The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1938-04-04
Omen and Rangers Hunt.
Maniac Torture Slayer
Bodies of SOcialite
Mother, Daughter
Found in Desert

VAN dOtCN, lex, Apr1l 4
0.N.SO.-G-men, Texas Rangers
and hundreds of CCC workers
launched a gigantic man hunt to-
day through the desert regions of
West Texas for the torture killers
O ia socially prominent California
woman end her 23-year-old daugh-
ter.
Missing since last Wednesday,
the bodies of the two, Mrs. Weston
@ Frome, and Nancy Frome, %,
were found in the brush yesterday
six miles from here.
DR.. W w. Waite, coroner's as
sistant. said the women apparently
had fallen into the hands of a
mailman. Both of Nancy's hands
had been burned by cigarette
or cigar, and both victims had
been Choked, thrown face down
ward IN the ground and ap-
parent:v stamped upon
BOTH TORTURED
A large chunk of flesh had
either been gouged or bitten from
the arms OF Mrs. Frome, who was
the wife of the assistant sales
manager of the Atlas Powder Com
pany n Berkeley, Cal.
Death, DR., Waite said, probably
resulted from a AS caliber bullet
fired into Mrs. Frome's head and
a 80 caliber slug sent through
the left temple of the girl, Uni
versity of California graduate.
Both had been beaten about the
head with a blunt instrument, and
the older woman's skull was frac-
tured. Their dresses had been
ripped off.
POLICE Modified
All peace officers between Ell
PaSo and PecoS were modified to
search for the killers and an order
was sent out to pick up every
hitch-hiker in the far western
part of Texas, covering five
counties.
Gov. James v. Alfred offered
81 900 reward for information
leading to the arrest and convic-
ton of the killer or killers.
WOMEN ROBBED
Robbery, authorities said, was
perhaps the underlying cause Of
the crime. The car in which the
two were making a roSs-country
trip was found abandoned 40 miles
southwest of here last Wednesday
shortly after they were last seen.
Carrying about $4,000 in trav-
eler's checks and more than $500
| in cash, the women had been
stripped Of their possessions in
Guiding luggage and car tools. A
diamond ring was also taken from
Mrs. Frome, but she still wore her
wedding ring and a wrist watch.
Nancy still had a diamond ring
on her finger, but her wrist watch
was gone.
NOT MANY CLUES
The posses of rangers and Fed
eral investigators had few clues to
go on in their hunt. The condi-
ton of the bodies indicated the
women had been dead probably
since the day of their disappear
ance, giving the killers a tremen-
dous head start.
Nancy still clutched an I'M
marked mans handkerchief in one
hand and a packet Of matches
from an Ell Paso hotel in the other.
Dirt ground under her finger
nails and toe marks from her
shoes rummed into the ground in
dictated she was still alive when
left by the killers.
Tracks of a car in the soft soil
near which the bodies were found
lying on their faces side by side
were too faint to be traceable,
according to Sheriff A. A. Ander-
son.
An order, however, was broad
cast to be on the lookout for a
small blue coupe containing one
man, which Jim Milan. a truck
driver had seen following the
Frome car last Wednesday. He
said another man was riding in
the back seat of the Women's car.