Cleveland Police were looking for "Irene" in September of 1915 according to this article from the Mansfield [Ohio] News.
Basil Hurford was injured on the streets of Cleveland bleeding from the neck, calling out for Irene.
What the paper didn't say (at least not in this writeup) was that Hurford already had a wife, Orena "Belle" Cintura Crowl.
Research was really focused on Belle for an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues and connecting her with her family of origin took going through several steps.
Burford was her second husband. It is not known what exactly happened to her first husband, but that was not crucial to the research that was actually being conducted. Belle is a sister of the wife of my aunt's uncle.
Sometimes one has to stay focused.
And one also needs to remember that the newspaper does not always give all the details.
There's more to Basil's story and it is not all happy. We'll post updates as time allows .
