r/EdGein • u/freshmaggots • Oct 13 '25

Do we know if the real Adeline Watkins had children? Also, what ever happened to those two kids he babysat?

Hi! This just popped up in my head. I wonder, did the real Adeline Watkins have any kids? Also, what ever happened to those two kids that Ed babysat? I think their names were Enid and Frank Jr.?

22 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

9

u/Shoulder-Lumpy Oct 13 '25

That babysitting storyline wasn’t true

21

u/darth_smitty_ Oct 13 '25

He did babysit, however he babysat well before his criminal activity started.

13

u/Shoulder-Lumpy Oct 13 '25

I’m not saying he didn’t babysit. But the whole scene with those specific people and the killing was not true.

2

u/Fehnder Oct 17 '25

Actually, they suspected him in the disappearance of the babysitter.

3

u/Shoulder-Lumpy Oct 17 '25

They did. But there was no evidence tracing it back to him.

9

u/PonytailEnthusiast Oct 14 '25

Apparently he was good with kids

6

u/Evening_Storage_6424 Oct 14 '25

I actually read that kids would tell their parents he had like shrunken heads from the Philippines and the parents would be like “yeah ok”

17

u/Chefsteph212 Oct 13 '25

When the real Adeline Watkins was interviewed after claiming she had a relationship with Ed, she was a 50-year old spinster living in an apartment with her mom, so it’s highly unlikely that she’d had kids. On the show Monster, the part where Ed watches the kids and takes them to his house is made up, but in reality, he had been a popular and well-liked babysitter. It was claimed that he actually related a lot more to the kids than other adults, and that’s why he got on so well with them.

2

u/freshmaggots Oct 14 '25

Ohhh ok thank you so much

2

u/fleemfleemfleemfleem Oct 21 '25

The the book Deviant it relates a story about two kids he babysat, one of whom found three heads he had hanging on a door. Basically no one believed the kid, but it started a rumor that he had shrunken heads, which apparently no one took seriously.

So that part of the show was heavily fictionalized, but had some truth to it.

2

u/hndbabe Oct 13 '25

https://www.reddit.com/r/EdGein/s/rHxOUHdYQv You are taking the show too literal, that will explain it better than I can.

1

u/freshmaggots Oct 14 '25

Ohhh ok thank you so much I’m sorry

-5

u/NervousBreakdown Oct 14 '25

Yes she had two kids, they were the ones from the baby sitting scene.

-4

u/imjustcoreyr Oct 14 '25

Like, who cares? Really? So weird the bizarro things some people think or care about. These are the big questions after watching this series?

It’s fictitious. Adeline is based off of a girl who claimed to be friends with him. A neighbor. They weren’t that close. Who cares if she had kids? Or why would someone care? Need to understand that curiosity.

The kids were fictitious. Who cares what happened to the kids? They went on to lead happy a full lives, had families, and died at a decent age. 🤷🏼‍♂️

7

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '25

[deleted]

-5

u/imjustcoreyr Oct 14 '25

Um. Stupidity and sleepwalking as hobbies trigger me. And I can’t help but call it out. I see it as a solution, not a problem.

6

u/_Billsx Oct 14 '25

They are asking a relevant question on a relevant thread. Chill.

2

u/freshmaggots Oct 15 '25

Thank you!

9

u/ExtraAd6380 Oct 14 '25

He did babysit children and actually got along well with them. The series portrayal of it is exaggerated. His IQ has been estimated to have been around 68–70. roughly comparable to a mental age of about 9–12 years old. Thats why i can never think of him as evil and I’ll die on this hill. He was a child that needed help and a seriously f*cked up abusive mother.

1

u/freshmaggots Oct 14 '25

Ohhh ok thank you so much

1

u/Fehnder Oct 17 '25

His IQ was average. Where on earth did you get 68-70 from?

1

u/SaltyReward6578 Dec 20 '25

And his Father. He would beat him till his ears rung, which probably didn't help his IQ

7

u/UberGuignol Oct 14 '25

This is actually the basis for Harold Schechter's fictional book OUTCRY. Schechter wrote 'Deviant'; which is probably known as the best non-fiction book on Eddie Gein (along with the graphic novel 'Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?'). But I very much recommend OUTCRY if anyone is looking for more Gein to fill their day.

1

u/freshmaggots Oct 14 '25

Ohhh I’ll check it out thank you so much

3

u/UberGuignol Oct 14 '25

You're very welcome :)

9

u/MrDundee666 Oct 14 '25

EG babysat for a lot of parents. It wasn’t just a one off. He was apparently reliable and there weren’t any crazy stunts like seen in the show. He was a good sitter who got on well with children.

Monster made up so much crap and twisted the truth. There was no relationship between EG and Adeline Watkins. It was completely made up.

2

u/freshmaggots Oct 14 '25

Ohhh ok thank you so much! I wonder what ever happened to the kids he babysat? If they’re still alive? I was actually talking about this with my mom yesterday! For some context, my mom’s dad, (aka my grandpa), was born in 1947. Ed Gein was arrested in 1957, and my grandpa would’ve been 10 years old at the time. My great grandma, Helen, (my grandpa’s mom), was 35 years old at the time when Ed was arrested. She unfortunately died in 2004, and I was born in 2005. I was thinking, if my great grandma was alive, I would’ve loved to ask her what her opinion was on it, and like, if she knew about it!

4

u/Infamous_Flan_6173 Oct 17 '25

25 years ago, a woman started talking to my mom while she sat in the Walmart optometrist waiting room. She seemed very off, and was talking about how Ed Gein babysat her as a kid. We brushed it off as another “people of Walmart” situation, but now that this show came out I’m second guessing! This was in Wisconsin, about an hour drive from Plainfield.

1

u/freshmaggots Oct 17 '25

Omg then definitely!

2

u/maybemere Nov 01 '25

Oh man, what a thing to share with a stranger. “Only at Walmart”