The Washington times., 1921-04-06
TEETH CLUE TO
GULLY VICTIM.
Lieut.. W. E. Franklin, Missing
Since September, Had Crowns
Like Dead Mans.
r CUFF BUTTON NEAR BODY
Woman's Handkerchief Found
Close by Puzzles PoIice-Sui-
eide Is One Theory.

A cuff button bearing the initial
"F," with two gold teeth in the head
of a decapitated body found last
night in a gully near Georgetown
University Preparatory School, led
the police today to work on the the
ory that the dead man is Walter
Edward Franklin, q Marine lieuten-
ant, who disappeared from the Raj
eigh Hotel last September.
WORK ON FOUR CLUES.
Washington police and Montgomery
county authorities who are working
together in solving the strange case
have the following clues to 60 on.
A cuff button found In the Khaki
shirt draDed ever the Aees1peseA
body.
A woman's hanAkerehlef.
Two gold teeth In the nsuth sf
the near skeletOn.
An eiGht-saacs bettle - ehlsrs-
ferua, anA
Ose psunA q ehlssiAs se lin.e.
Whether the man was the victim
Of foul play or o suicide has net been
determined. The elsthing which he
body by the winter rains.
gruesome theory, first believed L,
be far-fetched, was this afternoon
being developed by the police. This
Is. that the dead man may have suf.
Tered from hallucinations or religious
fanaticism which caused him to seeI,
his own life and the destruction Of his
body.
1t is pointed out that with the
rhlnrofn~rn h.
life. By properly using the chloride of
lime, he could have made 1t possible
for most or all Of his body to Be A.
nally destroyed.
FIND wOMAN'S HANDKERCHIEF.
In addition to the cuff button and
the gold teeth. the police found q
woman's handk erchief, an eight -ounce
bottle of chloroform, and q can con-
tanning pound Of chloride of lime.
The body is badly decomposed. The
clothing was lying near the body.
Because the man was decapitated,
the police believed last night that he
had been slain. But investigation to-
day convinced the authorities that Il
was probably suicide.
Discovery of the body was made at
8 o'clock last night, four miles east
of Rockville, Nd, by j. Shelton An
drews, an employe of the preparatory
school. Andrews was walking through
the gully when he stepped on the
skeleton. He rushed to the school.
and Sheriff George e. Nicholson and
States Attorney Thomas L. Dawsou.
of Montgomery county, were notined.
The body was partly covered with
leaves and tree branches.
HEALTH OFFICER NONPLUssED.
After examining the body, DR.. Will
lam Pratt, Montgomery county health
officer, professed his inability to de-
termine the cause of death. He said
the man was about 45 years old,
the same age as that Of Franklin.
the lieutenant of marines, who has not
been located since he left the Raleigh
Hotel in September.
Detective Sergeant Fred Sanders,
official photographer and hngsrprint
expert of the Washington Police De-
partment, was sent to the spot. He
said that examination of the clothing
Indicated the dead man had worn q
black worsted suit and army Off
GERS shoes; that he had three gold
crowns in his mouth beside the two
gold bridges and that he had tive
false teeth.
FOUR CENTS IN POCKETS.
At Marine headquarters this morn
ing it was stated that the man
found dead Tailed in description
with Lieutenant Franklin. He had
only cents in his pockets. The
right arm was separated from the
body.
The police are mystified by the
presence near the body OF the wom-
mans handkerchief. Nor do they un-
derstand the presence of the chlorids
Of lime.
1t is the opinion OF States Attorney
Dawson that the man committed sui
eide and that he went to the spot with
this end in view,
Examination of the skull revealed
no indication Of a blow on the head