What Happened to Marion Lambert?

Emily Challenger, Online Editor

One winter morning in 1916,  on Feb. 10, an eighteen year old girl went missing. She was last seen the previous day when she left for Deerfield High School. Her body was found, frozen on Sheridan road in Lake Forest—which is now near the closed Barat College. It was said that the girl’s body was poisoned, but what exactly happened to her was never revealed. Her name was Marion Lambert.

On Feb. 9, Marion and her friend Josephine walked to the Sacred Heart Station where they would get on a train to go to school. However Marion decided she wanted to send a letter to her Sunday school teacher and made her way through the woods to the post office. When she didn’t appear at school, police went looking for the 18 year old girl. They found her body in the snow, with only her green jacket peeking out. Her letter was still in her pocket and her school books were under her arm. Her right hand was ungloved. In that hand, residue of an acidic poison was found. The police also saw two sets of footprints—hers and a man’s.

Suspicions were that Marion’s ex-lover murdered her, but he was never indicted for the crimes. After the trial ended and he was deemed innocent, he disappeared. It is believed that he changed his name to W.H Dawson and killed another 19 year old girl. But still, he was never caught.

Today, many stories are posited as to what happened during that night in the forest. Many still believe that he was the one who had killed her after he learned that she was pregnant. But some wonder if she committed suicide while he watched. Today it is believed that since she never received justice for her murder, that she now stalks Sheridan Road, haunting others for revenge. Around the anniversary of her death, people have reported to have seen her body in a blue dress with a burned smile from the acidic poison she consumed.