Mothers Day Not So Happy In Stumptown
submitted by Heather Chu
Van Buren: County Department of Human Services and local police were called to the Price residence in Stumptown on May 11 by a Maytag repairman summoned by Horace Price to fix the washing machine. Alister Grundy, heard a "strange howl" coming from a row of cabinets on the west wall of the laundry room. When he could control his curiosity no longer and opened the cabinet thinking to find a wounded dog or other animal, he instead discovered a crawlway to a section of subbasement containing an elderly woman who seemed to be severely mentally and physically disabled. He quickly phoned the authorities who told him to continue acting as though he were repairing the appliance, and they would be on the scene shortly.

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The Price Family, c. 1971
     Police Chief Jason Mantello, first on the scene, said "The howl was coming from a semi-concealed room in the subbasement attached to the laundry room. In that secret room was a woman we believe to be the 44 year old Mrs. Price. Mrs. Price was reported missing by her husband almost 25 years ago. We found her in a terrible condition, living in a shelter made from garbage---pieces of cardboard, egg cartons, that sort of thing. She was fed through holes in the walls of the box, and does not appear to have left the basement in many years."

     "'The Woman In The Box', as she has come to be called, appears to have been well fed and not abused, although certainly she has not been maintained in a normal condition," commented Dr. Eckart of Massaraty Asylum where she has been taken for observation and tests. "She is in a savage state, but there is hope of at least partial recovery," Eckart said, "When she arrived here, she was nearly blind and we had to keep her eyes covered, she was that sensitive to light. The family, who have been questioned by the police, say they thought this treatment was normal....they fed her and visited her, and read to her from the Bible. Horrific. How can anyone see that as normal?"

     Harold Price and his two sons are being held by the county until charges can be brought against them. In 1972 Betsy Price was reported missing by her family. Her husband, Harold, had earlier that year completed a home study course in biblical teaching and had adopted a fundamentalist approach to Christianity not affiliated with any known denomination. Calling his house the Temple of Ur and preaching sermons to a small gathering of faithful each Wednesday and Sunday evening had come to wear on Betsy's nerves, neighbors say.

     "They were always fighting, at each other's throats," said next door neighbor Mindy Cravits, "Betsy used to come over all the time, she refused to be in the house during the sermons. She said she already had a church and didn't want to live in one. He started to accuse her of all kinds of things....adultery, fornication, even devil worship! He was a little nuts, if you ask me. Well, she did end up seeing a psychiatrist or a counselor or something. She never told me his name. She tried to get Harold to go see him, and he went off the deep end, you know, accusing her of wanting to introduce him to her adulterous partner in sin. When she disappeared he told everybody she ran off with her psychiatrist. We figured it didn't matter who she ran off with, just so long as she got away from her husband and her two sons. That's why nobody really aggressively looked for her...we were all pretty glad that she got away. I guess she didn't, huh? It's really sad."

     There are currently thirty members of the Reformed Church of Ur. The two Price boys, Albert and Jofiah who both serve as "Wandering Evangelical Bishops," are also being retained by authorities until their connection with the treatment of their mother can be established. No members of the congregation have been implicated, however, the investigation is still underway and doubtless further charges will be filed as the extent and type of crimes are revealed in this bizarre tale.





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