James Buggy of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, was at a low point of his life in 1917. His wife had died in childbirth, and he was left to raise his baby daughter Eleanor alone. Now that the girl was three years old, she needed a mother, and he was lonely. That's when he met 23-year-old Annie Compolo, who returned his attentions and doted on Eleanor. They were soon married.
Four weeks later, James would realize that he had made the biggest mistake of his life.
Annie, it seemed, had a fiery temper, and while quarrels among newlyweds are not uncommon, James had decided that he didn't want any disruptions in the peaceful Edgewood home he had fought so hard to maintain. His first wife, Kathryn, had been a kind and gentle woman who rarely, if ever, raised her voice. James himself was known among his friends and co-workers as a kind-hearted fellow, the sort of man who had always put his faith and his family above everything else in his life. He had attended St. Edward's Catholic School as a youth and was an active member of his church. He was proud of his community and never passed up an opportunity to volunteer for a good cause. So when he heard through the grapevine that the former Miss Compolo had been less than faithful as a married woman, a terrible argument ensued. James put his foot down. On the night of Sunday, February 25, he told Annie, in no uncertain terms, that he wanted her out of the house by the time he returned home from work the following day.
On Monday afternoon, James returned to his home at 825 West Independence Street and found that his wife was gone. But, much to his alarm, so was his young daughter.
One has to wonder why James made no arrangements for his daughter to be looked after when he ordered his wife gone before he returned. But anyway, you can tell at this point of the story that no good would come of the child's disappearance. Read the strange story of the Buggy family at Pennsylvania Oddities. -via Strange Company