THE MISSING PRIEST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18323, 13 August 1921, Page 9

THE MISSING PRIEST

MUTILATED BODY FOUND. INDICATIONS OF MURDER. Pieu Association —By Telegraph—Copyright SAN FRANCISCO, August 10. (Received August 12, at 5.5 p.m.) Tho body of the Rev. Father Patrick Heslin was found buridd in the sand on the Salada beach with a bullet hole through the heart and his skull crushed, indicating that he had been murdered. The kidnappers did not receive the ransom they demanded, and it is believed that they carried out their threats.—A. and N.Z. Cable.

[A Press Association cable message from San Francisco, dated August 6, stated that the Rev. Father Patrick Heslin, a wellknown Roman Catholic priest, had disappeared. Archbishop Hanna received an unsigned note demanding a ransom of 50,000 dollars and threatening the death of Father Heslin if the money was not delivered. The note said that tho priest was held prisoner in a cabin m the south of San Francisco, where aeroplanes, bloodhounds, and mounted police were searching.]

SENSATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS. LONDON, August 11. (Received August 12, at 9.40 p.m.) Sensational developments are reported in connection with the Father Heslin case. On August ,2 an excited and closelymuffled foreigner called at the rectory and induced Father Heslin to accompany him on a visit to an alleged sick friend. Subsequently Archbishop Hanna received a demand for Father Heslin’s ransom. On Wednesday a mechanic named Hightower informed the police that he had met a drunken foreigner, who declared that ho bad, killed a man, and he indicated the place where he was buried. Hightower went to the spot, and digging discovered Father Heslin’s body. Father Heslin had been shot through the heart, and evidently had been dead only a couple of days after being held prisoner. There are several indications that the grave had been dug and the priest placed on the brink and then shot. The police are holding Hightower till they can investigate the disappearance of his alleged informant. —Reuter.