was “Honey” – and among members
of her Sunday school at the Catholic
Church in the village she was “Little
Sunshine,” because of her smiling
disposition and general popularity.
I drove off to the Sarlo home to
interview her parents, only to discover
that Julius Metzger, who was the
employer of Honey’s father, had already
heard of the crime and had gone to the
Sarlo home ahead of me in an effort to
soften the blow to the parents.
Despite that, Louis Sarlo had
collapsed when told of his daughter’s
death, and Mrs. Sarlo was in a state
of hysteria. Painstakingly, we combed
through the village, interviewing
everyone who knew Honey Sarlo. We
discovered that she had been a student
at Woodbury High School, leaving in
1926, and that she was engrossed in her
work at the local Sunday school, where
she had been teaching children for more
than a year. She worked for the Croft
Woollen Mills Company in Camden,
New Jersey, eight miles from Woodbury,
and travelled to and from work by bus.
Everyone described Honey as a
“model” girl. Despite her beauty
and general popularity, there were
apparently no boyfriends at all in her
life. So what happened on that fatal
Saturday night that she died? Mr. and
Mrs. Sarlo couldn’t tell us much and nor
could Honey’s three brothers, Joseph,
19, who worked with his father in the
butcher’s shop; Louis, 16, still at school;
and Robert, six.
We learned that Honey had never
before stayed out later than 11 o’clock
at night. That fatal Saturday night she
had supper with her family and was
her usual cheerful self. Her father gave
her the three dollars to deposit in the
“I would like to give you a note every
day when I pass at 7.31. I am loving you
more every day.”
Another undated note read:
“I am sorry, little sweetheart, that I could
not stop last night to get the note, for I was
late. I was looking for you every time I
passed after that, but you were not around.
So try to forgive me and I’ll try never to be
late again when I’m expecting a note from
you.
“Tell Agnes I did not see Charles until
this morning and I gave him the note
then, and I suppose he will answer it this
afternoon. Are you trying to go with me
tonight? Please try, dear. to go, and then
I’II tell you how much I love you. Give
me an answer to the other note also. I am
anxious to have that question answered. So
I will close with love.”
And another one read:
“Dear Rose, Was so glad to see you
yesterday. You looked real sweet. I hope
your mother, also yourself, goes to town
again. Don’t you think, Rose dear, that if
you were to ask your mother to let me take
you to a show that she would let you go?
There isn’t any harm in that.
“I don’t see why she should refuse you.
You will go out with a fellow some time, so
why not now? I am sure I would be decent
and respect you in all ways. I cannot do
anything more than that, I am sure.
“What are you going to do Saturday
night? Are you going to stay at home or
have you a party to attend? If you have a
party to go to do not go, but meet me. How
will that be?
“Write me a nice long letter next time,
as you owe me one for the two long ones I
wrote you. I usually go by at ten to one, so
watch for me.
“My sister is trying to read this. She
keeps walking behind me. I have something
else I want to tell you, but I must see you
for a while to do so. I am getting nervous
from the walking around.Christmas fund
account and
as she set off
she called back
to her mother:
“After I go to
the bank I’ll go
to the five-and-
ten-cent store
and get a
present for
Bobbie. I’ll stop
and see Dad
in the market,
and then I’ll go
to a movie. But
I’ll be home by
eleven o’clock.”
That was
the last time
Honey’s
mother saw
her alive. Mrs.
Sarlo woke up
at 2.30 that
night. She
looked into
Honey’s room
and saw that
the bed had not been disturbed. She
became frantic about her daughter’s
disappearance, but for some reason best
known to herself she did not call the
police.
A search through Honey’s belongings
in her room, though, gave us our first
working clue. We learned that although
Honey was supposed not to have any
boyfriends, she had at least one admirer.
Tucked away with her cherished
possessions, including a diary which
told of her conscientious attendance at
church and her daily thoughts about her
work, were half-a-dozen notes from the
admirer, most of them written in pencil
on cheap notepaper. One read:
“Curly Head – Would you like to go
to a show with me Saturday evening in
Woodbury or Philadelphia? I promise to
bring you home early. Shake your head
‘yes’ or ‘no’ when I go by.
“I have never thought of anyone as I am
thinking of you. I have to admit I’ve fallen
hard. Are you sure you tried to get out,
dear? There must be some way you can get
out for two hours. Love.”
A note which
bore no date
followed:
“I am sorry
you can’t get
out and I’m
disappointed. Can
you slip away for
a while and meet
me at Red Bank
Avenue? Tell your
mother you are
going for a walk.”
Fragments
from other notes
read:
“If you will let
me, I will meet
you every day
after school.”Honey Sarlo’s grief-stricken parents are comforted by their
three sons after learning of her murderThe burned-out
car known as
the Essex coach,
in which Honey
took her last ride“I have never thought of
anyone as I am thinking
of you. I have to admit
I’ve fallen hard. There
must be some way you
can get out for two
hours. Love”