They weren’t digging for buried treasure, 29 years ago

In 1989, La Crosse police were very interested in an excavation project near Pickwick, Minnesota, in the White’s Hollow area. Winona County authorities spent five hours one day digging up wooded land owned by Ray Flynn of Onalaska, on a tip that an old car might be buried on that land. An old car, possibly containing a body. Rumors were flying that such a find could solve the 1950’s mystery of Evelyn Hartley…a teenager who disappeared without a trace while babysitting the children of a La Crosse State college professor. La Crosse cops wouldn’t say whether their interest in the dig was tied to the Hartley case. The day of digging with heavy equipment turned up rocks and dirt…but no car, and no body.

On the same day that police were looking underground at Pickwick, a La Crosse area native soared into space. Viroqua astronaut Mark Lee was part of the crew on a mission of the space shuttle Atlantis.

At the movies in ’89, you could see “Major League”…”Say Anything,” with John Cusack…and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” yesterday in La Crosse.