Unsolved Mysteries

San Francisco Call, Sept. 1, 1899

In late August 1899, Fred A. Keener was traveling by bicycle from Visalia to San Francisco.  Fred was the son of Henry A. Keener, brother of my great-great-great-grandmother Emily S. Keener.  Fred was eighteen years old at the time.  After passing through Los Banos, he lost his way in the hills near Pacheco Pass.  As he tried to find his way, he sat down on a rock to rest.  He then noticed some fabric fluttering in the breeze behind some bushes.  When he took a closer look, he saw a decomposing body!  The skeleton was clad in blue overalls and a dark coat and wasn’t wearing shoes.  

Fred eventually found his way again and continued on his journey to San Francisco.  However, on the return trip home, he stopped in San Jose and reported his discovery to Sheriff Langford.  On Wednesday, August 30, Sheriff Langford and several deputies, along with Keener, traveled by horseback into the hills to find the body.  They searched for two days but didn’t find anything.  Fred thought he might have more luck if he could start the search from the direction that he had been traveling.  He had to get home but told the Sheriff he would return if needed.  He continued home and along the way thought he found the spot where he had left the road.  Once he was back in Visalia, he wrote the Sheriff to inform him.  Sheriff Langford immediately replied and asked him to come back.  

On Monday, September 4, Fred met Sheriff Langford near Mountain Home which was approximately half way between Los Banos and Gilroy.  The Sheriff and Keener tried to retrace Keener’s original journey in hopes of finding the body again.  They traveled in a northward direction but, after searching for three days, they still were unsuccessful.  

Throughout this time, the discovery of the body and the ongoing search attempts were covered in newspapers throughout the state.  Many people suspected that the body was that of accused mass-murderer James Dunham.  In 1896, in the Santa Clara valley, Dunham had murdered six people, including his wife and in-laws, on the family farm.  He fled into the hills and had never been captured and some wondered if he had died in the mountains.  Some suspected it was Dunham's body because he was known for wearing sacks on his feet, instead of shoes.  However, after the two unfruitful searches, some people began to wonder if Keener “dreamed about the bones.”

The searchers resumed combing the hills on Tuesday September 19.  Fred again returned to help, this time accompanied by his father Henry Keener.  They, along with the Sheriff, deputies, and several men familiar with the area, spent several days looking without finding anything.  It was on Friday that the Sheriff and his men decided to give up the search and return to Mountain Home to spend the night.  But Fred decided he wanted to keep looking and around five o’clock he found the right spot.  However, they were in for a big shock.  The body was gone!  

Los Angeles Herald, Sept. 25, 1899

Fred and his father found the Sheriff and they all returned to the spot.  It was confirmed that there had been a body there (be sure to read the details in the above article. I'm sure Deputy Stayton was itching the next day!) but it was now missing.  They also found wagon tracks leading to the spot.  There were a couple theories about why the body had been taken.  Perhaps the dead person was not Dunham but someone else who had been murdered.  In this case, the murderer did not want the authorities to find the body so they came and moved it.  The other theory was that someone else found the body and took it hoping to receive a reward if it was Dunham’s body.  However, evidence later surfaced that it was definitely not Dunham's body.

Ultimately this story leaves us with a cliffhanger.  There is no resolution for any of its mysteries - Whose body did Fred find?  What happened to James Dunham?  And who took the body from its resting place in the Pacheco hills?  Perhaps answers are out there but my research hasn’t uncovered them.  The story of James Dunham and the ongoing national obsession with finding him is both a tragic and fascinating one.  However, it still remains an unsolved case.  If you’re interested in reading more about him, a quick Google search will give lots of information but here’s a link to get you started:  http://murderpedia.org/male.D/d/dunham-james.htm

Fred went on to become a jeweler/watchmaker with a shop in San Francisco.  He married Margaret around 1906 and died on October 27, 1881, at the age of thirty-seven.  He is buried in the Visalia Public Cemetery.