Ken McElroy

He Loved Children

McElroy married for the first time at age 18, in 1952. He spent time in Denver with his new bride, Oleta, but returned to Missouri because he couldn’t hold a job.

During his 20s, McElroy became famous among his coon-hunting buddies for his eye for what he called “young meat”—adolescent girls. He bedded a series of teenagers, sometimes finding his quarry by hanging out at junior high school playgrounds. He befriended adolescent boys to gain entrée to their female peers.

He typically preyed upon children from poor, uneducated families. He charmed the girls with dime-store gifts and rides in his truck. Several of his victims became pregnant, and McElroy used payoffs and threats to assuage hard feelings by parents.

McElroy dumped Oleta after a few years and married a 15-year-old girl, Sharon.

With Sharon pregnant, McElroy began romancing a 13-year-old named Sally. When she balked at sex, he beat her and threatened to kill her father. She acquiesced, then moved in with Sharon and McElroy.

Ken McElroy with daughter Tonia

He had his first harem. The teenagers gave birth to a total of seven of McElroy’s offspring. Sharon had children in 1961, ’63, ’64 and ’65, and Sally in ’61, ’63 and ‘64.

In late 1964, with Sharon again pregnant and both young women with newborns, McElroy took up with Alice, a 15-year-old from St. Joseph, Mo., 50 miles south of Skidmore.

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1. Keep an Eye on Him
2. McElroy’s Style
3. The Last Straw
4. Murder in Broad Daylight
5. On the Night Shift
6. He Loved Children
7. Power over Women
8. Another Teen Love
9. Saved by the Law
10. Invincible
11. Intent to Kill
12. A Mysterious Shooting
13. Fighting over Candy
14. The Last Word
15. The Law’s No Help
16. The Art of Intimidation
17. At Last, a Trial
18. The Town Reacts
19. Show of Support
20. The Investigations
21. Aftermath
22. Skidmore Shrinks
23. *New Chapter: Twenty-five Years Later
24. *New Chapter: Bowenkamp's Daughters Speak Out
25. *New Chapter: The Real Story about the Candy
26. *New Chapter: Raging Media Torrent
27. *New Chapter: Tarnish and Regrets
28. *New Chapter: Vigilantes or Necessary Justice?
29. Bibliography