Cases That Haunt You

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MaryBeth said:
Sorry for posting twice on this thread...but there is another case I have been intrigued with for a long time. It has a thread on WS though it hasn't garnered much discussion. I became involved in this when I found the website of the two filmmakers who were making a documentary about this case. I began communicating with the filmmakers, and they turned out a wonderful documentary.

In Villisca, Iowa on June 10, 1912 there were eight people murdered with an axe while they slept. The victims were Josiah and Sara Moore and their four children, Herman, Katherine, Boyd and Paul and two visiting neighbor children, Lena and Ina Stillinger. The murder is unsolved to this day. But the story of the murders, their aftermath and how they ripped apart this very small town is fascinating. Here is the link to the WS thread and also the link to the documentary about the Villisca murders.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36661&highlight=Villisca

http://www.villiscamovie.com/

It's a fascinating case but particularly tragic because out of the eight victims, six were children. The film is very well done. I would highly recommend anyone interested in this case to check out the documentary.
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Wow, thanks MaryBeth! I just put the documentary on my netflix. I had never heard of this before and it is pretty fascinating. The thread here didn't seem to get a lot of attention though which I don't understand.
 
I want to add the Dyatlov Pass Incident. Nine experience hikers go for a long hike and camping excursion in the Urals in 1959. Something terrified them so badly that they cut their way out of their tents and went running half naked into -40 degree temps. They were all found dead. One group had attempted to make a fire instead of returning to their camp where all of their clothese were - they died of exposure. The second group was not found until months later. They had all sustained massive injuries - injuries that are reminescent of something you would see in a car accident. Blunt Force Trauna to the chest. Two victims were found in a position suggesting they had tried to crawl back to camp. One victim also had a skull fracture. One victim was missing her tongue. All of the hikers tested positive for high levels of radiation. Many believe a cover-up was then executed by the Russian authorities.
The cause of deaths was ruled: A compelling and unknown force.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_pass_accident
 
gaia227 said:
Wow, thanks MaryBeth! I just put the documentary on my netflix. I had never heard of this before and it is pretty fascinating. The thread here didn't seem to get a lot of attention though which I don't understand.
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gaia, you're welcome. It's such a fascinating case, especially if you get into the story of the people who were suspects and their backgrounds and also, like I said, what the murders did to this small town. People took sides and it formed a division in the town that virtually lasts to this day. And it happened 96 years ago! There is a lot of interesting reading on the website.

The filmmakers are the nicest people, and the film is well done, I think. It took them about 10 years to complete it but they wanted it done right and they really wanted to maintain a level of respect for the people of this small town and what they have been through with this horrible tragedy. You may have to watch it a couple times to get all the suspects and theories straight. Even reading up on the case thoroughly before I saw the film, including reading through court transcripts and a lot of other information, I still had to watch it a couple times to understand the whole story. That may be why the thread hasn't taken off here, there is a lot to sift through in this case. I got involved with it before I joined WS and so I had more time to read through everything because it was the only case I was concentrating on at the time.

I hope you enjoy the documentary!
 
I've spent the morning reading about the Villisca murders and am leaning towards believing that they are connected with the other ax murders that happened in the midwest around that same time frame. The MO seems very similar in each of them. That is of course a very premature and preliminary overview on my part. Very fascinating.

I bumped it in the Cold Case thread. The last post was in 2006.
 
the cases i can't get out of my head are:

grateful doe (unidentified grateful dead fan)
sabrina allen
scott kleeschulte
brian shaffer

something in each these cases just strikes a chord with me, even though they are all very different circumstances.

what a great thread idea!
 
gaia227 said:
I want to add the Dyatlov Pass Incident. Nine experience hikers go for a long hike and camping excursion in the Urals in 1959. Something terrified them so badly that they cut their way out of their tents and went running half naked into -40 degree temps. They were all found dead. One group had attempted to make a fire instead of returning to their camp where all of their clothese were - they died of exposure. The second group was not found until months later. They had all sustained massive injuries - injuries that are reminescent of something you would see in a car accident. Blunt Force Trauna to the chest. Two victims were found in a position suggesting they had tried to crawl back to camp. One victim also had a skull fracture. One victim was missing her tongue. All of the hikers tested positive for high levels of radiation. Many believe a cover-up was then executed by the Russian authorities.
The cause of deaths was ruled: A compelling and unknown force.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_pass_accident
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this one haunts me too.
 
Any of the old cases, like before 1960, get to me. Ruth Baumgardner, the Foote/Wolf double murder in Parma, Ohio in 1921. And one from 1964, the murder of 16 year old Beverly Jarosz in Garfield Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. The last one could still be solved. All these cases can be found in the books of John Stark Bellamy.
 
Great posts!
You guys reminded me of so many facinating ones that have slipped my mind.
It is sad and kind of overwhelming when you start looking at the sheer number of cases.
I too am looking forward to that time when all questions are answered.
Boy we have alot of questions....:)
 
kline said:
Great posts!
You guys reminded me of so many facinating ones that have slipped my mind.
It is sad and kind of overwhelming when you start looking at the sheer number of cases.
I too am looking forward to that time when all questions are answered.
Boy we have alot of questions....:)
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I know. I have a list I started a few months ago of cases that caught my attention and I want to learn more about. That list has grown to more than two pages. It is never-ending. When I look at it I just feel overwhelmed and sad - they are more than just names on a piece of paper, they are people with families who had lives they were living, goals they were striving for, loves they were experiencing, hopes and aspirations for the future. It is so sad.
 
For me, I would have to put the cases into one of two categories...Those that haunt, and those that fascinate. The latter would be those cases I view with more of an historic interest, such as the Kinross Incident, the crew of the Lady Be Good, Amelia Earhart, or cases such as the Villisca Murders mentioned earlier in this thread.
Those that haunt are the cases to which the answers seem just out of reach...Sharon Marshall, Ann Waters, Maura Murray, my present obsession Christine Wright, Janice Pockett, and Gail Joiner. The fact that the missing might still be out there, right now, alive...Or that the murderers of those killed still walk among us...That haunts me.
 
That Dyatlov Pass Incident stuff? That's some crazy stuff right there. I just finished reading the wiki article. Weird...I wonder what happened?
 
shadowangel said:
For me, I would have to put the cases into one of two categories...Those that haunt, and those that fascinate. The latter would be those cases I view with more of an historic interest, such as the Kinross Incident, the crew of the Lady Be Good, Amelia Earhart, or cases such as the Villisca Murders mentioned earlier in this thread.
Those that haunt are the cases to which the answers seem just out of reach...Sharon Marshall, Ann Waters, Maura Murray, my present obsession Christine Wright, Janice Pockett, and Gail Joiner. The fact that the missing might still be out there, right now, alive...Or that the murderers of those killed still walk among us...That haunts me.
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Very good point!
I know I could easily categorize those that have captured my attention into those two categories.
Im grateful that the list of those that haunt me is much shorter then those that facinate me .
 
Mr. E said:
flyboy, do you know more about the Mike Adams case? I read the website; it was very intriguing. Does the family believe they know who murdered Mike, or do they believe he may still be alive?
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Mr. E,
I do know some things about the case because I've talked to a couple of people who knew Michael directly through that website. A few months have gone by since I last talked to anyone, but a woman that I had chatted with was a co-worker of his. She shared with me that Michael had a problem with his boss at work that day over the color of his slacks. He went home to change to black slacks and dropped his wallet. She thought it was strange that of all days the day he went missing was the same day he "accidentally" dropped his wallet. Plus there were some rumors that Michael had a rough home life. But there's a corrections page on the website that now disputes that rumor.

That night he got home from work and a car pulled up behind him. In her email she said that Michael did a specific thing that eliminated 99.9% of the suspect. She said that Michael was leaning into the car talking to the driver. His sister looked out the window and said the car was dark and was an old style GM car. She thought they could narrow down who the driver was because it would have had to have been someone Michael knew since he was leaning INTO The car. And there would be a limited number of people that Michael knew who had a car that fit this description and that he would have felt comfortable enough to lean into. She thought maybe they were having a disagreement and Michael didn't want people to hear.

She said that Michael was just a nice kid who wasn't involved in anything illegal and wasn't in anyone's way. He had a bad relationship with his boss and some of the people who worked in that store with them were shady but that Michael usually stayed away from them.
Since he was a few weeks away from college she thought the story that he ran off was a long shot, but that they were going to check to see if he had actually signed up for classes and paid for a dorm room because the wallet incident was too coincidental.

Alot of it is in the video that's on the site too. But if you read some of the messages they're posting it seems to me that they determined that Michael didn't run off and that somebody took him and murdered him. A couple of the things they posted to whoever they're talking about have been a direct challenge or threat. At least that's how I'm reading it.

They did have information up there before about silos but they have that changed now to a lake in Abilene. I have always found this case interesting. I saw Michael a very long time ago on something once and I didn't know anyone had picked it back up again. I'm glad there are still people out there looking for him. But she mentioned that the police shut the door on the case a long time ago and she was trying to get them to look at it again.
 
Brian Shaffer, I really really really would like to know what happened to him
Lyle Stevik
Mystery couple

The solving of the case of the Maricopa Jane Doe really gave me hope.
 
flyboy said:
Mr. E,
I do know some things about the case because I've talked to a couple of people who knew Michael directly through that website. A few months have gone by since I last talked to anyone, but a woman that I had chatted with was a co-worker of his. She shared with me that Michael had a problem with his boss at work that day over the color of his slacks. He went home to change to black slacks and dropped his wallet. She thought it was strange that of all days the day he went missing was the same day he "accidentally" dropped his wallet. Plus there were some rumors that Michael had a rough home life. But there's a corrections page on the website that now disputes that rumor.
/QUOTE]

Thanks flyboy for the information. I too saw the site and hope some answers emerge but I'm missing the implication of the wallet. Could you elaborate a little more on that? Why would his friend find it strange that he dropped his wallet? What does that mean?

The answer to this question is probably as obvious as the keyboard on my desk but I'm missing it.

I also suspect that even though he had a bad relationship with his boss and co-workers he probably thought he could stick it out for a few more weeks until school started.

So sad.
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Somehow I forgot Princess Doe, the girl found in Blairstown NJ in 1982. She crosses my mind quite often.
 
Hi
Deffinantly Tammy Lynn Leppert,The boy in the box,Lorne boulet,Louis Mackerley,Identified John Doe 1979 in Louisiana.JD 83 amarillo Texas.JD 87 toledo Ohio_One of the most disturbing to me was the girl scout murders.This really scared me and still bothers me after reading it.

suzanne
 
Tara Calico bothers me. We had moved to a small town in the same county. We went to Port St.Joe {Joeseph} to go to the beach. We stopped at the same conveinience store we always did. My mom went into the store and came out asking about a van we were parked right next to when we pulled in. My brother and I were 13 and 10 and did not even notice any of the cars next to us. A truck had pulled in the same space or the space beside where my mom was asking about. Turns out that was when the photos thought to be Tara and a young boy were found. My mom brought the picture the people had found out to the car and asked if we had seen them. I was so shocked at the duct tape and fear in their faces my mom did not show my younger brother. She went back in the store and I thought I remembered the van but I had not paid any attention. The police came and we went to the beach. My mother ws always upset about this. She felt she should have seen something. Guess I felt that too.
 
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