Theory #2: Family Abduction by George Waters with George Brody, Part 2

Wow...good work, guys! I remember reading about this case a bit, probably before I ever knew about Anna. I think regardless of the DNA results, and even regardless of whether Brody was involved in Anna's disappearance, it would be good to know where he came from.

I might order a copy of that book.

Whoever Bessie was, she was involved with Glenn during the missing years, the rafting years. And the big scar on Glenn’s back was from Bessie. She had stabbed him.http://www.gcrg.org/bqr/13-4/glen.html

Wow...from reading this page, it sounds like Glen and Glenn were the same person. Reading about this scar mentioned above...do we know whether Brody had a scar on his back?

A relatively decent picture of Glen Hyde and Bessie in the canyon trip (toward the bottom of the page)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0403/excerpt4.html

Of the books written about the Hydes they are described here.

Where Michaels' depiction of Glen and Bessie, and Glen's father Reith Hyde's persistent search for the lost couple, focuses on the inner workings of the chracters under extreme stress, Dimock sets out to explore many of the rumors surrounding the Hyde's disappearance that have become river-running folklore: Glen flew into a rage and killed Bessie; Bessie killed Glen and lived under a pseudonym to an old age; both were killed by wild animals while attempting to hike out of the Canyon. For the most part, the legends are quashed, and Dimock concludes that neither he, nor anyone else, can say with certainty what happened to the Hydes. snip

Both authors relied heavily on archival material collected by Otis Marston, a river runner and amateur historian whose papers are housed in the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., Michaels using the Hyde archives as a bare outline of facts to be filled in with her own imaginative treatment, and Dimock using them as a stepping off point for further, more detailed research.

http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2001-07-26/fineprint.html

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I was intrigued by the woman who was possibly connected to the Hydes after their disappearance and after her death. But it looks like they did rule her out based on her physical characteristics and Dimock's research.

http://www.grandcanyontreks.org/georgie.htm

More about Bessie. It tells about a woman she met and became roommates with (a woman with her own history and a name change because of a murder she was accused of) and the rather racy life she lived before meeting Hyde. Gives some insight into the type of people she may have been attracted to.
It is also by Dimock
http://www.gcrg.org/bqr/13-2/bessie.html

Can we confirm Margaret K. back to 1928?

At some point Bessie lived somewhere in Pa. Margaret is from Durham, Pa. Is there a connection, could she have assumed the name?

One thing that is peculiar, I see a lot where the Hyde father was very involved in the search (he reportedly bankrupted himself searching)- but not anything about Bessie Hyde's father being involved. Maybe it is lost to history, maybe they didn't talk to newspapers, or maybe they knew something?

Bessie had her own little history. She was in college when she married a boy from her high school. There were rumors of a pregnancy, but not confirmed. She was only married a very short time (weeks) before she tried to get a divorce. There are rumors of abuse. When he refused to give the divorce, she moved to Nevada to get the divorce.

She meets Hyde and soon marries him. The two of them stay on her father's farm for a month then go on the trip.

She is young, doing all of this moving around, it is 1928 and she is female. And she has a history of a short 'scandalous' marriage, and then a year later another marriage. She lived on her own in Calif. for a time. She and Hyde are in a high stress environment in the canyon and some reports say she wasn't happy. If she decided to quit the marriage, would she go back home to the farm?

More history on Hyde. And this site says that Bessie's father was involved in the search.
http://www.unsolvedhistories.com/mysteries/hyde.htm

Wow! All of this is amazing! You are great sleuthers!

At this particular juncture, I have logged most of this info over the past few weeks, and have come to the idea that I would like input on a question list for Mr. Dimock. I was holding off, but it seems that all of you are in agreement that we have a "possible GB" here. I will contact Mr. Dimock after we all get to gether here and make a list of the most tactful and relevant questions regarding Glen as we possibly can. It is more about dates, places, and mannerisms, etc. that will give us a good question list with which to proceed. Please feel free to add your questions that you think are pertinent, and this will give us a chance to be in agreement here, as to what is most important in our quest. Question away!

mysteriew said:

]......snip... She was in college when she married a boy from her high school. There were rumors of a pregnancy, but not confirmed. She was only married a very short time (weeks) before she tried to get a divorce. There are rumors of abuse. When he refused to give the divorce, she moved to Nevada to get the divorce.

She meets Hyde and soon marries him. The two of them stay on her father's farm for a month then go on the trip.

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I'm sure different web sites say different things, but according to what I've read She met Hyde while she was still married to her 1st husband on a passenger ship going from SF to LA. She was married for much longer than 2 weeks, but only actually lived with him for 2 weeks. One article says she got married and then went home to live with her parents for awhile, (to have a baby?)

She is young, doing all of this moving around, it is 1928 and she is female. And she has a history of a short 'scandalous' marriage, and then a year later another marriage. She lived on her own in Calif. for a time. She and Hyde are in a high stress environment in the canyon and some reports say she wasn't happy. If she decided to quit the marriage, would she go back home to the farm?

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It was my impression the farm was that of Hyde's father. When Bessie & Glenn where married they went to his family farm and worked for the summer before taking their honeymoon adventure.


Sadly even if Brody and Hyde are the same person, it might never be proven. Brody was cremated, and Hyde vanished. I doubt DNA could ever prove anything unless there are a couple of hairbrushes saved throughout history...LOL

Gosh how I wish I had the Box from Hell (Safe deposit box) Ever since I heard it exist, I've often thought this whole mystery could be solved by going through it inch by inch. :boohoo:

I want to express here a big THANK YOU for everyone's help in this. I cannot tell you how many cases I have researched that are old missing persons, in the last 6 months, and hearing that you all agree means alot to me. I also would like to hear the doubts about a match, for balancing why Glen MAY NOT BE GB....Thank you all, very much, I will compile a question list during the course of this weekend, and have it early next week for you all!

I am currently working land records and public records on the families to see if we have any names or transfer titles or anything that may give us a hint into a connection. This does take a long time, considering that there is more than one state involved here, but IF I can cross connect, it will make an important find.

More about Bessie. It tells about a woman she met and became roommates with (a woman with her own history and a name change because of a murder she was accused of) and the rather racy life she lived before meeting Hyde. Gives some insight into the type of people she may have been attracted to.
It is also by Dimock
http://www.gcrg.org/bqr/13-2/bessie.html
Great find, Mysteriew...all of these are pages from his book I believe...most are posted out there, but not all.

Isn't it amazing that their bay area connections are so specific to the same area? Utterly interesting ties....will do more research here

Well heck, we've got a problem. Looking back at old posts Annasmom stated that Brody was a rather short man. 5'4" to 5'5". I just read that Glen was around 6'. I realize people shrink with age, but probably not 6 or 7 inches...LOL Oh well, back to the drawing board.

I tried to post links to the pics, not the actual pic, if you are seeing the pic I must delete it, as these have copyright, and I cannot post them, just a link....weird, I saw only a link, now I see a picture posted...sorry, gotta remove them!

Was he really that short? He seemed so much taller in the pic of him on the street...what post did she put his height in? If you might know...thanks interested woman...

iNTERESTEDWOMAN said:

Well heck, we've got a problem. Looking back at old posts Annasmom stated that Brody was a rather short man. 5'4" to 5'5". I just read that Glen was around 6'. I realize people shrink with age, but probably not 6 or 7 inches...LOL Oh well, back to the drawing board.

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LOL, that is something that can't be faked. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Orginally posted May 2005, Post 478, Orginal Theory #2 thread

Originally Posted by HeartofTexas
Does anyone know approximately how tall George Brody was? And, if not, is there any way we can guesstimate it by judging his height against GW's height (which I assume Annasmom would know)? The reason I'm asking is because many of the WWII enlistment records list the height of the person enlisting, and it would help in eliminating some of them if I know GB's approximate height.

Annasmom reply:
I would guess about 5'4" or 5'5", though he might have been taller when he was young.

Ugg, that is really really short for a man, I am surprised he was that short. I know that GB did something in his past, ie.left a wife and kids, violence of some sort, fraud, something that made him change his identity, and I am gonna figure it out! LOL

I had another thought on the guy, and perhaps Sherlock or Dr. Doogie can help with this one...in the book, it was written that many different alias' were used while the two men resided in SF. It may be possible that between all of the different alias' we could cipher out a name that might be credible...do you know what all the alias names are from the BFH? Thanks!

I doubt the difference would be 5 to 6 inches... when you get older and your bones "settle" you only lose maybe 1 to 2 inches max.