June 11, 1921 Omaha, Nebraska Baby John Doe

On June 11, 1921, an unknown baby boy was found in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

March 23, 1921 Northbridge, Massachusetts John Doe

On March 23, 1921, the body of a man was found in the Blackstone River in Northbridge, Massachusetts. It was assumed that he had drowned and had been dead for a long time.

John Doe was a white male. He was around 5'10" and had black hair.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

GHOSTS: Stiffy Green

John Heinhl died in 1921 and was placed in the Heihl Mausoleum at the Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. His dog Stiffy would be placed in the mausoleum to keep him company. Now it's rumored that Stiffy haunts the cemetery protecting his owner.

It's stated that Stiffy Green sat crying next to Johns casket during his funeral, and anyone who tried to comfort the do met with barking and biting. It was stated that Stiffy refused to leave tombs door after John was placed there. Sometimes even seen sitting there during hurricanes. 

Stiffy Green died as well and it was rumored he was stuffed and placed with his beloved owner. His eyes were green glass that glowed fiercely as a warning to trespassers. But the Stiffy Green was a cement dog that used to set on the Heinhl porch. It's not stated whether or not if Stiffy was actually real and possesses the statue or if the statue came to life from grief of the death of their beloved owner.

One night a late night vandal shot into the mausoleum shattering one of Stiffy's eyes. The Heinhl family would then remove Stiffy and donate it to the Vigo County Historical Society. He now lives in a replica Mausoleum in the Historical Museum of Wabash Valley. 

SOURCES:

ObscUrban Legends

Roadside America

Tribune Star October 4, 2015

December 30, 1921 Ravenglass, England Jane Doe

On December 30, 1921, the body of a woman was found in Ravenglass in water. She had been dead for several months her head was completely skeletalized, but the rest of her body wasn't. This left her unrecognizable. There were no signs of violence and had been in the water for several months.

The woman was thought to be around 35-years-old. She appeared to have been pregnant. She was wearing two pairs of black woolen stockings and an old pair of slippers.

SOURCES: 

Unsolved Murders UK

November 30, 1921 Mobile County, Alabama Doe

  On November 30, 1921, a person died of paresis at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Mount Vernon, Alabama. They would be buried the next day at the Mt. Vernon Hospital Cemetary. 

Though the Unidentified Wiki lists the Doe as a John Doe their source states that the Gender was unknown. The person was black and around 38-years-old.

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find a Grave

Murder of Nell "Alma" Tirtschk

 

Nell "Alma" Tirtschke named after her mother was born on 14 March 1909 at a remote mining town in West Australia, Australia. She was the oldest child and in 1911 her father Charles Tirtschke accepted a position with a mining company in Rhodesia and the family moved there. Soon after in 1912, her little sister Viola was born. During Nell's third pregnancy she died and Charles unable to take care of his daughters full time sent them to their grandparents. The whole family helped raise the two girls.
By 1921 Henry, Alma's, and Viola's grandfather died and the grandmother took all parental duties. Alma was described as shy, studious, and well behaved and excelled in her studies. Her grandmother raised the two girls and was a strict disciplinarian and would restrict the girls from social activities with other students this could have been the reason why Alma was shy and didn't make friends readily. She was also described as having soft speech and a soft manner.

On the afternoon of 30 December 1921, 12-year-old Alma was sent on an errand by an aunt. She was supposed to get a package of meat from her uncle's butcher shop in Swanston St. Melbourne and deliver it to a customer on Collin's street. It wasn't supposed to take more than 15 minutes and Alma was typically fast with her errands.

When Alma didn't return her family began to worry because they knew she was reliable and responsible. She was reported missing and the family and police searched for the girl through the night. It wasn't until early the next morning that her nude body was found in Gun Alley a laneway off of Little Collins Street. The poor girl had been raped and strangled to death.

She was last seen alive between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. at the corner of Alfred Place and Little Collin Streets close to where her body had been found. Among the men interviewed about the murder was 29-year-old Collin Ross, a saloon manager, and was seen with a girl matching Alam's description that day outside his saloon.

Collin was known by the police and had recently been acquitted in the shooting and robbery of his customers.  He claimed that he had been tending the bar the whole night and had not killed the girl. He nominated several witnesses who did see him tend the bar that night. Police were convinced it was him, he was arrested on 12 Jan. 1922.

Even though police were convinced of him being the murderer family members of Alma didn't believe it to be him. Collin had, throughout the trial, claimed innocence. The trial then began on 20 Feb. John Harding who was previously found of perjury was in jail with Collin. He testified against Collin and claimed that Collin made a confession to killing the girl.

A detective noticed several strands of blonde hair on a blanket inside of Collin's home. Alma's hair was compared to the blanket's and Charles Price a trained chemist looked at the hairs and claimed they came from the same person. This helped lead to a conviction against Collin. He was sentenced to death on April 24, 1922 by hanging

 In 2008 hairs that were claimed to have come from Alma were tested. It was found that those hairs did not belong to the girl and the man who claimed Collin made a jailhouse confession had been subject to perjury and it's possible he lied about the confession.Collin has been pardoned for Alma's murder. It's unknown who had actually attacked and killed the young girl.

Collin Campbell Ross

SOURCES:
Murderpedia

Wikipedia

Lost Media: The Guyra Ghost

 On June 25, 1921 A film called, The Guyra Ghost Mystery by John Cosgrove was released in Australia. The film was based on the real-life accounts of the Bowen family living in Guyra, South Wales, Australia. The family was suffering from unexplained attacks on their house believing that a ghost was bothering them. In the film, Sherlock Doyle would help the family with their ghost problem. The family would play themselves in the film.

 The attacks included were showers of rocks being thrown at the home and loud banging. One of the children, Minnie, would later admit some of the loud sounds and rock-throwing was her as she was trying to scare her sibling. The events seem to have ceased when Minnie came back from a visit with her Grandma at the Glenn Inn. It's likely that there was never any ghost just jokesters.

A 100 years later the film is now lost to time.

SOURCES:

Lost Media Wiki

Wikipedia

The Sydney Morning Herald

May 2, 1921 St. Johns County, Florida John Doe

On May 2, 1921, in St. Augustine, Florida a man was killed in an automobile accident and pronounced dead at 5 a.m. at the hospital. He was a white male around 38-years-old. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified

May 1, 1921 St. Johns County, Florida John Doe

On May 1, 1921, a man was shot by an Ernest Reid(possibly Rild) in self-defense in Hastings, Florida. He was a black male around 35-years-old. There is little information in this case and is unstated why John Doe was shot in self-defense. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified Wiki

Murder of Chrissie Clare Venn

Around 5 p.m. on Feb. 20, 1921, 13-year-old Chrissie Venn left her home on Allison Rd. in North Motton, Tasmania, Australia. She was going to walk 3 miles into town to go run some errands and go to the shop. She didn't arrive back home.

On March 1, 1921, her body was found in a log by a searcher. She was on Allison Road. She had been suffocated or strangled and seemed to have been sexually assaulted.  One source states that twine used for hay bailing was tied around her neck and her mouth was stuffed with pieces of cloth from her dress, and the cloth had a gold pin attached to it. Another source states her body had been mutilated, but it's unknown if it had been or not. It's believed that she may have died sometime on Feb 26th.

Former police officer and minor, George William King, was tried for the crime. He had cuts on his hands that made him suspicious. He claimed his hands were cut up due to a log falling on them while searching for Chrissie. The trial started on August 21 of the same year and was done in Hobart. Albert Ogilvie defended him and William was found not guilty.

It's unknown if William had really killed her or if someone else from the small farming community had. It'll never be known what had really happened to the poor girl.

It's believed that Chrissie haunts the road she was killed on.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Daily Herald
Examiner
Revolvy
Wikipedia
Press Reader