would take your family to the Baptist Church and then come to the Catholic Mass. In one of our finance meetings they told how they tithed to the Baptist Church and the Catholic Church as well. We admired their strength and dedication. God bless you. Mayor Marietta Tardibono, Warr Acres, OK.
Dear Mark: Judith was never forgotten. She’s been mentioned in many, many conversations over the years. And people always say, “I wish I knew something, I wish I could find her, and what a horrible shame”. She was a little cutie. People quite often move on to another crime that takes over their thoughts, but through all of those, Judith’s memory remains.
I’ve often wondered if the guy that got the little girl from Carl Albert Jr. High after the football game (1976-1978 ?) could have been the one that got Judith and Brenda.
He lived in a trailer park close to 29th St. and Post Road. They were all from Midwest City.
God’s blessings to all remaining families.
Our family was greatly upset about Judith’s kidnapping. Judith was in my sister’s second grade class at St. Patrick’s school.The whole St. Patrick’s school prayed for her and the family. She was there one day at her desk at school and gone the next.
I was in 8th grade that year at St. Patrick’s school and Sister Mary Mark asked me to interview Mr. Elwell, who was our school Janitor, about the death of his daughter. I was very nervous because people had said he was crazy and had a metal plate in his head. I remember asking him what happened to his daughter and he said he just didn’t know. I remember that some people did suspect him because he was a little odd and seemed to be bossed around by his wife at church. I remember them digging up their yard and looking for the body. It was very suspenseful.
In my opinion I though perhaps it was a carney from the state fair. The Elwell house was located on 10 th street across from the state fair.
I was just talking about it with friend this summer. A mystery, Indeed!
I’m sorry I had the date wrong. Dewey G Moore went to prison in 1985 for kidnapping and First Degree Murder of the little Gilbert girl that he got at Carl Albert Jr. High. According to Ok. DOC his discharge date was 07/28/2004. That is about 19 years, but he could have been the one that kidnapped and murdered Brenda and Judith. His birth date 10/19/1936 would have made him about age 31 in 1967. His mother was a kindergarten teacher at the old Glenwood School in Midwest City. My neice went to school to her. Dewey will be 71 years old in October, if he is still alive. I don’t believe Jennifer Gilbert was the first little girl he killed.
The Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office have teamed up to investigate Unsolved Homicide Cases. Anyone with information on an unsolved Homicide can call the OCPD Cold Case Homicide Unit at 405-297-1127. Please leave a message listing the case you have information on and a way to reach you.
Currently there are two of us following leads on 250+ unsolved cases that go back to 1972. We also have a few cases that are from before 1972.
Investigator Mike Burke – Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office
Inspector Kyle Eastridge – Oklahoma City Homicide
Regarding info on Dewey G Moore: according to the following website http://docapp065p.doc.state.ok.us/servlet/page?_pageid=394&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&doc_num=112728&offender_book_id=19429&imageindex=1 He was released in July 2004. I am amazed. How can you be on death row and then be released? Good behavior? Really! Give him an ice cream cone and a Gideon Bible. Don’t release him from his punishment for a crime committed. I believe all people proven convicted of a serious crime should have to serve it and if they get out they wear a tattoo on their face and drive marked cars to alert the unprotected trusting public. My sympathies to Brenda and Judith’s families. As for Inspector Kyle’s blog – how frustrating it must be to have only 2 of you to solve so many crimes. Put your common every day people sleuths to work, obviously many would help out. These cold case revivals made public are a great way to stir up interest. Good luck and don’t give up.
Mark, the citizens of this great city all feel the pain and our condolences go out to you and we shall remain until and after this case is solved. Although, I was not even alive yet when you sister went missing, I can imagine the pain Being a father of two wonderful little girls, I try to educate myself on how things have happened. It is normal police protocol to think it was the parents and try to eliminate them as suspects.
Dewey Moore was released from prison in McAlester in a box, thus why it says he has been released. Though he was no executed by the system, he did get a chance for judgment in front of our lord and maker. Hopefully all of the answers we have spent years seeking did not pass with him. Anyone up for digging under the tree, I am sure the owner will give us permission as long as we do it in a professional manner. The cold case case division seems to have their hands full. Anyone up for setting up a volunteer force to help them? I an sure if enough of us commit they will have no answer except yes. Remember this community belongs to us, any child who has had harm done to them hurts all of us and creates scars that never heal.
Peace and Blessings to all.
Marc
Mr. Mills
Thank you for your information about Dewey Moore. I’m sure a lot of people are relieved to know he wasn’t released into the public. I really like your idea of putting together a volunteer force to assist these cold case detectives.
I am deeply saddened to hear about your loss, even though it was so very long ago, i know it must still be so very fresh in your mind. My condolences are with you and your family. i stumbled upon this article and was baffled. i hope they find out something new.
Sincerly,
Kylie
Many years ago I met and fell in love with Mark Elwell. This was in 1977, when his father was still alive.
Mr. Elwell was indeed a devout Catholic who never uttered a curse word nor did he turn his back on a young girl who needed help. Neither did his son, Mark.
I lived at the Elwell home for a time and Mr. Elwell certainly didn’t like it but he knew I had no where else to go. Later, Bless his heart, he found an apt that I could afford. He was different, yes, but he was a fine man who raised a fine son.
I remember Mark and I discussing the hardships his family endured. Too many to count. I also remember that what Mark told the police on that night was exactly, verbatim, what he told me. He couldn’t have made that up as a child and remembered it 10 years or 40 years later. If the police had listened then possibly, they would have found Judith. I don’t for one second believe Mark made that up.
I spent time in the house. I spent time in the yard. I spent time in the garage, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing suspect. Just good, quiet people.
I, too, have never forgotten Judith or the rest of the family as told to me by Mark. They’re forever embrazoned in my memory because through Mark, they still live.
Mark, I’m sorry for the passing of your father. He was a good, Godly man. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe.
Love,
Ramona
beybe3@yahoo,com
Dear Mark :
I do know your pain more than you will ever know. I was the baby sitter for Brenda White and I was the last person to see her alive. I was put thur the wringer my self when she disappeared and then the cops told my mother that I was not a reliable source of info because I was to young and didnt know what I really saw. I was made to crawl under the hourse in the neigborhoold because the cops didnt want the get dirty and may be spiders and snakes under there what was I to do if i found the body of Brenda . I will always belive the two disapperaces are tied togeather and I do belive that we can and will some day get some one to listen to us and get the nerve to reopen the cases and slove them , I have also lived the nite mare of Jennifer gilbert being that my girls was in school with her and they was friends and when it happaned I made the statement to the police that it was not going to stope till they go back over the Judith and Brenda case and then they will have the full Picture . So please dont give up I never will and I will always say the police blew on three major case and to get off the donut shop stool and slove these cases
Dear Mark,
I’m a member of a website for missing persons called Porchlight for the Missing and Unidentified. We would be honored to help you in your search for your sister. If you would like to check out our forum, the web address is below on this post. 
Link: http://porchlightinternationalformissinguid.com/
Sincerely,
~*Mareah Blackwell*~
Porchlight’s thread for your dear sister, Mark, is at this link. We will not forget.
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?showtopic=23983&st=0&
Prayers for you and yours.
My boyfriend was Jennifer Gilbert’s step-brother. He was 9 or so when she died. He went to Soldier Creek Elementary School. His name is Greg Scarberry. Tonight we looked up Dewey Moore because I was asking Greg about the case, and we were amazed to see any info on it at all. The OK Corrections pics are the first he’s ever seen of the man. Greg lived in the same house with her when this happened. He wanted to go to the game with her that night. Any more information anyone could provide on this case that may be online somewhere would be helpful, as it is still something that I would like to understand more. Greg would like to know if anyone has any current information on his other step-sister, Jennifer’s half sister, Tara Davidson. Thank you for your consideration. You can email Gregscarberry1@yahoo.com to help us with this. We’d really appreciate it all. Thanks, Greg & Nicole
Message to Mark Elwell:
Mark,
I’ve been trying to contact you for years. Your father initiated a meeting between you, your wife, Max, and me. The year was 1991. I’ve needed to speak with you ever since.
Should you notice my post, please leave a post of your own, and I will gladly make my email address and telephone number available to you.
I’m so terribly sorry to learn of your father’s death. He was a remarkable man, and I admired him greatly.
Hoping to hear from you -
Becky
Note: If any reader knows Mark, please tell him about this blog.
Thank you.
I use to play with brenda white when i was little, she was a couple of yrs. older then me. My parents and grandparents were friends with Bob and Connie her parents. We had spent some summers playing with all the kids and watching t.v. late into the nights laughing and giggling. Why has this not been put on Americas most Wanted for unsolved murders to see if any one out there seen anything or remembers anything at all ? This is all my mother talks about through out the yrs and she still wanders to this day what happened. When this happened we lived in midwest city by tinkerfield and the housing edition we lived in was bought out by the gov. because we lived to close to where the planes flew over in fact the address i believe was 901 webb drive and i also went to soldier creek school. We as kids after this happened could not leave our backyard and our gate was padlocked to the backyard and when we played in the front yard our parents stayed out in front because of this and thats the the way it stayed until we became teenagers, my mom did this she said because of what happened to brenda white. I hope this all gets solved for both little girls for the families that suffered through this to this day. May God bless you
One of my friends lived across the street from the house where Brenda White’s body was found. She told me that one night they were outside and heard a scream, but nothing else and could not tell where it came from. Also she said one day that her and a couple of boys that were friends were over at that house and were throwing rocks at the windows of the house, and that a man came to the window and they got scared and took off. She told me that after Brenda White was found. I do not know if they ever talked to police or not. She has since died, but the boys are still living.
MR.ELWELL MY NAME IS REBECCA LATIMER .I AM BRENDA WHITES COUSINS , AND WAS A YOUNG TEENAGE GIRL WHEN WE LOST HER I BABYSAT HER AND MY NIECE AND NEPHEW AND SOME OTHER CHILDREN ,SOME TIME ON THE WEEKEND .I LOVED HER SO MUCH SHE WAS SUCH A SWEET LITTLE GIRL AND LOVED TO HAVE ME BRUSH HER HAIR , I WILL NEVER STOP LOOKING UNTIL I FIND WHO TOOK HER..SOMETIMES PEOPLE DONT REALIZE THE AFFECT WHAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS DOES TO YHE OTHER CHILDREN LEFT BE HIND .BUT I KNOW YOU DO .. I DO KNOW WHEN THEN FOUND WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS LEFT OF BRENDAS REMANES THERE WAS ANOTHER LITTLE GIRLS SHOE THERE ,ONLY ONE THAT WAS NOT BRENDAS .MAYBE IF YOU SAW IT YOU WOULD RECONIZE IT .THERE IS SOME OTHER THINGS I KNOW BUT WANT SAY ON HERE I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS WEB PAGE , I HAVE OFTEN WONDER ABOUT YOU ,MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU . GOD BLESS ..CONTACT ME IF YOU WANT REBECCA
MY NAME IS TAMMIE BRENDA WAS MY OLDER SISTER; COULD SHARON CRAIG OR CONNIE SPURLOCK PLEASE CONTACT ME? MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS readingmagenta@yahoo.com
does anyone know who this “DORINDA PUTTER” IS? if she was the last person to see her(Brenda) alive does that mean she was with brenda and the other kids when they went to the store or what? Dorinda how old were you when Brenda dissapeared?
DOES ANYONE KNOW “DORINDA PUTTRT”?THIS IS THE FRIST I HAVE HEARD HER NAME IS FROM TAMMIE,I TOO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE SHE LIVED THEN AND IF SHE WAS AT THE STORE ,,,,,,,,,,,BECAUSE I THOUGHT ALL THE KIDS WENT BACK TO THE HOUSE ,AND BRENDA WAS THERE ALONE FOR JUST A MIN… AND A LITTLE BOY SAW THE WHITE CAR LEAVE WITH HER IN IT,,..IF YOU ARE OUT THRERE PLEASE CONTACT US ..WE HAVE NOW REOPENED THIS OURSELFS AND NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET,NAMES, ADDRESSS ,YOUR AGES IF YOU SAW A CAR OR A MAN …NO MATTER HOW SMALL A THING IT MIGHT BE TO YOU,COULD MEAN THE WORLD TO BRENDAS FAIMLY .. I AM BEGGING FOR ANY INFO ,ANY ONE HAS . YOU CAN LEAVE A MESSAGE AND NO NAME THANKS REBECCA
I just want to say how sorry i am about your sister & your father&mother.My son was about your sister’s age at that time.1967.I just can’t think what it would be to feel that kind of pain your family did.And the police don’t make you feel better.I know they have to do there job but it still makes it bad for you.God bless you. Pat