Centralia, Ill.--The grave of a dead cat was the only confirmed discovery today as a search went on for a fortune in oil royalties believed hidden by Miss Bertha Pitchford, 71, before her death last week.
Coroner Leander Moss found Miss Pitchford's purse containing $29,700 when he was called to the house after the death Feb. 23. Under a pillow, he found $500.
Relatives busy with shovels believe more money may be hidden on the grounds of the tiny, three-room house where she lived with her collection of cats.
Miss Pitchford received oil royalty checks for more than 20 years and was said to have converted the checks into cash. She owned 30 acres in a once-rich oil field near her cottage.
A banker told newsmen she once talked of burying money near a flower bed in her yard. The yard measures 75 by 100 feet. Her ramshackle house has no electricity and no plumbing.
Relatives dug around the house and searched the building Thursday. They reportedly plan to tear the house down.
At the end of the day they posted no trespassing signs and boarded windows on the house. They declined to discuss the search.
A deputy sheriff guard said the only discovery made by diggers so far was a dead cat. It had been laid to rest in a tiny grave.
Coroner Leander Moss found Miss Pitchford's purse containing $29,700 when he was called to the house after the death Feb. 23. Under a pillow, he found $500.
Relatives busy with shovels believe more money may be hidden on the grounds of the tiny, three-room house where she lived with her collection of cats.
Miss Pitchford received oil royalty checks for more than 20 years and was said to have converted the checks into cash. She owned 30 acres in a once-rich oil field near her cottage.
A banker told newsmen she once talked of burying money near a flower bed in her yard. The yard measures 75 by 100 feet. Her ramshackle house has no electricity and no plumbing.
Relatives dug around the house and searched the building Thursday. They reportedly plan to tear the house down.
At the end of the day they posted no trespassing signs and boarded windows on the house. They declined to discuss the search.
A deputy sheriff guard said the only discovery made by diggers so far was a dead cat. It had been laid to rest in a tiny grave.
Centralia, Ill.--The grave of a dead cat was the only confirmed discovery today as a search went on for a fortune in oil royalties believed hidden by Miss Bertha Pitchford, 71, before her death last week.
Coroner Leander Moss found Miss Pitchford's purse containing $29,700 when he was called to the house after the death Feb. 23. Under a pillow, he found $500.
Relatives busy with shovels believe more money may be hidden on the grounds of the tiny, three-room house where she lived with her collection of cats.
Miss Pitchford received oil royalty checks for more than 20 years and was said to have converted the checks into cash. She owned 30 acres in a once-rich oil field near her cottage.
A banker told newsmen she once talked of burying money near a flower bed in her yard. The yard measures 75 by 100 feet. Her ramshackle house has no electricity and no plumbing.
Relatives dug around the house and searched the building Thursday. They reportedly plan to tear the house down.
At the end of the day they posted no trespassing signs and boarded windows on the house. They declined to discuss the search.
A deputy sheriff guard said the only discovery made by diggers so far was a dead cat. It had been laid to rest in a tiny grave.
Coroner Leander Moss found Miss Pitchford's purse containing $29,700 when he was called to the house after the death Feb. 23. Under a pillow, he found $500.
Relatives busy with shovels believe more money may be hidden on the grounds of the tiny, three-room house where she lived with her collection of cats.
Miss Pitchford received oil royalty checks for more than 20 years and was said to have converted the checks into cash. She owned 30 acres in a once-rich oil field near her cottage.
A banker told newsmen she once talked of burying money near a flower bed in her yard. The yard measures 75 by 100 feet. Her ramshackle house has no electricity and no plumbing.
Relatives dug around the house and searched the building Thursday. They reportedly plan to tear the house down.
At the end of the day they posted no trespassing signs and boarded windows on the house. They declined to discuss the search.
A deputy sheriff guard said the only discovery made by diggers so far was a dead cat. It had been laid to rest in a tiny grave.
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