The Abduction of Lodie Wirt
A teenage girl is rescued from a couple suspected of using opium to control and abduct young women.
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.
M. O. Harbord, chief of police of Spokane Falls, arrived in Seattle yesterday with warrants for the arrest of Barney Brooks and his wife, who kidnaped Lodie Wirt from Spokane Falls on December 7. The couple, now in jail, and the girl, who is staying at the Home of the Good Shepherd, will be returned to Spokane Falls. Lodie, who is not yet 16, told her aunt, Mrs. C. B. Taylor, that she did not want to come to Seattle with the couple. She said they took her money and prevented her from meeting her aunt. Mrs. Brooks and her 'husband' are suspected of being addicted to opium; the girl appeared listless, leading Chief Harbord to believe the couple had 'doped' her to ensure her compliance. The chief notes that the couple is wanted for the abduction of other young girls in Spokane.
“Her eyes had lost their former brightness; they were lusterless, and she looked as though she too was recovering from excessive use of the drug.”
Human trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable youth remain pressing civic issues in Seattle. The mention of 'opium' reflects the era's common demonization of substances while obscuring the predatory nature of the crimes, a dynamic that often leaves victims without the institutional support they need.
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