TWO BOYS DROWN WHEN CAR PLUNGES INTO SNAKE RIVER
Inter-State Bridge Between Weiser and Riverdale Scene of Sad Accident—Car but Not Bodies Recovered
Jerald Evans and Howard Lee, two Weiser boys, were drowned Sunday morning when the Ford runabout in which they were driving across the bridge plunged through the railing into the waters of the Snake River. Searching parties recovered the car but the bodies were not found despite continuous efforts.
It is believed that the car in which the boys were driving hit a loose plank, causing them to lose control and crash into the rail. The impact was so strong that it crushed the rail. J. Hancock, who was crossing the bridge at the time, witnessed the accident and attempted to save the boys by throwing a plank to them, but they sank before he could reach them.
The saddest aspect of the accident is that it nearly wipes out the Evans family, leaving Mrs. Emma Evans as the lone survivor. Fourteen years ago, she saw her husband, a son, and a daughter drown while she tried in vain to aid them.
Young Lee was the son of Mr. and Mrs. S.H. Lee of Weiser. Searching parties have been engaged ever since the accident, dragging the river, dynamiting it, and walking its banks as far as Huntington in hopes of recovering the bodies.
From Ontario Argus Observer – Ontario, OR – December 7, 1922 – Page 3