Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story,’ a woman named Bernice Worden, from Plainfield, Wisconsin, goes missing. The search for her leads the officers, one of whom is her son, Frank, to discover a shocking truth about a local man named Ed Gein. The eight-episode series gives the audience a detailed look into the disturbing crimes committed by Gein, while also unfolding some events from the point of view of his victims. One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the show features Frank discovering the truth about his mother’s fate. What makes it even more harrowing is that Frank’s storyline has roots in reality. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Sheriff Frank Worden Looked Into the Disappearance of His Own Mother
Frank Worden was born on November 27, 1922, to Leon and Bernice Worden in Plainfield, Wisconsin. He served in the US Navy during World War II, and upon returning home, he joined the local police force. He was 35 years old when his mother went missing from her store. He found out about it when he entered the store at around 5 pm and found blood stains on the floor. The cash register was open, and there was no sign of Bernice anywhere. As the police started looking into it, a major clue was the last receipt that Bernice had written out for Ed Gein, whom Frank knew was supposed to come to the store to buy antifreeze. Reportedly, Frank also said that, on the previous Saturday, Gein had asked his mother to go roller skating with him, a proposal that Bernice had turned down.
The same evening, Gein was arrested at a grocery store while the authorities went to search his place. That is where another officer found Bernice’s remains in the barn. The trauma of his mother’s death took a toll on Frank, and as shown in the series, he reportedly turned towards alcohol to try to process the tragedy. However, he did not get involved in the auctioning of Gein’s stuff. He didn’t like the attention that the killer’s house and things were gaining, and considered the public’s obsession with Gein an indignity and insult to the victims. Later, when Gein’s house was burned down, in a suspected but not proven case of arson, Frank, who was the Fire Chief at the time, reportedly did not consider it a priority. He remained with the Sheriff’s department for a while before moving on to another chapter of his life.
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Frank Worden Lived a Full Life With His Family
Frank Worden passed away on August 6, 2001, at the age of 78. He had been married to Violet Helmrick for 35 years, and had five children with her: three daughters, Sandra, Judith, and Jo, and two sons, Frank Jr. and Leon. He also had many grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. After his mother’s death, he did not stay long with the Sheriff’s department. He turned his attention towards his shop, called Coast to Coast Store, which he managed in Plainfield for several years. He also briefly worked as a truck driver for Plainfield Trucking. While he was with the Sheriff’s department, Frank was also a member of the Waushara County Special Deputies Association.
At the same time, Frank also served as Fire Chief for the Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department. He was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Waushara Post 6007, and a member of the Wautoma Masonic Lodge 148 of the Free and Accepted Masons. He was known to be an outdoors person and loved to go fishing and hunting. He spent the rest of his life away from the public spotlight, which had fallen on him after Gein’s arrest. However, Frank chose not to discuss the case or his feelings on the death of his mother with the public and preferred to stay away from them and the media circus surrounding the infamous killer.
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