The Most Beautiful Death in the World
The haunting photo of Evelyn McHale
Evelyn was as beautiful in death as she was in life. The photo taken of her mere moments after she leapt off of New York’s Empire State Building distinctly captures her timeless beauty. This photo has also captured the hearts of people from around the world and is still being shared many decades after Evelyn took her final breath.
It was labeled, “The Most Beautiful Suicide.”
Who was the woman behind that gentle, dreamy face? Her name was Evelyn Francis McHale: a simple bookkeeper from Manhattan who was leading an unassuming life.
She was engaged to a man named Barry Rhodes, whom she had visited the day before in Pennsylvania. Her visit was unremarkable, and Rhodes did not perceive any indications that there was anything wrong before his fiancée made her return to New York.
Nevertheless, on May 1, 1947, sweet Evelyn made the tragic decision to end her life by jumping off of the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. She carefully placed her neatly folded jacket over the railing, and beside it, she left a little black book.
Inside the book was a note. It read:
“I don’t want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body…
