Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
COLFAX — The granddaughter of a Colfax banker in 1935 was found dead in Seattle after a four-hour disappearance.
On October 6, 1935, 7-year-old Sally Kelley went missing from her grandmother’s apartment in Seattle, plunging the community into a state of fear and suspicion.
Reports say Sally’s parents, Phyllis and Albert Kelley, had left her with Phyllis’ mother, Edith Coolidge, while they attended a dinner. That evening, Sally was seen playing in the hallway of her grandmother’s apartment building, Ben Lamond Apartments. She wore a red plaid dress and carried a yardstick.
The building’s janitor, Leonard Fayer, recalled seeing Sally playing and talking to her in the hall. Around 7 p.m., Sally returned to the apartment for dinner but returned to the hallway afterward. Minutes later, she vanished.
At approximately 7:30 p.m., Edith Coolidge reported Sally missing to the Seattle Police Department. Officer H.A. Westman and U.R. Mitchell were dispatched and began a frantic search along with neighbors and volunteers. Despite their efforts, it wasn’t until nearly midnight that Sally’s lifeless body was found hanging from a garage door latch, concealed in a locked garage nearby.
An autopsy revealed that Sally had been sexually assaulted, bathed, redressed and then hung with a handkerchief. Forensic capabilities of the time were limited and despite the recovery of semen, the investigation advanced little.
Detectives questioned known offenders and suspicious individuals, but leads failed to pan out. Among those questioned was a Russian monk named Mefody, who was released due to lack of evidence. Another suspect, “Aberdeen Red,” was reportedly seen in San Francisco around the time of the murder but was never found.
In 1938, a potential link emerged with a suspect in a similar Los Angeles case, which also proved to be a dead end. Investigative techniques of the 1930s were rudimentary by today’s standards, and promising leads often got lost in the paperwork.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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