McDANIEL, Mrs. Frances: 1918-1947

MCDANIEL, FELLOWS, MILLER

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 11/24/2013 at 10:09:31

Left Her Ottumwa Home On Errand, Unseen Since
**Handwritten: 1947

(The Register's Iowa News Service.)

OTTUMWA, IA.-Peace officers of this region Saturday continued their hunt for Mrs. Frances McDaniel, 29, who left her 2-year-old son in his crib, went on an errand and hasn't been seen since by persons who know her.

Mrs. McDaniel apparently slipped a coat on over her house dress to make a trip downtown. She was last seen in the lobby of a bank, where she paid some obligations.

Had About $60.

The teller who waited on her noticed nothing unusual about her actions. He said she had about $60 when she left the bank.

Relatives said she had not been well for six months and was depressed about her condition. Police believe she may be an amnesia victim.

Her 6-year-old son came home from school at noon, and, finding his mother gone, telephoned his father, who is an electric welder here.

They found $40 in bills in the bedroom. All of the mother's clothing or personal effects were in their usual places.

"Quiet, Retiring."

Mrs. McDaniel's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fellows, farming near Douds, who have been here for the last several days to aid in the hunt, said she "is a quiet, retiring person who doesn't make friends easily and had no intimate friends here."

Mrs. McDaniel is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weights about 100 pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a tan herringbone coat when last seen.
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**Handwritten: Frances Fellows
Young Ottumwa Mother Disappears

Mrs. Paul McDaniel, above, who has been ill for the past six months, has been missing from her home at 213 West Fourth street since Thursday morning.

She was last seen at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in front of the Farmers & Merchants bank, and, since that time no trace or clue to her whereabouts has been uncovered.

She is the mother of two small children, a boy 6 and another, 2, whom she left alone in his crib. Her husband said she would never leave the baby alone, as he attributed her disappearance to her illness.

He has telephoned all their relatives without results and asks that anyone who may have seen his wife since Thursday morning report that information to police headquarters.

Mrs. McDaniel is 27 years old, five feet and five inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes.

**Handwritten: Nov. 4-47
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Body Of Missing Woman Found In Race
**Handwritten: Feb 29 1948

The body of Mrs. Paul K. McDaniel, 29, missing from her home at 213 West Fourth street since November 6 last, was taken from the Des Moines river "race," just west of the hydroelectric plant, shortly before noon Sunday.

Close relatives viewed the body at a vault in Ottumwa cemetery a short time later and were quoted by police as saying they were "fairly certain" that it was Mrs. McDaniel.

The coat which she was wearing at the time of her disappearance was buttoned up around her neck.

Officers said a man who was walking near the hydroelectric plant, west of the Market street bridge, sighted the head caught in debris piled behind the plant gates. Police are of the opinion that the woman, who had been in ill health, jumped into the water in the vicinity of Wapello street, her body being snagged on some object along the race bank.

On the day of her disappearance she had left her 2-year-old son in a crib alone, and had gone to the business district. The older son, Wayne, 6, found his baby brother crying when he returned home from school at noon.

Coroner Gordon Traul said he plans no inquest.

The husband, employed at the Hardsocg Pnuematic Tool Co., told police he believed Mrs. McDaniel was a victim of amnesia. The watch and coat she was wearing when pulled from the water were identified late this morning.

Mrs. Frances McDaniel was born Aug. 16, 1918, in Van Buren county, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fellows. Besides her husband and parents, she is survived by two sons, Wayne and Allen; a sister, Mrs. Homer Miller, Douds, and two brothers, Robert Fellows, Chicago, and Paul Fellows, Camp LeJeune, S.C.

Graveside services were held at 3 o'clock this afternoon in Memorial Lawn cemetery, in charge of the Rev. B. Frank Hasty, former pastor of the First Baptist church.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book C, Page 347, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA

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