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Post by Joanna on May 20, 2015 2:18:24 GMT -5
Poltergeist 2015 House for Sale
An amusing ad tie-in for the new Poltergeist remake has put the famously haunted home up for sale. Sure, the usual realtor smarm is there –"charming," "contemporary," "lots of potential" – but close readers will find the listing is delightfully up front about the house's unique history.
If you scroll down to "crimes near this home" on Trulia, you'll find the house has had more than one paranormal peculiarity. There were casualties. And OK, OK, an apparition or two might hang around. There may have been a tree assault involving a child, too. But it's the perfect house for a family looking for a starter home!
The listing is chock-ful of Easter egg hints, cheekily letting the reader in on the house's back story in relation to the movie. ("Housing development is built on a site with a lot of history.") The map even flickers in and out, making it seem like a ghost could jump out from the screen. Check it out for yourself to see how many subtle references you can find. Oh, and if you put down an offer, now might be a good time for your family to go TV-free.
1295 Brimstone Ave., Willow Point, Illinois: Charming, contemporary two-story single-family home with 3 beds, 2.5 baths, separate office – and lots of potential! Built in 1982 in the lovely Cuesta Verde housing development, the ideal neighborhood for any growing family. Spacious living room with an open layout, perfect for entertaining numerous guests, complete with spectacular bay windows with arched glass panels and a modern brick fireplace. Inviting French doors lead to an office/family den.
The 2nd floor has more than you might expect. The upstairs master retreat is the perfect oasis from disturbances, with picturesque bay windows that let in plenty of sunshine ... to brighten the darkness. Plus large walk-in closet featuring built-in organization units. More surprises await around every corner. The second bedroom has a deep closet-space – almost like stepping into another world. The third bedroom also functions as guest room for overnight visitors. Most attics feel cold and creepy, but this one is easily converted to a playroom or cozy fourth bedroom. Upstairs bedrooms are watched-over by beautiful, towering willow trees, which provide an extra layer of privacy.
Two-car garage with built-in cabinets for storage and space for washer/dryer. Huge backyard with only one neighboring house makes it feel secluded and cut off from the hustle and bustle. Housing development is built on a site with a lot of history. Some fixer-uppers can be a nightmare, but you won’t regret buying this one. Unique curb appeal draws you in and once you step inside, you’ll never leave. HIGHLY-MOTIVATED SELLER is eager to put you into your DREAM HOME. For the family wanting the perfect starter home, IT’S HERE! And it could be yours for $270,666.
Sources: Kristina Monllos, AdWeek, May 15, 2015, and Trulia.
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Post by Joanna on May 20, 2015 2:01:19 GMT -5
Cure Your Hangover with Pedialyte
Pedialyte is no longer just for when your child has an upset tummy. For years, the product has helped kids rehydrate and recover from stomach bugs, but adults looking to cure a hangover now make up a third of the Pedialyte market. To cater to their new clientele, the brand recently launched a new marketing campaign aimed at adults with a dreaded hangover. The company's "See The Lyte" campaign features a shirtless man with messy hair standing before a fridge, which contains a bottle of Pedialyte. The fluid may help ease hangovers by replenishing the body with electrolytes, salts and sugars.
"Alcohol is a diuretic," explained Melissa Price, a physician's assistant who sees patients in Orlando, Florida. "Consumption depletes sodium, which regulates how water is used in the body." Alcohol rids the body of water and electrolytes including potassium and magnesium through urination and can cause dehydration. Hangovers are the body's reaction to withdrawal from alcohol. Common hangover symptoms may include fatigue, thirst, nausea and vomiting. The severity depends on the individual and how much they consumed.
Celebrity endorsements are helping boost the popularity of Pedialyte as a hangover cure. Miley Cyrus recently posted a selfie holding up a bottle of Pedialyte, and Pharrell Williams told US Weekly that he drinks the stuff "almost every day."
To help cater to the growing market for adults, brand owner Abbott Laboratories said they will begin selling larger packs of the powdered version of the drink and will introduce new flavors including lemonade, strawberry and orange.
Pedialyte is just another in a growing list of products and services catering to the market for hangover cures. Last month, CBS News reported on The Hangover Club, a home-delivery service for IV nutrient therapy to treat hangovers. "Medical professionals hook themselves up to IV bags, too," Price said. For other people who might be going into work with a hangover, Price recommends bringing along a bottle of coconut water instead of of Pedialyte, though. "It's less conspicuous." To prevent or reduce the severity of a hangover, Price recommends drinking lots of water before and during your night out and eating a decent-sized meal beforehand.
Source: Amy Craft, CBS News, May 19, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 18, 2015 19:41:06 GMT -5
Teacher Forced to Resign for Showing 'Annabelle the Devil Doll' to StudentsAn elementary school teacher in New Home, Texas (population 334), resigned Tuesday, May 12, in response to sustained complaints from a throng of irate parents because she had shown her third-grade students a six-minute Travel Channel video called Annabelle the Devil Doll. The teacher is Heather Anderson, formerly of New Home Elementary School. Anderson showed the video about the killer demon doll to eight- and nine-year-old students back in March, reports Lubbock NBC affiliate KCBD. At the time, she allegedly asked her students not to tell their parents what had happened.
Anderson’s resignation followed several fiery school board meetings at which a number of parents expressed their outrage over the incident. Angry parents said their children had difficulty sleeping at night after seeing the video and, in one instance, professional counseling was necessary.
The teacher also had her supporters in town. They said Anderson did not intentionally show the terrifying segment about the fiendish, homicidal doll. The accident only occurred, they suggested, because the video automatically played after the one Anderson wanted to show had ended. One weakness of the argument that Anderson’s actions were accidental is that she managed to show the offending doll video to two different groups of students, according to a statement from local school district superintendent Leland Zant. “Annabelle the Devil Doll” is a fairly standard-looking rag doll owned by the proprietors of Warren’s Occult Museum in Monroe, Conn. In the video, museum curator Tony Spera called his collection of “unholy” and “unblessed” occult items “the most haunted location” in the world. Spera insisted, “the most diabolical item” in the museum is “a simple child’s doll named Annabelle” that “has the power to kill.” The story of Annabelle has sort of a Chucky feel. Spera explained the doll’s history dates back to a 1970 incident just a few miles away involving Annabelle’s mysteriously crossing its arms and appearing to scribble notes asking for help.
The owner of the doll, a nursing student, called in a psychic for a séance, the story goes, and the psychic said a dead child had taken control of the doll. The next thing that happened was that Annabelle tried to choke a friend of the nursing student’s in a dream – sort of Freddy Krueger-like. Then, and only then, the students decided to contact the owners of Warren’s Occult Museum, according to Spera.
Lorraine Warren, founder of the museum, said she had reason to believe the spirit possessing the doll was not a dead child, but actually an evil demon. Warren’s husband, Ed, went to retrieve the doll and said it caused the car he was driving to behave erratically – perhaps a bit like the car in Stephen King’s Christine. He then sprinkled Annabelle with some holy water he happened to have on hand and made the sign of the cross. This was enough to calm the doll until he got back to the museum.
“We believe it’s responsible for the death of a young man that came here to the museum,” Spera also matter-of-factly explained. The guy who died, Spera said, was a visitor to the occult museum who unwisely chose to ask Annabelle to demonstrate her powers. “Three hours later this young man was dead,” he claimed. “He died instantly when he hit a tree head-on with his motorcycle.” The curator added that the lesson in the story of Annabelle is that “you do not challenge the demonic.”
Anderson, the Texas teacher, had been suspended by school officials before she resigned.
The story of Annabelle has been the germ for the plots of two movies: Annabelle as well as The Conjuring (“the horrifying true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, world renowned paranormal investigators”). The Warren’s Occult Museum appears to be permanently closed.
The third-grade classroom incident is somewhat reminiscent of a recent incident at an Ohio public high school involving a substitute Spanish teacher who was convicted on criminal charges after showing The ABC’s of Death, what administrators deemed “a vile, totally inappropriate horror movie,” to students in five classes. Source: Eric Owens, The Daily Caller, May 14, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 17, 2015 19:11:29 GMT -5
Will Bones Confirm Bigfoot’s Existence? Is the mystery of Bigfoot’s existence finally solved? One Centralia College professor said he has discovered scientific evidence that proves the creature’s existence. He believes the information will be one of the biggest scientific finds of the century. Mitchel Townsend, a Winlock resident and teacher in the college’s Continuing Education program, said he was walking through the woods near Ryan Lake in East Lewis County when he came across a stack of bones. The find itself was unusual because predators typically disperse remains rather quickly, he said. Upon inspection, he noticed large human-like teeth imprints in the bones. “I got to looking at the bones and they had been gnawed on by what looked to me to be giant human teeth,” he said.
After two of his students from Lower Columbia College found two more stacks of bones on the south side of Mount St. Helens, he said it became clear the “kill sites” were similar in a variety of ways. The bone stacking technique is specific to a humanoid and was cited as human behavior, he said. Again, human-like teeth imprints were notched into the bones. No predator impressions or tool marks were found on the remains, and after consulting with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Townsend said, all natural predators in the area were ruled out.
The two additional sites located by his students shed more light on the creature responsible for the activity. The trio found footprints with a length of 16 inches, he claims. Height, weight and proportion calculations, paired with the length of the stride between steps, conferred the creature had to be about 8 feet, 8 inches tall. Although the footprints looked human, they had a much wider and broader profile and did not have an arch. “If you add it all up, you have an 8-foot, 8-inch tall creature that is killing animals at different areas of Mount St. Helens with its bare hands, chewing them up, literally skin and bones and all, and spitting them out between its legs,” Townsend said.
The teeth marks in the bone show what Townsend said were impressions of incisors and canines, but 90 percent of the teeth were beyond “the range of human possibility.” As for the mouth size, the bite ratio was calculated at 2½ times wider than that of a person. The bones also showed dental signatures and different human chewing strategies from ancient caveman, including bone peeling, he said. “The bottom line is only humans do that because of the shape of our teeth and the shape of our jaw so we have to gnaw on the edge of (the bone),” Townsend said. A double arch structure also showed the teeth were closely related to the Neanderthals and the molars left triangular impressions as opposed to circular impressions an ape or chimpanzee would leave, he said.
The evidence is what the professor said was forensic dental evidence and behavioral evidence showing the massive creature is part human. His discovery aims to prove there is, in fact, a hominin species living in the area of Mount St. Helens that derived from the breeding of Native Americans and a giant ape. “My theory is it’s not an ape, it’s a hybrid that has been interbreeding with Native Americans for the last 80,000 years,” Townsend said. “That’s why it is so smart and it has human teeth.”
Townsend’s information will be published in a research paper, and he challenges the scientific community to discredit his information. He said the four-year project helped solve the mystery because the focus was based on forensic evidence. The information used was also heavily based on comparison proof from the top scientists in the world. “The evidence stands on its own, you prove the evidence wrong,” he said, adding that the bones would be made available for examination to any scientist who wanted to examine the remains. “We’ve put thousands of hours in this. We just want to give this to the world and the scientific community free of charge to add to the scientific body of knowledge.”Source: Justyna Tomtas, The Chronicle, May 14, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 17, 2015 19:05:56 GMT -5
Retelling of 1970s Real-Life Ghost StoryThe tape crackles and then jumps into life. Heavy objects are hurled around an unseen room, agitated female voices gasp. Over the furor a man declares firmly, “You should not be in this house.” More unsettling bangs come, but the man perseveres. “My name is Maurice. Let me hear you say it.” There is a final clatter of noises and then another male voice. Sounding unhappy and old it growls, resentfully, “Maurice.”
Beside me in his West London flat, Guy Lyon Playfair steadies himself on a walking stick as he stops the four-decades-old cassette. “And that,” says the 79-year-old paranormal investigator, “was the first time we heard the poltergeist speak through the girl.”
The girl was Janet Hodgson, an 11-year-old from the north London suburb of Enfield, where she lived in a council house with her mother Peggy and siblings Margaret, 13, Johnny, 10, and Billy, 7. In August 1977, the furniture started to move of its own accord and Janet began to experience episodes akin, Playfair says, “to scenes from The Exorcist.” At times, she was apparently taken over by the spirits of the dead.
When police, doctors and the church couldn’t help, Peggy called the Daily Mirror. The story made the front page of the paper, but journalist also alerted the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Founded in 1882, it is the world’s oldest organization dedicated to investigating paranormal activity. Playfair was about to go on holiday, but changed his plans when he heard the report. “I knew this was a big one; you didn’t get cases like this that often.” He was joined by SPR newcomer Maurice Grosse. When they arrived in Enfield, Playfair recalls, “the family were terrified. They were all sleeping in the main bedroom with the lights on.” Life was already hard for the Hodgsons, Peggy's husband had left and they lived on benefits. “Maurice and I agreed we couldn't abandon them,” Playfair says. “We pledged to stay.”
Grosse took the lead, actively putting himself between the poltergeist and the family. Playfair would take his evening meal in a nearby pub, to give the family space – “you have to be careful they don’t become too dependent” – and because he “needed a beer before a hard night’s poltergeisting.”
And it could be hard. A Daily Mirror photographer was injured near the eye by a piece of Lego, and the tapes record often frenetic outbursts. “Poltergeists are not funny. They are a major invasion of your whole life,” says Playfair. “This was a violent poltergeist. Fires broke out in closed drawers. Objects were thrown about.”
Throughout the investigation Grosse tried to keep the family calm. In one instance, Janet is thrown from a sofa and hysteria threatens to break out. Grosse tells the poltergeist he isn’t frightened of it and asks, “Right, who’s going to put the kettle on?” Playfair’s more patrician interjections seem to annoy the spirits. When a voice claiming to be 72-year-old Bill Haylock complains, through Janet, “I’ve come here to see my family but they are not here,” Playfair asks if Bill knows he’s dead. Bill’s response is a curt “Fuck off .”
Perhaps the strangest thing to happen to Janet, if true, was her transportation through a solid wall. “She was on her bed reading a book called Fun and Games for Children,” says Playfair. “Suddenly she found herself in a space where everything was white and she ended up in the house next door. Sure enough, we got in and the book was on the floor next door. She could not have got it there. The window was too far away, the ledge too narrow.”
When I mention the claim by American debunker of the paranormal, Joe Nickell, that Janet and her siblings invented 100 percent of the events, Playfair gets angry. “Nickell can piss off,” he says. “The man knows nothing. They are absolutely useless, these people. They are just expressing their own stupidity and laziness in not doing proper research.”
Before I go, I ask Playfair, are poltergeists real? “Oh, yes,” he says. “You feel them pass over you. This cold thing coming into land, then taking off again. It’s a very odd feeling.”Source: Michael Hodges, The Daily Mail, May 2, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 16, 2015 5:35:28 GMT -5
14 UFOs over MadridMADRID, Spain – It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a fleet of UFOs! A photographer has captured a fleet of UFOs on camera in the skies over Spain.
Mirror Online reader Karl Jennings of Ireland said he took the pictures in broad daylight around 5 p.m., October 27, 2014, while in central Madrid. He insists the photographs have not been altered in any way and is convinced the bizarre objects are not birds or planes, but rather a “14-strong fleet” of unidentified, “baton-shaped crafts.”
According to Karl, the strange shapes were in view for around 90 seconds before disappearing behind some tall buildings. He told the Mirror the crafts "cruised with the illuminated facet facing down. They sped up, rotated length-wise, flipped on their “backs” and had lights so bright they bleached out the broadest daylight. "There were no wings, no audible sound, no propellers, no finned-empennage, no smoke, no contrails,” he said. "My best guesstimate is that they were at an altitude of 8 kilometres (5 miles), some 3-4.5 metres (10 to 15 feet) in length each."
Karl also consulted other photography and technology experts, who agreed the objects were not birds, but could not offer any other explanation. For comparison, he also photographed an Air Berlin plane, with the same camera on the same settings, just 20 minutes after the “UFO event.” Source: Nicola Oakley, The Mirror, May 14, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 16, 2015 5:20:34 GMT -5
Keeley's Gold Cure for Alcoholism and Drug Addiction“A Baby Morphine Fiend,” declared the headline in the Montpelier Argus. The June 1, 1893, edition of the newspaper reported the case of addiction was unprecedented for Dr. J. W. Nichols of the Keeley Institute, a treatment center for alcoholics and drug addicts located at 89 State Street in the capital city. The rehabilitation facility had opened a year earlier in the rooms above the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a handsome Georgian-style brick building across from the Pavilion Hotel. The Argus noted that Mrs. Nora Woodworth of Jonesville appeared for treatment for her morphine addiction at the institute two weeks earlier. She was accompanied by her 3-year-old daughter and the doctors discovered the child was also suffering from the disease of opiate addiction. “Mrs. Woodworth is the mother of nine children and has been a victim of the morphine habit for four years,” the Argus reported. “When she was nursing the child, she was taking 15 grains of morphine a day, and the little one, through its mother’s milk, became an innocent victim of the habit. When she was weaned, at the age of 10 months, it was necessary to give her morphine regularly, and when she came here for treatment, she was taking a grain and a half a day.”
The twin scourges of alcoholism and drug abuse were rife in the 19th century. Morphine was one of the few effective medicines in the pharmacopeia of physicians of the day and was used to treat everything from chronic pain to diarrhea. Opium was also sold as an over-the-counter drug in general stores and many patent medicines contained both alcohol and opiates.
Addiction treatment was often harsh and dangerous. In the era before anti-convulsive medication, withdrawal from alcohol addiction could have lethal consequences. As a result, it was often the custom to use beer to wean alcoholics from their dependence on intoxicants.
Secret cure. The Keeley Institute was a franchised treatment center with a novel approach to detoxification and sobriety. The “Keeley Cure,” the brainchild of Dr. Leslie Keeley, relied on injections of “bichloride of gold” and a supportive and humane facility that characterized the state of addiction as a disease, rather than a character flaw. Treatment at the various centers throughout the country was modeled on that of the flagship site in Dwight, Illinois, founded in 1879. New arrivals were “introduced into an open, informal environment where they were first offered as much alcohol as they could imbibe.” All patients received injections of bichloride of gold, a secret compound, four times a day, in a course of treatment that lasted four weeks.
It has been reported that, as a child, novelist William Faulkner traveled to a Keeley center in Memphis, Tennessee, where his father was being treated for alcoholism. The Faulkner family took in the sights of Memphis while father Murray was under the care of Keeley Institute physicians.
While many medical professionals sneered at the unorthodox practices the Keeley method advocated, it was known to have provided successful outcomes for hundreds of victims of the malady. In the era before Alcoholics Anonymous and psychotherapy, it afforded solace to lost souls whose lives had been ravaged by addiction. Notably, it brought the malady out of the shadows of humiliation and shame and its treatment of the condition as a disease heralded a new course for rehabilitation of alcohol and opiate addiction.
All the rage. Montpelier’s chronicler of contemporary life, Dorman Kent, noted that a cure at the institute had become, to an amusing degree, a measure of having arrived in polite society in the capital city. He observed in his newspaper column that by 1893, “the Keeley Institute for the cure of the liquor habit was doing a rushing business in the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company building. Montpelier went so crazy over it. It became all but a distinction to take the Keeley cure.”
Montpelier’s franchise for the Keeley Cure opened to great acclaim in August 1892. Reporters from the Montpelier Argus interviewed the principals, Business Manager Charles Foster and physician J. W. Nichols. “The former is a gentleman of high character and fine business ability who devotes his personal attention to the management of the institute. He is himself a “graduate” and is enthusiastic in the work of aiding unfortunates to find relief from their afflictions. Dr. Nichols is a graduate of Bowdoin College and of the Maine Medical School. He has had a large and successful experience in the practice of general medicine and under the personal training of Dr. Leslie E. Keeley at the parent house in Dwight, Illinois, acquired a thorough knowledge of the methods of treatment there.
“Having purchased from the parent house at Dwight, the exclusive right of the state of Vermont to administer the Keeley Cure, Montpelier was selected as the location of the institute. Its central location, its excellent railroad communications, its fine hotel accommodations, its healthy climate, pure water, beautiful residences and public buildings, and its maple and elm shaded streets, all combine to make it one of the most charming locations in New England for a Keeley Institute.”
The second floor of the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance building served as a social center for those undergoing treatment. The weekly numbers varied from 12 to 40 as demand fluctuated. Upon arrival, patients were examined by Nichols, then administered regular doses of tonic and injections of the institute’s secret gold preparations “and, if he so desires he is furnished with the best whiskey so long as he cares to drink it. Some of the patients the first day or two drink a pint or more during 24 hours. At the end of the third or fourth day the liquor is voluntarily given up.”
The patients were not confined to the rooms of the institute, but were free to walk around Montpelier and enjoy the amenities that the town had to offer. Patients usually selected their own accommodations, most staying at nearby hotels such as the Pavilion, which offered privacy and discretion, as well as comfort. Some elected to rent a room in a private home. The institute recommended special accommodations for ladies. “There are several first-class boarding houses in town, in which lady patients can find pleasant accommodations and receive private treatment.”
There were no restrictions on what patients did on their own time. Many enjoyed the natural beauty of central Vermont, enjoying the same activities as would any other visitors to the capital. “The knowledge that they are free from the clutches of drink comes to them like a benediction from heaven, and there is today no happier class of men in Montpelier.” A promotional brochure extolled the citizenry of the capital.
“Ever since the opening of the Keeley Institute in Montpelier, the citizens have manifested the greatest interest in its workings and welfare, and have heartily cooperated with the management at every opportunity, doing everything within their power to promote the best interests of the institution and its patients. The people of Montpelier rejoice over the good work going on in their midst. They bid the newcomer welcome, and words of encouragement and good cheer greet all.”
Walking ads. In contrast to the quiet anonymity of Alcoholics Anonymous (founded in Ohio in 1935 by two Vermonters), many “graduates” of the Keeley Cure were outspoken advocates of the treatment. When asked by the Argus if their names could be used in its report, many prominent men around Vermont readily agreed to serve as enthusiastic proponents of the institute. These “living advertisements” included G. W. Baker of Johnson who was profiled in the Argus. “He was a victim of the morphine and liquor habit, and had been bedridden some time from their excessive use. He is a well-known citizen of the northern part of the state, and when he came to Montpelier was unable to walk without a cane, and his friends predicted that he would be taken back to Johnson in a box. He was a physical wreck while his friends today would hardly recognize him. He cannot say enough in favor of the treatment.”
Newspapers throughout Vermont reported the visits of their citizens much as they announced vacations and business travel, and graduates of the program gathered for public reunions that helped reinforce their commitment to sobriety and served as an advertisement for the Keeley Cure. As Dorman Kent intimated, it seems the Keeley Institute was a trendy destination for those who could afford treatment, room and board in the beautiful environs of Vermont’s capital city.
A Women’s Auxiliary Keeley League was formed and regular meetings were held at members’ homes. Apparently, it was a support group for the spouses of those afflicted, serving much the same purpose as Al-Anon does today. Forty years later, Kent recalled the “Ladies Auxiliary Keeley League gave a lawn party in August of 1893, and the Montpelier Military band furnished music. The Ladies Auxiliary Keeley League was made up of wives of boozers who had taken the cure and many of our first families belonged. Then, when the old man quit drinking, the wives and daughters joined a league and made merry. Now some of the wives and some of the daughters make merry doing exactly what the old man tried to stop doing 40 years ago.”
The Keeley Cure appeared to have won the endorsement of the local chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, inasmuch as it paid $90 for the treatment of an indigent man from Barre. At a meeting in August 1893 the union proffered its official endorsement, “pledging support in all possible ways.”
The prominence of the Keeley Institute may be inferred from the Grand Rally held in November 1892. Led by the Montpelier Military Band, hundreds of graduates and well-wishers made their way up State Street from institute headquarters across from the Pavilion Hotel to the Blanchard Block Opera House, near the junction of Main and East State streets. The Argus reported that 1,000 people were in attendance with spectators standing in the aisles and at the back of the hall. Local attorney and Keeley alumnus William A. Lord presided over an evening of testimonials interrupted by cheers, applause and selections from the brass band. Lord was one of the many distinguished citizens of Montpelier who spoke that night. Born in 1849 and a graduate of Dartmouth, he was a prominent lawyer, state representative (speaker of the House) and senator. He was the son of a prominent Montpelier clergyman and grandson of Nathan Lord, president of Dartmouth. He led the testimonials in a now-familiar confessional style, asserting that the Keeley Cure had saved his life. To thunderous applause, he introduced speaker after speaker who told similar stories. Among them was recovered morphine addict, G. W. Baker of Johnson. “I was using about 15 grains of morphine and one and one half pints of whiskey per day when I came for treatment,” Johnson proclaimed. “And less than two weeks later the chains with which I had been bound for years were broken.”
Quick fall. Despite the popular acclaim the Keeley Cure engendered in Montpelier, there was disagreement as to the institute’s efficacy in the battle against addiction. Many physicians objected to the notion of a “magical elixir” in the form of bichloride of gold. Chemical analysis revealed that it contained a variety of compounds (with the exception of gold) and Keeley remained mute regarding his secret formula. An independent survey revealed that 51 percent of Keeley patients remained drug- or alcohol-free for the long term, a significant success rate, but a rate far lower than Keeley’s promotional matter claimed.
Finally, competing recovery franchises assailed the Keeley Cure at every opportunity. Into this maelstrom were allegations that Charles Foster, business manager of the Montpelier franchise, had somehow embezzled funds and shortchanged patients. Dorman Kent caustically observed that the institute was “the finest managed graft ever seen in this place.” The allegations apparently were unfounded, but the damage had been done, and Montpelier’s Keeley Institute closed its doors in late January 1895.
In the few short years of its existence, more than 500 patients had been treated for addiction. Importantly, the concept of addiction as disease would transform therapy in the coming century, paving the way for compassionate treatment of victims of substance dependency.
_____________ Keeley’s Gold Cure consisted of four shots of “gold bichloride” a day, but there is no such thing as gold bichloride, so what was in those shots? The medical community was naturally curious and people were sent to the clinics undercover as alcoholics or drug addicts with the intention of getting their hands on the injected liquid. Some were successful, however, various analyses yielded different results. Some tests revealed traces of alcohol, while others found traces of coca (from which cocaine is derived). Chemists discovered strychnine, willow bark (salicylic acid, from which aspirin was first obtained), ammonia and aloe. Some tests did reveal traces of gold salts, but no one was ever able to explain why gold salts should have an effect on alcoholism, other than convincing patients they were receiving an expensive and exclusive treatment. Many doctors and chemists insisted the cure consisted of nothing more than sedatives.
Keeley never revealed his secret formula and his centers remained popular from the late 19th century into the 20th century, with the Dwight center closing in 1965. To this day, many believe Keeley had, indeed, found a cure for alcoholism and drug addition. Others are convinced he had a high rate of success because his clinics were provided individual attention and encouragement. But whatever Keeley was doing, he had a 51 percent success rate which is exceptional, particularly when compared to the 5 to 10 percent success rates of today’s AA, NA and other alcohol- drug-rehab programs.Sources: Paul Heller, The Barre Montpelier Times-Argus, April 20, 2015, and Esther Inglis-Arkell, iO9, May 15, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 13, 2015 20:29:31 GMT -5
Elderly Maryland Couple found Murdered in Their HomeROCKVILLE, Md. – Authorities aren't sure what motivated someone to kill a Maryland hotel developer and his wife. Dick Vilardo, 65, and wife Jody, 67, were supposed to meet with relatives for Mother’s Day, but they never appeared. Their adult children dropped by the couple’s home and found their parents’ bodies. Mr. and Mrs. Vilardo were members of a nearby country club, and Dick Vilardo, a former Marriott executive, was the co-founder of a hotel management company.
Authorities haven’t revealed how the husband and wife died. Dick Vilardo’s body was found in the backyard, while his wife’s corpse was located inside the home. Both suffered upper body trauma and they were both still wearing their pajamas, officials said.
Investigators say they are focusing on the night of Saturday, May 9. According to neighbors, the pair went to the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races and returned home around midnight. Police believe the killer entered through a window but, at this point, authorities have not released any possible motive for the slayings and still do not know whether the couple was targeted, or if anything was taken from the home.
Neighbor Tam Faulkner said the killings shocked the community. “It’s not very comforting to tell you, ‘Oh, you know, we don’t think you need to worry.’ Well, anyone that’s living here and your neighbors have been killed, you’re worried,” Faulkner said.
The victims’ family released a statement: “We are heartbroken over this senseless tragedy,” the statement reads. “Dick and Jody Vilardo were a warm and loving couple. We know of no one who would wish them harm.”
Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks, a department spokesman, said authorities are pursuing every possible lead. “We’re not terming this investigation as random,” he said. “It’s too early and investigators are looking at so many different possibilities right now so they don’t overlook any bit of evidence.”Source: ABC News, May 12, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 11, 2015 17:03:41 GMT -5
4,000-Year-Old Stone Circle Discovered on DartmoorArchaeologists are investigating the first stone circle discovered on the highest section of Dartmoor in more than a century. The set – at least 4,000-years-old – is the highest circle in southern England and the second-largest on Dartmoor. Thirty-four meters (111 feet) in diameter and at 525 meters (1,722 feet) on the northern part of the moor near Sittaford Tor, the circle would have been “very impressive” and dominated the surrounding landscape, the researchers say. The circle was discovered in 2007 by independent academic researcher Alan Endacott. Now geophysical investigations are revealing more about the ancient site. “It is fantastic, very exciting,” said Andy Crabb, an archaeologist for the national park and Historic England. “Most of them were pretty well researched by antiquarians and early archaeologist in Victorian times. To be able to investigate one now is really exciting.”
The first radio-carbon testing ever carried out on a Dartmoor circle, analyzing the soil beneath stones, shows they fell about 4,000 years ago. Investigators are sure the stones were once upright because of packing material discovered around their bases.
The discovery fits a pattern of a “sacred” arc of similar stone circles located in the northeastern part of Dartmoor – eight separate circles form the crescent, from Whit Moor running south to Grey Wethers. The layout of the arc suggests there was planning and liaison among the communities living on Dartmoor in the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age 5,000-4,000 years ago, researchers say.
Thirty of the stones in the Sittaford circle are lying flat. One is in a gap outside the circle and is incorporated into an unfinished enclosure wall. Geophysical surveys have so far also revealed a wide ditch running in a line outside the circle. Archaeologists believe the stones probably came from Sittaford Tor about a mile west of Fernworthy Reservoir.
Crabb said the circle was discovered by Mr. Endacott after undergrowth was destroyed in a controlled burn by commoners, exposing the stones.
The site is now being investigated, thanks to a Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) scheme, Moor Than Meets The Eye. The information released so far comes from preliminary results. Moor Than Meets The Eye, a partnership involving 12 bodies, including the national park, Dartmoor commoners, Devon County Council, the Duchy of Cornwall and conservation organizations, has been given £1.9 ($2.9) million from the National Lottery and will run for five years. Source: P. Goodwin, Western Morning News, May 10, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 10, 2015 12:19:58 GMT -5
_ Old Photos of Roswell Extraterrestrials Found in AtticIt's the conspiracy theory that just won't go away: that the US government is, deep in some secret location, keeping the bodies of alien astronauts recovered from a 1947 crash of a flying saucer in New Mexico. The "Roswell Incident," named for the small town close to where some wreckage was found – a weather balloon, the U.S. military says; a UFO, say others – was back in the news this week when two photographs, claimed to be of preserved alien remains, were presented at a UFO conference in Mexico City. The photos, taken on Kodachrome color slide film, have been confirmed as being on film stock from the late 1940s – but that doesn't mean the alien claim is true, experts say. What is much more likely, they say, is that the photo is, in fact, a 1940s image of a human child's mummified body.
As evidence the alien claim is either a publicity stunt – a documentary film, Roswell Slides, is in production – or a hoax, scientists noted that attendees at the Mexico City conference who wanted to view the color slides had to cough up $350 for the privilege.
The skeleton in the photos does have a large head in relation to the rest of the body, but that's a characteristic of any child's body, experts say. Mummified children's bodies have been mistaken for aliens before, but even those with strange, deformed skulls have a simple explanation.
Still, many UFO adherents are standing by the claims made in Mexico City. "[These photos] show the human race, beyond any doubt, that extraterrestrial visits are a reality," said Jaime Maussan, a Mexican UFO researcher who hosted the conference. "That is why the presentation of two slides, two transparencies, where a being with nonhuman features can be seen, is very important."
Despite years of research by the US Air Force and other agencies that have found no evidence of aliens – or UFOs – many still hold to their conviction that the government is covering up the existence of a flying saucer or its occupants – or both – in a secret hangar somewhere.
The newly released photos are unlikely to change anyone's mind one way or the other, of course. That's just the nature of conspiracies. They're hard to prove; the problem is they're also hard to disprove.
The photos were said to have been taken by geologist Bernard Ray between 1947 and 1949, and the images were found inside a box that also contained images of Bing Crosby, Clarke Gable and Dwight Eisenhower before his term as president. The box was located in the attic of a house in Sedona, Arizona, and a team of UFO specialists says they are authentic.Source: Jim Algar, Tech Times, May 10, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 10, 2015 10:59:38 GMT -5
Woman Kills Two Men and Feeds Them to PigsMEDFORD, Ore. – Susan Monica, 66, who dismembered two men and fed them to her pigs is now serving a sentence of a least 50 years. During sentencing in a Jackson County courtroom, the Judge Tim Barnack described the convicted serial murderer as a “cold-blooded killer.”
Monica, of Wimer, Oregon, was silent while the jury announced its unanimous verdicts of guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse in the 2012 death and dismemberment of Stephen Delicino, 59, and the September 2013 death and dismemberment of handyman Robert Haney, 56. Both men died of gunshot wounds and were fed to the pigs on Monica’s 20-acre ranch in southwestern Oregon, where she welded wrought iron fences and gates.
In January 2014, what remained of the men, which had not been consumed by the hogs, were found on Monica’s farm, located off West Evans Creek Road. Although she was interviewed for 18 hours and on trial for six days, she never confessed to killing the two men. Referring to the fact she told detectives she was afraid her pigs would be put down if she notified authorities of the deaths, the judge said, “You value pigs more than you value people.”
The sentence could have been decided on a later date, but the newly-convicted killer requested the judge impose it immediately after the jury’s dismissal, saying, “It doesn’t seem to matter.” Before her sentence was read, Monica spoke to the family of Haney, who disappeared in 2013. She stuck to her claim that she did not feed his remains to her pigs, but instead found Haney disemboweled and near death in her pig pen being eaten alive by the hogs. She said she could not bear to inform his family of how he died and shot the handyman to end his suffering, which isn’t recognized as a defense under Oregon law.
She claimed to have killed Delicino in self-defense, while the two were struggling in the barn, with five shots to the head. She had previously said Delicino committed suicide by shooting himself in the head five times. The jury rejected both of her stories and the 10 men and two women took only an hour to elect a foreperson and make a decision.
Prosecutors arguing the case focused on the varying accounts of the murders given by Monica, which seemed to line up with what investigators had discovered or were about to find out. Her attorney, Christine Herbert, admitted that representing Monica was difficult because she seemed unable to remain silent. Following her arrest, the Oregon woman sent letters to the local newspaper and even wrote “from Jackson County’s sweetest murderer, Susan Monica” on a fellow inmate’s birthday greeting card.
Monica’s attorneys acknowledged their client’s odd behavior at times, which included threatening to kill people and feeding their remains to her pigs. “Just because Susan Monica is different and strange and weird doesn’t make her a murderer,” Herbert insisted. Monica’s strangeness was evident in the court room. As the jury was preparing to retire for deliberations, Monica rose to her feet and asked the judge to allow her to show the jury how she had shot Delicino in the head. Although Barnack attempted to ignore her, Monica raised her hands in the air and said, “I held the gun like this,” before being escorted out of the courtroom.
Not quite two hours later, Monica returned to the court room to hear the jury’s decision and learn her fate. Barnack then sentenced the Oregon woman to consecutive life terms with a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years for both murders. On her other convictions, she was credited for time served in jail.
Although Monica attempted to fire her defense attorneys mid-trial for attempting to search for records of prior mental health issues, Herbert said she plans to appeal her client’s conviction.Source: Jennifer Pfalz, Liberty Village, April 22, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 9, 2015 1:23:57 GMT -5
Unknown Dimensions: Possible Thunderbird SightingA recent addition to the growing family of Unknown Dimensions readers, Angela, recently sent me an email concerning a personal encounter she had less than two years ago in Stone County, Missouri.
“I was looking through some of your earlier columns and read about the large birds people had reported seeing here in the Ozarks. I immediately remembered my own sighting of what I believe was a Thunderbird, as they are often called, back in July of 2013. I remember it was late in the morning on a Wednesday, and it was sunny and already uncomfortably hot. I was driving south on what is called the River Run Road, on my way to visit a friend in Forsyth and had just passed Silver Creek. All of a sudden, I noticed something flying toward the road no higher than a private plane coming in for a landing, but, if anything, a little bit bigger than a piper cub. I almost ran off the road, when I realized that I was looking at a huge bird, much bigger than any that we normally see in this area and, in fact, bigger than any bird that I know of in the world. There were no other cars behind me, so I immediately stopped to watch it cross over the road. There was a dark gray car coming from the opposite direction, and it slowed down for a moment, then took off and passed me going the opposite direction like the devil himself was chasing them. When it went by, I saw a man driving and a woman turned around to look out the back window, but the bird never gave any sign of noticing them at all.
“The bird just flew across the road like it had some place to be and could care less about a couple of cars, climbed a little bit higher above the ground, and curved off more toward the southwest. It just stayed on that path until it got too far away to see any more.”
Angela’s email was fascinating, but there were several questions to which I wanted answers. I immediately responded and in less than an hour, was reading her answers.
“Boy, I did leave a lot out, didn’t I? The bird I saw was very much like an eagle in its body shape and the way it flew, but far too big to be one. The color was a solid chocolate brown all over, with a yellowish beak that was kind of curved down – almost like a parrot. I am not great at estimating feet and inches, but I would say that from wingtip to wingtip it was at least 20 and maybe even 25 feet across. The body was probably 8-10 feet long and the legs were a lighter brown, held up tight against the body instead of dangling, like a crane’s would do. It definitely did not resemble any bird that I am familiar with, even if it would have been more normal in size. I did have my window rolled down but never heard any sound from it.
“As for your question concerning other witnesses, the only ones I am sure about was the couple in the other car who took off so quickly, and I have no idea who they were. I don’t remember seeing anyone outside within seeing distance, and I asked several people I know in the area over the next few days. None of them had ever seen a bird like I described or heard anyone else mention seeing one that big. One friend did tell me that several years ago she was outside after dark and heard a loud squawking sound from up above her, but when she looked up into the dark sky she could not see anything. I have had several people mention seeing UFOs in the area over the years, and I will either get more info on their stories to send you or pass along your email address so they can contact you directly.”
Angela’s Thunderbird account certainly contained some valuable information, including elements of her description that are significantly different from other reports.
There seems to be sufficient variation between the many detailed accounts to indicate the existence of more than one undiscovered species. As is the case with other cryptid creatures, their ability to remain undetected aside from visual descriptions seems impossible. But the concept of so many otherwise credible witnesses failing to recognize a known species or suddenly deciding to subject themselves to ridicule by making up such a story seems even less likely.Source: Christian County Headliner, April 9, 2015.
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Post by Joanna on May 9, 2015 1:05:05 GMT -5
The Ancient Custom of Well DressingThe ancient custom known as Well Dressing is peculiar to England, and Derbyshire and Staffordshire in particular.
When did well dressing begin and why did it begin in Derbyshire? Well dressing is actually a bit of a mystery. Perhaps we can look to the location of Derbyshire as a reason why the custom developed here and nowhere else. Derbyshire is a very beautiful but remote county, even nowadays with modern road infrastructure. The Derbyshire hills and dales make it difficult to pass easily from place to place. If the practice of well dressing dates to the Celts, then perhaps the remoteness of the Derbyshire dales prevented the succeeding Roman, Saxon, Danish and Norman invaders’ imposing their customs on the local people.
The early Christians were not happy with the custom of dressing wells – they considered it water worship and promptly put an end to it! But the tradition refused to die. Tissington was the first village to re-introduce well dressing in 1349 after the village managed to escape a terrible outbreak of the Black Death that swept through England at this time. Many villages began to dress the new water taps when piped water first came to the villages.
What exactly is well dressing and how is it done? Well dressing involves the decoration of springs and wells with imaged composed of living plants and flowers, and usually happens in the summer and early autumn. Some villages allow visitors to watch the preparations.
So how is a well dressed? First, take a wooden board, perhaps 4 feet wide and more than an inch thick – some dressings take several boards, of different shapes and sizes. The board is taken to the local river or pond and soaked for several days to ensure that it is totally wet. Then it is covered with a layer of soft, wet clay onto which the artist etches a design.
The outline is first, followed by the “coloring in.” The materials used vary from village to village and depend also on the time of year that the dressing takes place. For instance, a village that dresses it's well in May often uses blossoms and flowers, whole later in the year, seeds and berries are used as these are more plentiful.
How long does it take? A well dressing can take up to seven days, involving a team of local people. Unfortunately, it may then last only a week or so until the clay dries and the flowers die. Then all is put away until next year.
Where can I observe a Well Dressing? Well dressing begins in May – Tissington and Endon are two villages that dress their wells early in the year.Source: Ellen Castelow, HistoricUK.
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Post by Joanna on May 9, 2015 0:40:23 GMT -5
Factitious DisordersFactitious disorders are conditions in which a person deliberately and consciously acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick. Factitious disorder by proxy is when a person acts as if a person in their care has an illness when they do not. People with factitious disorders deliberately create or exaggerate symptoms of an illness in several ways. They may lie about or fake symptoms, injure themselves to bring on symptoms, or alter tests (such as contaminating a urine sample) to make it appear as though they – or the person in their care – are sick. People with factitious disorders behave this way because of an inner need to be perceived as ill or injured, not to achieve a clear benefit, such as financial gain. People with factitious disorders are even willing and sometimes eager to undergo painful or risky tests and operations in order to garner the sympathy and special attention shown to those who are truly ill or have a loved one who is ill. Factitious disorders are considered mental illnesses because they are associated with severe emotional difficulties.
Many people with factitious disorders also suffer from other mental conditions, particularly personality disorders. People with personality disorders have long-standing patterns of thinking and acting that differ from what society considers usual or normal. These people generally also have poor coping skills and problems forming healthy relationships. Factitious disorders are similar to another group of mental disorders called somatoform disorders, which also involve the presence of symptoms that are not due to actual physical or mental illnesses. The primary difference between the two groups of disorders is that people with somatoform disorders do not fake symptoms or mislead others about their symptoms on purpose.
Factitious Disorder Types. There are four main types of factitious disorders, including:
• Factitious disorder with mostly psychological symptoms: As the description implies, people with this disorder mimic behavior that is typical of a mental illness, such as schizophrenia. They may appear confused, make absurd statements and report hallucinations, the experience of sensing things that are not there; for example, hearing voices. Ganser syndrome, sometimes called prison psychosis, is a factitious disorder that was first observed in prisoners. People with Ganser syndrome have short-term episodes of bizarre behavior similar to that shown by people with serious mental illnesses.
• Factitious disorder with mostly physical symptoms: People with this disorder claim to have symptoms related to a physical illness, such as symptoms of chest pain, stomach problems, or fever. This disorder is sometimes referred to as Munchausen syndrome, named for Baron von Munchausen, an 18th century German officer who was known for embellishing the stories of his life and experiences.
• Factitious disorder with both psychological and physical symptoms: People with this disorder produce symptoms of both physical and mental illness.
• Factitious disorder not otherwise specified: This type includes a disorder called factitious disorder by proxy (also called Munchausen syndrome by proxy). People with this disorder produce or fabricate symptoms of illness in another person under their care. It most often occurs in mothers (although it can occur in fathers) who intentionally harm their children in order to receive attention.
What Are the Symptoms of Factitious Disorders? Possible warning signs of factitious disorders include:
• Dramatic but inconsistent medical history • Unclear symptoms that are not controllable and that become more severe or change once treatment has begun • Predictable relapses following improvement in the condition • Extensive knowledge of hospitals and/or medical terminology, as well as the textbook descriptions of illness • Presence of many surgical scars • Appearance of new or additional symptoms following negative test results • Presence of symptoms only when the patient is with others or being observed • Willingness or eagerness to have medical tests, operations, or other procedures • History of seeking treatment at many hospitals, clinics, and doctors offices, possibly even in different cities • Reluctance by the patient to allow health care professionals to meet with or talk to family members, friends, and prior doctors
What Causes Factitious Disorders? The exact cause of factitious disorders is not known, but researchers are looking at the roles of biological and psychological factors in the development of these disorders. Some theories suggest that a history of abuse or neglect as a child, or a history of frequent illnesses that required hospitalization, might be factors in the development of the disorder.
How Common Are Factitious Disorders? There are no reliable statistics regarding the number of people in the U.S. who suffer from factitious disorders. Obtaining accurate statistics is difficult because dishonesty is common with this condition. In addition, people with factitious disorders tend to seek treatment at many different health care facilities, which can lead to statistics that are misleading. In general, factitious disorders are more common in men than in women. However, factitious disorder by proxy tends to be more common in women than in men.
How Are Factitious Disorders Diagnosed? Diagnosing a factitious disorder is very difficult because of, again, the dishonesty that is involved. Doctors must rule out other possible physical and mental illnesses before a diagnosis of factitious disorder can be considered. If the doctor finds no physical reason for the symptoms, or suspects that symptoms or abnormal laboratory results may be self-induced, he or she may refer the person to a psychiatrist or psychologist, mental health professionals who are specially trained to diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Psychiatrists and psychologists use specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a person for a factitious disorder. The doctor bases his or her diagnosis on the exclusion of actual physical or mental illness, and his or her observation of the person's attitude and behavior. How Are Treated? The first goal of treatment for a factitious disorder is to modify the person's behavior and reduce his or her misuse or overuse of medical resources. In the case of factitious disorder by proxy, the main goal is to ensure the safety and protection of any real or potential victims. Once the initial goal is met, treatment aims to work out any underlying psychological issues that may be causing the person's behavior. The primary treatment for factitious disorders is psychotherapy (a type of counseling). Treatment likely will focus on changing the thinking and behavior of the individual with the disorder (cognitive-behavioral therapy). Family therapy may also be helpful in teaching family members not to reward or reinforce the behavior of the person with the disorder. There are no medications to treat factitious disorders themselves. Medication may be used, however, to treat any related disorder – such as depression, anxiety. The use of medications must be carefully monitored in people with factitious disorders due to the risk that the drugs may be used in a harmful way. What Is the Outlook for People With Factitious Disorders? People with factitious disorders are at risk for health problems (or even death) associated with hurting themselves or otherwise causing symptoms. In addition, they may suffer from reactions or health problems related to multiple tests, procedures, and treatments; and are at high risk for substance abuse and attempts at suicide. A complication of factitious disorder by proxy is the abuse and potential death of the victims. Because many people with factitious disorders deny they are faking symptoms and will not seek or follow treatment, recovery is dependent on a doctor or loved one identifying or suspecting the condition in the person and encouraging them to receive proper medical care for their disorder and stick with it. Some people with factitious disorders suffer one or two brief episodes of symptoms and then get better. In most cases, however, the factitious disorder is a chronic, or long-term, condition that can be very difficult to treat. Can Factitious Disorders Be Prevented? There is no known way to prevent factitious disorders. Source. WebMD, reviewed by Joseph Goldberg, M.D., May 31, 2014.
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Post by Joanna on May 4, 2015 0:28:49 GMT -5
Brutal 1978 Murder of Alaska TeenagerOn a foggy Saturday morning in early January 1978, the body of a 16-year-old girl was found in a ditch off the Seward Highway. An autopsy would later determine she had been beaten, sexually assaulted, dragged by a car and then tossed down an embankment. Her broken fingernails suggested she had attempted to crawl back to the road before she died.
Later that night, police arrived at a party the girl’s parents were attending. They pulled the husband outside and spoke to him in hushed tones. He went back inside and nodded to his wife. She knew the news was bad before he said a word.
Thirty-seven years. On the day Shelley Connolly died, Jimmy Carter was president, Oil had been flowing through the Trans-Alaska pipeline for less than a year, and advertisers in the Anchorage Daily News offered fryer chickens at 89¢ cents a pound and an AM/FM 8-track recorder for $79.95.
Thirty-seven years, three months and 26 days have passed since then. But for Shelly’s mother, Judy Connolly, the clock is in some ways stopped January 7, 1978. Her daughter’s killer – or killers – have never been caught. And the last real chance for her case to be solved is about to expire. The Alaska Bureau of Investigations’ cold case unit, which investigates unsolved murders like that of Shelly Connolly, will be eliminated June 30 because of budget cuts at the Department of Public Safety. “It means pretty much that we have no hope,” said Mrs. Connolly, a 74-year-old tax-preparer, Texas Hold ‘em poker player and grandmother, who lives in Anchorage.
James Gallan, the trooper investigator currently tasked with the case, is blunt about what it would take to find Shelly’s killer today. The state has forensic evidence from the original autopsy that would link at least one suspect to Connolly’s body with DNA. Beyond that, all leads have been exhausted. “We need to get lucky on the DNA, or we need a witness to step forward and say, ‘This is the person who did this,’” he explained.
This flicker of possibility is why Mrs. Connolly again sat down last week with a newspaper reporter – something she has done roughly once a decade since 1978 – and discussed the facts of the case. Maybe someone will read about Shelly and remember something they know, or feel a pang of guilt. Perhaps someone will come forward. So Connolly is willing to again look at pictures of her daughter’s open-casket funeral, to remember the way applied green eye-shadow and coral lipstick to her Shelly’s face because it just didn’t look like her without makeup. To see the white gloves the funeral director wanted to use to cover her bruised, cut hands and the pink carnations in her nest of dark hair.
‘A typical teenager.’ Shelly was a loud, spunky teenager, born and brought up in Alaska. Connolly says she camped and fished with her family and doted on her younger brother, walking him home from the bus stop. She was petite. She didn’t seem to realize how pretty she was. “Just a typical teenager,” her mother recalled.
Shelly was also eager to get a quick start on life. She had dropped out of Service High School and was set to begin cosmetology courses. And she was engaged, at 16, to a man a few years older in the military. He was on duty at Fort Richardson at the time of her murder and was cleared of any involvement.
On the night she was killed, Shelley went to the well-known Anchorage bar, Chilkoot Charlie’s, even though she was underage. It was a unique time in the history of Anchorage: With oil freshly flowing through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, there were plenty of young men on R&R with money in their pockets. Everything was greased with alcohol. At bars, “six-packing” was a popular pastime – ordering and drinking a six-pack all at once.
On the night of Friday, January 7, a thick fog permeated the city. Shelly went out wearing a top of which her mother disapproved – it showed too much of her bust, Judy Connolly thought – and the ski jacket her parents had given her for Christmas. At some point during the night, Shelley was seen leaving Chilkoot Charlie’s with several men. At least one person later reported seeing her at Leroy’s, an all-night diner on C Street. Investigators had a hard time establishing a reliable timeline of the night from witness statements, Gallan admitted.
Two female hikers found her body the following morning, 10 miles south of Potter Marsh along the Seward Highway. “They threw her out of the car alive,” Judy Connolly told reporters. “Her hand got stuck in the door. They were driving with her – she was still alive – and once they realized they were dragging something, they stopped and opened the door and threw her over the side. She rolled down near the train tracks. She tried to crawl up. You could see in the snow where she tried.” She ultimately died of a ruptured spleen and exposure. If they had just left her on the side of the road, somebody might have come along and saw her,” she added.
Shelly’s death never made the front page of the Anchorage Daily News. It jostled for space with the ongoing saga of a family of crooked fortunetellers being run out of town and President Jimmy Carter’s trip to France. In initial reports, her name was spelled wrong. This was a bad time for women in Anchorage. The year Shelley was murdered, seven other women were violently slain in the city.
The years pile up. The Connolly family thought the case would be solved. Then a year passed, and another. Years turned into decades. Every spring, Mrs. Connolly would check with troopers to see where the investigation was.
The biggest break came in 1993 when the trooper then investigating the case identified four suspects potentially linked by forensic evidence to the crime. The troopers traveled out of state to interview the men. Ultimately, DNA evidence cleared these suspects.
Later, a woman who claimed to have been with Shelley on the night she was killed came forward. “We got our hopes up then,” Connolly remembered. “We thought maybe something would come of that.” It didn’t.
Frustrated, Judy Connolly and her daughter Valerie began to explore different ways of generating interest in the case. They called the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. No takers there. Connolly once consulted a psychic. In 2011, a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest was offered. The years were piling up.
If she had lived, Shelley would have gotten married and started a family, her mother said. She’d be 53 now, maybe a grandmother. Sources: Michelle Theriault Boots, Alaska Dispatch News, May 3, 2015, and Alaska Citizens for Justice.
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