The morning call., 1893-03-29
WHERE is RUDOLF =?
The fearful Query of His
Young Wife.
Five Months of Welded Happiness
End With Disappearance Which
No One Can Explain.

Ernest Rudolf, chief cook at Wilson's
Restaurant on Post street, disappeared on
the evefing of Thursday, March 16, and
has not been seen since.
He had only been married five months
and his wife is heartbroken.
The peculiar feature of Rudolf's disap-
pearance is that all the ordinary theories
fail to account for it.
he did not drink or gamble. His habits
were regular. He had no "other dear
charmer" to bring about domestic trouble.
He was a sober, steady, industrious man,
and being 80 years old might be safely as
sumed to be past the Eighty period of
youth.
Rudolf and his wife lived quite happily at
521A Natoma street. In fact their happi-
ness was of that frank, joyous character
which is only possible where there is moth
ing to conceal on either side.
The courtship preceding the marriage had
been quite short. Annie Thiele had only
known Ernest Rudolf three months when
she consented to appear with him in Justice
Gray's courtroom and become wife.
The distracting element in Mrs. Rudolf's
lot Is the conviction that her husband has
not met with an accident or become the vie
tim of foul play He went away OF his own
accord that much is too plain.
a portrait of the missing man, which rep
resented him in military uniform. has dis
appeared from the album in which he had
been won't to keep it. but there is no record
of his arrest by the authorities for deser-
ton, and as he had borne his own name
while a soldier that clew fails.
There seems to be little or no doubt that
Rudolf left this city at $3.50 P. NJ on
Thursday, the 10th Of the present month;
that he took with him his tools and clothes
and that he had made no preparations for
his flight up to the day he left.
Mrs. Rudolf now recalls the fact that N
the morning of the 10th he put on a coat and
vest which he was not accustomed to wear
on week days and that he folded up the
other garments neatly, which was by no
means habit of his. He did not take
away either yalise or trunk.
Mrs. Thiele, the mother of the deserted
bride, has given the latter shelter and COM
fort at her confectionery-store ,20i7 Mission
street. Speaking to CALL reporter last
night Mrs. Thiele said there were number
of little things which to her mind amounted
10 something in the way of explaining Ru-
dolls disappearance.
One was that the missing man acted very
strangely at times, like person not right
in his mind. These fits would come over
him quite suddenly, and he was OCCASION
ally very jealous of his wife, though she
had always laughed him out OF the notion
and shown him there was no possible cause.
Another circumstance which excited Mrs.
Thiele's suspicious was her son-ln-laW'S
close friendship with the second cook at
Wilson's. This man acted very strangely
the day after Rudoli's disappearance, and
was discharged from his position. He had
been accustomed to draw Rudolfs pay for
him fortnghty, and Rudolf had regularly
handed over these payments to his wife
just as he received them, but the last pay
! msnt. on the day of his disappearance: was
not accounted for.
Mrs. Thiele is OF the opinion that Rudolf
is in Chicago if he is in the United States at
all. She thinks so because he came from
that city and has been well liked by his
employers there. But she is unable TO
account for his never having written a line
of explanation to his wife except very
hurried note on the day he went, saying
that he was going to the Occidental Hotel
and would be back at 6 O'clock.
II would take Rudolf FIVE days TO get to
Chicago, travelling by the cheap trains, and
four days for letter to reach here. Even
then, if he had written on the day of his
arrival at Chicago. the letter is two days
overdue.
Rudolf is 3 feet inches in height, with
blue eyes, light hair and pale face. The
fact that he took his cooks clothes and
outfit with him makes it clear that he in
tended TO engage in his vocation somewhere.