Smith's brother adds more to the story

Submitted by Nels Smith
 
Leonard Cash’s columns are always interesting, including the latest two, which were painfully close to home. Like any historian, he drew on available sources, not all of them accurate. Through no fault of Leonard’s, the columns contain a number of errors. I appreciate the opportunity to make corrections and provide some updates on my sister’s disappearance.
First some corrections and amplifications.
Connie disappeared on July 16th, not 15th. I remember it vividly.
Our family had no relatives in Chicago. If Connie was attempting to contact family it would have been in Wyoming or Connecticut. Our belief was, and is, that she was suffering amnesia or confusion as the result of a fall down the steps at the front of the tent platform the day before.
As to birthplaces of family members, Peter Smith was born near Sundance in Crook County in 1914. The family moved to Weston County in 1916 where Peter’s brother Christy was born. Nels named that ranch “The Pride of the Prairie “ and always referred to it as, “my old home place.”
Peter’s father, future Wyoming Governor Nels H. Smith, was born near Gayville in Clay County, Dakota Territory.
Peter’s mother, Marie Christensen Smith was born in the CB&Q section house in Newcastle, where her father was section boss. I believe the house was on Main Street just west of the railroad tracks.
Marie became Wyoming’s first native-born First Lady.
Her father, Peter G. Christensen, is reputed to have said at Nels’s inauguration, “Now that’s proof of democracy — when a woman born in a section house moves into the governor’s house.”
The other property mentioned is Ranch A. Ranch A was built on Sand Creek, five miles south of Beulah, Wyo., between 1932 and 1936 by Moses “Moe” Annenberg, immensely wealthy Philadelphia publisher, who owned the Philadelphia Inquirer, which he purchased while at Ranch A, as well as a number of other publications. Moe died July 20, 1942, and Governor Smith purchased Ranch A from Annenberg’s estate shortly thereafter.
Nels and Marie moved to Ranch A in 1943 at the end of Nels’s term as governor.
He sold his interest in Ranch A late in 1951.
The subsequent owners clashed so bitterly that their partnership was dissolved by a sheriff’s auction in October 1952, when Peter bought the ranch. Ranch A is now owned by the State of Wyoming and operated under a special use lease by the Ranch A Restoration Foundation.  
A more complete history of Ranch A could be covered in another column.
The facts on names, living arrangements and locations are: Helen and Peter’s children were Nels J., not Nelson, and Constance Christine, not Christina.
After the divorce, Helen did not move to Greenwich. She stayed in Crook County with both Nels and Connie.
Connie’s childhood was spent on that ranch, not Ranch A.
Peter lived in Newcastle and spent most of his time on the Weston County operations.
 
THE DISAPPEARANCE 
In early summer, 1952, Mother, Connie, and I drove to Connecticut to visit her parents.
I stayed a short time, then returned to Wyoming after my mother, her mother and I dropped Connie at Camp Sloane.
I will never forget Grandma and Grandpa Smith coming to the hay field where I was mowing to tell me that Connie had disappeared.
My recollection of events is that the evening before and morning of Connie’s disappearance were a succession of minor calamities; after returning from a movie at the camp Connie tripped over a footlocker during horseplay and fell down the steps at the front of the tent, bruising her hip (the tent platforms were set against a hillside at the back with steps to ground level at the front). She was given an ice bag at the infirmary to ease the pain and swelling. The next morning her bunk mate was swinging out of the top bunk and accidentally kicked Connie in the face. In the course of these “wrecks” her glasses were broken and her nose bloodied, perhaps twice. Most of these events are roughly accurate as quoted from the John Tuohy article except that Connie had not “developed early.” She was a typical slim preteen other than being taller than average. Connie was very happy at the camp and wanted to stay longer. There was no reason to suspect clashes with other campers or molestation by camp staff, gratuitous speculation by Tuohy and others notwithstanding.
The late retired Connecticut State Trooper Dick Chapman deserves special mention. He worked with my father during the search immediately after Connie’s disappearance and solving the case became his post retirement near-obsession to the extent that he came to Wyoming to meet with us in addition to all his other efforts. What a decent man. I believe he felt nearly as deeply about Connie as we.
 
RESOLUTION —
I THOUGHT  
In 1958 road maintainers discovered the remains of a young female in Coconino County, Arizona.
She became known as “Little Miss X.”
Based on the description in the report, there was a strong resemblance to Connie. Mother was still alive at the time and when I called it to her attention with the suggestion that we contact Coconino County, she rejected the idea on the basis that the report stated that the girl was possibly American Indian. Connie had high cheekbones and I felt that we should call. Because of Mother’s reluctance, I did not. Some years later an investigator in the Connecticut State Police Department compared the dental chart of Little Miss X with Connie’s.
Four of five points of identification matched!
Little Miss X body was exhumed and a Coconino County Sheriff’s officer brought the skull and jaw for examination by Dr. Floyd Ward, Connie’s dentist. Of the five points of identification, four were fillings. Dr. Ward identified three of the four as being of his material and technique. He pointed out that the fourth filling could have been done later.
 
The fifth point was an indentation in the palate behind and between the incisors.
This could have occurred naturally or been the result of surgical removal of a supernumerary or extra tooth, which was the case with Connie. Examination by a specialist was necessary to make the determination as to whether or not the indentation was natural. The examination was done by specialists in Denver and my father reported that they had determined the indentation to be natural, therefore it could not be Connie. I have learned since that their opinion was “inconclusive,” since the surgery, if any, was completely healed. Surgery could be detected only if it was not completely healed.
The remains were taken back to Arizona.
In hindsight, I believe Dad’s denial was driven by his intense hope that Connie was alive. His mind would not allow her to be dead.
With increased emphasis on cold cases and DNA analysis providing techniques for identification unheard of until recently, it was decided to exhume Little Miss X again and use DNA techniques for identification.  
The body has been lost!
Two graves that might have been hers were opened, but neither contained Little Miss X.
Twenty percent of missing persons are never accounted for, and so far my sister is one of those.