For the week ending March 28, 1934

SEEK DILLINGER IN BEND REGION

John Dillinger, much sought convict who has been “seen” in about all parts of the country at the same time since his spectacular prison escape with a wooden pistol, was possibly a recent visitor in Bend. At least, such is the information on record in the office of Sheriff Claude McCauley of Deschutes County.

The information relative to the Oregon visitation of Dillinger and a number of “pals” was received by Dick O’Brien, member of the city police force, from Fred Hall, formerly a resident of Bend. Hall, it appears, had occasion recently to be in Denio, isolated town on the Oregon-Nevada line south of the Steens mountains, and while there got an “eyeful.”

Three northbound sedans were driven into Denio within the past week; officers were notified. One had a Wisconsin license, and the other two bore Iowa licenses. The three machines were moving north in caravan formation, so it seems — and Dillinger, alone, was in the center car. In the first car were a man and a woman, and in the rear car were a man and a woman — a blond.

It was a bulldog owned by the “blonde,” so it appears, that caused all the disturbance in the service station town of Denio. While the machines were stopped in Denio, the dog jumped out of the backseat of the rear car, pulling off a blanket that hid some baggage. Under the blanket, so Hall reports, “was a nasty-looking machine gun.” Hall believes that all three cars carried machine guns in their rear seats.

The armed travelers are said to have left the main highway at Winnemucca, entering Oregon by the way of Denio to avoid inspection at the California boundary. Hall said he was certain they were heading North through Oregon.

State police have been notified of Dillinger’s reported visit to Oregon.

DILLINGER “SEEN” IN BEND, POLICE REPORT

Notified that a group armed with a machine gun and two sawed-off shotguns had sought information about the local bank, Patrolman Harris Meagher and Everett Rambo of the Bend police force went into action after midnight last night but failed to get a glimpse of the armed party, said to have included John Dillinger, escaped convict.

The call to police notifying them of the strange actions of two men and a blond woman was received from J. Dallas, 834 Delaware Avenue. Dallas said he was picked up by the party last night in front of the Pilot Butte Inn, with the demand that he show the group the bank. He complied, and was taken to an isolated part of town, released and instructed to mind his own business. That was the last Dallas saw of the armed party.

Dallas notified the police, and officers kept a watch on the bank but no suspicious characters were noted.