An unsolved crime! White slavery and houses of ill-repute (road houses) formed the background of the murder mystery on Broad Mountain. On April 5, 1925, the badly burned body of a young woman was found on Broad Mountain, near Gordon, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was quickly determined that the woman had been murdered. Initially, the investigation by the State Police focused on identifying the victim, but that met with no success. The individuals who were taken in for questioning were suspected of being involved with road houses near the state highways that ran through the coal regions north to Scranton – but none of these individuals were ever charged in the Broad Mountain murder – nor was the victim ever positively identified.
The Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, newspapers, The News and The Item, covered the story extensively and some of those stories are presented here (below). At times the stories are confusing. However, the papers did provide area residents with the understanding that there was a network of road houses in the area, that the women who were identified as victims were part of the white slave trade, and that the State Police did not seem to be doing anything about it. There was also the usual suggestion that somehow a “negro” was involved – although the story was never connected to the crime, or any crime for that matter – and that Italians were responsible for the vice rings operating the houses of ill-repute – again, not proven.
Three things should be mentioned: (1) Dr. Robert D. Spencer, who examined the body of the dead woman, later became known as “The Angel of Ashland,” for the significant number of abortions he performed; (2) Vice rings were operating in the coal regions and were the subject of raids in the 1930s – previously reported here in a story about Mary Mosely and “White Slavery;” and (3) The Ku Klux Klan, which became a dominant intimidating force in Schuylkill and Upper Dauphin Counties in the mid-1920s, was very opposed to prostitution and infidelity, and sometimes took action against individuals involved.
And, as suggested by one of the articles below, the whole episode was cast in the belief that the spirit of the murdered woman was moving about the mountain, howling and screeching at night. The ghost stories that evolved from the Broad Mountain Murder Mystery will be presented in a future blog post.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, April 7, 1925:
MURDERED WOMAN WAS DEAD OR UNCONSCIOUS WHEN SHE WAS BURNED
The state police continue their investigation in the Broad Mountain murder case but are unable to pick up any clues that would connect anyone with the killing and burning. They were satisfied with the identification of the burned body as that of Annie Richards, also known as that of Mrs. Charles Smith and as “Humpty” Sullivan. They were also satisfied after the autopsy, conducted by Dr. Spencer on Monday afternoon at the undertaking parlors of William S. Mills at Ashland, that the girls death was due to a blow over the head, that killed or stunned her and that after his deed had been committed, that the body was saturated with kerosene and then it was set afire.
Dr. Spencer made a careful examination of the body during the autopsy. The scull was not fractured as it was first supposed, but there is a two inch cut on the side of the head, which looks as though she had been cut with a knife. A lot of blood was on the forehead, which was possibly caused by a blow.
On the right forearm is what looks like a deep cut, which may have been made by a knife. Again the flesh may have cracked from being charred, so that the doctor is not yet sure about this.
The Deputy Coroner is satisfied that the girl was dead or unconscious then burned for there is some flesh in her back untouched and also a small patch of hair on the back of her head untouched from the flames. This gives the doctor the impression that she was at least unconscious then burned for had she been conscious the pain would have caused her to twist and squirm at least and every part of her body would have been at least scorched.
It is intimated in Pottsville that the State Police have valuable clues that will possibly lead to startling discoveries in a short time.
Just before midnight, last night, the state police were running down two clues one of which was that of seeing the Sullivan girl get into an automobile the day she was missing and the other was one that dealt from her Peacock Street residence with her whereabouts previous to that day which the state police believed would give them sufficient evidence….
Monday night, some letters were found by the state police, but none of these threw any light on the crime nor did they give the state police and information whatever that would give them a lead of any sort. An examination of her room, showed that she had evidently figured on returning, and there was nothing to indicate that she intended being away from the place for any length of time.
The two women who identified the girl were questioned again on Monday night, but neither of them was able to give the police any authoritative statements as to her plans when she left the house, other than she had told them she would be home early Sunday evening and that they would enjoy some music at home and spend the Sunday evening in that way.
The names of more that a half dozen men, with whom she was known to have associated were given to the state police from one source or another on Monday night and the state police had every available man running down these clues even into the early hours, Tuesday morning.
District Attorney Palmer, who was present at the autopsy and took personal charge of the case, declared it was the worst case in the history of the county and he expressed the belief that it was the type of case where the perpetrator of the crime could not escape the wide reaching hand of the law. There was one theory that the state police had on which they consulted with the district attorney, and on which he refused to make any comment that might possibly result in their making an arrest.
The visit of the state police and district attorney, and the two women that identified the body, in the spot where the hideous crime was committed, was one that will not be forgotten by any of the party in years to come. The spot is at the top of the Broad Mountain, where the only road branches off the main road. Like all crimes the person or persons committing it made one mistake and it is that mistake that will likely result in the running down of the murderer or murderers. They neglected to take the body into thick brush but committed the act less than two feet off the branch road and only fifty feet from the main road from Gordon to Heckscherville.
The impression the state police got is that whoever did the act, first struck the Sullivan girl over the head with a stone or perhaps the broken jug that was found there and then set fire to her body, after applying a large amount of kerosene. There is every indication of it being a greater party than two, for the appearance of the place leads the police to believe that some members of the party were intoxicated and that perhaps it was during this intoxicated melee that the crime was committed and that whoever killed her, trying to hide the crime, evidently not meaning to kill her, burned the body to try and hide the crime.
One detail of state police, investigating the life of the Sullivan girl, learned that she with three sisters were admitted to the Almshouse some years ago. The date of her birth was given as 1895. Two of her sisters died at the institution and a third is still in that institution. There is no record as to the whereabouts of her mother and father. The reports that the state police have is that her husband, Charles Smith, is now residing in Reading, though there are conflicting reports regarding him, some stating that he is dead. The report at the barracks shows that she had three children, two of whom are dead and the other is in an institution in Spring City, where she has constantly been paying to have the child supported there.
For some time she resided in East Mount Carbon, employed as a housekeeper there, until she moved on Mahantongo Street, Pottsville. On the 16th of March, she moved to the Peacock Street address and resided there only a short time, for it was from this address that she went to her death.
The identification of the girl came on Monday afternoon, Mrs. Delores Soderstrom and Mrs. Lily Bennethon of 341 Peacock Street, Pottsville, who live in the same dwelling that the girl occupied, residing above her, were satisfied that both of them felt the murdered girl was Anna Sullivan. The first bit of identification was through pink garters, then through a seater of olive green, with yellow stripes. Then the next thing that assured them was the identification by Mrs. Bennethron of one of the rings. They were taken to the state police barracks and shown the small bits of charred clothing and at the sight of the sweater both women immediately said it was the kind she wore. Then they identified the dress she wore, then the stockings, then the coat with Persian collar and bottom and then they identified other bits of undergarments. Feeling sure that the identification was positive, the two women were taken to Ashland, where they were kept in the parlor of the Mills undertaking establishment, until the body was prepared for them to look at. As both women reached the top of the steps, they exclaimed that the body was that of Anna Sullivan, their identification being made by the few featured of her face that they could recognize, by her teeth and fingers.
Mrs. Soderstrom fainted and had to be led out by the state policemen but recovered sufficiently to be taken to the scene of the crime, where another search was made in the hope of seeing some of her personal property. On Monday evening, Mrs. Soderstrom again fainted at her home, while the state police were quizzing witnesses. She is suffering from the effects of the sight of the charred body.
The possibility that the girl may have been accidentally burned to death, disappeared when it was found that the girl had several gashes and cuts over the eye.
She had left home Sunday a week ago saying she would be back that evening, but never did and was seen entering an automobile at Morris and South Centre Streets, Pottsville.
The most tangible evidence for identification of the girl is as follows:
1. Gold ring with two rubies and four pearls.
2. A gold ring, almandine garnet center and two smaller red stones.
3. Imitation earl in tiffany belcher, six prongs.
4. Cheap gold wire ring.
5. Gold band ring, medium width engraving through center also worn off.
6. Gold plated ring with large imitation pink stone.
In the case holding this collection now in possession of the “Staties,” was also a string of cheap pearls, and a wisp of hair which were of the utmost aid to the police in running down types of missing girls who might have been the victims.
The Clothing
Drying in the sun back of the State Police barracks yesterday was a collection of blood-soaked patches of clothing which the police had claimed from the remains of the corpse which now lies in an Ashland morgue. The parts are badly burned and have about them a heavy smell such as of engine oil. Not far away from the body a broken jug was found and it is believed that the perpetrator of the crime threw this oil on the body.
After a close examination, the police gave out the following description of the clothing: Flesh colored lisle stockings; flesh colored corset with silk stripes; tan and light blue Persianna coat; skirt, color olive, dark green and yellow small stripes; flesh colored georgette waist; silk chemise; coat and skirt had small round metal buttons, like buckshot.
The Discovery
It was the cawing of crows flying up and down from a clump of bushes that aroused the suspicions of a group of arbutus pickers, and led to the gruesome discovery on top of Broad Mountain.
The Crows Caw
The spot of the gruesome murder lies 50 feet on abandoned log road from Heckscherville to Ashand. It can be seen from the highway since there are no tall trees. The remains were found on the ground with thick clots of blood spattered about. The crows cawed almost directly over the heads of the finders as if expressing displeasure with strangers disturbing the feast that the savagery of man had spread before them. Already that had gouged their bills into the face and neck and eaten deep into the toasted flesh.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, April 11, 1925:
LOCAL MEN WITNESSES IN MURDER MYSTERY
Seven people from between Aristes and Numidia whom the state police are in hopes can help throw some light on the mystery of the Broad Mountain murder, accompanied by State Troopers to Pottsville yesterday afternoon.
The names of the people are Donald Howells, Joseph Palmio, John Fisher, Michael Dedo, Emmerson Dettrey, Pauline White, and Margaret Lamar.
The police are thoroughly investigating the disappearance of the girl who left her grip at the local station before going to Shamokin. The girl had stated she came from Sunset Inn and was going to Shamokin. Efforts are being made to identify her and then find if she might be the girl who was murdered.
Three More Taken
Joseph Credito and Louis Muff, of this city, and a chauffer, name unknown, were taken to Pottsville by State Police which morning, the officers hoping that they may be able to throw some light on the mystery.
Marion Heights Girl
Late information gathered up by the police indicates that the girl who was murdered on Broad Mountain was a Marion Heights girl.
What may be definite information was given to the police by a conscience-stricken man, of Mount Carmel, who stated that he could not sleep since the murder was disclosed, until he would tell the officers of the law.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, April 11, 1925:
HAT MAY GIVE POLICE CLUE
Will the hat of the woman who was murdered and her half-burned body found on Broad Mountain lead to the discovery of the murderer? ….
The murder mystery on Gordon Mountain seems no nearer solution today though than it was the day it was discovered. In fact, the countless clues appear to have complicated things.
No fewer than fifty letters have been received by the authorities making inquiries of missing girls and women and many of these letter gave descriptions that tally in some respects with the marks on the body of the murdered woman, and there have also been many similarities in the clothes.
One missing girl wore a henna hat, but her coat was brown. Another had an appendicitis operation, but her hair was blonde and bobbed. A third wore a pink sapphire ring, but to her mother’s knowledge, she had never been operated on. There are dozens of similarities, and equally as many facts at variance.
It is even a moot question whether the woman on Gordon Mountain was killed by a blow she received on her head, or was merely rendered unconscious and that her death was caused by burning. When the body was found, one arm was thrown up, as if to ward off a blow from her face, and her mount was wide open and drawn to one side as if in mortal terror and agony.
So great is the mystery that fourteen state troopers are working night and day on the case. They have untiringly run down every clue that has come to them. Captain Gearhart, commander of the troop, is devoting his entire time to the investigation.
However the conviction deepens that this woman was incinerated before her body was carried to the place in which it was found. Bits of dead leaves and twigs clinging to the collar of the coat tend to substantiate this theory. Even the slightest fire would have burned these wisps of dry and dusty foliage. It is all a vicious circle of who, why, when, where and how?
The broken jug found near the body has sand sticking to its side. The oil used to pour over the body was heavy and sand would cling to any container that had held this oil even though a rain storm such as there was prior to the finding of the murdered woman’s body.
That the henna hat found on Gordon Mountain is furnished clues to the murder of the woman is shown by a report from Frackville and vouched for by Al Knopple, of that place. Mr. Kopple is employed by the East Penn Electric Company and was working around the substation on March 24 [1925], when his attention was attracted by a group of three people siting under the trees outside the road leading from Frackville to Pottsville.
Their conduct was such that Mr. Knopple called it to the attention of several men. He secured a pair of field glasses to enable him to see better. Two of this group were white women and the third was a colored man. One of the women was young, wore a bright red hat, a black coat with large collar, high laced shoes and light colored stockings.The other woman appeared to be about forty-five years old and was dressed entirely in black with a large black hat.
The negro was a tall man, about six feet in height and was thin an lanky. When standing, both women were about as tall as the negro’s shoulders. Mr. Knopple says that he could readily identify all of these people.
This trio was first noticed at about 2:30 o’clock on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24th [1925]. It was about 4:15 of the same afternoon that the negro put the two women on the car [trolley] coming to Pottsville, but did not get on the car with them, according to Knopple.
This information was furnished to the state police who made a trip to Frackville to get all possible evidence, ad to follow up any additional clues that might be forthcoming.
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From the Mount Carmel News, April 11, 1925:
FIVE LOCAL MEN TAKEN BY STATE POLICE;
SUSPECTS IN MURDER CASE
Louis Muff, Local Hotel Man, and Two Others Now Prisoners at the State Police Barracks — Others Are Quizzed Here This Morning
Louis Muff, Oak Street cafe proprietor and two other local Italians, are held prisoners today at the Pottsville barracks and two others were being detained by state troopers at City Hall at 10:30 this morning in connection with the murder mystery involving the finding of the body of a girl on the Broad Mountain last Sunday afternoon.
Interrogated by a representative of the Mount Carmel News, the state troopers here this morning refused to make any statements other than to [say] that they have several men under arrest and others under surveillance.
From other sources it was learned that evidence developed yesterday to warrant the state police taking Muff and two other Italians to the Pottsville barracks to put them through the third degree.
It is alleged that Muff is owner or manager of several roadhouses located along state highways in the vicinity of Pottsville, Ringtown, Tamaqua and Hazleton, and the inference has gone out that a girl is missing from one of these houses.
Efforts to obtain information from the officers in charge of the barracks at Pottsville failed, the troopers letting it be known that no definite facts would be available for publication through the press for several hours.
From what could be learned from semi-official sources, developments in the mysterious murder and burning of the body of an unidentified girl came fast during yesterday afternoon and early last evening and were of sufficient strength to warrant the arrest of Muff and two other local Italians. It was impossible to get the names of the other Italians arrested with Muff.
Just before going to press The News was informed by the state police authorities at Pottsville that two additional local residents had been arrested, making a total of seven at present under interrogation by the state troopers.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, April 25, 1925:
Sunday, April 5, 1925: Entire state horrified at the finding of the badly burned body of a murdered girl on top of Broad Mountain by Mr. and Mrs. Claude Duncan, of Gordon.
Monday, April 6, 1925: Body identified as that of Mrs. Anna Richardson.
Tuesday, April 7, 1925: Dr. Spencer found that murdered girl no doubt met death by stabbing with a knife or similar sharp instrument.
Wednesday, April 8, 1925: Mrs. Richardson is found alive at Shamokin, thus upending case.
Tuesday, April 14, 1925: Head of murdered girl is identified as that of Lillian Tyler, by relatives and friends.
Wednesday, April 15, 1925: Mother of Lillian Tyler denied that the head at the hospital was that of her daughter, Lillian.
Thursday, April 16, 1925: Police still think murdered girl to be Lillian Tyler and conduct their investigation on that presumption.
Wednesday, April 22, 1925: Mother alleges that she received a letter from Lillian Tyler who is in Detroit. Letter is given to police and investigation of the missive is started.
Saturday, April 25, 1925: Mrs. Thomas Davis, Mount Carmel, expected home tonight from Detroit, where she went to see if her sister Lillian Tyler is still living.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, April 27, 1925:
THE BROAD MOUNTAIN MURDER MYSTERY DEEPENS WITH TYLER GIRL ALIVE
STATE POLICE START ANEW THEIR EFFORTS TO LEARN IDENTITY OF MURDER VICTIM
The Broad Mountain murder mystery attained greater depth with the finding late Friday afternoon of Lillian Tyler, believed to have been the victim of the atrocious murderer or murderers, who attempted to destroy the body of their victim thru the medium of incineration with gasoline.
Lillian Tyler Bielicki and her husband Stanley Bielicki, were located in Detroit, Michigan, late Friday afternoon by Lieutenant Carlson of the State Police, and Mrs. William Davis, of East Third Street, this city. The trooper and Mrs. Davis went to the automobile city after Mrs. Francis O’Connor, mother of Lillian Tyler, had received a letter from the girl at her home in Shamokin.
The letter set forth that Lillian had married Stanley Bielicki shortly after leaving her home at Shamokin on April 1 and that they had motored in a Ford to Detroit to locate. They gave their address as 524 Congress Street.
State Police were apprised of the letter and obtained possession from Mrs. O’Connor. Friends denied that it was Lillian’s handwriting and the troopers were led to believe the letter either a forgery or a hoax.
Accompanied by Mrs. Davis, Lieutenant Carlson left Wednesday evening for Detroit. Arriving there they went to 524 Congress Street and were informed that Stanley Bielicki and his wife had left the Congress Street address on Wednesday, the day upon which the trooper and Mrs. Davis left for the western city. The lieutenant learned that the couple had been at the Congress Street apartment for a period of ten days and left without leaving their address.
Locate the Girl
Learning where Mrs. Bielicki, formerly Lillian Tyler, had given as her place of employment, Lieutenant Carlson was successful in finding the girl at work as a waitress in a restaurant. Appraised of the mission of the trooper and Lillian’s half-sister, Mrs. Davis, the girl declared that she had never heard or read of the crime and had no knowledge that she was accepted as the victim of the tragedy.
To Mrs. Davis and Lieutenant Carlson, Lillian told of her departure from Shamokin with Stanley Bielicki and of their marriage enroute to Detroit. They made the journey by automobile, the occupying more than a week. They had read no papers and therefore had not learned of the Broad Mountain murder mystery which filled the press of the nation for several days following the finding of the body and later with the identification of the head of the body as that of Lillian Tyler.
To Remain in Detroit
Lillian and her husband informed their unexpected visitors that it was their intention to remain in Detroit, and planning to continue at employment and ultimately provide a home for themselves.
With the receipt of news from Lieutenant Carlson, their was renewed activity at the state police barracks at Pottsville. Captain Gerhart called in the most capable of his assistants and assigned to them the task of finding new clues in the mystery.
Are Perplexed
It is needless to say that the state police are perplexed over the turn of events.
With the head identified by more than eight persons as that of Lillian Tyler, the identification of clothing and jewelry and other facts… the state police are preparing to weave a net of evidence to hold several persons for the crime.
It was three weeks yesterday wince the finding of the charred body on the side of Broad Mountain near Gordon by motorists. early clues indicated that the body was that of Anna Richardson-Sullivan, of Pottsville, but in the midst of this excitement, the Richardson woman was located at Shamokin.
Then followed the identification on April 14 [1925] of the head as that of Lillian Tyler, of Shamokin. That night, the girl’s mother, Mrs. Francis O’Connor, refuted the identification. Subsequently intimates of the Tyler girl also mad identification of the body as that of Lillian Tyler and the police believe that they had been successful in their toil.
However, they continued at the mystery in an effort to locate the murderer of murderers and in doing so were successful in establishing additional identifications, all indicating the body as that of Lillian Tyler.
List of the Missing
The state police have had for some time made a list of missing girls…. It is possible that one of these may have been the murder victim and the efforts of the state troopers will be in this direction during the next several days.
The mystery, now one of the most perplexing in the annals of the coal region, has held the interest of hundreds of thousands of persons in all parts of the United States. Photographers from metropolitan newspapers have taken scores of “shots” of the scene of the finding of the body while correspondents have been in the region upon diverse occasions to rewrite the facts as they developed in advance of their coming.
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From the Mount Carmel Daily News, April 27, 1925:
MRS. DAVIS DECLARES SHE FAILED TO FIND LILLIAN IN DETROIT
NEW ANGLE TO MURDER MYSTERY;
REPORTER HAS INTERVIEW WITH LOCAL WOMAN AT HER HOME HERE;
TALKS OF TRIP TO MICHIGAN CITY
Ten troopers were sent out today from the state police barracks at Pottsville to make the most careful check-up they have undertaken since the body of an 18-year-old girl was found on the Broad Mountain, burned beyond identification, four weeks ago.
All efforts have been in vain with the finding of Lillian “Babe” Tyler alive at Detroit. For two weeks police authorities were certain the murdered girl was Lillian Tyler, formerly of Shamokin, but later an inmate of several road houses thruout the coal region. Much confidence was placed in this assumption until suddenly Mrs. Francis O’Connor received a letter at her Shamokin home signed by the missing girl. Lieutenant Carlson, of the state police, immediately went to an address in Detroit which was attached to the letter. There he found Lillian employed as a waitress in a small eating house.
Rumors have been circulated about Mount Carmel that Lillian Tyler visited at the home of her step-sister, Mrs. William Davis, at 638 East Third Street, in this city. The supposed visit was to have been made shortly before the finding of the body on Broad Mountain. Mrs. Davis denied any knowledge of this story at her home this morning. “Is it true that Lillian Tyler visited at your home before leaving for Detroit?”
Mrs. Davis was asked. “Positively , no,” was the answer. “Lillian is a half sister of mine, but I have not seen her for some time. I did not know until I read of it that she was in Detroit.”
Mrs. Davis also denies any knowledge of correspondence between Lillian and Mrs. O’Connor, stating that she has not seen Mrs. O’Connor for a long time. Lillian has not written to Mrs. Davis since she is in Detroit.
State police authorities at Pottsville have expressed a determination to solve the Broad Mountain mystery, especially since the finding of Lillian “Babe” Tyler in Detroit has placed all the clues back to where the mystery first started.
Mrs. Davis this morning stated that on her visit to Detroit she had not seen Lillian but that she and Lieutenant Carlson had talked with three young men, two of them from Mount Carmel and one from Exchange, who had ridden with her to the Michigan city. They told the trooper and Mrs. Davis that they were unaware of Lillian’s location at the present time, because of the fact they were unaware of Lillian’s location a the present time, because of the fact that the four had been “put out” of a boarding house for failure to pay their bill.
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From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, May 1, 1925:
GIRL FOUND LIVING
Lillian Tyler, age 16, Shamokin, believed to have been the girl whose charred body was found on Broad Mountain near here on April 5 [1925] was found in a Detroit rooming house, alive and married, last Friday. She was identified by her step-sister, Mrs. Nellie Davis, of Shamokin, who had made the trip from Pottsville with Lieutenant Albert Carlson of the Pottsville troop of State Police. She had left her home on Mrch 25, and not until 10 days ago did she write her mother, Mrs. Francis O’Connor, of Shamokin, her whereabouts.
This is the second time since the discovery of the body that the State Police had apparently identified the body only to have the suspected girl turn up alive.
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From the Mount Carmel Daily News, May 13, 1925:
STARTLING DISCLOSURES IN GIRL TRAFFIC IN THIS PART OF STATE ARE ANTICIPATED
FEDERAL AGENTS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTING QUIET INVESTIGATION AN PROMISE ACTION
Details of a sordid traffic in young girls by owners of a chain of road houses in this section of the state are expected t be bared within a few days as the result of the activities of federal and state investigations into the activities of white slavery, since the finding of the charred remains of a young girl on the Broad Mountain.
The authorities have been quietly working on the theory that the girl was an inmate of one of the houses located in the Schuylkill Valley and that her murderers were scared away from the spot on Broad Mountain before the body had been completely destroyed with fire.
While it has not been generally known, the federal agents, under Foster, of Philadelphia, have been working on this. Columbia and Schuylkill Counties since the finding of the charred remains and intimate that startling disclosures will be made within a short time.
They have been conducting their investigation in a quiet manner as possible and the first case to come into court as a result of their activities in this section was the arrest and arraignment of Albert Kresch, of Berwick, on charges of having transported a young girl from that place to a house of ill-repute in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A seventeen-year-old girl was placed in a reform institution following her hearing before the court in Bloomsburg.
The ring is said to have extended its activities to Detroit, Chicago, Paterson, New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia.
For fear that some of those suspected of implication in the activities of the rig would flee from this section, the authorities have been conducting their work with the utmost secrecy but expect that many missing girls will be located as a result of their activities and that the mystery of the Broad Mountain murder may be clearly eventually.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, June 15, 1925:
AGNES SAHM’S STORY NOT BELIEVED
Since Mrs. Agnes Trefsgar Sahm‘s description of Miss Marie Sheldon, whom the local girl indicates is the person whose charred body was found on Broad Mountain, does not coincide with the measurements taken by Dr. Robert D. Spencer, of the staff at the State Hospital at Fountain Springs, when the body was first found, the public is wondering if Mrs. Sahm will identify the the head or clothing as that of a third person.
Shortly after the body was found she identified clothing found under the body as positively those of Miss Babe Tyler. Now she identifies the head as that of Miss Marie Sheldon.
A member of the state police force from the Reading barracks was in Mount Carmel Saturday afternoon and was in conference with local officers in regard to the stories concerning the Broad Mountain murder mystery which have been given some publicity during the past week. He says that the stories were news to him and the other members of the troop. On June sixth, Agnes Trefsgar Sahm of this city phoned to the barracks saying that she had important news to disclose to the officers of the other members of the law. A meeting was arranged for that day in Mount Carmel but when the officers came her they were unable to locate the woman. They were compelled to return to Reading without interviewing her.
The policemen who were detailed on the case were busy in court at Reading all last week and could not return here to investigate Agnes Sahm‘s assertion that she thought the murdered woman was Marie Sheldon of Wilkes-Barre. An endeavor was made to find Miss Trefsgar last Saturday but without success. The Trefsgar woman in one of her statements said that the Sheldon girl was only 16 years old. Persons who are acquainted with her say that she is at least 24 years of age.
Police officers who are acquainted best with the circumstances of the Broad Mountain murder case are of the opinion that the local woman is making these statements for the purpose of gaining notoriety for herself and are placing very little credence in her statements. An investigation is being made by police to locate the Sheldon woman to disprove the published statements.
An investigation is being made by police to locate the Sheldon woman to disprove the published statements that it was she who was murdered and her body burned on the Broad Mountain sometime about the first of April. The state police have important clues in the mystery which are not being made public. For a time after the finding of the body it was thought that a Shamokin girl named Lillian Tyler was murdered but she was later found in Detroit where she went with a local young man and was deserted by him several days after their arrival there.
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From the Mount Carmel Daily News, June 20, 1925:
STILL BELIEVES THE DEAD GIRL MISS SHELDON
Miss Agnes Trefsgar, inmate of famous road houses, and the young woman who expressed the belief that the girl found burned to death on the Broad Mountain on April 5 [1925], still contends that the murdered girl is Marie Sheldon.
Miss Irene Yodis, girl friend of Miss Trefsgar, and who, until Wednesday afternoon was an inmate of a Shamokin house of ill repute, was, when last interviewed, firm in her belief that the murdered girl is none other than Lillian Tyler, the girl first suspected in the case.
The complication is interesting in view of the fact that both girls were friends of Lillian Tyler. But the fact that proves most interesting is that Irene Yodis confided to a News reporter last Monday afternoon that she had a personal and complete knowledge of the Broad Mountain murder mystery. She hastened to explain that she was not present at the Sunset Inn on the night of the fatal occurrence. She said she was enlightened by a male companion who was there but she swore she would not divulge the secret she had been entrusted with.
In an effort to extract the secret that has baffled state police and detectives in this section since the finding of the body, a reporter solicited the aid of a friend of Miss Yodis. The friend, who wishes to have her name withheld, was not at the Shamokin address at the time Miss Yodis left so, when the girl left for parts unknown the story of the mysterious murder went with her.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, August 24, 1925:
GOVERNMENT MEN TO COMB ROAD HOUSES
The recent re-opening of the Broad Mountain murder case, where the charred body of a woman was found several months ago, has resulted in the speeding up of the investigation into region vice and it was learned on Sunday that government agents were coming to this section this week to make a thorough survey.
Failure of the county authorities to clean out the road houses and the withdrawal of the State Police from this region, have put the government agents into position to come into the region and comb it for road houses.
The investigation into the Broad Mountain mystery has divulged more than a score of white slave acts and even in this recent re-opening of the case, it has learned that a body of men, apparently, have visited this region on several occasions.
The State Police have been advised of the recent developments in the Broad Mountain case. Ever since they left Pottsville and located in Reading, little or nothing has been done on the case and one of their men, Trooper Hughes, worked on the case a short time on several occasions.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, August 26, 1925:
CLUES COLLAPSE IN BROAD MOUNTAIN MYSTERY
The Broad Mountain murder mystery remains unsolved as the latest clue has been investigated and the theory that the burned body of an unidentified girl, whose remains were found on the summit of the Broad Mountain several months ago, was Mrs. Marie Cartalina, Pottsville, has been abandoned by the authorities, it was learned today.
Accompanied by Sergeant Keller and Trooper James Hughes, who made a special trip from the barracks at Reading, Pennsylvania, yesterday. Mrs. Catalina’s mother viewed a hat, jewelry and clothing and said positively that they did not belong to her daughter.
Alfredo Catalina, husband of Mrs. Marie Catalina, who was picked up by the State troopers in St. Clair yesterday, said he knew his wife had run away with Joseph Tussina, a boarder in the Catalina home, several months ago.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, October 2, 1925:
49 ROAD HOUSES IN COAL REGION
State health authorities are responsible for the statement that there are forty-nine roadhouses in the hard coal regions, from Shamokin to Old Forge, near Scranton.
This does not include the smaller anthracite field , which runs from Pottsville across the Dauphin County line.
Frequently girls are decoyed into these places.
For a time after the Broad Mountain girl case, in which the body of a young woman was found charred beyond recognition, there was a demand for a crusade against these resorts, but it seems to have died down.
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From the Mount Carmel Daily News, November 10, 1925:
NEW CLUES IN BROAD MOUNTAIN MYSTERY
Information from Reading this afternoon was to the effect that new and important clues have been unearthed in the Broad Mountain murder mystery and there is a likelihood that arrests will be made within the next twenty-four hours.
Captain Gearhart of the state police said: “We have found new and important clues in the Broad Mountain murder mystery; we may have something interesting to announce shortly. Further than that I have nothing to say.”
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From the Mount Carmel Daily News, November 11, 1925:
MAN WITH RED MOUSTACHE KNOWS ALL ABOUT BROAD MOUNTAIN CASE,
SCHUYLKILL TOWNS HEAR
Excitement in Pottsville Yesterday When It Became Known That State Police Had Uncovered New and Interesting Clues
There was a story current in Schuylkill County last meeting last evening to the effect “that a man with a red moustache” holds the secret of the Broad Mountain murder mystery and that he is ready to tell all he knows. The origin of the story could not be learned nor could the identity of the man with the red hirsute adornment be ascertained.
An effort to get in touch with Captain Gearhart, of the State Police at Reading failed, that officer probably being at work on the clues unearthed yesterday morning. It is not believed, however, that Gearhart knows anything of the “moustache story.”
There was some excitement in Pottsville when it became known that the State Police had uncovered something interesting in connection with the mountain crime and for a time it was reported that the identity of the slain girl actually had been learned.
It will be remembered that the body of a young girl was found on the summit of Broad Mountain several months ago. It was at first believed that the body was that of Lillian Tyler, but the former Shamokin girl eventually turned up alive and well in Detroit, Michigan. Various other girls were linked with the case and the people were kept busy answering communications from all parts of the country.
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From the Mount Carmel Item, November 18, 1925:
BROAD MOUNTAIN MYSTERY MAY BE SOLVED
Solution of the Broad Mountain mystery, which has agitated many communities for the past year and caused ghost stories to flow freely through the air is promised in the very near future.
It is known that the State Police have been active in that section of late. Captain Gearhart of the State Police, has promised solution of the crime at an early date.
The victim is rumored to be a Camden, New Jersey, of Philadelphia resident and the troopers seem to feel positive in identification.
The clam that the solution will be without the least shadow of a doubt and remove the veil of mystery for all future time.
Little has been heard of the Broad Mountain host since many people spent part of the night on the mountain alone in the hope of making the acquaintance.
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From the Mount Carmel Daily News, December 1, 1925:
NEW ANGLE TO THE BROAD MOUNTAIN MURDER
The Broad Mountain murder, which has been a baffling mystery to state police and local authorities since it was committed several months ago, was again brought to light last evening when Michael Joseph, of Mount Carmel, appeared in Centralia last evening and informed Bernard McGinley, deputy sheriff of Columbia County, that he had information which would aid in unraveling the mystery and lead to the arrest and apprehension of the murderer or murderers.
Entering John McGinley‘s hotel on Locust Avenue about 10 o’clock last night, Joseph inquired for Bernard McGinely, stating that he had in his possession a letter that purported to clear up the mystery of the finding of a nude body of a young lady, whose charred torso was found lying in the woods along the Broad Mountain at a point between Gordon and Heckscherville.
After reading the contents of the letter, whose entire contents are being kept secret, McGinley requested Joseph to go with him to the office of Justice of the Peace Gerrity.
As McGinely and Joseph were leaving the office of the Centralia ‘squire, Adam Clover met McGinley and informed him that four suspicious characters had arrived in town, one of whom was seen to flash a pistol. Upon meeting with the four strangers, McGinley placed the one under arrest and forced him to accompany him to the office of Justice Gerrity and there explain his presence in town and his suspicious actions.
The three other strangers trained the deputy sheriff and their pal to the ‘squire’s office and opened fire upon MrGinley. In drawing his gun to return the fire, McGinley was forced to release his prisoner, who immediately made a break for freedom, his pals endeavoring to cover his get-away. In the fusillade of shots which followed McGinley was struck twice on the right hand. Adam Clover, of East Park Street, was shot through the back, and William Lapleneas, of Shamokin, one of the gunmen, was shot through the right shoulder.
Three of the men were captured shortly after the affray. One of them boarded a trolley car going to Ashland and made good his escape.
It may be that the appearance of the four strangers in Centralia has no bearing upon the Broad Mountain mystery, but then again indications lead to the belief that they may have been sent to Centralia in an effort to prevent Joseph from delivering the letter into the hands of police authorities.
Some are prone to believe that Joseph is laboring under a distressing mental condition and his translation and version of the letter is but a pipe dream. Perhaps such is the case, but it is safe to say that a trough investigation will be made.
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News articles from Newspapers.com.
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[African American]