The Body in the Duwamish
A missing merchant’s identity is confirmed through the gruesome discovery of his belongings, heightening fears of foul play in Seattle.
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.
The mystery surrounding the disappearance of A. E. Levan from Sunnydale nearly three months ago has deepened following a positive identification of his remains. A body found in the Duwamish River was initially buried in potter's field, but was exhumed and re-identified after Herman Kessler, a Seattle merchant, recognized the suit and a brass key found in the pockets as belonging to Levan. The body was in a state of severe decomposition and headless. Friends of the deceased are convinced he was murdered, and Coroner Hoye officially notes that the man was foully murdered.
“The body of the floater found last June was badly decomposed, and the one found later is headless and in a horrible state of decay.”
The Duwamish River has been the site of much industrial history and environmental concern in Seattle; this story captures the darker side of the city's early 20th-century urban growth.
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