 This episode is dedicated to the men and women of our Armed Forces and First Responders. Whether you are currently serving or have served in the past, you are appreciated. It is because of your courage and sacrifice that we enjoy the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. And I for one, appreciate every single one of you for protecting what many of us take for granted. So thank you. Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness Radio, where every week you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up this hour. It was a terrible sight. I have seen horrible sites, but never anything like this. Those were the words of the local undertaker after seeing the results of a triple murder laying before him in 1932, Pennsylvania. Ireland's Loftus Hall is considered by many to be the most haunted location on all the Emerald Isle, but the most infamous story of Loftus Hall begins not with terror, but with romance, with a beautiful young girl falling madly in love with the devil. But first up, a gypsy once told Leonardo that all of her children would die before her. A different fortune teller told her that she faced either a future in prison or in a criminal asylum. And the reason she gave for becoming a serial killer is something you'd hear out of a bad direct-video horror film. And that's a tiny sample of this woman's insanely dark life, which began even before her birth. We begin with that story. If you're new here, welcome to the show. If you're already a member of this Weirdo family, please take a moment and invite someone else to listen in with you. Recommending Weird Darkness to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to visit WeirdDarkness.com and click on Contact Social so you can follow Weird Darkness on social media. And also on the website, you can find the daily Weird Darkness podcast, which comes out seven days per week. You can enter monthly contests, find Weird Darkness merchandise, and more. You can even send in your own true story of something paranormal that has happened to you or someone you know. You can find it all at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. Rome's Museo Criminologico may not be to everybody's taste, but it's definitely worth seeing. The museum's collection features photographs and memorabilia from some of the most gruesome forensic cases in the long history of Italy. And this story is about to get gruesome. From renaissance murders to the mafia, this museum has it all. It was there that I first learned about Leonardo Cianciulli, also known as the soap maker of Correggio, and her bizarre criminal career. While almost unknown outside of Italy, Leonardo's career as a serial killer is still unparalleled in many ways, both for her unique method of concealing bodies and her rather odd motive for killing. Born in 1894, she was raised in one of the most poverty-stricken regions of Italy. Her mother, Emilia Danolfi, had become pregnant due to rape and was later forced to marry her rapist, Marietto Cianciulli, when she realized she was pregnant. By most accounts, Emilia's daughter, Leonardo's early childhood, was a grim one. Her father died when Leonardo was young, but her mother's later remarriage did little to ease the situation at home. Due to emotional abuse by her mother, she would make two suicide attempts. Leonardo compounded her woes by marrying a man of whom her parents disapproved. They had a more prosperous suitor in mind. She would later claim that her mother had placed a curse on her as a result of her 1914 marriage of Raphael Pensardi and the tragedy she later endured seems to bear that out. Along with being imprisoned for fraud and later seeing her house destroyed by an earthquake, she also lost three of her children in childbirth and another 10 as children. Of her 17 pregnancies, only four survived to adulthood and she was especially protective of all of them as a result. Despite these troubles, she and her husband eventually settled in the town of Correggio near Naples and Leonardo apparently settled into a normal life as a shopkeeper and part-time fortune teller. A long-time believer in the supernatural, she had once consulted a gypsy fortune teller who among other things predicted that all of her children would die before her. A different fortune teller told her that she faced either a future in prison or in a criminal asylum though Leonardo seemed not to take that warning seriously. Her neighbors would later describe her as a gentle soul with a fondness for poetry. Nobody suspected what would be coming next. For Leonardo everything changed in 1939 when Benito Mussolini began drafting young men to prepare for Italy's entry into World War II. Al Duce's popularity had slipped during the 1930s and the prospect of Italy entering the war on the side of Nazi Germany alarmed most Italians. Leonardo became mentally unbalanced at the thought of her favorite son, Giuseppe, being drafted and possibly dying in combat. The prospect of losing Giuseppe apparently led to her decision to carry out human sacrifices to preserve her son from death. As she would later state during her testimony, killing others would keep her own children safe by providing God with other deaths in place of her own children. Since she had four remaining children she would need to sacrifice four others to keep them safe. Her first victim was a 50-year-old spinster named Faustina Setti. Recruiting Leonardo as a fortune teller and matchmaker Faustina paid her 30,000 liars to find a suitable husband. Telling her that she knew of a good marriage prospect in a nearby village, Leonardo persuaded Faustina to write letters and postcards to relatives that she would later post from out of town to reassure them she was fine. She also instructed Faustina not to tell anyone about her marriage plans. On the day Faustina was to leave Correggio, she visited Leonardo's home for one last time. There, Leonardo gave her drugged wine and then chopped her body into nine pieces with a hatchet. According to the official statement she gave to police afterward, I threw the pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic soda which I had bought to make soap, and stirred the whole mixture until the pieces dissolved in a thick, dark mush that I poured into several buckets and emptied in a nearby septic tank. As for the blood in the basin, I waited until it had coagulated, dried it in the oven, ground it and mixed it with flour, sugar, chocolate, milk and eggs as well as a bit of margarine kneading all the ingredients together. I made lots of crunchy tea cakes and served them to the ladies who came to visit, though Yusepe and I also ate them. After pocketing the money Faustina had brought with her, Leonardo selected fellow villager Francesca Suave for her next victim. We'll have that portion of the story when Weird Darkness returns. Hey Weirdos, if you're a fan of my retro radio episodes or if you just love classic radio shows in general, you can binge listen even more of it with my new podcast Retro Radio Old Time Radio in the Dark. These episodes have become so popular that I needed to create a separate podcast in order to offer more of it. Now I can post old time radio shows 7 days a week, including single episodes of dark and mysterious shows as well as marathon episodes that are several hours in length for binge listening to a creepy and macabre program. If you want more old time radio content, visit WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com. Or look for Retro Radio Old Time Radio in the Dark wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm Darren Marlar, welcome back to Weird Darkness. If you or someone you know struggles with depression or dark thoughts, I'd like to recommend the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. There I've gathered numerous free resources to help you fight depression including the 7 Cups app, the Suicide in Crisis hotline, iFRED.org and many more. And the resources are absolutely free, they're there when you need them on the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. A couple of minutes ago we talked about how Leonardo killed Faustina and ended up making cakes with the body and then served them to ladies who came to visit, though Giuseppe and she also ate them. But she was not done with her murder spree. After pocketing the money Faustina had brought with her, Leonardo selected fellow villager Francesca Salvi as her next victim. After telling Francesca that she found her a job at a school in Piazzenza, Leonardo persuaded her to keep the job off her secret. She also persuaded Francesca to write a series of letters and postcards that would be mailed at a later date. Copying the murder of Faustina Setti almost exactly, Leonardo drugged Francesca and dismembered the corpse with an ax on September 5, 1940. She also pocketed her life savings, only 3,000 liar this time. Once again, no suspicion attached to her, so Leonardo was free to find another victim. It was this last victim who would prove to be her undoing. Virginia Cassiopo was a former soprano who had sung opera professionally at La Scala in Milan. She was also wealthier than Leonardo's other victims with more than 50,000 liar in cash and jewelry. After Leonardo lured Virginia to her house with the promise of finding her a job with a mysterious impresario, she was killed like the other victims. In a last ghoulish touch, Leonardo added cologne to the soap she made from Virginia's remains to make it more appealing to friends and neighbors. Virginia Cassiopo's sister-in-law became suspicious and began investigating her disappearance. When she learned that Virginia had last been seen entering Leonardo's shop, she went to the police superintendent. Following an investigation, Leonardo C. and Julie was arrested for murder. She was unusually open with the police and described her crimes and how she disposed of the bodies in ghoulish detail. Since World War II was still underway, putting her on trial for the murders was hardly a priority though. It was not until 1946 and Italy's defeat that the trial of the Correggio soapmaker finally began. And it was quite a trial. Though her son Eusepe had been arrested as a possible accomplice, he was later freed. Leonardo's detailed confession of the murders, complete with descriptions of what she did with the body's afterward, generated international publicity. During her testimony, she was quick to correct the prosecutor on any details which she regarded she considered inaccurate. At one point, she proudly pointed out that she, quote, gave the copper ladle which I used to skim the fat off the kettles to my country, which was so badly in need of metal during the last days of the war, unquote. She also described her reason for the murders, including her desire to help her son with human sacrifice. Whether she truly believed what she had said in court, or was hoping to avoid prison through an insanity play, the graphic details of her crimes attracted a fair amount of public attention in a country still recovering from war. Found guilty by the court, Leonardo C. Insulie was sentenced to 30 years in prison and three years in a criminal asylum. While in prison, she wrote her memoirs, which translated reads, Confessions of a Bitter Soul. Unrepentant to the last, Leonardo died of a stroke on October 15, 1970. As she would later insist, I did not kill for greed, which I'm sure we can all agree flies into the face of common sense after killing three people and stealing their life savings. The quiet burrow of lichens in Upper Dolphin County, Pennsylvania was thrust into the spotlight in 1932 when Barney Godleski, an out-of-work minor, slaughtered three of his four children in a drunken rage in the basement of his home on the 600 block of East Main Street. On the morning of July 14, 1932, 10-year-old Helen Godleski awoke with visions of a nightmare inside her head. The night before, she had thought that she had heard the screams of her sister, Lillian, who slept in the same bed and her father's reassuring voice. Lillian bumped her head and heard herself, but she'll be all right. Helen wasn't sure if that had actually happened, or if she'd only dreamt that it had happened, but in the morning, daylight revealed that her sister Lillian's pillow was splotched with blood, and Lillian was nowhere to be seen. Helen followed the bloody trail down the stairs. In the kitchen, she found her father holding a rag to his throat. It would have been obvious to anyone, except maybe a 10-year-old child, that Barney Godleski had attempted to slit his own throat. Desperate to keep his daughter from asking questions, he ordered her to go to the store for matches. Hurry, I want to smoke, he said. When Helen returned, her father had another request. He wanted Helen to find James Helt, the undertaker, and bring him to the Godleski house. Helen obeyed, and when the undertaker arrived, Godleski told the undertaker that he had murdered three of his children with an axe. Helt appeared skeptical until Godleski said, go into the cellar and see for yourself. Helt had no desire to go down to the cellar, and he immediately summoned Justice of the Peace James Golden and Chief of Police C. J. Whitmer, who arrived at the home and found Barney Godleski sitting calmly at the kitchen table, holding the axe and butcher knife he had used to commit the ghastly crime. He admitted to killing his children, but refused to provide any explanation. Chief Whitmer, accompanied by Undertaker Helt, James Golden, Deputy Coroner George Wren, and former Justice of the Peace J. A. Barrett, discovered one of the bodies on the floor near a drain, and the other two bodies stuffed into the wood bin. These were the bodies of Paul Godleski, age 8, Lillian, age 6, and Alberta, age 4. Paul's body was the most mangled. His head had been almost completely cut off. It was a terrible sight, said Helt the following day. I have seen horrible sights, but never anything like this. When the little girl came to my office about nine o'clock yesterday morning and told me that her father wanted to see me, I didn't have the least idea what he wanted. I hadn't heard of any deaths in the family, so I was a little surprised to have him call me. One can only imagine what the Undertaker must have thought after Helen came to him. The Godleskis were known to be a happy family, and Barney, a model citizen who never drank liquor or got into trouble. It was widely gossiped, however, that Barney's wife Lucille had once spent time in a sanitarium battling drug addiction, and it was generally known around Likens that little Lillian Godleski had undergone a surgical procedure at the hospital in Ashland just a few weeks earlier. Otherwise, as far as anyone knew, the Godleskis were a healthy, happy clan. Godleski handed over the weapons to Chief Whitmer and was taken into custody. Later that morning he was given a preliminary hearing at the Office of Justice of the Peace Golden and transported to the Dauphin County Jail. Helen, the sole surviving child, was placed into the care of a neighbor. Meanwhile, Lucille Godleski was in Mount Carmel unaware that anything was amiss. She had left Likens to begin work as a waitress in a restaurant, lodging at the Marble Hotel under the name of Lucille Sinkavich. Sinkavich was the maiden name of Barney's mother. While in jail, Godleski was questioned for three hours by County Detective John H. Yance. He freely admitted as guilt, but steadfastly refused to provide a motive. He said he wanted to make a statement to District Attorney Carl B. Shelley, and once inside the District Attorney's Office, he began to talk freely about what he had done. According to Godleski, on the night of the murders, he had gone to a bar in Williamstown for a drink and had gotten into a quarrel that left him in a bitter mood. He returned home around midnight. The four children were sleeping in their beds. He sat at the kitchen table, brooding over domestic troubles. He had been out of work for months and his wife of 12 years had left him on Tuesday to find work in Mount Carmel where she had grown up. Godleski said that the trouble had begun four years earlier, when his wife discovered that he was having an affair. Since that time, she has been extremely jealous, he said, and during every argument since then, his wife made constant reference to his indiscretion. There is still much more to come regarding the acts murders of Likens, and we'll continue with our story when Weird Darkness returns. No matter the time of day or season, sometimes you need to find a way to rid yourself of those ghostly chills that bring raised hairs and goosebumps to your skin. Other times, you are looking for those ghostly chills. Either way, it sounds like you need a mug of Weird Dark Roast coffee. Weird Dark Roast coffee has deep notes of cocoa, caramel, and a touch of sinister sweetness that will send shivers down your taste buds. This is an exclusive coffee that I selected specifically for you, my Weirdo family. Weird Dark Roast is not available in stores, coffee houses, mad scientist labs, or even the dark web, but you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. Weird Dark Roast coffee, fresh roasted to water so it's as fresh as it can be when it lands on your doorstep and knocks three times. Grab yours now at WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. Weird Dark Roast coffee does not actually knock on your door because it doesn't have arms or hands, so if you hear knocks at the door and no one answers when you ask who it is, it's probably paranormal and you should just leave the door shut and locked. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. I'm Darren Marlar. Barney Godleski had killed all of his children but one, and he says that everything started to go downhill when his wife found out he was having an affair. He and his wife had taken their daughter Lillian to the Fountain Springs Hospital on June 18 for an operation, and on June 30, Lucille began looking for work to help out with the medical expenses. She had told her husband that she would take the children once she was able to find a job. Godleski stated that on Tuesday afternoon, July 12, a man who lived across the street, John Lubold, took him to Williamstown to see a former neighbor by the name of Robel, who he found at a local tavern. The men drank and talked, and although Godleski refused to reveal what he had been told by Robel, by the time he returned home, he had made up his mind to kill his children and then take his own life. He began with Paul, taking him out of the bed and killing him in the basement with the butcher knife. Then he came back for Alberta. After killing two of his children, Godleski fell asleep for two hours. When he woke up at daybreak, he murdered Lillian and attempted to dispose of the bodies by hacking them to pieces with an axe. However, after lopping off his son's head, he lost his nerve. He added that he had no intention of killing Helen. Finally, he attempted to take his own life with the butcher knife. I decided to take the coward's way out. Then I changed my mind. Godleski told the district attorney, I'll take my medicine. So why was Helen's life spared? Daddy didn't kill me because he liked me, bragged 10-year-old Helen to police officers. I kept house for daddy since mother left us and daddy often said that I was a good little mother and that he was proud of me. Helen told authorities that on Tuesday afternoon, her father said that he had to go out of town on business and instructed her not to wait up for him. He told me to put Alberta, Lillian and Paul to bed and go to bed myself. Lillian and I sleep together in daddy's room and Paul and Alberta sleep in another room, the young girl explained. Some time during the night, I believe I was dreaming about someone crying. I woke up and found Lillian was mumbling about something and daddy was standing beside her. I couldn't understand what she was saying. It sounded like she was gargling. I asked daddy what had happened. He said Lillian bumped her head on the bed post. I didn't think anything was wrong and I went back to sleep. Helen said that after arriving at the undertaker's shop, Mr. Helz told her to wait there until he came back. When Helz returned, he told Helen that her father had killed her siblings and that he had been taken into police custody. I love my daddy and I hope that nothing happens to him, said Helen to the police officers who then instructed them to feed him well. She even gave them a list of the foods that he liked to eat. I've been expecting it for more than a year, said Lucille Godleski after learning of the tragic news. She'd been located eating a lunch at a restaurant in Mount Carmel by a messenger who managed to lure her back to Likens under the pretense that one of her daughters had fallen ill. Only after checking into a hotel in Likens was she told about what had happened to her children. A fear that Barney was insane for several years, that's why I left. The trouble started several years ago when I was sent to a hospital in Toledo, Ohio as a drug addict. I was there for seven months until I was cured and when I returned home I found another woman in the house. Lucille claimed that she'd been trying to find a home for her children for more than a year and to try to get her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sienkiewicz, to adopt them. I knew sometime he would harm them, she said. My father objected, so they stayed at home. Now I have only one. I hope they hang Barney for killing my children. He has it coming to him. He treated me cruelly for several years. He chased me from my home and children and now he has killed them. While public sentiment was firmly on Lucille's side, there are many parts of her story that don't seem to add up. For instance, if she was so certain that Barney was insane and if he had been as abusive and cruel as she had claimed then how could she in good conscience abandon all four of her children? Those who knew Godleski best vouched for his character. His former employer called him a model employee and friends labeled him a devoted father and an ideal husband who never touched alcohol. So who knew the real Barney and who knew the real Lucille? If Walls could speak, the Godleski home might be able to answer those questions. Barney and Lucille were just teenagers when they met. He was from Shimokin, she was from Mount Carmel. When he accepted a position in the coal mines of Williamstown, their future seemed bright. The young couple bought a home in Likens, made many friends, and were soon blessed with four bright beautiful children. By all accounts, the ballad of Barney and Lucille Godleski should have been a coal region success story. But somewhere along the way, things went horribly wrong. 12 years later, Barney Godleski, now 31 years of age, had traded his spacious home on East Main Street for a cramped cell on F-tier of the Dolphin County prison. He would die inside this very cell. Shortly after five o'clock on the morning of July 22, 1932, the body of Barney Godleski was found hanging in his cell after a prison guard was alerted to a noise that sounded like a death struggle on the uppermost tier, tier F. The guard raced to the cell, lit a match, and discovered the body dangling from the steel bars, with a noose made from the sleeves of a blue shirt. The warden and the prison's night watchman cut down the body and the coroner, Howard Millican, was notified. We've been expecting it, said one of the inmates who was interviewed by a Harris Burg newspaper. He didn't want to live. Only a week earlier, Godleski had attempted to hang himself with a belt, but his attempt failed after the belt broke. The coroner, after examining Godleski's body, said that his head was heavily bruised and speculated that Godleski had attempted to kill himself during the night by ramming his head into the steel bars of his cell. When that failed, he used his shirt to hang himself. Barney had taken off his shirt, said Edward Albright, the guard who discovered the body. One sleeve he tied around his neck, the other around the bars at the rear of his cell. According to prison staff and inmates, Godleski had been exhibiting bizarre behavior ever since his arrival. He refused to speak to anyone unless his back was turned, and he refused to sleep on his cot, referring the cold cement floor. He told us he was afraid he'd fall off and hurt himself, explained one of the prison officials. Ironically, it was Lucille Godleski who made the funeral arrangements. Her anger had given way to pity. I thought this would happen was the only thing she said. When asked about the suicide of the man she had wanted to see hang only a week earlier. She ordered the body taken to the home of her father, Frank Sienkiewicz, who was now living in Dornsife. The funeral was held the following morning at St. Anthony's Church in Brady, coal township, and his body was laid to rest at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery in Trevorton, alongside the graves of the very children he had murdered. It's fair to say that the deaths of the Godleski children put tremendous strain on the families involved. Just one month after the funerals of her husband and three of her children, Lucille Godleski was arrested for disorderly conduct, thrown in jail, and fined $5 after causing a scene in Harrisburg. According to Paul Mallory, who was a bookkeeper for the Keystone Broadcasting Company, Lucille had shown up at the radio station offices at the Governor Hotel, insisting that she'd been offered a contract to appear on the station and talk about the murders. When Mallory told her that she was not aware of such a contract, she became indignant and boisterous, and when police arrived, she began shouting profanities and claimed that prison officials had cheated her out of her right to kill Barney Godleski. In February of the following year, Lucille's father suffered a stroke while a patient at a hospital in Philadelphia, where he had gone to receive treatment from a lingering illness. Frank Sienkiewicz, who worked for many years as a minor in Shemokin, was only 56 at the time of his death. Lucille's mother, Stanisława Stela Sienkiewicz, passed away in March of 1934 at the age of 53. They are also buried at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Treverton. Four months after Stela's death, a son named Henry was fatally injured in an explosion at the Alaska Colliery near Mount Carmel. Unfortunately, there are no records describing whatever became of Lucille and Helen. An obituary for Stela Sienkiewicz stated that she had a daughter, Lucy Gledewski, who lived in New York at the time of her death in 1934. Did she marry a man named Gledewski or was this simply a newspaper misspelling Godleski? If she did go to New York, did she take her lone surviving daughter Helen with her? If anyone out there knows the answer to those questions, I'd love to find out how their story ends. Coming up next, Ireland's Loftus Hall is considered by many to be the most haunted location on all the Emerald Isle. But the most infamous story of Loftus Hall begins not with terror, but with romance, with a beautiful young girl falling madly in love with the devil. The first letter seemed harmless enough, possibly even just a result of a mistaken delivery. The second one drew concern, and paired with the unexplained visions of something darkly unsettling, Sam Morris finally caves. The everyman, safe world he lives in, is about to take a drastic and dark turn. He quickly falls into a world of insanity, the morbid and the macabre. He's drawn into a darkness that is just as deadly as it is mysterious. A darkness that dwells in a house that could only be conjured up by a mad brain. It is a house that calls you, a house that haunts you with its ghosts. They'll scratch and claw through your fragile hide, bringing madness bubbling to the surface. Come see the ghosts for yourself, if you dare. Weird Darkness Publishing presents of A Mad Brain by Scott Donnelly, now available on paperback, ebook and audiobook versions through Amazon and WeirdDarkness.com. There are plenty of haunted places in Ireland, but none quite so haunted as Loftus Hall. The Loftus Hall haunting legend tells of a poor girl's imprisonment as well as a visit from the devil himself and ends with hauntings so vivid that according to lore, spirits appear vividly in photographs. Because the Hall has cycled through numerous owners over its vast history, determining who may still roam its ancient corridors poses a particularly eerie challenge. Loftus Hall, though it may be one of Ireland's many houses marked by the devil, is still a lovely piece of architecture. Despite its dark history, the Hall elicits visitors from around the globe with its unique design and furnishings. Of course, ghost hunters have ventured there as well, many of whom have met with a seemingly paranormal welcome. While the story behind Ireland's most haunted house may span hundreds of years, and may be touched by elements of crime, danger and tragedy, the tale continues to be engrossing for those who love a few shivers up their spines. The most infamous ghost story of Loftus Hall begins not with a tragic demise, but with the visit from the devil himself. The legend claims that during the Tottenham family's residence in the 1700s, a terrible storm struck the coast. A ship washed up on the peninsula, and one young man who survived the ordeal found his way to the hall where he begged for shelter. The Tottenham's invited him in, and he remained as their guest for several weeks. During that time, he became quite close with the family's youngest daughter, Anne. While playing cards one night with the young visitor and several other guests, Anne dropped some of her cards. Upon leaning down to pick them up, she saw that the stranger had cloven hooves in place of feet. When she screamed in fright, the stranger revealed that he was actually the devil in disguise. As if to prove his identity, he transformed into a ball of fire and blasted through the roof, leaving a hole in his wake. From that moment on, the house supposedly experienced many strange phenomena. Some suggest the hall's eerie occurrences are due to a continued satanic presence. Loftus Hall's most infamous legend goes on to claim that, following the devil's departure, Anne was both traumatized and heartbroken, and her mental state soon collapsed. Her family, embarrassed by her erratic behavior, confined her to her chambers, where she remained until her passing around 1775. Sadly, Anne was confined even after her ultimate end. Following her interment in a Wexford cemetery, locals were concerned she would somehow escape, and her tomb was soon sealed with cement to prevent this gruesome possibility. While these locals may have sought to prevent the devil or grave robbers from reaching her remains, they perhaps fretted Anne would somehow rise from the grave. Mysteriously, the hole in Loftus Hall's roof, through which the devil allegedly made his fiery escape, does not stay repaired. The Tottenhamms attempted to patch the rift directly following the devil's exit, but it simply fell through again. The family conducted an exorcism meant to drive the devil away, but as the hole persisted, his presence seemed to linger. Eventually, the family acquiesced to the hole's presence, leading many modern-day visitors to photograph the gap. One owner of the hall fully accepted the rift, claiming the devil could come and go as he pleased. Visitors to the hall can still observe the anomalous section of the ceiling. One portion appears offset from the rest, as if it still strains to fall through again. One alternative to the infamous Loftus Hall legend claims the shipwrecked visitor who fell in love with Anne intended to marry her. However, when he asked her father's permission, Tottenham turned the man away due to his low status, and allegedly never recovered from the heartbreak of the stranger's dismissal, leading her parents to lock her away and fabricate a devilish tail to save face. Another theory proposes Anne became pregnant with the stranger's child. To hide the illegitimate pregnancy, the Tottenham's shut Anne away until she could deliver. According to this theory, Anne tragically passed during either pregnancy or childbirth. The tail of the devil's visit was then invented to explain away the ordeal. Loftus Hall stood abandoned for many years. Even then, the grounds still attracted much morbid attention. In the early 20th century, the Loftus family, responsible for the estate's title, disseminated and went bankrupt, leaving the hall to the Benedictine family. The hall would change hands frequently, even acting as a school and a convent for periods of time. Many were afraid to attend mass there, however, due to the hall's devilish reputation. In 1983, the estate was purchased to serve as a hotel, but the new owner perished in the hall, once again leaving it vacant. Soon after, Satanists allegedly began to gather there to hold meetings and rituals. These sessions continued for around a decade, and locals knew to avoid the area. In 2011, the hall was purchased and its new owners began plans to refurbish it to its former glory. The new owners were well aware of the hall's paranormal history and attraction, leading them to admit curious ghost hunting parties for investigations. During the hall's renovation in the 1870s, the owners reportedly made a startling and gruesome discovery. The skeletal remains of an infant, hidden inside the walls. The child's identity and parentage remain unknown, though some believe the discovery supports the theory of Anne's pregnancy. The remains were even discovered in the tapestry room, where Anne was locked away for many years. The circumstances surrounding the child's fate are still unclear, whether they passed from natural causes during birth, or, according to some theorists, remained a farious deed at the hands of the Tottenhamms. Perhaps due to this infamy, many claim the tapestry room is the most haunted room in Loftus Hall. The first building to stand on what is now Loftus Hall's estate was constructed around the year 1200. This house, built by Raymond Legros, was originally called the Hall at Houseland. However, this building did not last. In 1350, the Black Plague was at its height, and the Legros family elected to tear down the old hall to replace it with a new one further down their peninsula, away from the all-consuming reach of the plague. This new building was called Redmond Hall, or simply the Hall. After centuries, the structure eventually transformed into the infamous Loftus Hall. Even at its inception, the estate was surrounded by disease and tragedy. Because of its rich history, imbued with tales of otherworldly phenomena, Loftus Hall has attracted much attention from paranormal groups. In 2015, the team behind the popular show Ghost Adventures visited the hall and included their experiences in the Halloween episode of the show's ninth season. A 2016 TV special called Irish Ghost Hunters toured the house and claimed to experience many strange phenomena. Novice Ghost Hunters have also made the pilgrimage to the area to film and write about their adventures. The houses also attracted attention from professional filmmakers. One project began filming in 2012 and another was announced back in 2006. Small, independent films have also been made about the hall due to its infamous reputation. The 2017 film The Lodgers was even filmed on the estate. Ireland sports many haunted houses, but Loftus Hall is one of the most infamous and has frequently been called the most haunted house on the island. Over the years, reports of several resident ghosts have surfaced, one of whom may even be the devil himself. Visitors often report an uneasy feeling or strange sounds both outside and inside the hall. While many houses could claim similar phenomena, the truly unique aspects of Loftus Hall is its extended history. Teals of its spirits have persisted for centuries. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the hall's residents reported many strange and seemingly unexplainable incidents, which they attributed to a ghostly or demonic presence. They even hired a priest, Father Thomas Broders, to investigate the predicament. Broders performed an exorcism on the house which supposedly proved successful. Even the priest's own headstone mentions the event. Given the purported hauntings that have persisted since that time, however, many believe the likelihood of his success is slim. Thanks for listening. There is actually more to the story of Loftus Hall and the girl who fell in love with the devil, and I'll go more into detail in the sudden death overtime content of the podcast version of tonight's show, which you can find at WeirdDarkness.com. Also in the podcast of tonight's show, I have the urban legend of Carmen Winstead, a poor girl who was bullied and pushed down into a sewer to her death. If you missed any part of tonight's show, or if you'd like to hear it again, you can subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcast app at WeirdDarkness.com slash listen. Not only will you hear a copy of tonight's show, you'll also receive daily episodes of the Weird Darkness podcast. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash listen, or just search for Weird Darkness wherever you listen to podcasts. You can follow Weird Darkness on social media by visiting the Contact social page on the website. And please tell others about Weird Darkness who love the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. Doing that helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And if you'd like to be a part of the show, you can send in your own paranormal experiences by clicking on Tell Your Story at WeirdDarkness.com. You can also email me anytime at Darren at WeirdDarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find links to the stories or the authors in the show notes which I upload to the Weird Darkness website immediately after tonight's show has ended. The axe murders of lichens is from Pennsylvania oddities. The woman who made soap was written by Romeo Vitelli for Providencia. And the girl who fell in love with the devil was written by Laura Allen for Ranker. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. Copyright Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Colossians 1 verse 13, for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the sun he loves. And a final thought, only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert F. Kennedy. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Big strappers, flatbed cowboys, freight checkers, trucklets, 18 wheelers, dead heads, yard dogs, get your ears on, whatever you call yourselves or whatever call sign or moniker is thrust upon you. This episode is dedicated to all you truckers, driving the boulevard, keeping our bellies full, shelves stocked, septics cleaned, and brains entertained with what you're hauling. In the eyes of this ratchet jaw, I'm honored to have you listening. Maybe once in a while grab your CB, head to Sesame Street and tell other drivers how to join this weirdo convoy. Appreciate it. May your brake checks be with you, your shutter trouble be absent, and your bare bites non-existent. Keep it cool on the stool. This is Spooky Santa, and I'm 10 and on the side. Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Darren Marlar, and this is Weird Darkness Radio, where every week you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up this hour, 7-year-old Maria went missing in 1957, and while her body was later found, her murder was never solved and the case went cold, until 50 years later, when the case was finally solved and closed. But it turns out everybody was wrong. If you take State Route 375 through Nevada, you'll pass by the infamous Area 51. But of course, they're not going to let you in, even if you ask nicely. But State Route 375 isn't called the Extraterrestrial Highway just because of one area that you can't visit. There is a lot more to it than that. First up, in 1910, two witnesses see a pair of lights that transform into radiant beings with human form. You might dismiss the report as misidentification of ball lightning or some other natural explanation, but in 1952, those radiant, humanoid beings of light were seen again. We begin with that story. If you're new here, welcome to the show, and if you're already a member of this Weirdo family, please take a moment and invite someone else to listen in with you. Recommending Weird Darkness to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to visit WeirdDarkness.com and click on Contact Social to follow Weird Darkness on social media. And also on the website, you can find the daily Weird Darkness podcast, which comes out seven days per week. You can enter monthly contests, find Weird Darkness merchandise, and more. You can even send in your own true story of something paranormal that has happened to you or someone you know. You can find it all at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. W. Y. Evans Wentz was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1878 and developed a deep interest in the world of the paranormal at a young age. It was an interest that he never lost. Indeed, it stayed with him until his death in 1965. As well as being a respected anthropologist, Evans Wentz was someone who was also fascinated by Buddhist teachings and beliefs. Evans Wentz was a prestigious writer and publisher, having published in 1927 an English version of a widely acclaimed and still extensively read The Tibetan Book of the Dead. As for his own books, they were as notable as they were varied, one of the most revered being The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries. It is a book which is packed with fascinating accounts of old, supernatural encounters between the people of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Brittany, and magical entities that have been variously referred to as elementals, fairies, goblins, sprites, and the wee folk. I'll place a link to the book in the show notes. One story collected by Evans Wentz stands out. The story was personally shared with Evans Wentz by a colleague at England's Jesus College at Oxford University, the university which Evans Wentz studied at as a young man. The story told to Evans Wentz was as bizarre as it was undeniably sensational. The man in question was Irish and a former resident of County Kerry, one who had chosen Oxford University as his place of education. According to the curious story told to Evans Wentz, it was in the first week of December 1910 that the man and a friend were heading home from a night out in the Irish city of Limerick. Given that it was a fair distance away and darkness was already on the land when they went out, never mind during their return, they chose to travel on horseback, something which would make the journey to Limerick and home again an easy one. It turned out however that fate had other things in store for the two 23-year-olds, very strange and unforgettable things. It was as they approached Listowell, a 14th century market town in County Kerry that the pair couldn't fail to see a powerful, brilliant light at a distance of around half a mile from them. Suddenly the light was joined by another one that was practically identical in appearance and also in size, which was somewhere in the order of around six feet in height. As the two men sat on their horses and stared in amazement at these curious displays of light, they saw something incredible happen. Within the flames that were contained within the two lights, they could see a pair of what were described as radiant beings with human form, the flames having transformed into the entities. The lights then moved toward each other and unified as one. The figures within, Evan's wence was told, then strode out of the lights and toward the two men. Incredibly they seemed to be glowing. In other words, the brilliance they gave off was not a reflection from the balls of light that surrounded them. No, they were radiating the glowing eeriness themselves. Such was the brightness the two friends were unable to make out if their visitors of the night were male or female or one of each, but they were clearly humanoid and had noticeable helos around their heads. Not surprisingly, they quickly headed home, their galloping horses getting them there in a timely fashion. Now we get to the next part of the story. Note that the two witnesses saw a pair of lights that transformed into radiant beings with human form. This issue is very similar, if not practically identical, to a story told by contactee Orfeo Angelucci in the 1950s. It was the night of May 23, 1952 and as he drove home from work, not long after midnight, something very strange happened. As he drove down Victory Boulevard, Angelucci was shocked and amazed to see slightly above his line of vision a red, glowing oval-shaped object that was about five times as large as the red portion of a traffic light. It seemed to carefully maintain its distance from Angelucci's car as if beckoning him to follow, which he did. He drove across a bridge spanning the Los Angeles River and looked on, mesmerized as the object came to a halt, hovering over the intersection at a lonely, deserted stretch of road called Forest Lawn Drive. Without warning, the red-colored ball suddenly shot away at high speed, but not before two smaller, fluorescent green objects about three feet in diameter flew out of it and headed directly for Angelucci. They hung magically only a few feet above his car for a few minutes, after which something dramatic allegedly occurred. Emanating apparently from between the two green balls of light said Angelucci was the sound of a masculine voice in strong, well-modulated tones and speaking perfect English. Stressing that he should not be afraid, the disembodied voice explained to a shocked Angelucci that he was in direct communication with friends from another world. Angelucci was also told, Man believes himself civilized but often his thoughts are barbaric and his emotions lethal. We do not say this as criticism but state it only as fact. Thus, it is best to approach all planetary visitors with friendly, welcoming thoughts. Angelucci went on to have other encounters of the contactee variety and became a well-known figure in 1950s-era euphology. There is no doubt that there are notable parallels between both stories. Some might say that the two events, 42 years apart, were caused by the very same phenomenon, but there is another connection that just might get to the heart of the matter. Just like W.Y. Evans Wentz, Orpheo Angelucci was born in Trenton, New Jersey. In light of this, I have to wonder if Angelucci may have taken a deep interest in the writings of someone who just happened to be a local author, namely W.Y. Evans Wentz, and subconsciously weaved parts of Evans Wentz's saga into his own. At the very least, it is a theory to ponder on. Up next, 7-year-old Maria went missing in 1957 and while her body was later found, her murder was never solved and the case went cold until 50 years later when the case was finally solved. But it turns out, everybody was wrong. Are you a member of the Darkness Syndicate? The Darkness Syndicate is a private membership where you receive commercial-free episodes of the Weird Darkness podcast and radio show. Behind the scenes, video updates about future projects and events I am working on. You can share your own opinions on ideas to help me decide upon Weird Darkness contests and events. You can hear audiobooks I am narrating before even the publishers or authors get to hear them. You also receive bonus audio of other projects I am working on outside of Weird Darkness. You get all of these benefits and more, starting at only $5 per month. Join the Weird Darkness Syndicate at WeirdDarkness.com It was December 3, 1957, when 7-year-old Maria Ridolph went missing on a street corner in Sycamore, Illinois and five months later Maria's remains were found 100 miles from Sycamore in Woodbine, Illinois. It wouldn't be until more than 50 years later that the case had what was initially thought of as closure. This turned out to be false closure. The case was seemingly solved in September 2012 when the police would convict a murderer for the abduction and murder of Maria. This would then be overturned in March 2016 and Maria's neighbor, Jack McCullough, would be declared an innocent man in April 2017. To date, the murder remains unsolved and the mystery of Maria Ridolph continues to baffle the Chicago area. It will more than likely forever be a cold case. 7-year-old Maria Ridolph was playing with best friend Kathy on the first snowfall of the year when a mysterious man offered Maria a piggyback ride. Maria's friend Kathy was the last to see Maria Ridolph alive and the last she saw of Maria was with a strange man hoisting her on his back and trotting off down the street. Kathy had gone inside to get some gloves to fight against the harsh cold in which she came back outside on the street, both the man and Maria were gone. Kathy afterwards went to the Ridolph house to tell them that Maria was missing. Initially, the family thought that Maria was hiding and sent Maria's older brother Charles out to search for her. It was an hour later that the Ridolph family realized that something was up and the police were notified beginning a police search and the FBI being called in. Soon it seemed like the whole of Illinois was searching for the missing 7-year-old. And while Kathy was elated some 54 years later at the news that the man was finally apprehended, she must now continue with the inner torment that she watched someone in plain sight, quote, take away my best friend, unquote. At the time of the abduction, the sun was setting and it was near dark as the two girls were playing duck the cars. Investigators pinned this time down as around 6.30 p.m. The man was called Johnny or so he told the little girls. According to Kathy, Johnny was 24 and not married. Kathy stated that Johnny had blonde hair, bad teeth and a high-pitched voice. Going back to a time before amber alerts and faces on the back of milk cartons, the search for Maria had even caught the attention of FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, USA President Eisenhower, and garnered national media attention. Somewhat unprecedented in those days for a missing child, at least in comparison to today. There were various public appeals for the Ridolf family and widespread investigations across Illinois which included all known sex offenders, transients and another man that had previously offered piggyback rides to children. Maria was later found by mushroom-picking tourists almost half a year after the fateful piggyback ride. Maria was found wearing a shirt, undershirt and socks. At this point Maria was decomposed and skeletal. Maria had to be identified by her parents because of her familiar brown socks. It was not until 50 years later that an autopsy could determine the cause of death as being that of Maria being stabbed in the throat several times. John Tessier was at the top of the suspect list from the very beginning of Maria's disappearance. A neighbor of the Ridolf family and one of seven children, John was considered an outsider and had been described as creepy by the community. In 1957, Tessier passed a lie detector test and the file was closed with the report noting no further investigation is being conducted regarding the above suspect. At the time, the police did not have a schoolbook photograph and therefore Kathy was not asked to identify John Tessier. John was born in Northern Ireland in 1939 to a British sergeant. John moved to the USA at the age of seven and grew up in Illinois. Between the Maria case, John lived a fairly quiet life, serving in the military for 13 years where he rose to the rank of captain. He was also a police officer and worked in security. It was in 1982 where John first fell afoul of the law when he was charged with statutory rape which was later downgraded to a misdemeanor. In 1994, John Tessier changed his name to Jack McCullough, apparently a tribute to his deceased mother. The case was actually reopened as a result of John's own mother who believed John to be guilty. Eileen Tessier said in 1994 while on her deathbed that John had killed a number of little girls and asked John's half-sister Janet to tell someone. Another of John's sisters, Mary, confirmed that she had heard her mother say he did it. John, however, had a fragmented and broken relationship with his mother, which includes incidents of threatening and violent behavior from the mother and John had chosen not to attend her funeral when she died. There is every possibility that the confession was made by John's mother out of either spite or in a drug-induced delirium. Janet, in the meantime, had made multiple attempts to get law enforcement to investigate her own half-brother, constantly contacting state police to look into John. It wasn't until 2008 when Janet sent a lengthy email to the Illinois state police did they decide to reopen the cold case. State police reviewed the evidence and found testimony from neighbors of John's seemingly erratic and strange behavior around young girls, which included giving another young girl a piggyback and refusing to put the girl back down, which probably did not sit well next to the previous conviction and rape charges. John is just one of the many outsiders targeted by law enforcement as a perfect suspect. That being said, there were definite factors that could have had John fingered. Everything seemed to go against John upon the reopening of the case when Kathy personally picked out John from a picture lineup and stated, That's the man. Despite all of this, John had a strong alibi. John Tessier was a listing in the United States Air Force in Rockford, Illinois on the day in question. It was confirmed by recruitment officers that they'd spoken with John at the time. A collect call was traced in Rockford, Illinois, which was 40 miles from the abduction site, and an unused train ticket to Rockford was found in John's possession. The timeline, recommended by state investigators, was one where Tessier kidnapped Maria and then drove the unused ticket to Rockford in time to make the call at 6.57 p.m. and meet with the same recruiting officers at 7.15 p.m. Under this timeline, it was determined that Maria was kidnapped at 6.20 p.m. John was called in for questioning with the police. The interview was videotaped and can be seen on the CBS News website. I'll place a link to it in the show notes. It highlights some of the discrepancies in John's, now Jack, initial story and his seemingly hostile manner. Maria's body was then exhumed, but there was no DNA evidence that could be found on Maria's remains and nothing to link John using forensics. With different inmates testifying that John had discussed killing Maria to them with two different accounts of the cause of death, neither similar to Maria's actual death, and with details of John's alibi withheld during trial, it seemed that John Tessier was doomed at trial. Up next, John gets convicted for Maria's murder, but later it turns out everybody was wrong about the conclusion. If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, dark thoughts, or addiction, please visit the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. There, I've gathered numerous resources to find hope and solutions. For those suffering from thoughts of suicide or self-harm, there is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, as well as the Crisis Text Line. Both have trained counselors at all hours to help those in need, and the page even includes text numbers for those in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Ireland. Those struggling with depression can get help through the Seven Cups website and app, and there's information for anyone to read more about what depression truly is and how to identify it through our friends at ifred.org. There are resources for those who battle addictions, be it drugs, alcohol, or self-destructive behavior, along with help for those related to addicts. The page has links to help you find a therapist or counselor, to find help for those who have a family member with Alzheimer's or dementia, help for those in a crisis pregnancy, and more. These resources are always there when you or someone you love needs them on the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. I'm Darren Marlar. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. You can stay up to date on everything Weird Darkness and also maybe win some cool prizes at the same time by signing up for the email newsletter. It's free, and often I'll draw a name at random to win a cool creepy prize. Sign up for the Weird Darkness newsletter for free at WeirdDarkness.com slash newsletter. Well, with different inmates testifying that John had discussed killing Maria to them with two different accounts of the cause of death, neither similar to Maria's actual death, and with the details of John's alibi withheld during trial, it seemed that John Tessier was doomed. John was convicted by a jury for the abduction and murder of Maria and given a life sentence. He was sentenced at 73 years old, so was set to die in prison as a guilty man. Acting as a lawyer for himself, John filed a petition against his murder conviction. This was dismissed as frivolous. It wasn't until the new state's attorney Richard Schmack reviewed the evidence extensively that he discovered that Tessier to kill Maria was impossible. This included reviewing the collect call and the distance from Rockford to Sycamore. In April 2016, the murder charge was dismissed without prejudice, and on the 12th of April, 2017, John Tessier was officially declared an innocent man and released from prison. The Maria Ridolf murder had gone from unsolved to cold to solved and back to unsolved. And now we remain back at unsolved. And while there was a feeling of tremendous relief for the likes of Kathy, the last witness to see Maria alive and the remaining Ridolf family at the conviction of John, there was a large sense of injustice that John Tessier was convicted when all evidence seemed to point away from him. Maria Ridolf's murder had been the oldest solved cold case in the USA and is now just that unsolved. Johnny is now living in a retired community center where he once worked, and is currently in the process of suing law enforcement for the unfair conviction. William Henry Redmond was a carny with an ability to make young girls vanish in his presence. There were numerous stories of girls seemingly going missing whenever Redmond was around, which included a 10-year-old in Ohio and an 8-year-old in Pennsylvania, and yet no convictions. A likely sounding suspect, Redmond is now dead, and the evidence appears entirely circumstantial, with very little to go on against Redmond except that he looked like Kathy's description of Johnny and has a suspicious history around children. The case is one of the most famous unsolved murders in American history and has been subject to many depictions and culture which include a CNN web series called Taken and a true crime book released in 2014 by Charles Lockman called Footsteps in the Snow. I'll link to the book in the show notes. Otherwise known as State Route 375, the extraterrestrial highway is about 98 miles long and runs from Tonopah to Alamo in the heart of Nevada, and is chock-full of UFO and alien history. If you're wanting to avoid traffic, this is actually a great weekend vacation trip. Few people make their way across the E.T. highway each day, only about 200 people in total we are told. So this makes for minimal traffic and plenty of opportunities to stop alongside the road and take it all in without dealing with any crowds. The most famous attraction alongside this route is, of course, Area 51. It is the most inaccessible to the public and is completely off limits to tourists, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things to see on the extraterrestrial highway. Instead of moping that you can't see the dead aliens and crashed flying saucers inside Area 51, you can check out other out-of-this-world stops, from the Little Ali Inn, the only business in Rachel, the closest town to Area 51, to the Alien Research Center. So strap on your seatbelts, because we're about to take a trip down Route 375, which Nevada officially designated the Extraterrestrial Highway in 1996. There are four main things to keep an eye out on as you start your journey, an E.T. Highway road sign, E.T. Fresh Jerky, the Alien Research Center, and the Little Ali Inn. Over the years, many UFO sightings have been reported in the area, especially around what we know as Area 51. The road stops along this highway give visitors a look at this otherworldly history. From east to west, you will start at the cleanest place to drop your toxic waste in Area 51, also known as E.T. Fresh Jerky. That's just their polite way of saying it's the last real restroom before you hit the rest of the route, so it might be worth the quick stop. Of course, it's more than just a bathroom. Visitors are sure to leave their mark by signing the counter, which is filled with thousands of visitors' names. As is the case with many of these stops, you can pull out your wallet and buy some alien gear. In addition to t-shirts and other souvenirs, visitors are offered a variety of free samples of E.T. Jerky, along with other snacks, including Martian poop-flavored soda. Talk about a thirst quencher. You might be on the lookout for the extraterrestrial highway sign. When you find it, you'll notice it is covered in stickers left behind by previous visitors. So why not add your own? Even the Nevada Tourism Office suggests this. It's a rite of passage. Next stop, the Alien Research Center. The giant silver building with a larger-than-life alien plopped out front is rarely open but still worth the photo up. When it is open, you can find more alien t-shirts and knickknacks. This part of the Nevada desert is scattered with Joshua trees, which is something unique from this planet to take a peek at. This is not an official road stop, but something to keep your eyes on as you cruise down the highway. In addition to the E.T. Highway sign, look for the open-range signs indicating that cattle are roaming free nearby. If you're lucky, you'll get a glimpse of one of these animals, as it's not uncommon for them to hang out in the middle of the road. At this point, you've made it to Rachel, aka the UFO Capital of the World, as well as the closest town to Area 51. The tiny town, which can be considered the unofficial headquarters of the E.T. Highway, was named after the first baby born within city limits. Just 54 people call Rachel home. There is only one open business in Rachel, the little Ailey Inn. The restaurant and bar has an actual flying saucer dangling from a truck out front. You can't miss it. Aside from serving up food and drinks, Little Ailey Inn is covered with images of UFO sightings from around the world, along with more UFO and alien memorabilia. Its restaurant is almost a museum in and of itself. The ceiling at the Little Ailey Inn is covered with currencies from all over the world, which goes to show how many people have traveled far and wide to see what this UFO business is all about. The bar, so we've heard, is often filled with characters, from bikers to nearby military personnel and people from various corners of the world. And what would a bar be in the Little Ailey Inn without a themed drink, like alien amber? At this point, you'll reach the prized destination for all who travel the route, Area 51. But like I said, it is not a tourist attraction and is heavily guarded and fenced in. Area 51 has remained top secret for decades and it was not even formally acknowledged by the government until 2013. Even the airspace above Area 51 is restricted, unless you have specific permission. So stop the car on the shoulder, take a look from there, then get back in your car and keep going. Heck, even doing that might get you on a government watch list, you never know nowadays. Finally, the end of the E.T. Highway is a small mining town called Tonapa, which was a historic mining park for visitors to check out. Though it's not full of aliens and glowing saucers, it's still a worthwhile stop to wrap up your trip. A majority of respondents to a 2019 Gallup poll said they've not seen a UFO, but 16% said they had, and 68% said they think the U.S. government knows more about UFOs than it reveals. So look up, maybe you'll catch a glimpse of some of that extraterrestrial magic, especially if you're cruising the 98-mile stretch of road in Nevada known as the Extraterrestrial Highway. Hikers sometimes get lost in the woods, as do children, of course. But those on bikes almost never disappear. There's one tragic case of a fat tire rider who couldn't be found. Nothing goes better with chocolate than vanilla, and nothing goes better with the darkness than vampires. So we've combined all of them into a new blend of weird dark roast coffee called Very Vampilla. This bloody good blend combines a medium dark roast coffee with hints of chocolate, vanilla, and just a tad bit of dried cherry too. So good, you'll want to sink your fangs into the fresh roasted bag itself. Weird Dark Roast Very Vampilla, the only thing at stake, sorry, not sorry, bad pun, is your dissatisfaction with your old coffee. Sip it while the sun is down if you're one of the undead, or when the sun is up if you just feel dead and need a bit of a boost. Get your Weird Dark Roast Very Vampilla at WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash coffee. I'm Darren Marlar. Welcome back to Weird Darkness. Remember staying up late on a Friday or a Saturday night, either at home or at a friend's house, and watching your local TV station's horror host presenting a terrible B-movie with aliens, monsters, ghosts, alien monster ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and all other kinds of crazy creepy characters, those were pretty fun nights, weren't they? Well, that's what the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com has to offer to you. All day, every day, 365. Thanks to our friends at the Monster Channel. You can visit WeirdDarkness.com slash Watch Party right after listening to this episode, and you'll immediately be entertained by a horror host and a horrible movie, or should I say a horrible movie. And not only can you watch the B-movies and hosts streaming there 24-7, but once a month we all gather together to watch a movie and talk about it in the chat room at the same time. Get your frights and your funnies on the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com Hikers go missing with frequency. Stands to reason there are many of them out there. Runners too. Berry Pickers and Mushroom Hunters David Politis, founder of the North America Bigfoot search, is obsessed with disappeared game hunters. Children, of course, get lost in the woods. Skiers occasionally go missing but are usually found when the snow melts. But cyclists, not so much. Mountain bikers and touring riders vanish about as frequently as golfers. Long-term mysterious vanishings of touring cyclists, with as few clues as Jacob Gray's, are so rare that Robert Coaster, a.k.a. Professor Rescue, the foremost academic on search and rescue SAR statistics lists only lost mountain biker in his seminal 2008 book Lost Person Behavior. Coaster is certified as a Type 1 SAR Incident Commander and holds a Ph.D. in search theory from the University of Portsmouth in England. All cases of mountain bikes were resolved out of 189 incidents, he told me. But mountain bikers did go missing as opposed to missing touring cyclists who don't even get a category. But of course, it happens. Our Amelia Earhart is a cyclist named Frank Lenz, who in 1892, at the age of 24, lit out from Pittsburgh to circumnavigate the globe on his victory safety bicycle. He wouldn't be the first to do it, but Outing Magazine sponsored his trip so he could chronicle the adventure while demonstrating the high-tech wonders of the newfangled safety bicycle. Two years into the trip, Lenz fell off the edge of the Earth somewhere in the Ottoman Empire. You can imagine how slowly no news traveled then. When his family expressed concern, Outing Magazine sent another famous cyclist, William Sachleben, to Turkey to find him. He didn't, but came back with the information that his probable fate was Lenz ticked off a Curtis Chief and the warlord had him killed. At the time, Sachleben's rescue attempt was considered on par with the famous hunt for David Livingstone. Coaster's statistics missed a 2014 Canadian vanish that is as confounding as any I've ever heard of. It's easy to miss the Canadian missing, the country is huge and quiet, they like to take care of their own and not broadcast their troubles. I only learned about the case because his identical twin brother, Marcel, contacted me after he read the article I'd written for Outside Magazine that focused on a missing runner, Joe Keller. Marty Ledger from Halifax, Nova Scotia was 30 years old when he went for a routine ride at a popular trail network at Spider Lake. There isn't anything extremely remote about the area, the trailhead is even in a residential area, but it's the Canadian Maritimes, so wildlands are never not close. May 29, Marty was riding a new Black Santa Cruz Heckler. He planned to ride a single track for a couple of hours and return home around four in the afternoon. He didn't. First his family went looking for him, then the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, mounted a search that included nearly 500 people. Volunteers, dogs and helicopters searched a search zone that was 30 square miles. The search for Marty Ledger was one of the largest in Canadian history, not a granola bar wrapper was found, let alone a fat tire bicycle. With a bike you can cover more ground, so you can likely get yourself out, Marcel says. Also, you tend to have to stick to the trails when biking. Marty almost certainly went off trail, perhaps in an attempt to take a shortcut. I'm not surprised they didn't find his bike, because if they would have found it, they would have found him. I could not imagine him leaving his new bike. It was maybe his third ride on it, said Marcel. All cyclists will understand that. What's harder to understand is not finding a mountain biker. A body ended up being discovered roughly a year after he went missing, Marcel says. It was someone else who had gone missing before Marty. He was found within the search area, so clearly it would have been very possible for them to simply not see Marty or his bike. They had a lot of people searching, but it only takes one person to miss him and then cross off that area. Everyone who searched for him tried so hard, day after day, but they had a radius they needed to look at based on age, weight, time of day, weather and how long since he's been reported missing. And as a good chance Marty was out of that radius when the search started. What's your theory about what happened? I asked him. My best guess is that he got off trail and got lost, Marcel says. Once he realized he was lost, he found the nearest dirt road and tried to follow that until he hit a highway or a neighborhood. He likely went as far as he could and tried to sleep the night off and go back at it in the morning. This happens a surprising amount in Canada where logging roads and ATV trails, web and spiral sometimes go for hundreds of miles. My guess is that he tried hard to get out and covered a lot of ground, but unfortunately that likely put him out of the radius they were searching. It was cold that night and he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt so I'm thinking he went to bed and hypothermia set in and he simply didn't wake up. Trying to apply logic to a case like this one is painful. According to Marcel, it's possible the trail got too technical for Marty and he fell hard and succumbed to injuries. That's certainly possible, but if he'd fallen so hard that he was badly injured it doesn't make sense he'd have stumbled or crawled far from the trail. At least the bike would have been located. I have a hard time believing he got hurt badly. He rode very conservatively, never did jumps or crazy lines he could not handle, Marcel says. Marty had only ridden the area one time previously and it's not believed he intended to ride very far. He brought a map, but it was found in the car so perhaps he was comfortable enough with his intended route without it. The area is boarded on one side with a highway, but all other directions are dense, wooded areas. The army was eventually called in and Marcel told me even the soldiers had a hard time bushwhacking through some of it. I keep telling myself it'd be easier if it was a heart attack or car accident. At least we could be angry at something, he says. Not knowing if or how much he suffered at the end is what haunts me. It might have been a quick ending, but the thought of him being really hurt and yelling for help will stay with me for a while. I try not to focus too much on the fact that he disappeared and more so just think of him as gone. The family likely will never know what happened. We're still getting past it or moving on, Marcel says. No being okay with it or getting over it. Closure isn't an option unfortunately. This is a case of double negative indemnity. The fact that we're identical twins makes it a bit more complicated. Not only do I see him every time I look in the mirror, but I'm also a constant reminder to my friends and family that he's gone. Whenever they see me, they most likely see both of us. In 2018, their father took his own life. He just could not make sense of Marty simply disappearing, Marcel says. He really needed closure. My dad was not a depressed man before this. What people don't think of are the social pressures for the family after a loved one disappears. For the first few years, we all lived in fear of leaving the house, Marcel says. We all knew we would at some point run into someone we know and they would ask, how's it going? Any news? Did they find anything? How did he get lost on a bike ride? It occurs to me that I asked Marcel those same questions. There's also small things people would likely not think about that much, he says. I have a hard time answering the phone. I never liked the phone much before, but when you get two phone calls, Marty and for my dad, and on the other end is panic and news that'll crush you and change your life forever, it's not easy to answer the phone comfortably anymore. Also, being in the woods alone is almost impossible now unless I'm very familiar with the trails or with other people. I also overpack now to be sure I'm okay if anything happens. Thanks for listening. If you missed any part of tonight's show or if you want to hear it again, you can subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcast app at WeirdDarkness.com-slash-listen. Not only will you hear a copy of tonight's show, you'll also receive daily episodes of the Weird Darkness podcast that come out seven days per week, and you'll also receive tonight's sudden death overtime content with the story of the girls who turned green. Chlorosis was a frequently diagnosed disease during the 19th century that gave the skin of the afflicted a greenish tinge, and as a cure doctors told young women to get married and reproduce. As you can probably surmise, the cure was not in the least bit effective. That's in tonight's sudden death overtime content found only in the podcast, which you can get for free at WeirdDarkness.com-slash-listen. You can follow Weird Darkness on social media by visiting the contact social page on the website. And please tell others about Weird Darkness who love the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like you do. Doing that helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. If you'd like to be a part of the show, you can send in your own paranormal experiences by clicking on Tell Your Story at WeirdDarkness.com, and you can also email me anytime at darron at WeirdDarkness.com. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find links to the stories or the authors in the show notes which I will upload to the Weird Darkness website immediately after tonight's show is ended. Close encounters of the fairy kind was written by Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe. A cold case finally solved, then unsolved, is from Mystery Confidential. The 98-mile extraterrestrial highway is by Alexandra Schoenfeld for Newsweek, and the vanished mountain biker is by John Billman, which is an excerpt from his book The Cold Vanish which I linked to in the show notes. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark, copyright Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Philippians 2 verses 14 and 15. Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe. And a final thought. Instead of complaining about your circumstances, get busy and create some new ones. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Don't go anywhere, weirdos, because sudden death over time is up next. When Salem Roanoke took a job near his family's new home as a hired hand in the Texas Hill Country, he anticipated learning the rancher's trade but a series of strange events, shocking murders, and unholy revelations divert him down another path. This terrifying trajectory puts him directly into the middle of a struggle between monsters, magic, and men. Armed and backed by a militia of ranchers, Salem attempts to combat the creeping tide of evil that threatens to engulf his new home and destroy the people most important to him. Will Salem manage to save his home or have his actions condemn everyone he hopes to save? The Witch Trials, a summer of wolves and season of the witch by SR Roanoke, available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. Look for The Witch Trials by SR Roanoke on Amazon or find it on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash audiobooks. Even before the recorded history of Loftus Hall itself, its land may have been a site for paranormal and spiritual activity. Legend claims that long before the construction of any large hall, the land was a spiritually significant location for the druids of the area. Wexford, the county in which the hall resides, was filled with tombs and standing stones for thousands of years before the Loftus family had ever seen its soil. Druids, a high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures, were very in tune with nature and revered the land as sacred. Reports of ghostly phenomena have persisted ever since and Tottenham's passing. Many claim to hear horses inside and around the house, even when none are present. People have claimed to hear voices, witness poltergeist activity, and even suffer panic attacks on the grounds. Even alleged photographic evidence seems to corroborate the existence of at least two spirits. In 2015, a young Englishman named Thomas Bevis took a photo of the hall. When he later viewed the picture, he noticed the ghostly shape of a young girl with an older woman standing next to her. He initially attributed the site to a window reflection, but disregarded this explanation upon closer inspection. The photo quickly went viral online and has yet to be debunked or proved as a hoax. When asked about the photo, Bevis said the girl could be the spirit of Ann Tottenham still walking around Loftus Hall. It could have been some strange occurrence because of a supernatural power, but I don't know. Normally, I'm a guy that believes in what he sees, but with this, I still don't understand what's going on in that photo. Loftus Hall's centuries-long history is thick with darkness and tragedy. The state's land was the site of many conflicts in the late 12th century, and many lives were lost on the spot where the hall now stands. In the mid-1600s, the Irish Confederate conflicts brought repeated brawls on the hall, even then a handful of people staved off onslaughts from nearly 100 soldiers. Not until 1666 did Henry Loftus gain ownership of the hall and grant its current title. And Tottenham's mother, Ann Loftus, also passed in the house. Even before the Tottenham's ordeal, the house had already seen its share of sickness, conflict and tragedy. In recent years, Loftus Hall has been refurbished and opened for visitors. For a fee, guests can take a 45-minute tour to learn about the estate's history as well as its infamous hauntings. Perhaps you'll catch a glimpse of Ann Tottenham or one of the hall's numerous other alleged spirits. The hall also offers Halloween tours and, if you are truly brave, paranormal lockdowns on certain occasions. This happened years ago. My best friend and I were driving around the small town we lived in, me in the passenger seat and him driving. We'd do this all the time. When we were bored or just didn't want to be at home, we would cruise around and tell jokes, parody songs we loved, and tell each other ghost stories. That night was jokes and laughing. We'd already been driving around for an hour or so that night and it was near midnight. We turned down Main Street, heading west just after leaving the old convenience store in town. My best friend was Jimmy, crazy and side-splittingly funny 99% of the time. No different that night. We got a block down Main and he yells, Right Turn! And swing the wheel hard down a street that had an old feed store on the right and an old video store with an alleyway behind it on the left. At the entrance to the alley was a simple street light. We got onto the street and he stopped laughing instantly with eyes wide. I saw the creature a split second after he did. He was on the right hand side near the feed store. We thought it was a dog, but it was built strange. Long front legs and rather short back legs, which seemed even stranger when it took two quick jumps and ended up under the streetlight. Here's why that's strange. That creature took two jumps, right? Two jumps and cleared over 55 feet from where it was standing to where it stopped and turned to look at us. It looked similar to a dog, a dog-like head and body, except for heavily muscled front legs and very short back legs, so short that there didn't seem any way that it could jump like that. We both piped up, what the hell is that? Just as we said that, it ran, jumped into the alley with us right behind it. There was no way possible for this thing to get out of the alley, no exit at the other end. We were literally a split second behind it, but it was gone. Just gone. We raced down the alley thinking it actually made it to the end, but nothing. We looked everywhere in the general vicinity and still nothing. We then drove to the supermarket parking lot to discuss what we had just seen and try to rationalize it and identify. This was before the internet and Google. The only description I can give you is this. Remember the demon dogs from Ghostbusters? The gatekeeper and keymaster? It was built like that only a little slimmer. We sat and talked for a time and the local town cop who was a friend pulled up to chat and killed time. We were hesitant to tell him, but excited at the same time. As Jimmy described it, the cop's eyes widened and he got fidgety and nervous. He didn't say much as to what it was or what he thought it was. You saw it, didn't you? Jimmy almost yelled at him. Our police officer friend proceeded to tell us where he saw it and when. The opposite end of the alley and about 20 minutes before we did. And it was the same situation. He saw it, chased it, lost it a split second after it jumped into the alley. Haven't seen anything like that again and never had a decent explanation about what we saw. Cool. And creepy as hell. Do you keep a journal or diary? If not, maybe you should consider it. It's been shown that journaling can help you reduce stress, help relieve depression, builds self-confidence, it boosts your emotional intelligence, helps with achieving goals, inspires creativity and more. In fact, my friend S. Ann Lenees has created a Weird Darkness-themed journal just for you. Full of blank pages for you to use as a diary, make notes for class or office meetings, jot down ideas for that novel you want to write. Use it for keeping a mileage long if you travel for business, whatever you want. In fact, she has numerous styles of journals to choose from. Along with the Weird Darkness journal, there's one for dealing with grief, or teacher's notes, for medical residencies, keeping track of your meds or health routine, and several others. Journals make a great gift for others, but it's also a great gift for yourself and your own mental health. No matter what you might want a journal for, my friend Ann has it. And you can see all of our journals, including the one for Weird Darkness, on the sponsors and friends page at WeirdDarkness.com. In the 1890s, 16% of those admitted to the St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London received the diagnosis of chlorosis. The disease entailed a host of symptoms, including anemia, amenorrhea, lack of appetite, pica, the urge to eat things one wouldn't normally eat like wax, and fatigue. But the most unusual and the one that gave the disease its name was the greenish tinge that the skin of the afflicted acquired. Now a days, if you google chlorosis, all you'll get are links to plant diseases. The plants have an iron deficiency, although the disease manifests as a loss of green, not an excess of it. Scattered human cases remain, but what was once an epidemic has largely disappeared. In the 1980s, hematologist William Crosby published a paper titled, Whatever Became of Chlorosis. For centuries, chlorosis was a constant, though the diagnosis behind it shifted with the societal and medical norms at the time. First described in 1554, it was known until the mid-1700s as the disease of virgins, and the best cure was thought to be intercourse. Bloodletting was also a popular treatment. Chlorosis was absolutely seen as a woman's disease, which meant, as it still often means today, that it got little attention and was easily dismissed with absurd cures, says Anna Scanlon, director of the Riding Center at Illinois Wesleyan University and an avid researcher of chlorosis. Other treatments included telling women to conceive, exercise, or abandon education. While there were physicians who believed that men could also contract chlorosis, such cases were thought to be extremely rare and those men diagnosed with it were usually described as effeminate. The disease was predominantly associated with the upper classes until the mid-19th century, when the medical establishment realized that poor women could also lack adequate nutrition and exposure to sunlight. Boarding schools catering to the daughters of wealthy families were thought to be breeding grounds for chlorosis, much as they have been thought to be hotbeds of anorexia in modern times. The two diseases, it turns out, have much in common. Both have been strongly associated with femininity and thought to be diseases of the body and of the soul, born at least in part from the turbulence of adolescence and the restrictiveness of women's societal roles. Treatments for chlorosis largely reinforced ideas of the time about what women should be, married, reproducing and not focused on education. Women were prescribed marriage as a cure because they were considered unmarriageable if educated, Scanlon says. So it was essentially a way to kill two birds with one stone, stop her from receiving an education and restore her to her proper place in society while also stopping the progression of the disease. So what did happen to chlorosis? The answer is likely threefold. The symptoms were shunted to a different diagnosis, hypochromachemia, treatments became more effective by focusing on diets rather than on virginity, and doctors with young female patients no longer expected to find chlorosis everywhere they looked. Much about the disease remains mysterious. It is unknown, for example, whether the afflicted always turned green. A 1980 paper on the disease in the British Medical Journal suggested that possibly many saw greenness because they believed they ought to, and that the moniker green sickness might have been due to the women involved being metaphorically green, i.e., inexperienced. Another reason chlorosis may have disappeared there were bigger, flashier diseases to worry about. Public health lost interest in chlorosis as larger concerns arrived on the forefront, says Scanlon, such as shell shock associated with the First World War, influenza and the pandemic of 1918. Adolescent girls not getting their periods, even if it did turn them green, took a back seat and then faded away. There is an urban legend about a 17-year-old student in Indiana by the name of Carmen Winstead who was killed when she was pushed into an open sewer by five girls at her school whom she thought were her friends. At the time, the school was having a fire drill. Carmen was new to the area, her father had recently lost his job and had to move to another state in order to find new employment, and the relocation mid-term had been hard on Carmen, who had to leave her friends behind and attend a new school in Indiana. Carmen had a hard time making new friends at the school, as no one was particularly interested in befriending the new girl and initially she would spend the majority of her time alone, walking from class to class and spending her breaks alone speaking to no one. Eventually, however, she started hanging around with a group of five other girls whom she considered to be her friends. However, she soon discovered that they had been talking about her behind her back and spreading vile rumors about her around the school. When she confronted them about it, they took to bullying her every day, making her life a complete hell. One day after the bullying had become too much for her, she had decided to stay behind after school and tell the head teacher what had been going on, but she was killed before being able to do so. After lunchtime, the school announced they would be having a fire drill, and with the alarm bell went off, all of the students made their way out into the yard where roll call would be taken. The five girls saw Carmen standing near an open sewer and decided to embarrass her in front of the other students. They crowded around her, called her names, and pushed her around until she finally tripped and fell down into the sewer. The five girls thought this highly amusing and were giggling when the teacher called out Carmen's name, and one of them replied that she was down in the sewer. The teachers looked down the manhole and could see Carmen's body lying at the bottom among all the sludge, and they called the police. Before long, her body was recovered. Her neck had broken when her head hit the ladder, and her face was badly damaged when she finally hit the concrete at the bottom. The students were all questioned, but as no one except for the girls who pushed her had seen anything, all guilty parties managed to lie their way out of it. They all told the same story, that she had lost her balance and had fallen in, and the death was eventually ruled an accident. Several months later, many students at the school started receiving emails and messages on their MySpace accounts, titled, They Pushed Her, which told the truth of what had really happened that day. Carmen had not accidentally fallen into the sewer, but had been pushed. The emails did not disclose the identities of the guilty parties involved, but rather threatened that there would be horrible consequences should they not confess. Many thought this was a horrible prank to be played on those with the memory of the tragedy still fresh in people's minds, but the five girls involved in Carmen's school were by now extremely worried that someone knew what had happened and was threatening them. A few days later, one of the girls involved in Carmen's death was at home, taking a shower, when she began hearing a strange cackling sound that appeared to be coming from the drain and quickly exited the bathroom in fear. That night, when her mother went to her room to say good night, she found her daughter's room empty, and after calling all of her friends and their parents eventually called the police. They scoured the area and eventually found her dead and disfigured and left to be found in the sewer. Then another girl was found, one of the five friends in fact, and another, and another, until all five girls had somehow met the same fate, dead and disfigured at the bottom of sewers with their necks broken and their faces torn off from the fall. While you would think that would be the end of it, Carmen is apparently still not satisfied. According to the urban legend, over the years she has become a twisted entity whose sole purpose is to have the truth of her death known. Not content only with the deaths of the guilty parties, today she will visit anyone who does not believe the story and tell it to others. So you know now why I am telling it to you and why you should share this episode, just in case. Because whether it be by a drain, toilet or shower, Carmen will come and get you in the night as you sleep, and you will wake up in the sewer, hearing her cackling before you meet the fate of the others she has killed down there. Unless of course you believe her story, and share it with others. Hey weirdos, be sure to click the like button and subscribe to this channel and click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. I post videos seven days a week, and while you're at it, spread the darkness by sharing this video with someone you know who loves all things strange and macabre. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com.