alliwrenmartin
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Delores Annette Martin (my granddad's sister) and her 4 year old son, Terry Gene Wallender disappeared on July 31, 1950.
The morning of her disappearance, she made a phone call to her cousin, in tears, crying. She asked to borrow luggage for a trip to Arkansas, which she and her husband, James Plummer, were going to take. Delores and Terry were never seen or heard from again.
James Plummer, claimed that he decided not to go on the trip and last saw her leaving with Terry in his car, a Hudson, while he was in the garden. However, upon investigation, no extra clothes or items were missing from Delores' house indicating they had ever left on a trip.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation had noted James E. Plummer as their primary suspect due to his first wife disappearing under suspicious circumstances as well. Delores, his second wife, had been married to James for only 2 months before she and Terry disappeared.
Here is an article from the Lawrence Journal World from Sept 1957 regarding their disappearance.
JAMES E. PLUMMER, SR.
Though James E. Plummer was under investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, he was never arrested or charged for Delores' and Terry's disappearances. He was well-known in the Douglas County community and connected to prominent figures in Lawrence. He was a POW held captive by Japanese soldiers during WW2 from 1942-1945. Full military career here.
He had a wife named Beatrice Maxine Plummer, who had (allegedly) also mysteriously disappeared before Delores. I have not been able to find any more information about Beatrice Maxine Plummer, other than- 1) that their marriage occurred sometime before James was sent off to war, 2) she resided in Albuquerque/Carlsbad, NM at various addresses while he was away. 3) Her child (name unknown) remained alive after her disappearance which occurred sometime after 1946.
On October 14, 1957, James E. Plummer, represented by Charles D. Stough, a prominent city attorney, filed a strongly-worded petition with the District Court of Douglas County against an extensive list of individuals, barring them from having any access to a specific area of his land. Delores Plummer, Beatrice Maxine Plummer, and anyone related to them, are among the individuals listed in this petition. The exact reason that this suit was filed is still unknown and being investigated.
The land coordinates listed in the filed suit are as follows:
"The Southeast Quarter (¼) of the Northeast Quarter (¼) of Section Eleven (11). Township Fourteen (14), South Range Nineteen (19), East of the 6th Principal Meridian"
Here is an article from the Lawrence Journal World in Oct 1957 detailing the filed suit. No. 21086`
James Plummer lived out the rest of his days in Lawrence, KS. He worked as a construction project manager for a company (name unknown) that did global work including, interestingly enough, in Mindanao (where he was captured) and Manchuria (where he was imprisoned as a POW). He married his third wife, Teodora Pondare, who was originally from the Philippines. He died on August 13, 1996.
KEY QUESTIONS
Any investigative support and help in answering the following key questions are appreciated & welcome:
1) What happened to Beatrice Maxine Plummer, James Plummer's first wife who, prior to Delores, also allegedly disappeared?
2) Why did James Plummer file the suit in Oct 1957 against these certain individuals (including those related to Delores & Beatrice), barring them from a specific piece of his property?
3) Is there any information on what James Plummer was doing/where he was between the years 1946-1950? (Specifically, the time between his military discharge on May 27 1946 and his marriage to Delores on May 20, 1950)
Most of this research has been done by Delores' brother, who is now 90 years old, and myself, who has compiled information from Ancestry website research, the Lawrence Journal World newspaper archives and family interviews. Thank you in advance for your help.
