Thursday, August 31, 2023

UNIDENTIFIED: Vilas County, Wisconsin Doe

 A partially damaged skull of a teenager was found in the archives and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The only identifying label was Vilas County SP 10278 and it's believed that the skull was given to the university around the mid-20th century. 


The skull is of unknown gender and race but is believed to belong to someone between 12 to 15-years-old.

SOURCES:

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

UNIDENTIFIED: August 30, 2013 La Paz County, Arizona Doe

 On August 30, 2013, on the banks of a river near Ehrenberg, Arizona a mandible was found. Gender could not be determined, but it's believed that they were between 18 to 55-years-old, and died between 1905 to 2005.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Saturday, August 26, 2023

UNIDENTIFIED: August 27, 1863 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jane Doe

On August 27, 1863, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania an unknown woman would die. She would be buried at the Philadelphia Almshouse Cemetery.

Jane Doe is a white female around 30-year-old.

SOURCES:

Thursday, August 24, 2023

UNIDENTIFIED: August 25, 1923 Raleigh, North Carolina John Doe

On August 25, 1923, the body of a man was found in a wooded area in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was believed that he had been dead for around a month before he was found. His cause of death is either unknown or unstated. 

John Doe was a black male about 45-years-old. 

SOURCES:

Monday, August 21, 2023

MISSING: Diane Marie Webb

 





18-year-old Diane Webb lived with her family in San Bernadino, California until 1959. In March her family would move to Dolan Springs, Arizona, and Diane would stay. She would then stay with her 16-year-old boyfriend, Bennie Webb, who would soon become her husband.

At least one time that year she stayed with her family in Arizona for a week. During the visit, she told her parents she was pregnant and that she was going to marry. Her father disapproved of the relationship, but her younger brother and mother made it to the wedding in Indio, California. 

The wedding was the last time her family saw her, but they would receive letters for several months after her wedding. The last letter was mailed on August 22, 1959, for her little sister's birthday. It included handkerchiefs that she crocheted for her. 

A letter would then arrive to Diane's family from Bennie in late 1960. He had believed that she was with them in Dolan Springs, and this confused them. They would send a letter back asking what had happened and when she had left. 

On January 5, 1961, he responded back stating that he hadn't heard from or seen Diane in a very long time. That he had given her $100 and put her on a bus to Dolan Springs. He stated she wrote one letter to him after she left and stated she had a miscarriage. Bennie recommended they to talk to a friend of Diane's in California to see if she knew something.

In August of 1961 Diane or someone else using her name visited a dentist's office in California. This was the last possible sign of her. 

Diane's family suspects that her husband had done something to her. Her father went to Bennies hometown in New Mexico where Bennies brother was a police chief. He was searching to see if he can find information on Diane. Allegedly Bennies brother chased him out of town. 

Bennie is still alive, but is not cooperating with the police and refuses a polygraph. He allegedly never recalled marrying Diane, but their marriage certificate exists. This however seems suspicious but does not mean he is guilty. 

Diane is a white female and was 18-years-old at the time. She's 5'2" to 5'4" and 110 to 120lbs. She has brown hair and grey eyes. She was pregnant at the time but may have had a miscarriage, one of her breasts was larger than the other, she has freckles on the tip of her nose, and her ears are pierced. 

SOURCES:

Saturday, August 19, 2023

UNIDENTIFIED: August 20, 1997 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada Jane Doe

 On August 20, 1997, a canoeist found a human skull on the Moose Jaw River just south of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The skull was exposed to the elements between 50 to 100 years. Meaning she may have died between 1890s to the 1940s.

The skull belonged to a preteen girl around 12-years-old. She may have possibly been white.

SOURCES:
Canadas Missing
Doe Network
Unidentified Wiki

Thursday, August 17, 2023

MONSTERS: Kit Swamp Monster

 

On Thursday, August 18, 1875, Asa Grundy thought it was going to be a normal day in Kits Swamp, North Carolina. His five-year-old daughter was playing with a neighbor child in a corn crib while he was stripping fodder in the field. Then he heard the children screaming, the dogs barking, and his wife screaming. Asa stopped what he was doing and ran towards the edge of the cornfield where all the screaming was coming from. 

In front of him stood a monster that was carrying the children with one in each paw. The monster was heading towards the woods. When Asa appeared it surprised the monster making him pause for a second.

The father did what he thought fit as with all his strength he swung towards the monster. With a solid hit on the forehead, the monster fell to the ground and dropped both children. Before Asa could capture the thing it suddenly got up and ran into the woods with no trace of it being found.

Asa said that the beast had the face of a wanderoo, the body of a baboon and the arms and legs of a human. He claims that for the last few weeks a strange being had been preying upon poultry, garden vegetables and green corn in an alarming amount. 

The inhabitants of  Kits Swamp was now on edge as they kept an eye on the beast who was possibly after their children. Two particular residents were keeping a real close eye for the monster. The story goes that Eli Sparrow and Frank Hanson kept their eyes out for it determined to get it when they spot it.

The monster was lurking on the outside of a small clearing owned by Maria Harkley.  At this time Maria and her two young children were picking blackberries. The three men were sitting on a pine tree log watching as the Monster started approaching the young Maria's young boy who was 50 yards away from his mother. 

When the intruder was spotted the three men hid behind the log and kept an eye on the monster. They wanted to see what it was up to. The boy was now within range for the men to shoot if the monster came towards him. The men did not automatically shoot as they wanted to see the monsters intention, because they wanted to get it alive. But it became apparent that the monster wanted to kidnap the boy.  
When the monster came 10 feet of the boy and seemed to want to lunge at him they shot him towards his lower half. The monster fell, but the before the men could get to him it ran into the woods. It outran its hunters, but the blood trail helped them find it.

They pursued the monster for two hours before happening upon chaparral that was too thick to go through. They then saw an opening and Story volunteered to go through. It was small and dark for Story. He had eventually run into a plank that he had to remove and it let the light come in. This was when he made eye contact with the monster. 

The others followed after him. The monster seemed to have felt scared and trapped. It tried to defend itself sprung at Story and during the struggle, his gun went off. Which caused the creature to lose its life.

The three men brought it to town and many people had awwed at the monster. The skin of the monster was sent to Baltimore to be stuffed and put into an exhibit. It is unknown if it was really stuffed.

I only happened upon these articles and could not find out more about it. The story had to of been somewhat big at the time as a newspaper from London had an article about it. It is not known how much truth there is to the story.

If this story has any truth of this. Then it would mean that  Kits Swamp North Carolina had a Bigfoot-like creature terrorizing the town, and they had caught it. 

SOURCES:
The Times October 1, 1875

Monday, August 14, 2023

UNIDENTIFIED:August 15,1853 Orleans Parish, Louisiana Orphaned German girl

 On August 15,1853 an 8 to 9-year-old Orphaned German girl would die from yellow fever in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. Her identity would be unknown. She would be buried at Cypress Grove Cemetery 2 in New Orleans.


SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Unidentified Wiki

Saturday, August 12, 2023

UNIDENTIFED: August 13, 1973 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Doe

On August 13, 1973, skeletal remains were found inside an abandoned house that was going to soon be demolished in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The home was reported as vacant in the mid-1950s and the person possibly died between 1955 to 1970. It's likely he died in the 1950s as some of the items on the person were from that time. 

The gender and race are unknown but the person was between 20 to 70-years-old. They were 5'3". They were wearing a shirt, tie, brown trousers, leather belt, and brown socks. They had a full pack of Pall Mall cigarettes in their shirt pocket, an illegible ID card from 1955, and a 3C liberty stamp issued in 1954 until 1958. There were a pair of reading glasses made by American Optical Co. ~45 years of age at the initial report date. They have a slight plus Rx and are assumed to be used by an older person for reading.

SOURCES:

Friday, August 11, 2023

August 12, 1912 Chester, Pennsylvania John Doe

 On August 12, 1912, some of the remains of a young boy were found in the Delaware River in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was believed that the boy had drowned and died about a year before. 

John Doe was a white male and was about 6 or 7-years-old. 

SOURCES:
Find a Grave

Friday, August 4, 2023

August 5, 1898 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Jane Doe

 On August 5, 1898, a woman was found washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She had a hitching weight such as what a drayman would use to fasten a horse's brittle. It was placed together with the body with a light chain wrapped around the body twice and fastened by prying a link open. She was partial as she was wearing a top and her underclothing it's not stated whether or not the water may have caused it to come off. She was dead for around a month. Her cause of death was undetermined, but it was believed that she was hit over the head and placed in the water alive where she drowned.

Jane Doe was around 30-years-old. She was 5'4" and around 140 lbs. She had Dark Chestnut colored hair that was dyed. The hair at the back of her neck showed light brown hair sprinkled with grey. The underclothing was of good quality and made of handmade lace. She was wearing shoes and on the leather with Harding & Todd which was a shoe manufacturing company in Rochester, New York. 

SOURCES:
The Weekley Wisconsin August 6, 1898

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

WITCHES: Salt Witch

 


Made on Artbreeder

In the Nebraska plains, there was a tribe that was quartered and resided near where the Saline flows into the Platte. There was one chief that had met a witch. The chief was a fierce man and was a man of blood and muscle who his people gloried. However, his dear wife was his only companion and the only one to keep him in check. He loved her deeply and was heartbroken when she died. The once active chief was now becoming a recluse never leaving his home. His mourning was lasting too long for his people and they began to talk of replacing him. They needed someone who would do their duties. 

One morning the Chief left his home wearing his wardress. Without speaking a word to anyone he strode across the plain to the west. No one hears from him for a month. He was brandishing a belt of either fresh pelts or scalps. He also came with a lump of salt and a story of how it was found. 

He told them that after traveling far over the prairie he had gone to sleep on the ground. He was awoken by wailing nearby. (some retellings he's in a canoe) In the New Moon's light, he would go and look for the cause of the sound. He would find a hideous old woman with a tomahawk about to strike a kneeling, crying, younger woman. This was a surprising sight as he was 40 miles from the village. The old woman would hold the younger one by the throat and the younger would fail to break free. He would soon run over to the women.

 The old woman was then holding the younger's hair and was raising the tomahawk to strike her by the time the chief came. The chief would then see the face of the younger woman and would be filled with rage. The younger woman looked just like his dead wife. He would then protect the younger woman by burying his own tomahawk into the old woman's head. The earth would open and both women would disappear. In their place, a pillar of salt stood where the witch was. 

For years afterward, tribes would maintain that the column was under the custody of the Salt Witch. When they went and gathered salt they would pound the ground with clubs. They believed if they did this it would keep the Salt Witch from doing Evil. 

I could not find a specific tribe this was based on. There were two different tribes referenced The Otoe and the Omaha tribes. I also could not find what year or let alone century that this had happened also. 

SOURCES:
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land, Complete by Charles M. Skinner
Legends of America