GIRL’S DEATH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19865, 13 June 1927, Page 10

GIRL’S DEATH

TRAGEDY IN A WELL RESCUE MISSED BY SECONDS. PARIS, June 4. A disused well on a piece of waste ground at Chatillon has been the scene of a tragedy discovered in particularly dramatic circumstances. Berthe Fromentin, a 16-year-old domestic servant whose mother and stepfather M. Rayer, occupy a house a few hundred yards from the well, was expected to pay a visit to her parents on Sunday, but failed to arrive at the usual time. Rayer went out to gather wood for cooking the evening meal when he heard cries for help. Running to the well, he was just in time to see the hand of a girl, who, relaxing her grip on the stone edge, fell into the water, 130 ft below. In the momentary glimpse which he got of the hand and arm he thought he recognised his stepdaughter, and ran to tell his wife and securo assistance. The body was recovered this morning, and proved to be that of the missing girl. It is practically certain that her death was not duo to accident, for the well is surrounded by a high barrier of barbed wire. Furthermore, the police have found on the timber near the mouth of the well recent scratches which appear to have been made by heavy nailed boots. A witness has stated that some time before the tragedy she saw the girl with another girl and three men in the neighbourhood of the well, which, situated in a depression shielding it from observation, is a favourite resort of local lovers. It is considered highly probable that she was pushed into the well after an assault, and, clinging to the rim in a desperate endeavour to save her life, missed rescue by a few seconds.