Delaware gazette and state journal., 1899-05-04
Eoirn AHRnNs DECLINED.
Body OF the Missing Woman Found Float
ing in the schuylkiii River.


After almost four months of anxiety,
weary waiting and diligent search the
mystery of the whereabouts of Miss
Edith Ahrens of Philadelphia was re-
vealed Saturday. Her body was floating
in the Schuylkill River, below Girard
avenue bridge, and was positively iden-
titled by w. Ahrens as that of his miss
ing sister The body was discovered by
one of the park guards. He at once
summoned help and the body was gently
lifted from the river. On the embank-
ment it was viewed by Chief Clerk
O'Neill and number of the guards,
when suddenly the former exclaimed /:
"Why, that is Miss Ahrens, the miss
ing girl. To make himself doubly
sure he went to the office and re-read
the description furnished by the girls
friends at the time of her disappear
ance. With this description was a
piece of the material from which her
skirt was made. 1t was n mixed ma
terial of green and black and white,
and it corresponded exactly with the
material of the skirt on the dead body.
The face presented the appearance of
wax figure which had been battered
and torn and yellowed by age. The
abundant dark hair was still in q
pompadour roll, but some of it had
become loose and hung in flowing locks
over the shoulders. The hat and shoes
were gone, and so was the strip of bear
fur which had been around her neck
when she left home. Her hands were
still covered with the black gloves
which had been referred to in the
description Of her attire furnished to
the police. A ring is said to have
formed one of the chief links of identi-
ficatlon. 1t was over a century old
and was an heirloom of the Ahrens
family.
When Miss Ahren's brother visited
the morgue he was Mortified. For some
time he could not realize that the body
before him was that of his sister. He
sorrowfully and tenderly drew from his
pocket a small box, in which was a
part of the material of her skirt and
this was the first positive evidence Of
Identification. The ring and other
marks furnished abundant proof to
satisfy him that the protracted search
had ended.
The disappearance of Miss Ahrens
was most mysterious, and for many
weeks iticreated quite sensation, for
she had large circle of friends. She
left her home to do some shopping
before noon on January 9Th last. 1t
was found that she had visited the
store to which she had intended to go,
and that she started to return to West
Philadelphia. Instead of going home,
however, she was seen near the Fair
mount avenue entrance to the park.
She was seen by q relative who was
passing on a car, but nothing was
thought of the matter until sho failed
| to return.
At first it was thought she had been
the victim of foul play. Her relatives
| furnished description of the girl to
all the police stations and to the trolley
| panying this was the offer of liberal
reward. A description of her was tele
graphed to nearly every city and village
| regular detective forces, as we'll as
special detectives, were put upon the
case, but all to no purpose. Informa-
| tion was received from hundreds of
people that they had seen her. Scores
of people telegraphed and wrote from
as many cities, saying that they were
| certain that they had seen her and
| spoken to her, and that there could BIZ
| no doubt as to her identity. Her
friends followed up clue after clue, and
up to Saturday they still had linger-
ing hope that the girl might be alive
On one occasion she was reported to be
| in Newark.
Miss Ahrens was 30 years old, 8 feet
inch in height and was of slight
build. She was highly educated and
| fond Of music The coroner detectives
are making an investigation,