1920 Coin -- Body Found In Lake May Be Decades Old

Hello

On the story below, wonder if the person was
Weighted down and dump in the lake back in
1919, or 1920?

I am sure more information will come out on
this later.

I am guessing that maybe and old murder, or
Missing person "cold case" might get looked
At. Maybe closure?



FROM:
http://www.wric.com/global/story.asp?s=9052205

Body Found In Lake May Be Decades Old

Updated: Sep 22, 2008 11:25 AM MST

PEMBROKE, Va. (AP) - Giles County police say coins
and other personal items indicate that human remains
found in Mountain Lake may have been there for
decades.

People walking along the dried-up lake's bed
discovered the skeletal remains Saturday afternoon.

Lieutenant Ron Hamlin says the some coins, a class
ring and shoes were found near the body. Hamlin says
the latest coin was dated 1920.

Hamlin says the remains were removed from the lake
bed on Sunday.


...

I've been there before, Mountain Lake is a popular resort near the
West Virginia border. They have a big old hotel there
that was used in fllming a movie years ago (some movie about dancing
I think). This could have been a murder, suicide or an accidental
drowning.

Arizona Coin Collector wrote:
Hello

On the story below, wonder if the person was
Weighted down and dump in the lake back in
1919, or 1920?

I am sure more information will come out on
this later.

I am guessing that maybe and old murder, or
Missing person "cold case" might get looked
At. Maybe closure?



FROM:
http://www.wric.com/global/story.asp?s=9052205

Video he

http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/n...in_lake/17920/

Lieutenant Ron Hamlin says the some coins, a class
ring and shoes were found near the body. Hamlin says
the latest coin was dated 1920.

Hamlin says the remains were removed from the lake
bed on Sunday.


What an absolutely fascinating and intriguing event!! I wonder if
the story behind it all will ever be figured out?

Lee in Denver CO

It is an interesting story, they will have to check old local police
and news reports from the 1920-1930s era to see if there
was anyone missing from the time. By examing the bones I think they
can usually tell sex and an approximate age of the person.

In article , stonej wrote:
It is an interesting story, they will have to check old local police
and news reports from the 1920-1930s era to see if there
was anyone missing from the time. By examing the bones I think they
can usually tell sex and an approximate age of the person.
and they may get good dna from teeth. which also have records to check. that's
how them rooshans id'd adolph.

Hello

Here is and updated story. Coins found near the
remains dated from 1907 to 1920 and included a
wheat penny and a half-dollar.

Would like to have know if any of the coins were
gold. No informaiton on the story below.



FROM:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/177818

Mystery at Mountain Lake

Who was the person whose final remains -- and
possessions -- finally came to light again on
Saturday, amid the muddy clods at the bottom
of a dry lake?

By Shawna Morrison
Tuesday, September 23, 2008

PEARISBURG -- He wore a belt with a silver
buckle and carried a fancy silver cigarette
box, both engraved with elaborate cursive
initials that appear to be "SCF."

His old McCreery wingtip shoes had Sullivan's
Safety Cushion heels held in place with six
nails.

His gold class ring carried the initials "MC"
on one side and "CA" on the other, above images
of trees carved into the metal. It bore a date
on top that appears to signify that it is from
the Class of '04 -- most likely 1904, Giles
County sheriff's investigators say.

After his bones were discovered Saturday
afternoon in the dried-up bed of Mountain Lake,
investigators, forensics experts and
anthropologists are trying hard to determine who
"SCF" was -- if, of course, those were his
initials and if the bones indeed belonged to a
man.

"It is quite an interesting mystery and a unique
case," said Donna Boyd, a Radford University
anthropologist who is one of many people trying
to piece together bits of information to learn
who the person was and what happened to him or
her.

One thing is certain: The remains that Timmy
Dalton stumbled across as he searched the lake
bed for treasures Saturday afternoon did belong
to a person.

"There's nothing that looked like a body laying
there," Giles County Sgt. Tommy Gautier said
Monday. Only fragments of bones, including a
rounded piece that appears to be part of a skull,
were found, he said. A medical examiner confirmed
that they were human, he said.

Dalton said he didn't realize what he had found
at first, either.

He and his 14-year-old son, Chris, were combing
the lake bed Saturday afternoon for old soda
bottles to collect, something they have been
doing about once a week for the past couple of
months.

Chris called to his dad and told him he had
found a pocketknife, a wallet and some shoes.

Dalton said it isn't unusual to find shoes and
other items of clothing in the muck. He didn't
think much of it until he turned over some dirt
and found what he thought was a turtle shell. He
then realized it looked a lot like part of a skull.

Chris and Timmy Dalton kept digging around,
finding the class ring, the belt buckle, a dime
from 1910 and a tooth.

They took some of the items home. But later that
day, it nagged at Timmy Dalton that he might
actually have found a person and that person's
belongings. He called the sheriff's office and
handed over to them all the items he had found.

"I just hope that it helps somebody," the
still-stunned Dalton said.

Like Giles County investigators, Dalton has been
searching the Internet for information about the
clues he has, trying to find out more about
McCreery shoes and what the initials "MC" and
"CA" might stand for on the class ring.

In their Pearisburg office Monday, Giles County
investigators were also searching online, but
without much luck. They were focusing their efforts
on dating the items that were found near the
remains so they can narrow their search for missing
persons reports.

Some of the items they found were buried underneath
chunks of dried mud 6 to 8 inches thick.

The items were all found in an area of about 10
square feet, Gautier said. Based on what they have
found, he said, investigators think the person
died between 1920 and 1960. Coins found near the
remains dated from 1907 to 1920 and included a
wheat penny and a half-dollar.

They contacted four dentists to ask about the metal
stud that protrudes from the end of the tooth they
found. They learned it was a crown, the kind that
would have been made in the 1950s or earlier.

Investigators cleaned a key found near the body by
placing it in a little foam cup filled with hydrogen
peroxide. They were able to make out lettering that
signified the key was made by the Norwalk Lock Co.,
a company that dates to the 1800s.

They've also looked into the history of Mountain
Lake and its hotel.

The first hotel, a wooden structure, was built at
Mountain Lake in 1855 by Henley Chapman, Giles
County's first commonwealth's attorney.

It was bought in 1869 by Herman Haupt, a Union
general. He built an addition and had the railroad
extended from Christiansburg to Pembroke so his
friends wouldn't have to travel to the hotel by
horse.

The hotel changed hands a couple more times before
it was torn down in the late 1930s. Its owner at
the time, William Moody of Galveston, Texas, built
the stone hotel that stands today.

When Moody died in 1954, he left the property to
his daughter, Mary Moody Northen. She bequeathed
it to the Mary Moody Northen Endowment when she
died in 1986.

The hit movie "Dirty Dancing" was filmed there the
same year.

Mountain Lake has been filled with water for years
but is now almost completely dry. The lake
periodically dries up, then refills itself.

According to core samples taken by Virginia Tech
biologist Bruce Parker and his former students,
Mountain Lake has dried up at least six times in
the past 4,500 years and at times remained dry for
decades.

Investigators said they are grateful that the lake
is dry now, giving them the chance to uncover the
mystery that could have been mired forever in the
bottom of a full lake.

It could take months to determine who the person
was, Giles County Sheriff Morgan Millirons said.

"We're turning over every rock that we can find to
try to find some information," Millirons said.

Boyd said she will conduct a basic forensic analysis
to determine the person's age at death, sex, ancestry
and stature in the next week or so.

Millirons said one doctor told him that the bones
appear to have been at the bottom of the lake for
30 to 40 years. That number was based on their
condition, he said.

Investigators asked hotel officials if they
recalled any reports of missing people, but there
were none.

"We're going to have to go back to old newspapers
and check with some of the elderly people around
to see what they remember," Millirons said. "We're
just trying to figure out who it is, how long it
has been there. And why."

Staff writer Tim Thornton contributed to this report.


...

The fancy cigarette box leads me to think it could have been a wealthy
visitor at the hotel from long ago who drowned
in the lake. If so, they would most likely not be native to that
area and could be from anywhere making identity of the
person more of a challenge. If the person died in the 1920s or
1930s would there still be dental records going back
that far and where would you even begin to trace them?

"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
m...
Hello

Here is and updated story. Coins found near the
remains dated from 1907 to 1920 and included a
wheat penny and a half-dollar.

Would like to have know if any of the coins were
gold. No informaiton on the story below.



FROM:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/177818

Mystery at Mountain Lake

Who was the person whose final remains -- and
possessions -- finally came to light again on
Saturday, amid the muddy clods at the bottom
of a dry lake?

By Shawna Morrison
Tuesday, September 23, 2008

PEARISBURG -- He wore a belt with a silver
buckle and carried a fancy silver cigarette
box, both engraved with elaborate cursive
initials that appear to be "SCF."

His old McCreery wingtip shoes had Sullivan's
Safety Cushion heels held in place with six
nails.

His gold class ring carried the initials "MC"
on one side and "CA" on the other, above images
of trees carved into the metal. It bore a date
on top that appears to signify that it is from
the Class of '04 -- most likely 1904, Giles
County sheriff's investigators say.

After his bones were discovered Saturday
afternoon in the dried-up bed of Mountain Lake,
investigators, forensics experts and
anthropologists are trying hard to determine who
"SCF" was -- if, of course, those were his
initials and if the bones indeed belonged to a
man.

"It is quite an interesting mystery and a unique
case," said Donna Boyd, a Radford University
anthropologist who is one of many people trying
to piece together bits of information to learn
who the person was and what happened to him or
her.

One thing is certain: The remains that Timmy
Dalton stumbled across as he searched the lake
bed for treasures Saturday afternoon did belong
to a person.

"There's nothing that looked like a body laying
there," Giles County Sgt. Tommy Gautier said
Monday. Only fragments of bones, including a
rounded piece that appears to be part of a skull,
were found, he said. A medical examiner confirmed
that they were human, he said.

Dalton said he didn't realize what he had found
at first, either.

He and his 14-year-old son, Chris, were combing
the lake bed Saturday afternoon for old soda
bottles to collect, something they have been
doing about once a week for the past couple of
months.

Chris called to his dad and told him he had
found a pocketknife, a wallet and some shoes.

Dalton said it isn't unusual to find shoes and
other items of clothing in the muck. He didn't
think much of it until he turned over some dirt
and found what he thought was a turtle shell. He
then realized it looked a lot like part of a skull.

Chris and Timmy Dalton kept digging around,
finding the class ring, the belt buckle, a dime
from 1910 and a tooth.

They took some of the items home. But later that
day, it nagged at Timmy Dalton that he might
actually have found a person and that person's
belongings. He called the sheriff's office and
handed over to them all the items he had found.

"I just hope that it helps somebody," the
still-stunned Dalton said.

Like Giles County investigators, Dalton has been
searching the Internet for information about the
clues he has, trying to find out more about
McCreery shoes and what the initials "MC" and
"CA" might stand for on the class ring.

In their Pearisburg office Monday, Giles County
investigators were also searching online, but
without much luck. They were focusing their efforts
on dating the items that were found near the
remains so they can narrow their search for missing
persons reports.

Some of the items they found were buried underneath
chunks of dried mud 6 to 8 inches thick.

The items were all found in an area of about 10
square feet, Gautier said. Based on what they have
found, he said, investigators think the person
died between 1920 and 1960. Coins found near the
remains dated from 1907 to 1920 and included a
wheat penny and a half-dollar.

They contacted four dentists to ask about the metal
stud that protrudes from the end of the tooth they
found. They learned it was a crown, the kind that
would have been made in the 1950s or earlier.

Investigators cleaned a key found near the body by
placing it in a little foam cup filled with hydrogen
peroxide. They were able to make out lettering that
signified the key was made by the Norwalk Lock Co.,
a company that dates to the 1800s.

They've also looked into the history of Mountain
Lake and its hotel.

The first hotel, a wooden structure, was built at
Mountain Lake in 1855 by Henley Chapman, Giles
County's first commonwealth's attorney.

It was bought in 1869 by Herman Haupt, a Union
general. He built an addition and had the railroad
extended from Christiansburg to Pembroke so his
friends wouldn't have to travel to the hotel by
horse.

The hotel changed hands a couple more times before
it was torn down in the late 1930s. Its owner at
the time, William Moody of Galveston, Texas, built
the stone hotel that stands today.

When Moody died in 1954, he left the property to
his daughter, Mary Moody Northen. She bequeathed
it to the Mary Moody Northen Endowment when she
died in 1986.

The hit movie "Dirty Dancing" was filmed there the
same year.

Mountain Lake has been filled with water for years
but is now almost completely dry. The lake
periodically dries up, then refills itself.

According to core samples taken by Virginia Tech
biologist Bruce Parker and his former students,
Mountain Lake has dried up at least six times in
the past 4,500 years and at times remained dry for
decades.

Investigators said they are grateful that the lake
is dry now, giving them the chance to uncover the
mystery that could have been mired forever in the
bottom of a full lake.

It could take months to determine who the person
was, Giles County Sheriff Morgan Millirons said.

"We're turning over every rock that we can find to
try to find some information," Millirons said.

Boyd said she will conduct a basic forensic analysis
to determine the person's age at death, sex, ancestry
and stature in the next week or so.

Millirons said one doctor told him that the bones
appear to have been at the bottom of the lake for
30 to 40 years. That number was based on their
condition, he said.

Investigators asked hotel officials if they
recalled any reports of missing people, but there
were none.

"We're going to have to go back to old newspapers
and check with some of the elderly people around
to see what they remember," Millirons said. "We're
just trying to figure out who it is, how long it
has been there. And why."

Staff writer Tim Thornton contributed to this report.


..


The artifacts are a plant, it's Jimmy Hoffa.

mk

"stonej" wrote in message
...
The fancy cigarette box leads me to think it could have been a
wealthy
visitor at the hotel from long ago who drowned
in the lake. If so, they would most likely not be native to that
area and could be from anywhere making identity of the
person more of a challenge. If the person died in the 1920s or
1930s would there still be dental records going back
that far and where would you even begin to trace them?

This is starting to sound like the basis for a script on the "Cold
Case" TV series, or its forensic counterpart, "Bones". For the
numismatic connection, they'd have one of their nerdy techs trace the
die state on the latest-dated coin to pin the time period down to "It
had to have happened after late August of that year" which rules out
all but one of the suspects. (Note to Hollywood: Contact me for the
account where you can deposit my residuals checks.)