We passed another sad milestone last week. Fifty years ago, October 26, 1965, Sylvia Likens died. Her death at the age of 16 was due to massive brain swelling and hemorrhaging in what authorities called “the most terrible crime ever committed in the state of Indiana.” Sylvia and her younger sister Jenny were sent to be cared for by Gertrude Baniszewski and her family for the summer while her carnival worker parents were out on the road. Instead of caring for the girls, the Baniszewski’s and their neighbors beat and tortured the girls, eventually resulting in the death of Sylvia Likens.
The home where Sylvia Likens died stood as sad vigil to the unspeakable crime until the spring of 2009. For a time the big yellow double located a stone’s throw east of Sherman Avenue (just past the old Capricorn Lounge) served as a shelter for abused women. But for the last several years it sat eerily empty with the doors and windows ominously boarded up.
At the time of the tragedy, the Likens family consisted of Sylvia, her parents Lester and Betty, her older siblings Dianna and Danny and her younger siblings Jenny and Benny. Sylvia had the distinction of being born in between two sets of fraternal twins. Most every Hoosier knows the story of Sylvia Likens and many know that Jenny was with Sylvia in the Baniszewski home at the time of the tragedy. Bur what happened to the family after the events of October 1965? You mat have noticed that one of them has been in the news lately.
Jenny’s father Lester was born in Lebanon. He had only an eighth-grade education and worked a lot of odd jobs to support his family. He’d had a laundry route, worked in factories and had even owned a small restaurant, though unsuccessfully. Finally, he began to travel with carnivals selling food from a concession cart. By all accounts, he was a hard worker who did the best he could to make a living. On July 3, 1965, Lester arrived home to an empty house and went looking for his daughters and his wife. He found Jenny and Sylvia at the Baniszewski house, where he learned his wife was in jail for shoplifting. He made arrangements for Gertrude Baniszewski to board his daughters for $20 a week ($150 a week today). Had Lester but looked around the Baniszewski house at 3850 E. New York St. before he made the arrangements, he never would have left the girls there. The house was filthy dirty, there were not enough beds for the children, and not enough food for one person let alone ten. Lester greatly suffered for this lapse in judgment for the rest of his life. He worked in the gaming industry in Las Vegas before moving in with his daughter Dianna. He died on February 22, 2013 and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.
Betty Likens was born in Indianapolis on March 2, 1927. Betty Likens was a good mother according to her daughter Jenny. Lester and Betty had a troubled marriage and split up several times. Betty never really got over Sylvia’s death. She filed for divorce from Lester in early 1966, and married Clifford Matheson. Betty Likens passed away May 29, 1998 at age 71. After her death, there was a suitcase filled with sympathy letters and pictures of Sylvia that Betty called her “suitcase of sorrow.” Betty is buried next to her husband Wallace E. Grimes in section 59, lot 630 at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
Jenny Likens was a tragic witness, and sometime target, of the abuse heaped upon her sister Sylvia. It is widely believed that Sylvia took the brunt of the abuse to shield her 15-year-old sister Jenny. Jenny was younger and weaker than her big sister, having survived a bout with polio but still dealing with the after-affects. After the crime, Jenny married and moved to Beech Grove. When she saw her tormentor Gertrude Baniszewski’s obituary in the newspaper, she clipped it out and mailed it to her mother with a note reading: “Some good news. Damn old Gertrude died. Ha ha ha! I am happy about that.” Jenny Likens Wade died of a heart attack on June 23, 2004 at the age of 54. Memories of the crime never left Jenny’s mind and she became a nervous recluse in her final years. Friends said that Jenny’s heart attack was caused by a pizza deliveryman’s sudden, unexpected knock on the door. Turns out that the deliveryman had the wrong address. Jenny is buried in Section 9, Block 20 in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Greenwood.
Benny was Jenny’s twin brother. Although Benny had stayed a few times at the Baniszewski household, it was decided he would stay with his grandmother while his sisters Sylvia and Jenny summered there. Benny Likens’ story is nearly as sad as that of his twin sister Jenny. Benny never married and was diagnosed schizophrenic after his military service. His decomposed body was found August 3, 1999, the body remained unclaimed and was cremated at the cost of the state and his ashes buried grave in Section B. Lot 125 of Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon. His big sister Sylvia is buried nearby. Lester Likens was in the process of reaching out to help Benny, when his letter was returned, marked “deceased.”
Sylvia’s older brother Danny was living on his own and barely scraping by doing odd jobs at the time of the crime. He spent much of his time in local pool halls and had a serious gambling problem made worse by drugs and alcohol abuse. Not much is known of Danny’s life for the last several years. Danny Kaye Likens married Rosalie Weddle on March 21, 1968; they divorced and she remarried in 1981 and Danny just sort of disappeared. At age 67, Danny Likens, was detained on multiple counts and booked into the Clark County, Nevada jail on February 3, 2014. The latest update has him homeless and living somewhere near Las Vegas. It is my understanding that he has refused all help from Dianna and Lester.
Sylvia’s older sister Dianna (Danny’s twin) was nineteen, married, and on her way to a divorce at the time of the crime. She, along with her three other siblings not present at the crime scene, has been maligned for their apparent lack of concern about the events leading up to Sylvia’s tragic death. Truth is, they were most likely unaware of what was going in on old Gertie’s house. Had they known, I feel quite sure this tough, streetwise family would have rushed to her aid and handled Gertie and her gang like yelling “Hey, Rube” at the carnival.
Dianna ran into Jenny at the park one day and told her big sister that Gertrude was beating them, but Dianna thought she was exaggerating. She mentioned that Gertie and the neighborhood boys were being especially rough on Sylvia, whom the family called “Cookie,” and that they needed to get out of the Baniszewski house as soon as possible. Jenny Likens began to outline some of the horrors that the two sisters were experiencing, and begged Diana to contact the police. At first, Diana Likens ignored her little sister, believing that Jenny was simply displeased with being punished for misbehaving and that she was making up stories so that she could come live with her.
A couple of days later, Dianna thought she’d better make sure and went to the house. She knocked on the door and insisted on seeing her sisters, but Gertrude threatened to call the police if she did not leave. Dianna hid behind a bush near the house until Jenny came outside. She approached her little sister, grabbed her by both shoulders and asked her what was going on. A nervous Jenny Likens told her sister that she was not allowed to talk to her and ran away. Alarmed by the fear in Jenny’s eyes, Dianna contacted social services. Dianna told the social worker that Gertie Baniszewski told her that Sylvia had been kicked out of the house for being a “dirty prostitute,” and was now a runaway. When the social worker showed up at the Baniszewski home inquiring about Sylvia, Baniszewski told Jenny Likens to lie to the social worker about Sylvia’s whereabouts, threatening her that if she did not, she would get the same treatment as Sylvia. Terrified of what Gertie might do to her, Jenny told the social worker that Sylvia had indeed run away. The social worker returned to her office and filed a report stating that no more follow-up visits were needed.
Dianna stepped up for her sisters after the tragedy, offering support for Jenny during the trial and caring for her afterwards. She remarried and moved to California and cared for her father Lester in the last years of his life. By all accounts, she has been a wonderful mother and a kind-hearted person since the tragedy. Dianna has been reluctant to talk about Sylvia or Jenny, because it upsets her too much. She has led a quiet, normal life. That is until she disappeared around 2 p.m. on Mother’s Day 2015. Sixty-seven-year-old Dianna Likens Bedwell and her husband Cecil Knutson went missing on Sunday May 10 after leaving Valley View Casino in Valley Center in California.
The couple spent the day playing the nickel slots and were on their way to their son’s house for a 4 p.m. Mother’s Day dinner, but they never made it. A Silver Alert (an all points bulletin for those 65 years old and older missing under suspicious circumstances) was issued for the couple by the California Highway Patrol.
The couple’s son, Robert Acosta said tearfully: ‘I don’t know if they were abducted or just went down a nasty hill and we can’t find them. I do know that my mom has to make frequent bathroom breaks and so I worry about her with her jewelry on. I just, all the things that are going through my mind, I don’t know. I just need answers.” He spent Mother’s Day morning playing with his wife and child and anticipating the arrival of the usually punctual couple. “Everything was ready to rock and roll,” Acosta said Friday. “When 4:30 rolled around and they weren’t there, I knew something was wrong.”
After air and ground searches turned up no sign of the couple or their vehicle, San Diego homicide detectives joined the investigation. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said the couple were last seen on surveillance video leaving the casino round 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The elderly couple left San Diego and headed to their son’s house about two hours away in La Quinta, near Palm Springs. Liken’s second cousin Marlene Johnson who still lives in Lebanon, said “I can’t believe things are happening again in our family. I’m sure somebody will find them. I hope they’re alive. I do.” The couple’s son said investigators have asked for his parents financial records to monitor their bank accounts for any activity. It wasn’t looking good for a safe return. Hadn’t the Likens’ family seen enough sorrow already?
Next week: Part 2 — The Sylvia Likens Family Saga.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest book is “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
