Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-03-23
Left Her Mother Thursday and Has Not Been
 Seen Since
OFFICERS MAKING
 DILIGENT SEARCH
Absent Girl Said to Have Had Lover in Okla
 homa City

PHOENIX, March 22.-Thursday af- ternoon at l o'clock Lily Ford, aged r. left her mother at the corner of Second and Washington streets, prom sing to return in few minutes. She has not been seen since.
 No more mysterious disappearance ever occurred in Phoenix. The only eX- planation of the affair is that the girl has gone to join her lover in Oklahoma, but in Veiw of the circumstances this does not seem probable.
 .'I don t know what she could have done unless she went off and married some man, said Mrs. w. M. Ford, the missing girls mother, when seen this morning at the city hall, where she called to report her daughters $ disap- pearance to the police.
 ''We came to Arizona a short time ago from OklahOma," continued Mrs, Ford. "We have since been living at the ranch of my brother, J. K Wheat, two miles west of the city. Thursday morning Lily and l drove into town to do some shopping. After visiting number of places we met at the buggy, which we had left at the north east cOfnef or lnt cllN Hdll.
 "I.ily then told me that she had for gotten some bundles in one of the stores she had visited and said she would go back for them She asked where would be upon her return and I told her l would remain right there with the buggy. That was about l o'clock. l waited until half past four, when I gave up and decided she did not intend to return.
 "Did your daughter mention the name of the store where she had left her bundles2"
 "No, she did not. We had consider. able shopping to do and did not stay together, l don t know where she bought her things"
 "Haven t you thought of any possi ble explanation for Miss Ford $ disap, pearance?"
 ''As l said before, the only way can account for it is that she has run off and married some man.
 "Has any young man been paying attentions to her latetly?'
 'No one here. She was correspond ing with Chris Cook, young man whC lives near Oklahoma City, where WIG uotu " liNNs @h iON uttN dSO ilN NHOtt her letter, offering to send her a rail road ticket if she would return and marry him, but Lily seemed to have nc idea in the world of accepting his offer She willingly showed me the letter anC merely laughed about it.
 'Did she know that you objected to her marrying Cook?p
 '.She knew that I did not want her to, but she never told either her father or me that she wished to marry Cook or oven cared for him. If she meant to go to him l think she would have asked our permission.
 Her action in going away without even saying goodbye to us is some thing that we cannot explain. My hus band has tried hard to gain trace of hei but without success. He has learned that she bought no railroad ticket In deed, she did not have money enougl to buy one. Of course Cook might have mailed her a ticket, in which ease the local agents would know nothing about it, but l can t believe that Cook has anything to do with Lily's disappear ance '
 The police are as much at sea as Miss FOrd's parents. The entire force is hard at work endeavoring to gair some trace of her, but so far the officers have been unsuccessful.
 Lily Ford is rather pretty girl ot r, five feet three inches in height Her weight is about 40 pounds, ha' blue eyes, very fair complexion and is slightly freckled. At the time of hel disappearance she wore a black checked dress and tan slippers.