The Case: Mary Rogers* was a socialite of the New York City art scene in 1841. Her beauty had been written about countless times... as well as one reported suicide attempt. Mary had told her family she was going to visit her aunt on July 25th. Rogers' body was found in the Hudson river on July 26th, 1841. It was never determined what had happened to her.
My Thoughts: This case is a pretty easy solve. I believe Rogers had taken her own life. Suspicion plagued her fiance, Daniel Payne, who later took his own life at the very spot she was taken out of the water. Many say this act of suicide is further evidence of his guilt. However, I would argue that if he was feeling guilt over her death, he would have taken his life where he killed her, not where she was taken out of the water. There have also been that have supposed that Rogers' death was an act of gang violence or a botched abortion, but I see little to support either of these. Gangs slip up and will sometimes confess to their murders. If she had been pregnant, she would have just married her fiance, whether the child was his or not.
*Not to be confused with Mary Rogers (1883-1805) the last woman given the death penalty by the state of Vermont.
....Stay Tuned...
Sources and Further Readings:
Unsolved Deaths: strange deaths and mysterious disappearances by Charles Phillips
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rogers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rogers_(murderer)
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