In 1907 A Socialite Withdrew $1 Million From Her Bank — And Then Disappeared For 24 Years

In 1931, something remarkable happened in room 552 at New York's Herald Square Hotel: the door opened and a woman came out. It might not sound like much, but nobody had seen this frizzy-haired old woman in 24 years. She quickly turned to the nearby maid and said, “Maid, come here! My sister is sick. Get a doctor. I think she’s going to die.” Later, when the old woman finally told her life story, people didn’t know whether she was eccentric, pathological, or both.

A lifetime of lies?

The old lady's name was Ida Woods, and her sick sister was Mary. And if Mary had survived her bout of illness, there’s a chance the world would never have heard the strange, fantastical story of Ida Mayfield Wood. But Mary did die, and Ida — left alone in her hotel room surrounded by strangers — couldn't contain her stranger-than-fiction life story any longer.

"Do not disturb" was finally disturbed

After Mary passed away, many people entered room 552 for the first time in years. These included the hotel manager, a physician, an undertaker, and two lawyers. The amount of junk in the room naturally made people curious about how — and why — Ida had become a recluse in the first place. Hotel records didn’t tell them much, just that Ida, Mary, and Ida’s daughter, Emma, had moved into the suite in 1907 and essentially locked the door behind them.

Eccentric elders with eccentric wishes

By 1931, Ida was the only one left to answer these curious questions. Her daughter had passed away in 1928, so it had just been Ida and Mary alone in the suite for three years before Mary died, too. Over the years, brief interactions between the sisters and a bellhop and a maid had given the staff two impressions: the sisters were odd, and money and hygiene weren't exactly priorities.

Secret stash of cash

According to a maid who worked on the hotel's fifth floor, she had only been allowed to wash the sisters' sheets and towels twice. The maid had never been let into the room, either. Similarly, a bellhop had given the sisters the same food every day and received a 10-cent tip in return. Ida had apparently told him that that was all she could afford... Yet her hotel bills were always settled in cash.