L.A. Police Seek Public Help With Women's Photos in Grim Sleeper Case

-View the photographs released by the Los Angeles police.-

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Los Angeles authorities expanded their investigation into the Grim Sleeper serial killer case Thursday by asking for the public's help in identifying women in 180 photographs whose images were found in the suspect's home this summer.

Police are trying to determine if there are additional killings among the more than 100 women depicted in the photos.

Last July, 57-year-old Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was arrested and charged with 10 murders and one attempted murder dating back to 1985, and Los Angeles police spent hundreds of hours sifting through thousands of photographs, Polaroids and videotape found in Franklin's house.

The bodies of victims, many working as prostitutes, were all found in close proximity to each other in a neighborhood formerly known as South Central Los Angeles.

Franklin, a mechanic who once worked for the LAPD, was arrested in July after police say they matched his DNA with DNA left on some of the victims. Police were led to Franklin after his 28-year-old son got arrested and gave a DNA swab, authorities said.

Authorities said they narrowed down the confiscated images down to 180 photographs, some of them duplicates of the same women.

At a media conference attended by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck, authorities said they had difficulty determining whether some of the women were alive or dead in the photos.

"We cannot tell," Beck said. "Obviously, as all of you can see, some of them are animated and some are not. It's impossible to tell by the photographs.

Robbery Homicide Detective Dennis Kilcoyne said police have a responsibility to try to determine the whereabouts of the women.

"These are clearly photos of women that Mr. Franklin had contact with," said Kilcoyne. "We have a responsibility to identify these women. They may be alive and well, but we need to be certain."

"If there's nothing we glean from this, we are able to fill in the timeline of Mr. Franklin's life, and that's one of our goals as well," Kilcoyne said.

He declined to talk about the context in which the women's images appeared.

"The lifestyle or the situation that these women are in would defeat our plea with the public," Kilcoyne said.

Police are not sure where the women in the images resided, because Franklin's movements throughout his life are not yet ascertained, authorities said.

"His travel habits are unknown to us," Kilcoyne said. "We believe he spent the majority of his life right here in the city of Los Angeles."

Police Attempt to Identify Fatally Stabbed Intruder

(11/19/10) STRATFORD -Police are trying to identify the man who broke into a Stratford home today after he was fatally stabbed.

Investigators say it happened at around 1 a.m. at 40 Seabreeze Drive . They say the man who broke in may have been looking for help after the stabbing.

Police say the homeowner, Robert Smith, woke up after hearing the man break into his house.

They say the homeowner and the intruder got into some kind of a fight, with the homeowner falling down the steps and then running to a neighbor's house to call police.

Police say they may need to use fingerprints or dental records to identify the suspect. They say he didn't have any identification on him and he wasn't wearing any shoes.

An autopsy is scheduled to be performed.

Assault Charges Filed in Stamford Rampage

(11/18/10) STAMFORD - A man Stamford police say intentionally drove a truck into several vehicles including a loaded school bus is now facing assault charges.

Chris Simonelli, 30, has been charged in connection with Tuesday's crash.

Officers say Simonelli took a box truck from work and deliberately crashed into vehicles.

Simonelli is in critical condition at Stamford Hospital.

-Photo album of the scene-

Kaine Horman Court Filing: Terri's Silence Implies Guilt

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The legal war of attrition in the divorce of missing Portland boy Kyron Horman's father and stepmother continued as more documents were filed in court Friday.

Attorney's for Kaine Horman filed a response to his estranged wife Terri Moulton Horman's withdrawal of a request to seek visitation with the couple's young child last week. In it, they argue that Terri's attachment of a "declaration" was only an attempt to "blame Father and his lawyer for Mother's situation," and that there was no legal need for such statements. Read: Kaine's latest filing

Under a restraining order filed by Kaine Horman, Terri was denied visitation with their young daughter. Kaine alleges that Terri has knowledge of what happened to Kyron. She is the last person to report seeing him alive.

In the papers filed Friday, Kaine asked the court to consider Terri's "silence as an admission regarding Father's factual allegations."

Kyron Horman was 7 when he disappeared from Skyline elementary on June 4. The largest missing person search in Oregon's history has so far turned up no suspects.

In court papers, Kaine Horman characterized Terri as an 'emotionally unstable' and 'unfit' mother -- claims she refuted in her initial plea for visitation. The estranged couple has filed a series of inflammatory motions.

"The fact that Mother's own attorney has told the Court that Mother intends to plead the Fifth speaks volumes about what mother has to hide," attorneys said.

"One can only infer that Mother will not speak because her testimony will lead to criminal liability for Kyron's disappearance."

Kaine and his attorneys said until Terri denies the accusations, no other conclusion can be made.

Kaine and Terri Horman have a divorce hearing set for January. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office is setting up a task force on the case.

A Dateline special on the case airs Friday at 9 p.m. on KGW NewsChannel 8.

Facebook Page Prompts Police To Reopen '84 Cold Case

LYNBROOK, NY (WPIX) — Nassau County police say recent postings on the social networking site Facebook have prompted them to reopen a case of a missing child that was left unsolved for more than 20 years.

Kelly Morrissey disappeared on Jun 12, 1984 after buying cigarettes at a Lynbrook gas station. The attendant was the last person who reported seeing the 15-year-old, police said.

During the months following her disappearance, two other girls went missing - one was a friend of Morrissey, police said. Both girls were later found dead. Detective say determined that the young women had been raped and strangled.

In the death of Morrissey's friend, Theresa Fusco, police arrested three suspects who were convicted in her killing, but those convictions were eventually overturned.

Now police have been paying close attention to a Facebook page about Hot Skates Rink in Lynbrook, where Morrissey used to hang out regularly. There have not yet been any specific clues, police say, but they are hopeful that by starting a conversation new information will come to light.

Discussion topics on the rink's Facebook page such as "Former & Current Staff" and "Back In The Day," piqued the interest of authorities several months ago when several Facebook friends brought up the disappearances.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact 1-800-244-TIPS. There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the case's resolution, police say.

DNA Links Convicted Killer to Four Murders in Bridgeport. Are there Others?

Emanuell Lovell Webb convicted of manslaughter of a woman in Georgia now faces trial in the strangulation murder of 34-year-old Elizabeth "Maxine" Gandy.

DNA evidence has also linked him to the murders of Sharon Cunningham, Minnie Sutton, and Sheila Etheridge. During the late 80s and early nineties, more than a dozen women were killed in Bridgeport.

He lived in Bridgeport from 1987 until August of 1993 when he moved back to Georgia. He was charged in July 1994 in the murder of Evelyn Charity, whom he sexually assaulted and strangled. Webb plead guilty and received a prison sentence of 20 years. He was paroled in 2001.

May 22, 2008, Webb pleads no contest to murdering Sharon Cunningham, Minnie Sutton, and Elizabeth Gandy. More details to come.

Tragic End For Twin Teen Brothers In Hayward

HAYWARD, Calif. -- A tragic story unfolded in Hayward Wednesday afternoon where police were investigating whether a 15-year-old boy murdered his twin brother or if the two teens had entered a failed suicide pact.

According to the department, the tragedy began to unfold prior to 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning after a neighbor called 911 to say they saw a teen breaking into a neighborhood home.

Arriving officers confronted the 15-year-old, who had turned on gas jets inside the home. The teen demanded to be shot, but officers instead Tasered him before he was taken into custody.

During the investigation deputies learned the teen suspect’s twin brother was missing.

On Wednesday morning, authorities found a body down in a heavily-wooded ravine which backs up to Hayward high school.

Wednesday afternoon NewsChopper 2 shot footage of crews being lowered into the ravine to recover the body. The body was taken to the coroner to confirm it was the suspect's twin brother

Investigators were looking at two possibilities when it comes to the boy's death. Both were disturbing.

“At this point we're trying to determine if this was a suicide by the brother and attempted suicide by the other brother or if the brother arrested murdered the sibling,” said Alameda County Sheriff's Department Sgt. J.D. Nelson.

The cul de sac where the targeted home was located remained cordoned off with crime scene tape Wednesday while deputies investigated.

The boys were sophomores at Hayward High School. Additional counselors were brought in Wednesday to talk with staff and students.

“A lot of people are taking it hard,” said Hayward High senior. Achael Romey. “I feel bad for the family as well.”

“They didn't have any problems with anybody,” said sophomore Shiva Chetty. “Just nice kids. Friends with everybody. Nobody expected what happened to happen.”

The school superintendent said neither boy had any reported problems with bullying. Counselors were scheduled to return to the campus Thursday.

The surviving brother was arrested for burglarizing the home. He remained at Eden Hospital recovering from self-inflicted stab wounds.

Their identities were not released because the two boys are juveniles.

Darien Driver Killed in Bizarre Crash

I somehow missed posting this article, although I should've when it had happened.
Joe's last house was in Darien, one street away from this horrible fatal accident which happened July 11th, 2010:

Darien, Conn. (WTNH) - A Darien woman died in an early morning crash on Hollow Tree Road today. Police say speed definitely played a part in the accident.

The residential road in the Noroton Heights section of town was closed for 11 hours while investigators processed the scene.

Anita Rycenga lives in the neighborhood. “It sounded like a huge explosion, like when a transformer, one of those big electrical boxes goes. I bolted out of bed.”

The damage created from this one-vehicle accident is immense.

Around 1:30 am, police say a BMW came through Hollow Tree Ridge Road at an extremely high rate of speed. The female driver apparently lost control along a curve. The car went airborne, flew through the unoccupied bedroom of one house, hit a tree and went into the kitchen of the second house.

“There's a significant debris field spanning two separate residences, the roadways, two houses involved,” stated Darien Police Sergeant Jeremiah Marron. "I've never seen an accident that included the dynamics that took place here."

For such a large and uncommon scene, the outcome could have been much worse. Everyone in the second house was asleep on the second floor and away from the damage. The first house was unoccupied at the time of the accident.

Brooke Barrington said her parents just left for vacation on Saturday and if they hadn't, things might have been very tragic.

“If my mom was in town she would be dead. Her head is at that side of the house, that's her bed.”

No injuries were reported in the homes, and police say they are in the early stages of a long investigation.

Investigators say the homes sustained serious structural damage, and that at least one was in danger of collapsing as they tried to remove the car.

30-year-old Whitney Smith, a Darien resident, suffered severe injuries and died a short time later at Stamford Hospital.

This investigation remains ongoing.

If you witnessed or have information about this accident, please contact the Darien Police Department at 203-662-5300.

Whitney Smith’s family and friends, this week, remembered her as a loving, giving woman who had a great life all set up. Smith died early Sunday when her car collided with two Darien houses.

Chris Smith, Whitney’s father, said the family was devastated by the loss of his daughter, who was to marry Douglas Stella of Milford in September. She was a registered retirement associate at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Purchase, N.Y.

‘Toni Is Gone’: Body Believed to Be That of Missing NIU Student

Courier News- As DeKalb County authorities worked to identify what they believe is the body of missing college freshman Antinette Keller, her family was together at home Sunday, trying to comfort each other and come to terms with the idea that the 18-year-old Plainfield woman is likely dead.

“Basically, Toni is gone. We don’t have her anymore,” said Keller’s cousin, Mary Tarling. “Sometimes the details don’t matter when you bring it down to that. You can’t fix that.”

A poster distribution scheduled for Sunday on the Northern Illinois University campus was cancelled, said Tarling, who had planned to attend the event.

DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen announced late Saturday that investigators with the DeKalb County Major Case Squad found human remains in Prairie Park, along with what appeared to be some of Keller’s personal belongings.

Keller’s family was notified Saturday that the missing person case was reclassified as a death investigation.

Police also asked everyone to think hard about Oct. 14, the day Keller was last seen. If anyone remembers any suspicious activity or suspicious people near DeKalb’s Prairie Park about noon that day, the time Keller was reportedly there, they are asked to call police.

“All we can do is hope for answers over time, which is where we hope … something will surface.” Tarling said. “Someone will say something or remember something.”

Keller was reported missing Oct. 15, one day after she told friends she was going for a walk in the forested 150-acre park.

An intense search for Keller ended Saturday with the discovery in the park.

The mood on campus was somber Sunday, as the news sank in.

“Obviously there’s a lot of sadness, especially for those who knew her,” said NIU spokesman Joe King. “There’s a lot of disappointment that this didn’t turn out better. We were all hoping for a much happier outcome. We wanted to bring her home.”

Because of the shift in the case, police and NIU officials tightened security and increased the police presence on campus.

Campus police extended the late-night ride service schedule and are offering security escorts 24 hours a day. Residence halls are only accessible to residents.

The most recent advisory posted on the university’s website includes safety tips, such as using well-lit routes, and avoiding isolated areas and solo walking trips.

King said he didn’t get the impression that students are fearful and added the safety tips were repeated simply to reinforce them in people’s minds.

“Those precautions are standard precautions we give to students, that any university would give to students,” King said. “We wanted to refresh their memory if out after dark to travel with a group, to avoid areas that are not lit. Things we always try to keep in the forefront of their minds.”

The DeKalb County Major Case Squad investigators are asking anyone with information about Keller’s case to call 815-748-8407.

Hit-and-Run Accident - Hartford - May 30, 2008

Seventy-eight-year-old Angel Arce Torres was struck by two automobiles while attempting to cross Park Street in Hartford at 5:49 p.m. on Friday, May 30, 2008. Mr. Torres passed away from his injuries on May 11, 2009.

Video captured by a nearby surveillance camera shows Mr. Torres apparently being "clipped" by the first car and then being struck by the second car, falling first on the vehicle's roof and then onto the street.

One individual has been convicted in connection with the incident.

In order to assist the investigation, Governor M. Jodi Rell authorized a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Anyone with information about the driver or drivers, should contact the Hartford Police Department.

Blythewood Sanitarium, Inc.

I never even heard of Blythewood until my grandmother mentioned it.
My maternal grandmother's father was a Greenwich milkman in his day (1920s/30s), and would tell my grandmother all about what a strange place it was. He even brought home a cat he took from there, apparently they weren't wanting to keep it. As sharp as Mama is being in her 70s, she doesn't remember details, but told me that her father would speak strange deaths and hushed-up experiments. I decided to research this Sanitarium, find out where it was, and just what went on there.

One article certainly captured my attention and began all the feverish research:

FIND MEMPHIS WOMAN IN GREENWICH LAKE; Her Body Weighted With Stones Leads Officials to Believe Mrs. Biggs a Suicide.
September 08, 1921
"GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 7.--Within a few hours after she had wandered away from Blythewood Sanitarium on the Stanwich Road here, the body of Mrs. Albert Biggs, a prominent resident of Memphis, Tenn., wss found in a lake on the Maurice Wertheim estate in Cos Cob, formerly the Ernest Thompson Seton property."

This lake is a five minute walk from my house.

I wasn't sure it was this actual pond-it was called a lake then, and additionally the only body of water on Wertheim estate.

At first I couldn't find where the Sanitarium was located. I searched my butt off on Google and web articles, looking for anything with an address on it. Unfortunately, when Blythewood existed, it refrained from using a formal address, apparently for privacy reasons... I was told this by an employee at Greenwich Library that I had working on the case. I was eventually let known that the property existed where Greenwich Baptist Church is today, on Indian Rock Lane (off of Stanwich Road, across from Central Middle School).

The article states that the lake that Mrs. Albert Biggs drowned herself in was 1/4 mile from the Sanitarium, so I pinpointed it as the one by my house.

What raised suspicions to me concerning the article is this...

"In her clothing were found stones with which she had evidently weighted herself down. There was also a note stating that her body would be found in the lake on the Wertheim estate."

Isn't it a bit redundant to drown yourself in a lake, all while having a note stating where you'll be found?
I'm not sure if I'm hinting more towards foul play with that one, but it seems to be fishy to me.

________________________________________

Now, not that I'm a tightwad, but pay articles through New York Times (or any other publication) on the internet are not cheap. I discovered a few more interesting and shady articles involving disappearances and more drownings..

I can't buy every article, so I just gathered all the information I could by the short descriptions, etc.

Here are a few:

Local Youth Gone From Sanitarium
June 29, 1935
"Arthur M. Collens, Jr., 22. of this city, son of Arthur M. Collens, president of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, disappeared from the Blythewood Sanitarium in Greenwich shortly before 5 p. m. Thursday. His disappearance was made known Friday when he failed..."


BODY FOUND IN POOL.; Inmate of Sanitarium Believed to Have Drowned Himself.
June 30, 1935 (14 years after Mrs. Biggs)
"...few miles from the spot where the body of Joseph Goodglass, apparently the victim of gangsters, was found, an attendant of Blythewood Sanitarium, here, ..."


ANOTHER pool death:
Ends life on Wertheim Estate
Aug 22, 1941
COS COB, Conn., Aug. 21 Offline body of Miss Rena Seeley, 45year-old nurse of 3366 Bronx Boulevard, New York City, was found floating in a swimming pool on ...


MRS. A. ALEXANDER LEAPS UNDER TRAIN; Lawyer's Wife, a Sanitarium Patient, Eludes Nurse at Greenwich and Is Killed.
Nov 16, 1935
"..Mrs. Susan Tilton Alexander, 27 years old, of Bernardsville, N.J., whose marriage to Archibald Stevens Alexander, a lawyer, was one of the events of the New York social season of 1929, killed herself here today by jumping in front of a train.."

BODY OF O.W. JAQUISH, ARTIST HERE, IS FOUND; Authority on Design Had Been a Patient in Greenwich Sanitarium.
Sep 9, 1931
"..body of Orrin William Jaquish, who has been missing since Aug. 27 from Blythewood Sanitarium on Stanwich Road, Greenwich, where he was a patient, ..."
(Court case against Blythewood involving liability of his disappearance and death)


WALTER LEWISOHN HELD IN SANITARIUM; Has Been Detained at Greenwich, Conn., Since May 22, Court Action Brings Out.
Sep 14, 1923
"..Walter Lewisohn, member of the firm of Lewisohn Brothers, bankers of 11 Broadway, has been an inmate of the Blythewood Sanitarium for the insane at Greenwich, Conn., since May 22, it was disclosed yesterday. He has written many letters to friends and to his attorney begging them to obtain his release..."

Walter Lewisohn Victim Of Fumigation Poison
Aug 2, 1938
"...Former Banker, Friend Of Elwell Of Murder Mystery Case, Dies At Greenwich Sanatorium Greenwich, Conn., Aug. 1 ..."

Trio Cleared In Gas Death At Sanitarium
Aug 28, 1938
Bridgeport, Aug. 27.--(AP.)--On the basic of his speculation that escaping gas probably caused the three persons who were supposed to be guarding the door of Sunset Cottage at Blythewood Sanitarium Greenwich, to fall asleep on their posts. Coroner Theodore E. Steiber...

Sanitarium Operator To Face Charge
Jun 17, 1953

GREENWICH, June 16 (AP)-- William H. Wiley, 37, operator of Blythewood Sanitarium here is under arrest on a charge of operating a mental institution without a license.

DR. WILLIAM WILEY DIES IN GREENWICH; He Founded the Blythewood Psychiatric Sanitarium With Wife in 1906. UNUSUAL METHODS' USED
November 08, 1936

Negro Maid Held For Theft of Ring

Feb 27, 1927
Eliznbotn Kennedy 17 viu arrested today charged with of a ring valued At 1000 As chambermaid at Blythewood Sanitarium la Greenwich she 18 ...


WOMAN DIES, MAN HELD.; Police Are Told That Car Struck Victim on Cos Cob Road.
May 9, 1932
Mrs. Mary Marley, an attendant at Blythewood Sanitarium, died at the Greenwich Hospital early this morning: from injuries received late Friday night. ...


WATSON F. BLAIR, CAPITALIST, DEAD; Chicagoan, Who Retired 37 Years Ago, Victim of Pneumonia in Greenwich, Conn.
"Watson Franklin Blair, retired Chicago capitalist and grain commission merchant, died yesterday of pneumonia in the Blythewood Sanitarium, Greenwich, Conn., where he had long been a patient. He was 74 years old. Funeral services will be held tomorrow at his home, 720 Rush Street, Chicago."

ALEXANDER F. ULLMAN; at Former Betting Commissioner Saratoga Dies at 84
Sep 4, 1943

Ullman, onetime betting commissioner at Saratoga and other York tracks, died on Thursday at the Blythewood Sanitarium, Greenwich, Conn., at tile age of 84. ...

BLYTHEWOOD HALL BURNED; Fire Destroys Gymnasium of Sanitariu..
Dec 22, 1939

"... The large gymnasium and recreation building on the Blythewood Sanitarium grounds, on Stanwieh Road, was burned early this-morning at--a--loss estimated ..."

WARREN DIES AT 47, A VICTIM OF STRAIN AS HEAD OF POLICE
Aug 14, 1929
"Joseph A. Warren, former Police Commissioner, died of general paralysis yesterday morning in the Blythewood Sanitarium at Greenwich, after a gradual decline ..."

___________________________________________

In all my research, I've come to find that the most well known patient from Blythewood seems to be Mrs. Marty Mann, a pioneer in the understanding of female alcoholism.
Her name outnumbers Blythewood articles, but in digging into her articles I was able to find more information on the Sanitarium itself:

"Perhaps fortunately for Marty's remaining shreds of pride, charity patients were never identified at Blythewood. As she rode through the big iron gate of the sanitarium, the contrast with Bellevue was "like going from Hell to Heaven.

Blythewood Sanitarium, once a private estate belonging to the notorious Boss Tweed, had opened in 1905 under the direction of Mrs. Anna C. Wiley, a nurse who had proved exceptionally successful with mentally disturbed patients.

Situated on fifty acres of rustic, wooded land bisected by a meandering stream, Blythewood at it's peak had eight main buildings, eight cottages, a chapel, a building for occupational therapy, and even a little golf course. Handsome naturalistic landscaping and shrubbery graced the grounds."

Most of the buildings are gone today, it was hard to figure out what building was what, but on my visit up to the present-day Church, I saw that the Chapel is still there.

Four separate buildings housed the seventy-five patients. Marty checked in at the main house next to the gate. This gracious mansion with white columns was the estate's original house. Blythewood's administrative center, it contained the doctors' offices as well as the "graduate house" for patients soon to be discharged...

..After being admitted, patients were sent to the "lockup house." There they would be held a few hours or days for observation. Farthest from the road was what was called the "violent house." Many of the patients in this building arrived by ambulance. The violent house contained a padded cell. Marty could hear occasional screams when she was walking back from pottery class. Patients in the violent house were often restrained, with their hands tied. Closer to the road was the "middle house". It had two floors, a finished attic, common rooms, and a small central dining room."

.......

"Though the sanitarium had been established as primarily a psychatric facility, its location in Greenwich was ironic regarding services to alcoholics. The town, a moneyed, educated, urbane bedroom community of New York City, had a reputation for widespread inebriety. As late as 1979, the problem of alcoholism was so pronounced that national study, reported in the Greenwich Time of July 30, 1979, called Greenwich the alcoholic capital of America, second only perhaps to the San Fernando Valley of California."

-read more here-

-blythewood sanitarium, inc. in pictures-

-records of other Greenwich and Fairfield County, Connnecticut Sanitariums (Crestview, Ardendale)-

Greenwich map, 1938:

Ghost Hunting: Easton Union Cemetery and Gallows Hill in Redding

Easton Union Cemetery in Easton, Connecticut is one of the most notorious paranormal spots in the country, known for its White Lady.

In the 1990s, an off-duty firefighter claims to be the first person to have actual damage after hitting her, and along with the damage, has an incredible paranormal experience including a second ghost being seen as well. Read this account, from wikipedia.com (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Cemetery_%28Easton,_Connecticut%29):

"People who have "hit" the White Lady with their car have never had any damage turn up on their vehicles, except in the case of an off-duty fireman in 1993. He was driving his pickup somewhere between Union Cemetery and Stepney Cemetery, which is ten miles away, when the road in front of him took on a reddish glow. In those few surreal seconds, he saw a farmer with a straw hat sitting beside him and a lady in white approaching in the roadway with her hands reaching out toward him. He slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. He heard a thud and even ended up with a dent from the impact, yet no trace of the woman, or the farmer who had been sitting beside him, was ever found.The fact that he heard and was left with physical evidence of the impact is most unusual in cases of cars driving through or into apparitions."

It's so well known that in one of my college courses, 'Death and Dying', my professor (who's a RN) asked us how many have heard of the white lady or tried to see her- more than half of the class raised their hand. A good handful claimed to have actually seen her apparition.

There are other things seen and heard in this cemetery, including a pair of glowing red eyes that follow along those who walk. They can be read about in the wikipedia link above, along with a woman heard crying.

Union Cemetery is connected to Stepney Cemetery in Monroe by Route 59, as seen in this map:

The upper marker (on right side of map) marks Stepney Cemetery, and lower marks Union Cemetery. The marker on the left is Gallows Hill, which I'll mention in a bit.

I was determined to travel between the two cemeteries to see if we witness anything. Stepney Cemetery (in Monroe) is supposedly haunted by it's own white Lady- Hanna Cranna, ex-witch. Read about her here: (http://www.monroehistoricsociety.org/hannacranna.html)

I researched neighboring towns as well, and read of quite a few places in Redding that are apparently haunted.

Gallows Hill particularly interested me. One site's description (http://compmast.tripod.com/putnam/gallows.html):

"Nothing had so much annoyed Putnam and his officers during the campaign of the previous summer on the Hudson than the desertions which had thinned the ranks, and the Tory spies who frequented the camps and conveyed information to the enemy. To put a stop to this it had been determined that the next offender(s) of either sort captured should suffer death as an example.

On February 4th, 1779 Edmond Jones, previously from Ridgefield, was tried at a General Court Martial, found guilty of being a spy, and was accordingly sentenced to death by hanging.

Similarly, on February 6th, 1779, John Smith of the 1st Connecticut Regiment was found guilty of desertion, and sentenced to be shot to death.

General Putnam determined to execute both persons at once...... "make a double job of it," The lofty hill dominating the valley and the camps (known to this day as Gallows Hill) was chosen as the scene of the executions. Following the hanging/shooting, every soldier of the three brigades was ordered to march by a look at the mangled remains."

I also read on another site that none of the soldiers wanted to step up and kill their peers, and that General Putnam ended up taking over and doing the deeds himself. I also heard that they chose the spot on Gallows Hill because one of the boy's mother lived within view; and that it was her house that the soldier had deserted to in the first place resulting in the treason.

I wish I knew the exact spot in the area where the executions took place (on the highest point, which is hard to determine during night), but I know Gallows Hill Road is the road I want to travel.

Then there's this bridge on Diamond Hill Road (from this site: http://reddinghistory.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/haunting-in-connecticut):

"Diamond Hill: Just below the Mark Twain Library there is a super hot area where three people drowned in two separate floods…a couple died in 1955 after their car was caught in the swollen river, and a man died in 1982 attempting to clear the falls in a raft.

At the Diamond Hill Road bridge, Edward Arthur Phoenix, 53, and his wife, Veronica, 47, of Fox Run Road lost their lives when their car was swept into the river below the bridge. Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix were coming home from dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Blair of Great Pasture Road.

A three and one-half hour frantic and near successful attempt to rescue Mrs. Phoenix from a tree, after her husband had been swept to his death, made the tragedy even more horrifying. While volunteer firemen and neighbors tried vainly to reach her in the darkness she clung doggedly to the tree, aware of the efforts to save her. But at length her strength failed and she fell into the river and drowned. At one time the rescuers were within 20 feet of the tree but were turned aside by the tremendous force of the torrent.

An Army helicopter spotted the woman’s body Monday Morning, 1,500 feet from the Diamond Hill Bridge. Mr. Phoenix’s body was recovered early Tuesday about 50 feet further downstream."

Finally, the last place I wanted to visit, Topstone Road. Shadowlands.net describes there being a small lit tent that people have observed disappearing next to train tracks that you cross over:
(http://theshadowlands.net/places/connecticut.htm)

So our journey finally begins..

We travel up route 7 in Redding, and off of route 7 to the right is Topstone Road. Now my boyfriend is one not to linger or take his time while touring. If it were up to me I'd probably drive very slow and maybe get out of the car if the feeling hits, but Joe just coasted along the road- nothing to be seen. No tent apparition, nothing creepy really at all.


We then headed for the Diamond Hill Bridge. Diamond Hill Road itself was quiet and pretty dark, just mildly creepy. The little bridge itself wasn't anything huge, the water below didn't look too far below or two deep-from our view it seemed to be more like a creek. Hard to imagine it being a powerful, scary current like it was on the day the couple plunged in- but remember, that was during a flood. There was nothing too creepy driving over the bridge, nothing seen, felt or heard. Had I gotten out and stood on it though, perhaps the story might've went differently.

The best part of the night was Gallows Hill Road. A super long road, Gallows Hill went on forever, narrowed down, widened up, and turned into a dirt road at one point as well. We felt very strange and creeped out on this road.

The visual of the road alone was creepy, but there was a cold, anxious-type feeling I felt in my core, and the cold feeling ended up being physical as well. We recorded a 10 DEGREE DROP in temperature. Joe's volvo read outside atmospheric temperature being at 50 degrees fahrenheit just outside of the road, then once on the road it lowered itself to 40. This was by far the strangest thing to have happened all night.

We finally made our way to the end of the road, which spilled out to route 59, then headed up towards Stepney Cemetery.

As previously mentioned, people claim to have run over the White Lady on all different spots stretching out along 59, so the more we got to travel this route, the more confident I felt for seeing something.

It is a nice creepy and semi-darkly lit road, but nothing on the way up. Stepney Cemetery disappointed me somewhat- it's situated right in a downtown-ish area, in a well lit spot that's in plain view, so we definitely weren't able to linger for long. Joe was a little irritated, feeling like it was a waste of time driving those five minutes up route 59 to where we were, but I knew we now had another good chance of seeing something by going back down 59 towards Union.

The ride down was uneventful, there were a few other cars on the road, the time then being around 12:15 am. Nothing scary to report, sadly. It seemed like any other back-country road. As we reached the bottom, with Easton Union on our right, Joe simply stopped at the stop sign, and took the left towards Merritt Parkway. I wish I could've circled around a little more, maybe park for a second- but we were all aware of the police's presence in the area.

Behind the cemetery (which situates itself on the corner of the four-way intersection) is a road. The only other time I came up to Easton Cemetery I parked on that road, about halfway down, and pulled the windows down a bit. I listened for anything I could hear, and besides the quiet all I heard was an animal stepping on a branch and cracking it. I heard this sound coming from my left, which wasn't the side of the road of the cemetery, it was opposite. Maybe that sound is what creeped me out, but before and after hearing it, I felt like something was wrong with that area, even though it wasn't part of the actual cemetery.

Later on I researched the area I parked in, and discovered that two separate victims of murder were dumped in a sinkhole where I heard the sound. (http://bansheeparanormal.com/union-cemetery-ct.html)

While getting onto the merrit, we mentioned how funny it was that the real creepy spot of the night turned out to be Gallows Hill, because of that incredibly noticeable cold spot. I hope to return again soon, before Halloween, but wish I had a EVP recorder.

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P.S: I found the spot of the executions on Gallows Hill.

It's in the Gallows Hill Natural Preserve area, and can be found on this site: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=491483

Ghost Hunting: Buckout Road

I've attempted twice to experience something real in two of the most popular paranormal spots in my area. One spot is more hyped-up than it is credible- Buckout Road in West Harrison, NY. It's a road that connects Harrison to White Plains, and is probably known more for it's 'albinos' than known for any ghosts.

My boyfriend grew up nearby in Port Chester, and traveled down the road late at night a few times with his friends. He's claimed to have seen the albinos, that there really is a small community taking shelter somewhere along the road. One of the oldest tales is that if you honk your horn outside of a particular house 3 times that the albinos will come out and eat you. What!

On one particular trip his friend flipped a car on the road. In my researching the road I read there was a turn on the road that used to be marked with 3 x's, and after people drive on that curve bad things sometimes happen. Was this right before that flip?
The 3 x's were supposed to mark the spot where three witches were once hung on a tree- and another version I read it was burned alive.. I'm not sure which (if any) are historically accurate.

This site explains about the creepiness of this road (and historical information):
http://bedofnailz.com/buckout

Apparently Mary Buckhout's grave was robbed, although I haven't found any newspaper articles to really back it up. There are a few other creepy ghost stories on the site, and after reading about them I was dying to venture out there.

So I go adventure to it with Joe, who's now a seasoned veteran of the road, and my ghost-hunt-lovin' friend, Rob N.

Ideally I would've loved to stop along different spots of the road and explore outside, but we were worried about police stopping along and seeing us. On top of that it was pretty damned creepy. I wish I could've tracked where on the road we were compared to spots known for activity, but we just made pretty blind run.

I didn't see anything crazy happening at any point, but the road itself is cool to travel- it narrows down at points and the lack of light can lead much to your imagination.

The next time I ghost hunt, again with Joe, we're in his Volvo station wagon, heading up to Easton.

Witness Recalls Garecht Kidnapping

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- After more than 20 years, the only witness to the Hayward kidnapping of Michaela Garecht has come forward to tell her story.

Michaela's friend Katrina was there when Michaela was abducted in 1988 by a man whose description matches that of Phillip Garrido, now charged with the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping.

Katrina is now 29-years-old, but the kidnapping has haunted her to this day, so much so that the mother of two does not want to reveal her full name or where she lives.

Wednesday was the first time she had given a television news interview in 21 years.

"My first hope would be that she's alive and that I can meet her again," Katrina said.

Katrina says she and Michaela Garecht were 9-years-old when they walked back to a neighborhood market in Hayward to retrieve their scooters when Michaela was abducted.

"That's when I heard a scream, I looked and I saw a man putting her into his car and the screaming continued," Katrina said.

Katrina watched that man drive off with Michaela. She was the sole witness.

Twenty-one years later, Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped in 1992, was found, and her accused abductor, Phillip Garrido, and his car were suddenly on national TV.

"Oh, it put a pit right in my stomach. I called Michaela's mother right away and I told her, 'this could be the car, have we thought of him as a suspect,'" Katrina said.

In 1988, Katrina helped detectives put together a composite sketch of Michaela's abductor. The sketch resembles a photo of Garrido taken in 1976.

"I have not seen a photo that looks more like Michaela's kidnapper than his," Katrina said.

Garrido served 10 years and six months for a violent sex offense and was paroled early, about a year before Michaela was kidnapped. Over the years, Katrina says the kidnapping continued to haunt her.

"I won't deny that there's some feelings of guilt there, that it's her and not me, but most of all I'm just sad," Katrina said.

The discovery of Jaycee Dugard has Michaela's friends and family hoping it will lead to another miracle, this time for them.

Haleigh Cummings Update: Attorney Says Tommy Croslin Knows Who Killed Haleigh

Prime Writer- In a stunning twist of events, Tommy Croslin’s attorney spoke to Jane Velez-Mitchell and stated that his client knows who killed Haleigh Cummings.

The information was revealed after several weeks of media interviews held by relatives of Misty Croslin. The blame has been placed at the feet of Misty Croslin’s Cousin, Joe Overstreet. You may watch the startling revelation during the interview in the video here:

Tommy Croslin’s attorney says Tommy knows who killed Haleigh Cummings

Haleigh Cummings has been missing since February 9, 2009. The facts surrounding the case have remained a mystery and no one has come forward with any evidence that has been made public to back up the claims made by Misty, Tommy, or Grandma Flo (Flora Hollars). Flo Hollars has appeared on the Nancy Grace and Jane Velez Mitchell shows multiple times and has revealed multiple stories regarding Haleigh’s disappearance and murder.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed that they found possible evidence that is being tested for a connection to Haleigh Cummings. They denied that they have found Haleigh Cummings’ remains.,

Reports have surfaced stating investigators have found two cinder blocks and a yellow rope, believed to have been used in the murder of Haleigh Cummings.

These reports have not been verified by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Haleigh Cummings: Haleigh’s Great-Grandma Fights Back!

CNN- The great-grandmother of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, Annette Sykes, has had enough of Misty Croslin’s grandmother’s tales.

She doesn’t really care what Flora Hollars has to say about her own grandkids, but she does not want her talking about her grandson, Haleigh’s father Ron Cummings.

Hollars has been talking for weeks about how her grandchildren, Misty Croslin, Tommy Croslin and Joe Overstreet, were allegedly all involved in the disappearance of the little Florida girl. She has told the media five different theories about what happened to Haleigh and finally, she implicated the girl’s own father, Ronald Cummings. She claims that Ronald knows more than he is saying and she thinks he was involved to some extent.

Sykes blasted Hollers for her comments. Hollars also claimed that Misty Croslin was still coming down off of drugs when Cummings left his children with her and went to work. Sykes said that is completely false and that she was at the house that night and Croslin was not high. She went on to say that Misty Croslin even made the kids dinner. Sykes says her grandson would have never left his children with Croslin if he thought she was “strung out.”

Dogs Sense Remains on Garrido Property

ANTIOCH, California (CNN) -- Two cadaver dogs working separately each showed interest in the same area of property belonging to kidnapping suspects Phillip and Nancy Garrido, a possible indication of human remains, police said Thursday.

Authorities will use ground-penetrating radar equipment on Friday to examine the area, and "we will eventually be digging in that location," said Hayward police Lt. Chris Orrey.

The Garridos face a combined 29 felony counts in the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, then 11, from South Lake Tahoe, California. Authorities believe the couple held Dugard in a hidden compound behind their home for 18 years and have said Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, fathered her two children.

On Tuesday, police from Hayward and Dublin, California, began executing search warrants simultaneously on the Garrido property and an adjacent property to which Garrido had access.

They are seeking any evidence in the 1988 abduction of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht of Hayward and the 1989 disappearance of 13-year-old Ilene Misheloff of Dublin. Both agencies have said that while Garrido has not been named a suspect in either case, he cannot be eliminated as a suspect.

On Wednesday, authorities said they had found bones on the Garrido property as well as the adjacent property but do not know whether they are animal or human. The bones are being analyzed, Orrey said on Thursday, and no new information was available about them.

In addition, a bone fragment was found on the adjacent property last week. Police said it was probably human, and it is being tested at the state DNA lab.

Police said the spot that the dogs showed interest in was in "open ground" on the Garrido property. The first dog gave a tentative indication of something there, so the second dog was brought in and made a more definite indication, said Sgt. J.D. Nelson of Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The dogs, which undergo between six months and a year of training, are trained to find human remains.

It is possible for the dogs to give "false positives," Nelson said -- a reason why the second dog was brought in. However, since both dogs showed interest, going forward with the other methods is recommended, he said.

Orrey said the digging could begin as soon as Friday, but was not sure when it would occur.

Police have disassembled some horse sheds and a deck on the properties, Orrey said, and plan to overturn the concrete slabs they were built on in order to have the dogs check the spots out. There are other slabs on the property as well, she said, some of which are "randomly placed" and "piqued our interest," she said.

Authorities have seized documents from the home, apparently some writings by Garrido -- "it appears he was a pretty prolific writer," Orrey said.

Police also have taken some things for Jaycee and her family, and "a few things we want to take a second look at," she said, adding, "nothing compelling so far has been taken." Officers are "doing a lot of photo-documentation" in case anything turns out to be connected to another case, she said.

The operation may wrap up midweek next week, Orrey said. The home is in unincorporated Contra Costa County, near Antioch, California.

Meanwhile, officials at Contra Costa County Animal Services Department said Dugard and her daughters will be reunited with pets taken from the Garrido home after he and his wife were arrested in late August -- five cats, two dogs, three cockatiels, a pigeon, a white mouse and a parakeet.

Officials said the animals appeared to be well cared-for. It was unclear when Dugard would get them back.

Police: Bones Found on Garrido Property

ANTIOCH, California (CNN) -- Investigators have found bones on the property where kidnapping suspects Phillip and Nancy Garrido lived for 18 years with Jaycee Dugard and her two daughters, police said Wednesday.

More bones of undetermined origin also were found on property adjacent to the home, Lt. Chris Orrey of the Hayward Police Department said.

"We have located what appear to be bones on both properties," Orrey told reporters. "We can't tell at this point if those bones are human or animal."

The evidence has been sent to a laboratory for analysis, Orrey said.

Searchers were looking for evidence linking the Garridos to the disappearances of Michaela Garecht in 1988 and Ilene Misheloff in 1989.

Hayward Police executed a search warrant Tuesday in connection Garecht's case. She was 9 when she was last seen, police said.

In addition, police in Dublin, California, obtained a search warrant for the same locations in their investigation of the 1989 disappearance of 13-year-old Misheloff, police said.

Both warrants were executed simultaneously Tuesday, near Antioch, California, in unincorporated Contra Costa County, east of San Francisco.

Investigators will continue Thursday to remove debris in anticipation of using search dogs and ground-penetrating radar, Orrey said.

About 75 percent of the debris on the Garrido property has been searched for possible evidence, she said. Three truckloads of trash, debris and trees have been carted away, but another eight to 15 truckloads remain, she said.

"We haven't found anything that breaks open our case," she said.

Garecht's mother said Tuesday that she holds out hope that her daughter will be found alive.

"I know that if Jaycee Dugard can be found alive and come home after 18 years, then my daughter can be found alive and come home," Sharon Murch told reporters at a news conference.

The Garridos face a combined 29 felony counts in connection with the 1991 kidnapping of Dugard, then 11, from South Lake Tahoe, California.

Authorities believe the couple held Dugard in a well-hidden compound behind their home for 18 years and have said Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, fathered two children with Dugard. The Garridos live near Antioch, California, in unincorporated Contra Costa County, east of San Francisco.

Police from both agencies said that while Garrido has not been named a suspect in the other abductions, he cannot be eliminated as a suspect in either case. Neither police department has interviewed Dugard, police said.

Garecht was abducted by a stranger in front of a market in south Hayward on November 19, 1988, according to Murch's Web site on her missing daughter, MissingMichaela.com.

Over the past two decades, police have followed some 13,000 tips in investigating her disappearance, Orrey said.

She said Hayward police have also noted similarities between the Garecht and Dugard cases. The victims were similar in age and appearance, Orrey said, and both were abducted in daylight, in a "brazen" manner.

The suspect vehicle in the Garecht case is also similar to the sedan found on the Garrido property, she added, and in pictures from that time, Garrido appears to resemble a sketch of a suspect based on a witness description.

Murch said she also noticed the similarities in their cases and thought it could lead to finding her daughter.

"My first thought when I heard Jaycee was found was please, God, let Michaela be with her," Murch said.

Misheloff failed to make it home from school on January 30, 1989, Dublin Police Lt. Kurt von Savoye said.

"For 20 years, we have been attempting to determine what happened." There is no eyewitness that could say with certainty she was abducted, and evidence in the case was limited, he said.

A witness did report seeing Misheloff getting into a vehicle, a sedan similar to one found on the Garrido property, at the time of her disappearance, von Savoye said. Garrido "has demonstrated a propensity to abduct young girls," police said in a statement, and he was released from prison a few months before Misheloff disappeared. Dublin is about 40 miles from Antioch.

Misheloff's family is aware of the search warrant execution but are out of town on a family emergency, von Savoye said.

In the property search, there are no current plans in place to raze structures, Orrey said, but "we are very interested in what might be behind walls, under flooring, under the ground." Authorities are prepared to disassemble structures if needed, she said.

Cop Back on Duty Following Tragic Crash

They need to see release what events had happened to cause the accident.

Milford (WTNH) - A Milford police officer involved in a crash in Orange that claimed the life of two young people has returned to work.

Officer Jason Anderson suffered minor injuries following the accident back in June. David Servin and Ashlie Krakowski, both 19 years old and from Orange, died.

Police Chief Keith Mello says Ofc. Anderson is inside doing clerical work and is not allowed on the road.

State Police are investigating the crash.

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