Alden Lawrence’s Disappearance
Alden’s full name was Robert Alden Lawrence, according to his birth certificate. His mother was Callie Louise Lawrence and his father was Clifford Berton Lawrence. Alden was born in Kent Cliffs (Putnam County), New York.
Alden went missing at about 11am on Tuesday, August 4, 1942 at the home of his grandparents, Carrie Ann Stewart and Joseph Elexander Stewart. They lived off of Murphy Road, at “the back of the Crawford farm” about “a mile out of town.”
Alden was born on February 19, 1940 and was a little over two and a half years old when he disappeared. At the time, he was the youngest of four children having two sisters (age 8 and 7), and one brother.
Prior to his disappearance, his family had come down from their home in Kent Cliffs, New York, to visit his maternal grandparents in Franklin. His father, worked in the dynamite industry in New York and had recently won a settlement over the injury of one of his legs. To celebrate the settlement, he had purchased a packard convertible. The trip was long and involved lots of nights sleeping in the packard until they made it to Franklin. When the family got to Franklin, Clifford may have been rather braggadocios about his new car.
Alden’s oldest sister, remembers that she was 8 years old during the incident. She says that the family stayed at Aunt Emma [England]’s house. They went to their grandmother’s house in the morning. Their mother and their grandmother were washing clothes in a big black wash pot inside the house.
Callie requested that the youngest sister go get Alden. At the time, Alden was being potty-trained, and their mother wanted to take him to the bathroom. His older sister was swinging on the porch. The youngest sister did not get Alden immediately, as she began arguing with the older sister, who refused to go get Alden. The younger sister wanted to swing on the swing too, so an argument between the two began. It was the younger sister’s turn to watch Alden and it was her responsibility to be looking after him. After about 10 minutes of arguing, the younger sister resigned and reluctantly went to go retrieve him. She thought that Alden might have been playing beside the packard near her father and brother.
Clifford Lawrence and his son were out in front of the house washing the car and Alden had walked out to the road down to where they were. Clifford had told Alden to go back up to his mother. The road was rather hilly and gully and may have been difficult for Alden to walk up.
When the younger sister did leave to get him, Alden was gone. She asked her father and brother where he was and they said that he was supposed to be heading back up to his mother. Growing frantic, she began searching for him. When she couldn’t find him, she alerted her father and brother. Together, the three of them began calling for Alden. Upon hearing the commotion outside, Callie Lawrence and Carrie Ann Stewart came outside to learn of Alden’s disappearance.
From there, the Franklin Police Department was contacted and a search began. Family members remember that there were many bloodhounds and individuals who came out looking for Alden. This included members of the Crawford family. The Crawfords were neighbors.
The Lawrences may have stayed in Franklin for about a week or two before traveling to Walhalla, South Carolina to visit with other relatives and before heading back to New York. She mentioned that they stayed in Franklin for much longer than they normally would have stayed because of the search for Alden.
When asked about neighbors who lived near Carrie Ann Stewart and Joseph Elexander Stewart, Alden’s older sister remembers that the Crawfords lived by– she could not recall any other neighbors. After Alden went missing, Clifford Lawrence would not let any of them go back to Franklin to visit family. He was afraid that his other children would go missing just like Alden. It wasn’t until the children were older that they went back to visit their grandparents.
Clifford received a ransom note at some point while they were searching for Alden. However, no one living has seen the ransom note and no one knows what happened to it. However, when the family returned to Kent Cliffs, New York and when Clifford went to the bank, the “bank man” had said to Clifford that they would have sent the ransom money. Clifford had responded that he didn’t want to send the money– whoever took his son did not deserve it.
FBI Involvement
Nearly six months (February 1943), after Alden’s disappearance, a case was opened with the FBI to assist further. Clifford kept in touch with the FBI for several years, with even his twin sister, Birdie getting involved. In the end, the case was closed and Alden’s parents passed away without knowing what happened to their son.