A 93-YEAR-OLD QUEST
Two-year-old Mary Agnes Moroney went missing in 1930, and her biological family has been searching for her ever since. They believe they’ve found her with the help of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and the use of commercial DNA tests. If they’re right, Mary Agnes lived until the age of 75 as Jeanette Burchard.
The search for Mary Agnes Moroney May 10, 1928
Mary Agnes Moroney is born on this date to Katherine and Michael Moroney of Chicago.
May 15, 1930
Mary Agnes is kidnapped by a woman using the name Julia Otis. Soon after, her parents receive a letter, purportedly written by her kidnapper. It says Mary Agnes had been taken to California but would eventually be returned. Another letter arrives four days later, claiming to be from a cousin of the kidnapper. It again promises that Mary Agnes would be returned.
Sept. 3, 1952
The Chicago Daily News declares the 22-year search has ended, insisting a woman named Mary McClelland has been identified as Mary Agnes. A DNA test later proves that Mary McClelland was not Mary Agnes.
1962
Mary Agnes’ mother, Katherine, dies at the age of 49.
November 2018
A DNA test concludes that a long-lost Moroney family friend, located by the Chicago SunTimes, is not Mary Agnes.
February 2023
Mary Agnes’ nephew, Don Moroney, says he believes the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has solved Mary Agnes’ disappearance
The life of Jeanette Burchard April 14, 1928
Jeanette Burchard’s family was told she was born on this date and spent the first six years of her life in Chicago.
1934
The family moved to Virginia and to Florida during World War II.
1940s
Jeanette Burchard marries her first husband, Edward Jennings and gives birth to her first two children, Barbara Joan Jennings and Edward Cliffton Jennings Jr.
1950s
Jeanette begins her career as a nurse and gives birth to Terri Arnold in 1957.
2003
Jeanette Burchard dies in Florida.
2022
Cook County Sheriff’s Det. Jose Rodriguez begins his investigation and reaches out to Burchard’s family, including Arnold. Arnold agrees to take a DNA test, which reveals that unlike her Polish ancestors, she’s mainly Irish.
2023
Terri Arnold believes her mother is Mary Agnes Moroney.