Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-11-17
MYSTERY REGARDING BODY OF
WOMAN FOUND NEAR LET'S
NEAR SOLUTION.
IDENTIFIED AS THAT OF
OskALooSA REsIDEN1
Daughter and Son-in-law Say Cloth
ing Found on Decomposed Body Was
That Worn by Mrs. Anna McDon-
ough when she Disappeared Oct. %
Lett in Auto With Son.

yesterday when Mrs. Lou Braun, of
near New Boston, positively identified
the clothing and bits of jewelry taken
from the dead woman as belonging to
her mother. Mrs. Anna McDenough, of
Oskaloosa, who was last seen alive by
her relatives and friends Oct. IS, when
she and her son John, started for an
auto trip 10 New Boston for visit
With Mrs McDonough's daughter
I They never arrived,
James Lawrence, chief of the Os-
kaloosa police. accompanied by George
Haber a sou-in- law of Mrs. Nc
Donoueh arrived in MuScatine, and
accompanied 10y Sheriff Wiley they left
for Let's. where Mr.. Haber viewed and
identified the clothing and 3ewelry as
the property of his mother in law.
Not satisfied the party rEloiered 10
New Boston. Ill. where the daughter.
Mrs Braun. made the ioenti!iction
positive and the mystery OF the Elsie
Hill murder was mystery no longer
so far as the IDENTITY OF the murdered
woman is concerned. The body was
not eXhumed, as the laws Of the state
require a permit from the state board
OF health for the purpose, and besides
it would have been useless labor as a
sight OF the decomposed body would
not De Of any assistance.
Had Been Missing
O.. oct IS. Mrs. McDonough, accom-
panied by her son John. 81 Years old.
who drove the car, started for New
Boston in Mrs. McDonoush's Ford.
That was The last trace OF any OF them.
They never arrived at their destination
and the whereabouts of the son Is still
a mystery. He and the automobile
which he drove dropped completely
from sight.
The son John for whom the police
of many cities VIII be searching with
in the next few hours IS described as
being s. wears old. OF medium height,
about los pounds in weight. He has
been married but has separated from
his wife. He has TWO children The
husband of the slain woman IS at
present in the soldiers home at Mar
shalltown.
Had Money on Person.
Ii is supposed that when Mrs. Nc
Donough left her home in Oskaloosa
10 begin the trip which ended 50
tragicaily. she had with her a consid-
cradle sum OF money which she car
RED in sack. No money vas found
! or the corpse.
Besides the daughter at New Boston
there are four other children. two sons
and TWO daughters. The dead woman
/ was 81 years old. and whether or not
/ she possessed any means IS a matter of
guess work.
| The son. John, has been in trouble
before. il is said About fifteen years
ago he shot a negro with shot gun
at Colon, three miles south OF Oska-
loosa, but he was acquitted when ar
raigned on a charge of attempted
murder. The fact that the negro was
an ex-convict probably had great
deal to do with the acquittal.
He had at one time been in the
United States navy. where he served
/ seventeen months, being given a medi
1 cal discharge, and all his life ne had
| been a wanderer 1t was just last July
that he suddenly and unexpectedly re-
turned to his home in Oskaloosa and
I took up his abode with his mother,
with whom he had lived ever since.
Identify Hat Also.
The fact that the blood stained hat,
found ten miles south of the deserted
1 house in which the body was hidden,
!
| Donough and proves that at the point
in the road near F'redonia the muir
derer whoever ne may be, committed
the crime. The supposition is that
there was a quarrel and that the
murderer was not at once aware Of
! the fact that ne had killed her. Then
upon the discovery that he had snuffed
out a life he became frightened and
drove for miles. always looking for
some place where the body might be
securely hidden, until at last he spied
the deserted house at the top Of lonely
Elsie Hill.
The blood stains on the hat, gloves
and clothing of the murdered woman
would prelude the idea that she had
been choked or strangled to death and
the police adhere TO the theory that
she was killed by a blow on the head,
probably delivered with some blunt in
strument.
Son Murdered Also?
While the police are seeking the son
alive they are also working on the pos
sibility that he may have been the
other victim of an atrocious double
murder in which both he and his
mother lost their lives.
The body of the mother was hid
den in the deserted house ten miles
away from the scene of the murder bu,
what has been done with that Of the
son, in case this latter theory proves
correct is just as much a mystery as
+ the most mysterious angles of one OF
the most mysterious cases in the crime
annals Of Iowa.