NC NC - Leila, 36, & Mary Rachel Bryan, 4, Carolina Beach, 10 May 1941

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I also initially thought the visit from the brother at such a late hour was a bit odd but reading the articles drew a portrait of Lelia that was not that of your typical small-town housewife of the 1940's when it comes to child-rearing. We learn that it was not uncommon for her to take her daughter with her on late evening errands or midnight strolls on the beach, in fact it appears to me that the daughter was in charge of determining her own bedtime: not sleepy? No problem, just stay up. Wow, I wish I had had such freedom as a child.

Lelia was eccentric and strikes me as having an artistic temperament and her husband, while more conservative, appears to have been tolerant and easygoing, not the type who'd be subject to fits of rage. In any case he doesn't seem to fit the opinion Lelia's family had of him, an opinion that does not seem to have been that of the brother and sister who actually knew him.

In regard of this if Lelia and her daughter were murdered then the most likely suspect would be the inmate who confessed to it. I believe him when he says he confessed in order to be taken back to NC but I don't have to believe him with regards to where he disposed of the bodies and car. He could have mislead authorities about these details: a trip to NC is nice but the electric chair is not so cool so he may have said the right things to be taken there but bailed out short of a murder conviction. Of all the characters in the case he appears to be the only one with a credible motive, in his case sexual gratification.
 
Update

Digging for clues in cold case will begin in January.

The SBI will begin digging for clues in a sixty-seven year old murder case next month.

Small article but more at link...they misspelled mother's name!

http://www.wwaytv3.com/node/12262
 
Medusa said:
Thanks, Karl. I missed that, and I thought I was kind of thorough.

ETA - Okay and I read that. It says ruled out "This was not true for the bones have been tested and proven to be Negro." I wonder a) when this test was made b) how would bones look Negro vs White c) LB is from the South and does not appear that fair - could she have had enough Negro blood to skewer this kind of test. Just thinking here - seems odd they would find a woman and child, seemingly right age, right size etc in what could be the right spot. Is anyone in the area that might be able to find out more about the bodies found in 1956 and how they were ruled out.
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Well, you'd have to know enough about bones to know what to look for. :) I, however, wonder what happened to the remains. Were they ever identified if they were in fact not those of the mother and child? Were they buried?
 
Medusa said:
Okay - I have read the PDF file and a fair ways down there is a page headed with part of a picture and the caption "Page murder case solved." Under that, under the heading 1956 is a story about the skeletons of Lelia and her daughter being found in near Carolina Beach. The article starts out claiming the fifteen year old mystery has been solved. It says a zoo keeper found them while chasing a pony.

Nothing else in the PDF file contradicts this. So, if they were found, why are they looking now?
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I was confused by this as well. However if you continue to on to the very last page and paragraph, it tells that this was stated but later the bones were tested and found to be a african american woman and child.
 
Well I have to wonder how many forensic anthropologists there were floating around in 1956 or is race determination something the avg. coroner back then would've been able to determine?
 
anthrobones said:
Well, you'd have to know enough about bones to know what to look for. :) I, however, wonder what happened to the remains. Were they ever identified if they were in fact not those of the mother and child? Were they buried?
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Coroner archives are likely to contain that info, but my guess is that those bones were deemed too old to be related to the case and therefore the media lost interest. This is not surprising; prior to the Civil War slaves were often buried on their owner's property with wooden grave markers that rotted away within a few decades. After the war the location of those graves was often lost and the property they were located on confiscated and partitioned, so finding such remains in the South was relatively common even up to a century later.
 
justthinkin said:
Well I have to wonder how many forensic anthropologists there were floating around in 1956[...]
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Likely not hundreds but it was already a well established specialty and most universities would have been able to produce a few of 'em upon request.

or is race determination something the avg. coroner back then would've been able to determine?
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Well maybe not the average coroner per se but a coroner located in an area where finding antebellum slave graves was relatively common would likely be able to identify negro bones quite readily. One must keep in mind that the huge majority of black people living in the US up to the 20th century were descendants of slaves imported mainly from West Africa that belonged to a relatively small number of tribes with common genetic traits, and that once in the US those people would not marry outside their race and thus retained "undiluted" features for many generations, making identification of their remains as specifically West African quite easy.

It wouldn't be that easy nowadays because American black people have migrated to all regions of the country and intermarried into varied genetic pools including other races or blacks and mulattos who have immigrated from different areas of the world, especially the East Indies where many people have genes belonging to many races. But even today a trained pathologist can still tell if a skull possesses enough race specific features for the individual to have been identified as such when living. When a Doe skeleton is found it is usually determined to be either Caucasian, African-America or Asian/Native American/Hispanic with relative ease.
 
KarlK said:
...One must keep in mind that the huge majority of black people living in the US up to the 20th century were descendants of slaves imported mainly from West Africa that belonged to a relatively small number of tribes with common genetic traits, and that once in the US those people would not marry outside their race and thus retained "undiluted" features for many generations, making identification of their remains as specifically West African quite easy.

It wouldn't be that easy nowadays because American black people have migrated to all regions of the country and intermarried into varied genetic pools including other races or blacks and mulattos who have immigrated from different areas of the world, especially the East Indies where many people have genes belonging to many races. But even today a trained pathologist can still tell if a skull possesses enough race specific features for the individual to have been identified as such when living. When a Doe skeleton is found it is usually determined to be either Caucasian, African-America or Asian/Native American/Hispanic with relative ease.
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Actually, interracial marriage was problematic in the American colonies that many of them passed laws forbidding it.
http://oah.org/pubs/magazine/family/cruz-berson.html

There are pockets in Eastern Tennessee where decendents from such marriages settled, likely driven there by scorn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon

And here is a link that refers to mixed racial people living near the Cape Fear River.
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N
 
Cambria said:
Nothing found in search....case closed.
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How disappointing.... I really thought they would be under there. I know the family wants closure.
 
Karl, I believe it was you who asked why Lelia used an alias when purchasing the mercury. I noted in one of the articles we have to go on, Lelia was formerly a nurse. If she no longer held status as a nurse, she could no longer legally purchase the mercury. If Lelia needed mercury, why didn't Cora get it for her? This could indicate that Cora knew nothing of the mercury purchase at all.

Could the brother have been the one the mercury was really for? He came to town to see a guy about some lumber after 9PM? Even if he and sister Lelia kept odd hours, it's doubtful the lumber guy did.

Like everyone else, I wonder what happened to those bones. They really should be looked at again.
 
justthinkin said:
Actually, interracial marriage was problematic in the American colonies that many of them passed laws forbidding it.
http://oah.org/pubs/magazine/family/cruz-berson.html
Click to expand...

Marriage or affairs leading to pregnancy between whites and native Americans (Indians) was indeed so common in colonial times that it is estimated that a majority of white white people of English and/or French descent currently living in the US whose ancestors arrived from Europe prior to the Revolution have some Indian blood even though very few retain enough genes for it to be apparent so many generations down the road.

But intermarriage with blacks was far less common, certainly not common enough to readily assimilate children from such unions into the general (i.e. white) population like it happened with the offspring of white/native marriages in early colonial times. Social status was also an obstacle, unlike Indians blacks usually could not just simply convert to Christianity in order to be accepted into the community, even the small number of them who weren't slaves had to deal with segregation in one form or another.

Because of this the majority of them remained "pure" for many generations, retaining physical features that were specific to West African populations. Bones belonging to individuals from these populations would not be difficult to identify as such and maybe that's what happened in the case at hand. Maybe those bones were simply so obviously negroid that il left no doubt as to their origin. Furthermore even though the articles don't mention it I suspect the bones were also too obviously old to be related to the case. If the area was known to contain old slave graves the find would not be shocking news locally and maybe that explains why the matter was not further mentioned in the press at the time. It's all conjecture on my part I admit.
 
justthinkin said:
Karl, I believe it was you who asked why Lelia used an alias when purchasing the mercury. I noted in one of the articles we have to go on, Lelia was formerly a nurse. If she no longer held status as a nurse, she could no longer legally purchase the mercury. If Lelia needed mercury, why didn't Cora get it for her? This could indicate that Cora knew nothing of the mercury purchase at all.

Could the brother have been the one the mercury was really for? He came to town to see a guy about some lumber after 9PM? Even if he and sister Lelia kept odd hours, it's doubtful the lumber guy did.
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Good call, this mercury purchase mystery may be starting to make sense. I also agree it's unlikely a lumber dealer would do business that late but on the other hand I also found it surprising that the store Lelia was going to was open so late in a small town, but it was nonetheless. But I theorize that perhaps this was a one-industry town with a large mill or plant that operates 24 hours a day. Having been raised in such a place I know for a fact that many businesses in those communities keep hours that would seem odd even in large cities.

Like everyone else, I wonder what happened to those bones. They really should be looked at again.
Click to expand...

I think that as well even though I have some suspicions about the reason why it wasn't pursued as i explained in my previous post.

On a side note, I'm not surprised the "cement theory" proved to be a dead-end, the original articles never mentioned anything about the husband pouring concrete. it sounded far-fetched if not baseless from the start and I have no idea how the relative had managed to convince himself such an event had occurred. I guess he needed someone to blame but his opinion of the husband did not seem to fit in with the man's actual personality. Nowhere does the published material even hint at the husband acting suspiciously on that evening or the following months.
 
Leila Lewis Bryan

Missing since May 10, 1941 from Carolina Beach, Bladen County, North Carolina
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
Age at Time of Disappearance: 36 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'7"; 120-125 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Dark hair and eyes.
Clothing: A summer print dress, brown and white shoes, and a green turban.


Mary Rachel Bryan
Missing since May 10, 1941 from Carolina Beach, Bladen County, North Carolina
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Age at Time of Disappearance: 4 years old


Circumstances of Disappearance

Leila Lewis Bryan and her four-year-old daughter, Mary Rachel were last seen on May 10, 1941.A native of Bladenboro, Bryan and her husband, E.C. "Eddie" Bryan, lived at Carolina Beach.

The couple worked for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Leila had been enrolled in nursing school when the couple became engaged and were married. Bryan got her an office job at the railroad. Leila's mother disapproved of the marriage, as Eddie was divorced.

The weekend she disappeared, Mary Rachel and Leila were headed for Bladenboro to visit her family. Because of the enmity between her husband and mother, Eddie wasn't accompanying Leila and Mary Rachel.


She planned to leave either Friday or Saturday, possibly riding with her brother, Berry Lewis. Mary Rachel's Sunday shoes were polished, and several rings Leila always wore were found at the Raleigh Street home. The rings were Leila's favorites, and she rarely left home without them, according to friends.

On May 10, 1941, Eddie Bryan told investigators that Leila said she was driving to a store a few blocks from their home. Bryan later told investigators that Mary Rachel asked to ride along.

At Carolina Beach at the time, according to town records, there was a small grocery store catering to fishermen and vacationers, a store similar to a general store, and a combination grocery/ department store. All three of the stores were in the same general area, near the modern intersection of U.S. 421 and Channel Drive.

Where Leila went shopping that evening, if she did, has never been discovered. Neither mother nor child was ever seen again.

Berry Lewis went to Carolina Beach to visit his sister around 21.00 on May 10, 1941. Lewis awakened Bryan, who told his brother-in-law that Leila had gone to the store. Lewis apparently drove around the beach for an hour or so, looking for Leila and Mary Rachel.

Figuring he must have somehow missed them, he returned to the Bryan home, located in the 200 block of North Raleigh Avenue. Leila Bryan's 1935 Ford coupe was still missing.

Husband, brother, or both called police.

Bryan told police he was making concrete forms in the couple's garage when Leila had come home around 18:30 and made supper. Leila and Mary Rachel had spent the afternoon on the beach.

Local attention was intense as Leila's family was well-liked and widely known in the Bladenboro area. Searchers were combing the island and the surrounding areas for any clue of Leila, Mary Rachel, or the Ford coupe.

Professional divers searched areas where a car could be driven into the Cape Fear River, Snow's Cut, and the Intracoastal Waterway. Officers visited gas stations from 50 to 100 miles away, since Eddie Bryan told investigators he didn't think the Ford had more than half tank of gasoline when Leila left.

At the request of a newspaper, officers in Pinellas , Florida, began searching for the woman when the pair was reported spotted nearby. Officers questioned some of Eddie Bryan's family who lived in the area, but no clues were located.

Stories and advertisements were placed in newspapers across the country as leads and suspected sightings were checked and rechecked.

Officers thought they had a break later that summer when someone found a piece of automobile windshield in Snow's Cut (a large canal connecting the Cape Fear River and the Intracoastal Waterway north of Carolina Beach). It was just a few feet offshore, out from a little beach. It was in maybe 18 inches of water at the outside, and had been there for a while. Investigators determined the glass could have come from a 1935 Ford, but couldn't be sure. The windshield fragment was sent to the SBI lab in Raleigh, but as the case grew cold over the years, the glass disappeared.

Investigators examined three possible fates of Leila and Mary Rachel: Leila could have committed suicide, taking her daughter with her, by driving into the Waterway, the Cape Fear River or off Snow's Cut;

Leila could have run away, hiding her own and Mary Rachel's identities to escape what some reported was an unhappy marriage;

or, the woman and child were murdered, and their bodies hidden, and the car dismantled or destroyed.

Investigators never found sufficient evidence to suggest anyone killed Leila and Mary Rachel. No one was ever charged. Nor was there an indication by friends or family that she had ever considered suicide.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

N.C. State Bureau of Investigation

Source Information:

The Star News Online
Bladen Journal (Elizabethtown, NC) - August 12, 2003
The Doe Network: Case File 2693DFNC (Leila)
The Doe Network: Case File 2694DFNC (Mary Rachel)


LINKS:


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2693dfnc.html (Leila)


http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2694dfnc.html (Mary Rachel)
 
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I live ten min from C Beach.It's still a small town. I can only imagine how it was back then. I wonder if they looked in the cape fear river?
 
ella971 said:
I wonder if they looked in the cape fear river?
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The article posted by Richard above mentions that professional divers searched the river at spots where it could be likely to drive a car into the water. But Cousteau only invented the aqualung in 1943 so those divers would likely have worn the cumbersome gear that only allowed for limited-scope searches.
 
I wonder if the 'message' that was being passed along was really something more along the lines of 'tonight is the night, we are taking off'.

The posted links are mostly broken now (the first set with the story about Cora and the mercury and stuff) so it's hard to get a fix on the story at this point.
 
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