Photographs claimed; mystery remains

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

— The photo album found alongside Arkansas Highway 72 is now connected to a family, but the family has no idea how the book came to rest in a ditch near Pea Ridge National Military Park.

The family has no known connections to anyone in Benton County, and only a tenuous connection to Arkansas.

In early December, the passerby who noticed the album delivered it, and other items found nearby, to the Pea Ridge PoliceDepartment.

Why anyone would stop to pick it up - or spend time trying to find the owner - is a mystery to Autumn Martens, the niece of the man who owned the album.

Martens’ name is one of the few legible names found on the photographs - in this case, a wedding photograph.

An Internet search by Pea Ridge police officer Rick Helmerfound an online photograph of Autumn Martens. The photo bore a striking resemblance to the photo in the albumn.

Helmer went to the effort because “If it was my photograph album with my family photographs, I would want someone to contact me.”

Contacted by telephone, Martens provided the date on the back of the wedding photograph and other information confirming her identity and connection with the album. She realized it must have belonged to her uncle, Steve Schneider, who had died.

She said his belongings were left in the possession of the woman with whom he lived in Wyoming.

“I’ve never seen this photo of myself,” Martens said upon receiving a copy of the photograph through e-mail.

Martens, 41, is a real estate agent in Katy, Texas. Photographs of Autumn as a toddler,teen and later as a bride, were scattered throughout the album, along with photographs of her forebears from as early as 1938 and a copy of a 1919 photograph.

“This is great-grandma and her other son, George, and daughters. These are definitely our family but I have not seen any of these folks since I was little. She lived in Colorado,” Martens said.

Of another photograph, Martens said: “This is my deceased great-grandmother, which wouldhave been Steve's paternal grandmother.”

“I'm certain these belonged to my Uncle Steve who died last year. No one else in our family has lived in Arkansas but him.”

“I really think it’s Steve’s stuff, but a lot of those must be Grandma’s pictures,” Martens said.

Martens is the oldest of four children. Her uncle Steve was her mother’s elder brother. The youngest brother, Ranger Schneider, lives in Florida.

Ranger Schneider said Steve had died in Cheyenne, Wyo., and that the woman with whom he lived had his belongings.

He said she had tried to contact Autumn’s motheronce, but then they all lost contact with her.

Schneider said he had no idea why the album would have been in Arkansas.

For Autumn, it’s a walk back in time reminiscing over family connections and memories.

For Pea Ridge Police, it’s a closed case - the album is being mailed to the rightful owner.

“It brings me great pleasure to know that we have concerned citizens who would bring us a treasure as this photo album and that through the due diligence of this department that family members were located and this treasure has been returned to its rightful owner,” Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said.

News, Pages 1 on 02/17/2010