Mollie & Pap
Mollie & Pap (also spelled Molly) were the nicknames given to two unidentified corpses held in storage in the mortuary at Shortridge Funeral Home at 311 17th Street in Ensley.
A long-time resident said that W. E. Shortridge, who died in 1964, had told him, when he was a child, that they were the bodies of a couple who had killed each other in an argument in the 1930s, and that he had preserved them in case a family member would claim the bodies. When none did, he held on to them as a model for training embalmers. Another resident remembered being told by a funeral director that the two were named Richard Cloud and Molly Fleming.
After Shortridge's widow Pinkie died in 2003 the funeral home closed. The building caught fire a year later, and was demolished. The corpses were found in the rubble, prompting an investigation led by Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Pat Curry. Curry determined that the remains of two elderly people had been previously embalmed and that there were no evident signs of injury to them, despite the story of a fight.
The remains of both were placed in a single coffin and buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Edgewater. The Scott McPherson Funeral Home donated the burial fee and a granite headstone which reads:
"Mollie & Pap"
We know not the names of
these departed souls, but
God knows. May they
Rest in peace.
A sample of genetic material from each body was preserved for possible future identification.
See also
References
- "Mummies found at Alabama mortuary." (October 23, 2004) Associated Press
- "Mummies found in mortuary laid to rest." (November 13, 2004) The Gadsden Times
External links
- Mollie Doe at Findagrave.com