Unsolved Mystery at the Yakima River
A decomposed body found near Selah leads to an inquest and a grim verdict of foul play.
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.
A telegram was received by Coroner Davis, Wednesday, notifying him that the body of a man was found in the brush on the Yakima river, at a point about two miles west of Selah. The coroner summoned a jury and journeyed to the spot indicated, where the inquest was held. The body had evidently been in the water for some time, as it was badly decomposed. The man was well along in years and had a gray beard. His clothes were of good material. A cut over the left temple impressed the jury with the belief that he had been foully dealt with and a verdict was rendered in substance therewith.
“A cut over the left temple impressed the jury with the belief that he had been foully dealt with.”
Unidentified remains found in the Yakima river are still a grim reality of the geography, though modern forensics would move beyond the 'gray beard and good clothes' visual identification method used in 1889.
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