St. Louis, Feb. 23 - Raymond Vandyke, 9 years old, who was taken to the City Hospital Feb. 7, after having been found at Union Station suffering from burns, cuts and frozen feet is dead of tuberculosis brought on by exposure to cold, to which he is said to have been subjected while living with Gus Meyers, a farmer near Portland, Mo. The boy's father, James Vandyke, was found in St. Louis. He told the hospital authorities that he had placed Raymond in the care of Meyers a year ago and that he was unaware of any mistreatment to the boy. Mrs. Urban Callier, of St. Louis, a married sister, had offered to give the boy a home after learning of his condition through newspaper accounts. An effort was made to obtain a sworn statement from the boy, but the notary who was called refused to atest the statement because the boy was delirious.
~ Macon Daily Chronicle-Herald (Macon, Missouri), Mon., 23 Feb 1920, pg. 3
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Montgomery, Mo., May 11 - The trial of August Meyer, Montgomery county farmer, charged with the death of nine-year-old orphan boy, Raymond VanDyke, who died of neglect and maltreatment in a St. Louis hospital, was called here today. The little boy was found in the depot at St. Louis in February. His feet were frozen and body lacerated. He was ill of exposure and in tears. He told a pathetic story of neglect and ill-treatment by Meyer who had taken him to raise. After being taken to the hospital he became violently ill and died. Meyer entered a plea of not guilty today. The case is attracting wide attention.
~ The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (Missouri), Tues., 11 May 1920, pg. 1
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Montgomery City, May 13 - August Meyers, freed of the charge of mistreating Raymond Vandyke, nine-year-old farmer boy today, declared: "I knew I would be exonerated. I never mistreated the boy. The verdict was just." After three hours of deliberation a jury in the circuit court here returned a verdict of not guilty last night. Four ballots were taken, the first being 9 to 3 for acquittal, the second 10 to 2, the third 11 to 1 and finally a unanimous verdict of acquittal. Meyers will go to St. Louis to live. He has secured employment there as a stationary fireman. In his instructions to the jury Circuit Judge Gantt dismissed the question of assault on the ground that the state had failed to prove that Meyers had beaten the boy, who died last February in the St. Louis hospital of alleged exposure and mistreatment on the Meyers' farm. Judge Gantt instructed the jury to disregard what the boy said after arriving in St. Louis.
~ The Macon Chronicle-Herald (Macon, Missouri), Thurs., 13 May 1920, pg. 5
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1920 (Jan 14) Census, Loutre, Montgomery, MO:
Gus Meyer, 46, b IL, parents Germany, farmer-farm.
Elizabeth Meyer, wife, 45, imm 1877, nat 1881, b Germany, parents Germany.
Raymond Vandyke, adopted son, 9, not attending school, b MO, parents MO.
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Contributed by Laura:
Born 18 Jan 1911, St. Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, died 22 Feb 1920.