The Washington times., 1920-07-12
Will EXHUME
MYSTERY BODY
MY Daughter" Says Woman
on Seeing Grave Photo OF Girl
Taken From Swamp.

NEW YORK. July 12.-The mystery
that has cloaked the Identity OF the
beautiful girl whose body WAS found
on April so, 1919. buried under a pile
OF refuse on the edge OF the Button
Bush Swamp. near an abandoned raw
mill, outside New Canaan. Conn, may
be solved within . few days.
In the belief that the victim of tho
most battling mystery In the history
OF Connecticut was Mrs. Anna Zirkei-
bach Waraday, who disappeared from
her home In this city on November 9,
1910. the authorities have decided to
exhume the body In the hope OF hsv'
ing the identification made positive.
Mrs. Veronica Muller, mother OF
the long missing woman, assured a
reporter yesterday that she feels posi-
tive the swamp victim. who died from
the effects OF unnecessary opera
ton. was her daughter.
She has Identified a picture of the
face, takec shortly after II was found.
as that OF Anna. She has also recog-
i.ized two mother-of- pearl buckles,
attached to the belt Of the dead girls
Jacket, as one her daughter had worn.
They are of such a peculiar design
that she insists she cannot be mis-
taken.
DESCRIPTIONS TALLY.
The description OF the stamp vic
tim given by tho Connecticut State
police tallies In minute detail with
that OF Mrs. Waraday for whom a
futile search has been made through
out the country since her disappear
ance was reported to the New York
police in February, 1917, three months
| of oh had
At the time the newspapers were
printing long accounts OF the baf-
fng swamp mystery in Connecticut.
Mrs. Muller was dangerously Ill, at
the point of death. and heard moth
ing Of 1t. As the victim was reported
to be woman about .twenty-four
and Anna was seventeen when she
disappeared the mothers friends
failed to see any connection between
tho two.
TROUBLE MADE HER OLDER.
But Mrs. Muller explained yesterday
that her daughter. the mother OF a
boy, Willie, now four years old. who
= lives with his grandmother. had un-
dergone such trouble in her married
life that she looked several years
older than she was. Mrs. Muller said
RIteT Searching ali oNeT tHc
try, visiting hospitals, asylums, and
morgues. without getting trace other,
| only learned recently of the swamp
mystery. Immediately communi-
Gated with the Connecticut authorities,
| the missing persons bureau here, and
| Assistant District Attorney Unger
who has possession Of the clothes
worn by the girl found near New
Canaan.
Previous to the last time I saw
Anna she had been away three
months. When she returned she told
me that she had been working for
some rich people in the country.
but never told me where. 1t wasn't
until February. 1917, that ! learned
she had disappeared on November 6.
1915. Her husband told me that she
had suddenly left him with the baby
outside the rooming house. where he
had gone to live with her again. l
took the baby, and he has been with
me ever since.
BETTER DEATH THAN MISERY.
III that body isn't Annals 1 am
sadly mistaken. 1t would be better
to know that she was dead. even
though she died such horrible death
and was thrown into a lonely swamp,
than to suffer the terrible suspense OF
not knowing where she is--whether
she is dead or alive. If 1t does prove
to be Anna, I can in time reconcile
myself knowing that she is better off
than IL she was leading a life of mis-
cry. If it turns out that it is not
Anna, perhaps I may have to go on
until my death--not knowing"
Mrs. Muller. sad-faced. gray-haircd,
will go to Connecticut this week
when Frank Varclli, of the State
| police. has tho body exhumed. He
said yesterday that he placed great
hope in Mrs. Muller Identifying the
victim. With that phase of the case
settled, he said, the state detectives
would Immediately renew their ac-
tivitics in seeking the person respon-
sible for the girls death fifteen
months ago.
1t was said that the body had been
lying in the swamp from three weeks
| to two months. Detectives decided
that the woman had died in New York
and the body had been taken to the
swamp in an automobile.
BODY ON REAR SEAT.
Edward Knutson. a carpenter, told
the police that three weeks before
the body was found he passed the
sawmill at noon. Standing on the
edge of the road was a large black
| limousine, bearing New York
license number. No one was in the
car, which stood about 200 feet from
where the dead girl was found.
Gilbert stevens, proprietor OF a
garage at New Canaan, also told Of a
limousine, probably the same one,
stopping at his place late in February
for gasoline. He noticed a blanket
| covered bundle on the rear seat, so
like a human body that he inquired
what it was. The driver grinned and
| answered:
"Oh. that's a drunken pal we're
taking back TO New York