unsolved

Maybe It Was Jason - The Girl Scout Murders

Maybe It Was Jason - The Girl Scout Murders

Well, well well. Long time, no blog. I'll hopefully start holding myself to a schedule of a post every two weeks. It means more time for research and more time for me to apply for jobs! But, it has been much longer than two weeks since we had a bit of murder and mystery. And, considering it's summer, I think it's time that I bring you back to camp. I, personally, experienced Girl Scout Camp like in the murder I'll be telling you about. And what's a camp experience without some scary stories about how a ghost is going to get you or a murderer hiding in the woods?

Most of the time, you have nothing to worry about.

At Camp Scott in 1977 (June 13th, to be exact), there were signs that everyone should have been worried. They were the little details that normally were the sort of thing you embellished your urban legend with: scary notes, ransacked tents, a dark and stormy night, and one tent just a bit too far out of the way. But this scary story would become a scary reality when Michelle Guse, Lori Farmer, and Denise Milner were found murdered.

Trigger warnings in this story include: child death, rape, mutilation, racism

And while not a trigger, this is just a warning of how terribly heartbreaking this story is.

How to Be Afraid of Sleepovers - The Villisca Axe Murders

How to Be Afraid of Sleepovers - The Villisca Axe Murders

So, I know I said something less gory for this next post, but in a recent episode of My Favorite Murder, Karen mentioned watching a documentary that connected Villisca, Hinterkaifeck, and the Mad Axeman of New Orleans. I don't necessarily buy into the idea, but the conspiracy reminded me that Villisca was one of the first unsolved murders I learned about!

My favorite time of year is Halloween, and I have all of Travel Channel's Halloween specials practically memorized. A rather terrifying story from a list of most haunted places (all of which you could, for a hefty price, book a night in) was the Villisca Murder House. A family was brutalized after coming home from church (with two other children spending the night there as well), so triggers for violence, gore, and death (including child death). 

Make Yourself At Home - The Hinterkaifeck Muders

Make Yourself At Home - The Hinterkaifeck Muders

This week, we have a murder mystery that gets very spooky. A whole family was murdered March 31, 1922, but no one found out for a few days because it looked like someone was living in their house for several days afterwards. Someone lit a fire, had some meals, fed the farm animals... All while the family was laying dead in the barn and in one room of the house.

Additionally, the family claimed to have heard mysterious footsteps, had things go missing and other strange things appear, and to have seen footsteps in the snow that suddenly stop. Their old maid had quit six months earlier because of the strange occurrences (the new maid's first day would also be her last, as she was slain with the family).

Don't Drink the Water - Elisa Lam

Don't Drink the Water - Elisa Lam

So, when I first heard about Elisa Lam, I was studying abroad. And instantly became terrified of drinking any sort of water from any hotel. So, for this blog, I thought, why not start there?

As it often goes with unsolved murders, we're going to start with the discovery. The relative end of the story. Guests at the Cecil Hotel in the skid row Area of Los Angeles were having some issues with the running water of their room.