The San Francisco call., 1909-03-21
MYSTERY Wells
GIRLS DEATH IN
LONELY HOUSE
Suspicious Circumstances Sur
rounding ChiId's Demise
Bring Inquiry
Police Divided Between Foul
Play Theory or End Due
TO Natural Causes

A mystery which a cOroner's autopsy
failed TO solve surrounds the death Of
Lena Muzzio. a child Of seven years.
who was found In vacant house on
Use lonely heights above Visitacion val
ley yesterday morning. breathing her
-ast The case, while having many OF
rae elements OF q natural death, IS
hedged around with so great num-
her of peculiar and suspicious circum-
stances that the police decided to make
b thorough Investigation At is now
sands. however. the death may have
been due 10 any one Of the following
~ rses-
Foul play.
suicide.
Oscrexertion.
Poison.
Inru the coroners Office and the
police have probed down into the heart
oc the case no definite statement as
10 how she came to her death can be
made
BROTHER RETURNS ALONE
The child. accompanied by her
brother Herbert. aged three, left their
home near Silver avenue and Cam
bridge street at about 10 o'clock yes
1erdar morning for a romp across the
fields Shortly after II o'clock the
brother returned home alone. The
mother. thoroughly alarmed at the alb
Sence of her daughter. Immediately in
stItuted a search. with the result that
lena was discovered in a vacant house
aaouC mile from her home on the
point Of death. Before medical aid
roaId arrive she succUmbed.
Ie case ar first sight appeared to
D. conclusive one OF stranguIation.
around her throat was scarf which
ola not belong 10 her and which had
net been seen before by her parents
or the other members OF the family
Lle news that child had been
strangled and thrown into a vacant
house i'm a lonely section Of the CITY
sent the police 10 the spot on the IN
srant. bat apart from the scarf not a
single clew bearing out the theory OF
EQUATION could be discovered
There We're no marks OF violence on the
Eirls body. no signs Of a struggle
rothiug which would indicate that she
had met with foul play.
HEART DISEASE THEORY
A theory was then evolved that she
. had died from heart disease and this
tae mother to the effect that Lena had
feen in extremely delicate health all
lor lfe and that two physicians had
todd her tLat the girls heart was weak
Added 10 this was the statement Of
tlo father. who declared his daughter
aa been suffering from broncho
pneumonia.
The natural death theory was, how
ever. shattered by the autopsy Of the
ogroners officials The childs heart
was found TO be in normal condition.
nd. though 1T was evident that she had
Been suffering from broncho pneu-
uQris, they declared that such would
Uot bring ABOUT a sudden death.
The theory OF foul play once more
became rampant 1t was learned that
the door Of the cellar in which the
body had been found had hitherto been
locked and an examination showed that
the lock Of the door had been broken.
0He father said that while passing the
house last Sunday he had noticed the
-liar door locked, and that as far as
Dr. could remember. It had been kept
Sd always.
CLfsA u NEAKENED
Do was plainly manifest that no child
years. and particularly one in deli
-ate health. could have broken the lock
ef the door. This clew was, however.
modified considerably by the fact that
some persons in the community had for
le last six months been stealing por-
ions of the vacant house for their own
Uses. The windows doors, fixtures and
I-rn bling mad disappeared some months
ago. and I'm the face of this il would not
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