September 10, 1948 Abergavenny, Wales Two Skeletons

 On September 10, 1948, two skeletons were discovered while trying to make a foundation for a tennis court in Abergavenny, Wales. One of the skulls was first discovered, and the rest of the remains were found 2 feet below the surface. There was no evidence of this being a designated place for burial. The way the bones were found made it obvious that the two were buried as bodies and not as bones buried at a later time. The two were believed to have died no less than 10 to 15 years before, but it's also possible that they had been dead for hundreds of years.

The adult skeleton was believed to be a man between 40 to 70 years old.

The child was around 7 years old.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave (man)
Find a Grave (child)

September 16, 1948 Stony Creek Jane Doe

On September 16, 1948, remains were found in a shallow, makeshift grave by highway workers in Stony Creek, Virginia. The crew found the body when they noticed disturbed dirt near a picnic table. The young woman had died around 6 weeks before. It was stated she was missing one or both hands, but it's not stated whether or not it was intentional or from animal activity. 

Jane Doe is an African American female between 15-25-years-old. She was between 5'2" to 5'3" and around 130-135lbs. She had brown hair. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Doe Network

Unidentified Wiki

Lost Media: An Inspector Calls 1948

 

In 1948 at 8:30 at night BBC broadcasted a televised version of the 1945 play An Inspector Calls. Other versions of this play seem to have footage, but this version does not. It's unlikely that footage of this version will ever show up. BBC did lose some films due to deterioration, but it's possible that was not the case with this. It's possible that it was a live play and unlikely recorded.

The plot of An Inspectors Calls is about how a young woman, Eva Smith, had committed suicide in April 1912. An Inspector Goole comes to the Birling residence to interview each family member and their involvement with Eva's suicide.

SOURCES:

Lost Media Wiki

Wikipedia (About the BBC Archives)

Wikipedia (About the play)

Genome Index

IMBD

July 11, 1948 Corinne, Utah Baby Jane Doe

  On July 11, 1948, the body of a baby girl was found in Bear River about 350 yards South and East of the Steel Bridge in Corinne, Utah. The body was found laying on the edge of the banks in the water. It's believed that she had been dead for at least a week or 10 days. 

SOURCES:

Utah Department of Public Safety

Disappearance of Lora Skaggs

Sometime between 1948 to 1950 Lora Skaggs went hitchhiking in Charleston, West Virginia. She was either on her way to Ohio for work or was on her way to pay bills. Little information is known in this case.

Lora was a white female around 27-years-old when she disappeared. She was 5'0" to 5'4" and 115 to 130 lbs. She has red/auburn hair and her family believes she has brown eyes but weren't positive. She had an appendectomy scar.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Ghost Ships: S.S. Ourang Medan "The Man from Medan"

The story goes that either in June 1947 or in some reports February 1948, a distressed signal was coming from an unknown ship. The person sending out the S.O.S. was scared. He stated that he was on a Dutch ship called the S.S. Ourang Medan and that everyone was dying.

He stated, "All officers including the captain are dead, lying in the Chartroom and Bridge." He then stated "Possibly the whole crew dead." Then indecipherable Morse Code was sent with the final message being "I die." Then there was the silence that followed.

An American ship going by the Silver Star believed that the ship was in the Straits of Malacca. Noting that there was some urgency in it they left right away. That was where they found the ship floating.

They noticed no sign of life on the ship and boarded. They realized that the S.O.S. was not exaggerated as they saw a horrifying sight on board. Everyone on board was laying there with their mouths and eyes open. Their hands were grasping at something as if they were protecting themselves, even though there were no wounds on them. Even the ships dog was found to be dead with the same horrified face on it. The crew members below the deck were in the same state. They found the man who sent out the S.O.S. with his finger on the telegraph.

The Americans who came to help also noted that the ship seemed to be cold even though it was a scorching 110 degrees outside. They quickly got off the ship and tried to pull it to shore. That would never happen as thick smoke began to rise out of the ship. The crew of the Silver Star barely had enough time to cut the line and get away from the Ourang Medan before it blew and sank.

Now for some facts and theories.


Some believed that the ship may have come from the Dutch East Indies. In Indonesian, Ourang means ‘man’ and Medan is the largest city on the island of Sumatra making some think that the ship may have come from there. The ship's name literally means "Man of Medan".

There were no records of the ship exists. Essentially it was a ghost ship before it was a ghost ship. Some theorize that the ship itself may have been expunged from records because they were smuggling things for the war. It could be possible that the "smoke" that the rescuers were seeing was a nerve gas that was being transported to Japan.

It was theorized that several countries were involved with the cover-up such as Singapore, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, China, and the United States. As at the time the use of Lethal Gas and Chemicals was baned.

The Silver Star was a ship at the time, but that was not the name it was going by. At the time the ship was named the Santa Juana. The Grace Line Shipping Company bought the rights to the ship and renamed it to the Silver Star.

It's also theorized that even though they weren't found in records possibly they did exist. That a malfunctioning boiler caused everyone to die from carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

A third theory is that it was pirates that killed the crew and left them the way they did. Which how would the pirates kill the crew without any physical injuries though.

The last theory which is more than likely the answer is that it never happened. It's more likely that this was an Urban Legend of the sea. That this was not an actual event, but possibly a hoax or Urban Legend that became well known.

SOURCES:
Beyond Science T.V.
Mysterious Universe
Skittish Library
Historic Mysteries