1957 :: Connecticut Joins Hunt for Writer

New York Times. January 3, 1957. Connecticut Joins Hunt for Writer. State Police Expand Search at the Request of Wife of George Sessions Perry. By Richard H. Parke. Special to The New York Times. 

Guilford, Conn., Jan. 3 -- The State Policy today entered the three-week-old search for George Sessions Perry. The 46-year-old magazine writer disappeared from his home here on Dec. 13.

Police Chief Joseph Quinlan of Guilford sought the aid of state troopers at the request of Mr. Perry's wife, Claire. The chief and 260 policemen and volunteer fireman from this town and neighboring communities so far have combed a ten-square-mile area without success. The State Police will "assist" the department here, an official said.

Mr. Perry, a sufferer from arthritis, disappeared some time between 12:30 and 3 P.M. on Dec. 13 while his wife and Mrs. Milton MacKaye, wife of another writer, were visiting a dentist. The Perrys live in a large colonial farmhouse in a wooded section three miles from here.


Wearing Tweed Jacket

Mr. Perry was in bed when the two women left, according to his wife. She believes he was wearing a tweed jacket, blue corduroy trousers and loafers when he disappeared. His name was stitched inside the jacket.

Mrs. Perry thinks her husband may have gone to look for his springer spaniel, Mr. Mutt, which had been missing for two days. The dog returned later.

The writer, who is almost six and a half feet tall, had undergone intensive treatment for his arthritic condition and walks with difficulty. Generally, he was in good spirits and had only occasional periods of despondency, friends reported. Mrs. Perry helped her husband originate a series on the cities of America for The Saturday Evening Post.

Today, Mrs. Perry praised the search efforts led by Chief Quinlan. She explained, however, that she had asked for the help of the State Police so that the hunt could be widened, particularly across town lines.

A focal point of the search to date has been a pond that lies a few hundred yards from the Perry home. Mr. Perry made the pond from swampland some years ago.

The pond has been partly dragged several times and the police have traveled over it in a glass bottom boat. They have been hampered, however, by a thick undergrowth and deep mud. They also have searched three adjacent ponds.

In addition, the police have used a helicopter and bloodhounds. They have checked with the writer's friends here and in New York and have made inquiries in Rockdale, Tex., where the Perrys also have a home. A thirteen-state alarm has been out.