The Nodaway County Historical Society recently hosted a Halloween themed program where Northwest Missouri State students helped gather information and wrote the script.
Northwest theatre professor Stephanie Jorandby says "Unsolved Mysteries: Nodaway County's 1895 Skeleton Case" involves skeletal remains that were found nearby a farm outside of Skidmore, which were believed to be from a farmer who disappeared in the area. However, over 14 years later, that farmer returned to Skidmore.
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The story starts when 34 year old farmer Jacob Funk left his farmland to purchase potato seeds only to disappear. A year later, Jorandby said skeletal remains were discovered hanging on a tree near a ravine six miles south of Skidmore. Police reached out to Funk's family to identify the bones and some of the family believed that the bones belonged to Funk.
The investigation was then turned to Funk's partner Frank Ridge, but Ridge proved in court that he could not have been the culprit. Years after the trial, Funk walked back into Skidmore and refused to elaborate on where he had been and why he left so suddenly.
Jessica Vest, a member of the Nodaway County Historical Society Board and head of Northwest University Archives says true crime in local areas is more interesting to the public because they make a connection with the mystery.
The historical society has planned to tell this story for over a year as part of its "True Crime and Bloody Mary" program.
Northwest students wrote the script for the event and helped gather information to tell the story. Jorandby says the students worked to make the story entertaining but also remain true to the source material.