Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-17
THE MISSING SCHOOL GIRL.
The Belle Brown Mystery stu PuzzlinG
the Detectives.

WHY THE DISTRESSED fARKyp YEAR eHH HA0
COMMITTED srIcipK-wHY THE POLICE DO Nor
THINK SHE HAs-A MAN wHo KNEW HKR aAn
HE SAW zER GET OFF A TRAIN AT euASrioo.
The Whereabouts Of Susie Isabel Brown etirl
remains a mystery. Exactly one week has now
elapsed since she left her home. No. 1905 lxth
street. and started for school with her books,
bright and happy. Her parents fear that shs
mas committed suicide. but they are probably
the only persons who hold to that belief. The
nrst intimation they had OF their daughter's
disappearance was on Thursday afternoon the
day she disappeared Her father, Mr.. J. b
Brown, was standing at his front door when q
letter carrier came toward him and handed him
letter. His attention was attracted 20 some
passing object at the time. and he paid no psr.
ticular attention tC what was handed him.
Presently he glanced at the address: ~ B.
Brown. No. 1906 l4th street. Washington d. CO
The post mark showed that the letter had
been mailed at 1890 pm. There was some
thing about the handwriting that seemed fs-
mlliar to him. but for a moment he could NOT
tell what NJ was. Then he remembered thss IA
was Bellies handwriting
HER FAREWELL LETTER
The envelope contained a sheet Of note papse
on which was written the information that has
almost caused Mrs. Brown to lose her mind
1t read:
Dear Papa:
When this reaches You will be cold ana
| stiff IN the Potomac dead
Farewell forever BEIIE~
The letter was written in a nervous hand n
though IT had been great effort on the part Of
the writer TO finish il as brief as il was On the
back page of the sheet WAS written in the same
hand:
My books are at school GO and get them"
This letter started Mr.. Brown out TO look for
STAR.
MR. BROWN SAYS THE ELoPEnESr THEORY n
ABSURD.
When seen by STAR reporter this morning
Mr.. Brown said:
Il wish you would please contradict the
theory that Belle has elOped. That is not 90.
II she eloped she certainly eloped with no one
but herself, and sincerely hope that such 10
the case. IL she has not DESTROYED herself We
are in hopes that she is in hospital somewhere,
as she surely was not in her right mind TO act
| IN this way. III she was IN her right mind and
went away, which l cannot believe of course
| she would go whore she was not known but II
| she went away not in her right mind there's NO
telling where she went. The idea that she went
away with a man is absurd and cannot possibly
be true, for che had no male companions and
very few female ones. Then, again, il such
had been the case she would, in all probability,
have come home and gotten her iewelry whiok
she did not do. The money she took with her,
as we suppose. was all in gold, and il she made
any purchases she must have rendered the gold
IN payment or If she purchased railroad
| ticket she paid for II with gold money. Al
gold Is not circulated very freely il seems thst
the persons TO whom she gave il, if such was
the case, would have some recollection Of it
| FOND OF HORSEBACK RIDING AND RIFLE SHOOTING.
Belle" he continued, Twas not at all re.
stricted in her company. She used her own
| judgment, but never seemed TO care for assoc
ciates. She went with three or four young
| ladies in the neighborhood who we're her only
companions Her chief amusements were
horseback riding and rifle shooting. She had
good rifle and a saddle, and had promised
| to buy her horse. Everything was made as
pleasant as possible for her. and she could
| have had none other than an imaginary grev-
ance to leave home. She had periodical spells
| of neuralgia, and suffered more than either
her mother or myself had ever heard Of On
the Friday before she disappeared she was on
Pennsylvania avenue with her cousin when
she was taken with a sort of fainting spell
She reeled and had it not been for her cousin
she would have fallen. Belle told her cousin
| not to say ANYTHING about her spell at home be-
cause II would only worry and nothing was
told us until after she disappeared and now 10
all comes to u.s."
| "A POSSIBLE CASE"
The night before the girl disappeared she 40.
tended Harris Biiou theater and witnessed the
performance Of "A Possible Case" In the
play woman disappears and ends her letter.
| Farewell forever" That is why Belle probae
bly, thought of ending her letter with thoss
words. Her parents are not inclined to believe
that witnessing that performance had any effect
on their daughter, with the exception Of hse
repetition OF the ending of the letter.
RESEARCHES OF THE pETEcTIyEs
Detectives McDeyitt and Flinders are still
pursuing their investigation. The supposed
clue received by them yesterday was exploded
later in the day. They found that the girl thew
heard of was named Brown. but she lived in
the country. In their investigation they found
where another young woman had left the city.
She was accompanied by male companion and
left on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad
While the investigation is being pursued
| all sorts Of theories and clues are suggested
The girl seen by John Mcdonald on New Jersey
| avenue last FRIDAY is not thought TO be Bella
Brown. as the description given by Mcdonald
OF her clothing does not tally with that Of the
missing girls.
LOOKING FOR HER IN GEORGETOWN
man named Hughes who resides in George.
town states that he saw a girl answering the
description of Belle last Friday. He says that
she was on Bridge street going west toward
the Aqueduct bridge, and in confederation Of
his statement some one asserted that Q
girl of the same description was seen sitting
on a rock on the Virginia side of the bridge.
Whether this was the missing girl or not is MOI
known, but Detective McDeyitt evidently thinks
she went toward Georgetown, as he spent some
tyne in that part Of the District yesterday.
Still another clue which may prove a valu-
able one has been obtained. IL was furnished
by Mr.. George Lacey, who keeps paint store
corner of l4th and streets. He went to
Fredericksburg last Friday morning and re-
| turned yesterday. He says that he noticed on
the train going south q young lady whom hs
thought was Miss Belle Brown He saw her
hair and noticed that she wore q blue wrap q
some sort. She was
HEAVILY YELLED
and occupied seat with an elderly lady. She
had bundle that looked like dry goods and
got of the train at Quantico. Mr.. Lacey knew
the girl well, by sight, and is satisfied that ha
saw her on the train.
AGAINST THE SUICIDE THEORY.
Inspector Swindells of the detective corps
when asked about the case this morning said
he saw no reason for believing that the girl has
committed suicide. The fact that her money
disappeared at that time is good evidence to
the contrary, he thought. and still another
thing about it, he said, was the fact that people
who contemplate suicide seldom write notes in
that manner .sIf she contem nj In ted suicide aa