Spoiler warning: This article discusses Evelyn Hartley’s storyline in Episodes 3 and 4 of Monster: The Ed Gein Story.
Addison Rae plays Evelyn Hartley in Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story. In the series, Ed Gein kidnaps and kills Evelyn. That plot is a dramatization, not a solved historical fact. Hartley was a real 15-year-old who disappeared while babysitting in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in October 1953; the local public-library archive says the case has never been solved. The historical record does not establish that Gein abducted or killed her. The disturbing footage concerns Rae’s performance, not harm to the actor.
One search result can collapse three identities into one claim
| Name or label | Who or what it means | What can be stated accurately |
|---|---|---|
| Addison Rae | The actor and musician | Rae portrays Evelyn in the Netflix series. |
| Evelyn in Monster | A scripted character based on a real missing teenager | The series makes her a victim of Gein and gives the storyline a definite ending. |
| Evelyn Hartley | A real La Crosse high-school student | She disappeared during a babysitting job in 1953; her case remains unsolved. |
| Ed Gein in the series | Charlie Hunnam’s dramatized character | The programme depicts him abducting and killing Evelyn. |
| Ed Gein in Hartley’s case | A historical person sometimes discussed as a suspect | No established evidence proves that he caused Hartley’s disappearance. |
This distinction matters because headlines such as “Addison Rae murdered” describe an on-screen event in shorthand.
Netflix gives the disappearance a culprit
Netflix’s official series page lists Monster: The Ed Gein Story as a 2025 drama with eight episodes. Episode 3 is titled “The Babysitter,” and that is where Rae’s Evelyn becomes part of the Gein storyline.
The script creates a chain of cause and effect. Evelyn is temporarily unable to babysit, Gein fills in, and her return costs him the job. He then targets her. The official Netflix trailer shows Rae in peril and presents the material as part of the programme’s horror narrative.
Within the series, there is no ambiguity about Evelyn’s fate: Gein abducts her at the end of Episode 3, and Episode 4 shows that she has died. Viewers asking whether Addison Rae’s character dies are therefore asking a plot question. The answer is yes.
The La Crosse archive ends with an unsolved case
The real record is much shorter and less conclusive. The La Crosse Public Library Archives identifies Evelyn as a 15-year-old high-school student who disappeared from a home on the city’s south side during a babysitting job in October 1953.
That leaves three essential unknowns: who took Evelyn, what happened after she left the house and whether she died. A television episode can answer all three for its character. The historical record cannot answer them for the real teenager.
The babysitting rivalry belongs to the screenplay
The series preserves one true point—Hartley disappeared while babysitting—but builds a fictional motive around it. Its story about illness, Gein working as a temporary babysitter and resenting Evelyn when she returns is not an established account of the 1953 disappearance.
Those additions give the episode a conventional dramatic structure: introduction, grievance, pursuit and resolution.
The same rule applies to the death scene. Rae discussed filming a physically demanding sequence, but production detail only explains how the drama was made. It does not supply evidence about Hartley’s real fate.
A definite screen death does not close a missing-person file
The most important fact check is simple: Monster assigns Evelyn’s disappearance to Gein, but Hartley’s case remains unsolved. Gein was never convicted or charged in connection with her disappearance, and no reliable record reviewed for this article establishes him as the person responsible.
Calling Hartley an “alleged victim” can still mislead if the allegation is left unattributed. Safer wording is that the series portrays her as a Gein victim, while the real case has no proven link to him. That sentence keeps fiction, suspicion and verified history in separate lanes.
It also avoids a second error: referring to Hartley’s “murder” as an established fact. The evidence may suggest an abduction and a grave outcome, but she disappeared and the case is unresolved. “Missing,” “disappeared” and “unsolved” are the accurate terms.
Addison Rae’s scene is acting, not breaking news
The keyword “Addison Rae Ed Gein” often follows clips or headlines that use an actor’s name instead of a character’s. In entertainment coverage, “Addison Rae is killed” may be understood as plot shorthand. Outside that context, it can look like a factual claim about the performer.
The clearer formulation is: Addison Rae’s character, Evelyn Hartley, is killed by the programme’s version of Ed Gein. Rae performed the scene for a scripted Netflix drama. Keeping the possessive—“Rae’s character”—prevents a fictional death from becoming celebrity misinformation.
After the episode, the record still controls the answers
Who does Addison Rae play in Monster: The Ed Gein Story?
Addison Rae plays Evelyn Hartley, a dramatised version of the real Wisconsin teenager who disappeared during a babysitting job in October 1953.
What happens to Evelyn in the Netflix series?
The programme depicts Ed Gein abducting Evelyn at the end of Episode 3 and establishes in Episode 4 that she has died. This is the character’s fate in the series, not a verified account of the real case.
Did Ed Gein kill Evelyn Hartley in real life?
There is no established evidence that he did.
The accurate ending leaves Evelyn Hartley’s story open
Addison Rae’s role gives Monster: The Ed Gein Story a memorable episode, but it does not give the 1953 case a historical solution. The responsible takeaway is that Netflix chose one suspect and one ending for drama; Evelyn Hartley’s real disappearance remains unresolved.
For more celebrity coverage that separates screen stories from the public record, visit Official Buzz Magazine.
