In October 1941, a group of miners saw something suspicious near an abandoned coal mine on a mountainside near Tremont. The notified the police and then discovered that a box containing the remains of fetus had been stuffed into the coal hole. The conclusion was that an “illegal operation” [abortion] had been performed close by only a few days prior. An investigation then commenced.
The story was picked up by the local Tremont newspaper and a few days later, by the Pottsville Republican. Since no further articles were found on the matter, it can probably be assumed that the case was never solved.
From the West Schuylkill Press & Pine Grove Herald (Tremont), 1941:
EVIDENCE FOUND OF ILLEGAL OPERATION ON MOUNTAINSIDE
Evidence of an illegal operation having been performed on the mountain west of Tremont, with the embryo form of a baby concealed in an abandoned coal hole, was found on Tuesday by a group of independent coal miners.
County detectives and state police from the Pine Grove barracks are conducting an investigation, having found several slues that may lead to the discovery of the guilty persons.
When the coal miners were passing an abandoned coal hole on Monday they saw that some disturbance had occurred at the spot and there were pieces of cloth strewn about the area. They were suspicious about the matter and returned to the spot on Tuesday. As they approached the coal home they saw an automobile, occupied by a man and woman, pull away hurriedly.
The men summoned officers from the highway patrol station at Pine Grove and county detectives were brought in to aid in the investigation. By following a trail of refuse to the mouth of the coal hole, they found that a large box had been pushed into the hole. One of the men was let down into the hole on a rope, and the box was discovered to contain the form of a small and not fully developed baby, a sheet and other articles that led to the belief that the illegal operation was performed there on the mountainside. It is believed that the deed was done on Saturday or Sunday and the persons involved are local persons acquainted with this territory.
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From the Pottsville Republican, October 14, 1941:
FIND BODY OF INFANT
County detectives and state police are investigating the finding of an embryo infant in an abandoned bootleg coal hole on the mountainside near Tremont. The body was discovered by independent miners in a large box which had been pushed into the coal hole.
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News stories from Newspapers.com.
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