Looking back: 14-year-old boy disappears, and ‘badly decomposed body’ found
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Aug. 31 to Sept. 6 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — A fire broke out in the coal house of the “insane asylum” in Blackfoot, The Bingham County News reported on Sept. 2, 1921.
No patients or employees were injured in the fire. Commissioner Burrell was pleased with how quickly firefighters responded and mentioned that if they hadn’t, the outcome “might have been exceedingly serious.”
It’s not clear exactly how the fire started but the paper mentioned the asylum’s well and pump had not been working. A new pump had been on its way but ended up getting lost in transit.
“The management has been uneasy all this time and have kept a close watch against fire,” the article reads. “They feel very thankful for the aid given by the city fire department.”
1926-1950
BURLEY — A Burley farmer was badly burned during an explosion, The Burley Herald reported on Sept. 3, 1929.
T.C. Gummerson, a farmer who lived eight miles east of Burley, suffered severe burns on his face, neck, and arms after what was being described as a “peculiar accident.”
Gummerson was reportedly working with a can of gasoline in a pit with a pressure pump, which he was cleaning and oiling, when the explosion occurred. An exposed wire ignited the gasoline, causing the explosion.
Gummerson, along with a young son of J.P. Pons, who was standing nearby, was also burned on the hands and the side of his face.
Both received medical attention and were said to be “resting well” and “on the road to complete recovery.”
1951-1975
POCATELLO — A 14-year-old Pocatello boy was missing, the Idaho State Journal reported on Sept. 2, 1973.
David A. Sienkiewica, son of Mrs. Rose Thomas, had been missing from his home since noon Thursday. At the time he disappeared, he was an eighth-grader at Franklin Junior High School.
He was last seen wearing Levis, a white t-shirt, blue sneakers and riding his black bicycle.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A “badly decomposed body” was found just outside Pocatello city limits south of Ross Park, the Idaho State Journal reported on Sept. 6, 1976.
A Bannock County sheriff’s deputy told the Journal that authorities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been brought in to verify the man’s fingerprints.
Once the prints were confirmed, the victim’s identity would be disclosed, the deputy mentioned.
No further information was released at that time.