sudden heart attack. Six years later, she dropped out of high school at age 16 to marry 18-year-old John Stephan Baniszewski (1926–2007), who was originally from Youngsville, Pennsylvania, and was of Polish ancestry, and with whom she had four children. Although John Baniszewski had a volatile temper and occasionally beat his wife, the two would remain together for ten years prior to their first divorce. Following her divorce, Baniszewski married a man named Edward Guthrie. This marriage lasted just three months before the couple divorced. Shortly thereafter, Baniszewski remarried her first husband, with whom she had two more children. The couple divorced for the second time in 1963. Weeks after her third divorce, Baniszewski began a relationship with a 20-year-old welder named Dennis Lee Wright, who also physically abused her. She had one child with Wright, Dennis Lee Wright Jr. Shortly after the birth of their son in May 1964, Wright abandoned Baniszewski. Shortly thereafter, Baniszewski filed a paternity suit against Wright for financial support of their child, although Wright seldom contributed to the care of their son. By 1965, Baniszewski lived alone with her seven children: Paula (17), Stephanie (15), John (12), Marie (11), Shirley (10), James (8), and Dennis Lee Wright Jr. (1). Although 36 years old and in height, she weighed only and has been described as a "haggard, underweight asthmatic" chain smoker suffering from clinical depression due to the stress of three failed marriages, a failed relationship, and a recent miscarriage. In addition to the sporadic checks she received from her first husband—a former Indianapolis policeman—upon whom she primarily relied financially to support her children, Baniszewski occasionally performed odd jobs for neighbors and acquaintances, such as sewing or cleaning in order to earn money. Baniszewski resided in Indianapolis at 3850 East New York Street, where the monthly rent was $55. Sylvia Likens Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was the third of five children born to carnival workers Lester Cecil Likens (1926–2013) and his wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Frances (née Grimes; 1927–1998). She was born between two sets of fraternal twins — Daniel and Dianna (two years older than her) and Benny and Jenny (one year younger). Jenny Likens suffered from polio, causing one of her legs to be weaker than the other. She was afflicted with a notable limp and had to wear a steel brace on one leg. Lester and Elizabeth's