“NAZCA’S THREE-FINGERED EXTRATERRESTRIAL MUMMIES” and More Strange True Stories! #WeirdDarkness

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IN THIS EPISODE: Once in a while you’ll hear of a horrible tragedy and the victim will be described as “ground into mincemeat”. In some case, this is not much of an exaggeration. (Ground Into Mincemeat) *** In 2016, near the infamous Nazca Lines, an incredible find came to light – not gold or jewels, not remnants of pottery, but a tomb. But what was found within the tomb has raised more questions than answers, as the resident mummies appears not to be human… just humanoid. (The Nazca Three-Fingered Mummy) *** In 1983 Diane Downs shot her own children – Christie, Danny and Cheryl, in the backseat of the car. Miraculously, Christie Downs survived. (The Survival of Christie Downs) *** When it comes to demonic possession, it’s often chalked up to mental illness – but sometimes the events surrounding the possessed person are so bizarre and unexplainable, you are almost forced to believe in the supernatural. Such was the case with Don Decker. (The Pennsylvania Rain Man) *** Cannibalism – just the word itself is enough to creep you out. Fortunately, cases of it are usually distant, in some far-off, remote, jungle area, done by natives who have yet to discover civilization. At least, that’s what we like to believe. Unfortunately, it happens worldwide, nearer than you think. Like… in America. And in some cases, not so long ago. (American Cannibals) *** The death of a young girl and her boyfriend leave an Illinois town devastated… and it also left behind a lingering ghost. (The Ghost of Mary Jane Reed)

SOURCES AND ESSENTIAL WEB LINKS…
ALBERT FISH episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/46rmaca3
“The Nazca Three-Fingered Mummy” from TheSchareChamber.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/364kxnar
“Ground Into Mincemeat” posted at StrangeAgo.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3rmddv3e
“The Pennsylvania Rain Man” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8bz5ez
“The Survival of Christie Downs” by Marco Margaritoff for All That’s Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p98ek5s
“The Ghost of Mary Jane Reed” from American Hauntings Ink: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/582z7w4j
“American Cannibals” from Ranker Crime: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8j83p4

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TRANSCRIPT:

DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

INTRODUCTION=====

On the dark evening of June 24, 1948, a young girl named Mary Jane Reed went out on a date and never returned. Her death, along with the death of her boyfriend, shocked the small town of Oregon, Illinois, located on the Rock River about 100 miles west of Chicago. That night was the beginning of a curious, macabre series of events, which included a hushed conspiracy, a purported ghost and a crime that remains unsolved to this day.

I’m Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness.

SHOW OPEN=====

Welcome, Weirdos – I’m Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here you’ll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained.

Coming up in this episode…

Once in a while you’ll hear of a horrible tragedy and the victim will be described as “ground into mincemeat”. In some case, this is not much of an exaggeration. (Ground Into Mincemeat)

In 2016, near the infamous Nazca Lines, an incredible find came to light – not gold or jewels, not remnants of pottery, but a tomb. But what was found within the tomb has raised more questions than answers, as the resident mummies appears not to be human… just humanoid. (The Nazca Three-Fingered Mummy)

In 1983 Diane Downs shot her own children – Christie, Danny and Cheryl, in the backseat of the car. Miraculously, Christie Downs survived. (The Survival of Christie Downs)

When it comes to demonic possession, it’s often chalked up to mental illness – but sometimes the events surrounding the possessed person are so bizarre and unexplainable, you are almost forced to believe in the supernatural. Such was the case with Don Decker. (The Pennsylvania Rain Man)

Cannibalism – just the word itself is enough to creep you out. Fortunately, cases of it are usually distant, in some far-off, remote, jungle area, done by natives who have yet to discover civilization. At least, that’s what we like to believe. Unfortunately, it happens worldwide, nearer than you think. Like… in America. And in some cases, not so long ago. (American Cannibals)

The death of a young girl and her boyfriend leave an Illinois town devastated… and it also left behind a lingering ghost. (The Ghost of Mary Jane Reed)

If you’re new here, welcome to the show! While you’re listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, my newsletter, enter contests, to connect with me on social media, plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you’re struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com.

Now.. bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness!

STORY: THE GHOST OF MARY JANE REED=====

*** On the dark night of June 24, 1948, a young girl named Mary Jane Reed went out on a date and never returned. Her death, along with the death of her boyfriend, shocked the small town of Oregon, Illinois, located on the Rock River about 100 miles west of Chicago. That night was the beginning of a curious, macabre series of events, which included a hushed conspiracy, a purported ghost and a crime that remains unsolved to this day.***

Mary Jane Reed met her date for that fateful night, Stanley Skridla, through the DeKalb/Ogle Telephone Co., where the 17-year-old worked as a switchboard operator and Skridla, 28, was a lineman. Skridla was a Navy veteran who lived in Rockford, but was working in Oregon at the time. The two were attracted to one another despite their age difference, which was not really a concern for Mary Jane. The pretty young woman had dropped out of high school at 15 to help take care of her mother, who suffered from severe arthritis.

The Reed family lived on Hastings Road, just east of the Rock River. The area was known as Sandtown since most of the residents worked at the town’s silica plant. Sandtown was considered the wrong side of town but it didn’t matter to Mary Jane, a headstrong and independent girl who was determined to never let her circumstances get in the way of what she hoped to accomplish in life. Unfortunately, her dreams would never be fulfilled.

Mary Jane met Stan Skridla on June 24, 1948 for their first – and last – date. Various reports later had them at taverns on the east side and south side of Oregon that night. It’s believed that their last stop was the Stenhouse (now known as the Roadhouse) and after that, they drove out to a popular lover’s lane on County Farm Road in Skridla’s Buick. They were never seen alive again.

The next morning, around 6:00 a.m., a state highway department employee named John Eckerd was driving to work on County Farm Road and noticed a shoe lying alongside the roadway. He stopped to take a look and discovered Stan Skridla’s bullet-ridden body lying face-down in a grassy ditch. Police later found five .32-caliber bullet casings at the scene. A pool of blood found on the edge of the road showed where the killer had dragged the young man’s body into the grass. Skridla’s Buick was found abandoned about an hour later, about one mile north of the lover’s lane, where Illinois Route 2 and Pine Road intersected. Other than a lipstick-stained cigarette on the floorboard of the car, there was no sign of Mary Jane.

Back in Sandtown, Mary Jane’s parents, Clifford and Ruth Reed, were already worried about their daughter by the time that they got the news about Skridla’s death. Before this, she had always called home if she was going to be late or spend the night at a friend’s house. They feared that she had been kidnapped by Skridla’s killer. Worried, two of the older children in the family went to see a psychic, who told them that their sister was still alive and was being held prisoner in a shack by an older man.

Stan Skridla was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Rockford on June 28. The next day would bring terrible news for the Reeds. On June 29, two policemen came to the door and told them that they had news and it was not good. Mary Jane’s brother, Warren Reed, was just 5 years old at the time but he still remembers that day. He recalled, “I was holding my mom’s hand and I could feel the energy just drain out of her.” The officers told Mrs. Reed that Mary Jane’s body had been found in a patch of weeds along Silica Road.

She had been shot in the back of the head with what appeared to be the same caliber gun that had been used to kill Skridla. She was wearing brown loafers, a white blouse and her mother’s wedding ring. Her brown slacks were folded neatly on her back. Ironically, the police had checked the area along Silica Road, now known as Devil’s Backbone Road, several times after Mary Jane disappeared. Her father had even passed that way several times on his way to work at the silica plant. Her body ended up being found by Harold Sigler, a truck driver who was on his way to the plant. The height of the truck’s cab allowed him to see over the weeds and catch a glimpse of the pale body that had been hidden among them. The police recovered a bullet casing at the scene.

The Reed family was devastated. Mary Jane’s brother, Donald, was supposed to be married on June 26 and Mary Jane was to be one of the bridesmaids. The wedding was postponed until after the funeral, which was held on June 30. Mary Jane was laid to rest at Daysville Cemetery in Oregon but she would not rest there in peace.

With two murders on their hands, the Ogle County Sheriff’s office enlisted the help of the state and local police. There were very few clues to go on but Chief Deputy Willard “Jiggs” Burright, the lead investigator, ruled out robbery as a motive. Skridla still had his wallet and Mary Jane was still wearing her mother’s ring. Authorities began focusing on Mary Jane’s previous relationships, surmising that jealousy may have been a motive for the killings.

Detectives interviewed Skridla’s family members and other men that Mary Jane had dated. The investigation extended to Dixon, Rockford, Freeport and Chicago. Police also looked for a couple that Skridla and Mary Jane had reportedly been seen arguing with before they went to Country Farm Road. A witness interviewed at the inquest said that he saw two suspicious men outside one of the taverns the couple had visited. Most of the leads turned out to be dead ends.

As weeks, then months, passed, the slayings vanished from the front pages of local newspapers and eventually left the minds of everyone except for the Reeds. Ruth Reed was never the same after Mary Jane’s murder and family members later sought psychiatric care for her. Warren Reed later reported that his mother would often hide him behind the couch in the living room, convinced that his sister’s killer was coming after all of them.

The Skridla-Reed murder case was re-opened in the 1950s, but with no success. As years went by, evidence disappeared from the original case files, including the bullet casings, photographs and investigation reports. Jerry Brooks became the Ogle County sheriff in 1970 and he re-opened the case again. He re-interviewed witnesses and wrote new reports from scratch because the case file was almost empty. Many of the original interviews could not be re-created, though, because so many of the witnesses had died or too much time had passed for them to remember specific details. His most intriguing lead was the report of the two men outside the tavern and he theorized that they might have followed the couple to the lover’s lane. Brooks worked the case for almost two decades but was no closer to solving it than the detectives were back in 1948. Brooks left office in 1990 but he has never given up on the case; he still believes that a solution is possible.

And he’s not the only one. Warren Reed thinks there is much more to the case than meets the eye. In 2005, he pressed for an exhumation order for his sister’s body, wondering if clues might be found that were beyond the forensic skills of investigators at the time of the murder. In August of that year, an Ogle County judge approved guidelines for exhuming the body that would allow pathologists to examine Mary Jane’s remains. Reed was thrilled with the outcome of the hearing. “I want to wake up the community. People just kind of hushed things up when they shouldn’t have. This crime should have been solved. It probably took 20 years off my parents’ life,” he told reporters.

Joining Reed in his fight for answers was Mike Arians, a former insurance fraud investigator. Arians owned a restaurant in Oregon and was elected the town’s mayor in April 1999. He was drawn to the mystery surrounding the murders because he became convinced, after some investigating of his own, that certain aspects of the case were covered up. He spoke at length about his investigation but was more uncomfortable about the other thing that led him to the case: namely Mary Jane’s ghost. Arians swore that Mary Jane and her mother maintained a “presence” at his restaurant, the Roadhouse, which in its former incarnation was the Stenhouse, possibly Mary Jane’s last stop before she and Skridla drove to their doom. As proof of this, he claimed that the same haunting acoustic song, Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66’s “After Sunrise,” would play spontaneously and repeatedly on the jukebox; that employees had seen apparitions of Mary Jane and her mother; and that, without explanation, drafts of cold air or the overwhelming scent of flowers would permeate the surroundings. He admitted that spirits in the Roadhouse sounded “crazy,” but added that he did not believe the ghosts would rest in peace “until this thing is resolved.”

Arians’ actual involvement in the case did not begin until shortly after he took office in 1999. People soon began coming to him and telling him about the murders, eventually asking him if he would use his investigative skills to look into them. Arians agreed and soon after, the strange events began. In addition to the ghostly happenings at the Roadhouse, other ominous events began to occur, like the flower delivery that came to his restaurant for Mary Jane. No one could trace where the arrangement came from and the Roadhouse was closed that day. He later learned that it had been Mary Jane’s birthday.

Arians’ assistance was instrumental in helping Warren Reed obtain the exhumation order for Mary Jane’s body. The grave was opened on August 23, 2005 and while it did not immediately point out her killer, the exhumation did manage to dispel some of the rumors that had circulated for decades, like those that claimed that her head was not buried with her body or that a gun had been placed in the casket. Officials were surprised to find that her corpse was mostly intact. She had been buried with all of her organs and skin still covered her body. Authorities kept the undergarments that she was wearing when she was buried and oddly, some additional clothing was found inside the vault. A dress and a slip were found wrapped in newspapers dated June 25, 1948, blaring headlines about her murder.

A few months after the exhumation, officials seemed optimistic when opening the grave yielded a few clues and pointed detectives in the direction of two “people of interest” but that optimism soon faded. According to a 24-page report that was written by Captain Rick Wilkinson (with certain names and details blacked out) in February 2006, the sheriff’s department faced too many obstacles when re-opening the case.

“This investigation, in my opinion, was tainted and mishandled from the start, and nothing that I am aware of can possibly change those facts,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson followed up on a number of original leads from 1948, as well as leads from the 1950s and the 1980s, when the case was opened again. No new evidence was provided by the exhumation, but, as Warren Reed wanted, it got people talking and witnesses came forward with information about two new “people of interest.” Unfortunately, both of them were deceased by 2006.

“They’re not here to defend themselves. They do have families that are still alive, and we can’t definitely say they were the people who committed this crime,” Ogle County Sheriff Mel Messer said.
But the story of the exhumation was not yet over. In December 2007, something very strange came to light when a forensic anthropologist who had been hired by Warren Reed and Mike Arians to examine Mary Jane’s remains revealed that the bones in her casket actually came from two different bodies. The skeletal analysis was conducted by Lisa Klepinger, a board-certified forensic anthropologist at the University of Illinois. She was assisted by John Moore, professor of anatomy, pathophysiology and forensics at Parkland College in Champaign. They jointly wrote that the skull and part of the top portion of the spine that were found in Mary Jane’s casket belonged to someone else. Had the rumors that Mary Jane’s head was not buried with her body finally been substantiated?

Warren Reed thought it might be possible. Rumors had always circulated that Mary Jane’s head had been taken by a lovesick killer because he couldn’t stand to let her go. “Maybe someone wanted a trophy. Maybe they’ve got it sitting on a shelf or in a box somewhere,” Reed theorized.

Could it have been a mistake? Could the skull and backbones have been accidentally switched during an examination at the police lab after the exhumation? This seems the most likely explanation to police officials. Others say that Klepinger’s findings are a mistake, merely an opinion open for debate. Still others say that none of it matters because although the case will never “officially” be closed since it’s an open homicide, it will certainly never be solved. Regardless, it seems to be a case of a dead person telling a tale; it just wasn’t the story that anyone expected to hear.

Will the case ever really be solved? No one can say but Warren Reed and Mike Arians aren’t giving up hope. They have not given up on the idea that, eventually, some incontrovertible evidence will emerge that solves Mary Jane’s murder once and for all. Until that time, these two men will continue their investigation and two lonesome ghosts will continue to walk at the last place that a beautiful young girl was seen alive.

BREAK=====

Coming up… In 1983 Diane Downs shot her own children – Christie, Danny and Cheryl, in the backseat of the car. Miraculously, Christie Downs survived. (The Survival of Christie Downs)

But first… When it comes to demonic possession, it’s often chalked up to mental illness – but sometimes the events surrounding the possessed person are so bizarre and unexplainable, you are almost forced to believe in the supernatural. Such was the case for Don Decker.

These stories are up next.

STORY: THE PENNSYLVANIA RAIN MAN=====

Cases of alleged demonic possession are aplenty, and have been throughout history. Few accounts though, if any, can match the chilling and outright bizarre events that surround Don Decker.

Aside from Decker, nine other witnesses would go on record regarding the events – these included four police officers and a prison warden. By the time the story gained national and international attention, Decker’s account would appear on various television shows. In short, the incidents of February 1983 are arguably some of the most credible paranormal accounts on record, and certainly one of the most corroborated cases of demonic possession in recent history. In fact, so powerful were the events witnessed, many believed to be in the presence of the Devil himself.

Others state, that while the incident was almost certainly something of a paranormal nature, it is more likely to be a result of psychokinetic energy – an energy that was dark and twisted, and had been building up over a lifetime due, as we shall see, to a childhood of abuse. That something happened however, is beyond any reasonable doubt.

Paranormal investigator, Peter Jordan, who along with his fellow investigator, Chip Decker (no relation) would state, “The Donald Decker case is by far the singularly most fascinating and important case I have ever personally been involved in!”

On the grey, cold morning of 26th February 1983, in the sleepy town of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, [1] while on compassionate leave from Monroe County Correctional Facility, Don Decker would bid farewell to his late grandfather, James Kishaugh, while at his funeral. It wasn’t a fond farewell however. It was one full of angst, hate, and revenge. And it was easy to understand why. Kishaugh had abused Decker since he had been seven years old. Now, it was all he could do to keep those dark feelings hidden beneath mock grief.

Decker was in the middle of a twelve month sentence for receiving stolen goods. Hardly the stuff of career criminals, but all the same, his family (and in particular, his mother) had all but disowned him. In part, this was the reason he visited the home of family friends close to him, Bob and Jeannie Keiffer, after he had taken all he could stomach at the funeral. He would spend the rest of his leave here until his escorted return to the prison.

It was here, at some point in the evening, that “something” happened to Don Decker. Something strange, life-changing, and beyond terrifying.

What unfolded is surely some of the most surreal events on record. What’s more, they were largely kept out of the larger public arena for almost a decade.

At some point during the evening, Decker would visit the bathroom. While there, he would suddenly feel a “profound chill” begin to overtake him. Feeling faint, he fell to the floor. Disorientated and feeling as though he was in some kind of trance, he lay on the tiled floor trying to refocus his mind. Before he could, his grandfather appeared above him. At the same time, in front of his own eyes, cuts and scratches would appear on his arm from out of nowhere.

He managed to tear himself out of the secluded bathroom, hurtling down the stairs to his hosts. Both arms were bleeding heavily from the wounds inflicted from assailants unknown, and unseen.

He rattled out what happened in the bathroom to Bob, himself now confused as to just what was going on. Before he could finish relaying his account, loud, frantic bangs sounded throughout the Keiffer’s property.

And with the noises, came the water.

The water came down so hard it appeared as though it were raining right there in the Kieffer’s living room. Decker himself again appeared glazed and as though he had gone back into a strange trance.

At a loss as to what to do, and fearing damage to the property, Bob telephoned the landlord, Ron Van Why. By the time he arrived, the situation intensified further. The water continued to pour from above, but even appeared to be “bubbling up through the floor!” Van Why would state years later as various television shows looked to document the case, “There was no basic direction that it was coming from. It could come from anywhere!”

Unable to locate the source of the leak, and given the still trance-like state that Decker was in, a call went out to local police. Officers, Richard Wolbert and John Baujan, arrived shortly after to a scene unlike any they had previously seen. Baujan would state later in television interviews, “I literally had a chill going up my spine. This was a situation where things were happening that I never, ever dreamed could possibly happen. And there was no way of explaining what was going on!”

The officers would suggest removing Decker from the house and taking him to a pizzeria over the road from the property, hoping this at least might pull him from the trance he was seemingly under. The two police sought out their superiors, and Van Why persisted in trying to find the source of the leaks.

As he did, over the road in the pizzeria where Decker now sat, water began to pour down from the ceiling.

By now, others in the pizzeria were not only aware of the water that was suddenly gushing down upon them, but it was clear to all in eyesight, that Decker was in a surreal and zombie-like state.

As the pizzeria owner, Pam, watched events unfold, and in particular Decker himself, she suddenly had the thought that he was perhaps possessed by something demonic. According to reports from those at the scene, she placed a small crucifix she kept in the cash register onto Decker’s flesh. Instantly, a burn mark appeared on his skin where the cross had been, and Decker screeched in pain before seemingly snapping out from whatever influence he was under.

Pam would say of the incident with the crucifix, “There was no way anybody could have played a joke like that. This was real. Donny was doing it himself. He was doing it without realizing he was doing it!”

With Decker now seemingly fully aware and back to his own self, the Keiffers escorted him back to their home. Almost as soon as he left the pizzeria, did the water cease to fall. At the same time, upon entering the Keiffer’s home, the water began again to flow from all directions. Even stranger, crockery and pans began to rattle and clash loudly from inside the kitchen.

Van Why, now equally frustrated and suspicious, would accuse Bob and Decker of pulling some kind of prank. The arguing became increasingly heated. Only when Decker rose up from the floor by some oversized and unseen hand, and thrown squarely against the wall of the kitchen did they stop.

The following day, Officers Baujan and Wolbert would return to the Keiffer’s property where Decker was still staying. They would bring with them fellow officers, Bill Davies and John Rundle. Their superior, Gary Roberts, was not at all convinced of anything out of the ordinary, and would order the two officers to forget the affair. They couldn’t.

Everything had seemingly returned to normal in the Keiffer’s household however. No water ran, and Decker was no longer under any type of demonic spell.

When Davies asked Decker to humor him and hold a gold crucifix he possessed however, things began to change. Decker, obviously in discomfort, stated the cross was hot and burning his skin. Eyeing him suspiciously, Davis went to retrieve the gold cross. It was then that Decker would levitate several feet from the ground, before some excessively strong and unseen force flung him across the room as if he was a discarded toy. As had happened the previous day, strange wounds began to appear on Decker’s body in front of the officers present.

What made all four witnesses recoil in horror, is these wounds appeared to come courtesy of something with razor sharp claws. One in particular would appear right across Decker’s neck, which was lucky not to severe an artery. Officer Rundell would later assert “I have no answer for it whatsoever!”

Upon his return to prison several days later, any hope that the strange incidents would end vanished. Instead, they increased and transferred their abode to Decker’s prison cell. This time however, it would appear that Decker himself was able to control this power. The first few days back at the correctional facility had come and gone without incident. Decker though, began to wonder if he could make the water come and go at will.

Not knowing what he was doing, he would state years later that he would “concentrate” on the water appearing. To his utter shock, it did. Seeing the affect his new found ability seemingly had on the prison guards, Decker would almost goad them with his “gift”, stating to them he had “made it rain in his cell!”

By the time the incident, and the reports of Decker’s experience while on leave from the facility came to the attention of the prison warden, David Keenhold, he became quickly convinced Decker’s case to be one of demonic possession. He would waste little time in bringing the incident to the prison minister, Reverend William Blackburn.

Blackburn was more than skeptical of Decker, and bluntly told him that “it was all in his head!” It was then that Decker went into the trance-like state he was under in the Keiffer’s home. An unknown but vile odor permeated the room where the two men sat. Then the water began to pour again.

The reverend would later state unreservedly that “he was in the presence of evil!” He began to read hastily from his bible, which he noticed, despite the entire room soaking in water, remained completely dry throughout. The exorcism appeared to work, and Decker returned to his normal demeanor, the abhorrent odor disappeared and the drenching stopped. Blackburn would later state, “There was no doubt in my mind (of possession). There’s no way a human could do what he did in that room!”

The episode would mark the last (known) time of any such incidents involving Decker. He would serve out the remainder of his sentence, and then, aside from the telling of his story to several paranormal television shows, would live a relatively quiet life.

Until recently that is.

Decker would be arrested again in 2012. The charge on this occasion was arson of a restaurant. He would eventually be released on bail but to some, the incident would hurt his credibility. Some sources claim the fire was part of an insurance scam, and while Decker was involved, the restaurant owner also faced the same (and further) charges.

Of course to others, such an incident connected to fire, particularly given his apparent power to “summon water”, a power many thought given to him from the Devil himself, only lent Decker another layer of mystique.

Given the amount of witnesses, many of them in “trustworthy” positions of employment, as well as the multiple locations the bizarre incidents unfolded, it is hard to see how even the most ardent skeptic can dismiss Decker’s encounters as simple hoax. Even an elaborate one would have taken some doing. Incidentally, Decker himself firmly believes the spirit of his grandfather was behind the incidents – one last attempt to abuse his life-long victim.

One paranormal researcher however, Robert Bartholomew, is one such skeptic, who among other things, looks to the lack of any photographic or video evidence of the incidents. This is perhaps a fair point in that following the confusion of the initial events, there were ample opportunities to capture such evidence.

The cold fact is though, we will never know for sure just who, or what, was behind the events of early-1983.

STORY: THE SURVIVAL OF CHRISTIE DOWNS=====

Christie Downs was only five when her parents divorced in 1980. But however difficult that was for her would pale in comparison to the events that transpired just three years later — when her mother, Diane Downs, attempted to murder Christie and her siblings Danny and Cheryl because her new boyfriend didn’t want children.

While Diane Downs had a traumatizing childhood of her own, she escaped the abusive clutches of her father to start a new life. She not only married her high school sweetheart but had three healthy children: Christie Downs, Cheryl Lynn Downs, and Stephen “Danny” Downs.

Diane Downs’ children then began to suffer neglect as their mother started going out in hopes of finding a new partner. Eventually, the man she found, Robert Knickerbocker, had no interest in “being a daddy” and broke things off. So, on May 19, 1983, Diane Downs responded by attempting to kill her own children. She then told police that a “bushy-haired stranger” had shot them during a failed carjacking.

Diane Downs’ children each suffered different fates, all of them tragic. Seven-year-old Cheryl Downs died at the hospital. Three-year-old Danny Downs was paralyzed from the waist down. And Christie Downs was left temporarily unable to speak after a stroke. But once she regained her voice, she used it to identify her ruthless mother as the shooter.

Christie Ann Downs was born on Oct. 7, 1974, in Phoenix, Arizona. The eldest of Diane Downs’ children, she was joined by Cheryl Downs on Jan. 10, 1976, and Stephen Daniel “Danny” Downs on Dec. 29, 1979. Unfortunately for the trio of toddlers, their parents Steve and Diane Downs were already verging on a bitter divorce.

Born Elizabeth Diane Frederickson on Aug. 7, 1955, Diane Downs was a Phoenix native. She would eventually testify that her father, a local postal worker, had sexually abused her before she became a teenager. Then, at Moon Valley High School, she met Steve Downs.

While the newfound lovers graduated together, Steve enlisted in the U.S. Navy while Diane went to Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California. However, she was ultimately expelled for promiscuity within a year, according to The Sun. The couple happily reunited in Phoenix and eloped on Nov. 13, 1973, determined to start a family.

While Christie Downs was conceived within a couple of months, her parents grew rapidly unhappy. Arguments over money punctuated their days, while Steve’s accusations of Diane being unfaithful comprised their nights. When Stephen was born, his father wasn’t even sure the boy was his.

The couple ultimately divorced in 1980. Diane Downs was 25 years old and seriously neglectful of her children. She often enlisted Christie Downs to watch over the younger siblings or left them at their father’s house so she could find a new partner.

While she seemingly found one in 1981, her boyfriend Robert Knickerbocker was already married with his own kids. Downs feverishly chronicled her affair in a diary while her children showed signs of malnutrition. Christie Downs didn’t know it yet, but her mother would soon be jilted — landing Christie in lethal danger.

Interested in surrogacy, Diane Downs signed a $10,000 contract in September 1981 and agreed to be artificially inseminated, according to The Washington Post. Born on May 8, 1982, the girl was handed over to her legal guardians. Downs repeated the process in February 1983, however, and spent three days at a fertility clinic in Louisville, Kentucky.

Then in April, Diane whisked Christie and the rest of her family away to Springfield, Oregon. With an alleged promise that Knickerbocker would follow when his divorce was finalized, Downs was happy to be near her parents and even accepted a job at the U.S. Postal Service. But then, Knickerbocker ended the relationship.

Convinced it was because of her children, Diane Downs shot Christie Downs and her siblings six weeks later during a seemingly ordinary drive on Old Mohawk Road on May 19, 1983. Their mother pulled over, grabbed her gun, and fired one .22-caliber round into each of her kids. She then shot herself in the forearm and drove to the hospital at five miles per hour, hoping they would bleed out before she arrived.

“When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead,” Dr. Steven Wilhite of the McKenzie-Williamette Medical Center told ABC. “Her pupils were dilated. Her blood pressure was non-existent or very low. She was white… She was not breathing. I mean, she is so close to death, it’s unbelievable.”

Wilhite recalled Diane being emotionless when he told her that Christie had suffered a stroke and was in a coma. He was shocked when she suggested he “pull the plug” as Christie was likely “brain dead.” Wilhite got a judge to legally make him and another doctor Christie Downs’ guardians so they could treat her in peace.

Cheryl Downs had tragically already succumbed to her wound. Danny Downs survived but would never walk again. According to ABC, Wilhite recalled knowing within 30 minutes of speaking to their mother that the 28-year-old was guilty. While police never found the murder weapon, they found bullet casings in her house — and arrested her on Feb. 28, 1984.

When Christie Downs regained her ability to speak, the authorities asked who shot her. She replied simply, “My mom.” The trial of Diane Downs began in Lane County on May 8, 1984. To the shock of journalists and jurors alike, she was visibly pregnant.

Lead prosecutor Fred Hugi argued she shot her kids to revive the affair with Knickerbocker. The defense, meanwhile, relied on the idea that a “bushy-haired stranger” was to blame. Charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and criminal assault, Diane Downs was convicted on all charges on June 17, 1984.

Diane Downs gave birth to a girl named Amy Elizabeth on June 27 that same year. According to ABC, the infant became a ward of the state but was later adopted by Chris and Jackie Babcock and renamed Rebecca. To this day, she is the only one of Diane Downs’ children who has spoken publicly about her mother.

As for Christie and Stephen “Danny” Downs today, according to Heavy, Fred Hugi himself adopted the siblings, giving them a happy home and loving mother away from the spotlight.

While Christie Downs continues to suffer from a speech impediment, Heavy reported that crime author Ann Rule said that she has grown into a kind and caring mother herself. Happily married, she gave birth to a son in 2005 — and a daughter she named Cheryl Lynn in honor of her sister.

Diane Downs, meanwhile, continues to serve a life sentence. Her latest parole hearing in 2021 was denied.

BREAK=====

Coming up next…

Plus… Cannibalism – just the word itself is enough to creep you out. Fortunately, cases of it are usually distant, in some far-off, remote, jungle area, done by natives who have yet to discover civilization. At least, that’s what we like to believe. Unfortunately, it happens worldwide, nearer than you think. Like… in America. And in some cases, not so long ago. (American Cannibals)

These stories and more, when Weird Darkness returns.

STORY: NAZCA’S THREE-FINGERED MUMMY=====

If you have any interest in extraterrestrials, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the Nazca lines. What you may not have heard of is the three-fingered mummified bodies found there as well.

In January, 2016 a group of five three-fingered mummies were discovered in a tomb in Nazca, Peru. The tomb had been closed off by a large stone door, and once inside, explorers discovered sarcophagi containing the bodies.

Immediately scientists and researchers, as well as ufologists were intrigued. As they examined the bodies they discovered not only three-fingered hands, but also three-toed feet. They had elongated skulls with no nose or ears, instead only holes where they should be.

Just as interesting as the physical anatomy, is the color of the bodies. They are a “chalky” white or gray, covered in a powder that was seemingly used to preserve their bodies.

While some scientists were curious, others were quick to call the discovery a hoax. In an interview with The Express, British UFO author Nigel Watson described the body as “a plaster cast model,” dubbing it “110 perfect fake.”

Even Snopes.com questioned the credibility of the discovery.

Fortunately not all scientists and researchers were deterred by the outward appearance of the mummies. In fact, they pressed on, measuring one body to be approximately 5 feet. 6 inches tall.

The bodies were carbon dated, indicating that they are from anytime between 245 to 410 AD. X-rays show that they do, in fact, have a humanoid skeleton.

Professor Konstantin Korotkov, of Saint Petersburg University in Russia, has described the body as belonging to “another creature, another humanoid.”

Korotkov, familiar with other mummies found in Nazca, has continued his examinations, looking not only at the visible, physical body, but going deeper into the tissue and DNA. “The tissue has biological nature and their chemical composition indicates that they are humans. Their DNA features 23 pairs of chromosomes, just like we have.”

He went on to add, “They appear human but they are not.”

Korotkov noted that, “Their anatomic structure is different.” The mummy’s rib structure is unusual, rounded, with some semicircular bones included. “Most surprisingly, the mouth cavities are there but the lower jaws are not flexible and present a single whole with the rest of the skull.”

While he has said he believes the mummies could be of extraterrestrial Origins, it’s just as possible they are from prehistoric tribes. “They were three-fingered and this genetic feature could make itself evident in future generations,” he said.

Korotkov added, “By the way, three-fingered creatures can be seen on petroglyphic drawings found in Peru.”

While many look at the three-fingered mummies as being extraterrestrial, archaeologists disagree. Though they have been denied access to the mummies, they believe they are actually indigenous and Andean—a real human individual that has been mutilated to look like an alien.

In the late 1920s, Peruvian archeologist Julio Tello found hundreds of cone-shaped skulls in the Paracas region of Peru. In fact, it is believed that the ruling elite artificially extended their heads to represent their status. Scientists believed this could have helped foster a sense of community and collective identity.

Skeletal specialist, Dr Edson Vivanco, also studied the mummies. He concluded they are of “non-human beings.”

“There are lots of details that indicate that the bodies are real. To recreate a skull with these characteristics is a very difficult task,” Dr Vivanco said. “Right now, we are studying the evidence. And so far, we haven’t found anything to say it is a fraud, or that the bodies have been modified or altered in any way. We have lots of evidence that sets us on the path to prove that this is real.”

Andrew Nelson, an anthropologist with the University of Western Ontario, has another explanation. He believes the bodies were tampered with, manipulated by forgers using parts of real human mummies to create this being.

He’s not alone either. A number of other Peruvian mummy researchers released a statement condemning the practice. Guido Lombardi, a professor of forensic sciences at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia told Live Science that, “I particularly find repulsive that anyone would [dare] to dehumanize deceased human bodies. You can’t take away the condition of human to a human being!”

STORY: AMERICAN CANNIBALS=====

It’s not a comforting thought, but there have been cannibals in America. Cannibalism is often associated with far-flung places. As in most developed cultures, eating the flesh of our own species is seen as the ultimate taboo. Yet American killers who ate people have come and gone, while ordinary citizens in extraordinary situations have eaten the remains of other humans. America, even in its relatively short history, has seen more than its fair share of man-eaters. Many were acts of desperation in survival situations, as acts of cannibalism usually are. People lost at sea, adrift on life boats for weeks or people trapped in snow-choked mountain passes, or in villages short of food in winter. Just as many others have been acts of madness perpetrated by killers who when even further than murder. There’s even one case of simple curiosity.

***During a period known as “The Starving Time” in the winter of 1609 in Jamestown, all but 60 of Virginia’s 214 colonists died from starvation. The people of the village resorted to digging up the frozen dead and eating them. The cannibalism wasn’t limited to such scavenging, either. After the winter, one man was tortured into confessing that he had killed, and eaten his wife.

***Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was inspired by the sinking of a real ship called the Essex, the story of which is even more gruesome than that of Captain Ahab. The Essex was a Massachusetts whaling ship that sank after an attack by a sperm whale. The surviving crew members took to two small whaling boats, and remained there for about three months before rescue. The survivors on at least one of the boats turned to cannibalism, and when they were rescued, it was said that the last two survivors had sucked the marrow out of a dead crewmate’s bones.

***Probably the best-known American cannibals of all time, the Donner Party set out for California in 1846. They ended up trapped in the Sierra-Nevada mountains during a particularly harsh winter. More than half of the roughly 90 people in the party died, and there have been conflicting (but reliable) reports of cannibalism among some of those who made it through.

***“The Kentucky Cannibal” was a mountain man and gunslinger who lived in Old West Montana, and he died at 35 years old during the Civil War. Characterized as a serial killer by many, Helm made no secret of his fondness for human flesh. Living in the wilds of Montana, he killed and ate at least 11 people in survival situations, but after getting a taste for humans, he’d kill for food before entering a survival situation. “Many’s the poor devil I’ve killed, at one time or another,” he said. “And the time has been that I’ve been obliged to feed on some of ’em.”

***The Dumaru was a wooden steamship launched on its maiden voyage in 1918, during WWI. Lightning struck the ship off the coast of Guam, igniting its ammunition and causing the ship to explode. The survivors on their two life rafts resorted to cannibalism to survive the three weeks they spent adrift.

***Albert Fish was one of the most prolific and notorious serial killers of all time – a man so utterly evil, it’s hard to believe he even existed. That Fish confessed to the murders of more than 100 children is only the beginning of the story – the fact that he was known to cut them up and cook them with onions, carrots, and strips of bacon is but the second chapter. It gets worse. We won’t go into his entire story right now, but you can listen to the episode we did about Albert Fish on Weird Darkness – just search for “Albert Fish” at WeirdDarkness.com, or click the link I’ve included in the show notes.

***Have you ever wanted to know what people taste like? Apparently, so did New York Times reporter William Seabrook. In the 1930s, after a cannibal tribe in West Africa piqued his curiosity, Seabrook obtained a bit of fresh human from a hospital intern and cooked it up. And what do people taste like? Like tender beef, according to the journalist. “It was like good, fully developed veal, not young, but not yet beef. It was very definitely like that, and it was not like any other meat I had ever tasted,” Seabrook reported. “It was so nearly like good, fully developed veal that I think no person with a palate of ordinary, normal sensitiveness could distinguish it from veal. It was mild, good meat with no other sharply defined or highly characteristic taste such as for instance, goat, high game, and pork have. The steak was slightly tougher than prime veal, a little stringy, but not too tough or stringy to be agreeably edible. The roast, from which I cut and ate a central slice, was tender, and in color, texture, smell as well as taste, strengthened my certainty that of all the meats we habitually know, veal is the one meat to which this meat is accurately comparable.”

***With a name like “Alferd,” and a beard that looks like the back of a black-tail deer, you just knew Alferd Packer was to be a gold prospector from 1849. He left Utah for Colorado with a party of five other men. Months later, he arrived in snow-bound Denver alone. He claimed the party had run out of food, and they had turned to cannibalism for survival. The judge who sentenced Packer didn’t have much sympathy, saying, “Stand up yah voracious man-eatin’ sonofab*tch and receive yir sintince. When yah came to Hinsdale County, there was siven Dimmycrats. But you, yah et five of ’em, goddam yah. I sintince yah t’ be hanged by th’ neck ontil yer dead, dead, dead, as a warnin’ ag’in reducin’ th’ Dimmycratic populayshun of this county. Packer, you Republican cannibal, I would sintince ya ta hell but the statutes forbid it.”

***Gary Heidnik was a serial killer and rapist who abducted at least six women, then held them captive in his basement dungeon before killing them. During that time, he would repeatedly rape and torture them both physically and psychologically. One method of which involved feeding his victims a mixture of dog food and the ground-up remains of the last woman he killed. Heidnik himself consumed some of his victims. Of the eight he captured, two survived when they were rescued by police.

***Probably the most notorious American serial killer of the 20th century, Jeffrey Dahmer perpetrated all manner of graphic horrors on his victims, including gruesome medical experimentation and necrophilia. In addition to other body parts he kept as trophies, Dahmer ate pieces of at least one victim, keeping the remainder in his refrigerator for regular snacks. He may have even tricked an unknowing neighbor into consuming human flesh, freely giving her a sandwich of unknown composition.

***Originally from Egypt, Omaima Nelson was a model who ritualistically murdered her husband on Thanksgiving Day 1991 with a pair of scissors, then proceeded to eat him for dinner. First, she cut him into pieces with an electric carving knife, then she boiled his hands to remove his fingerprints. She then deep-fried them, cooked his head in the oven and grilled his rib cage with some barbecue sauce. But why? As it turns out, her history included no small amount of sexual abuse. As a child living in Cairo, Omaima had been the victim of genital mutilation. As an adult, she was raped by her husband on the day of his murder. In mental and physical agony, she responded murderously.

***Stanley Dean Baker was a Satanic cultist of the “Four Pi” movement who admitted to police in 1970 that he performed several human sacrifices, which apparently included some degree of cannibalism. He told the officer “I have a problem,” while holding human fingers “I’m a cannibal.” Baker went to prison, where it is reported he continued proselytizing on behalf of his Dark Lord.

***In 1975 Rhode Island, then 16-year-old Michael Woodmansee abducted and murdered a 5-year-old boy who lived down the street. He ate pieces of the boy and kept some of his bones (including the skull) on his dresser. He was convicted in 1983 after confessing to police, and he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was released in 2011. The boy’s father – now in his 70s – has vowed to kill Woodmansee before he dies.

***And finally… Rapper “Big Lurch” is currently serving life in prison for murdering and partially consuming his live-in girlfriend, Tynisha Ysais. The Texas native had been hooked on PCP for years; early in his career he’d gotten into a car accident and broken his neck, and he began using the drug to ease his pain. After using particularly heavily one day, he murdered his girlfriend with a knife and then began taking bites out of her.

BREAK=====

When Weird Darkness returns… Once in a while you’ll hear of a horrible tragedy and the victim will be described as “ground into mincemeat”. In some case, this is not much of an exaggeration.

STORY: GROUND INTO MINCEMEAT=====

On more than one occasion you might have read the phrase “ground into mincemeat” while skimming through newspaper articles or true crime documentaries. If you do a search of that phrase though, you’ll turn up some very unsettling and downright scary things.

In 1884, it was reported out of Portland, Dakota that “a threshing machine was in operation and the band cutter accidentally cut the feeder’s hand. The feeder snatched a knife and stabbed the band cutter, completely opening his abdomen, leaving his bowels exposed. The band cutter, seeing that he had been fatally stabbed and knowing that he had but a few moments to live, grabbed his murderer, and in his desperation, hurled him into the cylinder of the machine where he was ground into mincemeat, falling back himself dead.”

A few years later, in 1892, Berlin, it was reports that “a servant in the family of a butcher of this city has been convicted of a horrible crime. The girl, having given birth to an illegitimate child, sought to conceal her shame by killing the infant and destroying all trace of its remains. She accordingly put the body of the child into a sausage machine in her master’s shop and ground the flesh to mince meat. The crime was discovered, however, by the butcher, whose experienced eye detected in the meat a small fragment of bone. He was led to investigate matters and soon obtained a confession from the unhappy murderess.” This was not the only account of human meat making its way into the butcher shop.

However, the majority of mincemeat events happened at mills and on the railroad tracks. For instance, in 1903, Indiana, a 47-year-old man fell into the crusher at the cement plant. As the article states, “he was literally ground to mincemeat.”

As for railroad tracks, there are plenty of mincemeat reports in the archives. For example, in 1904, Ohio, “the front brakeman on freight train No. 85 had orders to take siding at Canterbury to let passenger train No. 16 pass… [W]hen he got off to open the switch while his train was yet in motion, [he] in some way slipped and fell with his head directly across the rail. The entire train passed over him, and not only was the poor fellow’s head completely severed from his body, but it was ground to mincemeat.”

This next story on mincemeat is one of the most gruesome descriptions you might find in history. The incident happened in Ohio, 1904. The report states: “Ground into a shapeless mass was the fate of an unknown man who was killed by the Canton-Akron car that started north from this city last night shortly after 10 o’clock. The car was running at a high rate of speed and when near the infirmary lane the motorman saw a man step upon the track and face the light. The whistle was blown, the motorman says, but the man made no effort to escape. The car was so close upon him that it was impossible to stop, and struck the man with frightful force. The car ran on some distance and was stopped. The train men and passengers dashed out of the car and began to look for the victim of the accident. What had been the man was found to be a shapeless mass of flesh and clothing lodged in around the trucks of the car. It was a frightful sight. The man had been literally ground to mincemeat with the exception of his head. His body, both arms and both legs were mixed up in one conglomerate mass: bones, flesh and clothing being mixed together. Aside from a gash in the forehead, his face was not injured and both feet were left intact. From one the shoe had been torn and the other was still encased in the shoe. People who saw the sight turned away sickened. It was necessary to send to the city for jack screws to raise the car up in order to get the body out from under the trucks.”

Also in 1904, a Kentucky farmer met with an ugly incident, but fortunately he survived: “Dawson Turner caught his right arm in a corn shredder Saturday. The arm was taken off at the elbow, passing through the machine, coming out ground into mincemeat. His arm was amputated at the shoulder by physicians.”

And here we have another survivor, but we are once again back at the butcher shop. This time, the incident happened in Portland, Washington, 1907: “Ground up in five pounds of mincemeat at a butcher shop is the first joint of the left thumb of Frank Shelland, butcher, and he is in St. Vincent’s hospital, receiving attention for the injury. Shelland was operating a chopping machine in his butcher shop and talking to a customer at the same time. Thoughtlessly he dropped his thumb from its place above the handle of the machine and at the next turn of the hasher the member was severed by the blade.”

And finally we have a farmer who met with a train in Nebraska, 1911: “Abel Schaffer, aged 32, was literally ground to mincemeat under a Northwestern passenger train… His eyes, jawbone, and hands were found by different persons and placed in a sack. Every one knew Schaffer, but was unable to identify the remains until a cap was found this morning and his mother reported him missing.”

SHOW CLOSE=====

Thanks for listening. If you like the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like you do! And please leave a rating and review of the show in the podcast app you listen from – doing so helps the show to get noticed! You can also email me anytime with your questions or comments through the website at WeirdDarkness.com. That’s also where you can find all of my social media, listen to free audiobooks I’ve narrated, shop the Weird Darkness store, sign up for the email newsletter to win monthly prizes, find other podcasts that I host, and find the Hope in the Darkness page if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or dark thoughts. Plus if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, you can click on TELL YOUR STORY – or call the DARKLINE toll free at 1-877-277-5944. That’s 1-877-277-5944.

All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true (unless stated otherwise) and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes.

“The Nazca Three-Fingered Mummy” from TheScareChamber.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/364kxnar

“Ground Into Mincemeat” posted at StrangeAgo.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3rmddv3e

“The Pennsylvania Rain Man” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8bz5ez

“The Survival of Christie Downs” by Marco Margaritoff for All That’s Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p98ek5s

“The Ghost of Mary Jane Reed” from American Hauntings Ink: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/582z7w4j

“American Cannibals” from Ranker Crime: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8j83p4

Again, you can find link to all of these stories in the show notes.

WeirdDarkness™ – is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions. Copyright, Weird Darkness.

Now that we’re coming out of the dark, I’ll leave you with a little light… “The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” — Psalm 121:7-8

And a final thought… “We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.” — Dwight L. Moody

I’m Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.

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