By the end of the week, Rosewood no longer made the front pages of major white newspapers. The "Chicago Defender", the most influential black newspaper in the U.S., reported that 19 people in Rosewood's "race war" had died, and a soldier named Ted Cole appeared to fight the lynch mobs, then disappeared; no confirmation of his existence after this report exists. A few editorials appeared in Florida newspapers summarizing the event. "The Gainesville Daily Sun" justified the actions of whites involved, writing "Let it be understood now and forever that he, whether white or black, who brutally assaults an innocent and helpless woman, shall die the death of a dog." The "Tampa Tribune", in a rare comment on the excesses of whites in the area, called it "a foul and lasting blot on the people of Levy County".