Sep 3, 1989 - Madison, WI --
Identified in 2024
The bones of a male were found at the bottom of a chimney at Good 'n Loud Music. The owner of the business was trying to fix a leak in the basement and looked in the
chimney with a flashlight and saw a skull. Workmen opened the chimney to find a pile of bones with some clothes and shoes that seemed indicate the victim was a female.
Tests later prove the victim was a slender male.
The clothing: sleeveless paisley dress with matching belt, button-down oxford shirt, White Stag brand shaggy-pile sweater, low-heeled, pointed shoes, socks. He carried an
extra pair of socks and wore no underclothing. Also with the bones and clothes, an "iron cross'" medallion, a butter knife and a pocket comb.
One theory is the male was a cross dresser, perhaps a male prostitute, and surprised someone who was angry enough to murder him and stuff the body down the chimney. The only
sign of injury to the bones is a crushed lower pelvis, which could indicate the genitalia of the victim were stomped on before being shoved into the chimney.
He may have been in the chimney for a month, or for two years. The tube in which the skeleton was found is 12 inches in diameter and is eight feet underground.
It was believed that the male was between 18 and 35 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall with brown hair and an overbite.
The case was featured on national television on the show Hard Copy - "Chimney Bones" November 13, 1989
The face was later reconstructed by Smithsonian experts.
Dec 14, 2010 - Wisconsin State Journal - Madison, WI
The remains of a slender man in women's clothes have cooled for 21 years at the Dane County morgue, unidentified since he was found
at the bottom of a chimney at a music store on University Avenue.
Good 'n Loud Music - 5225 University Ave.
--
Novelist John Peyton Cooke put this "skeleton story" and another Madison incident "
drifter-murderer story" together and
fashioned a novel, "The Chimney Sweeper," (Mysterious Press, 1995) that takes place in a city called "Isthmus City." The lakes in this fictional city have Indian names.
