Yetta Greenburg

Yetta Greenburg vanished on 18 September 1922 from her lodgings in Sudbury, London.

It was thought that she was last seen near the cliffs at St Agnes Head after witnesses said that they had seen a woman there who matched her description.

Her disappearance was initially described as a mystery at the time and associated with the disappearance of Myrtle Ford, a servant from Cambourne who was last seen wandering through Illogan Woods which was six or seven miles from St Agnes and whose disappearance is still a mystery.

However, Yetta Greenburg's body was later found washed up on the shore at Perranporth on Wednesday 10 January 1923, about four miles where she was last thought to have been seen.

It was thought that Yetta Greenburg had been in the water for about four months and her body was identified by means of a set of teeth and a flat foot.

Her remains were minus both arms up to the elbows and one leg up to the thigh.

After Yetta Greenburg's body was first found, Myrtle Ford's father came over to Perranporth to see if he could identify her remains as those of Myrtle Ford. However, it was said that he was not convinced that the body was that of Myrtle Ford as the teeth of the body were in much better condition than Myrtle Ford's teeth had been.

Yetta Greenburg was a nurse in London and had been to St Agnes in August 1921 on holiday and when she had returned she had commented on the delightfully isolated character of Chapel Porth and remarked on how anyone could lose themselves there and not be easily found. It was said that she had also commented on how nice it would be to take morphia and lie down on the sands and let the sea come in and take them away.

It was said that she was seen a few days later on the beach at Chapel Porth and that later her leather handbag containing money, a thermos flask and a number of lady's oddments along with an empty morphia phial were found there.

It was thought that the reason for the long lapse in time between her going missing and her body being found was on account of the body having probably been lying between some rocks for that time and then only being disturbed by recent heavy tides resulting in it being washed up.

When the doctor carried out the post mortem he said that he was of the opinion that the body, which was much decomposed, was that of a woman due to the small rib and leg bones, and estimated her height to have been about 5ft 6in.

The doctor also commented on her handsome set of teeth which he said were almost perfect but noted that the top teeth protruded somewhat and that there was a tooth missing from the top right-hand side.

The doctor noted additionally that the foot that remained was exceptionally large for a female and seemed to be flat.

It was then noted that both the teeth and the flat foot seemed to indicate that the remains were those of Yetta Greenburg.

However, both friends of Yetta Greenburg, who had no relatives, and relatives of Myrtle Ford both attended the inquest on Thursday 18 January 1923 with regards to giving evidence over the identification of the remains and it was decided that the body was that of Yetta Greenburg.

The Coroner said, 'I think we will decide that it is the body of the missing lady, Miss Greenburg', and the verdict that Miss Yetta Greenburg was found dead on the east beach at Perranporth on January 10th was returned.

Immediately after the inquest her remains were interred in Perram parish churchyard.