The Vanishing of William “Willie” Majewski
A Cold Case That Still Haunts Pennsylvania
In 1991, McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, was a small working-class community near the Ohio River — the kind of place where parents still let their kids wander down to the creek with a fishing pole and a backpack full of snacks. But on November 9th, 1991, that sense of safety shattered when eight-year-old William “Willie” Majewski vanished without a trace.
Willie was a bright, outdoorsy boy with sandy brown hair, blue eyes, and a few small gaps in his teeth. That afternoon, around four o’clock, his mother, Alice Stubenrauch, watched him leave the house wearing gray pants, a hoodie, and black sneakers. He carried his fishing gear, heading toward Chartiers Creek near the Ohio River — a familiar and favorite spot for him.
He was seen shortly afterward near the Eat ’n Park Restaurant, just 100 yards from a small homeless camp. Later that evening, searchers found his fishing rod and tackle box carefully placed on the riverbank — undisturbed. No struggle. No footprints. No sign of what had happened to the eight-year-old boy who had simply gone fishing.
Conflicting Witness Accounts
In the hours that followed, the timeline grew messy. Some witnesses claimed to have seen Willie at McKees Rocks Plaza. Others said he was talking with a “scruffy-looking man” in a nearby store. One chilling account described a man pulling Willie into a burnt-orange Chevrolet Nova — a car that was never found, and a man who was never identified.
Even worse, it took several hours before police were notified. Willie’s mother had gone out to play bingo and didn’t realize her son was missing until that night. When investigators questioned her, they later said she was uncooperative. Although she was never named a suspect, she eventually left town and her current whereabouts are unknown.
A Chilling Connection
Nearly a decade later, a disturbing possible link emerged. In 2000, a homeless man named Joseph Cornelius was arrested for the murder of another young boy, Scott Drake, from the same Pennsylvania region. Cornelius confessed to that crime — saying he killed the child because of a stolen radio.
Investigators soon learned that Cornelius had lived in McKees Rocks back in 1991, near the same creek where Willie’s fishing gear was discovered. He had connections to the homeless camp in that area, and he lived with a woman who had been close friends with Willie’s mother at the time of the disappearance.
Could Cornelius have encountered Willie that day? It’s a question that still lingers. No evidence ever directly tied him to the boy, but the parallels are chilling.
Decades of Unanswered Questions
Despite countless searches and renewed investigations, no trace of Willie has ever been found. Detectives say it’s unlikely he drowned, as no remains or belongings were ever recovered downstream.
If alive today, William Majewski would be 42 years old. His case remains open, and the mystery of what really happened along Chartiers Creek continues to haunt both investigators and the community that still remembers the boy who went fishing and never came home.
Final Thoughts
Every missing child’s story represents a family’s lifetime of heartbreak and a community’s loss of innocence.
For McKees Rocks, that heartbreak carries a name — William “Willie” Majewski.
If you lived in the area during 1991, or ever heard rumors about the orange Nova, speak up. Even a single detail could be the key to bringing long-overdue answers to a case that’s been cold for more than thirty years.
#CrimesAgainstInnocence #MissingChildren #TrueCrime #ColdCaseFiles #JusticeForWillie
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