Frances Smith
Born
Frances St. John Smith

1909/1910
New York City, U.S.
DisappearedJanuary 13, 1928 (age 18)
Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
StatusBody recovered March 29, 1929 (1929-03-29)
Resting placeWildwood Cemetery, Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
Parents
  • St. John Smith (father)
  • Florence Smith (mother)

Frances St. John Smith (1909/1910 – disappeared January 13, 1928) was an American college student who disappeared from Smith College in Massachusetts in January 1928.[1] A body recovered from the Connecticut River in March 1929 was identified as being Smith.

Disappearance

Smith was first educated in New York City, then attended Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, from 1924 through 1927.[2] She then enrolled at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.[2] One of her classmates and friends there was Anne Morrow,[3] who later married Charles Lindbergh.

Smith was an 18-year-old freshman when she disappeared from Smith College on January 13, 1928, a Friday.[4] Another friend, who had visited with Smith on Thursday evening, visited Smith's room on both Friday and Saturday, leaving notes each time, which were left undisturbed.[2] The local Massachusetts State Police were then contacted.[2]

Initial searches were conducted in the area around the college by the state police and Boy Scouts.[2] On Sunday afternoon, a local attorney and his wife, driving near Deerfield, Massachusetts, briefly spoke with a young woman walking toward Greenfield.[2] While it was suspected this may have been Smith, the young woman could not be found by police.[2]

A garbled telegraph message received from an Annie Smith who had arrived in Paris led to a false report that Frances Smith was at a hotel there, but this was soon discredited.[5] Further searching extended to a convent near Quebec City in Canada, based on a report from a railroad conductor who thought a passenger on his train might have been Smith.[6] Paradise Pond, adjacent to the Smith College campus in Northampton, was drained in late March 1928, but nothing of significance was found.[7]

Smith's parents initially offered a reward of $1,000 (equivalent to $17,043 in 2022) for their daughter's return, and later increased it to $10,000 (equivalent to $170,426 in 2022).[2]

Discovery

On March 29, 1929, two workmen searching the Connecticut River near Longmeadow, Massachusetts, for a drowned colleague recovered a woman's body.[8] Based on the estimated height and weight and condition of the body, police tentatively identified it as Smith's.[8] Although the discovery was discredited by Smith's parents, a positive identification was made by Smith's dentist, noting a retaining wire between eye teeth of the lower jaw, consistent with Smith's dental work and confirmed by a friend.[9] Smith's dentist also provided some of her dental fittings, which matched the body.[2] The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be drowning by undetermined circumstances.[10]

A funeral for Smith was held on April 1 in South Amherst, Massachusetts, at the Smith family's summer home.[10] Smith was buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lindbergh, Anne Morrow (1973). Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 78. ASIN B000HI2DAU – via Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Foote, Alfred F. (November 1929). "The Strange Case of Frances St. John Smith". True Detective. pp. 18–24, 114–117. Retrieved December 24, 2013 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Missing College Girl's Companion Shows Her Grief". The Meriden Daily Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. January 18, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Justice Story". Daily News. New York City. May 21, 2023. p. 23. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Smith Girl In Paris Not Frances". The Cincinnati Enquirer. January 23, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Frances Smith Search Leads to Convent". Olean Times Herald. Olean, New York. INS. March 16, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Smith Girl Seekers Drain Paradise Pond". The Meriden Daily Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. March 29, 1928. p. 19. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "Dentist to Decide if Body is that of Missing Frances Smith". The Boston Globe. March 30, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Find Body of Girl Like Frances Smith". The New York Times. March 30, 1929. p. 11. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via timesmachine.nytimes.com.
  10. 1 2 "Funeral of Frances Smith Is Held at Amherst Today". North Adams Transcript. North Adams, Massachusetts. AP. April 1, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Frances Smith Buried". The New York Times. April 2, 1929. p. 25. Retrieved November 19, 2023 – via timesmachine.nytimes.com.
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