Folklore: Muma Pădurii

In Romanian folklore, there is a Muma Pădurii that protects the forest. Her name means mother of the forest. She is described as a mischievous and ugly old woman who lives in a hut, cabin, or old tree in the middle of the forest. She brews potions that help injured animals and helped dying parts of the forest. She does not like trespassers and will drive them mad. She is mostly seen as a neutral being.

There are tales of her attacking and kidnapping children. There was one story similar to Hansel and Gretel. In the story, she is in the process of boiling a little girl but was stopped by the girl's brother by being pushed into an oven.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Villains Wiki

The La Brea Woman

 

In Los Angeles, California there are tar pits called La Brea Tar Pits. Inside and near the pits remains of animals from the Ice Age have been discovered. Only one set of human remains were found in 1914. The body was that of a young woman between 18 and 25-years-old and she is believed to have been died 9,000 years before. It's possible that her death had been murder as she had a skull fracture from a blow to the head. But it's unknown how she died.

She was Native American and may have belonged to the Chumash people if she was local. It's also she may have been from elsewhere and traveled to the area though. She was 4'8" to 4'10". Wear on her teeth showed she was eating a diet of a stone-ground meal. 

Her remains and replica of her skull (pictured above) have not been on display in the museum since 2004.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Los Angeles Almanac

Los Angeles Times November 2, 1992

Los Angeles Times November 24, 2009

INFANTICIDE: August 28, 1876 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

 On August 28, 1876, the body of an infant was found on Muskego Ave in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She was a white female around 5 to 6 months old. It's not stated what her cause of death was or how long she had been dead. She was buried in the Milwaukee County Almshouse and Poor Farm Cemetery in Wauwatosa. 

The Find a Grave states that the info was gleaned by Robert J. Felber from Milwaukee Co death records vol 13 page 363

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Murder of Miles Vallint

 

On August 27, 1959, 11-year-old Miles Vallint was excited to pick out a bike for his birthday next month. At 1:30pm he left his home in South Norwood, south-east London, England to Croydon to look at bikes. His mother told him to be home by 4:30 pm. 

He would not return home again. Miles was very good at meeting curfew and when he didn't return home his mother worried for him. The next morning would come and she would go looking for her son. She frantically went to the bicycle shops asking if anyone saw him. Only one person told her that they saw him around 2:30 for leaflets.  

What she didn't know at the time was that Miles's body was found under a chestnut tree behind a 3ft fence on Tavistock Rd. The boy had been strangled to death. It was believed he died between 6 to 10 pm and was strangled to death with a rope. There was no evidence of a sexual assault.

A shopkeeper in Croydon may have been the last person to see him alive the day before. He came in around 4 pm to buy a plastic clothesline. In the doorway waiting for the boy to purchase his item was a man.

The man was described as the vagrant type. He was pale and gaunt with a fair complexion. He was between 35 to 40-years-old. He was drab-looking and was wearing a dirty fawn raincoat. 

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

True Crime Library

The National Archives

Evening Standard August 28, 1959

Evening Standard August 28, 1959

Evening Standard September 8, 1959

INFANTICIDE: August 26, 1952 Dunblane, Scotland

 On August 26, 1952, a newborn baby was found Thornhill to Callander Rd in Dunblane, Scotland. She was found lying among pieces of newspaper, garbage, and potato peelings. The baby was found alive and was murdered. Someone had shove portions of newspaper down her throat. It's believed that someone may have taken the child there in a garbage pail, probably by car, and disposed of the previous night.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

The Weerding Men

 

In 1904 two bog bodies were found in Drenthe, Netherlands in the southern part of Bourtange Moor. The two were laid together in the bog initially making people think they were a couple and or related. This would lead to one of the bodies (the smaller one) being thought of being a woman. Leading for them to be called the Weerding Couple, or Mr. and Mrs. Veenstra. Later DNA tests showed that they were both males and were not Maternally related. 

The Weerding Men likely died between 160 BC and 220 AD. One of the men (the better preserved one) was found with a large wound in his chest with his intestines spilled out. It may have been ritualistic and may have been in an attempt to divine the future by reading entrails. It's unknown if this was the way he died or was killed. It's unknown how the other man died. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Murdered Saints: Murder of Dymphna and Gerebernus

 

Martyrdom of St Dymphna and St Gerebernus by Jacques de l'Ange

 In the 7th Century, Ireland Dymphna was born as Irish Royalty. Her father was Damon, the king of Oriel. Her mother was secretly a devoted Christian and would raise Dymphna in secret as one too. When she was 14 she would consecrate herself to Christ and hold a vow of chastity. 

Soon her mother would die and Damon's mental health would deteriorate. Damon had deeply loved his wife and took her death badly. His advisors would press Damon to remarry and he would agree. The only condition was that his bride needed to be as beautiful as the late queen. After searching fruitlessly for this woman he focused on his daughter who was as beautiful as her mother. 

The teenager would find out about her father's plans of marrying her. To keep her vows and escaping an unwanted fate. She would flee with her confessor Father Gerebernus. They would take a ship and would settle in what is now Geel, Belgium. Thinking that she would be safe from her father's clutches she would use her wealth to open a hospital for the poor and sick of the region. Some of the coins she used would allow her father to know her whereabouts.

Her father would go to Geel with his men. He would order them to behead Gerebernus and to force his daughter back to Ireland. The now 15-year-old would refuse to go back to Ireland to be her father's bride.  This would anger the king and he would behead his daughter in a rage. He would leave Dympha and Gerebernus where they were killed and left to go back to Ireland.

The residents of Geel would retrieve the bodies and bury the two in a cave. Years later their remains would be buried in a more suitable place. Both Gereburnus and Dymphna were canonized as Saints. 

In 1349 a church was built to honor St. Dymphna built in Geel. Many Europeans would come to church by 1480. These people would seek treatment for psychiatric disorders and the church would expand for their guests. Even though there was expansion they would get an overflow of people. The people of Geel would take patients into their own homes. The patients would never be called that though and be called boarders. 

The boarders would be treated like family by their hosts. Most would work menial labor in return and become a part of the community. Some would live the rest of their lives in Geel some months or decades. In the 1930s it's said that there were over 4,000 boarders in the town. 

The remains of St. Dymphna were later put into a silver reliquary and placed in a church in Geel named in her honor. The remains were moved to Xanten, Germany. The original church of St. Dymphna burned down in the late 15th century. A second church was built and consecrated in 1532 where they believed her body was first buried. Many miracles are believed to have happened here.

St. Dymphna is known as the Lily of Eire because of her spotless virtue. She is the patron saint of mental illness and anxiety. The chief feast day is May 15 the final day of their martyrdom.

St. Gerebernus is a saint against fever, gout, and for Sonsbeck, Germany. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Catholic

Loyola Press

Catholic Saints

MISSING: Stanley Lionel Cooper

On 19 August 1959, 27-year-old Stanley Cooper was last seen in the Bellingen area in New South Wales, Australia. He was last seen leaving his home in Thora in his blue/grey Holden Sedan. He hasn't attempted to make any contact with family and friends since his disappearance and his family worries about his safety and welfare. There was an unconfirmed sighting of Stanley on Fraser Island in 1962.

Stanley is a White male and was 27 at the time. He was 182 cm with a medium build. He had fair skin, blue eyes, and black hair. The tip of his right index finger had been amputated.

SOURCES:

Doe Network 

Missing Persons

CURSES: The Old Chained Oak

 

Near to the village of Alton, England, there is an old oak tree wrapped in chains on a footpath to the left of the Chained Oak B&B. The tree is known as The Old Oak and according to legend, it holds a deadly legend for a family.

One autumn day in the 1800s the Earl of Shrewsbury was on his way to the Alton Towers in a horse and coach. Suddenly there was an old woman who showed up in front of them. The coach would stop to find out why the woman was there. The woman would then ask them for a coin. The Earl would ignore and cruelly dismiss the poor woman. She would then tell the Earl that she had cursed him and each time a branch fell off of the old oak tree one of his family members would die. The Earl refused to listen to her silly curse and continued on his way.

That same night a violent storm would happen. It would cause a single branch from the cursed tree to fall. A member of the Earl's family would die mysteriously that night. The Earl now believing in the curse would order servants to chain every branch together to prevent branches from falling and the premature death of a family member.


There are some variants from retelling the tale. Sometimes it's an old man, sometimes the branch falls on the Earl's son with the old woman watching, and in some tellings, the Earl takes the branch and does experiments on it to find a way to end premature deaths. But did it happen?

The legend may have been around since 1821 which would make it the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot. But other sources say that the legend has been around since the 1840s which would make it the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, John Talbot. 

Now if it was John Talbot this legend does not match what he was known as. He was remembered as "Good Earl John", he had a very good reputation of being charitable. He supported and helped communities build in the Midlands. He was known to have supported schools and churches, and even helped build new Catholic chapels in the Midlands. He was also known to help build almshouses for the poor and elderly in Alton. 

He did have 4 deaths of family members after the 1840s, but none of them was sudden or mysterious. His youngest daughter Lady Gwendoline Catherine Talbot died in 1840 at 22 in Rome by Scarlet Fever and 3 of her children died shortly after from measles.  Making it unlikely that the man was him if some of the legends were true.

On April 9, 2007, one of the main branches from the tree fell off and no one from the Talbot family mysteriously died. 

The tree may have been chained in an attempt to preserve it. The 15th and 16th Earls extended Alton Towers and planted many new trees. The old trees like the chained oak were greatly prized and since it was in a highly visible place it was chained to keep it from collapsing under its own weight.

SOURCES: 

Wikipedia

BBC

Alton Towers

Atlas Obscura

Oddity Central

Ramblers Retreat

MISSING: Ralph Stutzman

 

On August 17, 1952, 46-year-old Ralph Stutzman spent the morning doing chores at his home in LaGrange, Indiana. He told his children to go to the house and then he went to take the cows to the field. He promised the children he'd be back at the house in 20 minutes, but he never arrived back.

It unknown what had happened to Ralph. It could be possible that he left willingly, but it's believed he may have met foul play. He didn't take anything with him and didn't state to anyone he was leaving. He occasionally gambled. The night before he spent the night playing a poker game with friends. It could be possible that someone settled a score with Ralph.

Ralph was 46 at the time and a white male. He was 5'0" to 7'0" and 100 lbs to 200 lbs.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Charley Project

Unsolved Murder of Beatrice Dain

 

On the night of August 15, 1952, 50-year-old Beatrice Dain went to the Regal Tavern in Syracuse, New York. She stayed until 1 a.m. the next morning. She was last seen talking to two men a short distance from the alley behind 141 James St. where her body was found. She had been beaten to death sometime the morning of August 16. It's unknown if these two men are involved in her death.

SOURCES:
Democrat and Chronical
Syracuse Police 

FOLK TALES: Blue Beard

In the 1600's Blue Beard is a wealthy and powerful nobleman and a well-desired groom in idea, but his unusual blue beard made him unattractive. Though many women and girls found him repulsively ugly he was able to marry several beauties. The problem with that is that each one would mysteriously disappear.

One of his neighbors, a noble lady, had two beautiful daughters. Bluebeard asked the woman to allow him to wed one of the daughters of her choice. The girls were, of course, repulsed by him and his blue beard. They also didn't want to become another wife that would mysteriously disappear.

Blue Beard had a plan to win their affection. He would take them, their mother, and several of their friends to one of his country houses. They would spend a whole week of parties, hunting, fishing, dancing, mirth, and feasting. Everyone would spend the nights joking and enjoying each other.

The younger of the two sisters began to fall in love with him and was starting to think he was a mighty civil gentleman. The two would soon wed. A month after Blue Beard would tell his young bride that he was obliged to take a country journey of about 6 weeks. It was about affairs of great consequences. He told her she should invite her friends to their home if she pleased.

He would give her keys to his treasures and she was allowed to each one except for a certain closet. He told her she could not go to the closet at the end of the great hall on the ground floor. He warned her if she did she would receive his anger and resentment. She would promise to do that, and her friends would come.

Her friends would tell her that they would not come while her husband was there because they feared him. They would see and look at all the riches of the home and be impressed and happy for their friend's newfound life.

At the party, the door haunts her, and her desire to open it increases. The treasures she had access to were so grand and she wondered what was so magnificent that was hidden behind the door. Her impatience allowed her to slip from the party and to the forbidden door. She would take the key out and opened the door with trembling hands.

What lied behind it was horrible. The floors were covered in clotted blood, and along the walls were the missing wives. Each one had been brutally murdered. She thought she would die from the shock it scared her so much. She would drop the key in the blood. She would go back to her senses and lock the door and went to her room to think.

This is when she noticed the key was stained with blood. She tried to clean it off, but would not as the key was magical and evidence of her betrayal was stained upon it. To her surprise, Blue Beard would return home that night. He stated that while he was on the road letters came telling him the affair he was going to deal with was concluded. She pretended to be excited and not show she was terrified that she was the next wife to disappear.

The next morning Blue Beard asked for his keys back. He asked her what had happened to the forbidden room's key. She had hoped he wouldn't notice. She would tell him it was upstairs on the table, and he requested her to bring her the key.

She was terrified as she brought down the blood-stained key. He automatically knew of her betrayal of his trust.

"Why is there blood on the key"

"I do not know." She cried.

"You do know!" Blue Beard was angry, "I very well know. You went into the closet, did you not? Very well, madam; you shall go back, and take your place among the ladies you saw there."

She would throw herself down on her feet and begged for forgiveness. He had a heart of stone and her pleads did not change his mind. He's heard this all before.

"You are to die Madam."

"Since I am to die give me time to pray alone." She cried. He would answer her wish.

"I give you a quarter of an hour nothing more." He demanded.

When she was alone she called out to her sister Anne. She asked her to go to the top of the tower to look for their brothers and to give them a sign of haste. Anne would go up the tower and be on the lookout for their brothers.

She could feel her time ticking and would call up to Anne occasionally. But there were no signs of their brothers when the impatient Blue Beard called up to her demanding her to come down with a sword in hand. His threats kept coming and she kept telling him one moment more. That was when Anne spotted their brothers coming. His anger seemed to shake the home and the young wife came down the stair unwillingly.

She would throw herself on his feet again begging for forgiveness and keep her life. It still did not work on his stone-cold heart. He would grab her hair with one hand and raise his sword with the other. She asked to collect herself. He was about to refuse and was about to strike her when a knock on the gates stopped him.

Two horsemen were her brothers and would enter with their swords drawn. With one brother was a dragoon the other a musketeer and Blue Beard knew he had no chance. He would flee without killing his young bride and the brothers would pursue him. They would overtake him on the porch and ran their swords through him. The girl had no strength to greet her brothers. Blue Beards' crimes would be known and she'd be known as the one who survived.

The young bride was now a widow and her husband's estate was hers. She was able to allow Anne to marry the man she loved, She married a man she loved, and she bought Captains' commissions for her brothers. She would eventually forget her nightmare with Blue Beard.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Blue Beard by Charles Perrault

Possible Murder of Constance of Normandy

Constance of Normandy was born between 1057 to 1061 and was one of nine children of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. She was considered a favorite by her mother and was considered well accomplished and gifted. Though it wasn't noted the order of birth's of the daughters a monk, William of Jumièges, noted that she was the second oldest among the daughters. 

In 1086 William the Conqueror invaded the Duchy of Britanny and forced its Duke Alan Fergant into submission. He would then arrange a marriage between Constance and the duke. Like her mother, Constance became an administrator. 

There are two contradictory reports on her time as a duchess. William of Malmesbury, an early 12th-century historian, stated that she was unpopular. That she was severe and conservative manner made her unlikable. But according to another, Orderic Vitalis, she was caring, considerate, and well-liked by subjects. Constance would die on 13 August 1090. 

William of Malmesbury would allege that her husband had the lady poisoned through their servants. Constance would be buried at the church of St. Melans, Rhedon, Bretagne, France.  

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

My Heritage

Find a Grave

The History Jar

GHOSTS: La Lorna

 

There once was a beautiful Hispanic woman who lived somewhere in either Mexico or the Southwest of the U.S.A. She had believed that she would never fall in love again or nobody would love her because she had children.

She did end up meeting someone and they fell in love. She had hidden the fact that she had children from him for a while. Eventually, she admitted to having several children to him. He had given her the ultimatum of "him or the children".

That night she had gathered her children up and told them they were going on a night stroll. They had walked to the river. One by one she drowned them. After she had done the deed she had gotten her lover and had told him what she had done.

Horrified he rejected her.

Realizing she never should have chosen him over them she went and drowned herself in the same river. She was hoping that she would see them again. That they would all live together in heaven, but when she got to heaven's gate they barred her. In order to come in, she had to find her children's souls.

She walks around at night weeping for her children. She searches and searches for them. When she happens upon a child she mistakes them as her own. Since she had forgotten what her children look like. She drags the child to the nearest body of water and drowns them when she realizes that they aren't hers.

The legend is used as a warning to children in a form of curfew and to not wander by bodies of water at night.  It also varies on how or why the children die. Like the example above it was the mother, but in some versions, there is no lover and it was her husband that had done the deed or was the reason the children were killed. What is known is that she wanders trying to find her children.

Some say La Llorona had drowned her own children in a jealous rage. In order to get back at her husband for either stepping out on her or paying too much attention to the children. She then drowns herself.  In this version, she searches for her children in order to go to heaven or because she regrets it.

In other's, it's the husband who kills their children by drowning them. They didn't have enough money to feed all of their children. After La Llorona found out she had drowned herself in the same body of water her children were killed in.

The Unsolved Murder of Oda Apple

Around 9 pm on the night of  August 8, 1953, 45-year-old Oda Apple and his 3-year-old son left their home in Cincinnati, Ohio were walking to an errand at the drug store. On the return, Oda and his son were walking hand in hand and were only a few doors down from their home when Oda was shot in the back of the head.

His son would watch Oda stumble and fall on the sidewalk. His son would run home screaming that the firecrackers got his dad. Oda's wife would find her husband lying in the grass dead. It was said that it was a relatively calm night and no one seemed to be outside to witness the death. There was one neighbor who heard the gunshot and thought it was a car backfiring. They believed that they heard footsteps fleeing that was not of a child. His son also claimed that he saw no one.

There was no evidence that Oda had any enemies and they couldn't find anyone with a sufficient motive. One article stated that Oda may have felt that something dreadful was going to happen soon, but was not specific on why he felt that way. Police at the time also believed that it's possible that Oda may have been killed accidentally by a stray bullet and his death may not have been intended by the killer.

SOURCES:
Ohio Attorney General
The Cincinnati Enquirer August 10, 1953
The Cincinnati Enquirer May 21, 1956