A PERPLEXING MYSTERY GANGSTERS AT WAR

Northern Advocate, 25 October 1935, Page 8

A PERPLEXING MYSTERY GANGSTERS AT WAR

NO SIGN OP LOST CHILD

SEARCH STILL GOES ON MOST INTENSE IN N.Z. baffling disappearance of Mari” A Agatha dagger, aged two years, who has been missing since Sunday night, continues a perplexing mystery. The police have fully checked up on the time factor, so important in determining the radius of the search. Mary dagger left her home in the guardianship .of Helena Johnson, about 10 a.m. ■ After the mid-day meal. Mavis . and Grace dohnson, girls in the early twenties, went for a stroll; Lucy Maun- \ sell and Helena remained in their room ■ chatting; while Mr W. dohnson, his eighteen-year-old son, Ted, and an employee, doe Nathan, had a nap. Playing Outside. dust before Grace and Mavis returned from their walk, Agatha dagger and Mary dohnson, a little girl of eight, were playing in the bedroom, where • Helena and Lucy were chatting. They ’ then went outside to join the other : children, who were having a game in the backyard, near to a tin shack in which Mrs Wiki dohnson resides. • On their walk tip from the road, •, Grace and Mavis did not notice the children, who would be obscured by the tin house. Their arrival disturbed . Joe Nathan, who glanced at the clock ."•to'see that it was 2.50 p.m. Helena . Johnson gives the time at 3 o’clock. Quarter of an hour later, she says, she went to where the children were play- ' jng, but there was then no sign of Agatha. Searchers immediately were sent out in all directions, tout it is believed possible that the child, accustomed to an afternoon sleep, may have been missed while dozing in the undergrowth. Following the complete drainage of - the swamp fronting Johnson’s resi1. dence, it is believed most probable that the little mite took a course in the direction of Hukerenui. The gumholes on Johnson’s property were .'I again thoroughly probed, yesterday, •'■f' and the tea-tree, for the most part stunted in this part, was explored. "i,- In the event of the child having * crossed the; road into Shudder’s prop‘erty on the south side of the Tapuhi Road,- the prospects of the search ever being rewarded are exceedingly remote, as the tall tea-tree forms an almost impenetrable' barrier. ( Maze of Cattle Tracks, Through this dense undergrowth runs a maze of cattle ( tracks, over which a small child could have wandered. , L . In the absence of definite material upon which to base the search, everythingl’which may form a possible clue is being fully investigated. Near the bridge which crosses the Parker-Lamb Subdivision Road, a lily was found. Mrs Wilkinson, whose home is situated near this spot, carried a bunch of flowers down the road on Sunday afternoon, but, as the lily gave the >appearance of having been pulled, it was thought that the little' girl may , have carried it with her. It is near here that 12 charges of dynamite were used in blasting the creek, and yester- ■ day a team of bullocks removed all the willows in the vicinity. Mr W. Johnson, one of the most experienced.bullockys in the district, took charge of this work.. Ladies Play Important Part. Constable W. C. Ross, of Whangarei, was recalled from leave to join the - Search party, which is stationed at Hukerenui. In assisting the search, which is one of the most intensive ever made in the Dominion, the ladies of the district are playing a very important part, in pron viding refreshment for men who-are becoming a little wearied and disappointed. Worthy of special mention are Mesdames C. and S. M. Parson, the Mesdames Sowery and Mrs Hutchings. --- High hopes are entertained that the mystery will be solved on Sunday, when all who can do so are urged to join in a community hunt. Gum boots or heavy walking boots, with the oldest possible clothes, and plenty to eat and drink are advised. Mr G. Martin, councillor for the Otohga riding, has .arranged for the Parker-Lamb Road to be graded, in anticipation of heavy week-end traffic. There were rib fresh developments : 4 today. Smaller search parties are ‘ out in the back country, while the . work of removing willows from the river with the bullock team conitimies.