Nobody's Fool Y'all

50

Cold Case: Missing Girl from Kyrk's Ridge

Kate Olivia Shearling (July 24, 1906 – disappeared September 2, 1927) a shop girl and on-again-off-again girlfriend of bank robber, Melrick Beech Andersen, was last seen in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia on September 2, 1927. Shearling, the oldest of three children, was the daughter of Miriam and Bobby Shearling.

Less than a week after the reported robbery of The Rimfeld Bank & Trust, Kate Shearling was seen in the company of Andersen. According to a dress shop employee where Miss Shearling was a clerk, Melrick Andersen came into the store and 'whisked the young woman' away. The two were last seen heading out of town in a black coupe.

Two people matching their descriptions were later spotted in an Appalachian mountain resort at Kyrk's Ridge. Reports of sightings of Melrick Andersen led police to set up an ambush near the cottages of the local motor court. 

Melrick Andersen was gunned down about fourteen hours later. One local deputy, Harold Lull was slightly injured in the foot in the crossfire that took place outside the small cottage where it had been reported that the outlaw was hiding. The stolen vehicle was spotted two days before, and the local authorities were alerted to the possibility of the outlaw's presence at the VistaView Motor Court near Kyrk's Ridge, Virginia.

Authorities showed up in force, but Andersen refused to surrender. A standoff of several hours ensued. As darkness fell, Sheriff Dru Gilliam, fearful that Andersen would make a dash into the woods and escape, ordered his men to open fire.

A volley of gunfire began, and a barrage of bullets riddled the cottage. Andersen's body was removed from the cottage and displayed in the front yard. See photo below.

Kate Shearling was not at the scene. Her belongings were found inside the cottage. One local remarked, "It was eerie. It was almost like she vanished into thin air."

Authorities set up a search for her whereabouts the next morning. Speculation abounded that Miss Shearling had escaped unharmed. Unsubstantiated rumors circulated that a fight occurred in the cottage the preceding night. No one has seen Kate Shearling alive since September 2 when she was observed outside the cottage at the motor court. The . . .

There was a faint rapping at the door. How had Maury and Lou Edna gotten back so quickly? Impossible.

Hadley opened the door. Ollie was standing on the stoop looking up at her. This child is so delicate, she thought. Pale and small and wearing the same worn clothes from last night.

Am I staring at a poster child for hunger in Appalachia? 

"I come for my light," the child said softly.

"Are you alright?"

"My light, ma'am."

"Oh, yes," she said. "It's over here."

Hadley retrieved the old flashlight and handed it to Ollie.

"It's a nice flashlight," she said. "You don't see them like this much anymore."

"My grandpap gave it to me," the child said. "Much obliged."

Ollie turned to go.

"Wait!" said Hadley.

She retrieved an apple from the welcome fruit basket that had been placed in the cottage for their arrival.

"Here," she said. "It's not much, I know, after all, you did for us, but I feel I owe you for letting me use it last night. That light was a godsend, Ollie. I don't know what we would have done without you or your light."

The flashlight dwarfed the child's small hands whose skin had an unhealthy tint to it. It was almost translucent.

Malnutrition?

Suddenly, Hadley had a vision of a ramshackle cabin. Tarpaper walls. No insulation. No running water. No electricity. None of life's little conveniences. Little or nothing to eat. It was a rough life in these hills and hollows for so many. Hadley had never let the beauty of the mountains blind her to the reality of life here for so many trapped in the cycle of poverty, lack of education, and few good jobs.

Ollie walked to the edge of the woods and disappeared. Just like a ghost.

"Where did you go?" Hadley muttered, still holding her iPad.

She followed the path the child had taken. From her doorway in the small cottage, it appeared that Ollie had fallen off the face of the earth. She reached the shadows of the wood's edge.

Hadley looked back toward cottage 27. No sign of Maury or Lou Edna.

Still tied up, she thought.

There was a car parked beside the single cottage. A dark sedan. From this distance, it was hard to tell the make or model. Could the cops have arrived so quickly? Probably not.

What was this? Interesting. It looked like a rock archway and a passageway of some kind. Probably built in the 1930s by the CCC, she guessed. Where did it lead? She looked down. At her feet lay Ollie's apple core, slowly turning brown in the crisp morning air.

She stepped into the dark opening. She heard the sound of dripping water.

"I hope I don't slip and break a leg in here," she muttered.

"Ollie," she called.

Nothing but the sound of her own voice echoing back to her.

What was that?

On the rocks ahead was the bobbing yellow glow from Ollie's flashlight.

"I wish I'd thought to bring my own flashlight," she murmured.

Then, it hit her. She had a flashlight app on her iPad. This little bugger was going to make spying on Ollie a lot easier. Keep her from breaking her neck, too.

Maybe.

She walked down the tunnel for about 100 yards. Then, the passageway split in two. No more telltale glow from Ollie's flashlight.

Where did you go?

Just then, the battery on her iPad died, and Hadley Pell was plunged into total darkness.