Arthur Gerald Noske

• Missing Since 02/04/1977
• Missing From Cleveland, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 03/25/1968 (57)
• Age 8 years old
• Height and Weight 4'0, 65 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A medium-length blue nylon parka with red and white vertical stripes on the right side, a blue turtleneck sweater and boots.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Red hair.

Details of Disappearance

Arthur was last seen in Brecksville, Ohio on February 4, 1977. His mother, Ann Marie Noske, initially claimed he'd wandered away from her on February 8, while they were at a store at the Parmatown Mall in Cleveland, Ohio. Arthur has never been heard from again.

The police were suspicious of Ann's story as her behavior was not typical of mothers who have just lost their children. She didn't ask anyone else in the store if they had seen her son or to help look for him. Instead she went to the information booth of the mall to have Arthur paged. Just a few minutes later she called the police to report his disappearance. In the following days, she never called the police for progress updates on the search for him.

On February 18, Ann changed her story and implicated her boyfriend, Dr. Stuart S. Kutler, in Arthur's death. Ann and Arthur had moved in with Stuart in January 1977, while he was separated from his wife. They lived in the 11600 block of Snowville Road in Brecksville. Arthur had previously lived with his mother and grandmother on East 91st Street; his father was killed in the Vietnam War before he was born.

Arthur had become close to Stuart and called him "Uncle Stu", but Stuart began physically abusing him from the first day they were left alone together. Ann later said that on February 1, a few days before Arthur's death, Stuart beat him for failing to memorize a list of thirteen types of shark. Afterwards he had to suture both of Arthur's ears to stop the bleeding. The next day, Stuart apologized to Arthur and gave him 25 cents, and Ann gave him a nickel so he wouldn't tell his grandmother about the beating.

On February 4, three weeks after the Noskes had moved into his home, Stuart became enraged and beat Arthur severely because the child had gotten out of bed without permission. Ann stated that Stuart "was throwing him around like a rag doll" and hit Arthur repeatedly until the boy collapsed and went limp. Both Stuart and Ann tried to revive him with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a tracheostomy when they realized he wasn't breathing, but it was too late.

Photos of Stuart and Ann are posted below this case summary. Ann stated she didn't call the police because Stuart and his father, William, begged her not to, telling her it would ruin Stuart's medical career and her own chances for a better life with him. The next day Ann, Stuart and William tried to burn Arthur's body in the fireplace and, when that didn't work, Stuart took the charred remains away and never told Ann where he had disposed of them. She said it was William's idea to file the false missing persons report.

Ann later stated that some of Arthur's clothing and his rubber boots were placed in green trash bags on February 6 and put in the trunk of William's car. The custodian of William's apartment building said he saw three plastic bags burning in the building's incinerator around the time of her murder. Before they were entirely consumed, he opened one of the bags and saw a child's rubber boot. Although he didn't see anyone put the bags inside the incinerator, he did see William in the incinerator room as they were burning.

Ann was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony against Stuart. Stuart was charged with aggravated murder, and maintained his innocence, but midway through his trial he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree manslaughter. His attorneys claimed that Ann's statements about the child's death and the disposal of his remains were partially true but that she had fabricated William's involvement.

Stuart, who had a severe alcohol problem, stated he'd been under extreme emotional stress at the time he killed Arthur, but was aware that his actions could cause the child to die. He was sentenced to six to twenty-five years in prison. Stuart died of pneumonia in prison in March 1978, at the age of 31.

Arthur's body has never been found, but foul play is suspected in his case due to the circumstances involved.