Near Patton, not far from Cape Girardeau, the headless body of 30-year-old John Zoubeck was found in December 1926.
At first, the circumstances raised more questions than answers. Had Zoubeck been murdered? Had he wandered into the woods and died from exposure? Or had some other terrible accident taken place after he was last seen months earlier?
There were no easy clues. His body had not been robbed, and a gold watch was still in one of his pockets, making robbery seem unlikely. Officers searched the thick woods nearby and eventually found his head forty feet from a highway.
Zoubeck had last been seen in the area in early September, when a State Highway Patrolman reportedly found him stuck in the mud with his automobile near the same place where his body would later be discovered. Authorities learned he had been in a government hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, and was believed to have been traveling toward Cleveland.
By the time the newspaper reported the case, officials still had not determined whether they were looking at a deliberate killing or a lonely death in the woods.
Headless Body Mystery Not Solved in Missouri
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri. — Officers had not determined last night whether John Zoubeck, 30, whose headless body was found Wednesday night near Patton, was killed deliberately or died of exposure.
The body had not been robbed and a gold watch was in one pocket.
The headless body was found by a hunter, who notified officials. The latter, searching through thick woods nearby yesterday, found the head 40 feet from a highway.
Zoubeck was last seen in this vicinity early last September, when a State Highway Patrolman, Everett Johnston, reported finding him mired in the mud with his automobile near where the body was found. Sheriff Matthews learned yesterday that Zoubeck had been in a Government hospital at Little Rock, Arkansas, and presumably was on his way to Cleveland.
Source: Evening Star. Washington, D.C. December 3, 1926.
