A Horse Theft Led Police to a Stolen Child

The mystery surrounding Charles Wellington and Mrs. Jennie Sizeland, who were arrested at Puyallup in late March for stealing a horse from a stable, with the pretty little blue-eyed girl called Emma, has been cleared up at last. The child's real name is Annie Florence Dawson, daughter of Mrs. Mary E. Dawson, who secured a divorce from James Henderson Dawson and has resumed her maiden name, Mary E. Eckelbery. The mother had hunted for over two years. When she found her yesterday afternoon at Mrs. Ryther's, where Sheriff Van de Vanter had placed her after the arrest, she broke down and wept. The child recognized her mother immediately. She admitted that the woman known as Mrs. Sizeland was Jennie Sizeland and that Wellington was Charles Dibble, who had eloped with Mrs. Sizeland. Fear of Mrs. Sizeland had kept the girl from telling Mrs. Ryther who she was. Mrs. Eckelbery said she had come from Ohio to Washington eight years ago and was living at Buckley when she divorced her husband for brutal treatment and non-support. The court gave her control of the children. She became ill and went to the Fannie Paddock hospital. Attorney C. P. Culver of Tacoma was appointed guardian. Annie was placed in a home and then in charge of Mrs. Jennie Sizeland, who promised the mother could see the child. But Sizeland locked the child up when the mother came and refused to let her in. The family moved to Puyallup. Later Mrs. Sizeland deserted her husband and took up with a man named Dibble, taking Annie with them. The mother came to Seattle in December and searched without trace until Captain Hogle took pity on her and helped. Yesterday a message from Captain Hogle said the girl taken from Mrs. Sizeland and Wellington was Annie Florence Dawson. At Mrs. Ryther's the mother saw her child in the back room. 'I knew her at once,' she said, 'and it seemed as if I could not stand the excitement.' Annie, a pretty child with clear blue eyes, round face and brown hair, said Mrs. Sizeland had kept her from talking by threats and had told her to keep her mouth shut when arrested. She described Sizeland and Dibble, alias Wellington, eloping and bringing her to Seattle. They lived on Dearborn street and then in a shack at the corner of South Seventh and Weller streets; later they went to Puyallup and got a horse from a stable. Mrs. Sizeland and Wellington are held in jail. Mrs. Eckelbery will probably take her child.