Ghosts of Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak by Stephanie Waters

Author:Stephanie Waters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

An antique postcard of the Acacia Hotel. Author’s collection.

The next morning, Tillie went to Laura’s room and was frantic to find she was gone. The bellhop said that the actress had gone for a late-night horseback ride but never returned. Tillie went to the Alta Vista Hotel and told Rumbaugh of the situation, imploring him to help her search for Laura. Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Ivywild, a saddled horse was seen wandering a meadow without a rider. A farmer went to investigate and found a beautiful young woman dead on a dirt road with an ivory-handled Remington pistol clutched in one hand and a tear-stained suicide note in the other.

Laura’s mother refused to believe the suicide theory for several reasons. First of all, she had just received a cheerful letter from Laura saying she would be home soon for a visit. Mrs. Mathews also found it suspicious that there were no gunpowder burns found on her daughter, and the suicide note looked forged. Mrs. Mathews demanded an inquest, and a coroner’s jury was formed. During the spectacular hearing, several strange inconsistencies emerged. For example, detectives learned that Tillie had sent telegrams informing relatives about Laura’s suicide without yet knowing her fate. Another surprise happened when police questioned Mr. Coey about Laura Mathews’s death and he denied knowing her. When pressed, he explained the little misunderstanding by saying that he called her by her stage name, never her given name. A nosy hotel maid testified that she had read dozens of sappy love letters from Mr. Coey. However, all the letters from the debonair millionaire mysteriously disappeared the day after Laura was found dead. Mr. Rumbaugh was also subpoenaed to court; however, when he did not show up to testify, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

It was eerie when court officers broke into Rumbaugh’s hotel room and saw dozens of drawings of the stage actress Laura Mathews staring at them from every wall. Rumbaugh was found lying naked in bed with a picture of Laura on his chest, splattered in blood. There was a bullet hole in his right temple, and brains were oozing out his left ear—but amazingly, the half-brained victim was still alive. Deputies rushed Rumbaugh to the hospital, but he died the next day. A suicide note instructed how to settle his estate and told his mother he was sorry for “doing a terrible thing.” Detectives learned that Rumbaugh had been infatuated with Laura Mathews and had been stalking her for two weeks. It was also revealed that he was from a prominent Pennsylvania family and was married with children. Investigators theorized that Rumbaugh might have murdered Laura; however, after his tragic suicide, he was exonerated posthumously from killing the beautiful young actress.

On August 1, 1908, the foreman of the coroner’s jury announced:

We, the jury find that Laura Mathews came to her death by the shot of a pistol; that said pistol wound was self inflicted with suicide intent after 8:30 o’clock P.M. Sunday July 28, 1908, and took place on the 10th street hill, Ivywild, in El Paso County, state of Colorado.

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