AUTO STRIKES WRECKED MACHINE; WOMAN DEAD

HARTFORD CITY, Ind., May 22.----Three young men are held in jail here pending an investigation by the coroner of an automobile accident, which resulted in the death of Mrs. Gertrude A. Shores, age 40, the wife of William A. Shores, a farmer living northeast of the city.

Stewart Mooney, age 19, of Elwood; Harold Swigert, age 16, of Keystone, and Floyd Leehaman, age 18, of Flat, are the prisoners. The authorities also have the names of three young women of Montpelier, who were with the youths. They will be summoned as witnesses at the coroner's inquest.

Mooney was driving the machine when it crashed into the Shore's car, which had overturned after striking a freshly stoned stretch of road on Pennville pike, about two and one-half miles east of the city, shortly after 8 o'clock.

Whether Mrs. Shores came to her death when their own car turned over or received fatal injuries as the result of being run over by a machine following them has not been determined.

Statements Are Conflicting.

Mr. Shores and Vernon Shores, his 11-year-old son, who was in the car with him, assert that the machine containing the young people ran over his wife. the young men deny any responsibility for the woman's death, and say that their car never touched her. It is for the coroner's inquest to determine whether there is any criminal liability on the part of the young men.

The husband of the woman killed is positive in his statement that the car following him struck his wife after she was thrown from his machine. When he found her prostrate body she was lying just clear of the rear wheel of the young men's car, unconscious and bleeding from numerous wounds, he sys. Death came soon afterward, her neck having been broken, chest crushed, and right ear torn off in addition to numerous other injuries.

The Fort Wayne News and Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN 22 May 1918
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!