Seeking Ed Strickland, Mrs Eula Stephens, Who Abandoned Children and Spouses to Run Away Together, Oct. 18, 1921

Seek Runaways from Johnston in Raleigh. . . Irate Father and Husband Here Looking for Couple that Deserted Children

Ed Strickland, a Johnston County farmer who left a wife and three children last Tuesday night to run away with Mrs. Eula Stephens, who has two children of her own account, will do well to keep moving, for stern and unrelenting justice awaits him should he return to his accustomed haunts.

But those who were enraged by the elopement are not merely sitting with folded hands and passively waiting for the alleged home wrecker to be chastised by a kindly fate. Having heard that the couple had been seen in Raleigh, E.N. Jones and L.D. Stephens, father and husband, respectively, of the woman, arrived in the city yesterday and will stay as long as there is any hope of locating their quarry.

The description of the pair that has been furnished to the police is as follows: the man is about 24 years old, has light red hair, weighs about 145 pounds and walks flatfooted. The woman is 22 years old, weighs about 90 pounds, has dark eyes and wears eye glasses. They were last seen in a newly painted Ford.

Both the father and husband arrived here yesterday, virtually heartbroken over the disaster that has befallen them, while Mr. Jones left his own wife in a prostrated condition and is fearful that she may die of grief and humiliation unless their daughter is restored to her. “There is nothing ever been said against a Jones before,” was frequently interjected by the irate father between threats of what would happen should he succeed in running down Strickland. It was left to Mr. Jones to take the lead in the search, for his son-in-law followed him around town like a shadow of a man, frequently breaking into audible weeping.

According to the two men, there had been no signs of visible intimacy between the eloping couple prior to their sudden departure together. The only advance information seems to have been held by Mrs. Strickland, who was told of her husband’s plan under a threat of death should she divulge the scheme.

The two families occupied neighboring farms in Elevation township of Johnston County.

From the News and Observer, as reprinted on the front page of The Smithfield Herald, Oct. 18, 1921