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Show Father, Daughter Commit Suicide, Leap From Bridge Child Obeys Parental Order in Blind Faith And Dives to Death. SAN FRANCISCO. Five-year-old Marilyn Demont, obeying in her childish faith a parental command to commit suicide, leaped unhesitatingly unhesi-tatingly from the 220-foot high Golden Gold-en Gate bridge, followed seconds later by her father, says the United Press. The girl climbed the railing of the windswept span and without a look backward plunged head over heels into the swirling tides of San Francisco Fran-cisco bay where they flow into the Pacific. It appeared she ended her young life voluntarily, without a protest pro-test or last-minute: "Why?"- The father, 37-year-old August C. Demont, a mechanic, left a note explaining ex-plaining only that "I and my daughter daugh-ter committed suicide." Two witnesses to the bizarre double suicide watched daughter and father jump in quick succession and saw the bodies a moment before they disappeared. Coastguardsmen said after a three-hour search that the bodies probably were carried out into the Pacific ocean by the changing tide. Marilyn, who would have celebrated cele-brated her sixth birthday in two weeks, stepped out of her father's car and ran quickly to the four-foot bridge railing near the south tower of the span, according to two painters, paint-ers, Jack Ricketts and Al Maloux. Jumped Voluntarily. She paused briefly, crawled down to a girder and then jumped voluntarily, volun-tarily, they told highway patrolmen. The father walked about 30 feet farther along the bridge, poised himself on the railing and then dived headlong into the water. On the seat of the car officers found a note which said simply: "This auto belongs to Mrs. A. C. Demont, 4356 26th street, San Francisco. Fran-cisco. I - and my daughter have committed suicide." the note was signed "A. C. Demont." - Neither the note nor the distraught dis-traught mother offered any explanation explana-tion of the tragedy, or any reason why the child was persuaded to make the leap. Psychologists, when told of the double leap, said it was most unusual un-usual for any individual, even as young as Marilyn, to voluntarily follow fol-low instructions which mean , destruction. de-struction. Took Marilyn Along. Demont's wife, Carolyn, said her husband had been injured several weeks ago while repairing an elevator, eleva-tor, and had left their home at 8:30 a. m. to go to a doctor's office and receive a report on his condition. He insisted on taking Marilyn with him, despite his wife's protests. Another An-other daughter, Carol, 8, was home in bed with the measles. Demont did not go to the doctor's doc-tor's office, and his wife apparently apparent-ly had a premonition of tragedy as he left. When asked if she had expected such tragic hews, she sobbed: "Oh, yes, I knew it, I knew it." Mrs. Demont and her mother said the father "had been ill for some time." But fellow workmen where he had been employed for 16 years described him as "efficient, stable and well liked," and said he had recovered re-covered from his injury. |