Francis McDonnell

Francis McDonnell, an 8-year-old white boy, vanished from the Port Richmond area of Staten Island on July 15, 1924, after an ordinary day of neighborhood play turned suddenly hollow. He had been outside near home with other children when a strange, elderly man was noticed nearby—gaunt, shabby, with gray hair and a drooping mustache, lingering in a way that made the adults uneasy. Not long after, Francis was gone, as if the summer air had swallowed him between one game and the next.

His ...

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