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Newspaper articles about the accident from which Patty Boge died:
Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Thursday, November 15, 1956
Girl, 2, Dies of Injuries in Hit, Run
Sheriff's Deputies Search for Driver Who Struck Child
A two-year-old Key West girl, struck down by a hit-and-run driver Wednesday, died Thursday morning at Mercy Hospital.
Patty Boge, who was run down about 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, as a customer pulled out of the filling station operated by her father, Cyril Boge, in Key West.
The Dubuque County Sheriff's Department is seeking the driver of the greenish-blue 1955 Ford which struck and seriously injured Patty at the station. It is not known whether the driver was aware that he had hit the girl.
Rushed to Hospital
Patty was rushed to Mercy Hospital with head injuries after she was found lying in the driveway.
Authorities said Boge was unable to say whether the car went south on Highway 61 or 151 when it left the station.
A state-wide alarm was sent out for the car, but the incident was not made known to the sheriff's office until 8:30 p.m. when it was reported by phone.
The driver of the car drove into the station to see if the bright light in his right front headlight could be replaced. Joanne Boge, 14, waited on the driver, but told him the station did not handle lights and could not help him.
Lying on Ground
Patty was apparently struck by the right front fender and was knocked down. The rest of the family was eating supper at the time. No one knew that Patty was outside until she was found lying on the ground.
Joanne Boge told the Sheriff's Department the driver was a man about 45 years old with glasses. He wore a topcoat. There was a woman in the car, she said.
Chief Deputy Matt Kostle said sheriff's deputies are checking filling staions along Highway 151 and 61 south of Key West in Dubuque County hoping to find one where the wanted car may have stopped to have its headlight fixed.
Check Other Area
Kostle said that Jones and Jackson County authorities were notified Wednesday of the accident, and that they, too, may be checking filling stations and garages in their areas.
"We are not certain that this is a hit-and-run incident. It is very possible that the driver never saw the little girl and never knew his car hit her," Kostle said. "This accident will not be regarded as a traffic fatality because it happened on private property."
A hopeful clue to the missing car turned out to be of no help late Thursday morning when Lloyd Hayes, who runs a Key West service station just south of the Boge station, reported that his wife had waited on a driver Wednesday night about 6:30 p.m. and sold a headlight.
Wrong Description
Mrs. Hayes said she did not notice the license plates of the car or whether it went south on 151 or 61. She said the color of the car was like the one sought, but the description of the driver was altogether different.
Friends may call after 2 p.m., Friday, at the Hoffman Mortuary from where services will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday to St. Joseph's Church, Key West. The Mass of the Angels will be offered.
Patricia Madonna was born Dec. 7, 1954, at Dubuque.
Surviving besides the parents are five sisters, Darlene, Joanne, Doris, Geraldine, and Deborah, and two brothers, Daniel and Loras, all at home, and grandparents, Bernard Boge, Charles City, Ia., and Mrs. Gregory Hanten, Key West.
A Cascade service station operator, Bob Otting, notified Dubuque County Sheriff Leo Martin Thursday afternoon that he had changed a headlamp on a 1956 Ford sometime between 7 and 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
Otting said he "was almost sure the car had a Delaware license plate," and that a woman passenger with a crippled right arm was in the car. His estimate of the driver's age was close to that reported by the Boge girl.
Delaware County authorities were being contacted immediately to assist in locating the car, Sheriff Martin said.
Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Friday, November 16, 1956
Search for 'Blue Car' in Hit Run Shifts to Delaware County
The search for the blue car which hit two-year-old Patty Boge Wednesday evening in the driveway of the service station operated by her father at Key West centered Friday in Delaware County, according to the Dubuque County Sheriff's Department.
Patty was rushed to Mercy Hospital but she died of injuries Thursday morning.
Attention was focused in that area after a call from Otting's filling station at Cascade Thursday afternoon revealed that a blue car matching the description of the one sought stopped there to get a headlight fixed. This car had a Delaware County license.
The car which stopped at the Boge station in Key West also needed a headlight bulb replaced.
Dubuque County deputies checked all filling stations on Highways 61 and 151 Thursday from Key West southward hoping to find clues to the driver of the wanted blue car.
The Sheriff's Department said Delaware County Sheriff Art Longseth had been contacted and that he was helping with the search, and that State Highway patrolmen have also been assisting.
Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Sunday, November 18, 1956
Sheriff's Department Checks Every Tip in Search for Car That Ran Down Patty
There are plenty of dead ends and wild goose chases involved in police work, but these are to be expected in that type of business before running down clues which bring cases to successful conclusions.
It is just that way for the Dubuque County Sheriff's Department at the present time since its deputies have been trying to track down the driver of the car which hit two-year-old Patty Boge Wednesday evening in the driveway of her father's filling station at Key West.
Patty died Thursday morning at Mercy Hospital where she was taken after the accident.
"I doubt if the driver of the blue car, believed to have been a 1955 or 1956 Ford, saw the little girl or knew that he hit her," said Matt Kostle, chief deputy.
"I also doubt that there was any criminal intent to get away from the station because the driver was very cautious in driving away and had to make a very sharp left turn from the filling station to the highway because a truck was parked in his path."
Sister's Story
According to Joanne Boge, 14, sister of the dead girl, the driver stopped during Wednesday's heavy rain to see if the bright light on his right front headlight could be replaced. She told him the station did not handle lights and could not help him.
The Boge family was in the house eating supper at the time and no one knew little Patty was outside until she was found lying on the concrete driveway and the car had gone. Joanne did not notice the license plates or whether the car went south on Highway 61 or 151.
It was two hours after the 6:30 p.m. accident that the Sheriff's Department was first notified. Then a statewide radio alarm was sent out in hopes that some night filling station operator could be of help in case the blue car had stopped to get its light fixed.
Thorough Check
First thing the next morning, sheriff's deputy were on the job checking every filling station and motel in Dubuque County on Highway 61 and 151 from Key West south to the county line.
Deputies talked to owners to find out who was on duty the day before about the time of the accident. They talked to those on duty, but found no clues until nearly noon Thursday when Mr. Lloyd Hayes, whose husband runs a filling station in Key West south of the Boge station, remembered she sold a headlight to a man in a blue car about the time of the accident.
But this lead turned out to be of no help as the man in the wanted car was described as about 45 and was with a woman. The man who bought the headlight at Hayes' station was much younger and there was no woman in the car. "Just a coincidence," Kostle said.
Another Lead
There were no other helpful leads until Thursday afternoon when Bob Otting, Cascade filling station operator, notified the Sheriff's Department that he had sold a headlight to the driver of a blue 1956 Ford between 7 and 8 p.m. There was a woman with a crippled left arm, probably due to polio, in the car, Otting said.
Otting said he was "almost positive" the car had a Delaware County license (No. 28 county). "We are now working under the assumption that this was the right car, so there was no more need to check gas stations or motels," Kostle said.
Delaware County Sheriff Art Longseth was then notified and he promised to help in the search and also got the help of the State Highway Patrol. Kostle said he thought it odd that a Delaware County car would be heading from Dubuque to Cascade unless the driver was going on a trip or lived in the area around Hopkinton, Buck Creek or Sand Springs.
The fact that the car stopped to get its light fixed at Cacade further indicates that the accident was not an intentional hit and run, Kostle said.
Check Dealers
By Friday afternoon the three Ford dealers in Delaware County--at Manchester, Earlville and Ryan--had been checked for clues to sales of a new blue Ford, but none of these helped.
The next step, Kostle said, would be to check Ford dealers around the fringe of Delaware County and also to check car registrations and transfers. The Highway Patrol helped with checking the dealers.
A clue to a blue car from Delaware County which was transferred to Monticello in Jones County failed to materialize.
The latest clue that looked like something turned out Saturday morning as another dead end. A car registered in Delaware County to a man whose address is Strawberry Point.
Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Sunday, November 18, 1956
Dubuque Funerals
PATRICIA MADONNA BOGE
Funeral services for Patricia Madonna Boge, 2, Key West, who died Thursday morning from injuries received Wednesday when she was hit by a car, were held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph's Church in Key West.
A Mass of the Angels was offered by the Rev. Carl E. Kurt, who preached the sermon and officiated at the burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Four girl friends of the deceased acted as an honorary escort.
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