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What are the names and ages of Mr. Harvey's other victims in The Lovely Bones?
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In The Lovely Bones, along with the fourteen-year-old narrator, Suzie Salmon, Mr. Harvey kills several other girls and women between the ages of six and forty-nine. His victims include Jackie Meyer from Delaware, who was thirteen years old, Flora Hernandez from Delaware, who was eight years old, Leah Fox from Delaware, who was twelve years old, Sophie Cichetti from Pennsylvania, who was forty-nine, Leidia Johnson, who was six years old, and Wendy Richter from Connecticut, who was thirteen years old.
Although she is a fairly minor character in the book, Flora Hernandez is a key catalyst for Susie to release some of her pain following her murder in The Lovely Bones. Like Susie, Flora Hernandez is one of the girls that serial rapist and killer George Harvey murdered. A notation in the book gives us some details. Flora lived in Delaware and was killed in 1963. At the time of her murder, she was only eight years old.
Flora’s murder was somewhat unintentional. According to the entry of her death, George Harvey “only wanted to touch her.” However, Flora screamed when he attacked her, and he ended up killing her. Her body was never recovered, and her “bones lay in the earthen basement of an old apartment house.”
Toward the end of the book, Susie goes to a field that she describes as “beautiful,” with rows and rows of...
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wheat and “an old and beautiful olive tree.” She describes the scene as peaceful and tranquil, with the sun up high in the sky and a clearing near the olive tree. As Susie watches, she sees someone else arrive. The other person “did not crest the stalks,” presumably because, like Susie, she had no corporeal presence. The person approaching is Flora Hernandez. Susie describes her as “small for her age, as she had been on Earth.” Flora is wearing a calico dress that was frayed at both the hem and the cuffs.
The girl introduces herself to Susie:
“I was Flora Hernandez,” she said. “What was your name?”
Flora tells Susie that she comes to this field almost every day and says that if Susie has been told about the field and has come, she “must be ready,” presumably to begin to let go of her pain. After telling Flora her name, Susie begins to cry “with comfort, to know another girl he had killed.” She is able to grieve with Flora and Harvey’s other victims, who approach the two girls “through the field in all directions.” Susie shares her story with the others, and each time she repeats it, a little bit of her pain ebbs from her.
In Chapter 14, most of Mr. Harvey's victims are introduced to Susie in the cornfield. Here is the list of the murders by year, name, location and details of the death. This list will include both Susie and the unnamed waitress (mentioned in Ch. 20) that are not included in the group of girls Susie meets in Ch. 14.
1960: (Two murders)
- Sophie Cichetti- 49 years old. Killed in Pennsylvania. She was his landlady. After having a brief sexual moment with her, Harvey smashed her head when she started talking. Her body was dumped in a stream.
- Leidia Johnson- 6 years old. Killed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Harvey dug out a cave from the hill and lay in wait. While the book does not give the specifics of her death, it was premeditated so it is safe to assume that it was also a sexual assault.
1963: (One murder)
- Flora Hernandez- 8 years old. Killed in Delaware. She was not killed intentionally during the attack. She started screaming, and she was killed to silence her. Her body was dumped in a basement.
1967: (One murder)
- Jackie Meyer- 13 years old. Killed in Delaware. While the aspects of her death are not fully revealed, she was found next to an overturned chair, missing all of her clothes except for a striped t-shirt. She died from an injury to her head where she bled out.
1969: (One murder)
- Leah Fox- 12 years old. Killed in Delaware. She was sexually assaulted on a couch under a highway on ramp. After, Mr. Harvey fell asleep on top of her for ten hours. She suffocated.
1971: (One murder)
- Wendy Richter- 13 years old. Killed in Connecticut. She was raped outside of a bar and strangled.
1973: (One murder)
- Susie Salmon- 14 years old. Killed in Morrison, Pennsylvania. She was raped and stabbed to death after being lured to the dugout in the cornfield.
Post Susie's murder but several years before Mr. Harvey visits the shack in chapter twenty:
- Unnamed waitress- Unknown age. Killed in Connecticut. She was raped and murdered by Harvey. She was buried in a shack in the woods. When Mr. Harvey visits, the grave has been dug up. He falls asleep inside it.
Harvey killed Susie Salmon who soon after ascended to heaven and was watching everything unfold on earth including the investigation into her murder. Harvey's psychological issues and murderous intentions come out in chapter 11 because Harvey kept trophies of his murders of both animals and the girls. He counted these ornaments to keep himself grounded. It is in chapter 14 that the names of the girls Harvey killed come out as Susie reviews Harvey’s life and the murders he had committed. The names and ages of the girls are:
- Jackie Meyer from Delaware who was thirteen years old
- Flora Hernandez from Delaware who was eight years
- Leah Fox from Delaware who was twelve years
- Sophie Cichetti from Pennsylvania who was forty nine
- Leidia Johnson who was six years old
- Wendy Richter from Connecticut who was thirteen years old