By R.E. Powell
Raleigh, July 12—Governor Pat M. Neff’s wire from Waco, Texas, to Governor Cameron Morrison asking the North Carolina executive to have a thorough search instituted for Major Samuel H. McLeary, United States army officer, is being broadcast from the executive offices pending the return of Governor Morrison and his attention to the appeal from the Texas governor.
In Raleigh, at 11:15 a.m., July 2nd, is the last seen or heard of the coast artillery major. He came to this city from Norfolk, in a Dodge automobile bearing Kansas license plate 19,718, and stopped long enough to send a telegram to a bank in Hampton, Va., asking that funds be forwarded to him, care Hotel Jefferson, Columbia, S.C. He has never put in appearance at Columbia and, according to information received by the authorities here, the money was returned to Hampton.
The only clue the local police have been able to get came in a telephone message this morning from the chief of police at Louisburg. This officer told the local officers that a Dodge automobile, driven by an army officer, passed through that place last Tuesday or Wednesday—the officer wasn’t certain which day. Although Mrs. McCleary has been expected here every day to aid in the search for her missing husband, she has not put in an appearance to date. However, J.E. Wilson of Newport News, a friend of the family, is here to aid in the search.
There are, as is customary, a half-dozen or more suggestions as to the whereabouts, but none of them fit in with the character of the man as it has been described. Reports that the automobile had been stored in local garages have proved misleading and the theory that McLeary is here, fully possessed of his faculties, is discredited by the police detectives who have scoured the city for him.
Pending such action as Governor Morrison may see fit to take in the matter, three agencies are now co-operating with the police of this city, of Norfolk, of Fayetteville and of Columbia, in an effort to locate the missing officer. They are:
The war department, which has broadcast a preliminary announcement of Major McLeary’s disappearance and is following it with a description of the officer.
The broadcasting station at Fort Bragg, which last night sent out the alarm.
The Raleigh post of the American legion, which today called on all legionnaires to sue automobiles tomorrow scouring the country.
In the meantime, the legion here has offered a reward of $100 for any information which will lead to the whereabouts of the army officer.
From all the information the police and members of the legion here have received, through friends of the family, it looks as if Major McLeary is an amnesia victim.
From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, July 13, 1924
Missing Major's last name is spelled McLeary except when his wife is mentioned. Then it's McCleary.
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