Recovered/Located AZ - Stella Horrell, 18, Phoenix, 22 Aug 1943

dogperson · Jun 25, 2012

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3228dfaz.html

This is new on Doe Network. I'm wondering if she's a potential match for these skeletal remains believed to be from 1948:

http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase497.html

Some things match up pretty well. Stella left Arizona in 1943 heading for California and was never seen again. The remains were found beneath a foundry floor in 1973 in California and are believed to have been there since at least 1948. Stella was 18 in 1943 and would have been 23 in 1948; the skeletal remains estimated age is 20-25. The remains were said to have prominent buck teeth and Stella's photos appear as if she may have had buck teeth, though the photos are small. Unfortunately her Doe profile states there are no dentals available for her to compare with the skeletal remains. Unless the remains still exist and could be DNA matched to a living relative of Stella's, I don't see how a match could be made, but I felt this was an interesting possibility of being the same woman. I assume the building must have been put up in 1948 or later for LE to be certain the remains had been there that long.

Richard · Nov 4, 2012

Stella May Horrell

Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: August 22, 1943

Location Last Seen: Pheonix, Maricopa Co, Arizona Physical

Description** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
Date of Birth: September 20, 1924
Age at Time of Disappearance: 18 yrs
Race: White/American Indian
Gender: Female
Height at Time of Disappearance: 5'5
Weight at Time of Disappearance: 125 lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Alias(s) / Nickname(s): Mickey, Dessie Pearl Ellis, Stella Wesler
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Not available
Fingerprints: Not available
DNA: Not available Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown Circumstances of Disappearance Stella left Pheonix to travel to California and was never seen or heard from again.

Investigating Agency(s)
If you have any information about this case please contact;

Agency Name: Doe Network

E-Mail: admin@doenetwork.org

Information Source(s)
Information graciously provided by family and loved ones
The Doe Network: Stella May Horrell - 3228DFAZ

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3228dfaz.html

cibarra · Dec 12, 2012

I am Stella's granddaughter, I am wondering where you got the info that you think this person might be a match? I would like to look into this further. We have been searching for Stella for many years. Thank you for any assistance you can offer I would like to know one way or another where my Grandmother is.

Thank you
cibarra

dogperson · Dec 13, 2012

Welcome to Websleuths and I am so sorry for the loss of your Grandmother and not knowing where she is.

This info was from www.doenetwork.org and of course there's no way for me to know if there is a match, Doe Network is a website we often use to try and match unidentified persons with missing persons. Some of the information seemed as if it could be a possible match. I would suggest contacting Doe Network and/or the law enforcement agency who is handling your missing Grandmother's case. The folks at Doe Network have been very helpful with all potential matches I have submitted, often contacting the law enforcement agency which is handling the case for the unidentified person, and then relaying the info back to me as to whether it will be looked into further. One of the main features of the unidentified woman is that she had buck teeth and I can't tell at all from the photos if your Grandmother had them or not as the photos on the Doe website are small. If she did not then this wouldn't be her.

Again, I am sorry for all the years of not knowing where Ms Horrell is, I hope you find some answers.

CastlesBurning · Mar 15, 2015

Stella left Pheonix to travel to California and was never seen or heard from again.

At 18, I would imagine Stella had limited funds, so was she perhaps visiting a friend or relative there? Did she ever arrive?

She must have boarded a train or a bus; did anyone recall selling her a ticket, etc?

dotr · May 5, 2016

https://www.fold3.com/image/85278475?ann=63916300-6185-11dd-6e72-7a077e6b3a54
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Stel...ei=iwksV7D8E8bhaIaZiagH#imgrc=pC3Oqdhncq3BTM:

Stella May Horrell and gentleman's name unknown

Click to expand...

MickyWrangle · Jul 21, 2016

Bump:blushing:

Odyssey · Jan 30, 2017

I have a couple questions:

Do we know if Horrell is a married name? Stella had a granddaughter who posted here so that would lead me to think she was most likely married.

If so, could the man in the photo with her be Mr Horrell? I know he is listed as an unknown man but does that mean it ISN'T her husband?

Was Mr Horrell (if he existed) accounted for after Stella's disappearance, or could he have gone missing with her?

The man in the photo looks like he was in the military, were there any bases near where Stella was living at the time of her disappearance?

I seem to recall as a kid looking at something similar to a yearbook from when my dad was in the navy. He served in the late 1960s, does anyone know if there was anything similar in the 40's with photos?

Is the general consensus that this man may have known about her disappearance?

alb1on · Feb 10, 2017

Horrell does not appear to be a married name, although she seems to have been married twice, which seems odd given the dob. However there are records on Ancestry for marriages, both in Maricopa, Arizona, of;

Stella Horrell to Theodore T Wesler on 29 August 1939 (when she would have been14 according to the dob). This must be right as the Wesler matches one of her aliases.

Stella May Horrell to Melvin Travis Powers on 29 December 1941.

The 1939 marriage gives no age for Stella but she is given as 21 for the 1941 marriage. Perhaps the 1924 dob is an error? Her second husband, Melvin Travis Powers, was born in Texas in 1919 but living in Maricopa at the time of the 1940 census. He died in Santa Barbara, California in 1976 which makes me wonder if Stella was travelling to California to join her husband.

alb1on · May 29, 2017

Theodore Wesler is interesting. He was born in 1905 and died in Maricopa in 1956, so whatever the correct birth date for Stella he was significantly older when they married in 1939. But more relevantly he had a substantial criminal record. In 1926 he was sentenced to 2-14 years for burglary. He must have served the minimum as he married Mayme Miller in Richmond, Indiana in 1928 (he came from Indiana). I have not found a divorce from this first marriage. Theodore continued to get in trouble as he was arraigned in 1929 (detail is in the Indianapolis News on newspapers.com but I do not have a sub so only got the basics). All of this may be irrelevant, but I would be looking at an ex-husband with that sort of history, if just to eliminate him as a suspect.

One odd thing I noticed is that on the death certificate for Theodore Wesler (available on Ancestry) his spouse is listed as Mickey, one of the aliases for Stella. Also interesting is that the spouse was initially listed as unknown and that was crossed out and Mickey was written in. I have no idea how that should be interpreted.

alb1on · May 31, 2017

I have looked again at Ancestry. This time a family tree with Stella has turned up (it did not on first search as it spells Wesler as Westler). However, there is no doubt it is referring to the correct Stella as it contains her marriage to Theodore in Maricopa in 1939. The birth date is September 20, although it gives the year as 1921 in El Paso, Texas. There are some questions in the tree, and those who use Ancestry will know you should never rely on a tree without backup, but if it is correct it has Stella dying as Steklla M Hudson on 16 November 1990 in Quincy, Washington. It lists a son, Paul Wesler, who died in 1974 age 34 but who was married and may have had descendants. It also has an SSN for Stella of 554-40-0674 which may help for those who have more knowledge. It says it was issued in California before 1951.

For those with Ancestry, the family tree is Booker Family Tree OR, owner purplemist121. I will continue to look at this to see if I can validate the information given (the individual bits are all evidenced - it is a case of whether they all relate to the same person and hang together).

alb1on · Jun 2, 2017

I am beginning to think the Ancestry tree is right. I cannot find obvious flaws in the materials and the tree owner is obviously quite close to the Horrells as she has included numerous family pictures on the tree. But perhaps the most persuasive thing (to me) is the following picture of Hattie Horrell, younger sister of Stella if the tree is correct; the likeness to the picture of Stella is startling.

Odyssey · Jun 20, 2017

Hmm.

I just did a Google search for Stella Hudson in Quincy Washington and found her on a public records listing with a relative named James F Hudson aka Jim Hudson.

Then I googled Jim Hudson Quincy WA and it looks like there is an article from 1989 in the Quincy Valley Post-Register. I couldn't read the article because when I clicked on the site, it didn't respond. The Jim in the article appears to have been the VP at ICI Agricultural Products.

I'm interested because if this is our Stella she was alive at the time of that article. I can't tell if the article is an obituary or something else.

Alb1on, were you able to tell which family (Horrell, Wesler, Powers or Hudson) created the tree? I guess I'm curious if this was a case of leaving her husband or if her birth family didn't know where she was either?

Scratching my head a bit on this one.

Odyssey · Jun 20, 2017

Wanted to add: Great job finding all that!!

alb1on · Jul 11, 2017

Hi Odyssey

Apologies for the delay in replying to your post. I have been away for a month.

The Booker family tree on Ancestry has been created by the Horrells. Specifically, it seems that the tree owner (purplemist121) is a niece of Stella called Shirley. I have gathered this from a post she made (under the purplemist name) on the Ancestry message board, replying to a query about the Horrells and disclosing her christian name and grandfathers name (Louis Hosey Horrell, who was the father of Stella). The family tree shows siblings of Stella born up to the mid 1930s when Mamie (the mother) was 42, so it is quite possible for a niece to still be alive (her profile says she is 60+). Based on this information I would say that the family (or at least some of the family) knew what became of Stella. The problem is that none of this explains why she is listed on the Doe network or why her grandchild (cibarra - #3 above) does not have this information. There seem to be only 3 possible explanations;

1. The information I have listed only became known to the family after cibarra's 2012 post.
2. The family tree, although compiled by a close family member who seems a pretty expert genealogist, is wrong.
3. Stella kept her whereabouts private except to a very few family members, although this would not explain why the information was not shared after her death.

An interesting case.

alb1on · Jul 11, 2017

And still more;

I have now found an entry on Ancestry in the US Social Security and Claims Index for Stella Mae Hudson, father Lewis Brady and mother Mamie L Horrell, born 20 September 1921 in El Paso, Texas and died 16 November 1990. The original SSN is from 1948 and was given in the name of Stella M Hudson at that time. This ties into a marriage record for 7 April 1986 in Grant, Washington where James F Hudson marries Stella M Brady. This suggest they got together in the 1940s when one or both may have been married, but only married nearly 40 years later.

The obvious question is why the Brady name? According to the Ancestry family tree the maiden name of Mamie Horrell was Brady. Her husband was Louis Horrell. It is possible Stella switched the Horrell and Brady names when she applied for her SSN in order to cover her tracks. James F Hudson died in 1993 and there is a gravestone for both Jim and Stella pictured on Ancestry which I seem unable to copy and load.

I am now pretty satisfied that Stella chose to disappear, possibly when she met James Hudson, and that she stayed with him for over 40 years. Who knew what in the family is another and interesting question. .

Vivette · Jul 30, 2017

Weird. Nice work, alb1on!

MCelli · Jan 23, 2018

Hello Cibarra- I have been asked to forward a message to you.
Janet Franson of "Lost & Missing In Indian Country" (advocate for missing Native Americans) would like to contact you regarding your Grandmother Stella Horrell.
(I had seen a post asking if anyone knew any of her family. Then while researching someone else, I happened to see your post)

Cibarra- please call me 325-423-2458. My name is Janet and I am the one that has Lost and Missing In Indiana Country. I would like to talk to you about your grandmother.

If you have access to Face book here is link to her page should you prefer to message: https://www.facebook.com/janet.franson.33
Facebook Lost and Missing:
https://www.facebook.com/LostandMiss...try/?ref=br_rs

Thank you,
MCelli

Mysteries1974 · Nov 11, 2018

cibarra said:
I am Stella's granddaughter, I am wondering where you got the info that you think this person might be a match? I would like to look into this further. We have been searching for Stella for many years. Thank you for any assistance you can offer I would like to know one way or another where my Grandmother is.

Thank you
cibarra

Hello. I have been reading about this case. Did you submit DNA for her into the database?

StarrChance · Dec 12, 2018

After all this great research and information it seems Stella is still on the Doe Network, I hope they can find some family member to help clear this up, but I’m sure it may take some time.

Recovered/Located AZ - Stella Horrell, 18, Phoenix, 22 Aug 1943

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