The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-14
Rufus Cantrell, Who Declared He
Could Point Out the Grave, Failed
to Make Good His words.
BODY OF A WOMAN EXAMINED
1T COULD NOT BE IDENTIFIED BY
MIR. sELvAGE AS HIS SISTERS.
Mystery of WOman's Fate No Nearer
SOlutiOn-Detectives VIII Work on
Theory She Was Murdered.

The fate of Carrie Selvage, sister of Jos.
w. Selvage. who disappeared from the
Union State Hospital one Sunday morning
in March, 1900, is no nearer solution than it
three years ago. In company with
Rufus Cantrell, who had given the impress
sion that he could solve the mystery, and
could point out the grave in which the
woman was buried after she had been, as
he claimed, murdered, Joseph w. Selvage
visited the Union Chapel burying ground
in Hamilton county. three miles northeast
of Broad Ripple, yesterday afternoon. A
grave was opened. A womans body. badly
decomposed, was found, but Mf. Selvage
was unable to identify it as that Of his sis
ter. No marks of similarity were found
and he made the positive statement last
night that he does not believe it is his sis
ter's body.
The trip to the Union Chapel cemetery
failed in any way to clear the mystery
The detectives and Mr.. Selvage are as much
at sea as they were before. Whether any
dependence is to be placed in the boasts of
the convict ghoul that he can solve the
mystery is still matter of speculation
Pampered and petted, treated like spoiled
child. fed with notoriety, Cantrell is to-day
the same creature that he was during the
height of the excitement over the discovery
of the frightful dissertations committed by
the band of ghouls of which he was the
head. Then he told one wild story after an
other. Detectives were sent goose-chasing
all over Marion county digging up bodies.
Occasionally it found that there were
grains of truth in the highly-colored tales
of the moral monster self-confessed Usual
ly it was found that truth was conspicuous
by its utter absence. In the Selvage case
Cantrell has taken about the same question:
able position.
TAKEN TO THE CEMETERY.
Taken TO the little country burying-
ground yesterday afternoon by Mr.. Selvage
Detectives Asch and Manning Cass Con-
naway, Elmer German, special agent of
the Indiana Reformatory. in charge of
Cantrell while he is testifying in the Ham
ilton Court at Noblesvil!e, all of whom
were given TO understand by the ghoul
that he could point out the grave in
which the body of Carrie Selvage lies
Cantrell lost his assertiveness, his posi-
tiyeness, became confused, uncertain
peevish and was able to indicate only i'm
the most general way a grave which he
thought might contain the body sought.
pose to give information when so MANY
people were around, that he knew the So
luton of this mystery and of many others
but that he would have TO be approached
in the right way.
Last night. after he had been returned
to the Jail. he claimed that he had not
known he was to be taken to the buryine-
ground He had left the Jail with the
understanding that he was going to the
Court at Noblesville 10 testify in the case
of Hampton West The detectives say that
his attitude is precisely like it was i'm a
number OF the other cases that were under
Investigation. First cocksure. full of infor-
nation: then uncertain, unable TO disclose
anything of value.
Early yesterday morning Joseph w
Selyage was informed that IL he could Sc
cure the permission of the Governor to
have Cantrell removed from jail 10 act
as guide. the ghoul would lead him to the
grave in which his sisters body was
buried Eager to take advantage OF the
slightest bit OF information that might
CONTINUED ON PAGE ?, COL. g.