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.

1957 :: Missing Author Found Drowned

Missing Author Found Drowned. Police Say George Sessions Perry Is 'Apparent Suicide' -- Body in River Near Home. Special to The New York Times. 

Madison, Conn., Feb. 13 -- The body of George Sessions Perry was found today in the East River here. The 46-year-old author disappeared two months ago from his home in Guilford, about two miles away. Police Chief Jacob Rickert said Mr. Perry had "apparently committed suicide by drowning." Dr. Susan Spencer, town medical examiner, said there were no marks on the body to indicate violence. The body was found by Edward Lambert, a steel company employe. He had been checking material for a bridge over the river, a narrow tidal inlet of Long Island Sound, at a point a quarter of a mile north of U. S. Route 1. Identification was made by George Heinold, assistant police chief and a close friend of Mr. Perry. An autopsy was ordered.

Clothes Are Missing. The body was unclad except for a pair of socks. When last seen on Dec. 13 at his home on Clapboard Hill, Mr. Perry had worn a tweed jacket, corduroy trousers and heavy shoes. The police believed the body had been imprisoned in heavy ice, which was freed by recent mild weather. Mr. Perry, who was six feet four inches tall, suffered a nervous breakdown a year ago. He had been crippled by arthritis. He was home Dec. 13 when his wife left for a dentist's appointment. When she returned he was missing. The Perry house and the river are separated by woods and salt marshes. The area was scoured by police and volunteers for weeks after the writer's disappearance. Chief Rickert said Mr. Perry apparently had entered the river north of the point where the body was found. The river is the boundary between Madison and Guilford. Mr. Perry, a native of Texas, was known for his "Cities of America" series in the Saturday Evening Post. He wrote several novels and was a World War II correspondent. Mrs. Perry, the former Claire E. Hodges, was in Villanova, Pa. The couple had no children. New York Times, February 14, 1957

1957 :: Perry Rites Set Tuesday

Perry Rites Set Tuesday. Rockdale, Texas (AP). -- Funeral services for George Sessions Perry, writer and native of Texas, will be held here Tuesday (19th February 1957). His body was found Wednesday in Connecticut after he had been missing two months. Tentative funeral arrangements were reported by J.B. Newton, a relative. The hour has not been set. Mrs. Perry is expected to arrive Saturday by plane in Houston, where she will be met by her brother, Bill Hodges, Beaumont. They will come immediately to Rockdale, near where Perry maintained a ranch. The body of Perry, an arthritis victim, was found in a tidal stream near his Connecticut home. Coroner James Corrigan said Thursday the circumstances of the 46-year-old writer's death are "consistent with suicide." Police said they believed Perry disrobed and threw his garments into the water before entering the stream himself. Dallas Morning News, February 16, 1957

1957 :: Perry Search Goes On

New York Times. January 26, 1957.  

Perry Search Goes On. Magazine Writer Disappeared From Home on Dec. 13. 

Special to The New York Times. Guilford, Conn., Jan. 25 -- State and local police still are pressing an unsuccessful search for George Sessions Perry, magazine writer. Mr. Perry, 46 years old, disappeared from his home here on Dec. 13. A state police helicopter flew over a wide area near the home for several hours yesterday but found no trace of the missing man. Mr. Perry, a sufferer from arthritis, disappeared while his wife, Claire, and a woman friend were visiting a dentist.