The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-13
WAS GOING TO MINNEHAHA
AND HAS NOT BEEN SEEN
SINCE.
PRACTICAL BUSINESS WO
WOMAN.
Her Friends Feel Positive Tint
She Was Murdered for Her
Money.

overtaken Miss Anna Zehner, of Belle
vile, ILL.,, who has for the last three
weeks been visiting friends in this city.
The young woman mySterfously dis
appeared Sunday morning, and as she
wore valuable jewelry and carried a
considerable sum of money in her
purse the police and Miss Zehner's
friends fear she may have met with
foul play. A thorough search of two
days by the young woman's friends
before the police were called into the
case failed to discover the slightest
trace of the missing girl.
Miss Zehner is twenty-five years old
and the proprietress of millinery
store at Belleville, where she lives with
her parents. She came to st. Paul
in company with Mrs Swazey to visit
the family of John Weigel, the man
ager of the Borton institute, 225 Pres
colt street. Not having Mr. WeigePs
address the two women spent the first
night Of their stay in the city at a
boarding house on East Seventh street
and the next day Miss Zehner sought
Mrs. Ida Hermann, living at 952 East
Seventh street. Mrs. Hermann for
! merly lived at Belleville, where she was
friend of the Zehner family. From
Mrs. Hermann the girl learned the ad-
dress Of Mr.. Weigel and with Mrs.
SWazey went to his house. Owing to
the fact, however, that Mrs. Her.
| mann's family was afflicted with the
measles, the young woman decided not
to remain with the Weigels for fear Of
endangering their children and took
! up her residence permanently with Mrs
Hermann. Mrs. Swazey returned to
Belleville after several days, and
shortly thereafter Miss Sofia Refs, one
of Miss Zehner's girl friends from
Belleville came to st. Paul for a visit
and Joined the missing girl at Mrs.
Herrmann's. Together with Miss Herr
mann the two strangers, this being
their first visit to St Paul, spent their
time sight seeing and visiting the pleas
ure resorts about the city.
| Last Saturday the three young wom-
en- planned a days outing at Mime
haha Falls for the following day. In
the afternoon Miss Zehner apparaled
herself appropriately and left Mrs
Hermann to go to her friends on
the West side for the purpose Of in
ducing Mr. and Mrs. Weigel to accom-
pany the picnic party. She was to re-
main over. night at the home of Mr.
Weigel, and made arrangements to
meet Miss Refs and Miss Hermann at
Seventh and Robert streets at 915
Sunday morning to take the interurban
car to Minneapolis and thence to the
falls. Miss Zehner spent the night on
the West side, but failed to induce her
friends to go to Minnehaha. She left
Mr.. Weigeps house at 8:45 to keep the
appointment at Seventh and Robert
streets, this being the last seen of her
by her friends
About Sunday noon Mr.. Weigel and
his wife changed their minds and de-
cided to join. the pleasure seekers at
the falls. They boarded an interurban
car but upon reaching Minnehaha fail
ed to find Miss Zehner or her friends.
Mr.. Weigel searched for the party until
| dark, but could find no trace of them
Returning to st. Paul, he visited Mrs.
Hermann, where he learned that Miss
Refs and Miss Hermann had been de-
tanned and had finally concluded not to
go to the falls, thinking that by the
time they We're ready to start they had
probably missed Miss Zehner and did
not care to go without ner. Those Of
the Hermann family had seen nothing
of Miss Zehner since she left Saturday
| night, and Mr.. Weigel at once became
alarmed. The missing girl has never
been in st. Paul before and has few
acquaintance here. Hurried inquiry
among these disclosed nothing as to
her whereabouts. She has not been
seen by any of them.
Before Miss Zehner left Mr.. Weigel's Sum
day morning, Mrs. Weigel asked her what she
should, in case she missed her friends at
the appointed place of meeting, and the young
woman announced her intention of going alone
to the falls. This, together with the fact
that Miss Zehner wore a large solitaire dia-
mond ring and valuable opal ring set with
diamonds, also having perhaps high as $lOO
in her possession, at zee aroused Mr..
Weigels apprehensions as to her safety. He
feared she had gone alone to the falls and
had been foully dealt with, or was perhaps
being forcibly detained somewhere after hav-
ing been lured away for the purpose of rob-
berry. The young woman is of circumspect,
retiring disposition, business woman who
has made many trips to st. Louis for the
purpose of purchasing goods, and in the opin-
ion of her friends. perfectly able to take
! care Of herself. The possibility that she may
| the advances Of stranger Is in no wise en-
| tertained by those who know the girl. There
has never been romance attached to Miss
| Zehner's life, her friends say. and she is
! too practical to be guilty of any silly freak
which might alarm those with whom she was
visiting. Furthermore the girl is engaged to
| be married to business Of BelleviEe
| whom she was expecting in St. Paul almost
any day. This fact suggested the theory to
| the police that the girl may have by agree
ment or accident, met her affanced after leav-
| ing Mr.. Weigel's place, but Miss Zehner's
| friends consider this wholly improbable. She
had told them that the gentleman COM
ing to st. Paul, and If he arrived, they say
| there would have been no necessity for Miss
| Zehner to meet him clandestinely In sup
port of the claim that she had no other en-
! gagement than that to meet Miss Hermann
and Miss Refs for the Minnehaha falls trip
when she left the West side, 1t is said that
Miss Zehner. when Mrs. Weigel decided not
| to accompany her. very anxious to take
| the Weigel children, two boys, nine and ten
years old respectively. She ardent in the
request for the company of the children. which
would not have been the case, it Is believed,
had she contemplated meeting anyone but her
young woman friends. kilograms sent
whom she expected to meet in St Paul last
night, but no answers had been received from
either source up to midnight
The police regard the case grayely. It is
thought possible that Miss zehner not ffnd-,
ing her friends at the place of her appoint
ment. undertook the trip to the falls alone,
with the expectation of finding them at the
park, where some misfortune may have be-
fallen her. Large indscriminate crowds
frequent the falls Sundays. and It is believed,
that Miss Zehner's diamonds and possibly
display of the money she had with her may
have tempted some ruffians to do her harm
for the purpose of securing the wealth. There
are many lonely spots in the vicinity of the
falls. where Miss Zehner may have been
ea Ib be eer and its esdenee
for time be concealed. The friends OF the
girl cling to the extreme possibility, and be-
authorities are not yet ready to accept this
theory. In the opinion of the police the
yaung girl may have been robbed and forcibly