Evening star., 1927-04-08
THREE PARTIES AID
HUNT FOR AUTO|ST
Frederick Hopper, Retired
/ Army Captain, Sought in
/ Area Near Great Falls.

Three parties were organized today
to search for Capt. Frederick Hopper,
5r., u. s. A, retired, whose disappear
ance from his machine shop at zoos
G street, Tuesday, was brought to
light yesterday, when his abandoned
automobile was discovered on Conduit
road, about a quarter-of-a-mile from
Great Falls.
At the same time, it developed that
Kopper's hat, wet and muddy, was
found "wednesday morning near Great
Falls by Robert Jenkins Of Conduit
road.
Boiling Field sent out one searching
party. Costello Post of the American
Legion, in which the missing man
holds membership, formed another,
and Koppers employees also banded
TO cooperate in the search.
Search Is Fruitless.
A long hunt in the woods around
Great Falls yesterday bore no fruit,
but the search was intensified today
when relatives of the former Army
the hat which Jenkins found.
AdpL. hODDcl . dulOitIOullG, t1I GA
pensive sedan, had evidently run from
the road and collided with a log
puncturing the rear right tire. The
automobile had been carefully locked
and no sign of disorder was evident
about it with the single exception
of cracks in the lower right-hand cor
ner of the windshield which it is be-
1ieved might have been caused by the
impact. The automobile was pulled
from the muddy side of the road this
morning and found to be in perfect
working order with the exception of
the battery, which had run down.
Foul Play Feared.
Mr.. and Mrs. Stuart Capen of 4
West Irving street, Chevy Chase, with
whom Capt. Hopper resided, and Miss
Carolyn Capen, their daughter, today
stated that they could think of no
reason for the disappearance of Capt.
Hopper. An intimation that they
feared foul play in his case came
when they stated emphatically that
they were positive he would have noti-
fed them If he were able to do so.
The closest clue to the last known
acts of Capt. Hopper was furnished
by Mr.. and Mrs. Jenkins. who said
man reused them and asked to be d.
rected to A telephone. 1t was dark
and they did not get a good look at
him. They remembered today that
the man asked whether Mr.. Jenkins
was a soldier. They directed him to
the home Of Charles Sullivan, not far
away and bit back from the road, as
"a place where a telephone might be
used.
Franklin Leads Search.
1t was also learned today that
man came through the rain to the
home of Mr.. Sullivan Tuesday night,
hut was unable to make himself un-
sderstood. The finding of the hat was
mot regarded as important by Mr..
Jenkins and his wife until today, when
they first learned of the missing man
and found that the hat belonged to
him.
Deputy United States Marshal Roy
Ferguson, who, with Policeman Old
field of the Montgomery County police
Force, co-operated in the search of the
woods. today expressed the opinion
sthat Capt. Hopper had made his way
back to Washington. The whole Sec
,tion of the neighborhood around
Great Falls yesterday failed to pro-
sduce any evidence of any violence
whatever. When Capt. Hopper left
his car, he pointed out, he must have
had possession of his faculties, be-
cause the car had been carefully lock-
ed and precahtion taken against its
sremoval.
The searching party of Costello Post,
which was organized and started
Operations at noon, was led by vii
3iam f. Franklin, the adjutant of the
post, who took action in the case as
soon as he learned that Capt. Hopper
was a former service man.
: Capt. Kopper's wife has been in q
sanatorium in Mamaroneck, N. Y, for
some time, it was said at his home to-
day. He was in perfect health and in
the best of spirits Monday evening at
his home, Mr.. Capen, his brother-in-
Jaw, said.
Hopper, an Englishman, was com
faissioned captain during the World
NVar and assigned to duty at the Bu-
reau Of Standards because Of his IA
gniliarity with the work of making in
Btruments. He has machine shops in
New York City and at Delaware
water Gap also.
Hopper is said to hvae frequently
carried large sum of money.