Every time you step on board an aircraft, you are putting your life into someone else's hands and trusting that Mother Nature won't strike you down. You take your seat, buckle up, and hope that the ride is smooth and as short as possible. You hope this flight won't be your last, and you think yourself a bit silly for wondering if it could be. But, you see, accidents happen; the passengers of Northwest Flight 2501 had no way of knowing that this flight would be their last. On June 23, 1950, 55 passengers and three crew members boarded Northwest Flight 2501, a DC-4 propliner that made daily treks between New York City and Seattle, Washington. 35-year-old Captain Robert C. Lind was at the helm, aided by his co-pilot Verne Wolfe. 25-year-old stewardess Bonnie Ann Feldman made sure passengers were comfortable and secure. Take-off from LaGuardia Airport at 9:49 PM was unremarkable, and the flight was fine until the plane reached the Midwest, where a serious storm was brewing. Captain Lind requested to drop from 6,000 to 4,000 feet but had the request declined by traffic control. An hour into the flight, 2501 passed over Cleveland, Ohio and finally had the request to drop to 4,000 feet accepted. 40 minutes afterward, 2501 was instructed to drop another 500 feet in order to avoid an eastbound flight in its path. That flight had experienced a good amount of turbulence over Lake Michigan due to the storm. By the time 11:50 PM rolled around, 2501 was caught in the middle of the same storm that had rattled that eastbound flight. Captain Lind informed traffic control that the plane was over Battle Creek, Michigan, and requested to drop even lower to avoid the storm. Again, traffic control denied this request for descent. 2501 should have made it to Milwaukee, Wisconsin by midnight Central Time. However, the plane never showed up and was marked as overdue. No radio response was received by anyone who tried to contact the missing flight. It was as though 2501 had simply vanished into thin air. By 5:30 the following morning, Northwest Flight 2501 was labeled as lost. The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy launched a massive search, during which an oil slick, airplane log book, and scattered debris were located a significant distance from shore. Sadly, there were also some human body parts found among the luggage and seat cushions. They were presumed to belong to those on board 2501. Ever since its disappearance, searchers have continuously gone out in search of the missing plane. In fact, each year, author and maritime enthusiast Clive Cussler has funded search efforts by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates. There were witnesses who claimed to see 2501 shortly before its demise. In Glenn, Michigan, William Bowie - a restaurant and gas station owner - was sitting with a handful of others (including his son) when they saw a plane flying overhead. Bowie heard the motors make a loud "plunk" two times and saw a "queer flash of light", as he later testified in the Chicago inquiry. Earlier that evening, due to the storm, the power had gone out in the gas station Bowie owned and throughout the town, so he and others decided to sit out in their cars. They witnessed the plane coming at them from the northeast, following along the highway toward Glenn, then turn westward over Lake Michigan. The yellow light witnesses saw trailing behind the wind of the plane lasted for a few seconds before vanishing from sight. This would be the last anyone saw of the doomed airliner. Valaire Van Heest hit a goldmine when, in 2008, she discovered an unmarked mass grave in a St. Joseph Cemetery. It appears that, if these are the bodies of some of the passengers and crew, they would have washed ashore and been secretly buried in that grave. The grave site now houses massive black granite marker honoring 2501's deceased. Again, in 2015, a massive grave site was discovered in South Haven's Lakeview Cemetery by two women doing genealogical research. Another marker was placed at that site, as it was theorized that those bodies could have also belonged to some of 2501's passengers. Without the actual wreckage, we will never know for certain what happened to Northwest Flight 2501. Of course, there are wild theories circulating that we have to address. The most glaring is the idea that 2501 was lost in what is known as the Lake Michigan Triangle. The Lake Michigan Triangle stems from Benton Harbor northward to Ludington, over the lake to Manitowoc, and back down again. Ever since the 1890's (when shipping was in its heyday on the lake), numerous reports of mysterious sinkings and vanishings have occurred here. In 1921, all aboard the Rosa Belle vanished without a trace after a collision with an unknown vessel caused the ship to overturn. In 2007, a circle of rocks - which has been dubbed the Stonehenge of the Great Lakes - was found in the lake, spanning about 40 feet of lake floor. A stone on the outer circle depicts what appears to be a mastodon, a creature that went extinct sometime around 10,000 B.P.
The night 2501 vanished, there were reports of an odd, blinking red light hovering in the sky over Lake Michigan close to where the plane went missing. Some speculate that this was a UFO while others attribute it to typical forms of aircraft or natural phenomena. Of course, bad weather is the usual suspect when it comes to wrecks and disappearances on the Great Lakes. Having lived in West Michigan all of my life, one of the running jokes here is that the weather can change in a matter of minutes. This is especially true when you're out on the lake. These waters can be beautiful when serene and unforgiving and deadly when turned by a tempest. Unfortunately, 2501 seems to have been another victim of horrendous weather conditions that develop over Lake Michigan. The pilot was forced to fly his craft into a sketchy storm without clearance to descend low enough to avoid a potential lightning strike, causing the loss of 58 lives in all. But, with all the weird, unexplained events that have occurred before and since on Lake Michigan, maybe - just maybe - there is something even more sinister and baffling at work here. At least, it makes for a cool idea for a novel, right?
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Kayelyn Louder was not someone you would expect to disappear. But that's exactly what happened on September 27, 2014 in Murray, Utah. After several bizarre phone calls to police starting the day prior, Kayelyn was last seen outside of her rental unit at 5:45 PM. Clad in shorts and a tank top, the barefooted Kayelyn could be seen making animated gestures and possibly talking to herself in the rain. She left behind her purse, cell phone, and her beloved pug, Phyllis. No one was able to locate Kayelyn - that is, until her body was discovered about 5 miles way in the Jordan River. Before she disappeared, Kayelyn had placed several strange calls to 911. On September 26, Kayelyn phoned the police to report that someone had broken into her home. The dispatcher inquired if she knew the person, to which she replied, "No, I don't. I just know there's an intruder in my house." Kayelyn then reported that she suspected that there were two intruders, as she had overheard snippets of a conversation in which one intruder said, "Hey, go in there." On the recordings, Kayelyn's roommate Carole is heard in the background, questioning Kayelyn's report of an intrusion. Carole remarked that the doors were secured and that it was "impossible" for someone to have broken in. When Kayelyn's sister Madi Rodriguez listened to the recordings, she did not hear anything off-putting in her sister's voice, just that Kayelyn sounded like she was scared. Weeks passed without any sign of Kayelyn, and her friends and family were left with the final phone calls and images of her taken on CCTV outside of her apartment complex, where she stood barefoot in the rain. Then, on the morning of December 1, Kayelyn's body was found in the Jordan River in West Valley City, near 1200 West and 3300 South by two men who had come out to inspect the city's drainage pipes. Her body had been submerged and partially concealed. After an autopsy, there was nothing to indicate a clear cause of death. So just how does an otherwise healthy 30-year-old woman go missing and turn up dead, submerged in a river, with no clear signs of what killed her? If you ask the Louder family, they'll tell you - it was foul play. Of course, if you ask other people, they might tell you about Kayelyn's struggles and what might've caused her to take her own life or accidentally die after going missing. Kayelyn Louder didn't have what you might call an "easy" go of it in life. Kayelyn seemingly wanted to do some good in the world, having gotten her Bachelor's in Social Work from Utah State University in 2006. However, Kayelyn had difficulties finding gainful employment and was, for a time, unemployed. She had found a job in a boys' school in mid-2014 but was let go in the late summer of that year, just before her disappearance. There has been speculation as to why she was let go, but there seems to be no concrete evidence to prove that she was terminated for any type of delusional or unprofessional behavior. At the time, Kayelyn was also working as a dog-sitter through an online company. Kayelyn wasn't the only family member struggling in life. Her twin brother, Colton, had been incarcerated for the shooting of their uncle, Jeffrey Ackerman. Colton had been using drugs and was sentenced to five years for manslaughter in November of 2009. The phone calls are truly the most puzzling piece of this crazy jigsaw puzzle. The first series of calls, which started on September 26 at around 9 PM, were to report gunshots and fight noises coming from the complex's clubhouse. There was a wedding reception happening at the time, but when police responded, none of the guests knew anything about a fight or gunshots. Kayelyn then called back an hour later but hung up. At 8:18 the next morning, Kayelyn started making the phone calls where she insisted that someone was trying to break into her home. Police never found any sign of a break-in or attempted break-in. The two surveillance videos taken the day she disappeared show Kayelyn at 3:30 PM and, later, 5:45 PM. As the weather was somewhat rainy and cool, it is befuddling to note that Kayelyn is wearing only a tank top and shorts. The second video shows her breaking into a light jog, but nothing indicates that she is being followed. There is also footage of Kayelyn seemingly talking to someone, although it is assumed to be her dog, Phyllis, whom she was carrying with her. So, what happened? Could Kayelyn have fallen into the creek that runs through the area near her home? If so, there is the possibility that it could have carried her body through to the Jordan River if the drainage system in the area was successfully navigated. Also, given that it was a rainy day, conditions might have made soil slick, and the water might've been elevated higher than usual. But why were no bruises, scrapes, water in the lungs, drugs in her system, or any traditional marks of an accidental drowning found during the autopsy? The ruling was that she had died due to exposure while in the river. Kayelyn wasn't known to have any enemies. While she might have been coping with symptoms of anxiety and depression, she was not known to display delusional behaviors characteristic of psychosis. Unfortunately, this case seems to have no easy answers for the many questions it poses. Was Kayelyn Louder simply distraught and, not paying attention in inclement weather, accidentally fell into the creek, where her body was carried over five miles? Or did Kayelyn happen to meet with foul play? ReferencesThe Jamisons looked like your average American family. Dad Bobby, mom Sherilyn, six-year-old Madyson, and Madyson's beloved dog, Maizy made the trip from their home in Eufaula, Oklahoma to the Red Oak Mountain area (population 500-ish) in early October of 2009. They were there to check out a 40-acre plot of land. Three of them were never seen alive again. Well over 100 people participated in the search for the missing family. What searchers found was the family's truck with little Maizy shut inside. Despite being severely malnourished, the dog was still alive (and was taken to live with Bobby's mother, Starlet). Also in the vehicle was their GPS, cell phones, wallets, IDs, and a whopping $32,000 in cash. But where were the Jamisons? When officials began going through the items found in the vehicle, they found an 11-page letter from Sherilyn to Bobby in the truck that seemed rather troubling, indicating potential marital issues. Both Bobby and Sherilyn were known to suffer from depression, and Sherilyn's pistol was missing from the truck. There was also a photo of Madyson found on one of the cell phones that proved to be rather alarming for the Jamisons' family and friends. In the photo, Madyson is standing alone, arms folded across her chest, with a look on her face that might indicate fear or upset. Despite a relentless search of the area, search and rescue didn't turn up any leads on the Jamisons' whereabouts. In November of 2013, two hunters came across skeletal remains about three miles from where the Jamisons' vehicle was abandoned. The three bodies were severely decomposed. Forensics revealed that these were the three missing Jamisons, but decomposition was too progressed to determine the cause of death. Right after they disappeared, theories began to circulate as to why the Jamisons had disappeared. One theory holds that either Bobby or Sherilyn committed murder-suicide. With Sherilyn's gun missing, this seemed to be the default explanation, at least at first. Digging further into their personal lives, it was discovered that Bobby's father, Bob Jamison Sr., had ties to the Mexican Mafia and was known to have made threats against his own family. Going even deeper, some speculated that the disappearance was the result of a crystal meth one-off deal gone awry. This area of Red Oak is apparently known for producing crystal meth, and loved ones had commented on how thin Sherilyn and Bobby had looked in the weeks leading up to their disappearance. Security footage taken at their Eufaula home does show both adults acting as if they're in a trance in the time leading up to their departure. Sherilyn's friend Niki Shenold noted that the family was having financial difficulties and might've been trying to get out of it by making a drug deal. However, Starlet and Sherilyn's mother Connie don't think this is the case, and no illicit items were found in the Jamisons' home or truck. The final theory is much more sinister and puzzling than any of the others, although it is also the hardest to believe. This theory is centered around witchcraft and the paranormal. The family's former pastor, Gary Brandon, told police that the Jamisons were waging "spiritual warfare". Both adults apparently saw spirits in their Eufaula home, and Madyson had apparently been talking with a dead child's spirit. Bobby had even asked if there were "special" bullets he could use to banish these ghosts and admitted to consulting a Satanic bible. Niki stated that she and Sherilyn had been half-jokingly interested in witches and even said that she had seen a gray mist in the Jamison's living room once while visiting. Sherilyn had confessed that there were times that "gentle" Bobby appeared to be "possessed". Sherilyn even left notes around the house saying things like "Get out, Satan." She was also researching whether the home was built atop a Native American burial mound. Connie believes that her daughter and son-in-law were on a cult's hit list and that they had somehow ended up involved in witchcraft. There's also the fact that Sherilyn's son from a previous marriage, Colton, stated that his mother never even mentioned wanting to move or going to look at a plot of land. We might never know what happened to Bobby, Sherilyn, and Madyson Jamison. Who had the motive to kill them? And why little Madyson? Why leave Maizy shut in the truck to starve? And just what were the Jamisons doing in Red Oak to begin with? Were they actually involved in a cult or in a drug deal?
Someone out there knows something. Someone out there has the information that could help the Jamisons' loved ones finally achieve closure. If you're squeamish, turn away now! This tale is as grotesque as it is baffling.
Got a strong stomach? Great; you may proceed. |