Meanwhile Kettner fled to Louisville with his second wife, then to
points in Indiana, where he was located from time to time. When his
first wife sued for divorce he was traced to Batesville, Ind. He never
replied to her petition for divorce, and she would have won her suit had
she not been forced to abandon it on account of lack of money. She was
determined, however, to prosecute him for bigamy.
Mrs. Anna Burkhardt, of No. 1317 Vine Street, with whom the Engelhardt
girl had boarded, called at the Cincinnati police headquarters and told
her story. She furnished Chief Deitsch and Mayor Caldwell with pictures
of both Kettner and Francisca Engelhardt.
The whole story at once impressed itself so fully upon both the Mayor
and Chief Deitsch that work was immediately begun. Telegrams of a
private nature were sent to points in Indiana and the West. One from
Evansville states that Kettner and his second wife left that town for
parts unknown about a month before. He was then traced through various
cities and towns until on the same day on which the arrest of Jackson
and Walling was made. In response to telegrams from Greencastle, Ind.,
Dr. Kettner and wife, were located at Marquette Mich., he having had a
shady record, at every point he had been traced to. Superintendent of
Police Deitsch and Mayor Caldwell, of Cincinnati, considered this the
best clew on which the detectives could work.
As soon as the intelligence was imparted to Chief Deitsch, he ordered
renewed activity in the case and in the afternoon went over to Campbell
County to personally supervise the work of his detectives.