2 Fetuses Found in Trunk Dating From 1930's

E Runs

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http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=401941&src=110



LOS ANGELES -- Remains of two fetuses wrapped in 1930s newspapers and placed in doctor's bags were found inside an unclaimed steamer trunk by women cleaning out the basement of a 1924 apartment building that's being converted to condominiums, authorities and witnesses said.



The remains were discovered late Tuesday in a 4-foot-tall green trunk in a four-story brick building in the Westlake district, a once-elegant early 20th century neighborhood west of downtown.



The trunk was inscribed with the initials JMB and also contained a certificate giving "Miss Jean Barrie" membership to the Peter Pan Woodland Club mountain resort, a typing manual bearing the signature "Jean M. Barrie," ticket stubs from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, photos of a wedding and other items.



Two women who found the remains called 911 and coroner's officials began investigating, leaving residents to speculate about the trunk's owner, the possibility of secret abortions in the era before the procedures were legal and an odd fact: Peter Pan was created by Scottish author James M. Barrie, who died in 1937.



"This building is a historic building. It has a lot of stories there and now it's getting more interesting," said six-year resident Yiming Xing, 35, a genetics researcher who was one of the discoverers.



Faced with a mystery three-quarters of a century old, however, no one could immediately say whether there was a connection between the unknown Jean M. Barrie and the fetuses, whether someone else might have hidden them in the trunk, and whether the Peter Pan connection was anything more than a coincidence.



"We're trying to piece all of the parts of the puzzle together," coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter told news radio station KNX-AM. He described the remains as fetuses and said they were wrapped in newspapers dated 1933 and 1935, which differed slightly from the recollection of the women who found them.



The Peter Pan Woodland Club is long gone. The elaborate wooden clubhouse near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles burned down in 1948.



Gloria Gomez, property manager of the building for 10 years, said the larger set of remains was in a Los Angeles Times newspaper dated 1932 and the smaller remains were in a paper from 1935. Xing believed one of the papers was from 1934.



It was Gomez's job to clean out the basement. Everyone in the building was given until Aug. 14 to get their things out. The condo board told Gomez she could have anything that wasn't claimed.



Tuesday night, Gomez and Xing checked two unclaimed trunks and they were empty. They tried several keys on the last one, but finally had to pry it open with a screwdriver. They found the drawers full and pulled out items including a pearl necklace, a girdle, a bowl, a toilet figurine, books, photos, documents and a cigar box painted with depictions of saints.



Then they found the two black leather doctor bags.



Xing opened the first soft bundle and found what looked like a piece of brown, dry, very old looking wood. She said she realized it might be human remains and they called 911.



When the coroner arrived, investigators unwrapped the second bundle to find the larger set of remains.



Xing said those remains "looked exactly like a baby" with a head and hair "and looked very developed."



Both had been wrapped up like mummies but both were skeletons, Gomez said.



Another newspaper in the trunk was dated Sept. 17, 1937.



Coroner's investigators took the remains, drawers, medical bags, photos, personal letters and postcards, Gomez said. They left the trunk, the book, the bowl, the cigar box with cigars inside, the typewriter manual, the ticket stubs and clothing.



Former building manager John Medford, 68, who has lived there for 22 years, said he also saw blank medical forms from a hospital that appeared to be for a nurse to track a patient's temperature.



He was among those speculating that the fetuses were from abortions.



"In 1936, abortion was illegal," he said, recounting the era of back-alley procedures. "Women were in desperate straits then."



Diane Dudasik, the property manager and a building trustee, described the discovery as amazing but sad.



"But hopefully now the infants will be able to rest," she said.



Police were awaiting results from the coroner's office.



"We'll try to reconstruct the circumstances based on what the coroner tells us, based on the history of the residence and based on science," Chief Charlie Beck told the Los Angeles Times. "We have many more tools and technology available to us than before, which may allow for identification of the victims and closure to any family members."



According to the property manager's website, the Glen-Donald building has been used in a national DirecTV commercial, for the television show "Quarter Life" and a small, independent film project.



The 94-unit building, which has elaborate interior woodwork and a grand lobby, is being converted from individually owned apartments to a condominium arrangement.



Gomez said it was home to doctors, lawyers, writers and actors when it opened long ago.
 

jakobeast

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That is a fascinating story, filled with intrigue and secrets, conjecture and what if's. The whole speculation on whether it was the author of Peter Pan's wife or girlfriend or what have you makes for a good read.
 

canucklehead

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Closure to family members? hardly, more like letting someone know that their grandma/mother was a filthy whore who made sure their aunt/uncle/sister/brother was not born. There is no closure to be had if they didn't know anything about the incident and it may seriously taint their opinion of their grandma/mother. letting family members know about it is probably the stupidest thing i've ever heard.
 

MassHavoc

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[quote name="canucklehead"]Closure to family members? hardly, more like letting someone know that their grandma/mother was a filthy whore who made sure their aunt/uncle/sister/brother was not born. There is no closure to be had if they didn't know anything about the incident and it may seriously taint their opinion of their grandma/mother. letting family members know about it is probably the stupidest thing i've ever heard.[/quote]

1. you have no idea about the circumstances revolving around this story. 2. you have no idea that the family members don't already know about this.
 

Chief Walking Stick

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[quote name="MassHavoc"]

1. you have no idea about the circumstances revolving around this story. 2. you have no idea that the family members don't already know about this.[/quote]



Neither do you! Ha!



But man what a fucked up story.
 

MassHavoc

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[quote name="Stu Grimson"]



Neither do you! Ha!



But man what a fucked up story.[/quote]

Yes, but I didn't post alleged facts based on conjecture.
 

canucklehead

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[quote name="MassHavoc"]

Yes, but I didn't post alleged facts based on conjecture.[/quote]

odds are, that if there are 2 fetuses left in an unclaimed trunk from 80 years ago, the person who left them there most likely didn't want them to be known about. I highly doubt the family would know anything about it.
 

MassHavoc

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[quote name="canucklehead"]

odds are, that if there are 2 fetuses left in an unclaimed trunk from 80 years ago, the person who left them there most likely didn't want them to be known about. I highly doubt the family would know anything about it.[/quote]

Odds are, someone who doesn't want something to be known about, destroys all evidence. I'm not saying that is the case here, but 80 years ago is different strokes for different folks.
 

canucklehead

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[quote name="MassHavoc"]

Odds are, someone who doesn't want something to be known about, destroys all evidence. I'm not saying that is the case here, but 80 years ago is different strokes for different folks.[/quote]

perhaps kept as blackmail?
 

MassHavoc

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[quote name="canucklehead"]

perhaps kept as blackmail?[/quote]

Possibly... I'm just saying who knows, and I'll reserve judgment (not that any "judgment is actually warranted) until they get all the facts. Either way I CALL MOVIE RIGHTS! I'm going to bring back Rufio somehow.
 

LordKOTL

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Interesting story. Still, it shows human nature hsn't changed much in all of that time and people didn't have stronger moral convictions back then.



And yes, that's my misanthropy talking.
 

TSD

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[quote name="LordKOTL"]Interesting story. Still, it shows human nature hsn't changed much in all of that time and people didn't have stronger moral convictions back then.



And yes, that's my misanthropy talking.[/quote]





Its true, they just did a better job of hiding shit. The problem is especially concerning the 40's 50's and early 60's. All we really have to get a read on the culture of that time is that generation and TV. Because of the dramatic censorship in movies and TV of the time, we get a much more "moralistic" picture of the time. Which is why people are surprised to learn things like this. Teenagers had sex, people cursed like sailors, drank like fish, fucked prostitutes, did drugs. Society and people were just better at covering it up and it wasnt out in the open like it was today, doesn't mean they didn't do it.



About 2 weeks ago was the first time I ever heard my grandfather curse, when he called blowjobavich a **** sucking motherfucker. My jaw dropped. I guess I am adult enough at age 28 for him to say stuff like that in front of me. My Dad had already told me one time when he visted my grandpas old work (Com Ed) with him, every other word out of his mouth with his buddies was ****.



My grandpa was in his 20's in the 50's so that should have been the height of apple pie america land.





So when people say america is becoming an immoral cesspool or what have you, its no more or less immoral or debautched than it ever was, society just did a good job of covering it with a blanket.
 

LordKOTL

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[quote name="TSD"]





Its true, they just did a better job of hiding shit. The problem is especially concerning the 40's 50's and early 60's. All we really have to get a read on the culture of that time is that generation and TV. Because of the dramatic censorship in movies and TV of the time, we get a much more "moralistic" picture of the time. Which is why people are surprised to learn things like this. Teenagers had sex, people cursed like sailors, drank like fish, fucked prostitutes, did drugs. Society and people were just better at covering it up and it wasnt out in the open like it was today, doesn't mean they didn't do it.



About 2 weeks ago was the first time I ever heard my grandfather curse, when he called blowjobavich a **** sucking motherfucker. My jaw dropped. I guess I am adult enough at age 28 for him to say stuff like that in front of me. My Dad had already told me one time when he visted my grandpas old work (Com Ed) with him, every other word out of his mouth with his buddies was ****.



My grandpa was in his 20's in the 50's so that should have been the height of apple pie america land.





So when people say america is becoming an immoral cesspool or what have you, its no more or less immoral or debautched than it ever was, society just did a good job of covering it with a blanket.[/quote]

Exactly. In fact, just look at some of the pre-code movies from the 1910's and before and you can see it was just as debaucherous as now--they just didn't have the technologies for the alligator-fuckhouse or the dirty sanchezes.



Further proof that IMHO, organized religion has all ruined this country--after all, it was the Catholics who got the film code passed.
 

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[quote name="MassHavoc"]

Possibly... I'm just saying who knows, and I'll reserve judgment (not that any "judgment is actually warranted) until they get all the facts. Either way I CALL MOVIE RIGHTS! I'm going to bring back Rufio somehow.[/quote]





Screw movie rights! Firstly, this story is straight-up tailormade to become the creative jumping off point for my boy James Ellroy to turn into another one of his wonderful pulpy L.A. crime novels. After the book release date, then and only then should some incompetent film industry a-hole in Hollywood buy the movie rights and proceed to make yet another underwhelming adaptation ("L.A. Confidential" notwithstanding) of a great Ellroy book. D'uh.
 

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<BAD TASTE>

Wait for the movie rights all you want; I'll wait for the aged fetus jerky

</BAD TASTE>
 

JOVE23

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[quote name="LordKOTL"]<BAD TASTE>

Wait for the movie rights all you want; I'll wait for the aged fetus jerky

</BAD TASTE>[/quote]



Actually, I bet it tastes pretty good.

 

MassHavoc

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[quote name="bookjones"]





Screw movie rights! Firstly, this story is straight-up tailormade to become the creative jumping off point for my boy James Ellroy to turn into another one of his wonderful pulpy L.A. crime novels. After the book release date, then and only then should some incompetent film industry a-hole in Hollywood buy the movie rights and proceed to make yet another underwhelming adaptation ("L.A. Confidential" notwithstanding) of a great Ellroy book. D'uh.[/quote]

Movie is where the money is, and once I secure those it will be much easier to pick up the option on the video game...



I can see the back alley now...
 

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