Tuesday, February 23, 2021

MISSING: Moira Anderson



On Feb. 23, 1957, 11-year-old Moira Anderson left her grandmothers Coatbridge, Scotland home to go one an errand for her grandmother. She was supposed to go and buy a birthday card and butter for her mother's birthday. This was unfortunately during one of the worst snowstorms that the area knew.

She was last seen around 5:15 p.m. on the bus by a couple. Police believed that the girl was abducted while traveling home on the bus and murdered. Her body was never found.

Two years later Janet, Moira's sister, was out on her lunch break from school. A man working under his hood asked her to hold his dipstick. While holding it the man groped her and she ran from him, but not before taking note of his registration plate. She reported it to the school and they called the cops. This caused the school to ask students to pair up if they leave.

Nothing was done of this incident, but it was later found out the man was Alexander Gartshore. At the time Alexander Gartshore was out on bail for raping his young babysitter. He was also the bus driver of the bus Moira was last seen on. 

When his daughter, Saundra Brown, was older she wrote a book Where There is Evil about suspecting him of killing young Moira. At one point he when she was bringing up his shortcomings as a father he told her that his father thought he killed Moira. That his father tried to convince him to go to the police to admit where Moira's body was. He said he didn't know the girl, but was the last person to talk to her. It wasn't a confession, but his own father was convinced he had done something to the girl. His own daughter even believed so. 

He died in 2006. He was a suspect before his death but wasn't prosecuted due to a lack of evidence. But in total it isn't really known what had happened that snowy night. 

Moira is a white female and was 22 at the time. He's 5'3" and 113 lbs. She was wearing a fawn-colored kilted Burberry coat, a blue winter scarf, a blue jumper, a lemon-colored cardigan, a thick tweed skirt, fawn socks, brown shoes and a navy-blue woolen pixie hat with red bands. 

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Murder of Chrissie Clare Venn


On Feb. 20, 1921, around 5 p.m. 13-year-old Chrissie Venn left her home on Allison Road in North Motton, Tasmania, Australia. She was going to run some errands and it was only 3 miles away. She didn't return home and this worried her family. A search was had, but she wasn't found till March 1st in a tree stump that was close to Allison rd, which she used to walk into town.

There are two different stories of how she was found and the condition of her body. Her body was either mutilated and left in a hollow tree stump or she was suffocated or stranged with no mutilation. She was half-dressed and seemed to have been sexually assaulted. One source states that twine used for hay bailing was tied around her neck and her mouth was stuffed with pieces of cloth from her dress, and the cloth had a gold pin attached to it.

It's believed that she may have died sometime on Feb 26th.

Former police officer and minor, George William King, was tried for the crime. He had cuts on his hands that made him suspicious. He claimed his hands were cut up due to a log falling on them while searching for Chrissie. The trial started on August 21 of the same year and was done in Hobart. Albert Ogilvie defended him and William was found not guilty.

It's believed that Chrissie haunts the road she was killed on.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Daily Herald
Examiner
Revolvy
Wikipedia
Press Reader

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Unsolved Murder of Evelyn Grace Shank


On Feb. 4, 1959, 45-year-old Evelyn Shank was working at the Travelodge Motel in Las Vegas, Nevada. When her relief came for the night there was no sign of her and the police were called. When her coworker came there was a 1949-1950 Sedan possibly dark blue parked by the door. When the coworker looked back outside the vehicle was gone.

There was $174 stolen and Evelyn missing. It was obvious something bad had happened to Evelyn and she was abducted. An all point bulletin was posted and the roadblocks were set up in Henderson, Boulder City, and Las Vegas and Clark County. The police were hoping to catch her kidnapper.

On February 7, teens riding horses off of Moutain Springs Rd. Evelyn was alive for at least 24 hours. They had forced Evelyn to walk where they found her body and then shot her twice with 32-20 slugs. They had left her to die.

SOURCES:
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
Reno Gazette-Journal Feb. 9, 1959
Reno Gazette-Journal March 7, 1959

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

UNIDENTIFIED: Cochise County Does 1878-1884 Tombstone, Arizona

 






The Boothill Cemetary in Tombstone, Arizona was active between 1878 and 1884. On Row 11, Lot 9 two Chinese Does are buried there. They had died from leprosy, but it is unknown when they had died, but it's likely between 1878 and 1884.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki