While in FamilySearch's collection of Texas Death [certificate]s, 1890-1976, I came across Henry Lee Guokas (1910-1984) listed as a parent for Gail Lee Gross, who died December 26, 1959, at age 19. Henry was my grandfather Charles Guokas Jr.'s first cousin, the oldest son of his dad's brother Anton, and I'd already located him in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses as well as the Social Security Death Index and the Texas Death Index, 1903-2000. The information about this daughter and her mother (maiden name Floy Payne) was new. (Gail is pictured at right, from the 1955 North Dallas High School yearbook).
I took a closer look at the actual death certificate, and found this:
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| from the Dallas Morning News, March 23, 1960, page 5 |
© Amanda Pape - 2010
Love the New look!!!! And Wow what a story! You always have such interest family history. My family (current and historic) are all boring. You do make me want to start researching again.
ReplyDeleteTracy, I'm glad you noticed the new look to the blog - you inspired (shamed?) me! And as for boring family history - I had NO idea about this story until I started doing some research. My mother never told me this story, if she even knew (and she might not have; she told me last night that after her parents divorced in the 40s, she lost touch with her Guokas side for some time).
ReplyDeleteMy goodness! That's quite a story! How sad, but an interesting find nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteWow. Did you try looking him up on vinelink.com? Once you select the state, you should be able to search if he's still an inmate. Also if you know what prison he was in, sometimes they have a listing of people people who are buried in the prison cemeteries - also try to looking him up on find-a-grave, I've noticed many prison cemeteries have been added in the last few years. Just a thought... thanks for posting, so very tragic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip about Vinelink, Kellie! I did look up Harold Gross there (with variations on the name) but did not find him. I also checked Find-a-Grave and found one possibility, but I'm still looking.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, my father's name was Harold Ray Gross. I don't think it's the same one, though. :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I have done a little more research and I am pretty sure now that Harold Ray Gross was released from prison (not sure exactly when though). Watch for a future post on this!
DeleteHarold Ray Gross was my grandfather. He was released(i'm not sure the exact date of release) but he passed away some years ago. I came upon this article doing some research on the murder cause i was told the story but really didn't know it all and i have decided to look into it myself.
ReplyDeleteThis post might also help your research: http://abt-unk.blogspot.com/2012/06/black-sheep-sunday-wife-killer-is.html. I am especially curious to know what happened to Gail and Harold's son David, as he would be direct kin to me. Please come back and let me know if you find out any more information!
DeleteI too would like to know what happened to David myself as he would be my uncle and my childrens great uncle. We have searched for him for years and years. Please let me know if you find anything. I will be doing some research as i said i was only a baby when Ray was released from prison i didn't know of any of this until my mom felt i was old enough to know as she married Rays son(and is divorced from him now)Now i have decided to do my own research cause my own children ask questions and i really have no answers.
ReplyDelete