Thursday, June 19, 1975
Four Killed in Accident
Saturday afternoon, a station wagon driven by Mrs. Shelia J. Dean, of Newport News, Virginia, going north on Route US 250, collided head on with a pickup truck driven by Cordell White, of Durbin, coming towards Durbin. The accident occurred about four-tenths of a mile into Randolph County on a long curve on Cheat. Mrs. Dean, formerly of Buckhannon, and her 18-year-old daughter, Karen, were killed, and Mr. White and his daughter, Teresa, were fatally injured. Mrs. White is in the Medical Center at Morgantown, as are John Dean, 9, in critical condition, and Michael Dean, 12.
Police reported that Mrs. Dean’s husband was traveling ahead of her in another vehicle and didn’t know about the accident for several hours.
TRAGEDY
The body of Walter G. Smith, 18, of Follansbee, was found last Wednesday evening in the Lobelia Saltpeter Cave, located on the 28-acre farm of Peter Hauer. Smith had been gone since the previous Wednesday evening from Watoga State Park, where he was employed for the second summer…
Smith had been dead several days from three bullets in his head from a small caliber pistol, one from behind and below the ear, lodging in the jaw, and two above the eyes. The exact time of death could not be determined because of the low temperature in the cave.
The body was wrapped in a blanket and plastic, some binding twine around the neck but not causing death; a rope around plastic and hidden in a crevice by the wall of the cave beneath rocks. Searches were led to the cave by the last will and testament writing of Peter Hauer, believed to be authentic but not yet made public, telling that the body was in the cave and that eventually his body would be found in a cave also.
This was found in Hauer’s home Wednesday.
Hauer, 30, has been missing since Monday and to date he has not been found, nor has Smith’s bicycle, clothes, the gun nor any reason for the killing.
Those who knew Hauer say they cannot believe he could do such a thing. He was mild mannered, very intelligent, a former teacher in Pennsylvania, a cave expert. He was doing research on saltpeter caves and was applying for a small Bicentennial grant to publish it. He had owned the property about four years…
It is not a simple case; Smith had had contact the past year with some people who had been in the area only a short time.
Hauer had had some of his animals cruelly butchered earlier in the year. So, there are many angles to be considered…
UPCOMING MARRIAGE
Mr. and Mrs. Lee McLaughlin, of Dunmore, would like to invite you attend the upcoming wedding of their daughter, Marie, to Gary Sharp, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wade Sharp, of Stony Bottom.
DEATHS
Roy Bedford McLaughlin, 65, of Hunters-ville, a son of the late Wallace and Annis Moore McLaughlin. Funeral held from VanReenen Funeral Home with burial in the McLaughlin Cemetery in Huntersville.
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William Cordell White, 44, and his daughter, Teresa Diane White, 12, of Frank, died of injuries received in an automobile accident June 14, 1975. A joint service was held Wednesday in Wallace and Wallace Funeral home in Arbovale with burial in Arbovale Cemetery.
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Ray L. Sage, Jr., 40, of Valley Head, a son of Ray L. Sage, Sr., and Mildred Gibson Sage, died Friday night from four gunshot wounds inflicted as he started to drive away after trying to stop a fight. He was an Air Force veteran. Funeral service from Mary’s Chapel on Elk with burial in the Gibson Cemetery.
