A barely-literate high school drop-out turns up dead with two pages of encrypted notes stuffed into his pockets. Sounds like something right out of a crime thriller movie, doesn't it? For Ricky McCormick, this was no work of fiction. This was his life... and death. Dumped in a field in St. Charles County, Missouri, 41-year-old Ricky McCormick's body was already decomposing by the time he was found on June 30, 1999. A woman driving along a field road just off of Route 367 noticed the body lying face-down near a cornfield. He had last been seen on June 25 at Forest Park Hospital in St. Louis (which is now abandoned). Ricky's body was so decomposed that he had to be identified via fingerprint analysis. Although Ricky was known to have health issues, the police believed foul play was involved. Besides, the scene looked staged. How did Ricky end up almost 20 miles from his work and home when he had no car and no means of public transportation to get him there? And why was he dumped in an area where multiple other bodies had been discovered both before and after his death? And just what the hell was scribbled onto those two pages of notes? By all accounts, Ricky McCormick was a low-risk victim. Poor and chronically ill with a seemingly low intelligence and criminal background. After they found his body, police ran the usual gauntlet of interviewing those who knew Ricky. There was no clear suspect or motive, and the cause of death remained undetermined (albeit suspicious). What the police apparently failed to tell Ricky's loved ones was that he was found with two bizarre, encrypted notes stuffed into his pockets. And nobody talked about this for 12 years. Finally, in 2011, the FBI began investigating Ricky's death as a homicide and placed a call for help to the public on their website, asking for anyone who could crack Ricky's code to come forward. The FBI's Cryptoanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) and the American Cryptogram Association were both unsuccessful at cracking the code. When interviewed in 2012 by The Riverfront Times, Ricky's family claimed his history of encrypting his writings (something he was said to have done since childhood) was really just a bunch of "nonsense" and that they doubted he was capable of writing those notes. According to his mother, all that Ricky could write was his own name. Everything else was merely scribbles. In fact, Ricky's own mother claims that Ricky was "retarded" and was thought to suffer from bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. He had been taken to see a psychiatrist, but it is unclear as to how much formal treatment Ricky ever received. He was known to have an incredibly vivid imagination and was a true storyteller - that is, when he wasn't off by himself, acting aloof. As a boy at recess, he would stand away from the other students and just be quiet, keeping to himself. Ricky somehow made it through to high school but eventually dropped out and began working random odd jobs. He typically worked graveyard shifts and tried to keep himself at a distance from the city's hardened criminals and drug dealers. However, Ricky himself became a criminal in 1992 when he was arrested by the St. Louis police for having fathered two children with a girl under the age of 14. He was 34 at the time of his arrest. Ricky was given a psychiatric evaluation while awaiting trial for the first-degree sexual abuse charge, and it was found that he probably had some type of mental health issue. However, he was deemed fit to stand trial. He was locked up for 13 months. Ricky ended up working at the Amoco gas station on Chouteau Avenue, and, just a few weeks before his death, took a trip to Orlando - the second and final trip he would make there in 1999. He stayed in Room 280 at the Econo Lodge. Why was Ricky in Orlando? It doesn't appear to have been a simple vacation, as phone records indicate that either he or his girlfriend at the time had made numerous calls to the Orlando area prior to his visit. While in Orlando, Ricky made one phone call to his employer at Amoco. After two days in Orlando, Ricky returned to St. Louis. When he returned from that final trip, his girlfriend noticed a definite change in Ricky, as she later confessed to police. To her, Ricky seemed afraid of something - or someone. But Ricky wasn't open to talking about his experiences in Orlando or what had taken him there in the first place. All that we know about Ricky's final few days alive is that he checked himself into Barnes-Jewish Hospital on June 22, at around 3 in the afternoon. He reported having chest pain and shortness of breath, neither symptom having been uncommon for Ricky, who was known to be something of a caffeine addict with heart problems. Ricky was kept under observation for two days, but the possibility of a heart attack was eliminated. Ricky was discharged and went to visit his beloved aunt, Gloria McCormick. She was someone special whom Ricky felt comfortable confiding in, but it doesn't seem that he told her anything about his trip to Orlando. On the 25th, Ricky checked himself into Forest Park Hospital, which is located just 2 miles away from Barnes-Jewish. Doctors thought he was simply having an asthma flare-up and chose not to admit him for treatment, releasing him just before 6 PM. The last anyone reportedly heard from Ricky was his girlfriend, who claimed he had called her on June 26 at 11:30 AM and was headed to Amoco for some food. He was last seen at Amoco on the 27th by a fellow employee, and that he had left. Since Ricky's time of death was likely on the 27th, Ricky only had a few hours left to live after leaving Amoco. So, who might have wanted to kill Ricky McCormick? The main suspect for detectives following the murder was a known drug dealer named Gregory Lamar Knox, who lived near Ricky and was already a suspected in several murder-for-hire cases. An anonymous source had tipped off police that Knox claimed responsibility for murdering a black man who worked at Amoco. However, no formal arrests have ever been made. Ricky's girlfriend, however, suspected Baha "Bob" Hamdallah, a former store owner and drug dealer with a long and bloody criminal history. Ricky had been associated with Hamdallah and might have been running errands for him down in Orlando. Had Ricky somehow screwed up in Orlando? Had a deal gone bad? Or was something else going on? Were these notes a clever rouse to distract the police? Was Ricky simply acting as a courier, the notes having been written by someone with a much higher IQ? If these notes were simply being carried by Ricky, acting as a courier, then who wrote them, and who were they being taken to? And why were they clearly never received? We might never know the truth. Numerous attempts at cracking Ricky's code have been made in the last few years without any real results. Only time will tell if the mystery surrounding Ricky's death will ever be solved. Think you can break the code? The FBI asks that you fill out this form if you think you've got it cracked.
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In Season 2, Episode 1 of Twin Peaks, Major Briggs delivers a special message to Special Agent Dale Cooper, who is investigating the mysterious death of a teenage girl in the town of Twin Peaks. Although Twin Peaks is a work of fiction, there seem to be a lot of pulls from real-life encounters with... owls. And/or aliens. As it turns out, the owls might really not be what they seem. Of course, that depends on who you ask. For hundreds of years, owls have been regarded as pseudo-mystical symbols of vast wisdom. Native American tribes often reserved the owl for their shamans. In Ancient Greek mythology, the owl was the symbol for the goddess Athena. Ancient Christians, on the other hand, linked owls with Adam's first wife Lilith, who, through her disobedience, became associated with evil. If you ask a UFOlogist or someone who claims to be an abductee or witness, you might get some different associations. That's right, there are some people out there who claim that owls are linked to experiences with extra-terrestrials. In fact, you can visit Mike Clelland's blog and get an earful of interviews on the subject. Probably one of the most well-known experiences is the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter. On August 21, 1955, five adults (including Billy Ray Taylor and Elmer Sutton) and seven children walked into the Hopkinsville (a small town in Christian County, Kentucky) police station and claimed that they had just been in an hours-long stand-off with small, dark creatures at the Sutton farm. You read that correctly; they were in a shootout with what were assumed to be owl-like aliens. When police arrived at the farm, they found evidence of gunfire but nothing else. The next day, Taylor, his wife, and two of the Suttons (who were itinerant carnival workers) had packed up and left. Neighbors told the investigating officers the next morning that the residents had left after the creatures apparently returned at 3:30 AM. The creatures were described as having claw-like hands, massive pointed ears, and stood from about two to four feet in height. They would appear in doorways and windows and quickly vanish before the residents could shoot them. Skeptics believe that the story is rather fabricated and that the creatures could have simply been Great Horned Owls or Eagle Owls. However, some UFOlogists believe that there is no evidence to suggest that real owls were involved or that this could have been a hoax. This is far from being the only report of an encounter with aliens that somehow is linked to owls. In fact, there are cases where owls have been seen around the time of a reported alien encounter. One such report comes from Cornwall, England, which is as far southwest as you can get in England. In the village of Mawnan, there have been multiple sightings of what is known as the "Owlman" since the 1970's. On Easter in 1976, June and Vicky Melling, who were on holiday with their parents at the time, reported seeing a bird-like man hovering over Mawnan Smith Old Church. The story made the rounds, of course, as most stories do in small UK towns. Over the years, other accounts were added to the mix, including one from 1998. A woman was driving from Mawnan to Gweek (which is only about 7 miles from Mawnan) at about 11 PM when she saw a bright, glowing orange light about the size of a beach ball hovering in the air. She parked her car and watched it, losing track of time. She ended up losing two hours of time, though it felt much shorter. When she exited her groggy state, she saw what looked like an owl-human hybrid hovering about 15 feet in the air. The woman did know of the "Owlman" legend, which skeptics suggest could have influenced what she thought she saw. However, another sighting happened in 2003, as Liz Randall's daughter reported seeing lights over Old Church. It happened around 2 AM, as Liz's daughter sat in a car with her friend, listening to music. (They didn't want to be rude and awaken their neighbours with the music.) The women reported seeing a bluish-white block of light pulsating in the air above them. They, too, lost track of time and eventually went home feeling extremely fatigued. Owls have also been associated with death and the occult. Just ask these Reddit users about their experiences. While it is hard to give credence to stories told on the Internet, some of these stories are pretty compelling. (Scroll down that page and read the comments from user "lauriemama".) In fact, owls have long been a part of pagan lore. (Side note: I consider myself to be pagan.) In Scottish Gaelic, we call them cailleach-oidhche which, interestingly enough, translates both to "owl" and "spiritless fellow". Cailleach is the term used for the crone goddess of winter. She is revered as the ancient Earth itself, full of earthly wisdom and overseer of transformations and death. Owls act as guides to the dead going through the underworld. This is why we are taught to revere owls, and some of us pay particular homage to Cailleach and her owl companions around Samhain (a.k.a., Halloween) because this day represents the merging of the Old Year and the New. Whatever the case, owls seem to have this strange, inexplicable synchronicity with the supernatural and extra-terrestrial experiences. Or, at least, that's what many reports claim. If, in fact, any of these eyewitness reports are true, should we fear owls? Should we revere them? Are the owls not what they seem? References:
The Collectors: A Canadian UFO Experience by Corina Saebels hidden experience The Hidden Lives of Owls: The Science and Spirit of Nature's Most Elusive Birds by Leigh Calvez Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter Mysterious Universe Podcast 19.07 The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and the UFO Abductee by Mike Clelland "The Owl-UFO Connection Continues" "Owls - Symbology and Mythology" "Owls & UFOs" - David Weatherly 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? 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. 22-year-old Todd Geib decided he had enough of the kegger and set out on his own to make the short walk home. Between 12:47 and 12:57 AM on Sunday, June 12, 2005, Todd made a series of calls to loved ones, the last one stating that he was "in a field". The call was cut off, and no one would hear from Todd again.
At the time, Todd was living with his cousin at 291 Moon Court in Casnovia, Michigan, located just off North Newaygo Road (M-37) at Half Moon Lake. By all accounts, Todd was a smart and capable young man who happened to be an avid outdoorsman. He delighted in sports and spent time dirt-biking, fishing, and hunting. He was employed at Hager Distribution, Inc. in Wyoming, which is about 30 miles south of Casnovia. He was also a religious man who put stock in the afterlife. Earlier in the day on Saturday, June 11, Todd had spent time at his parents' home in nearby Ravenna. Afterward, he returned to the home he shared with his cousin before leaving for Half Moon Bar & Grille at around 7:30 PM, where he met his best friend, two other male friends, and two female friends. The group left the bar together at roughly 9:30 PM. That night, an annual kegger was being hosted in an abandoned orchard about two miles north of White Road, and Todd's group was in attendance. It was a large party, consisting of over 50 people. As was later reported by those in attendance, there was supposedly a fight that broke out around 12:45 AM and that there had been a gaggle of guys from Kent City there looking for a fight. Whether or not Todd was involved, it was apparently around this time that he decided to leave the party and return home. At 12:47 AM, Todd called the friend who drove him there to tell the friend he'd "had enough" and was leaving. A few minutes later, he phoned a contact and told them that he was "in a field." The last person to hear from Todd was his sister. After that, it was as though Todd had vanished into thin air. Even a search party 1,500 volunteers strong could not find him over the course of three different searches. Todd was simply gone. That is, until a couple saw him 21 days later, seemingly standing upright in Ovidhall Lake, which is located just to the north of the intersection of Peters and White Road. (Ovidhall Lake is less than two miles away from Todd's home on Moon Court.) Todd's head and shoulders emerged from the smooth surface of the lake, but Todd wasn't going for a swim. Todd was dead. Fully-clothed, wallet in his pocket, and partially submerged, Todd looked as though he had simply gone for a swim and somehow died. In fact, a police officer told Todd's mom Kathy that they suspected Todd had gone swimming (... Fully clothed WITH his wallet on him?! You'd have to be pretty drunk to do that, right?) and accidentally drowned due to being intoxicated (as he had a .12 blood alcohol level). The thing is, the autopsy revealed that Todd had no water in his lungs. Typically, when a person drowns, they will have a collection of water in their lungs. They also tend to float face-down. Guess what else complicates this case? The time-frame and time-of-death. At a 2009 medical examiners conference, Dr. Michael Sikirca presented crime scene recovery and autopsy photos to other forensic pathologists, and everyone who saw them agreed that Todd had only been dead two or three days before his body was found. So, what does this mean? It means that Todd Geib could have been the victim of foul play. Homicide. And not just plain old homicide, but kidnapping and unlawful detainment by an unknown captor... Or group of captors. Todd Geib wasn't a little guy. At 5'11" and 180 pounds, even an intoxicated Todd would've been tough to disable and kidnap. As an athlete and avid outdoorsman, Todd had physical strength and survival know-how. He likely wouldn't have spent three weeks wandering around, lost in an area so close to home. And he probably wouldn't have gone swimming fully-clothed after having been missing for so long. Someone killed Todd Geib. And, if you ask some of the conspiracy-minded folks online, they might just tell you that Todd was a victim of the same world-wide group of killers that have taken the lives of well over 40 college-age young men over the past few decades. I'm talking about the Smiley Face Killers. Law enforcement officials will tell you that this group is a fabrication, that the deaths are just eerily coincidental. And maybe, just maybe, they're right. It would be better if they were. But I don't think they are. I first learned about the Smiley Face Killers from watching this docu-drama a few years ago. At first, I thought it was merely a clever twist on the found footage genre, which it is... But it deals very much with real cases. While there are some differences between each of the deceased men, there are some striking similarities. For one, the profile (just take a look at the cover photo of this Facebook group) of the victim is consistent: young adult males (many of whom were in college), predominantly white, and reported missing by loved ones after going to bars or parties. Many of these victims had been missing for several weeks and, after their bodies were found, were discovered to have only been dead for a few days. All of these victims were found in or near bodies of water, and most of them were possibly staged to look like accidental drownings. The killings started just about 20 years ago, in 1998, and appear to be ongoing. While the largest concentrations of these deaths have happened in the northeastern Atlantic and Midwestern United States, similar reports have been circulating the world over. Now, if you ask Todd Geib's family what happened, they also don't put much stock in the official report and ruling of accidental death. In fact, back in 2012, his mother, Kathy, told mLive that she believed - as did many professionals - that Todd had been killed elsewhere and his body dumped in the lake, staged to look like an accidental drowning. Kathy has spent a lot of time fighting for the truth, for justice. In 2012, she formed a rally in Ravenna called Justice For Todd in hopes that it would inspire police to re-open the investigation. However, it appears that Michigan State Police have been hesitant to do so. Who is responsible for Todd Geib's bizarre and tragic death? Surely, someone must know something. Casnovia is a small town where you end up knowing your neighbor's business, whether you meant to or not. Yet it seems like Todd's story was just a blip on the radar when it came to local news. Todd is not going to be forgotten, nor are the dozens of other young men who've met similar fates. References Case Studies in Drowning Forensics - Kevin Gannon & D. Lee Gilbertson "Drowning the Smiley Face Murder Theory" - Drake et. al, for the Center for Homicide Research Footprints At The River's Edge "Mother of Muskegon County's Todd Geib hosting rally urging police to reopen death investigation" - mLive "The 'Smiley Face Killer' Theory That Connects 40 College Students' Deaths" - Jim Goad, for Thought Catalog Grand Rapids, Michigan, was once considered to be a safe place. That was before my birth in 1984. As my mother and grandparents told me, there was once a time when you could leave your windows open at night and doors unlocked, and nobody ever thought twice about something bad happening.
That is, until the community's sense of safety came screeching to a halt in 1970. By all accounts, Shelley Speet Mills should have felt secure in her home at 314 College Avenue. She had just gotten married to Lowell band teacher Bill Mills 17 days before her life was viciously taken from her. Shelley's mother, Vesta, was driving all the way from Holland on the morning of September 15, 1970 to take Shelley to lunch. With Vesta was her father - Shelley's grandfather - who was blind. When Vesta reached the home, she left her father in the car while she went to knock on the front door after Shelley failed to appear upon Vesta honking the car horn. No one answered. It was unlike Shelley to not answer, especially since the women had made plans for that day. Vesta was able to get in through the unlocked door and entered the home. She found what no mother should ever have to see - her daughter, lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor, her matted hair cloaking her face. Vesta quickly phoned the police, followed by a call to Bill Mills, but it was too late; Shelley was already deceased. Shelley had been stabbed 32 times - once in the chest, once in the back, and 30 times in the neck, which nearly decapitated her. The weapon (which was certainly a knife) was never found, and DNA testing did not exist back then like it does today. Who would do this? There were no obvious suspects, and Bill Mills was ruled out. Was this just a random attack? Shelley wasn't a careless young woman and reportedly locked her doors. The case ran cold as leads dried up. A year later, another woman - 25-year-old student Barbara Larson - was found stabbed to death in her mobile home, with the majority of her wounds occurring in the head and neck area, just like Shelley's. Barbara attended school in the Heritage Hill area, so police became concerned that they might be looking for the same suspect. In May of 1975, another woman was found deceased. This time, it was 20-year-old Laurel Jean Ellis, whose boyfriend, Carl Novak, found her body in her apartment at 627 Fountain Street NE. Laurel had not been seen or heard from in about a week, so Carl decided it was time someone checked on her. He found his girlfriend's body nude and decomposing, having been stabbed 60 times (45 of which were to the face and neck) before being strangled. DNA evidence was located near the door to the apartment, but analysis could not be conducted because science just wasn't there quite yet. Several months later, social worker Linda King was murdered at her home on Clancy Avenue NE, having been stabbed numerous times in the chest and strangled with her own clothing. If there had been any doubt about a serial killer before, there was little doubt to be had after Linda's death. Sadly, Linda would not be the final victim. Kathryn Darling, who was two months pregnant at the time, was murdered in her home in March of 1976. Friends that had gone to check on her discovered Kathryn (whose husband was then serving a five-year prison sentence) in the bedroom, having been beaten and stabbed. Her toddler son was found uninjured. Just two months later, the killer struck again, this time slaughtering Lois DeRitter in the Walker area, just to the west of Grand Rapids. On Christmas Eve of 1976, Nancy Sweetman was walking to her boyfriend's house. Around 12:55 AM, a loud ruckus was heard and reported by a neighbor. The responding officer found Nancy stabbed to death and a trail of blood leading to a water spigot on a neighboring lawn where the killer had apparently tried to wash their hands. That responding officer? He was Nancy's own brother, Officer Ronald Sweetman. Ida Mae Luchie was the next unfortunate victim. In November of 1977, she was found stabbed to death in the laundry room of her apartment located at 440 Crescent Street NE. She had also been bludgeoned with a banister spindle. Joanne Eggleston was the next victim. She was 21 at the time and had just returned to her home to take a nap on the sofa. Suddenly, a man entered and put a belt into her mouth. Joanne resisted, fighting back as hard as she could, which earned her a nasty stab wound to the throat. The thrust was so strong that the knife's blade actually broke off in her neck! This caused the killer to flee, and Joanne, who was paralyzed in all but an arm, to call for help. Joanne should've died. But she didn't. A few days after her attack, the Grand Rapids Press ran a scoop on her story. That night, the killer, probably feeling disempowered by their inability to finish Joanne off, struck again, likely to prove that they could still get the task done. This sadly left 21-year-old Catherine Fingleton dead, her body unceremoniously dumped near the I-96 expressway overpass, just a few blocks away from the home she shared with her fiance. A figure would eventually emerge from the shadows as a main suspect in the cases. Lamont Marshall was in his 20's when the murders were taking place and seemed to always be sniffing around at the crime scenes while police were investigating. Remember the banister spindle used to bludgeon Ida Mae? It was finally linked to being from Marshall's home after he had been questioned by detectives. Marshall was finally put away, and Joanne - the only surviving victim - was able to positively identify him as her attacker before Marshall became eligible for parole. In 2011, a man named Russell Vane was convicted of murdering Kathryn Darling. But did Marshall murder the other women? Unfortunately, many of these murders remain technically unsolved, even though they ceased with the death of Catherine Fingleton. Many of these victims have loved ones who are still seeking that extra bit of closure. As of right now, Detective Sergeant Chris Postma with the Grand Rapids Police Department's Major Case Team, is handling Shelley Speet's case. Any information that you might have regarding these unsolved murders should be forwarded to him. Let us hope that, in an era booming with forensic technology, that these cases can be finally solved. Resources: Delayed Justice "Heritage Hill killer eluded police in pre-DNA era" - mLive "Revisiting a Murder" Ghosts of Grand Rapids by Nicole Bray & Robert DuShane (Recommended read!) I decided to start a weekly blog dedicated to the murder cases, mysteries, and other forms of mayhem that pique my interest and ultimately drive me to write the things I write.
I have a lot of ideas buzzing around in my mind. The mysterious death of Elisa Lam. The disappearances of ships and aircraft in and around the Great Lakes (which is where I've spent my entire life). The possibility that the Titanic was deliberately sank and not even really the Titanic. The Smiley Face Killers who murder young men and dump their bodies in fresh waters. The massive number of people who go missing in national parks and forests every year. These are what is to come. I will also ask you, my lovely readers... Is there a topic that you would like to have me cover? If so, leave a comment! I'm always interested in learning more and educating others on the mysteries of our wacky and wonderful world. |