At the request of several readers, Tales from the Morgue presents the story of the Pied Piper of Tucson.
The story brought national attention to Tucson in the 1960s, but not the positive attention Tucsonans would want. Life magazine painted Tucson as a hayseed town and Speedway as a seedy street.
Tucsonans knew better, but even they were enthralled by the story of the young man who attracted teen girls as easily as many movie heart throbs.
It began with a few stories of missing girls.
From the Arizona Daily Star, June 4, 1964 (Note: The Morgue Lady hasn't reprinted the exact addresses as the Star did in the 1960s.):
Palo Verde High Student Missing Since Sunday
Alleen Rowe, 15, a Palo Verde High School sophomore, has been missing since 9:30 p.m. Sunday, her mother said yesterday.
Mrs. Norma Rowe, of Cuernavaca Pl., said her daughter went to bed at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Mrs. Rowe, a nurse at Tucson Medical Center, returned home from work Monday morning but presumed her daughter was attending school.
She said a school official informed her Monday afternoon that her daughter had not showed up at school all day.
The girl often walks alone in the desert, her mother said.
She was believed to be wearing a yellow checked dress with a lace hem. She apparently took a black swimming suit with her.
The sheriff's department and city police are investigating.
There were few clues to Alleen's whereabouts and her mother didn't believe she had run away.
More than a year later, two sisters disappeared as well. From the Star, Aug. 22, 1965:
2 Tucson Girls Missing Since Monday Night
Two teenage daughters of Dr. and Mrs. J. M. Fritz. E. Elm St., have been missing since Monday evening.
Gretchen Fritz, 17, and Wendy, 13, both left home about 7:50 p.m. Monday after saying that they were going to a movie at the Cactus Drive-In Theater, Mrs. Fritz said.
She said Gretchen originally decided to go to the movies without Wendy because Wendy failed to return home from a neighbor's house as expected. But when Wendy did return, Gretchen told two other family members to stay at home even though she had originally promised to take them to the movies, according to Mrs. Fritz.
Gretchen and Wendy finally took the family car after an argument, the mother recalled. She described the car as a red and white two-door LeMans Pontiac sedan, with the license plate number FDM420.
Several sightings placed the girls in Mexico, though, as it turns out, these were inaccurate. The family car was later found abandoned.
The skeletons of the missing sisters were found on Nov. 10, 1965, after an informant told police where to look. The informant also told police who killed them. From the Star, Nov. 11, 1965:
Bodies of Fritz Sisters Found on City Outskirts
Girls Missing Since Aug. 16
By DAVE GREEN
Skeletons of the Fritz sisters, missing since Aug. 16, were found yesterday by detectives in a desert area north of the city and a 23-year-old ex-boyfriend of the oldest girl has been charged with murder.
Charles Howard Schmid, of E. Adams St., was charged with two counts of homicide after an informer led city detectives to a hill north of the city near Alvernon Way and Pontatoc Rd.
There detectives discovered the bones of Gretchen Fritz, 17, and her 13-year-old sister, Wendy. Identification was made last night by Dr. Louis Hirsch, pathologist.
How the girls were killed is not yet known. It is presumed that death was caused by strangulation since there was nothing found yesterday to indicate that the girls were beaten or shot to death.
Police Chief Bernard L. Garmire said the first break in the case came late Monday night when the informer called Tucson police from Columbus, Ohio, and said he knew where the bodies of the missing girls could be found.
Detective Sgt. Robert Wilhelm was sent to Ohio and returned to Tucson with the informant who was said to have taken police to the northside area yesterday morning.
The bodies were not buried. The bones were lying on the ground atop a small hill and detectives pointed out that fresh tire tracks and beer bottles at the location indicated the desert area was most likely recently used by some person.
Detectives expressed doubt that someone had not seen the bones of the missing girls prior to their discovery yesterday. Remnants of clothing were found on one of the bodies but the other was unclothed. Garmire said it could not be determined yesterday whether the girls had been sexually assaulted.
Schmid was identified as a suspect in the case by the informant, according to detectives. He was taken into custody at his home shortly after noon yesterday.
Both the informer and Schmid had been questioned a short time after the disappearance of the two girls.
An anonymous caller to the Star last night identified the informer as a one-time friend of Schmid and said he thought the suspect to be innocent of the crimes.
Police would not reveal the name of the informer and would only comment that "he is available to us."
The Fritz girls were two of four teenagers who disappeared in Tucson during the past 18 months.
It was a pretty Palo Verde sophomore, 15-year-old Alleen Rowe, who was first reported missing from her home at Cuernavaca Pl. on May 31, 1964.
The mother awaited the return of her daughter home from school on the following day but she never returned.
From the beginning Mrs. Norma Rowe insisted her attractive daughter was the victim of foul play.
City detectives began an investigation and during the course of that probe Schmid's name first came up. He was named by the missing girl's mother and by Alleen's friends as an ex-boyfriend of the blonde sophomore.
Although official sources remained mute last night, there were strong indications that a search will be started today east of the city where county authorities believe the body of Miss Rowe might be hidden in the desert.
Other sources close to investigators said there also was fear that Sandra (Dusty) Hughes, 14, who disappeared on Sept. 10, has been slain.
While the investigation continued into the disappearance of the Rowe girl, the Fritz girls left home on the evening of Aug. 16 after saying that they were going to a movie at the Cactus Drive-In Theatre. That was the last time they were seen alive.
The daughters of Dr. and Mrs. James Fritz of E. Elm St. took the family car which was found later at the Flamingo Hotel annex at N. 7th Ave. and E. Mabel St.
During the probe into the girls' disappearance, city detectives talked with dozens of teenagers and older friends among whom were Schmid and a Richard L. Bruns, 19, of E. Winsett St.
It was learned last night that Bruns was placed on probation by a city court magistrate about two weeks ago after an east side family complained to police that he was bothering their 16-year-old daughter whom he had previously dated.
The family told a reporter last night that Bruns was placed on probation on the stipulation that he leave Tucson for residence in Ohio. The family said city police informed them that he was returned here in connection with the slaying of the Fritz girls.
The 16-year-old ex-girlfriend of Bruns described him as a good friend of Schmid and said they often were seen together.
Schmid was arraigned before Justice of the Peace Toby LaVetter in Justice Court yesterday and a preliminary hearing was set for 10 a.m. on Dec. 13. He is being held without bond.
As early as Aug. 17, the day following the Fritz girls disappearance, an anonymous caller told police that persons he knew as Richie Bruns and a friend called "Smitty" had information regarding the two girls. He said he believed the two knew the whereabouts of the girls.
On the same day Mrs. Fritz, insisting that her daughters were dead, told city detectives that she was considering hiring a private detective to watch a boy who she said she felt knew more than he was telling.
So the "informant" was brought to Tucson from Ohio, and Richard Bruns was sent to Ohio and returned in connection to the case. It would seem that the identity of the informant is no secret.
Next: What happened to Alleen Rowe?
