Madeline Edman, 15 went missing from La Crosse, Wisconsin on July 29, 2005. Madeline and her mother were doing laundry at the local laundromat on the corner of St. James & Calendonia St. Madi decided to leave before her mother was finished and walked out the door. Her mother thought nothing of it but began to get worried when the teenager hadn’t returned home by that evening. Kathy Edman filed a missing person’s report for her daughter, but no clues ever emerged.
Some reports say her grandmother thinks the teenager isn’t missing at all. She thinks the girl wanted to disappear. Due to her troubled childhood, and her mother’s arrests; perhaps this is the case, but as a child, someone needs to care and look for her. It’s not like she’s an adult and made this decision. The local police agree with my point of view on this case. Her case is classed as a “possible endangered runaway,” but the police haven’t ruled out homicide, or human trafficking.
The authorities have created an age progression photo hoping to generate leads. If Madi is still in the area of La Crosse, there hasn’t been official sightings to verify it.
I find it strange that a teenager can go missing, and yet her own family assumes she ran away. If you travel down Calendonia street, you will come across a Catholic church. Could this troubled teen have sought refuge there? Has any investigation gone in this angle? I don’t know, but I think it would be a good place to start. Maybe someone felt sorry for her and helped her disappear.
Two months after her daughter’s disappearance, Kathy Edman was arrested and charged with encouraging or contributing to the delinquency of a child, drug possession, and distribution to a child under 17.
In 2008, a body was recovered only 172 miles away from the laundromat that closely resembled the missing teen. It was later ruled out, and Madeline Edman’s case remains unsolved. If you have any information, please contact:
WISCONSIN CLEARINGHOUSE FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN & ADULTS 1-800-THE-HOPE
Watch Synova’s Chasing Justice Video About This Case:
Shattered: Behind Every Story is a Shattered Life
Follow the heart-rending cases Synova first wrote about on her blog in 2018. Filled with missing persons’ cases, unsolved homicides, and even serial killer cases, this book will give you a greater insight into the shattered lives behind every story. Cases Included in this book: Jayme Closs, Haley Owens, Josh Robinson, Timothy Cunningham, Carol Blades, Pam Hupp, Arthur Ream, Angela Hammond, The Springfield Three, Jennifer Harris, Danny King, Angie Yarnell, Jack Robinson, Madelin Edman, Alexis Patterson, Amber Wilde, Sandra Bertolas, Jennifer Casper-Ross, Crystal Soulier, Jody Ricard, Carmen Owens, Brandon Tyree McCullough & The I-70 Serial Killer