The San Francisco call., 1906-03-25
Startling Discovery Follows
Opening of Large Sara
tOga at the Railroad De-
pot in City of Stockton
CORPSE is THAT OF
MIDDLE AGED PERSON
Police Unable to Obtain
Slightest Clew to Iden-
tity or Learn by Whom
the Big Box Was Delivered
Special DieDatoh to The Call


STOCKTON, March 24-when an un-
called for trunk at the Southern Pacific
depot was opened shortly after 10 o'clock
tonight. the body Of a fine looking man
about feet tall was found tightly
tucked away. The man had evidently
been dead for several days, for the body
had already begun to decompose. The
body was fully clothed with the excep-
ton OF the shoes which had been re-
moved Not a single mark Of identihca-
tioa was found IN the trunk or on the
corpse
The finding OF the body has aroused
Stockton as Il has not been aroused for
years The entire police force is working
on the case tonight. though the sleuths
have not the slightest clew that will
serve TO give them lead
The trunk in which the body was found
was first noticed by the baggage-master
IN front OF the depot about o'clock this
afternoon It was conspicuous by its
size il stood on q small truck together
with a number Of other pieces of baggage.
which later were all called for.
It is the custom Of the expressmen to
wheel the trucks loaded with trunks
alongside the depot entrance, where their
owners call for them or have them
checked on outbound trains. But no one
paid any attention to the big trunk, so
the baggagemen wheeled IT into the
freightroom shortly before 10 O'Clock to-
night
AS he deposited 1t in a corner Of the
room the baggageman detected a strange
odOr- His suspicious were at once aroused
and he telephoned to police headquarters
Captain Walker and a squad of men went
70 the depot and upon opening the trunk
the officers drew back, horror stricken.
The CLASSY eyes Of a dead man stared
into their faces.
The body lay upon its back in the
trunk and the legs had been cramped
and doubled up so they would fit into
the receptacle. The body was fully
clothed in a dark suit Of fine texture
that had evidently not been worn much
The shoes had been removed, but the
socks were still upon the feet
A careful search Of the clothing failed
70 reveal a single clew. Every label had
been removed On the white shirt bosom
were found couple Of laundry marks
that may prove a valuable clew. The
trunk is a brand new one, but the
several labels which evidently bore the
name Of the maker and seller had been
removed.
The body bore no marks of violence.
The chest OF the man was blood stained,
and clotted blood about the nose showed
he had bled profusely from that organ
The dead man was evidently about 38
or 20 years Of age, about feet ! inch in
height and weighed about 200 pounds. He
had light blue eyes, very large and lumi-
nous, and sofe light hair and mustache
His hands are large and calloused, show
ing they were used to lots Of hard work
The dead mans features are very refined.
The police at once began a search for
the expressman who brought the trunk
TO the depot, but so far their efforts have
met with no success. The trunk was
brought from some place in the city or
the Immediate vicinity, and did not come
OF the train as It had not been checked.
The officials at the depot do not remem-
Der seeing It deposited there
The news OF the finding Of the body in
the trunk spread like wildf1re through the
city tonight and thousands viewed the re-
mains at the MorgUe, but there was not
one IN the vast multitude who could iden-
tify them.
An autopsy viii be performed tomorrow
with the hope that the cause Of death
may be shown The police are firm in
their belief that the man was murdered
and are making a systematic search Of
the city for the expressman who brought
the trunk 70 the city. 1t is expected the
tend to solve the mystery, though it has
not yet been ascertained whether they
are those Of local laundry.