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Bodies Found in Alabama May Date to 1930s
hosted.ap.org ^ | Oct 22 2004 | staff

Posted on 10/22/2004 5:11:55 PM PDT by foolscap

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Two mummified bodies found in an abandoned, burned-out mortuary have a story as eerie as Halloween: They were known as Pap and Molly, and legend had it that they stabbed each other to death in the 1930s.

A passer-by spotted the corpses this week in the remains of the Shortridge Funeral Home, reviving memories of the mummies for longtime residents who had seen them at the mortuary decades ago.

Police summoned to the scene Wednesday night initially checked to see if foul play was involved. After roping off the area and waiting for daylight, they removed a coffin containing both bodies and decided no recent crime had occurred.

Residents in the west Birmingham neighborhood said Pap and Molly were understood to be a husband and wife who supposedly stabbed each other to death during a drunken fight in the 1930s. No one claimed their bodies, and they remained at the funeral home - a 100-year-old family business that closed last year and burned in July.

Edward Rogers, 55, said he first saw the mummified bodies when he was 11 and lived nearby. He said the owner showed him the corpses, which were propped against a wall in the back room.

"It scared me the first time," Rogers told The Birmingham News. "I didn't go back for about a month. Then I'd go by and wave to them through the window. I just got to liking them."

He said the owner at the time, W.E. Shortridge, told him they had been preserved in case someone showed up to bury them, and then were used as a teaching tool for future embalmers.

The mortuary closed after its most recent owner, Pinkie L. Shortridge, died at 79 last year.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Pat Curry said an initial examination found the two were elderly when they died. The grisly story of how the pair died may be untrue: Curry said there was no evidence of any kind of injuries.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: mummies

1 posted on 10/22/2004 5:11:55 PM PDT by foolscap
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To: foolscap

OK, that's just freaky.

http://www.patriot-paradox.com


2 posted on 10/22/2004 5:13:28 PM PDT by sonsofliberty2000 ("If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." Thomas Paine)
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To: foolscap

STOLEN HONOR NOW! (cable 15) channel 38 Tampa Bay Fl)


3 posted on 10/22/2004 5:14:05 PM PDT by Anticommie
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To: foolscap

Believe it or Not!


4 posted on 10/22/2004 5:14:25 PM PDT by roadrunner96
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To: blam

Ping!


5 posted on 10/22/2004 5:22:50 PM PDT by annyokie ("I have a plan" ™)
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To: foolscap

"A passer-by spotted the corpses "

? Didn't the fire dept. ever investigate the fire?


6 posted on 10/22/2004 5:23:33 PM PDT by nuconvert (Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.)
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To: foolscap
"then were used as a teaching tool for future embalmers."

Herein lies the latest Scott Peterson defense strategery...

7 posted on 10/22/2004 5:31:33 PM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: foolscap
"The mortuary closed after its most recent owner, Pinkie L. Shortridge, died at 79..."

Memo to self:

Eliminate all potential morticians named "Pinkie."

8 posted on 10/22/2004 5:33:35 PM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: foolscap

Ya just can't make this stuff up.


9 posted on 10/22/2004 5:34:05 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: foolscap
Bodies Found in Alabama May Date to 1930s .......maybe CPA-ACLU 'buriel' grounds.

/sarcasm

10 posted on 10/22/2004 5:36:25 PM PDT by maestro
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To: foolscap

Headline should read:

'Democrat voters survive fire - will vote in 2004 despite fatal handicaps.'


11 posted on 10/22/2004 6:52:31 PM PDT by WorkingClassFilth (What can you expect from a political party full of master-debators?)
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To: foolscap

Strange, yes very strange.


12 posted on 10/22/2004 7:06:41 PM PDT by rdl6989
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To: foolscap
No one claimed their bodies, and they remained at the funeral home - a 100-year-old family business that closed last year and burned in July.

The timing is suspicious.

13 posted on 10/22/2004 7:21:35 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative (Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Dan Rather's got to go!)
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To: WorkingClassFilth
'Democrat voters survive fire - will vote in 2004 despite fatal handicaps.'

Hmmmm, we just purged the rolls of 15,000 dead demoncrat voters 3 or 4 years ago. I guess this couple got overlooked...

14 posted on 10/22/2004 7:34:59 PM PDT by awelliott
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To: Darksheare

???


15 posted on 10/22/2004 8:21:09 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Vegan~It's what's for dinner.)
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To: maestro
Democrats register two more voters....
16 posted on 10/22/2004 10:24:27 PM PDT by unspun (RU working your precinct, churchmembers, etc. 4 good votes? | Not "Unspun w/ AnnaZ" but I appreciate)
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To: Professional Engineer

*eyes shift left and right*

They insulted my innocent kitty kitty.
And I disposed of the evidence via temporal dishembler.
Yeah.. that's the ticket..
I HAD been aiming to make them dino-chow, but I goofed.


17 posted on 10/23/2004 8:10:24 AM PDT by Darksheare (Ganags of epopel shall stune your beeber with "UNNNGH!")
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