Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-14
MAID DONE TO DEATH!
StrangIed After Criminal
Operation, Autopsy Shows.
BODY THEN DISMEMBERED
Gertrude Edwards, Missing, May Be
the Victim.
OTHER PIECES OF LIMBS FOUND
Fact That Girl Was About to Be-
come a Mother Furnishes Motive
for the Crime.
OTHER PIECES OF LIMBS FOUND


tragedy of Bulgermarsh road is still far
from solution. though the latest develop
ments may possibly tend to clear up the
mystery should the clues on which the
police are working prove fruitful.
All the detached members of the body
Of the victim of the crime, except the
head. have now been found. hidden in
the underbrush of the lonely road
through the marsh. The arms and right
leg were discovered yesterday afternoon,
and from marks on the right foot it is
believed that the body may prove to be
that Of Miss Gertrude Edwards, a seven
teen-year-old girl of South Scituate,
Mass. This girl has been missing since
Saturday last. when she left her home in
the company of a Young man who had
been paying attention to her. They left
In an automobile and no trace Of them
has been obtained since.
Police Working Hard.
The police Of Providence have been no.
1aned to make close search for the ,au-
tomobile and the young man in whose
company Miss Edwards was last seen.
The mother of the Edwards girl sent
out last night through the newspapers a
pitiful appeal to her daughter to return
nome. Mrs. Edwards cannot believe that
her daughter is the victim of the murder
at T1verton. In her plea she says:
Dear Gertrude: If you are living, let
me hear from you. 1 won't make you
come back If you don't want to- You
nave broken my heart and home. Just
line. SO can rest. YOUR MOTHER"
But until the head Of the dismembered
body has been found the police will not
say that they believe 1t to be that of
Gertrude Edwards. The indications as to
complexion, size and general form corre-
spond remarkably with the description Of
Miss Edwards furnished by telegraph to
the police.
Strangled to Death.
An autopsy was performed yesterday by
Medical Examiner Stimson and two ply
sicians from Newport, at the close Of
which it was announced that there were
indications OF an unsuccessful attempt
at criminal operation. 1t was also de-
termined positively by the physicians that
The immediate cause of death had been
strangulation. The girl was about to be-
come a mother. and herein lies the evil
dent motive for the murder.
Early Yesterday morning posse of citi-
Gems secured the brush that borders that
gloomy marsh road. The remaining MEM
bers of the body. both arms and one leg
and the head, were the object of the
search, but hours passed before any sue
cess was noted.
ArmS ana Leg round.
In the afternoon Joseph Haywood
and Frank Surperant. both of Fall Riv-
er. discovered the arms and right Leg
They lay about fifteen feet from the
roadway hidden in a marshy spot and
covered with rank weeds and brambles
Around part of them a Boston news
paper dated September % last was
wrapped. as though the murderer had
seized the first thing that came to hand
to hide the evidences of the crime. Not
far from them some other citizens later
found the rat" of a woman's hair and
q handkerchief.
But nowhere could any trace be found
of the head, the one part that would con-
clusiyeiy establish an Identification. II
ds feared that the murderer may have
buried II, or 1t may be that he tossed ii
into one of the many ponds that abound
near Bulgermarsh road. thoroughly
organized search will be made today
which, it is hoped. will disclose the head
Unless it has been buried, there Is little
doubt that this part of the body will be
found.
Reward Of $500 Offered.
Gov. Aram ]. Pothier of Rhode Island
has issued proclamation offering re-
ward of $500 for the arrest of the muir.
derer. but this incentive was hardly need
ed to put the town, both citizens and po-
murderer may meet with short shrift
should he be caught by the citizens posse
before the police deputy sheriffs can ar.
rive on the scene, but this is hardly like
ly to prove the case.
The theory of the police, SO far as II
can be worked out now, is that the MUIR
der was done some distance away from
Bulgermarsh road, probably In a house
many miles away. Whether more men
than one was concerned in it Is not
possible to tell, but the indications point
10 the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the body hay
ing been done by one who was in a
great hurry and not at all skilIful
Police Working Hard.
The dismembered parts were evidently
packed into wagon or other vehicle.
which was driven along the marsh road
and at intervals the various members
We're distributed throughout the under
brush. plainly with careful attemnt a+
concealment. The different parts 81 the
body were found two miles apart.
George III. Child, who for years has bean
chairman OF the republican executive
committee for Jefferson county. w. Va
has resigned and qualified as census su.
pervisor for the second (W Val con.
SxyeHaional district.