On May 3, 1935, Mrs. Stanley Wilk of the town of Armenia walked a cow to a nearby neighbor. Upon returning home, she discovered her 21-month-old daughter, Thelma Ann missing.
Thinking the little girl attempted to follow her, the mother followed the footprints out to the highway for a quarter of a mile. The prints then vanished into the woods. Realizing the perils the rough country held for her child, she rushed back to tell her invalid husband Stanley what had happened.
Neighbors were immediately summoned to begin the search, which to them, at first, seemed to be only a matter of minutes before the little tot would be found. As hours passed, fears increased, and Civilian Conservation Corp boys were called to aid in the search. Three CCC camps were located within the county, so it seemed only minutes for the searchers to number in the hundreds.
Searching continued until dark. Fear mounted when thoughts of the recent report of the amount of bounty paid in the town for wolves, bobcats, lynx and wildcats.
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Sheriff Morgan Rider and deputies joined the search with vigilantes, 600 CCC workers and men from Necedah, Mauston, New Lisbon, Camp Douglas, Hustler and other nearby communities. Hope mounted May 4, when the tot’s cap was located. The cap was made by her mother, from the sleeve of a sweater. Tiny footprints were nearby, then faded, toward underbrush, which searchers crawled through looking over every inch. As darkness set in, the posse reiterated they would be back to search until the child was found, dead or alive.
On the afternoon of May 5, neighbor Albert McLellan, with a few friends, decided to search a northern route about three miles from the Wilk home. It seemed improbable, a child that age could travel that distance. After walking through dense underbrush, they came to a clearing. In the distance, something in the grass. Then McLellan saw the child, face down in the grass, he was sure, she was dead, afraid to touch her, he called softly, “Thelma, Thelma Ann!” Seconds later, she sat up, rubbed her eyes, looked at McLellan and smiled. As he appeared, out of the woods, with Thelma in his arms, a cheer, and shouts of joy could be heard for miles from other searchers.
Sheriff Rider, bundled her up and put her in his car, then headed to her home. He went in the house alone, fearing the shock would be too great for the grief stricken parents.
“I have good news for you, Mrs. Wilk” he said in a low voice. “I don’t believe it! It isn’t true”, sobbed the hysterical mother. When she had been calmed, Sheriff Rider brought the child in to her. Later, he took the parents and Thelma to the Mauston Hospital to be checked out. Thelma was covered with cuts and scratches, and had a temperature of 101 degrees. But she was fine.
Three days and two nights in the woods, with temperatures dipping below freezing, a miracle. A reward had been offered to anyone finding the little child, however McLellan refused accepting it. Then he had second thoughts, he accepted it, and gave it to Mrs. Wilk.