Herbert "Herbie" Kesecker
Obituaries
Eagle Valley Enterpirse page 1 - April 16, 1948
RED CLIFF LAD'S DEATH ACCIDENTAL.
Herbie Kesecker, 16-year-old Red Cliff boy, whose body was found in a bedroom of his parents’ home in Red Cliff last Thursday afternoon, met death accidently according to a statement made by Sheriff W. M. Wilson Monday. According to findings by the sheriff, the 16-year-old high school boy, was acting out such a stunt as is portrayed in the horror-filled “comic” books which flood the reading markets. The lad was unusually inventive and ingenious, and it is felt by the authorities that this led to the lad’s death. According to the report given out the first of the week, Herb had apparently stretched himself out on the bed in his room, resting his head on the foot of the old-style iron bedstead. A bathrobe cord was then brought around the iron rung and about the boy’s throat, knotted in front. According to reconstruction of what probably took place, Mr. Wilson stated, the lad’s head probably slipped, and in his panic to free himself, the knot was tightened. Lying near the edge of the bed, in his effort to loosen the knot, he slipped from the bed and was choked to death. Weight of the body broke the cord, and let the boy fall to the floor, where he was found by his father shortly after four that afternoon.
Eagle Valley Enterpirse page 1 - April 9, 1948
Red Cliff Boy Presumed a Suicide
HERBIE KESECKER FOUND IN BATHROOM OF HOME BY FATHER THURSDAY
The body of Herbie Kesecker, 16 year old Red Cliff high school boy, was found in the bathroom of his , home by his father, Max Kesecker, shortly after 4 o’clock Thursday afternoon. Examining physicians staled that he had been dead about 2 hours. The boy was found lying face down with a broken bathrobe cord about his neck, and looped around each . wrist. There were marks on the I throat, indicating that a rope or cord had been tightened about the neck, choking out his life. Sheriff W. M. Wilson investigated a short time after the body was found, and stated that there had been no suicide note left by the boy, who ! had attended school classes in the , morning. His parents stated that h e was still at home when they returned to their work after the noon hour, but he had been expected to return for afternoon classes. The reason for the lad’s act is a mystery. He was a good student, and well liked by his school mates and teachers. According to a statement made by the father, the boy was a mystery novel fan and advanced the theory that the boy had been experimenting with a complicated rope “mystery suicide.” When Mr. Kesecker walked into the bathroom Thursday afternoon, h* found that a small dresser and mirror had been pulled out of place, facing the body of the lad, suggesting that the experiment was practiced before a mirror. County Corner Paul Andre could not be reached last night or this morning for a statement as to whether th«re will be an autopsy performed. X
