The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-03-25
FINDS SON
M0URNED
4 AS DEAD
Man IdsntIilGs Body as His
Boys, Then Hears
From Him
Special 10 the Daily Leader.

Special 10 the Daily Leader.
st Joseph, Mo, Mar. 24-Complet-
ing the strangest case in the history
Of the ST. Joseph police. Samuel T.
Justus, district agent for the Bank
ers Insurance company. OF Des
Moines, received a letter from his l6
year-old son, Sheridan NJ Justus, who
he had mourned as dead The letter
was from Percia, Tenn. where the
young man is employed by railroad
Following the receipt OF the letter,
and a positive Identification by wire
and letter of the Pefcia boy, as his
son, Mr. Justus refunded $240 insur-
ance money he had collected from a
policy the supposed dead son carrl-
ed
Mr.. Jusliss received the letter
from his soH the day after he had re
turned from Mosnee, Wis, where he
had Identified the body Of a l6-
year-old boy, killed by Ringing bro
ythers' circus near here last August,
as his sons. Young Justus had left
Omaha, his former home, with Ring
lfngs's circus curing last summer,
but had quit after a few weeks. The
boy had tired OF home life and want
ed to roam His father learned that
he was with Rngling's circus, and
after some time when the boy did
NOT krite. he asked the circus de-
/ tective of the whereabouts Of the boy
The circus had gone into winter quar-
| tiers ana the detectives answered
that Sheridan Justus was not con
nected with 1t Justus then adver-
tised in fraternal papers for news OF
/ his son.
identifies Mosinee Corpse.
A few days since he received a
letter from Mosinee, MS, woman
who told him that a boy answering
the description OF the JAstus lad had
been killed by Ringling's circus train
there, August a. Mr.. Justus knew
his son had been with Ringing and
hurried to Mostnee The body OF
the unidentified boy was taken up,
badly decomposed but the colthing
was that Of the missing Justus boy.
There we're an enlarged finger joint
two overlapping teeth, a sharp tooth
and other features that tailed with
JusbHo oOh. AHfHs w. q EUllD lhat
was found near the dead body, was
one of two that an insurance man IN
Omaha had given to Justus and his
son i'm that town short time before
the boy ran away.
SO sure was Justus that he had
found his sons body, that he prose
cuted the undertaken who had buried
it for negligence it having been plac-
ed in pine box and buried at night
two feet under ground The under
taker had charged the county $2S for
the Job and was fined $50 TO rit.
Justus had the body placed in a
seated casket and shipped to st. JOS
eph with the intention of accompany
ing it to a Southern state where the
boys mother Is buried He mourn
ed his son as dead and accepted the
sympathy of a large number of ac-
quaintances.
Gets Letter From Son.
But when he reached St Joseph his
wife, the boys stepmother, was i'll,
ard Justus could not go South He
had the body placed in a receiving
vault and waited his wife's recovery
The day after his arrival at home, he
went to his office to get rid of the
accumulated mail and in the first
batch OF letters he picked up was
one In the well known fist" of his
soil E,herideIp MIR Justus Teeled
and almost was overcome. He had
lost much rest because of worry.
during the time his son was gone
and while he was identifying his
supposed body. But he opened the
letter and sure enough it was from
his boy. He had tired of rowing and
wanted to come home
The father wired the sheriff at
Percia and then wrote the boy. The
sheriff wrote back that Sheridan
Jnstus it was In Percia and then the
| boy came back with a long letter,
telling OF himself. He had left the
circus shortly after having his grip
stolen and did not want TO return
home until he had made good" with
new front" He had been working
sometimes as a railroad laborer and
at anything he could get to do.
BY natural deduction, Mr.. Justus
has figured out that the presence OF
his sons clothing and the comb with
the boy killed by the train near
Mosinee is accounted for by the fact
that the boy killed is the same who
stole his sons grip. He will well
come the long lost home as he has
lost money, flesh and rest since he
has been gone.