CHAPTER ONE Attic Treasure

I found an old photo in Aunt Edna’s attic. It was a head shot with vertical bar shadows striping the subject’s face but I couldn’t tell if the man pictured was inside or outside of them.
Black and white and yellowed with age it was intriguing to a 10 year old impressionable boy.
Uncle Phil used to kid me, warning about looking up ancestors because…”There might be a few horse thieves among the family tree branches my boy..especially on Aunt Edna’s “Conrad Family” side!” Then he’d have a big laugh and my Aunt would throw a pillow at him.
But although the photo had been kept among the family albums no one knew, or would at least admit to knowing, exactly who the man in the picture actually was.
The barely legible stamping on the back of the picture read “Argonia Sun imes”. I assumed the “T” that was missing of course, but I couldn’t find any listing of what I guessed was a newspaper, anywhere on the internet.
No one in the family knew what the Argonia Sun Times was either and didn’t even hazard a guess. BUT, they all DID change the subject quickly to..”Want some cookies, just baked ’em?” or “Hey let’s take the Porsche out for a spin. Whaddya say kid?” whenever I brought up the question of who exactly was in that photo.
I looked up Argonia and found a town of 501 population in Kansas but there was no Sun Times.
But one afternoon while Uncle Phil and I were on a “change the subject” Porsche ride he said something that really made me super curious. “My advice is stay away from that attic kid. Nothin’ good can ever come of it.”
I was startled but I managed to ask “Can’t you tell me anything…I mean ANYTHING?”
He just stared at me for the longest time after he had pulled the car over to the curb.
“There could still be folks that are carrying a grudge about all that stuff back then and it’s best not to stir the pot, so to speak.”
Uncle Phil should never have said that and he knew it but then I saw a very tiny smile at the corner of his mouth and that told me that the man in the photo was definitely related to Aunt Edna’s side of the family!

CHAPTER TWO Investigation

When I included Uncle Phil in my little circle of investigators of missing picture man, the group now included two.
“Don’t tell Aunt Edna that you’re keeping the photo and trying to find out the whole story.” cautioned Uncle Phil.
“Good idea.” Staying positive with Uncle Phil was a must to pursue the investigation.
My first challenge was to find out about the Argonia Sun Times.
I discovered that the Times Sentinel now served the town of Argonia and so I decided to contact the editor about past history which hopefully included old photos and files from the Sun Times.
No luck. Nobody at the Times Sentinel knew anything about the old newspapers of the small towns nearby.
Then a thought hit me. Check the jails and prisons and sheriffs and local police.
After sending a digital picture of the photo to every law enforcement entity that I could find…no luck!
Then I got an email from the Times Sentinel editor John McClellan. He offered to run the photo as a “WHO IS THIS MAN?” article and local contest.
“GREAT!” I responded and told him everything that I knew of the situation.
The prize for successfully identifying the man in the photo was a “Free Night In Jail”. I figured that it was just a joke and it was me who would be the subject of everyone’s laughter.
But I was wrong. The response was overwhelming! 486 citizens offered guesses but no proof until after two weeks one single respondent offered proof of the true identity of the man in my photo.
There was to be a special edition of the newspaper naming the “Mystery Man” and the story behind the photo.
In addition, a picture of the winner would be featured in a head shot with the same shadows of bars across their face.
I was so excited to find out who the man in the photo actually was, but I confess I really did not care who the winner was.
Mr. McClellan sent me a pre-published proof of the feature article naming the man as Jasper Conrad a one time prison guard and the bar shadowed photo of the winner was a smiling Aunt Edna.