Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-17
DEATH Of THOMAS
IS BELIEV DUE
TO HEART FAILURE
Body of Real Estate Dealer
Gives No Evidence of
Fatal Blow.
CHEMICAL EXAMINATION
YET TO BE COMPLETED
Strange Parallel to Details of Pre-
vious Accident Is Found in
Course of Inquiry.

An autopsy performed yesterday
afternoon over the body of j. Benson
Thomas, Washington real estate dealer
eliminated previous theories thai
Thomas might have been the victim Of
fatal blow. At present, the unofficial
opinion OF the examining physicians i,
that Thomas death was due to heart
failure. However, chemical examina-
ton Of the vital organs is being made.
Thomas body was found by shoe
store manager Friday in a rocky covert
of the Potomac River Valley just g
little beyond the District line in Mont
gomery County. John j. Kean was on
a fishing expedition when he came upon
the body lying face downward in q
shallow pool at the bottom OF a steep
favine.
Jaw Is Unbr0ken.
At first the medical opinion was that
Thomas had been struck blow on the
jaw hard enough to break it and prob
ably cause his death The autopsy,
performed at Rockville yesterday, how
ever, showed that the jaw was not
broken, but that there were surface
scratches and bruises on the face, such
as would have been encountered by a
the ravine.
The physicians who conducted the ex-
animation are SO satisfied that there
had been no foul play that Dr. William
T. Pratt, county health officer, who
had supervised the examination, decided
that no inquest would be necessary and
released the body for burial
At the same time he asked Dr. Oscar
Hunter, pathologiSt of George Wash
ington University Hospital, to make an
examination of the viscera. This ex-
animation was started yesterday after
noon, but it was explained that it would
take not less than two days to run
through the chemical tests. The ply
etcianS assisting DR.. Pratt in the ex-
animation were DR.. D. E. Hawkes. and
DIR. j. w. Bird of Rockville.
Drowning Eliminated.
The physicians found that the death
was not due to drowning. The examina-
ton showed there was no water in
Thomas lungs. In other words, when
Thomas fell into the water he was ap-
parently already dead. DR.. Pratt said
. that the Hkeliest explanation was that
Thomas suffered heart stroke while
standing or walking at the top of the
ravine, and that the bruises on his face
were received when he fell down to the
pool.
Mr.. Thomas disappeared Tuesday,
having been last seen at Fifteenth and
II streets northeast Tuesday afternoon
and at his office, No. Thomas Circle,
about noontime. His automobile was
found the next day parked near Chain
Bridge and it is thought he may have
left it there and gone for a stroll.
Strange Parallel.
The tragic circumstances of his death
bore a strange parallel to the details
of an accident in which he was involved
some three months ago, and which
came near costing him his life.
He was riding in his automobile
through Rock Greek when the car hit
q bump and he was catapulted into
q shallow branch. Another motorist
CHANGED by and took the unconscious
man out of the water in which he was
lying, saving his life.
A vigorous police search was under
way for Thomas at the time the body
was accidentally found Friday. When
his brother, Dom Thomas, found the
car at Chain Bridge Wednesday, police
began beating the underbrush of the
Potomac Valley and securing the river
for signs of the missing man. At night
they worked with the aid of flashlights
Thomas, who lived at 3710 Military
soad, leaves widow and two children