Evening star., 1922-10-06
BODY Of WOMAN,
WEIGHTED down,
FOUND IN POTOMAC
Flatir0n and Chunks of Paw
ing Attached to Corpse
in Shadows.
SUICIDE THEORY HELD
BY POLICE AFTER PROBE
Victim, Well Dressed, Shows No
Marks Of Violence-May Have
Been Drugged.

The body of a we'll dressed woman.
heavily weighted by a fatiron and
large cakes of asphalt paving. was
dragged early today from the shallow
waters Of the Potomac river near the
south end Of the Highway bridge.
The woman apparently had been in
the water for several days and the
body bore no marks by which IL
might be identified. Whether or not
tim Of assassins is a question the
police have been unable to solve.
Discovered by Fisherman.
The body was discovered by Charles
Sanford OF 313 Linworth place
southwest as he was setting out on
fishing trip. A short distance from
shore his attention was arrested by
a light blue garment floating on top
Of the water. Rowing to the spot.
the fisherman saw the woman's body.
partially embedded in the mud.
Sanford rowed quickly to shore. noti-
fed the police and aroused the tent col
ony that still occupies a resort known
as Jazz Beach," just off of which the
body lay No efforts were made to re-
lease the body from the Potomac until
the harbor police tug arrived and raised
it from the river bed by means of ropes
Around the waist was strapped an
eight-pound fiat iron, held tight by
means of belt. In the lining of cape.
which the woman still wore, were sew
eral cakes of asphalt paving as large
as building bricks. A small piece
of white string was still tied around
the iron. it probably having held the
price tag and indicating that the iron
was purchased recently.
Body Well Dressed.
A closer examination at the morgue
showed the woman to have been ex-
ceptionally well dressed. She wore a
blue crepe de chine frock of the latest
design A hat of the same material,
trimmed with flowers, was held to the
head by means of veil: the cape had
once been gray but was stained a light
olive drab by the muddy waters of'the
Potomac She wore black silk stock
ings and low shoes. Her underclothin3
was of the finest silk texture.
The woman was about forty-five
years old. feet inches in height
and weighed between lis and 120
pounds. Her hair was brown, slightly
mixed with gray. The size Of her
shoes was 3ta. She wore no jewelry
and there were no marks on her
clothing by which she might be
traced.
Suicide Theory Held.
Two facts lead the detectives to be-
lieve the woman might have commit
ted suicide. One Is the absence Of any
marks of violence on her body. The
other is the fact that the body rested
in comparatively shallow water. it
is not thought likely the current of
the Potomac would have been strong
enough to carry the woman any Cis
tance. so heavy were the weights, and
it is regarded as virtually certain
that the drowning occurred where
the body was found, whether self-in-
fiicted or by murderers.
Detectives Ira Keck and Harry
Burlingame were assigned to the
that the woman had killed herself.
If such is the case, however. the
police declare it to be one of the
strangest suicides on record That
any person could walk out into the
water, heavily weighted. and delib-
erately lie down in the mud to die
at first seemed incredible.
1t was suggested that the woman
might have been drugged and drop
ped into the river from a boat The
weights would have held her under
long enough to cause death before
She regained consciousness. Such
plan, it was pointed out, would account
for the absence of marks of violence
and the presence of a drug in the
system can be determined by the
autopsy.