Delaware County Daily Times from Chester, Pennsylvania • Page 1

Delaware County 1876 1976 HOME DELI VERY 75 CENTS MOTOR ROUTE 90 CENTS Thursday January 15,1976 PRICE: FIFTEEN CENTS MISSING PERSON WENDY EATON $2000 REWARD has been posted for information leading to the discovery of her whereabouts. Missing Wendy reported seen in Luzerne County This 16 year old girl has been missing from her Media, Pa. home since May 17, 1975 and is a subject of a continued search. White, fair complexion 16 years old Brown hair and eyes Weight 90 Ibi. Very imall, 4'10" She It left handed Wears gold Doei not now wear teeth bracas Wendy is bright, deeply dedicated to Christ and religious activities.

Musically quite talented, plays both piano and guitar, Good singer. Interests include scouting, camping, church activities and friends. Known also as "Whizzie," Information should be given to local authorities of the Penna. State Police or R.ll faton (215) 98S-1600, Ext. 3572 This poster showing a variety of pictures oi Wendy Eaton bas been distributed throughout the.

state. Martin Luther King's 'dream' recalled today By The Associated Press The 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King's birth, the eighth since the assassination of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil rights activist, is being celebrated today in memorial services from Atlanta to Hawaii. In Washington, civil rights leader Jessee Jackson told Atty. Gen. Edward H.

Levi on Wednesday that the government should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate King. Jackson told reporters he is urging appointment of a special prosecutor because he believes the Justice Department lacks credibility and should not conduct such an investigation itself. He said many people continue to suspect that the FBI was involved in the murder of King for which Related story, Page 16 James Earl Ray was convicted and sentenced on the balcony of a Memphis, motel in May 1968. Jackson declined to characterize Levi's response to the proposal. Justice Department also spokesmen declined comment.

Jackson planned to join a prayer vigil to front of the White House at noon and then take part in a march to the new J. Edgar Hoover, who instigated some of the harrassemnt of King, he removed from it. In Atlanta, an ecumenical service was planned at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King's father served as pastor for years. King's mother wasslain by an assassin while playing the organ to the church. King's widow, Coretta, was to present two awards in King's name.

The human relations award was for Dr Robert Lee Green, dean of the coflege of urban development, Michigan State University. And the MartinLuther King Jr. nonviolent peace priae was for Dr. Randolph T. BlackweM of Greensboro, N.C., who heads a group concerned with creating jobs for poor people in rural Southern communities.

Gov. George Busbee of Georgia, among those who attended a conference on unemployment Mrs. King set up to coincide with the anniversary, said he had proclaimed today "Rev. Martin Luther King Georgia. Soreral local groups planned downtown marches in Memphis, where city school pupils took the day off for the observance of "Great Americans Day." ByMARKS.GURALNICK DailyTimesStaffWriter Sixteen-year-old Wendy Eaton, missing since last May 17, may be with a travelling group of devout Christians, some of them runaways, according to Patrolman Harold Altford of the Pittston police in Luzerne County.

Altford said Wednesday sources claim to have seen Wendy soliciting for the religious group in Pittstpwn, located in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre vicinity. Altford said the group, called the "Forever Family," has been arrested inPittston for blocking sidewalks and disturbing the public. The group, whose members wear "Get Smart Get Saved" pins, has been linked to some 50 to 100 children who are missing from their homes, according to Ed Ackerman of the Pittston newspaper, the Pittston Dispatch. The group is explicitly opposed to the use of narcotics and appeals to younger children, Ackerman said. When parents of missing children start questioning "Forever Family," he added, they have a system of channeling the missing person out of the area.

The members are strict interpreters of the Bible and seem to stem from the Allentown area, he said. Altford said they are now around Kingston and Stroudsburg, and seem to be picking up children wherever they go. Many suspicions have been manifested, Altford said, but nothing has been proved. Roland Eaton, 52, Wendy's father, of 6 Moccasin Trail, Middletown, says his wife, 47, daughter, Nancy, 21, and son, Rick, 19, have assumed for a long time that Wendy had been kidnsped and murdered. Now, Eaton says, there is hope.

An advertisement in the Philadelphia Daily News caused a Pittston resident to write an unsigned letter stating she had seen Wendy soliciting for the group. The Batons traveled about 90 miles last weekend to Pittston to publicize their daughter's picture and contact police there. Eaton said he has now received several calls from residents of Pittston. Eaton sa'ys his suspicions are aroused because, when his daughter disappeared, she had been involved in Penncrest People for Christ (PPC), the Delaware County Church of Christ, Opening Hours, a Christian singing group, and other religious organizations. He says he doesn't link her disappearance to the series of kidnaps" and murders of young county girls last year, except perhaps the abduction and murder of 8-year old Gretchen Harrington of Marple.

Gretchen, the daughter of a minister, had been walking alone on a street, just like Wendy, and was heading toward a church, he said. Her body later was found in Ridley Creek State Park. Eaton said before he even considered kidnaping as a possibility, he thought his daughter might have run away in disappointment over not being allowed to go on a summer excursion. "We thought she was an extremely happy child," he said. "She wanted very badly to attend a religious meeting out in Colorado last summer.

We said we didn't think we could arrange it." Wendy was disappointed because two close friends had assured her they were attending it, Eaton said. Eaton said the incident occurred two weeks before she disappeared. "We never had a chance to talk about this as a family," he said. Since investigators didn't find Wendy in the Colorado religious camp last summer, Eaton said he was less inclined to believe she left on her own. "She's the mildest mannered kid," he said.

"There's no question in my mind she got into a car with a goodie or a baddie." He said Wednesday he suspects she got into a car with someone she knew because she had no money or clothing with her. The last time Roland Eaton saw his daughter he asked her if she wanted to go with him to play golf. She declined, saying she'd rather sunbathe on her roof. When Eaton, his wife, and son from the golf course, Wendy was gone, her bathing suit left on her bed. Five persons saw Wendy at the orkln the road at Media Station and Indian Lane Roads, but nobody has seen her since.

Tried to save neighbor Boy, 12, fails in rescue-effort Pint Udy Betty Port with Dr. Fraodt Gregory, president of fee btart rf trwton fee Martin Later By MARION LOGUE Daily Times Correspondent NETHER PROVIDENCE Twelve-year-old Bill Hanna did his best Wednesday. People who know what he did are proud of him, even though he did not succeed in saving the life of his neighbor, 74-year-old Edward Umstead. Umstead was a crossing guard at Brookhaven and Providence Roads for the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District. He was on his way to work at 7:15 a.m.

Wednesday from his home at 8 Medbury Lane, a few doors away from 11 Medbury, where Bill lives. Umstead had backed his car our of the garage and returned to put on his galoshes. He had only put one on when he collapsed, apparently of a heart attack. Mrs. Lou Ann Hanna, Bill's mother, had agreed to drive her son, a sixth grade student at Nether Providence Middle School, to school because he had to carry a science project.

As she went to get the car, she heard a scream and saw her neighbor, Mrs. Mary Irene Umstead, run out of the garage nearby. When Mrs. Hanna went to the scene and discovered what had happened she called an ambulance. "I was just getting my books when I heard a scream and saw my mom running," said Bill.

"I thought it was a fire at first and ran after her. When I got to the garage I didn't see anything, but then I saw him slumped down near a bureau." Bill, who is five feet tall and weighs 105 pounds turned Umstead over and tried to get a pulse. "I couldn't find a pulse so I started cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (heart massage)," Bill explained. He also tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and kept up the emergency aid for 20 minutes until the Parkside ambulance arrived and took Umstead to the Crozer- Chester Medical Center, Upland. "At first I was a little afraid, but I could follow very easily what I learned in school last year.

I am just sorry I couldn't do more good," said Bill. Mrs. Hanna explained that Bill's class had been taught emergency lifesaving procedures last year by the mother of one of the students, Mrs. Howard Dalrymple, a physician's wife. "She believed it was important for children to know these things, and I could see that today," said Mrs.

Hanna. "Bill had such presence of mind, even knowing to take out dentures so the man wouldn't choke. I'm extremely proud of him," A neighbor called police and the BILL HANNA effort failed school about what Bill had done and reported that both were going to present him with a citation. Umstead was a retired auto mechanic who had been a resident of Delaware County for 52 years, 38 years at his late residence. Born in Sellersville, Bucks County, he was educated in Sellersville and West Chester, Chester County, schools.

He was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Nether Providence. In addition to his wife, he is survived by four brothers, Robert of Fresco, Calvin and Richard of Wilmington and James of Dearborn, four sisters, Mrs. Marian Geiges of Newfoundland, Mrs. Florence Ray of West Chester, Mrs. Edith Pennington of Wilmington and Mrs.

Beatrice Winthrup of Akron, Ohio. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Saturday from the WUliam S. Bleyler Funeral Home, W. 22nd Chester.

Calling hours will be after 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Daily Times tax airing slated in Ridley Township. Page 3. County Council members explore problems.

Page 16. downs Haverford for fourth straight win. Page 13. Amusements 15 Horoscope 25 Bridge 24 Obituaries 4 Classified 20-23 Outlook 8 Comics 24-25 Sports 13-15 Crossword 25 Television 24 Editorials 6 Weather 2.