The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1916-03-10
Man and Boy Make Grew.
some Discovery Near
Neely's Landing.
VICTIM MURDERED,
SAYS JUDGE STEGER
Man Who Held Inquest Believes
Dead Man Was A st.
L0uisan.

posed to have been between 30 and 35
years of age, was taken from the Mis-
sissippi river on the Missouri side,
between Neelys Landing and Moccasin
Springs Sunday afternoon. An in
quest held by Judge Julius Steger, JUS
tice of the Peace in Randol township,
found that the man came to his death
from an unknown cause, and the body
was buried about one hundred yards
from the spot where it was found.
The body was discovered by Floyd
Masters of near Egypt Mills, and
Charles Lobrye, boy, who also lives
in that community. They were walk
ing down the railroad tracks shortly
after q o'clock Sunday afternoon. Mas
ters' nose began bleeding and he step
ped down to the river to battle his face
in the cold water. Just as he stepped
down to the waters edge, he noticed
the body a short distance away. The
head touched the water, but the feet
were resting on a sand bank. His
body was free from the water.
Masters summoned Lobrye and they
dragged the corpse back on the bank
a short distance so that it could not
be reached by tire water. Then they
hurried back to Neelys Landing, where
they telephoned to the home of Dr..
Schoen, the Coroner, who was in st.
Louis.
They next communicated with the
home of Justice of the Peace McLain
of Shawnee township, who also was
absent. Judge Steger was found and
he left his home immediately for the
scene. He summoned jury compos
ed of Red Miller, Alph Dillingham;,
Henry Perry, earn Cook, Charles
kuntz, and Gus Coleman. The in
quest was held on the spot where the
body lay and after the verdict, Judge
Steger ordered the body buried. 1t
was taken back to a safe distance
from the river and then placed in an
oak coffin and buried.
Judge Steger, who called at The
Tribune office last night to tell the
story, stated that he was unable to
say whether the man had been murder
ed or not
"From the remnants of clothing
that were found on the body" he said,
81 am inclined t. believe that he was
either a policeman or postman. The
trousers, although only parts Of them
were left, We're Of blue serge, the
kind worn by policemen and postmen.
The shirt was blue and made of the
material usually worn by policemen
and letter carriers.
"The right arm was missing at the
elbow and the left hand was gone. The
nose also had disappeared, but the
body was intact. 1t was as hard as
stone. We dragged it from the river
bank to the place where it was buried
but the limbs remained in place. 1t
was like handling stone. We placed
it in the grave and covered it at II
o'clock at night.
81 am unable to say that the man
had been murdered, and / would not
say that he had not been slain. 1t is
indeed mysterious case, and the
more l think OF it, the more puzzled
| become. 1t was the first petrified
body l ever saw. In fact, l never
heard of a petriied body before.
81 have always heard that a body
will decompose if left in the water.
Some Of those who formed the jury
thought the man may have been muir
dered and then dropped in the river
with stone tied to his arms. This,
they believed, held him at the bottom
of the stream until his hands came
off and released the body.
II believe 1 read about two years
ago about policeman or mail car
rier mysteriously disappearing. The
found on this body leads me
to believe that it belonged to either a
wore apparently new shoes, with rub
Der heels. There was also a heavy
belt on the body, indicating that he
may have been an officer or mail car
rier.
zone thing that impressed me were
his teeth. They were perfect. There
were no marks on the body to indi-
cate that he had been murdered by
but the more / think of it,
the more convinced that the man did
not die a natural death. The lips
were widely apart, but his jaws were
firmly set as if he died in agony.
"There was no hair on his head, but
enough on his face to indicate that
mis- hair was auburn. He weighed