Partly cloudy tomorrow; high 88, low tonight 56. UTAH: Partly cloudy, scattered showers; high 90, low tonight 50. Ogden 86th YEAR No. 188 TELEPHONE EX 4-7711 Miss U.S.A. Admits She’s Wed, Loses Crown to Utah Beauty LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - The stately, stunning Miss United States in the Miss Universe contest was disqualified Friday for being married. The Maryland girl, who gave her name as Miss Leona Gage but actually is the wife of an airman and mother of two, will be stripped of her title and prizes worth thousands. Heir to the crown as fairest in the land is beauteous Miss Utah, runner-up in the Miss USA finals last Wednesday night. However, Charlotte Sheffield, 20, of Salt Lake City, can’t be among the 15 finalists in Miss Universe judging Friday night. Contest officials said this is because she did not compete against 32 foreign beauties in the preliminaries Thursday night, and thus could not be compared with them in official judging. Leona denied tearfully Thursday night and again Friday morning that she was married - even in the face of reports from relatives and friends that she was. Finally she broke down and sobbed out the story to contest officials. Then she went into seclusion. Later she granted an interview. “We desperately needed money,” she explained at a dramatic press conference. “We owe a lot of bills. My husband makes only $300 a month. We live in a rented house. We don’t have our own furniture...My two children are healthy, but they need clothes.” “I’m glad it’s all over,” said the ex-Miss USA with a deep sighed. “At least I was Miss United States for a day.” Leona, dressed in a plaid dress with flared skirt, looked as beautiful as ever as she stood clasping the hand of her successor, Miss Utah. Leona was composed at the start of the press conference, but appeared at times on the verse of tears. Miss Utah cried a little. This is the first year contest rules have required that entrants be single. ACTUALLY IS 18 Leona, who gave her age as 21, actually is 18. She was married in Wichita Falls, Tex., Feb. 3, 1954, to Gene Norris Ennis, 28, Air Force staff sergeant stationed at Friendship International Airport. The couple has two children, David Nathan, 2, and Gene Jr., 3. Her winnings include: A $1,000 wardrobe, a $1,100 trailer, a $2,-000 contract with a cosmetics firm and a trip to Europe. Miss Utah inherits all these, with the possible exception of the wardrobe, which Leona already has picked up. “We don’t know what to do about that,” a contest official said. Another official added: “She’s young and pretty and once she got into this thing, one thing just let to another.” Miss Utah, blonde, blue-eyed and radiant, faced a press conference Friday morning and commented: “I have mixed emotions.” She added graciously: “I think it may be a blessing in disguise, in this way: Another foreign girl will get to compete.” BECAME SUSPICIOUS A contest spokesman said officials began getting suspicious of Leona’s matrimonal status Thursday because: 1. She gave her mother’s married name as Briggs, and no such person could be found in Dallas. Actually, the name is Biggs. 2. The “cousin’s” name was given first as Gage, then Gates. She couldn’t be located for clarification. The cousin accompanied Leona to Long Beach. After winning her title, Leona told a story of rags to riches parth to the contest. She said she and a cousin with whom she lived near Baltimore pooled $45 in savings to buy a dress to enter the Maryland contest. After winning that, she said the two of them split her round trip ticket and came here together, with practically no money. She won the title in a dress borrowed from a Long Beach merchant and said afterward she had but $2 in cash. After a midmorning meeting, contest officials announced that Miss Argentina, Monica Lamas, 21, Buenos Aires, was named as the 15th contestant in tonight’s finals.