The Tragic Disappearance of Henry Pletcher
A young boy's journey ends in heartbreak when a tragic accident in the woods near the Green River leaves a family in mourning.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Kent, Sept. 8—The mystery in the case of Henry Pletcher, the eight-year-old son of Mrs. Mary Pletcher of Los Angeles, California, was cleared today. Mrs. Pletcher arrived in the Green River valley for the purpose of searching for her son, and she and other residents found the remains of the boy in a dense thicket, where they were discovered earlier this afternoon. The child had wandered into the woods several days ago and, becoming hopelessly lost, had perished from exposure. A sad sight greeted the search party, as the small body was found huddled under a large cedar tree. The mother, with whom the boy was visiting, had been searching frantically since he went missing. The death has cast a shadow of sorrow over the local community.
“A sad sight greeted the search party, as the small body was found huddled under a large cedar tree.”
In 1887, the Green River valley was a wild and sparsely populated landscape where a child could easily vanish into the dense undergrowth. Today, the area is largely developed, but it serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of the region's early settlers and the persistent dangers inherent in the rugged Washington wilderness.
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