New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-11
Snake Hunters Uncover
Mystery in Thicket on
AstOr Tract in Bronx.
AUTOPSY REVEALS
POSSIBLE MOTIVE
Body Had Lain in Rock Cairn
About ~ Days-Handbag
Nav Hold CleW.

tile % = alie OF rocks. ana iound thelc,
not tho erske. bu' a woman's foot pro
truding from among the stones. and so
brought TO the attention Of the Brony
police bafIl ing murder mystery. A
to who shc was or who had murdered
her there was no clew. hut the autops~
revealed the probable motive. 1t
showed that her condition might have
impeled some man TO get rid OF her.
The setting Of the spot where she
was found was fitting for a murder
mvstcrv. II was in the Astor estate
lands at Fast 177th Street and Noble
Avenue Noble Avenue is there only
on the maps. for the tract stretches
ever MAN. acres Of dcsolate lands.
covered ~ places with swamps, in
others with trees and thickets. The
streets irtersecting it have not yet
been graded in.
The land AT the place the body was
found is thirty feet below the level Of
l77th Street. The embankment there
steep and is studded with loose
rocks. II is 50 steep and there arc 50
many heaps Of stones lying ABOUT that
I the body had lain there under the rocks
for ten or twelve days WITHOUT attract
irg the eve OF passersby on the street
above
The body might have been brought
there on dark night without fear on
the part OF her murderer that he would
he seen. for the nearest houses are
400 feet away.
There arc surface cars passing by on
I77th Street. but there is no stopping
point for them nearer than 400 feet,
because Of the fact that the cross
streets are not cut through. II IS
! lonesome stretch. through which pc
destrisns seldom have. occasion to pass.
The three boys whose snake hunt led
them TO the body were Armand Le-
neaux. o. 1882 Westchester Avenue;
/ Andrew White. Of 124S st. Lawrence
Avenue. and Richard Slattery, Of 1927
s.. Lawrence Avenue. They saw the
foot and then pulled a few stones
away until they were sure a body was
underneath. Then they called Patrol
men Quinn and Green from the nearest
posts
About Twenty-Five Years Old.
The policemen tore down the rude
csirn and found beneath it the body Of
woman about twenty-five ears OF
age. feet 8 inches tall, fair of com
plcyion. with dark brown hair. and
wearing a black plush coat with astra-
+ kan collar. green crepe dc Chlne
dress. white petticoat and underwear
black silk stockings and black Kid
oloves She wore no shoes or hat. She
lsy face down.
On the fourth finger OF her left hand
were two rings. One was a plain gold
hand that might have been a wedding
ring, bat there was no inscription 10
hear this out. The other had four
white stones and the engraved letters
"S. o. F." and =" +. T." Near by were
found two bloody handkerchiefs, one a
mans. the other woman's. with the
initial az"
Nearby also were some barrel slaves
and or the stone pile some hoops. They
micht have been remnants of barrel
in which her body had been brought
,hcre.
About her neck was a chain with a
gold locket. heart shaped. bearing the
legend. Good Luck" Her hands were
badly decomposed, and so was her face
in measure. but not so much so as 70
render it unrecognizable. She had high
cheek bones, which gave her face a
Polish or Finnish cast.
Two Women Are Missing.
Her hair was cut in a striking way.
u was cut Buster Brown style, hang
me 20 her shoulders. There also lsy
with her a black velvet bag on a braid
cord. The label in her coat bore the
words salts" ard "Esquimette.'
The body was taken TO the morgue'
where DR.. Thomas Curtin made an
autopsy. This showed that she had
been killed with a blow on the head
from a blunt instrument crushing IN
nor skull. Both wrists had been
hacked. In her hand she clutched
bunch of hair similar TO her own.
There was no sign Of struggle
where she was found. She had ap-
parently been brought there for con-
cealment by some one who had hur-
ried about his work, for few yards
further on there was underbrush. But
Il had apparently been deemed safer 10
push down stones upon the body there
in the shelter Of the bank.
In the last two weeks two women
have been reported missing whose de-
scription agreed roughly in some de
tails with that OF the murdered
woman. They were Lena Huberman, OF
$40 East Twelfth Street. and Eva Ro-
manopky. of 1879 East l69th Street.
Captain Andrew Wines sent his men
on, 10 find relatives of these women
last night 10 see il they could identify
the dead woman.
Charles Mclaughlin, Assistant us
trict Attorney. also spent the night on
the mystery with Wines and his men.
The police were not theorizlng last
pight. They were spending all their
energies in trying TO ind starting
'laoa.