ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

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In true western style, and with no Chicago flourishes, the greatest manhunt ever staged in the west was in full swing late last night — after the man or men who late yesterday abducted little June Robles, 6-year-old granddaughter of Bernabe Robles, wealthy ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ pioneer, and held the child for $15,000 ransom. Hundreds of men, officers, cattlemen friends of the rancher and real estate owner, joined in the search for the child and her kidnappers, to be followed by 300 American Legionnaires this morning.

And kidnapping, the ugly word which has not inflamed southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ for over two years, spurred on the heavily armed groups of officers and men, bent on a quick capture of the abductor and a resuce from a threat of death if ransom was not paid, in the ransom letter received by Fernando Robles, father of the tot.

The child was lured from Fifth street, adjacent to Roskruge school, as she left an afternoon class yesterday to go with her 6-year-old cousin Barney Kengla, to his house around the corner. Nearly two hours later the unsuspecting father received the sinister printed letter with the awful news that the child had vanished and the demand for $15,000 — or death to little June.

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(June) was lured into a small car just after she left the Roskruge school, where she is a kindergarten pupil, shortly after 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The little girl was on the way to the house of her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Kengla, ... where she was wont to visit until late afternoon, when called for by her mother.

Accompanying her was her six-year-old cousin, Barney Kengla, and one of the two apparent eye witnesses to the kidnapping. Young Barney related that, as he hurried home, around the corner from the school to commence the afternoon play with his little sister Sylvia, June lagged behind. (Morgue Lady's note: Sylvia was actually June's little sister, a fact noted elsewhere in the reports.) Rounding the corner from Fifth street on to North Second avenue, the boy said that he saw a man in a "little black car, smaller than daddy's — maybe a little Ford" stop and call to June. June walked over to the car, got in, and the car drove away, the child said.

Mrs. Harold D. Smith, sister of Carlos Ronstadt, also saw the kidnapping, although partially unaware of what was taking place. Mrs. Smith was driving home from Roskruge after calling for her child, saw a small car, a dilapidated sedan, stopped at the curb and the man driver attempting to coax a little girl therein. Mrs. Smith stated that a thought of kidnapping flashed through her mind, but she dismissed it when her child asked her not to drive so slow, but to hurry home.

Partially Disguised

The man, described by Mrs. Smith, was partially disguised with large sunglasses, wore dark dirty clothing, and seemed very emaciated, his clothes hanging on him. The child, Mrs. Smith said, seemed to be refusing to enter the car, saying "No, no." But the man seemed to be insisting, Mrs. Smith said.

The Robles family was apprised of the abduction of little June shortly before 5 o'clock when the kidnap note was delivered to Fernando Robles, father of the child, at the Robles Electric company on North Church, which he owns. A small boy, Rosalio Estrada, ... carried the note from the Fox theatre parking lot across Church street to Robles' store. The boy told officers all he knew of the affair was that a man, an American in dirty clothes, paid him twenty-five cents to deliver the note and wait for and return an answer.

From across the street Ray Orcutt, operator of the parking lot, saw the man and boy come on to the lot from Congress street. The man, standing between two parked cars, gave the boy directions, and started him off; recalled him, gave him more directions and something from his pocket, Orcutt reported. The boy then left and walked across Church street to the Robles store.

As he did, Orcutt related, the man ran from the parking lot onto Church street and north to Pennington, where he turned west onto Pennington and disappeared. The boy told officers that the man had ordered him to walk about the downtown streets, in the event that he was not at the parking lot on his return from the Robles store.

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SAWYER KIDNAPPING CASE IS RECALLED

The kidnapping of the Robles child was the second time in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥'s history that the "snatch racket" invaded the city. The first case was two years ago when Gordon Sawyer, vice-president of the Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ bank was stolen from his home, late in the evening. Sawyer was found, bound and gagged, at the bottom of an abandoned well on the Adkins ranch the following day. A ransom of $60,000 had been asked.

After a gun fight with sheriff's depities, Clifford Adkins was arrested and later tried and convicted for the crime. He was sentenced by Judge C. C. Faires to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary where he is now.

Carlos Robles, uncle of the missing child, was co-prosecutor of Adkins in his capacity as assistant county attorney of Pima county.

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300 HUNT ROBLES KIDNAPERS
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TRACE MANY CLUED BUT STOLEN CHILD REMAINS IN HIDING
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Desert and Mountain Combed in Vain; City Homes Searched
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REWARDS OFFERED

Supervisors and Legion Each to Give $500 For Capture

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Weary from his 24 hour straight vigil, Colby S. Farrar, Pima county undersheriff, received report after report last night at his office in the county court house as police officers and deputies, Legionnaires and cowboys, state patrol and federal officers aiding in the search for six-year-old June Robles returned from the wide-flung miles of mountain and desert that surround ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. But no word of the dark-haired baby or her kidnaper were included in the news given Farrar and his co-worker, C. A. Wollard, chief of police.

Men in cars, afoot and ahorse had left no trail unwatched nor home unvisited as they carried on the search for the little girl who was kidnaped as she left the Roskruge school Wednesday evening.

Undaunted by the lack of success Farrar and Wollard prepared new patrols and fresh men relieved those long on duty. The search, now delving deep into the mesquite covered desert along the Santa Cruz river, has taken more than 300 men into the field and more have volunteered their services.

While he said he could not go into detail as to the plans, Farrar admitted last night that an effort will be made to contact the kidnapers in hope that the ransom payment of $15,000 may be adjusted in order to obtain the safe return of the child. The officer would not divulge the time nor the place at which the effort would be made, but intimated that it would be before morning.

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"Don't shoot unless someone attacks you," the instructions began. "Put one man in the alley and another in the street. Approach the houses and ask permission to go through. If permissionh is refused, call the sheriff's office and report it and station a man to guard the house until further orders."

On this basis the covering of the town began. Meanwhile the search in the county districts was not neglected. So far as possible, men who knew the district to be searched were assigned to each location with instructions to search each house and cabin with especial attention to likely hideouts for such a gang.

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To Star Subscribers

This extra cover was put on The Star this morning because the Robles family believe that the kidnapers of 6-year-old June Robles should have the news that the family is willing to negotiate as soon as possible.

(For details further than those carried on the story on this page, read the original page one, inside this special bulletin cover.)

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MANHUNT HALTED; FAMILY OF KIDNAPED ROBLES CHILD ASKS NEGOTIATION FOR ITS RETURN

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Carlos Robles Issues Statement Calling Off Searchers for June, 6

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The manhunt for the abductors of June Robles, 6, who was kidnaped from in front of Roskruge school Wednesday afternoon, was called off this morning at 3 o'clock at the request of the family.

The family is attempting to get into contact with the kidnapers.

The statement calling off the concentrated manhunt, which involved more than 300 volunteer and paid officers at its height, was issued by Carlos Robles, uncle of June and assistant county attorney of Pima county, as follows:

"The main object in the case, I believe, is to have the girl returned safely to her family.

"For that reason I have requested, at the request of the family, the officers to withdraw from the case in order to permit the family to negotiate with the kidnapers, hoping that with negotiations with them we may have the girl returned to her home safe.

"The officers have been kind enough to accept and have agreed to withdraw."

In an informal addition to the statement, Assistant County Attorney Robles then said that he felt that if The ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Daily Star carried the news to as many ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ans as possible, negotiations might be hastened. When the statement was issued, present in the county attorney's office were:

Fernando Robles, father of the kidnaped child.

Carlos Robles, uncle.

County Attorney Clarence Houston.

Undersheriff Colby S. Farrar, who has headed the manhunt.

Chief of Police C. A. Wollard — whose department captured John Dillinger and his gang, and who turned police force over to the direction of Farrar to expedite the manhunt.

Fifteen thousand dollars ransom was asked in the original kidnaping note.

The condition of Mrs. Helen Robles, mother of the child, who has been praying constantly for the child's safe return, grew dangerous last night, and hastened to family's decision to attempt to regain the child through negotiations with the kidnapers.

"I never worked on a case in which we had so little authentic information," C. A. Wollard, chief of police stated yesterday. "We have run down clue after clue which has faded into nothing. Many of them have appeared good leads, none of them has produced tangible results."

His statement came in a discussion of wild rumors and wilder speculations published in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and put on the wires all over the country. Wollard did not deny that his men and the sheriff's office group are still working on information which may lead to definite information about the criminals. Much was hoped for today and the future in the investigation of the case. On the other hand, newspaper solutions of the crime had no place in the work of the officers.

Colby S. Farrar, undersheriff, stated definitely that he was sincere in his announcement that the major offensive had been called off at the request of the family. Officers came and went on various missions, presumably connected with the case, but the massed movement of armed forces through and around the city was definitely stopped.

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HUACHUCA POSSES CALLED OFF
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WOMAN HELD AFTER GIVING FALSE REPORT
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Greatest and Most Quickly Organized Man Hunt In Years Is Formed in Mountain and Canyon in Response to Hoax
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APACHE SCOUTS, SOLDIERS AID SEARCH
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Deputies From Three Counties, Customs Officers Rushed to Secluded Spot, Give Several Hours Time; Are Disappointed
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BISBEE, Ariz., April 28 — AP — Eva Coleman, Negro woman operator of a restaurant near the Fort Huachuca military reservation, was placed under technical arrest tonight in connection with false information which caused a widespread man hunt in that district for the abductors of June Robles.

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In a day featured by a hoax which set federal, state and county officers at work over the entire southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ area, little progress was reported yesterday in the June Robles kidnaping case.

The almost total lack of developments was broken by a report that a mystery car was carrying the kidnaped girl into the southern part of the state, possibly across the border, with the search finally concentrating in the Huachuca mountains. In speed of action, mass movement of peace officers over a wide area and quick and total discrediting of the report, yesterday's hoax has never been equalled in the memory of the men working on the case here. ...

Investigation of one of the many false leads which occupied a major part of the officers' attention created more than the usual excitement yesterday afternoon. Reports of a car seen near White City, near Ft. Huachuca, in which two men and a little girl were riding sent officers from all over southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to the spot to investigate.

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Father Asks Return of His Daughter; Asks Identification
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TUCSON, ARIZONA
APRIL 30, 1934

To The ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥,

Will you kindly publish the following message in the next issue of your paper.

To the person or persons who have my daughter June:

I am ready and willing to follow faithfully any and all instructions received by me so that my little girl, June, will be returned to me safely and unharmed.

I have requested the local, county, state and federal officers to withdraw entirely from the search, which they have agreed to do so that we can enter into negotiations successfully.

I have requested again and again in this message that all rewards that have been offered be withdrawn and that all persons refrain from interfering with my attempts to contact you and secure my child.

In order that I may be certain that I am dealing with the proper parties and that my daughter is alive, I request that I be furnished a piece of her dress and her answers to the following questions:

What do you do with your bunnies in the morning?

What do you call Corney?

What is the name of Betina's maid?

Where is you little box with the key in it?

Please take good care of my baby.

Sincerely,ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý
FERNANDO ROBLES.

Throughout the long day and into the night rumors poured in to the offices of C. S. Farrar, undersheriff of Pima county and C. A. Wollard, chief of police. An unauthenticated story, started from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, that the child had been found in Magdalena, Sonora, was quickly and completely denied by Eduardo Dado Escobar, chief of police of that city and by J. E. P. Dunn, head of the department of justice detail.

"The story," said Dunn, "is an absolute falsehood. It has no basis in fact."

A short time later in the evening another and similar story was told and as quickly denied. This time the rumor mongers had said the baby had been found in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

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RANSOM READY BUT CHILD IS NOT RETURNED
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Grandfather of Kidnapped Girl in Readiness to Pay $15,000
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As yet there were no takers.

Somewhere — possibly in some quiet street in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ itself, through which already had raged a manhunt in grim western style, and subsided, without result — six year old June, perhaps engulfed by homesickness induced by familiar words and phrases, was lisping out the answers to four quaint questions, to be open sesame to freedom for her.

Perhaps she is never to see again the "bunnies," "Corney," "Betina's maid," or her "little box with the key in it" — the family's appeal to the kidnapers has asked about all those things to make sure, in the negotiations June's relatives hope to be allowed to undertake, that it is her life for which they are bargaining.

Four Questions

Only upon four homely little questions about four homely little things intimately connected with the small girl's family life, published for the kidnapers to see if they heeded and for June to answer if they ever reached her, could they depend.

Proof that June is alive — the correct answers to the questions which members of the intimate family circle are sure only they and little June herself could know — is all the family has asked before delivering the ransom money to any place, at any time, the kidnapers may require.

Official search and investigation ceased, and rewards were cancelled. Federal, state, county and city officers went about other affairs and left the Robles family, at its request, to make its peace, if it can, alone, and privately with the kidnapers.

The family had made its offer, and yesterday it could only wait, emotionally over-wrought as it was, with what patience and hope it could muster.

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KIDNAP SUSPECT CONFESSES
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U. S. CITIZEN IS HELD; TELLS OF ABDUCTING GIRL
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Center of Investigation Shifts to Below Mexican Line
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QUARTET IS INVOLVED
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Details of Statement Are Checked By Officers
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An American citizen, a former ex-convict, is being held in custody, but not under arrest as a suspect in the kidnaping of June Robles and a confession to authorities yesterday was said to have been written by this man.

The man is not in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, but has been in custody for more than a week on the American side of the line. The "confession," among other things, said that June had been held in Santa Cruz, Sonora, four days ago. She was, the man said, in custody of a married couple who are Mexican citizens and a man who is an American. An immediate investigation showed that the couple was in Santa Cruz on the day in question. They were accompanied by a man and a child answering June's description, but the neighbors who knew the Mexican couple could not positively identify the man and girl.

It was a further statement by the man that sent the officials of Pima county, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and the state highway patrol hurriedly to Cananea Monday night. The man gave the exact address at which it was supposed she could be found. Cananea police, at least some of them, are convinced that the girl was there, but that her captors escaped with her before the American posse arrived.

The people who have the child in custody were given a letter by the man under arrest. It was directed to a relative in Cananea who was instructed to take the child to Bernabe Robles, her grandfather and get the $15,000 ransom. He was then to take the money to them at Santa Cruz. If he did not do so within 12 hours, the Santa Cruz party was to go to him.

The descent of the posse on Cananea blocked this plan. The relative was arrested and taken to the Cananea jail, but only for a short time before the police were satisfied he knew nothing of the case and he was freed. He had not yet received the letter.

The man who is in custody, it is now known, was to have been the contact man until his arrest prevented his playing that role.

The presence in or near ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ of another of the suspected kidnapers of six-year-old June Robles in addition to the self-styled "contact man" now detained by authorities was believed indicated tonight by acknowledgement as probably authentic of a second ransom note.

The communication, first reported Monday (ML note: that would have been May 7), was understood tonight tacitly to have been accepted by the family as assurance from the abductors June is still alive and will be delivered if contact arrangements can be made.

Contents of the note were not revealed definitely. It was reported it instructed that directions in the first note, delivered two hours after June disappeared two weeks ago, continue to be followed. . . .

The informer whose information resulted in the advance on Cananea — but too late if the persons seen there really were those sought — remained somewhere in southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, in personal technical custody of authorities who continued to check clues suggested by the written document in which, it was revealed today, he named himself as the "contact man," whose duty it was to have been to collect the $15,000 demanded from Fernando Robles, father of little June, and described parts played by others.

Speed Plan Fails

The original plan, as detailed, was to collect the ransom within 24 hours, the "contact man" then joining his confederates in Santa Cruz, Sonora, and proceeding to Cananea to leave the child, for return later to its parents, with an unsuspecting relative of the informer.

That was believed upset by the sudden and ferocious manhunt the kidnaping touched off in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. He remained in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ as an observer then, it was believed, until, suspected, he was placed under restricted surveilance secretly a week ago, and information obtained from him used in efforts to track the gang.

It was not revealed in the documentary evidence authorities had which of the companions he named was assigned to the actual abduction of the child and delivery of the ransom note.

The man described by a small boy, who unwittingly delivered the first ransom note in exchange for 25 cents, was an American. The informer is a Mexican.

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Two denials, one from J. E. P. Dunn, department of justice operative, and the other from Fernando Robles, heart-broken father of the missing six-year-old girl, of the report that a note from the baby's kidnapers had contained replies to questions asked by her father, last night returned the puzzle of the kidnaping to the list of unanswered questions.

Robles, when asked if his questions to his daughter, asked in his previously published appeal to the kidnapers, had been answered said:

"If there were such answers I do not know about them. If there were any such answers in any note, I did not see it."

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Text of Father's Second Plea for Return of Child
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TO THE PERSON OR PERSONS HAVING JUNE ROBLES:

There are two reasons why I have not been able to comply with all of your instructions and to make a contact. (1) I have worked hard ever since your note was received, trying to raise the $15,000, but I have been able to raise only $10,000, and it is impossible for me to raise more. (2) The condition upon which I was able to raise the $10,000 was that the money was not to be paid in the manner which you have outlined in your instructions.

In view of the above reasons, you can understand and appreciate the delay and my failure to contact you. I have had no way to let you know how difficult my problem has been.

I did not have the full amount of the money demanded and I have never been able to get the donors of the money to allow me to pay the ransom in accordance with your instructions. In this connection, I wish to state that the persons who have assisted me in securing the $10,000 have emphatically stated that the money must not be paid except upon the delivery of the child at the time of payment.

In view of this situation I request that you make a new contact with me and that you suggest any plan agreeable to you for the payment of the ransom and the safe return of June. The only suggestion which I would like to make with regards to the person whom you name as contact is that it be some individual who personally knows my daughter. This for the reason that I want to be sure at all times that I am dealing with the proper parties and not subjecting myself to hi-jacking.

I want to assure you that I propose to deal with you fairly and honestly and that there will be no double-crossing, no spies, no officers and no betrayment. If you will immediately make a contact and submit a satisfactory plan, I am ready to negotiate promptly with you in accordance with the conditions above named.

I have the assurance of all interested law enforcement agencies that I shall have a free hand in my negotiations with your contact man.

In order that I may not be interfered with in our negotiations and that I may have our daughter returned to us as speedily as possible, I am issuing the following appeal:

TO THE PEOPLE AND THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE UNTED STATES:

For more than two weeks I have been trying, with every means at my disposal, to locate our child and secure her safe return.

I have tried to the limit of my ability to meet every demand and follow the instructions received, when given a chance to do so unmolested.

To date I have received no positive assurance that she will be returned safely.

I am not unmindful of the great interest shown by the mothers and fathers of the country and appreciate deeply the sympathy that actuates this interest. However, sympathy and interest alone have not brought about the return of our child.

The situation created by this condition and the activity generated by the desire to inform the public of the progress being made, have made it impossible for me to continue negotiations and comply with the requests of those who hold our child. Unless this condition is changed I fear that I will never see our baby again.

I appeal to the public in general and the newspapers and the law enforcing agencies to discontinue activity which might interfere with my plans to secure the safe return of our baby.

FERNANDO A. ROBLES.

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GREENWAY, DOUGLAS ABDUCTIONS FOILED
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ROBLES KIDNAPPERS HAD MADE PLAN TO GET RICH VICTIMS
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Prisoners in New Mexico Penitentiary Reveal Story of Plot
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NAMES ARE DISCLOSED
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Map of County, Showing Probable Hide-Out Accompanies Report
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SANTA FE, N. M. May 12 —(AP)— Warden Ed Swope of the New Mexico prison late tonight confirmed reports that a New Mexico convict claims to have "inside information" concerning the kidnaping of June Robles, at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Ariz.

"I cannot reveal the name of this prisoner because I have turned the matter over to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ officials, but if they wish to make public the convict's name it is satisfactory with me," the warden said

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Further mystery was added to the kidnaping of June Robles yesterday when it was learned that the plot was not one that had been arranged on the spur of the moment, but, it is believed, had been hatched a number of months ago with others than the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ baby as intended victims.

In fact, according to a letter received by Sheriff John Belton from Warden Ed Swope of the New Mexico state penitentiary, Mrs. Isabella Greenway, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥'s congresswoman, was first the intended victim and later, when that plan had failed to materialize, the attention of the plotters turned to "a young man who is now the director of the budget," Lewis W. Douglas.

It was only after the absence of the pair from ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ made the original plans impossible that the attention of the kidnapers turned to the Robles child, the sheriff was informed.

It was recalled in connection with the mention of the "young director of the budget" that recent news dispatches from Washington told of the care which was being taken there to guard the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, a member of the U.S. secret service having been detailed to the home of the budget director for that purpose.

The dispatches of that time did not say whether this precaution was taken because of the numerous kidnapings along the east coast.

Warden Sends Word

According to the information received by the Pima county officer, the details of the plan had been disclosed to the Santa Fe warden following the news of the kidnaping of the Robles child here. It is believed that some one still behind the prison walls who had been in the confidence of at least some of the plotters disclosed the major details of the plan to the New Mexico warden.

The letter, Warden Swope said last night in Santa Fe, had been written by the convict who had brought him the story after he had suggested to the prisoner that the information he had should be sent direct to the Pima county officers. The prisoner agreed and wrote the letter which Swope forwarded at once to Belton.

Swope said that he did not know how much bearing the information might have on the case, as he does not know the country, but he felt that the Pima county officers should be informed.

The warden added that apparently only one of the Santa Fe prisoners who might have known of the original plot now remains in the penitentiary there.

Sheriff Belton indicated that the letter had also disclosed names of at least some of the men who were alleged to have been party to the plot and also a map of the Pima county area on which was indicated a probable hide-out of some of the men. Whether or not the information received by the sheriff had been of any value was not known last night as officers, since the second plea of the father, have withheld definite action on the case in hopes that a new contact with the kidnapers will be effected.

Other than the word from Santa Fe, yesterday brought few new details to the many interested in the fate of the 6-year-old child, who, 17 days ago, was kidnaped as she left the Roskruge school and who has not been heard from since.

KIDNAPPED ROBLES CHILD RETURNED TO PARENTS
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Uncle and County Attorney Find Girl In Living Grave
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June Robles, six-year-old kidnaped child was found at three o'clock this afternoon, nine miles from town. The information which came from the governor's office was stated to have been a letter from Chicago which gave the location of the baby.

Nine miles from town a freshly turned bit of earth about six feet long and two feet wide attracted the attention of the three men and upon closer inspection they found it to be a dug out affair, covered over.

The dugout was constructed of gunny sacks, wood and tin, and June was chained by one ankle on the inside. June was dirty and covered with vermin. Food to the extent of a jug of water and a loaf of fresh bread was on the inside of the cage.

The first words the baby spoke were: "I want my mamma."

The letter from Chicago was dated May 10 and was in the same printing as the two previous letters received. It was signed "XYZ Obey."

The letter was sent from Chicago to Governor B. B. Moeur, who in turn sent Riley Bryan, state highway patrolman, to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ with the instructions. These were followed by County Attorney Clarence Houston, Assistant County Attorney Carlos Robles, uncle of the child, and the patrolman, who spent the entire morning trying to find the child. Houston was credited with having spied the mound of dirt and the dugout.

Nineteen days ago June Robles was kidnaped from near the school which she attended and from all appearances she had been confined to her prison for most of that time.

The dugout was securely covered over and the lock on the chain attached to the child's ankle was opened by the child herself when the key was discovered lying on the roof. The key was handed down to her. She was so weak, however, she had to be carried to the car.

The letter, which had broken the 19-day cloud of mystery, was turned over to the Department of Justice at once, and the wires carried an immediate demand to operators there to check up on its mailing on May 10 and the possibilities of tracing its source.

The child was taken to the home of her parents by Houston and her uncle and officers under command of C.S. Farrar, undersheriff, and C.A. Wollard went immediately to the scene of the rescue of the baby and immediately began the search for signs that might lead to the kidnapers.

Houston, in describing the find, said that when he found the baby he was alone. He looked over the top of the pit and saw the baby. In a low voice he said:

"Hello, June, do you know me? Are you afraid of me?"

Looking up in a startled manner, the child said: "No, I'm not afraid of you," and Houston called Robles.

He saw then that the child was chained and when he tried to get into the hole he found that he could not. He found the key to the cage-like cave on a small piece of tin near by as the uncle of the child came up.

Carlos, overjoyed at finding his little niece, was horrified at the manner in which the child had been kept.

The baby, when given the key, unlocked herself. She was so weak she could not walk when placed on her feet.

She did not know the men who had kept her, she said. He added that she had never seen them before and that the two men she had seen were called Bill and Will and that one "wore gloves."

The pit in which she was found measured only 3 feet by 3 feet, nine inches by 6 feet.

The sheet iron cage and its contents were brought to the sheriff's office last night and brought expressions of horror from officers and bystanders who saw it. The old galvanized iron had been nailed to a rough framework if old planks. The metal had been cut with a pair of tin snips to form a door two feet wide and two feet six inches long in the top of the cage. This was the only method of entering or leaving the pit.

Well Camouflaged

After the cage was buried in the ground the men had covered it with prickly pear, cholla and dirt until it was almost impossible to locate from the directions given in the letter which was rushed here by the governor. Houston explained that he almost stumbled over the cage before he realized that there was anything there.

Air was supplied to the imprisoned girl by a few nail holes punched through the top of her cage. Food with which she was supplied was spoiled when the girl was found. Water was provided in two dirty galvanized iron cans. Sanitary provisions consisted of a graniteware pot buried in the floor of the pit. The pot had a hole in the bottom so that some drainage into the soil was provided.

The girl sat (she could not stand up in the narrow cage) for 19 days. So far as the dazed girl could inform the men who found her, she had been visited only three or four times by her abductors. With filth, rotting food and vermin around her, the chain which was padlocked around her ankle clanked every time she moved. An old dog chain and a rusty automobile tire chain had been linked together to form her tether. One end of the chain was fastened outside the box to a long steel pipe which had been driven into the ground. The chain had been passed through a hole in the galvanized iron and thence around her ankle.

Joy of finding Live Girl Instead of Dead One Told
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Houston Amazed at Girl's Cleanliness Despite Having To Live in Dirty Tomb; Asks for Key and Unlocks Padlock; Angry at Chain Marks
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The story of two discouraged men, seeking what they knew to be a dead body and their joy when they found a live girl instead, came out slowly last night as Carlos Robles, uncle of kidnaped June Robles, and Clarence Houston, county attorney, talked over their experiences in Houston's office.

Houston told how he and Robles separated in their desert search, how he wearily sought the shade of a tree and there saw a sprig of cactus and an old pasteboard box which gave him the impetus to search again. The child's coffin-prison was found by accident a few feet from where he rested.

He was certain that June was dead. He had been almost lost on the desert and had been calling for Robles, but now decided to peek into the grave, see the condition of the body and call an undertaker and not tell Robles until later.

Prepared to find a decomposed body, he was shocked to find the live girl chained in her grave-cage. He told of his first remarks to the girl, his query, "Were they good to you?" and her answer, "Yes."

"Honey, I can't get down there to unlock that thing," he told her.

"Give me the key," she called imperiously. She unlocked the padlock "quick as a flash," he said. She took a drink of orange juice from the glass in her prison before allowing herself to be helped out.

She failed to recognize Houston and seemed to believe him one of the kidnapers until he got her to help shout for her uncle. "After that I was her pal," Houston explained.

As they were leaving the place Houstion said, "I don't know whether I can find that place again."

"Oh, yes you can," June said. "Don't you remember, you hung your handkerchief up in a tree." Then Houston mused over the kidnaping.

Houston paused — "My big regret is that we have no capital punishment for such a crime," he mused.

Houston explained that he was careful not to question the girl too closely. She was forced to turn her back whenever the men visited her, she stated.

"Gee, my teacher will be glad to see me back," was one of her remarks.

"When I heard June call 'Liche,' I forgot all about the evidence," Robles said last night. (Liche is short for Caliche and is a nickname reference to the fair complexion of Carlos.)

Houston and Robles both paused in their discussion to give high praise to all the officers who worked with them in the case.

In recounting the joy of the family when little June came back, Carlos recalled that his grandmother was in church praying when the child was returned. When she learned the child was alive she returned to church to pray again.

After a pause in the talk, Carlos said — "Well, after all, that's a trip we'll never forget."

In remarking on the luck which took its part in the final finding of the child, Houston recalled it took him an hour to go back to the place even after he had hung his handkerchief in a tree near the spot.

Houston recalled that June was angry at the marks of the chain on her leg. "Look at that!" she said. "Just look at that!" She pointed to the scar, her dark eyes snapping with anger. Her extreme concern over her personal appearance was also subject to comment. "I don't know how she kept so clean in that hole," Houston said. "She pulled down her little dress, fixed her sleeves and fluffed up her hair as soon as she saw me."

Then Robles took up the story to tell how she demanded a bath as soon as she got home. "In spite of the doctor's orders for rest she wants to go to school tomorrow," he stated. She was bitten by insects or had prickly heat across her forehead; it was bleeding a little. That bothers her, too.