The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-05-09
THINKS BOY MET
ACCIDENTAL DEATH
Report of DR.. Wilson Leads Or.
Marvin to Believe Son was
Not Murdered.

Dover, Del, May S.-Dr. Horace Mar
vim is now so far reconciled to the the
Dry of accidental death that he will ac-
cept without further investigation II
he coroner's jury shall render such q
verdict.
Since the discovery Of the body he
has stoutly maintained the belief that
it was placed on the marsh only a day
pr two before it was found by kid
naper, who sought in this way to divert
ilsptcion from the real cause OF tho
'hild's disappearance.
Statement by DR.. Marvin.
IT am forced liz spite of my former
conviction to the belief in the possibil-
ity that my boy did wander out there
and die" said DR. Marvin. Until the
doctors examined Horace's body did
not think 1t looked as though life had
| been extinct more than a few days.
But DR.. Wilson's statement that death
must have occurred at least four or FIVE
weeks ago, puts different aspect upon
lt. His discovery also that there was
| no food In the poor little fellows stom-
| hch, showing that he died more than O.
Iloy after he had last eaten, tends to
Fhow that he may have lain out there,
g5enumbed by the cold, while we were
hunting all around him.
II still cannot see how he walked
oil that distance in the short time
before we began to search for him
pnd how his body escaped our obser-
vation in the many times we searched
the marsh, but such things they say
have happened before. remember
distinctly, that Mr.. Pearce, of the
Pinkerton detective force and l were
ut the very spot where the body was
found several weeks ago. There was
only q little water there then, and
while l sat on log nearby Mr..
pPa NUa1LEaH IN, b Ia
per boots. We thought we searched
it thoroughly, but we may have been
mistaken.
My interest in the case Is ended.
I know where my boy is now and I
care not what the authorities may
do. If in the future they find evidence
chat Horace was murdered shall do
guilty persons, but If the coroners g
Jury finds that the boys death, was
an accident ] shall accept the ver-
dict"
Accident Fairly Certain.
While formal inquiry has been
temporarily halted, enough has been
learned within the past twenty-four
hours to establish with a fair degree
of certainty that the little boy came
to his death by exposure and starva-
ton after straying from the haystack
where his cousin left him at play.
The theory that the child's body
was placed only a few days ago at the
spot where 1t was found on Saturday
by Oliver Pleasanton. a farmers SON,
while 1t is still held by most of the
men who took part In the many
searches OF the land, has been aban-
doned by the Pinkerton detectives and
the states attorney, Robert L. Rich :
ards.
Supported for time after the find
ing OF the body by the belief that the
boy had been dead only a few days.
II is made practically untenable by the
assertion Of DR.. James H. Wilson, of
Dover who performed an autopsy;
DR.. Wilson says that death must have
occurred from four to six weeks ago
and that the absence Of food from the
stomach shows that starvation was a.
contributing cause.
Hours Of Terrible Suffering.
How terrible was the struggle OF
the little fellow for his life after ha
fell exhausted out of sight Of his home
On the desolate march can be judged
by DR.. Wilson's statement that he
must have lived forty-eight hours
after his last meal was eaten The
condition Of the stomach, the physi-
clan says, shows this. With the BIT
ter winds sweeping over him all Of
that day and the next night he Law on
the frozen ground half concealed by
the waving marsh grass and died
miserably while the frantic father and
scores OF helpers were searching all
about him.