Description

On December 11, 1938, at approximately 1:00 p. m. , two men arrived at the Palm Springs Police Department (PSPD) and reported discovering partial skeletal remains while hiking on a hillside behind Tahquitz Canyon, approximately two miles southwest of Palm Springs. The coroner's office was notified and hiked to the scene on the north slope of the canyon. The remains were located approximately 1, 000 feet above the canyon floor and about 100 yards below the summit of a ridge. The decedent was found lying face up in brush at the base of a 30-foot cliff, dressed in men's clothing. Approximately 50 feet above the remains, on the cliff, investigators found a pair of black Oxford shoes. The shoes were about 15 feet apart. Their broken shoelaces suggested they were a matching pair.