Suitcase Full Of History Found
Benton County Sheriff's Office Seek Clues on owner, officials say
Last updated Thursday, July 31, 2008 6:33 PM CDT in News
By Melissa Sherman
The Morning News
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BENTONVILLE - Scattered memories of Howard W. Evenden were placed gently on a table at the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
Family members were frozen in sepia-toned photographs. Soldiers walked beside a World War I tank down an unknown road in eastern Europe. An envelope was torn on one side, postmarked 1944 from someone in Iowa and addressed to Evenden in Rogers.
A suitcase containing Evenden's history was found Thursday morning placed on a driveway at 13185 Walnut Valley Road in Rogers.
Deputies looked through the photographs and material dated as far back as the 1800s for clues as to whom the suitcase might belong.
"I don't think this has been opened for 60 years," said Sgt. Rich Conner.
Deputies said they found several photographs of a man they believe is Evenden. There is also a 1937 Iowa driver's license that listed Evenden as 56 years old.
The sheriff's office is looking for information about the whereabouts of Evenden's family so they can return the lost luggage.
Conner did some online research and found that a Howard W. Evenden died in 1957 and was buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
The trail to Evenden's past generally leads back to Iowa but other material mentions places in Arkansas, New York and Wyoming, Conner said.
Newspaper clippings were tucked into albums, some detailing adventures of pilots. A Converse Gas and Oil stock in mint condition was bought in 1931 for four payments of $12.50. A lease to a farm in Guthrie County, Iowa, from 1931 was purchased for $440.
"This is somebody's life," said Deputy Doug Gay, public information officer.
One photo album was not like the others. It contained numerous photographs of black-and-white war zones in several eastern European countries during World War I.
Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, grins on their faces, maybe during a quiet moment at their camps. Others depicted them hunched over in trenches. In another, a German tank was in disarray on the side of a road.
Deputies have exhausted their search online, Conner said. The next step is to contact local museums if no one claims the suitcase, he said.
Anyone with information about the items can contact the sheriff's office at 271-1008.
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Twinkie wrote on Jul 31, 2008 8:06 PM: