This week I have returned with five more stories of the strange and mysterious with the latest installment of, Five Creepy Unsolved Mysteries. If you have missed the previous entries in this series check them out; here, here, here, here, and here.
1. Sheepsquatch: In this series we have covered a whole menagerie of cryptozoological creatures that may or may not roam the furthest reaches of this planet. But this monster who allegedly calls the Appalachian Mountains home is possibly the strangest member of this group. Despite sounding like the villain in a Roger Corman flick, the Sheepsquatch, is reported by witnesses as being incredibly aggressive and terrifying. Described as being a massive quadruped, who can stand on its hind legs when necessary. Coated in a thick layer of white wool, with razor sharp claws and a mouth full of fangs; the Sheepsquatch has been seen sporadically in the hills of West Virginia sporadically since the 1990’s.
2. The Disappearance of Louis Le Prince: It is no secret we here at the House of Geekery love movies; in fact we as a society love and treasure our cinematic experiences. One would believe that the inventor of motion pictures would be forever enshrined as a global hero and his tomb would be a Mecca for film fanatics. Instead Louis Le Prince, the Father of Cinematography, vanished without a trace while on a train in the fall of 1890. While on a journey which would eventually lead the inventor back to the United States to promote his invention, his train came to a stop in Pairs it was discovered that he was no longer onboard. Authorities searched the train and along the route it took and they were unable to discover any trace of Le Prince or his luggage. Since then theories have abound as to what happened to him; given Thomas Edison’s unscrupulous business practices suspicion has fallen on him as possibly orchestrating an assassination. A more recent theory implicates his own family, especially his brother, in either his death or assisted suicide.
3. The Solway Spaceman: In order to best celebrate a beautiful summer day in 1964, a family from Cumbria, England took a trip to Solway Firth. It was during this excursion, that Jim Templeton and his daughter Elizabeth became the subjects of one of the strangest events of the 1960’s. At one point during the trip, Mr Templeton took three photos in succession of Elizabeth having fun, but once he had the pictures developed he was shocked to discover a figure in a spacesuit looming behind his daughter. Decked out in the garb, of the era’s astronauts, this man had somehow appeared in Solway Firth and ended up in their family photograph. The image was analyzed by a whole host of experts; from Kodak technicians to law enforcement, yet nobody could explain what had happened. News of the Solway Spaceman, began making the rounds in the press, and brought a great deal of unwanted attention to the Templeton family. Undoubtedly the worst thing to arise from this event, was a visit Mr. Templeton received from the notorious Men in Black who demanded to be taken to the site of the picture. It was discovered that the man in the picture wore a suit identical to the one two men were wearing in Australia which caused a rocket launch to be aborted. Over half a century later, experts are still puzzling over the identity of the Solway Spaceman.
4, The Sodder children: On Christmas Eve in West Virginia in the year 1945; a family experienced an unspeakable tragedy which was only the beginning of their heartache. The home of George and Jennie Sodder was consumed by flames, by acting quickly they were able to save themselves as well as four of their ten children before it was too late. George Sodder made a desperate attempt to save his remaining children who he figured were on the second floor of the home, but the ladder he always kept by the house was strangely missing. The youngest daughter of the Sodder clan tried to reach the fire department via a neighbor’s phone but the operator would not respond until the house was a pile of ashes. The following morning when investigators sifted through the remains, they were unable to find the remains of any of the other children. Unsatisfied with the explanation that the children had been completely incinerated by the fire, the family opened up an investigation to find out if their children were actually alive. George Sodder did have enemies in the area, especially a fellow Italian immigrant who was irate that George would dare speak out against the fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. As the investigation continued reports of came in from around the area of people having seen the children. Most prominently was the report of a woman at a tourist stop who claimed to have served the children breakfast when they stopped in accompanied by a man in a car with Florida tags. While they tracked these sightings, they also looked into the fire itself, discovering solid evidence to support a cover-up of deliberate arson. The most peculiar twist in the case came several years later in 1968, when a photograph appeared in their mailbox of their oldest son, Louis, who was now an adult. They dispatched a private investigator to Kentucky, where the photograph was mailed from, but the investigator was never heard from again. Currently the only known surviving member of the Sodder family is 69 years old, and she has yet to give up finding answers to what happened to her siblings.
5. Robert the Doll: In balmy and breezy Key West, Florida, a boy named Robert Otto received a toy which would become the heart of one of the creepiest mysteries in the history of the state. Robert’s wealthy parents were major players in the region leaving him very lonely; that is until a housekeeper gave him a homemade wooden doll, with glass eyes and a sailor suit. The doll was also named Robert, and became a fixture in the boy’s life. The problem arose from the fact that the housekeeper who presented Robert with the toy had a chip on her shoulder towards his family, and as legend holds, was quite practiced in the art of voodoo, enchanting Robert the Doll with a curse. Whenever calamity struck the Otto household, Robert was quick to blame the toy. Naturally his parents doubted this until they began to overhear the child talking to Robert the Doll, and hearing the toy answer in a completely different voice from their son’s. The family as well as their servants would often hear Robert scampering around the house or see a glimpse of the doll dashing around in the corner of their eye. Once his parents passed away, Robert Otto inherited the home and his childhood toy seemed to grow in influence. Robert’s new wife found the very presence of the doll unsettling, while neighborhood children reported seeing Robert the Doll in the window of the turret, pacing around and intimidating them. With rumors that the wooden toy was actually evil swirling around the community, Robert locked it away in the attic. This did no good as many heard the doll giggling and pacing above them; and at times it was discovered in various other places in the large home. Many years later a new family moved into the house, and the young girl of the family found Robert. She quickly became traumatized as she claimed Robert the Doll repeatedly threatened and harassed her. Currently this evil doll is on display at the Key West Martello Museum, but his dangerous ways remain unchanged as many employees and visitors have witnessed the toy move around and heard it’s wicked giggle.
