SUCH a sad, sad story appeared in the Spokane newspaper back on 22 March 1905: “Unknown Man Found In River.”
“The body of a man, as yet unidentified, was found in the north channel of the Spokane River, near the Centennial Mill, about 9 o’clock yesterday morning by an employee of the mill who reported the matter to the police.
“Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting the body out of the river, as the place where it had caught against some driftwood is in the swiftest current of the river and the bottom is very treacherous.
Alexander Turnbull, the undertaker who was called by Coroner Witter to take charge of the body, hired a man to wade out into the river and bring in the body.
The man was apparently about 50 years of age and was five feet nine inches tall. The body was in a bad state of decomposition. Absolutely no means of identification could be found on the body. It was buried yesterday afternoon in Fairmount Cemetery.”
What are YOUR thoughts as you read this? Are you missing a male ancestor born about 1855 who went missing in 1905 in Spokane? What about today…… with DNA testing and dental records, don’t you suppose they could have identified the man today??
Such a sad, sad mystery story.
