DEVONPORT MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 11

DEVONPORT MYSTERY.

SKELETON IN BASEMENT THREE-YEAR-OLD CHILD. COVERED OVER WITH CONCRETE. BOYS' DISCOVERY IN VAUXHALL ROAD. The basement of a house, 13, Vauxhall Koad, Devon port, was the scene of a sensational discovery last evening, the skeleton of a child apparently two 01 three years old, being discovered in a recess in the foundations of the chimnev. The house was occupied by Mrs. Havgon, a widow, and the gruesome find was made by her youngest son, Clifford, aged 10. Clifford was searching for some bicycle parts which he knew to be in the basement, and, lighting a candle, he was fossicking about amongst the rubbish down below when he noticed what appeared to be human bones in the corner of the brickwork cf the chimney. Naturally he was too alarmed to investigate further, but went upstairs to inform his mother. Mrs. Hayson at first thought that the boy might have stumbled upon the remnants of a cat or a dog, but investigations by her eldest son, Mr. Herbert Hayson, showed at once that the bones were all that was left of a human being. The skeleton, said Mr. Hayson to a "Star" representative to-day, was lying in a corner of the brick foundations, the skull being detached from the body and lying to one side. When the bones were taken out, under the supervision of Detective Sergeant Kelly, Mr. Hayson noticed another bone, apparently of a leg or an arm. This grisly relic was taken away with the first skeleton, and will probably be the basis of a special inquiry. All the bones were covered with what appeared to be fragments of wallpaper, and on top of these were heaped lumps of concrete, evidently rubble from the original foundations. Mrs. Hayson and her family have occupied the house for just over a year. The widow told a "Star" representative this afternoon that the house was untenanted for only a short time before she took possession, the previous occupants having removed. Mrs. Hayson explained that her daughter, whe did the housekeeping, had often been worried by a mysterious smell, and had repeatedly cleared out the shelves in the kitchen in order to locate the cause, The smell had not been noticed for some time. This circumstance is, of course, explained by the fact that the bones when discovered yesterday were dry, the ekin and flesh having been reduced by the passage of time to a parchment-like texture. Detective Sergeant Kelly, in his report, states that portions of what appeared to have been living tissue were found at the feet of the skeleton, and there was evidence that rats had been at work. The circumstances have been reported to the coroner, Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.