Evening star., 1953-09-19
MacIean Mystery
Deepens; Trainmen
Conflict on Stories
BY the Associosed Press


served today only to heighten
the mystery surrounding the dis
appearance of Mrs. Donald D.
Maclean, wife of a long missing
British diplomat.
Mrs. Maclean and her three
children vanished the night of
September II after putting her
automobile into garage at
Lausanne, Switzerland. Police
are trying to learn if she took
the Zurich-Vienna Orient Ex-
press and disappeared behind
the Iron Curtain. Two London
papers posted rewards tctaling
$33, 900 for information of her
whereabouts.
Oskar Rybiczka, a conductor
aboard the train, said he was
100 per cent certain" that the
Chicago-born woman did not
ride the express. But Police Chief
Charles Knecht of Geneva said
he was completely satisfied
that she did not produced q
ticket collector on the train to
bolster his statement.
Identified Through Photos.
Chief Knecht said Paul Glau-
ser, the collector, had identified
Mrs. Maclean and her family
without any question" from
photographs. Mr.. Glauser said
the MacleanS travelled to the
SwiSs-Austrian frontier in a
first class compartment as far as
the frontier station of BuchS.
Beyond Buchs, Mrs. Maclean
had to use an Austrian ticket,
which was not Mr.. Glauser'S
concern.
Chief Knecht said there was
little likelihood Mrs. Maclean
left the train at BuchS, where
she would have been more con-
SpicuouS than if she remained
in her darkened compartment.
If she wanted to reach Soviet
controlled territory she had the
choice of leaving the train dur
ing its 100-mile journey through
the Soviet zone to Vienna, or
going into the Soviet sector of
Vienna after the train arrived.
Conductor Is Positive.
Mr.. Rybiczka told newsmen in
Vienna, II have seen pictures of
Mrs. Maclean and I am positive
she was not in the sleeping car.
II remember pretty much
everybody who was on that train
and I am certain that there was
no lady or couple with three
children" he added. The police
chief of Lausanne. Switzerland
however. said yesterday that a
ticket collector had identified
Mrs. Maclean as woman who
boarded a train for Zurich last
Friday.
Representatives of the Aus
trian interior ministry. mean
while. reported efforts to estab-
lish definitely whether Mrs. Mac
lean actually entered Austria
had been utterly without re-
suit"
A British Embassy spokesman
said Austrian police had checked
all customs and police officials at
railroad crossings into the coun-
try.
AS police continued efforts
to solve the mystery, two mass
circulation London newspapers
the Daily Mail and Daily Ex-
press - offered cash rewards
totaling $4,000 to any one tell
ing them of Mrs. Maclean's
whereabouts.
The top offer came from Lord
Rothermere's Daily Mail, which
promised to pay 10000 pounds
($28,000) and stole the thunder
from Lord Beaverbrook'S rival
Express.
The Express promised 1000
pounds ($5,600) in its early edi-
tions but quietly dropped the
offer in later editions-''in view
of developments" an Express
spokesman said. He added, how
ever, that the reward was still
open.
Reports from Switzerland said
Swiss police, British agents and
Austrian police were working on
the theory that Mrs. Maclean
headed out of Switzerland for a
pre-arranged rendezvous with
her husband.
Mr.. Maclean disappeared 28
months ago with fellow British
diplomat Guy Burgess and both
were generally believed to have
gone behind the Iron Curtain
The two were foreign office ex-
perts on American affairs. Mr.
Maclean had sat in on joint
United States British Canadian
political conferences regarding
the atom bomb.