Looking Back: Two girls walk into Pocatello police station claiming they were kidnapped; and $1,000 check returned after blowing away

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of March 30 to April 5 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

BLACKFOOT — Fires started in two rooms inside the Central School in Blackfoot, The Bingham County News reported on March 31, 1922.

The paper said it appeared that the person or people responsible for the fires intended to burn the building down.

In one room a teacher’s desk was completely destroyed and in another room the fire burned a hole in the top of a desk. Other small fires were started around the rooms but none of the fires made any headway and died out.

“Considerable excitement prevailed during the first days of the week when rumors were current that a murder or some other sort of deep dyed villainy had been performed at the Central School building and the school board and teachers were all keeping it quiet, but Tuesday morning the real cause of the excitement came to light,” the article reads.

A detective from the Revelare Agency in Pocatello spent two days in Blackfoot on the case but couldn’t find any clues as to who started the fires.

The damage done wasn’t more than $10 or $15. The school board was “working diligently on the matter” and hoped “a solution to the problem will soon be found.”

1926-1950

POCATELLO — Two 15-year-old girls walked into the Pocatello Police station and said they’d been kidnapped, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on April 4, 1940.

The teenage girls were from Salt Lake City. They told Pocatello police Monday that they were kidnapped by two men in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

W.G. Bannister, federal agent in charge of the Butte, Montana, office traveled to Pocatello to question the girls. He also spoke with officers but declined to disclose what he had learned.

The girls were released from police custody late Wednesday and returned to Salt Lake by a relative.

The men reportedly involved in the case had not been located. The continued search for the men depended on orders from the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington, D.C.

1951-1975

RIGBY — A night patrol was going to get underway in Jefferson County, The Rigby Star reported on April 5, 1951.

Sheriff Howard Shaffer said that a night patrol, covering all sections of the county, “has been inaugurated to guard against possible thefts and other violations.”

“This patrol will extend to the rural vicinities and all sections of the county, and our office will be on duty on a 24-hour basis,” Shaffer explained.

He said they’d check on beer parlor closings at 1 a.m., and that any unlawful openings after that hour would result in arrests.

“We desire to remind merchants to keep a nightlight on in places of business, as it is good protection against burglary,” Shaffer stated.

He added, “The public can cooperate in calling the sheriff’s office on traffic wrecks or if they see anything suspicious that may be investigated.”

1976-2000

POCATELLO — A man returned a $1,000 check to a woman who had lost the money, the Idaho State Journal reported on April 1, 1976.

Ralph Zazweta said he was cleaning up a friend’s front yard in Pocatello when he discovered a $1,000 check made out to a McCammon resident hanging on a fence.

The check had already been endorsed. The owner’s address and Social Security number were also written on the back of the check.

Zazweta contacted the owner and she picked up the check from Zazweta’s home. The woman explained that the check had blown out of her car while it was parked at a bank’s drive-through.

The woman thanked Zazweta and rewarded him with $10.

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