A beloved homeless artist who became a familiar sight among Central Park’s birds and birdwatchers has been found murdered in the place she called home for years.
Francis Lee Rogers, 63, also known as Elise Bainbridge Hill, was found unresponsive inside a gazebo in New York City’s Central Park on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 27.
Police said officers responded to a 911 call around 9:43 a.m. near East Drive and East 74th Street. Rogers suffered severe trauma to her head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The killing has shaken the tight-knit community of birdwatchers and park regulars who knew Rogers as a talented artist with an extraordinary knowledge of Central Park’s wildlife.
Her unusual life and friendship with the park’s birds have also drawn comparisons to the unforgettable “Pigeon Lady” from the 1992 holiday classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Jonathan Robles, 36, was arrested later Sunday and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.
Authorities initially released conflicting information about Rogers’ injuries, including early reports suggesting she had been stabbed. Police later said investigators determined she had suffered head trauma.
More disturbing details emerged during Robles’ court proceedings.
According to prosecutors and court documents cited in reports, Robles allegedly admitted striking Rogers repeatedly with a stick but claimed she had attacked him first.
Robles allegedly told authorities that Rogers hit him with the stick before he managed to take it away from her.
He then allegedly admitted hitting her more than 20 times, telling investigators he continued until she could no longer strike him.
Those claims have not been proven in court, and Robles is presumed innocent unless convicted.
Robles was later questioned while hospitalized for an injury and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation as the criminal case moves forward.
The circumstances that led to the deadly confrontation remain under investigation.
For the people who regularly spent time in Central Park, however, Rogers was far more than an unidentified homeless woman.
She had become part of the landscape.
Rogers spent years around the park’s wooded Ramble area and was well known for watching birds, tending bird feeders and creating watercolor paintings inspired by the animals and scenery surrounding her.
Some birdwatchers reportedly nicknamed her the “Grandma Moses of Central Park,” a reference to celebrated American folk artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses.
Friends and acquaintances said Rogers sold some of her wildlife paintings to tourists and park visitors.
One man who knew her summed up the loss simply, saying that while strangers might have viewed her as “nobody,” the people who regularly encountered her in the park knew that she mattered.
Her story had been documented long before her death.
Under the name Elise Bainbridge Hill, Rogers became the subject of filmmaker Karen Gehres’ 2007 documentary Begging Naked.
The film followed Rogers over roughly nine years and chronicled a difficult life that included running away from home as a teenager, struggling with addiction, working in the sex industry and eventually becoming homeless.
Throughout those hardships, art remained a major part of her life.
The documentary followed her efforts to continue painting and creating even as her housing situation and mental health deteriorated.
By the early 2000s, she was living in Central Park.
More than two decades later, she remained a familiar figure there.
That history makes her violent death particularly heartbreaking for those who had watched her quietly build an unconventional life among Central Park’s wildlife.
The comparisons to Home Alone 2 came from Rogers’ close association with the park’s birds.
In the movie, Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker played a mysterious homeless woman who cared for pigeons and eventually befriended Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister after he became separated from his family in New York.
Rogers’ life was very different from the fictional character, but her connection to Central Park’s birds made the resemblance difficult for many people to ignore.
Now, instead of being remembered only as an eccentric figure sitting among the trees and wildlife, friends hope Rogers will be remembered for her paintings and the relationships she formed with people who passed through the park.
Robles remains charged with murder as prosecutors continue pursuing the case.
His next court appearance is expected later in October, while authorities continue examining the circumstances surrounding Rogers’ final hours.
