SHERIFF ASKED TO HELP FIND MISSING PAIR - Mount Vernon Farmer, Father of Six Children, Charged With Desertion - Neighbor Girl Disappears at Same Time - Both Write Letters.

PAST FRIENDSHIP NOW RECALLED.

A FORMAL complaint charging John P. ‎(Peter)‎ Siebenaler, 43 year old Oak Ridge farmer, with deserting his wife and children ‎(Thursday night 16 August 1923)‎, was issued here today ‎(Saturday 18 August 1923)‎. The complaint was signed by his wife, Mrs. Mary S.‎(Hayertz)‎ Siebenaler, who said that she and her six children ‎(Susan, Henry, Edward, Catherine, Rosella, and Dorothy)‎, had been abandoned.
A Warrant for Siebenaler's arrest was turned over to Sheriff George Huck ‎(of Winona Co.)‎ for service. At the same time, Sheriff Huck was asked by relatives of Miss Laurine Frisch, 22 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Frisch, residents of the town of Mount Vernon and neighbors of Siebenaler, to assist in locating her.
Miss Frisch disappeared from her home Thursday night ‎(16 August 1923)‎ at the same time Siebenaler also become missing, the sheriff was informed.

HAD BEEN FRIENDLY.

Mr. Frisch told Sheriff Huck that Siebenaler had been attentive to his daughter several years ago, but that he had been induced to give up his friendship for her, while the girl had promised her parents not to receive any further attentions from him. It was not known that their friendship had been recently resumed.
The sheriff was informed that Mrs. Siebenaler had had many serious disputes with her husband over his attentions to Miss Frisch and other girls for the last ten years.
Relatives of Miss Frisch said the disappearances of the girl and Siebenaler was a great shock to them and the entire community.
Mrs. Siebenaler told the authorities that her husband had been heavily burdened with debts, that funds were lacking with which to pay interest, and that he appeared to be on the verge of bankruptcy.
She expressed the belief that her husband's financial condition had been a factor in causing his departure, and that he planned to go far away in an effort to forget his troubles.

TWO LETTERS RECEIVED

No trace of the present whereabouts of the missing man and girl has been obtained, it was said. The only word received from either of them since their departure came in the form of letters mailed at a rural mail box and delivered through the Rollingstone post office.
In a letter written by Miss Frisch to her parents, she bade them "good-by" and urged them "not to worry about her".
Siebenaler, in a letter to his wife, suggested that she sell the farm and do whatever she thought best, the sheriff was informed.
"I am going swimming," was one sentence in the letter which was variously interpreted.
Mr. Frisch said that any formal complaint which he might bring against Siebenaler would depend upon circumstances when the missing man and girl were located. Sheriff Huck at once launched efforts to locate the missing couple and bring Siebenaler into court.

Publication: Winona Republican-Herald ; Date:1923 Aug 20; Section:Front page; Page Number: 1
REWARD OFFERED FOR LOCATION OF MISSING COUPLE
A reward of $100 has been offered by relatives of Miss Laurine Frisch, 22 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs Matt Frisch, and John P. Siebenaler, 43 year old Oak Ridge, ‎(Winona Co., Minnesota, USA,)‎ farmer and neighbor of the Frisch family, who deasppeared last Thursday night ‎(16 August 1923)‎, for information leading to the location of the couple and the ARREST of Siebenaler, Sheriff George Huck ‎(of Winona Co., Minnesota, USA)‎ announced today ‎(Monday 20 August 1923)‎.
Sheriff Huck holds a warrant for the arrest of Siebenaler, on a charge of deserting his wife and children.

Post notes:
John Peter Siebenaler changed the spelling of his last name to ‎(Siebenahler)‎ when he ran off with the neighbor girl Laurine Anna Frisch and abandoned his first wife Mary S. Hayertz. From 1923 thru 1943, 20 years, John Peter Siebenaler ‎(Siebenahler)‎ and Laurine Anna Frisch farmed West of Hardwick, Minnesota, USA. In 1943 they moved to Laverne, Minnesota, USA. John Peter died 15 October 1955, at age 75 in Luverne, Minnesota, USA, when he was raking and burning leaves and the leg of his trousers caught on fire and he was critically burned.