The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-12-13
ATTEMPT AT KIDNAPPING
THAT Is BELIEF IN CASE OF
ST. PETER CHILD
Peculiar Circumstances Gen.
nected With Ride of Little
Girl On Train

St Peter, December 6-The Her.
aid publishes the following story:
Was this little ST. Peter girl kidnap-
ped or did she of her own accord
walk to the Omaha depot more than
mile from her home, board the
morning train and alight at the vii
lage of Ottawa without being OBJ
served by the agent at either place
or by the conductor of the train?
hat is The problem Mr.. and Mrs.
Obie Pengra, parents of six year old
Evelyn Pengra are trying to solve.
From the scraps of information on
the case The Herald, been able to
gather, the circumstances look
rather suspicious and there is rea-
son to suspect that an attempt to
kidnap the child was made, and that
some william who deserves hanging
has been in our city and failed in his
nefarious enterprise only because
he was unable to keep the child from
crying.
Tuesday morning Evelyn in COM
pany with stranger whom the child
described as tall man with a gray
hat and blac'z overcoat, board the
8:45 Omaha passenger. Before the
parents of the child had missed her,
they were appraised by the phone OF
her presence in the village of OF
tawa, five miles from this city. Mr..
Pengra at once hired an automobile
and drove to Ottawa where he found
his daughter safe and well at the
public school.
Story of The Child.
The story the child tells would
make it appear that an attempt to
kidnap her had heen nod"
that the man put her aboard the
train at the st. Peter s.atIo-4 49, .---.t
when she became frightened and
wanted to get off, he told her she
could not then as the train was going.
The two then found seat and the
man attempted to entertain the child
by talking to her. He told her that
we would take her to his farm, near
Ottawa so the little girl states. How
ever, her fears getting the better of
her curiosity, she began to cry. When
the train stopped at Ottawa, the man
failing to quiet her, told her to get
off, which she did.
| seen the child get off the train, and
the agent stated that he was sure no
one got off at his station. Evelyn
started to walk towards the country,
but she had not proceeded far from
| the village when she met some chill
dren coming in to school. Noticing
that the little girl was crying, the
| children took her back to town to the
Lang hotel, where she became quiet
enough to tell her name and how she
happened to come to the village.
Evelyn seemed satisfied to be in the
| company of the children, SO they took
her to school with them to await the
coming of her father who had been
promptly notified.
Rather Peculiar Circumstance.
| From the meager account of her
experiences the child is able to give
it is impossible to determine whether
| she wandered on to the train of her
cwn accord and that the man had
only taken kindly interest in her, or
whether she was inticed away by him
for some wicked purpose. If we ac-
cept the former as the solution of the
matter, it would seem that the man
would have called the conductors at
tention to the child and he in turn
would have put her in the care of the
Ottawa agent, who would have noti-
fed st. Peter, none Of which things
were done. Therefore, it looks like
a genuine case of kidnapping, and
the parents of the child are inclined
to accept this version of the affair
About eight o'clock Evelyn and her
brother about three years old had gone
to the new postoffice, where their
father is engaged as janitor to walk
home with him when he returned to
breakfast. 1t appears that the chill
dren when on their way to the post
office fell in with the tall stranger in
the vicinity of the KonsDruck hotel
and it was at this time that he first
suggested the trip to the girl. At
any rate after returning to her home
with her father and brother she did
not enter the house with them, but
her parents thought nothing of this
for it was the custom of the child to
take short moruiuo WALL