It is a fascinating story. The headless body was found in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky, on Feb. 1, 1896. The body was identified through the shoes found at the scene. Pearl Bryan lived in Greencastle, Indiana. She told her parents she was going to visit friends in Indianapolis, instead she went to Cincinnati to have an abortion. The father was probably Scott Jackson who was a dental student in Cincinnati at the time, but could also have been William Wood, Pearl's second cousin and the son of a prominent Methodist minister.

In Cincinnati, Jackson's roommate, Alonzo Walling, was to arrange the abortion. Pearl's movements were documented through Jan. 29 after that time no one knows for sure what happened. Both Jackson and Walling denied seeing Pearl after the 29th and each blamed the other for her death. They were tried and convicted on circumstantial evidence and hanged about a year later. Neither admitted killing Pearl and neither would say what happened to her head. The head was never found.