Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-05-02
A California Mystery.


The people OF Placer county, Cal,
have real mystery which promises to
be forever impenetrable. The papers
have printed great many surmises
about it, and the people of the Placer
section are being more and more excited,
and deeper and deeper in darkness. They
give it up in despair as something sur
passing human understanding. There
are three deaths in the chapter of hor-
rors. A young girl of II, her cid father,
and man who watched his corpse one
night.
G. M. Coates, sickly man of 80, had
small rancho of his own, and some
times did service for his neighbors as
herdsman. His daughter of Fl kept
house for him, aud he had in his house
hold besides his son aged Is, one aged
II. Elvina, daughter aged IL years.
and an infant son of four or five years.
Elvina was very pretty, well-developed
girl for IL years, with sun-browned face,
and sunshiny hair, and full Of life. One
of her brothers was engaged herding
sheep for neighbor mile or so off, and
she was in the habit of visiting him oc.
casionally, accompanied by her little
brother. 1t seems her father told her
not to 60 any more, as he feared some
danger. One day he took short trip
by railroad to receive $3.50 in cash, the
balance of legacy, and returned in the
evening with the money. Elvina was
not at home. He was told she had gone
to visit her shepherd brother, and had
not taken the boy with her as was her
wont. The boy had cried to go, but
she had hired him with some trifle to
stay at home, and had bounded off alone
on the trail that led to her brothers
sheep-cote.
Mr.. Coates became very angry at the
disobedience OF his daughter, cut good
sized switch and went off after her, The
shepherd boy was found with his sheep,
but had not seen his sister that day. The
father, alarmed, threw away his switch
and began to call "Vina among the
hills, but received only hollow echoes
for answer. He went home, but was so
much troubled that he could eat no sup
per. He started out alone, calling for
his daughter, and was never again seen
alive. As neither VIVA nor the old
man returned, the rest of the family be-
came much alarmed and aroused the
whole neighborhood for miles around to
search. Mr.Coates was found dead, ~
ing ON his face, with no marks of vio-
lence on his person, and the $3.50 safe in
his pocket. Coroner's inquest; no post
norton verdict, death by heart disease.
A young Italian volunteered to sit up
one night with the corpse, and the next
day he died. Cold was assigned to be
the cause.
The search for little Elvina Coates,
which continued for Il days, had been
relinquished. Afterward man passing
an old prospecting hole,' II feet deep,
six feet in diameter and filled with water
to within one foot of the top, saw what
appeared to be 3 bundle floating on the
surface. He thought of the missing girl
and dismounted. 1t was burlap sack,
such as is used for grain. He pulled at
it and found human head in the sack.
He rode rapidly away and told what he
had seen: The coroner came and a
great many people came with him. The
sack was taken from the water and con.
tanned the body of Vina Coates. There
were no marks of violence or outrage on
the body. The sack was drawn over the
head and bound tight about the waist
with cord. 1t fitted closely TO the
body and shoulders. 1t was marked I'll
Fl. S., the initials of Mr.. Fl. FL. Smith
merchant at Newcastle, three or foul
miles off, whose clerks swore they had
sold many such sacks, but had never solo
one to Coates. Many people in the vi
entity had such sacks, so the sack re
vealed nothing but little Vina Coates
} sunshiny hair and her lifeless body. Th
, body was removed to Gold Hill and ex
amined, but no post-mortem was made
! The verdict was: Death by some caus
unknown to the jury"
There are various theories of these re
} markable occurrences, but none are sat
isfactory, and all contradict themselve
before a solution is reached. One is tina
Coates drowned his daughter, but tn
} girls body was found in secluded spo
! a mile from her usual path to and from
} her brothers sheep-cote, and a mil
from her home, and Coates himself wa
too weak to have dragged her SO far on
of her way. Another is that, seeing he
, father with a switch, she feared his an
ger and punishment, and ran away ant
drowned herself Still another, that out
rage upon her person was attempted, ant
the villain failing in his designs, drowne'
his victim. But why did the girl OIL
this occasion hire her little brother t.
stay at home?