Fake Heirs Besiege a Seattle Undertaker for an Avalanche Victim's Body
Jacob Brackmann died in the Wellington slide, leaving $40,000 to $50,000 and an identification problem. Strangers claiming to be family called day and night.
SEATTLE—Lured by an estate valued at $40,000 to $50,000 left by Jacob Brackmann, who was killed in the Wellington avalanche, bogus heirs have made repeated demands for Brackmann's body. Thus far Gilbert M. Butterworth, of the undertaking firm of Butterworth & Sons, has refused to take them seriously. Demands for the body, the identification of which is still in doubt, began several days ago. Telephone messages at all hours of the night and day have poured in on Butterworth. Some of the 'heirs' pose as brothers, others as cousins and some as nephews.
“Telephone messages at all hours of the night and day have poured in on Butterworth.”
The Wellington avalanche was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, and the scramble over Brackmann's remains shows how disaster could turn into a macabre estate auction. Modern forensic identification and probate rules exist partly because unidentified dead once attracted opportunists.
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