The Benders lived in Kansas, not far from Independence. They had a cabin and travelers would stop for a meal, provisions, and a place to sleep. The daughter, Kate Bender, was apparently quite pretty and men would deliberately go by the Benders' cabin just to get a glance at her.
Unfortunately, in addition to being pretty, she was also deadly. No one was quite sure of how the members of the family were related to each other. There was an older couple everyone assumed were the parents, and a younger couple everyone assumed were brother and sister, but maybe Kate was married to John Jr. The "parents" spoke very little English, only German, and were not friendly.
Travelers started disappearing and the last place they were seen was the Bender cabin. The area started getting a bad reputation as a place to avoid. A widower and his infant daughter were headed back to Iowa after the death of his wife and disappeared, prompting a family friend and popular local doctor named William York to go looking for them. York too disappeared. York came from a prominent family: his brother Alexander was a senator and his other older brother Ed was a Colonel. A search party was organized. After Colonel York confronted the Benders, they denied any knowledge of William's whereabouts but soon after fled their cabin. The men dug up the cellar and discovered the bodies of at least ten people, including the poor widower and his baby daughter and William York. A massive search for the Benders was undertaken, and they were tracked to Texas and New Mexico, but despite large rewards for information they were never caught.
It was an interesting book and I think Jonusas did a good job with the scant details she was able to dig up. It's a shame there wasn't a more conclusive ending to their story, but that's the way it goes.
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