The Case of the Altered Ford
A stolen car abandoned near the ferry crossing reveals a trail of tampered serial numbers and missing license plates.
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.
Abandoned on the Othello road about eight miles east of the White Bluffs ferry, a Ford touring car was found last week by Ferryman M. M. Wiehl. The car had plenty of gas, oil and water, but the license plates and switch key were missing. Mr. Wiehl had earlier crossed the car on his ferry and, suspicious of the driver, noted the license number. One of the figures on both the serial and engine numbers had been chiseled off. The owner, Verne Parr of Grandview, confirmed the car was stolen in Yakima on May 28th. Sheriff James Shepherd later recovered the vehicle.
“One of the figures on each of the serial and engine numbers had been chiseled off and this caused some confusion in tracing the owner.”
The transition to automobile travel brought new forms of crime to rural Washington, with stolen vehicles being quickly moved across county lines. This story echoes modern struggles with vehicle theft and the challenges of policing expansive rural road networks.
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