The Dissection of Anna Castner
During the early 20th century the portion of the Avoca borough to the east of Interstate 81, near the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, was a mining community known as Brown's Patch. Like most mining patches among the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, Brown's Patch was home to many struggling, impoverished families. In the 1920s, one such family who called Brown's Patch home were the Castners, who occupied a small one-story house on Dawson Street. In this house-- which was hardly more than a shack-- lived 32-year-old colliery employee Gervase Castner, his wife, Anna, and their four children: Loretta, age 5; Raymond, age 4; Gervase, Junior, age 3, and 18-month-old Catherine. In February of 1930, neighbors took notice of Anna Castner's absence, and when asked about her whereabouts, her husband explained that, on Valentine's Day, he had given Anna $12 to go shopping, but she never returned. Some doubted the veracity of this story; the Castners were an impov...
