Post by hi224 on Apr 7, 2019 18:42:21 GMT
Barbara Newhall Follett (b. Mar 4, 1914) was an American literary prodigy, who published her first novel when she was only twelve. The House Without Windows (1927) tells the story of an adventurous young girl, Eepersip, who seeks for escape among the woods and mountains before finally choosing to leave behind her body altogether and become "a spirit of nature."
The novel was a popular and critical success, though her parents' divorce would prevent her from making a career as a writer. Instead she traveled the world first in the company of her mother and later with the man who would become her husband: Nickerson "Nick" Rogers. The two were married in 1934 and lived together in Boston and in Brookline.
The summer of 1939 produced a crisis in their marriage. Nick met another woman and Barbara, devastated, returned early from a trip to California to attempt to save her marriage. She was not successful. Her health suffered under the strain and she began taking barbiturates to sleep. On the evening of December 7, 1939, following an argument with her husband, she walked out of their Brookline apartment and disappeared forever.
After two weeks, Nick reported her missing but requested there be no publicity. In April 1940, when she had still not returned, he returned to the police and asked them to publicize her case. A wire was dispatched to other police departments but her disappearance was not covered by the papers and did not become widely known until the 1960s.
A recent article at The Los Angeles Review of Books contends that Barbara's remains may have been discovered in Holderness, New Hampshire in 1948 but that the bones in question were misidentified as those of another missing young woman -- Elsie Whittemore -- who disappeared from neighboring Plymouth in 1936. Investigators believed the woman in question committed suicide via overdose of barbiturates.
Elsie's family have long maintained the skeleton was misidentified by investigators, and there is some evidence to support this belief:
(1) Shoes recovered at the scene were measured at size 7 where Elsie wore a size 5 or 5.5. It was the state's opinion that the rubber-soled shoes had been stretched out by exposure to the elements, rendering this measurement irrelevant.
(2) Long bones recovered from the scene (tibia and radius) are most consistent with an individual of 5'5" or 5'6" while Elsie was significantly shorter, around 5'2". The pathologist's examination was made in 1948 using regression formulae from Pearson (1899), producing a likely stature of 5'2-5'3." However, regression formulae from the landmark Trotter & Gleser study, released just four years later, suggest a significantly taller individual.
(3) Elsie was said to be in the latter stages of pregnancy at the time of her disappearance. No evidence of an infant or fetus was found at the scene, though it's quite possible that any such evidence -- if it was ever there -- was lost to the elements before 1948.
(4) Finally, Elsie's family were unable to identify any of the belongings recovered with the skeleton, including a distinctive compact mirror and a pair of woman's horn-rimmed glasses. Elsie's family were certain she did not wear glasses, while the state would assert that she had "once" worn them.
Among the evidence pointing to Elsie Whittemore is a sample of overcoating, which shows a chevron pattern of light and dark threads similar to a sample of brown herringbone tweed that was provided by her family and was said to be "similar or identical" to the coat worn by Elsie on the night of her disappearance.
Though she was never considered as a possible match for the Holderness skeleton, Barbara Newhall Follett had a longstanding connection to the Squam Lake region and was known to have rented a property in the region as late as the fall of 1938. The bones were found near a hiking/skiing trail with which she would have been familiar, while the timing of her disappearance in 1939 falls within the pathologist's estimated window. Barbara was taller than Elsie Whittemore -- around 5'7" -- wore horn-rimmed glasses, and was known to have ready access to barbiturates.
Investigators in New Hampshire wrapped up their investigation on December 1, 1948. No death record was issued, either in Elsie's name or that of an unknown person. There are no records of burial or cremation. Whoever she was -- Elsie, Barbara, or an unknown third party -- the final resting place of her remains is unknown.
lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-place-of-vanishing-finding-barbara-newhall-follett/
www.farksolia.org/
www.laphamsquarterly.org/celebrity/vanishing-act
The novel was a popular and critical success, though her parents' divorce would prevent her from making a career as a writer. Instead she traveled the world first in the company of her mother and later with the man who would become her husband: Nickerson "Nick" Rogers. The two were married in 1934 and lived together in Boston and in Brookline.
The summer of 1939 produced a crisis in their marriage. Nick met another woman and Barbara, devastated, returned early from a trip to California to attempt to save her marriage. She was not successful. Her health suffered under the strain and she began taking barbiturates to sleep. On the evening of December 7, 1939, following an argument with her husband, she walked out of their Brookline apartment and disappeared forever.
After two weeks, Nick reported her missing but requested there be no publicity. In April 1940, when she had still not returned, he returned to the police and asked them to publicize her case. A wire was dispatched to other police departments but her disappearance was not covered by the papers and did not become widely known until the 1960s.
A recent article at The Los Angeles Review of Books contends that Barbara's remains may have been discovered in Holderness, New Hampshire in 1948 but that the bones in question were misidentified as those of another missing young woman -- Elsie Whittemore -- who disappeared from neighboring Plymouth in 1936. Investigators believed the woman in question committed suicide via overdose of barbiturates.
Elsie's family have long maintained the skeleton was misidentified by investigators, and there is some evidence to support this belief:
(1) Shoes recovered at the scene were measured at size 7 where Elsie wore a size 5 or 5.5. It was the state's opinion that the rubber-soled shoes had been stretched out by exposure to the elements, rendering this measurement irrelevant.
(2) Long bones recovered from the scene (tibia and radius) are most consistent with an individual of 5'5" or 5'6" while Elsie was significantly shorter, around 5'2". The pathologist's examination was made in 1948 using regression formulae from Pearson (1899), producing a likely stature of 5'2-5'3." However, regression formulae from the landmark Trotter & Gleser study, released just four years later, suggest a significantly taller individual.
(3) Elsie was said to be in the latter stages of pregnancy at the time of her disappearance. No evidence of an infant or fetus was found at the scene, though it's quite possible that any such evidence -- if it was ever there -- was lost to the elements before 1948.
(4) Finally, Elsie's family were unable to identify any of the belongings recovered with the skeleton, including a distinctive compact mirror and a pair of woman's horn-rimmed glasses. Elsie's family were certain she did not wear glasses, while the state would assert that she had "once" worn them.
Among the evidence pointing to Elsie Whittemore is a sample of overcoating, which shows a chevron pattern of light and dark threads similar to a sample of brown herringbone tweed that was provided by her family and was said to be "similar or identical" to the coat worn by Elsie on the night of her disappearance.
Though she was never considered as a possible match for the Holderness skeleton, Barbara Newhall Follett had a longstanding connection to the Squam Lake region and was known to have rented a property in the region as late as the fall of 1938. The bones were found near a hiking/skiing trail with which she would have been familiar, while the timing of her disappearance in 1939 falls within the pathologist's estimated window. Barbara was taller than Elsie Whittemore -- around 5'7" -- wore horn-rimmed glasses, and was known to have ready access to barbiturates.
Investigators in New Hampshire wrapped up their investigation on December 1, 1948. No death record was issued, either in Elsie's name or that of an unknown person. There are no records of burial or cremation. Whoever she was -- Elsie, Barbara, or an unknown third party -- the final resting place of her remains is unknown.
lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-place-of-vanishing-finding-barbara-newhall-follett/
www.farksolia.org/
www.laphamsquarterly.org/celebrity/vanishing-act