WHERE IS HE?

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 7

WHERE IS HE?

CHAIR CRIPPLE. UNSOLVED MYSTERY. STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE. AUCKLAND POLICE SEARCH. The mysterious, disappearance of Mr. Arthur Henderson, aged 42, a war pensioner and a cripple who was unable to walk, from a hospital in an Auckland suburb on the morning of Friday, February 27, is engaging the attention of the Auckland police. Despite intense inquiries and investigation no trace of the unfortunate man has yet been found.

On the night of February 27 a wheelfhair was found in the doorway of the McDonald Ice Cream Company's premises in King"-; Drive. This was yesterday inspect ed by officials of the hospital in question. who identified it as hein? a chair that had been specially designed and made for the missing man.

Where is Arthur Henderson? That is the question that has been baffling the Auckland police. How did he fret to King's Drive without being seen? Did he park hi* wheel-chair close in to the doorway of the King's Drive building himself? These and others are questions that have so far not been answered. Injured in City Fire. Although a war pensioner. He iderson's r njuries which caused him to become a cripple and unable to walk, were not the result of war service. On the night of the fire which destroyed Woolworth's oremises in Queen Street, the unfortunate man tripped over a fire hose and was struck by a tramcar, sustaining spinal injuries which rendered his legs useless. Since he had been an inmate of the hospital, Henderson had enjoyed complete parole—he was always allowed to roam the grounds in his chair and also to visit the city. He was sent to the hjospital a little over a year afro from the Auckland Infirmary because of complications brought about by his serious injuries.

He was last seen by the medical superintendent at the hospital wheeling himself in the grounds on his way to Dr. Palmer's office. No one saw him leave the grounds. Since then he has completely disappeared. Immediately it was known that he was missing the police were * -titled. Every effort since made has failed to establish his whereabouts.

Henderson's wheel chair was found by Mr. R. W. McDonald, manager of the McDonald Ice Cream Company, in the doorway of his firm's premises, at 9 o'clock on the night of February 26. "At first I did not take much notice of it. but, as it was still in the doorway next morning, I took it inside my premises and notified the police," said Mr. McDonald this morning. "Now it has been identified as belonging and used by the missing man. It was 'parked' close up against the big roller door." No Suicidal Tendencies. The doorway where the chair was round is nearly 300 yds distant from the sea. Those who know Henderson "state :hat he could not have crawled such a long distance. Moreover, the authorities at the hospital state that he was not the type of man who was likely to take his own life. "He has had over a year of complete freedom since he has been at the hospital, and never once has he done anything that would indicate his intention to take his own life," said a doctor to-day. Henderson, when he travelled about, was in the habit of hiring a taxi and strapping his wheel chair on the carrier of the motor car. Inquiries made from taxi proprietors by the police have failed to throw, any light on the man's strange disappearance. Henderson is sft 6in in height and a man of slight build.