Murder victim. Jeanne, 8 years old, lived part of the time with her grandparents, Pierres de Taille at No. 2. Her father was a typographer working at the newspaper Le Soir. Jeanne was born out of wedlock and he didn't recognize her as his daughter. Her mother Françoise Van Calck lived at the corner of Boulevard Baudouin and the causeway of Antwerp. Jeanne set out alone at 6:30 pm on February 7th to go home to visit her.
It was the first time she had walked there alone. She was usually accompanied by her grandfather, but he was unavailable. He worked for a Brussels tramway company during the day and in the evening was a controller at the Royal Flemish Theater in Brussels. Jeanne told him, "You are late and Mamma could worry, I will go alone." Because the distance was short and the girl knew the way her grandparents let her go alone this time.
Like other girls of her time period, she wore a white apron over her plaid dress. And because it was winter, Jeanne put a blue wool hat over her blonde hair and leather ankle boots on her feet.
Jeanne never arrived at her mother's home, disappearing around where Brouckère Tower stands today.
That night at 11:45 pm, a machinist from the Alhambra Theatre named Joseph Eylenbosch and his son found a package of thick paper, wrapped with hemp formed into a carrying handle, on the threshold of the house at 22 rue Swallows.
Rewards were promised to any person who reported to the police station any suspicious package found in a public place, so he found an officer, Gustave Vandamme. The officer felt hair and skin when he stuck his hand inside the package.
When it was opened at the police station it was found to hold the legless, still warm remains of Jeanne. The coroner ruled that Jeanne had been forced to drink a large amount of alcohol, was raped, and suffocated on her own vomit.
The horrified people of Brussels held a huge funeral for Jeanne on February 11th. Ten thousand attended. The police formed an honor guard. Emile Rossel, head of newspaper "Evening", collected money to erect a lage and lovely monument in the cemetery of Brussels.
A search ensued, with the streets and canal scoured. Her legs were found, wrapped separately from each other, on February 16th by a gardener in the park of the former royal farm Stuyvenberg. Her boots were been found in the vicinity on the day before. An analysis of the package revealed that the remains of the child had been wrapped in pages from the newspaper "Le Soir" dated January 12 and 27, 1906. Other sheets came from an edition of the "Journal de Paris".
A friend of Jeanne's later reported that around 7 pm on the evening of the murder she saw Jeanne near her grandparents home accompanied by a man. Jeanne appeared comfortable with him but they were headed in the opposite direction of her mother's house.
Many suspects were detained by the police. Although the Belgian government offered a reward of 20,000 Belgian francs to anyone who could lead them to the murderer, no one was ever caught. The following year, another child, Annette Bellot, was found dead in Anderlecht under similar circumstances and her murderer was never identified, either.
A Paris lawyer, Louis Frank, later took over the file and listed 29 breaches in the investigation. One of these is that the police did not interview children, so it was not known until much later that Jeanne's friend had seen her the night of the abduction. Frank published his results in 1909 in "The crime of the Rue des Hirondelles (the Van Calck case in Brussels): criminal police studies."
The event became known as The Murder Hirondelles Road. Belgium had (has?) something called “market singers,” and for many years songs were sung about Annette and Jeanne. Some featured graphic details of their deaths, others did not.
It was the first time she had walked there alone. She was usually accompanied by her grandfather, but he was unavailable. He worked for a Brussels tramway company during the day and in the evening was a controller at the Royal Flemish Theater in Brussels. Jeanne told him, "You are late and Mamma could worry, I will go alone." Because the distance was short and the girl knew the way her grandparents let her go alone this time.
Like other girls of her time period, she wore a white apron over her plaid dress. And because it was winter, Jeanne put a blue wool hat over her blonde hair and leather ankle boots on her feet.
Jeanne never arrived at her mother's home, disappearing around where Brouckère Tower stands today.
That night at 11:45 pm, a machinist from the Alhambra Theatre named Joseph Eylenbosch and his son found a package of thick paper, wrapped with hemp formed into a carrying handle, on the threshold of the house at 22 rue Swallows.
Rewards were promised to any person who reported to the police station any suspicious package found in a public place, so he found an officer, Gustave Vandamme. The officer felt hair and skin when he stuck his hand inside the package.
When it was opened at the police station it was found to hold the legless, still warm remains of Jeanne. The coroner ruled that Jeanne had been forced to drink a large amount of alcohol, was raped, and suffocated on her own vomit.
The horrified people of Brussels held a huge funeral for Jeanne on February 11th. Ten thousand attended. The police formed an honor guard. Emile Rossel, head of newspaper "Evening", collected money to erect a lage and lovely monument in the cemetery of Brussels.
A search ensued, with the streets and canal scoured. Her legs were found, wrapped separately from each other, on February 16th by a gardener in the park of the former royal farm Stuyvenberg. Her boots were been found in the vicinity on the day before. An analysis of the package revealed that the remains of the child had been wrapped in pages from the newspaper "Le Soir" dated January 12 and 27, 1906. Other sheets came from an edition of the "Journal de Paris".
A friend of Jeanne's later reported that around 7 pm on the evening of the murder she saw Jeanne near her grandparents home accompanied by a man. Jeanne appeared comfortable with him but they were headed in the opposite direction of her mother's house.
Many suspects were detained by the police. Although the Belgian government offered a reward of 20,000 Belgian francs to anyone who could lead them to the murderer, no one was ever caught. The following year, another child, Annette Bellot, was found dead in Anderlecht under similar circumstances and her murderer was never identified, either.
A Paris lawyer, Louis Frank, later took over the file and listed 29 breaches in the investigation. One of these is that the police did not interview children, so it was not known until much later that Jeanne's friend had seen her the night of the abduction. Frank published his results in 1909 in "The crime of the Rue des Hirondelles (the Van Calck case in Brussels): criminal police studies."
The event became known as The Murder Hirondelles Road. Belgium had (has?) something called “market singers,” and for many years songs were sung about Annette and Jeanne. Some featured graphic details of their deaths, others did not.
Murder victim. Jeanne, 8 years old, lived part of the time with her grandparents, Pierres de Taille at No. 2. Her father was a typographer working at the newspaper Le Soir. Jeanne was born out of wedlock and he didn't recognize her as his daughter. Her mother Françoise Van Calck lived at the corner of Boulevard Baudouin and the causeway of Antwerp. Jeanne set out alone at 6:30 pm on February 7th to go home to visit her.
It was the first time she had walked there alone. She was usually accompanied by her grandfather, but he was unavailable. He worked for a Brussels tramway company during the day and in the evening was a controller at the Royal Flemish Theater in Brussels. Jeanne told him, "You are late and Mamma could worry, I will go alone." Because the distance was short and the girl knew the way her grandparents let her go alone this time.
Like other girls of her time period, she wore a white apron over her plaid dress. And because it was winter, Jeanne put a blue wool hat over her blonde hair and leather ankle boots on her feet.
Jeanne never arrived at her mother's home, disappearing around where Brouckère Tower stands today.
That night at 11:45 pm, a machinist from the Alhambra Theatre named Joseph Eylenbosch and his son found a package of thick paper, wrapped with hemp formed into a carrying handle, on the threshold of the house at 22 rue Swallows.
Rewards were promised to any person who reported to the police station any suspicious package found in a public place, so he found an officer, Gustave Vandamme. The officer felt hair and skin when he stuck his hand inside the package.
When it was opened at the police station it was found to hold the legless, still warm remains of Jeanne. The coroner ruled that Jeanne had been forced to drink a large amount of alcohol, was raped, and suffocated on her own vomit.
The horrified people of Brussels held a huge funeral for Jeanne on February 11th. Ten thousand attended. The police formed an honor guard. Emile Rossel, head of newspaper "Evening", collected money to erect a lage and lovely monument in the cemetery of Brussels.
A search ensued, with the streets and canal scoured. Her legs were found, wrapped separately from each other, on February 16th by a gardener in the park of the former royal farm Stuyvenberg. Her boots were been found in the vicinity on the day before. An analysis of the package revealed that the remains of the child had been wrapped in pages from the newspaper "Le Soir" dated January 12 and 27, 1906. Other sheets came from an edition of the "Journal de Paris".
A friend of Jeanne's later reported that around 7 pm on the evening of the murder she saw Jeanne near her grandparents home accompanied by a man. Jeanne appeared comfortable with him but they were headed in the opposite direction of her mother's house.
Many suspects were detained by the police. Although the Belgian government offered a reward of 20,000 Belgian francs to anyone who could lead them to the murderer, no one was ever caught. The following year, another child, Annette Bellot, was found dead in Anderlecht under similar circumstances and her murderer was never identified, either.
A Paris lawyer, Louis Frank, later took over the file and listed 29 breaches in the investigation. One of these is that the police did not interview children, so it was not known until much later that Jeanne's friend had seen her the night of the abduction. Frank published his results in 1909 in "The crime of the Rue des Hirondelles (the Van Calck case in Brussels): criminal police studies."
The event became known as The Murder Hirondelles Road. Belgium had (has?) something called “market singers,” and for many years songs were sung about Annette and Jeanne. Some featured graphic details of their deaths, others did not.
It was the first time she had walked there alone. She was usually accompanied by her grandfather, but he was unavailable. He worked for a Brussels tramway company during the day and in the evening was a controller at the Royal Flemish Theater in Brussels. Jeanne told him, "You are late and Mamma could worry, I will go alone." Because the distance was short and the girl knew the way her grandparents let her go alone this time.
Like other girls of her time period, she wore a white apron over her plaid dress. And because it was winter, Jeanne put a blue wool hat over her blonde hair and leather ankle boots on her feet.
Jeanne never arrived at her mother's home, disappearing around where Brouckère Tower stands today.
That night at 11:45 pm, a machinist from the Alhambra Theatre named Joseph Eylenbosch and his son found a package of thick paper, wrapped with hemp formed into a carrying handle, on the threshold of the house at 22 rue Swallows.
Rewards were promised to any person who reported to the police station any suspicious package found in a public place, so he found an officer, Gustave Vandamme. The officer felt hair and skin when he stuck his hand inside the package.
When it was opened at the police station it was found to hold the legless, still warm remains of Jeanne. The coroner ruled that Jeanne had been forced to drink a large amount of alcohol, was raped, and suffocated on her own vomit.
The horrified people of Brussels held a huge funeral for Jeanne on February 11th. Ten thousand attended. The police formed an honor guard. Emile Rossel, head of newspaper "Evening", collected money to erect a lage and lovely monument in the cemetery of Brussels.
A search ensued, with the streets and canal scoured. Her legs were found, wrapped separately from each other, on February 16th by a gardener in the park of the former royal farm Stuyvenberg. Her boots were been found in the vicinity on the day before. An analysis of the package revealed that the remains of the child had been wrapped in pages from the newspaper "Le Soir" dated January 12 and 27, 1906. Other sheets came from an edition of the "Journal de Paris".
A friend of Jeanne's later reported that around 7 pm on the evening of the murder she saw Jeanne near her grandparents home accompanied by a man. Jeanne appeared comfortable with him but they were headed in the opposite direction of her mother's house.
Many suspects were detained by the police. Although the Belgian government offered a reward of 20,000 Belgian francs to anyone who could lead them to the murderer, no one was ever caught. The following year, another child, Annette Bellot, was found dead in Anderlecht under similar circumstances and her murderer was never identified, either.
A Paris lawyer, Louis Frank, later took over the file and listed 29 breaches in the investigation. One of these is that the police did not interview children, so it was not known until much later that Jeanne's friend had seen her the night of the abduction. Frank published his results in 1909 in "The crime of the Rue des Hirondelles (the Van Calck case in Brussels): criminal police studies."
The event became known as The Murder Hirondelles Road. Belgium had (has?) something called “market singers,” and for many years songs were sung about Annette and Jeanne. Some featured graphic details of their deaths, others did not.
