The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-08
Mystery of EcOrse Cf3sk j.
 On|I Partially UnraVsIIed s:
GIRL STRANGLFD ID DEf ];
 kon
Sheriff of Wayne County Has CIu.- Which He Thinks Will Lead to Discovery of Murderer
 Very Soon.

Detroit. September 7.-Shrunken by
 several days immersion in the waters of
 Ecorse creek, the dismembered body of
 Miss May Belle Millman, 27 years old,
 of Ann Arbor, Mich, lies in the county
 morgue tonight, pitiable exhibit of hu-
 man bHtaity. The state has charitably
 drawn a shroud over the wasted human
 fragments so that curious spectators who enter do not see that portion of the
 lower part of the trunk of the unfortu-
 nate girl is still missing. While deter
 mined men are dragging Ecorse creek
 night and day in the hope of discovering
 the remaining portion or the girls body. i the sheriffs of Wayne and Washtenaw counties and police of Ann Arbor and 1 Detroit are uniting in a desperate en- deavor to solve the mystery of Miss
 Millmans murder.
 The girls mother moaned. semi-uncon- l scious, at her home in University City, having collapsed today when the news
 was broken to her that the body found
 in Ecorse creek yesterday had been den- , tified as that of her daughter Miss
 Martha Henning of Detroit, a former , schoolmate of the Millman girl gave the l Identification verdict which could not be l disputed.
 i The scene of the investigation of the
 murder shifted tonight from Detroit to
 Ann Arbor. After prolonged questioning of Miss Henning, who Identified the head ! of the body as that of her chum, the
 officers left hurriedly for the University town. They were accompanied by Harry I Nillman. brother of the dead girl, who
 came to Detroit as soon as he heard
 of his sisters tragic death. Sheriff Has Clue.
 Sheriff Gaston and his deputies refuse
 to give out definitely the clew they are i working on but most of the questions I put to Miss Henning this afternoon were concerning May Belle's physical condition
 as the mutilated body leads tfe authori-
 ties to believe the cutting was done by
 some one well acquainted with su,Nscy.
 Upon this point Miss Henning was un-
 able to throw any light.
 l The county physician is now inclined
 to think that the girl, who was q years
 old, was strangled to death before her 1 arms, legs and head were cut off, the l condition of the tongue and eyes indicat- l ing stranguation.
 l Not until today was the head of the I girl found although officials had been | constantly dragging the creek since the l discovery of the torso yesterday morn 1 ing. The head and limbs were found , sewed in the same kind of a burlap sack as the one containing the trunk. The 1 sack was lying under the bridge about 1 ten yards up stream from the place
 where the first bag was found, eviden ,e l almost indsputable that the body was l thrown from the bridge
 | Identification Positive.
 The features were badly decomposed, l but there was much evidence which made | identification positive. Two of the teeth | were gone and among the masses of l long black hair was found a tortoise l shell comb of curious, intricate design. i The comb was immediately shown to l Miss Henning, who was upstairs in the 1 coroner's office. She gave it one glance l and shrieked:
 | "Oh. it's hers," and fell into a faint l There was still chance that the young l woman might be mistaken, so in a few 1 moments she was taken to the operating 1 room and shown the head on the glass | table. All she could do as she gave way
 to violent sobs was to nod her head that
 she was satisfied that the dead girl was | her chum.
 | when Sne recovered SuInclently to be l questioned she told the last words of
 May Belle to her. uttered week ago 1 Friday morning as Miss Henning was 1 leaving for her work:
 If I am not here when you return to- | night, don't worry said May Belle, flor | am going over to see my cousin on 1 Lillibridge street and may remain there" | It has since been learned that the vic l tim never reached her cousins home and | none of the clothing she wore has yet | been found.
 Miss Henning's Statement.
 Miss Henning, before her departure for | Ann Arbor, said:
 May Belle came to visit me on August | IA The first day she was with me she 1 received letter from Minneapolis and
 the second day she wrote letter to Paul | Sukey, Jr of Minneapolis, who was & l student at Ann Arbor until last year. l | don't know what was in the letters So l far as I know she was in good health. i "No man came to call on her while
 she was visiting me. She was very l quiet girl and did not seem to attract men 1 very much.'
 1 William and Ernest Bubotz, brothers, l reported to Sheriff Gaston tonight that l last Tuesday morning at o'clock they 1 saw a three-seated automobile racing from l Detroit toward Ecorse. In 1t they noticed
 a large burlap bag much like the ones in
 which the body and head were found. l The speed at which the car was going rendered him unable to obtain any de-
 tailed description of It.
 | The body of Miss Millman will be taken l to Ann Arbor tomorrow morning for l burial. A playmate of her childhood days 1 said tonight that he was certain that Paul sukey was the only man Miss Millman ] cared for.
 Mrs. Leonine McDougall. who manages | the boarding house at 2S9 Cass avenue, | where May Belle Mllman visited Martha l Henning, said tonight:
 Miss Millman had no men callers at my house except one. A young man who carried suitcase end said he came from
 Ann Arbor called ono evening and want