ABANDONED CAR FOUND

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 22 April 1935, Page 12

ABANDONED CAR FOUND

ACCIDENT NEAR TONGAPORUTU WOMAN AND GIRL INJURED The discovery of a badly damaged car near Tongaporutu between 43 p.m. and 7 p.m. yesterday suggested a mystery to Mr A. D. Wylie, particularly as there were no persons in the vicinity. Adding to the mystery was the discovery of a bloodstained felt hat, a child’s coat and doll and several portmanteaux containing a woman’s clothing. Mr Wylie made inquiries at nearby houses, but failed to meet with any success, so he brought the luggage on to the New Plymouth police station. Investigations at first failed to disclose the. identity of t'he occupants of the car or their whereabouts, but Constable Powell eventually discovered that the driver was Miss Gernhoefer, a school teacher at Inglewood, who was returning from Mahoenui, where she had been staying. Details of the accident were meagre last night, but it appears that the car skidded on the yet road and crashed into the strainer. A small girl from Mahoenui, who was a passenger, was cut about the face by broken glass and was injured in the stomach when the impact threw her forward on to the brake handle.

Miss Gernhoefer was not hurt, it is understood, and she and the girl were taken back to Mahoenui by a passing motorist. The car was subsequently taken to Awakino for repairs.