A VILLAGE MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19405, 13 August 1926, Page 10

A VILLAGE MYSTERY.

FIRE DESTROYS A HOME. NO TRACE OF THE OCCUPANT. MONEY AND A WILL FOUND. SEARCH PROVES FRUITLESS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] OAMARU, Thursday. A most .mysterious affair, containing all the elements of a tragedy, occurred at Reidston, a small settlement to the south of Oamaru, on Wednesday night. Mr. Robert ' Kerr Clark, single, about 67 years of age, came to Oamaru by train in the morning and returned by the 3 o'clock slow train in the afternoon; He lived by himself in a three-roomed wooden cottage. About six o'clock in tho evening he delivered a newspaper to a neighbour, and this was tho last that was seen of him. Shortly after midnight a neighbour was awakened by a briiliant glare, and going out. discovered Clark's cottage to be on fire: Water was thrown upon the back room-, in which Clark was known to sleep, but nothing was heard or seen of the man, and the building and its contents were completely demolished. A search of the debris was made this morning, but no trace of the body of the missing man "was found. The police were summoned and continued the search, but without result, and the man's disappearance is surrounded with the deepest mystery. In a stone outhouse a few feet from the destroyed building the police found a handbag containing £2l 10s in notes, a savings bank pass book, and Clark's will. The man was comfortably off, and was known to possess war bonds and other wealth. A diligent search has been made of the surrounding country, but so far no trace of Clark has been discovered, and the police are unable to offer the slightest solution of the mystery. Clark has relatives living in the district, but they have no knowledge of his whereabouts.