SKELETON FOUND

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1932, Page 6

SKELETON FOUND

- : ON SIDE OF CLIFF. STRATFORD, September 22. Had riot a y°nng man slipped down a precipice, to -a ledge high up -on ‘the side of a ravine the remains thought %' be those of Donald Morrison may U'ever have Been discovered. The skeleton. was Jppnd on this small space 'higji upon jlie' cliff-shle. ‘ 7 ' The locality near Whangamomona is Wild in thb extreme, dense bush being every where; =“‘There is a ravine, the Avails of which are almost precipitous, ‘ and hundreds of feet up on one side is the;: ledge' where the remains were found. ... The clothing/ had all rotted away, all ithat was left being a heap of bones the] position -of which indicates that the man shot himself through' the lie ad and-'toppled forward. A strap ■ attached' 'to the trigger of the rifle found alongside indicates how the act was committed.

Although there is lit le doubt felt that tin* remains are those of Morrison, definite proof of this has not been established. A set of false teeth may provider the necessary evidence if the dentist who made them can be traced, but as the man had lived in many parts of ‘the world this will be a difficult task.

Morrison disappeared mysteriously in February; 1'931. The house and woolshed on his property were found bn fire/ihuhrthpto-was no trace of fhe. o'Wner 'if" v discoF-, erbd ta\T®y r head-rof stocky 'including horses’ and* al dog, had been shot. A , search of the ruins revealed no trace of human remains, and a search fruitless. Ail. tools and farm equipment/ wore missing.

What happened to Mrs Morrison is a | complete mystery. The last time she was seen alive was on February 8, .1931, when she and her husband came into Whangamomona. That night the iiujsband returned*to the farm alone, and • although Mrs Morrison was thought to have gone to Napier, ail tracefof her has been lost., ..