On August 14, 2023, a demolition crew on Chicago’s
South Side expected to uncover nothing more than rebar, broken brick, and the
decaying remains of a century-old structure.
Instead, they unearthed one of the most chilling cold
case discoveries in modern organized crime history.
Eight feet
beneath the concrete floor of a former Prohibition-era speakeasy, sealed inside
a hand-dug pit and entombed under reinforced cement, sat a black 1962 Cadillac
El Dorado.
Inside the
driver’s seat was a skeleton.
By nightfall,
detectives realized they weren’t looking at an abandoned vehicle.
They were
staring at a 60-year-old mob execution.
And the name
tied to that Cadillac had once commanded fear across Chicago’s organized crime
underworld: Andrew Michael Johnson, a powerful
South Side crime boss who disappeared without a trace in June 1963.
For six
decades, the mystery of his disappearance lingered in FBI archives, Chicago
Police Department cold case files, and in the unanswered questions of his family.
Until a
demolition bucket struck metal.
A Building With a
Criminal Past
The four-story brick building dated back to 1921 —
constructed during the height of Prohibition, when
illegal alcohol sales fueled Chicago’s explosive rise in organized crime.
Official
records described it as a wholesale warehouse.
But like many
properties during the era of bootlegging, speakeasies, and mob
violence, its basement operated as an illegal bar serving
black-market liquor.
Lookouts once
guarded the doors.
Cash flowed freely.
So did corruption.
After
Prohibition ended in 1933, the building cycled through warehouse use, light
manufacturing, and small businesses. By the early 2000s, it stood abandoned —
boarded windows, crumbling façade, graffiti marking its decline.
No one
suspected what lay below.
The Discovery
When Midwest Demolition Services began excavation in
August 2023, the process was routine.
Remove
concrete.
Excavate fill.
Prepare for redevelopment.
Then the
excavator struck something metallic.
Not rebar.
Not a fuel tank.
Chrome.
As soil was
cleared away, curved metal emerged. A roofline. Tail fins. A front bumper.
An automobile.
Buried
deliberately.
Police were
called. Detectives arrived. The site became a secured crime scene.
Over two days,
forensic excavation revealed a fully intact 1962 Cadillac El Dorado — black
paint corroded to rust, but unmistakable in design. The vehicle was positioned
nose-down inside a 15-foot pit, surrounded by compacted soil.
Then
investigators saw through the cracked windshield.
Human remains.
The Execution
Scene Frozen in Time
Inside the Cadillac, still seated behind the steering
wheel and restrained by a deteriorated seat belt, was a skeleton.
The skull
showed a circular defect in the left temple — consistent with a close-range
gunshot wound.
The rib cage
displayed multiple perforations — additional ballistic trauma.
The windshield
bore spider-webbed impact fractures consistent with bullets fired from outside
the vehicle.
This wasn’t a
robbery.
It wasn’t an accident.
It was an organized crime execution.
Metal shirt
buttons, a belt buckle, dress shoe hardware, a gold ring, and the corroded
remains of a wristwatch suggested the victim had been dressed formally — likely
for a business meeting.
In the
deteriorated remains of a wallet, forensic technicians found fragments of
identification.
The name
“Andrew Johnson.”
A birth year
matching 1915.
Vehicle
registration records confirmed the Cadillac belonged to Andrew
Michael Johnson, reported missing June 15, 1963.
The cold case
was no longer theoretical.
It had been
entombed under concrete.
The Disappearance
That Stunned Chicago
In 1963, Andrew Johnson was 48 years old and
controlled significant gambling, loan sharking, labor racketeering, and union
influence operations on Chicago’s South Side.
He drove a
black Cadillac El Dorado — a symbol of power in the American Mafia hierarchy.
On the night
of June 15, 1963, he left his home around 10:30 p.m., telling his wife Rosa he
had a late meeting.
He never
returned.
His Cadillac
vanished with him.
The FBI and
Chicago PD launched a joint investigation. Organized crime informants offered
little. The code of silence — omertà — held
firm.
Theories
circulated:
• Rival mob
factions seeking territory
• Internal power struggle
• Pressure from New York crime families
• Possible federal informant suspicions
• Organized crime restructuring
But without a
body or vehicle, the case went cold.
In 1967,
Andrew was declared legally dead.
The underworld
adjusted.
His territory was absorbed.
His family lived with unanswered questions.
And beneath a
basement floor, a burial secret hardened under concrete.
The Cover-Up
City records uncovered something investigators in
2023 found chilling.
In late June
1963 — just days after Johnson’s disappearance — a construction permit was
issued for “foundation repair” at the building.
The contractor
had known connections to organized crime.
Excavation.
Concrete pouring.
Timing.
The burial pit
beneath the basement floor was approximately 15 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 10
feet deep.
Heavy equipment
would have been required.
This was not a
hurried disposal.
This was a
planned concealment.
The car was
placed in the pit.
Dirt compacted.
Concrete poured.
The perfect
mob burial.
Why It Worked for
60 Years
In the 1960s, organized crime controlled substantial
influence across Chicago real estate, labor unions, construction permits, and
local businesses.
A basement
renovation in a mob-linked property would not have drawn scrutiny.
No one had
reason to excavate eight feet down.
No structural work disturbed the slab for decades.
The Cadillac
became part of the foundation.
The murder
became legend.
Until
redevelopment uncovered history.
The Forensic
Findings
Modern forensic science confirmed:
• Multiple
gunshot wounds
• Close-range head shot
• Additional torso ballistic trauma
• No evidence of post-mortem relocation
• Deliberate burial under newly poured concrete
The vehicle’s
VIN matched archived DMV records.
The license plate fragments aligned with 1962 Illinois registration data.
The gold ring and watch matched family descriptions.
Andrew Johnson
had not fled.
He had been
executed inside his own car.
The Likely
Scenario
Investigators believe Johnson was lured to the
building under the pretense of a high-level organized crime meeting — possibly
involving New York representatives.
Instead, he
drove into an ambush.
Gunmen fired
through the windshield.
He died in the driver’s seat.
His Cadillac became his coffin.
The burial was
authorized by individuals with resources, influence, and construction access.
Those
individuals are long deceased.
But the
physical evidence remained.
Waiting.
A Family’s
Closure
In September 2023, Andrew Johnson’s surviving son,
Anthony, age 75, was notified.
For six
decades, he had lived without certainty.
Now he had
answers — not names of killers, but truth.
Andrew Johnson
was reburied beside his wife Rosa, who had died in 1992 without knowing what
happened to her husband.
The gravestone
now reads:
1915–1963
Found After 60 Years
Chicago’s Buried
Secrets
The case highlights several enduring realities about
organized crime investigations:
• Cold
case murders can resurface through urban redevelopment
• Construction
records can expose long-hidden criminal concealment
• Forensic
science can reconstruct crimes decades later
• Mob
burial tactics relied on property control and silence
Chicago’s
skyline continues to evolve.
Neighborhoods are redeveloped.
Foundations are broken.
And sometimes,
the ground gives up secrets it held for generations.
Andrew Johnson
drove into the night in 1963 believing he was attending a meeting.
Instead, he
entered history.
For sixty
years, concrete preserved the evidence.
Until progress
dug it up.
And Chicago uncovered one more truth buried beneath Prohibition.
Post a Comment