The Mystery of the Unknown Man in the Yakima
A body pulled from the river bears no identification, leaving behind only two dimes and a pair of kid gloves.
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.
Coroner Clark was summoned to Kiona Sunday to hold an inquest over the body of a man found floating in the Yakima River at that point. The indications were that the body had been in the water for several days. There were bruises on the face of the deceased, but whether they were the result of contact with rocks or of personal violence the jury was unable to decide, and brought in a simple verdict of 'found drowned.' The deceased was a good-looking man, about six feet tall, with nicely trimmed hair and well-made clothes of good material. There were no papers of any kind to indicate who the unfortunate man was, the only articles in his pockets being two dimes and a pair of lady’s kid gloves.
“The jury was unable to decide, and brought in a simple verdict of 'found drowned.'”
Unidentified remains discovered in regional waterways continue to haunt the Yakima River corridor today. This account from 1891 captures the grim, routine nature of death investigation in the developing frontier, where missing persons often left no trace beyond a few personal effects.
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