FARM TRAGEDY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 75, 10 January 1936, Page 7

FARM TRAGEDY.

FINDING OF SKELETON.

SYDNEY, January 2

The mysterious disappearance of John Dalrymple Hutchinson, aged 30, on the eve of his marriage, 15 months ago, has been tragically solved by the discovery of his skeleton in dense scrub near Gosford. His Victorian fiancee never gave up hope he would be found alive and has constantly revisited the district since his disappearance. There was a wide search for Hutchinson, who had carved an orchard out of the bush of Mangrove Mountain for his bride-to-be. Settlers from miles around gathered for the search, and for weeks parties totalling 400 combed the inhospitable country. But the bush, with which the young man had so stout-heartedly wrestled to win for himself a livelihood, closely guarded its secret.

When Hutchinson’s fiancee heard that he was missing she came to Sydney with her father and spent anguished days in the district in which she had hoped to find happiness. When her father gave up hope she remained in Sydney alone. The girl has now returned to her parents.

Discovery of the skeleton was made by a man and two girls, picking wild flowers. They stumbled on the remains and informed the police. A weatherbeaten pipe lay near the body. That and a set of artificial teeth were the means of identification. The remains were in a curved posture, suggesting that Hutchinson had fallen, possibly from a six-foot ledge nearby, and leceived an injury that killed him outright or prevented him from moving. The spot was only three miles from his orchard and members of search parties who had tramped through hush five feet apart in that locality, must have been within a few feet of finding him.