The State - News from Aug. 5, 1985

A 100-year-old mummy owned by John Strong, the Sonoma County Fair’s master showman, was hauled away by a deputy sheriff. Strong, the proprietor of the World of Wonders sideshow, said he was told the mummy constituted the illegal desecration of human remains. “I am distressed,” said Strong, who had used the mummy as the centerpiece in his show for about 10 years. He said he bought it for $5,500 from a Reno antique collector. Coroner’s investigator Tom Siebe said: “There are laws against this. Otherwise you’d have people digging up bodies and showing them all over the place.” Siebe, alerted by a tip from a fairgoer, visited the show and ordered Strong to bring the mummy to the county hospital for X-rays. When tests showed that the mummy was authentic, Siebe ordered deputies to confiscate it. “This is somebody’s relative,” Siebe said. “How would you feel if somebody dug up one of your relatives and put him on display at the county fair?”