OK OK - Mildred 'Ann' Newlin Reynolds, 22, Alva, 13 March 1956

On March 13, Reynolds ran a few errands after her morning class before driving home. She was driving a light gray 1949 Chevy sedan home, according to the police report.

The burning vehicle was found at about 1:45 p.m. a mile south and about 2.5 miles west of Hopeton, down a country red-dirt road.

According to a report on July 20, 1956, by State Crime Bureau investigator Ivan Gates, on March 13 Reynolds’ vehicle transmission was in first — low gear *— and the body identified inside the vehicle was Ann Reynolds.

According to drawings from the report, Reynolds was driving west when her car pulled to the left. Her car had made impressions in the sand about 2 inches from the road, according to the report. The car’s brakes were applied slightly and the vehicle began to roll backwards, zig-zagging, staying near and in the bar ditch. The report said the driver caused the rear wheels to spin, placing it in drive and hitting a tree. The car backed up again and then hit a small fence and the bumper guard was pulled from the vehicle. The car was pulled forward and once again backed before the vehicle stopped near the middle of the road. Reynolds’ body was found lying in the front seat, her head in the passenger side and her feet by the steering wheel, charred.

The report states that all car tracks were made by the same vehicle and no footprints were found leading to the fields or side of the road. Officers took photos and the body was taken to Oklahoma City for an autopsy, according to the report.

According to the case file, the car’s tires and solenoid starter switch melted, causing the vehicle to be pulled, while body lead used to join the fender dripped on the left side. The drain plug in the gas tank was melted out. Only two rivets instead of four were on the drain plug, which the report noted was “rare.”

The wrecker that retrieved the vehicle found the plug 16 feet from where the vehicle fire first began. The muffler had a large hole in the front and small holes on top. The exhaust pipe was bent, allowing 30 to 40 percent of the exhaust out.

The autopsy in the case file was completed March 30, 1956, and lists the fire as the cause of death. The autopsy, signed by assistant professor of pathology Alfred M. Shideler, noted there was a fracture of the skull that could not be determined if it happened before or after her death. Other skull fractures, he noted, happened during the fire. Reynolds’ death certificate states Reynolds burned to death in an auto fire, for which the cause was unknown.



Fascinating case!

Much, much more at link.

http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_...cle_5b4e78f8-9d59-5873-876e-d2b0a89d75cc.html

I'd be interested to know what happened to the husband and was he accounted for during that time. She is buried with her parents and brother- not the husband.

And how could a car in low gear cause skull fractures?

meanmaryjean said:

I'd be interested to know what happened to the husband and was he accounted for during that time. She is buried with her parents and brother- not the husband.

And how could a car in low gear cause skull fractures?

Click to expand...

http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_...cle_0062bd1a-e7ce-11e5-8280-f7e4a7ef4536.html

"Although the case was never solved according to Woods County, that doesn’t mean no one was punished for what happened to Ann. Dee eventually left the state in an effort to escape the sideways looks and whispers within the community. He later re-married and had a family, but LeAnn Newlin Stein, another of Ann’s nieces, said Dee never got over losing his beloved Ann.

“He would send flowers to her grave every year until he died,” she said."



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The steering wheel and dashboard... definitely not skull friendly. I read elsewhere that RDR and Ann were only married 9 months when she died. He subsequently moved to Bartlesville and remarried.

1949 Chevy Tudor sedan

But you would think- with the car in low gear, you would have facial fractures at most. Or maybe she did and the coroner described them as skull fractures.

IDK- it's all very weird.

meanmaryjean said:

But you would think- with the car in low gear, you would have facial fractures at most. Or maybe she did and the coroner described them as skull fractures.

IDK- it's all very weird.

Click to expand...

"Initially, the coroner stated he saw no evidence of bullet wounds or fractures produced prior to the fire. Skull fractures were present, but he believed them to be a result of the intense heat. But after the radiologist examined the X-rays of Ann’s skull, he concluded one fracture at the back of the skull was caused ante mortem. He said the fracture could have been accidental or foul play."

The question lingering in my mind is how did so many pieces of clothing, buttons, and even her shoes get outside of the car? And was she found naked?

"One of Ann’s shoes was found partially burned at the front of the left rear fender of the car. The other shoe was found near the fence. That shoe had a reddish stain on it, later confirmed to be human blood. Unfortunately, according to the case notes, the fire had consumed all of Ann’s blood within the car, making it impossible to compare her blood to the stain. However, with the circumstances they believed it to be her blood. Some blood was also found on a thistle and one drop was in the grass, near the bloodstained shoe. It was also mentioned in the same area the grass was matted down. Investigators suspected someone had either fallen down or had been attacked in that area.

Deputy Vernon Hackney located four scorched buttons, possibly from a blouse, 56 feet from where it was believed the fire initially started. Ann’s coat was found, 90 percent burned, on the left side of the car. Two metal bases from 12-gauge shotgun shells were found inside the car. However, it was difficult to say for sure if they had been fired or not.

Three empty 9 mm casings were discovered 75 feet west of her tire tracks. Initially, this was probably a major breakthrough for detectives, but a few days later a man came forward claiming the bullets were fired from his gun a few days prior to the tragedy. Ballistics confirmed the bullets were fired from his gun, and he was not pursued as a suspect."

http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_...cle_0062bd1a-e7ce-11e5-8280-f7e4a7ef4536.html



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watergirl62 said:

The steering wheel and dashboard... definitely not skull friendly. I read elsewhere that RDR and Ann were only married 9 months when she died. He subsequently moved to Bartlesville and remarried.

1949 Chevy Tudor sedan

Click to expand...

With this car there's a bench seat. Would laying longways across it be considered the passengers seat?

"She was laying across the front seat, on her back with her head in the passenger seat and her feet near the steering wheel. The case file stated her arms were crossed over her chest, almost peacefully."

http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_...cle_0062bd1a-e7ce-11e5-8280-f7e4a7ef4536.html

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Clipped from the Daily Inter Lake, March 15, 1956.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4396137/march_1956_investigation_of_mildred_ann/

Clipped from the Kansas City Star, March 22, 1956.

www.newspapers.com/clip/3129714/22march1956_mildred_ann_reynolds_death

shandram19 said:

With this car there's a bench seat. Would laying longways across it be considered the passengers seat?

"She was laying across the front seat, on her back with her head in the passenger seat and her feet near the steering wheel. The case file stated her arms were crossed over her chest, almost peacefully."

http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_...cle_0062bd1a-e7ce-11e5-8280-f7e4a7ef4536.html

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Click to expand...

Yes. Sounds like she may have been posed to me. That first clipping would support the theory. Possibly somebody who knew her routine, but not her husband, hid in the back of her car? Could account for skull fracture in back of head and the slow drift into the sandy bar ditch. Knocked her out, attacked her, posed her then set car on fire. Ugh. Awful.[emoji20] But it seems there would be no need to try to get the car out of ditch in this scenario. MOO


Or the car was sabotaged. Or it was purely an accident.

https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/lucille-devries/

Similar case to another 22 year old in 1962, still unsolved

CruGirl said:

https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/lucille-devries/

Similar case to another 22 year old in 1962, still unsolved

Click to expand...

The link doesn't work....

watergirl62 said:

Clipped from the Daily Inter Lake, March 15, 1956.

March 1956 investigation of Mildred Ann Reynolds' death - Newspapers.com

Click to expand...

I wonder if any of the assertions made in this article have been supported elsewhere. Seems like a whole lot of guesswork went into this article. How could they have possibly known this information two days after the accident?

I never heard of this case until stumbling upon it by accident this evening, and am thinking probably a lot of others here are also unfamiliar with it.

A quick Google pulls up a site with a list of very solid questions:

Questions - Avard Cold Case

* Who was present at the scene and expended the 9mm shells?
* Why was a weapon fired at the scene?
* Who fired it?
* What is plausible reason for this?
* Why was there no further information divulged as to the owner of the shell casings as per information presented in the internet article?
* Was she shot prior to vehicle burning?
* Why was gas tank plug loose enough to dislodge from tank?
* Or was it removed at the scene?
* Or intentionally loosened earlier?
* Was the plug recovered at the scene?
* Was she enroute to rendezvous with another party?
* Was this route, her normally traveled route?
* Had she received phone call to meet with someone?
* Did she have a boyfriend ... or did someone think she did?
* Was it proven she was alone and that she was the actual driver of the vehicle at time of incident?
* Was she pregnant or did somebody believe her to be?
* Did her husband have a girlfriend? If so, who was she and was she pregnant?
* Were personal friends of husband interviewed extensively?
* Did Anne have a part time job?
* Was she a full-time or part-time student?
* Were her classmates interviewed and what was her schedule for that day?
* Did she in fact attend "all" scheduled classes that day?
* Where was she "enroute to and from" at the time of incident?
* Did her family privately pursue answers to the incident?