Tomb of Former Congressman William L. Scott Is Raided at Erie , PA.
Woman’s Body is Stolen — Coffin of Mrs. Anna M. M’Collom, Relative of Family , Found Empty — Police say They Are Hampered in Efforts to Fathom Mystery.
Erie, Pa.—Ghouls have broke into and violated the mausoleum of the late William L Scott , who was a congressman from this district, a millionaire coal and railroad magnate and an intimate personal friend of former President Grover Cleveland. Much mystery surrounds the case, which first became known publicly Thursday morning.
The mausoleum, in the Erie cemetery (a magnificent affair which cost at least $50,000), was found shattered by some women who chanced to be walking through the burying place. Soon after this discovery it was whispered about the city that the body of Mrs. Anna M. McCollom, a sister of the late Mr. Scott’s wife, had been taken away. Mrs. McCollom was the wife of a prominent naval officer and was well known in Philadelphia society. It was also said by some that Mr. Scott’s body was removed from its vault. Whether it was stolen or not is a question which has not been satisfactorily answered.
The police admit, officially, that Mrs. McCollom’s body was removed from the mausoleum by the vandals. They also declare officially that Mr. Scott’s body as not stolen, although probably an attempt was made to steal it.
Unofficially the same police say that the family of Mr. Scott has hampered them in their endeavors to get at the bottom of the mystery and that they really are not fully conversant with all the circumstances of the body stealing.
“There is more behind this than a plain case of corpse snatching from a cemetery,” they declare, and if we had our way about it a very sensational story will quickly develop.”
They really do not know whether Mrs. McCollom’s body was the only one taken, or whether that of the late Congressman Scott likewise was carried off. But they say that they know a motive for the stealing of one or both, and that they will reveal it when the proper time comes.
Valentine Democrat, Valentine, NB, February 16, 1911