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Belle Plaine Union; July 10, 1913
TWO LIVES ENDED IN TRAGEDY AT VINTON
Blanche Goarcke
CLIFFORD BARKDOLL AND MISS BLANCHE GOARCKE FOUND DEAD IN HOUSE ON BARKDOLL FARM IN EARLY EVENING Of JULY 4th. EVIDENTLY HAD AGREED TO END THEIR LIVES.
A farm house on the Barkdoll place, five miles southwest of Vinton, was the scene of a double tragedy, in which the victims were Clifford Barkdoll, aged 20, and Blanche Goarcke, aged 15. The tragedy was the evident result of a murder and suicide pact. The position of the bodies, when found in the house at 5:30 o’clock that evening, indicated that Barkdoll had shot the girl and then committed suicide.
Barkdoll and Miss Goarcke had been keeping company for some time and it is reported, in opposition to the parents of each.
The Goarcke girl left her home on the edge of Vinton, before noon on July 4th, with the announcement that Clifford was going to take her to to Garrison to attend the Fourth of July celebration. That was the last seen of either of them until their bodies were found late in the afternoon. It is supposed that they went at once to the Barkdoll farm and that the tragedy was enacted immediately after their arrival. When found by George Burke, one of the men working on the farm, the bodies were cold. Both were lying on a bed, completely dressed. The girl had been shot twice. One bullet had penetrated the breast and another her temple. The young^man had shot himself in the temple.
A physician and officials who were called decided the tragedy must have occurred about noon. The facts were so evident that the coroner decided no inquest was necessary.
The young people were members of well known families. Clifford Barkdoll was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Barkdoll, who recently removed from their farm to Vinton. Miss Goarcke was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Goarcke.
{Submitter comment: not related}
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