Warm family affection is displayed in letters which were written to Mrs. Rheta Gardner Wynekoop by her father, stepmother, and brother in Indianapolis. The letters, telling in homely language of life "back home," were examined by the Coroner's staff yesterday in the faint hope that they might aid in the investigation of the murder of Mrs. Wynekoop.
    Most of the letters came from her father, B. H. Gardner, wholesale flour and salt dealer. These were written by him on the office typewriter, and on the blue letterheads of his concern, usually on Sunday afternoons when he went to the office "to take care of a few matters." They date from before her marriage until within a few days of her death.
    In letters to his daughter while she was touring in 1928 with the Marie Hesson Concert company as a violinist, Mr. Gardner cautioned her to guard her health and rejoiced at her success. He wrote "We think of you often," and closed: "with love."
    His letters are the usual letters of a loving father. He told of short auto trips, inclosed a recipe for wheat muffins, complained of business conditions, gave family gossip and reported news of her former associates. Frequently he wrote: "There is no news here."
    There was no indication in any of the notes that Mrs. Wynekoop's father knew that she was other than happy. Nor was there any intimation that she had written complaining of her lot.
    Letters from her stepmother, Mrs. Visa Jane Gardner, told of the growth of "the most wonderful baby in the world." This is the young daughter of the Gardners, Elizabeth, the half sister of Mrs. Wynekoop. The stepmother's letters told of the baby's first teeth, first step and first words.
    There were also pencil and ink scrawls from Mrs. Wynekoop's brother Hugh, a high school student. These missives ranged from expressions of endearment to comments on Bobby Jones' golf victories.

Source:

Unknown, "Father's Notes Show Fondness For Slain Girl," Chicago Daily Tribune, Thursday, 23 November, 1933, Page 2.