Evening star., 1927-03-23

NOHlIfiuSd lIOlI dSeJ
further investigation was postponed
until the Morgue was reached.
. There the identification was made
more certain when police removed two
rings from the woman's left hand.
One was a diamond solitaire-her en-
gagement ring. The other was the
ring with which DR.. Houck had sealed
their wedding. 1t was simple, white
gold band, engraved on the inner side
as follows:
*. II. n. to Gladys"
Coroner j. Ramsey hewitt was
called and made d superficial exam
ination. He announced that this had
disclosed no evidence of violence The
body was in such poor condition, how
ever, that only an autopsy can satisfy
this question permanently, and DR.
Herbert L. Martyr has been ordered
to perform this duty later this after
noon. A coroner's jury will be sworn
over the body tomorrow, but arrange
ments for an inquest will not be made
until it is decided whether DIR. Houck
can be brought back to Washington.
Houek's Arrest Ordered.
AS soon as Maj. Gordon heard that
Mrs. Houck had been found he called
where DR.. Houck could be located
Advised that he was in a sanitarium
at Madison. Wis, where DIR. Houcks s
mother lives, Maj. Gordon asked Supt
of Police HesSe TO order his arrest i'm
mediately. This order was carried out
within few minutes by Capt. En-
erSOn, and the authorities are now
awaiting some word from Madison.
After examining the spot where the
body was found, police said a person
could either have jumped into the
water at that point or have been
thrown in. Experts declared also that
it is probable the body had come up
in almost exactly the spot where il
had disappeared those last brief sec.
onds Of it's life.
The currents there are such that a
body would be held in position
throughout the cold months and re-
turn to the surface with the Spring
thaW.
When the police We're searching the
Potomac River last December in the
hope of finding Mrs. Houck's body no
thought, apparently. was given to the
Anacostia Bridge. Dragging opera
tiOns were confined to the waters near
the old steel plant, only about two
miles from the Houck home As a
result the body probably remained in
it's first grave until the seasonal ac-
tion of the water released it,
News Phoned to Father.
When John Walter Mrs Houck's
father, was reached at his home in
Canton, Ohio, by long distance tele-
phone. and told by The Star the de-
tails of the finding of his daughters
body, he said arrangements would be
made Immediately for it's disposition
Mrs. Walter, he said was Frustrated
by the news and that the presumptive
departure of members of the family
for Washington would wait upon a
family conference later today.
1T is a relief, however, to know
just what did happen to Gladys" Mr..
Walter said. I'VE had given up hope
long ago that she might still be alive.
We knew she would get in touch with
US right away if she had BEEN
"Ole" Houck, the 2l2-year-old son
of DR.. and Mrs. Houck, is with his
uncle, Earl V. Walter. in Canton.
ignorant that his mother has been
found at last.
Vanished i'm December.
The circumstances under which
Mrs. Houck disappeared from her
Congress Heights home last Decem-
Der provided the Washington police
with one of the most profound mys-
teries they have ever faced. For weeks
assisted from time to time by police
of dozen other cities, the authOri-
ties groped through a maze of clues
in an effort to establish whether she
had been murdered, whether she had |
committed suicide, or whether she
was alive and concealed somewhere.
But every trail faded into obscurity. |
Mrs. Houck was last seen alive the |
night of December IL when several |
doctors from st. Elizabeths Hospital |
called on her and her husband. who !
was then a member of the hospitals |
staff. For some weeks. it |
was said. these doctors realized that |
DR.. Houck was swaying on the verge |
of nervous breakdown. Their visit. |
relatives declared, furnished by mere |
accident the final event TO bring on
the breakdown.
Angered at Their Visit.
Or. Houck became violently anGered |
AT their calling and is said to have |
bluntly told them so before retiring I
without even saying good night. |
Shortly afterward, it was related, the |
doctors returned to the hospital and |
Or. and Mrs lIouck became engaged |
in what DR.. Houcl himself explained |
us "a violent quarrel" The young |
psychiatrist. his reason gone, returned |
to his bed and awoke just long enough |
Il few hours later. to see his pretty |
Young wife slip out of the door, he |
said.
Two days later DR.. Houck was !
found tramping around the streets of |
N. V. clothed in his under
wear and murmuring incantations to |
Allah. Hotel attaches declared that |
some time before they had heard him |
out from his room: shes
dead. She's dead! Ten thousand