Episode 681: Elmer McCurdy: The Outlaw Mummy

Jun 16, 2025

Discover the bizarre tale of Elmer McCurdy, a bank robber turned mummified curiosity mistaken for a wax figure. His shocking discovery during a film shoot in 1976 raises questions about how his body ended up in a funhouse. The hosts explore his tumultuous life, from his chaotic criminal misadventures to his posthumous fame as a sideshow attraction. Along the way, they touch on themes of mental health and the impact of economic struggles, weaving humor into the grim and fascinating narrative of this outlaw mummy.

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ANECDOTE

Discovery of Mummified Corpse

A film crew at The Pike amusement park discovered a mummified human body disguised as a wax mannequin hung in a funhouse.
The corpse was so realistic and detailed the prop master only realized it was real after pulling off an arm revealing bone and muscle.

INSIGHT

Forensic Clues Date Death

Arsenic embalming was used on the body, preventing typical X-ray imaging and aiding mummification.
The bullet wound and ammunition helped date the man's death to between 1905 and 1939.

ANECDOTE

Sideshow Tickets Found in Mouth

A corroded 1924 penny and ticket stubs from amusement attractions were found in the mummy's mouth.
This indicated the body had been part of sideshow displays before being found at The Pike.

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In early December 1976, a film crew was shooting an episode of a popular television show at The Pike, a boardwalk amusement park in Long Beach, California. In order to prepare for the scene, the prop master moved what he believed to be a wax mannequin hanging from funhouse gallows; however, when he grabbed the mannequin by the arm, the limb broke off, revealing human bone and muscle tissue.

After removing the body to the coroner’s office to be autopsied, it was revealed that what had long thought to have been a wax museum dummy was in fact the body of a man who’d died from a gunshot wound more than six decades before his body was discovered in Long Beach. After some basic detective work, investigators learned that the mummified corpse was that of Elmer McCurdy, an early twentieth-century bank robber who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s posse in Oklahoma in 1911.

Removing the body from the funhouse and identifying the body allowed authorities to arrange for a proper burial, but it did little to answer the question on the minds of so many: How did the mummified body of a long-dead outlaw end up on display in a wax museum funhouse?

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Cohen, Jerry. 1976. "Mummy identified as bandit slain in 1911." Los Angeles Times, December 11: 1.

Harvey, Steve. 1979. "Bungler Elmer McCurdy... RIP... gets more attention in death than in life." Los Angeles Times, December 31: 21.

Himmel, Nieson. 1976. "'Dummy' found to be a corpse." Los Angeles Times, December 9: 3.

Los Angeles Times. 1976. "Mummy was Oklahoma bandit killed in 1912." Los Angeles Times, December 10: 8.

Reuters. 1977. "'Wax model' identified as Oklahoma bandit." New York Times, April 15: 14.

Smith, Robert Barr. 1999. "Western Lore." Wild West.

Svenvold, Mark. 2002. Elmer McCurdy: The Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw. New York, NY: Harper.

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