Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-08-28
RIFFEY CASE
STILL MYSTERY
Woman Regaining Consciousness
Taxi Driver In Jail-AlIeged
Crime of Sunday Night

skull and number of wounds on he
body.
In the Woodstock Jail, Marvi
Shaffer. a New Market youth. is be
ing held for being responsible for tn
woman's condition.
The circumstances surrounding tn
case are mysterious, as only Shaffe
and the woman know just what hap
pened Sunday night during an auto
mobile ride from Strasburg to Fish
er's Hill.
/ Miss Riffey, as is stated by Misse
Nellie and Edna Jenkins of Strasburl
attended Epworth League services il
the Methodist Church in that town
They saw her after leaving them, en-
ter a car with man, but neither O
them have identified this man a,
Shaffer.
Late Sunday night R. NJ Sherman
a Southern Railway employe entered
his home and found the woman OF
the kitchen floor, unconscious ant
drenched with blood from her man,
wounds. The clothes were almos
torn from her body and there were
evidences of fierce struggle
/ Shaffer says that at the foot OF
Fishers Hill, on the return journey
to town that Miss Riffey jumped
from the rapidly moving automobile
and that. she was dragged by the car
causing the girls injuries and the
torn condition of her apparel
There were indications that she
had been dragged some distance. II
is assumed that she was at least drag
ged from the automobile to the kitch.
en-, where she was found by Sherman
The prisoner has assumed a reti-
cence since first acknowledging hav-
ing been out with the injured wo,
man, which contributes to the mys.
terry of just what happened on the
Inflated ride.
The Winchester Star of Wednesday
afternoon says:
THE mystery over the case Of Miss
Clara Riffey, the Strasburg girl who
is in Winchester Memorial Hospital
suffering from injuries sustained
Sunday night, is still unsolved. as
she fingers unconscious and has
therefore, been unable to tell how
she sustained her injuries.
An X-Ray examination made Tues,
day at the hospital disclosed there is
not any fracture of the skull, and as
she has been unconscious for nearly
70 hours, or since she was found al
the home of Mr.. and Mrs R. M. Sher-
man in Strasburg Sunday night, the
attending physicians believe Miss Riff.
fey is suffering from poison of some
kind. probably of narcotic charac-
ter.
This is the only theory upon which
to accoun for her long continued pc
Rod of Inconsistencies.
Mother Visits Daughter
Tuesday, Miss Riffey's mother
Mrs. Lucy. Riffey of Lost City, w. Va.
visited her daughter in the hospital
but as she was unconscious, no word
! passed between them. After watch
ing at her daughters bedside through
the day, Mrs. Riffey returned home
and explained to hospital attendants
! that she would be back to her daugh
4 ter later this week.
/ When Miss Riffey was frs
brought to the hospital Monday
morning, she was bleeding slightly al
the nose. This led physicians to be
! lieve she had sustained a fracture
of the skull, but as there was no Wis
ible depression, yet the certain symp
toms of fracture were present-tht
nose bleeding-an X-Ray examina
tion was determined upon. When the
negative was developed, it was seer
that there was no fracture whatever
Dope Theory Held
/ Now that 20 hours, or approx
mately three days and nights, have
passed since Miss Riffey was fount
unconscious, the physicians are at ;
loss to account for the continued stu
por in which she remains The drug
ging theory is therefore the mos
plausible one.
Miss Riffey's two girl friends
Misses Nellie and Edna jenkins, o
Strasburg, both declare that she wa
all right when they left her dow
town in Strasburg Sunday night afte
the trio had attended the Epwortl
League servic at the Methods
Church.
1t was then, according to the au
thorities. after parting with TIL
Misses Jenkins. that Miss Riffey me
, Shaffer and agreed to take the rid
in his car. He says that while driy
ing along the pike, the car gave
lurch and she fell out of it into tn
roadway. He picked her ND. drov
back to Strasburg with he unconsci
Gus girl Driving to the Sherma
home, he went through the from
doorway. carrying the girl and depos
tied her body in the kitchen and lei
without notifying anyone in the hous
of the condition of the girl"
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