Murder of Heaven LaShae "Shae" Ross

On the morning of August 19, 2003, 11-year-old Heaven "Shae" Ross left her home in Northport, Alabama to her bus stop a few minutes after her sister. A few minutes after that thunder was heard and their step-father being concerned for the girls decided to pick them up at the bus stop and take them to school instead. However Heaven's sister was there, but Heaven never arrived. Someone had abducted her in the few minutes after she left her home.

On December 19, 2006, a man would be looking for cans at an abandoned home off Crescent Ridge Rd in Holt. He would find her body underneath the house. The house was a known place for people to use drugs and do illegal activities. It is a hard-to-find place and would have been hard to stumble upon. 

SOURCES:

Uncovered

Alabama August 21, 2018

Tuscaloosa News August 19, 2019

Disappearance of Tilwanda "Tiwana" Denise Cheatham

On August 11, 1989, 8-year-old Tilwanda Cheatham was angry with her mother because she made her come home while visiting her relatives. Tilwanda would take change from a jar in their kitchen. She then left her home on Jack Jones St. in Aiken, South Carolina. At 5:30 pm she was seen by two neighbors at the Quik Stop a few blocks from her home. However, this was the last time she was seen.

It's unknown what had happened to Tilwanda, but her Grandmother was suspected of knowing. She was arrested and charged with obstructing justice in the case. Police stated that her grandmother had lied to police many times as if trying to cover up what had happened. However, she is not suspected of causing the disappearance. It is possible that Tilwanda was living with relatives, but there were no leads in that theory. She also had a habit of running away from home. She may have been kidnapped.

Some sources have her name as Tiwana.

Tilwanda is a black female and was 8 years old at the time. She was 4'1" and 70 lbs at the time. She has black hair and brown eyes. At the time her hair was in braids. She has a dark patch of skin on either her left arm or left leg. At the time she was wearing a white top, red flower shorts, and white tennis shoes.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Missing and Exploited Children
Charley Project

Murder of Juliet Angelino Magiulo

On June 8, 1987, 3-year-old Juliet "Julie" Magiulo was playing in her front yard in Pampano Beach, Florida. She was supposed to walk to a neighbor's home but never arrived and was never seen again. 

Almost a year later two men would be scouting for hunting land in Boward County when they would find Julie's body. It is believed that her kidnapper had asphyxiated her. 

SOURCES:

Uncovered

News-Press November 25, 1987

UPI April 22, 1988

Herald Tribune November 18, 2008

Murder of Bertha Scott and Nancy Lagerquist

On May 2, 1990, 86-year-old Bertha Scott was found dead in her room at the Riverside Health Care Facility on East Broadway in Missoula, Montana. She was found still restrained to her bed, but it was not seen as a suspicious death at the time. The window however was open which was memorable to some, but not strange. 

Around 2 am on July 1st 87-year-old Nancy Lagerquist, who was a resident at the same facility, was taken from her room. It was found that Nancy was sexually assaulted and died because of it. Her body was then thrown into the river where she was found. 

When staff was interviewed a nurse recalled how Bertha, who died in May, had discoloration on her throat. This would lead investigators to exhume Bertha's remains and autopsy her body. Bertha had been murdered by being strangled to death. It's believed the killer or killers broke into the rooms using the windows of the rooms. 

SOURCES:

Missoula County

Uncovered (Bertha)

Uncovered (Nancy)

The Havre Daily News August 16, 1990

The Missoulian Augustt 21, 1990

Murder of Pareshkumar D. Patel

Around 6 a.m. on September 16, 2012, Pareshkumar D. Patel, an Indian native, went to the Raceway Gas Station he operated along the 5600 block of Jefferson Davis Highway in Chesterfield, Virginia. When he exited his vehicle two men wearing hoodies would approach him and force him into a van. This would be the last time he was seen alive.

On September 20th Pareshkumar was found at the Ancarrow Boat Landing in Richmond. He had been shot to death.

There is up to a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrests and conviction in the case.

SOURCES:
FBI

Interstate 80 Rapist

The Interstate 80 Rapist was someone who committed 3 rapes within 4 months near the I-80in Sacrament, California. This rapist currently only has 3 cases attributed to him through DNA. He not only raped the victims but also physically and violently harmed them. The man attacked all three women in the cover of the darkness. All three women were victims were walking on dimly lit streets. The first two were attacked and assaulted in one area. The third woman was kidnapped at knifepoint and taken a mile away. The streets they were attacked on were Watt Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Auburn Boulevard.

The attacks happened on September 9, 2013, at 4:20 am, December 10, 2013, at 9:15 pm, and on January 8, 2014, at 4:30 am.

The suspect was described as a black male between 20 to 40-years-old. He has a large build and had either a short afro or bald. He was clean-shaven. He was wearing rectangular glasses. In the most recent attack, he was driving a red, older model, boxy 4-door vehicle.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

KCRA3 Jan. 10, 2014

ABC 10 March 31, 2014

The American River Current May 15, 2014

June 27, 1987 Sterling Virginia Sexual Assault of young girl

On June 27, 1987, a 9-year-old unnamed female victim was asleep in the basement of her home at the 200 block of East Poplar Rd. in Sterling, Virginia. An unknown man would abduct the girl from her home and carry her to a nearby area where he would sexually assault her. He would then release the victim.


SOURCES:
Loudoun County, Virginia

March 1, 1986 Hamilton Virginia Sexual Assualt

On March 1, 1986, an unnamed female was reported to have been abducted and sexually assaulted after hitchhiking in the area of Route 9 and Route 704. Her abductor would drive her to a dead end on 38400 block of Crooked Run Lane (formerly Route 721) in Hamilton Virginia. Her abductor would then sexually assault her and she would eventually escape and run to nearby residents for help.

The suspect is a white male driving a blue passenger vehicle. 

SOURCES:

Loudoun County Virginia

January 31, 2020 Carjacking, Abduction, and Robbery In San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On 31 January 2020, an unknown male carjacked a vehicle in the Santurce area of San Juan. He would then abduct the victim at gunpoint and force them to withdraw money from an ATH in Río Hondo, Puerto Rico.

SOURCES:

FBI

January 6, 2009 Cranston, Rhode Island Abduction

On the morning of January 6, 2009, a female owner of a nail salon in Cranston, Rhode Island was at her salon. A white male wearing a ski-type mask and gloves would enter her business through a rear door. He would then place a wet cloth on the victim's face causing her to pass out. He would then abduct the woman.

The victim would then wake up inside a large plastic storage-type container with a lid in a van or minivan. She attempted to get other people's attention but was stopped by her kidnapper. Two hours after the kidnapping her kidnapper would release her in a parking garage in Braintree, Massachusetts. He had driven to the top of the parking garage and told her to get out before leaving. 

The suspect white male and was around 28-years-old with a local accent. He is around 6'0" and was described as thin. He has light brown or blondish short hair. He was clean-shaven and well-groomed. He was wearing a black watch with a square face on his right wrist.  He had a band-aid on his left hand it had blood on it at the time. 

SOURCES:

FBI

Monsters: Cheval Mallet

Photo by Janosch Diggelmann

A Cheval Mallet (meaning Mallet Horse) is evil but fabulous horse in French folklore. It's seen around Vendée, Poitou, and Pays de Retz, near Lac de Grand Lieu. It's described as a beautiful white or black horse saddled and bridled. It tempts exhausted travelers and the unwary who choose to ride the horse are said to never be seen again. The only thing to protect the traveler from the horse is a protection spell as a medal of St. Benedict or have them n the price of traveling.


SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Monsters Wiki

Myths and Folklore Wiki

Murder of Shannon Nicole Paulk

On the afternoon of August 16, 2001, 11-year-old Shannon Paulk and her sister Lisa were at home in the Candlestick Mobile-Home Park in Prattville, Alabama.  Shannon was a very friendly girl, she knew everyone in the neighborhood and played with most of the children there. It wasn't unusual for her to be gone hours at a time, but to come back home to eat and drink and go back out to play. This day though she would never come back home. When her mother returned home that evening Shannon didn't return home. They would report her missing at 9 p.m.

It was found that Shannon was last seen talking to an unknown man in a vehicle in the trailer park. It was believed at the time that this man had abducted the girl. It wasn't found out till the child who gave the description was an adult who said they made up the man in order to help with the investigation. 

On October 6th Shannon's remains were found by two rabbit hunters in the woods just off Autauga County Rd 66 in Autauga County Wildlife Management. This was a public hunting area about 10 miles north of Prattville. Her body had been tied with a rope and wrapped up in a trash bag before being dumped. 

SOURCES:
Alabama's Attorney General's Office
Find a Grave

The Suitcase Detective
The Montgomery Advisor August 18, 2001
The Prattville Progress August 25, 2001
The Prattville Progress October 13, 2001
The Montgomery Advisor October 31, 2001

Monsters: Hidebehind

The hidebehind as illustrated by Margaret Ramsay Tryon for "Fearsome Critters" by Henry Harrington Tryon

A Hidebehind is a nocturnal fearsome critter from American folklore. It is a large and powerful creature that preys on humans that wander the woods at night. The creature will follow the human and conceals itself behind an object or the observer if there is an attempt to look at it directly. The creature will eventually attack the human and drag them to its home where it would devour the human, especially their intestines. They hate alcohol and avoid those who smell/drank it. It was said that they were to blame for many disappearances of early loggers. 

Maybe the noises heard in the forest is not just forest noises, but the hidebehind hunting for dinner.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Cryptid Wiki

Sharon Gallegos "Little Miss Nobody"

On July 21, 1960, 4-year-old Sharon Gallegos was with her cousins in the alley behind her home in Alamogordo, New Mexico. An old dark green 1950s Sedan  was pulled up to them. The woman who was described as obese with dirty blonde hair would ask Sharon to come with them so that they would "buy her candy and clothes". Sharon would refuse them and this angered the woman grabbing Sharon by the arm and dragged her to the car. They would take off quickly and be last seen turning west onto Fifth Street at high speed.

Police were notified and started working fast to find the girl. There was a search and roadblocks at the New Mexico-Texas border. Many cars were searched, but Sharron was never found.

Reportedly the woman had been harassing Sharon the following days to maybe weeks before her disappearance. On July 17th, the same woman was seen in her dark green sedan with two children inside a freckled-faced boy and a small girl. After church, she approached other attendees about Sharon and her mother.  On the 19th the woman knocked on the neighbor's doors and would ask the same questions giving the reason as she wanted to give the mother a job. 

Days prior to her disappearance Sharon's attitude changed. The girl who loved to do errands to the grocery store didn't want to do them anymore. She was more wary and skittish. When she would see the green sedan she would ask family members to pick her up if they were to walk past it. 

On July 31, 1960, the body of a young girl was found in a shallow grave in Congress, Arizona 7 hours away. She was partially buried in a creekbed of a sand wash on Alamo Rd. 1.5 miles away from Highway 93. It was estimated she died 1 to 2 weeks earlier likely around the time she was kidnapped. Her cause of death is unknown, but it's believed to be murder. There was a bloody pocket knife nearby and evidence of burning.

At the time she was termed "Little Miss Nobody" as she was unidentified. Sharon was considered as a possible match in the beginning, but they believed the "jane doe" was older than her and so she was excluded. It wasn't until March of 2022 that Sharon was given back her name. 

At the time of her death, she was wearing a sun suit consisting of white shorts and a contrasting blouse with a distinctive chain design or checkered design, and a pair of men's adult-size flip-flops that had been cut down to the victim's size. She was last seen wearing pink shorts and white shoes.

The suspects of the case were driving a 1951 or 1952 Dodge or Plymouth Sedan. The woman was short, overweight, blonde, wore glasses, and was in her 30's. The man was white, thin, with a long nose and straight, sandy-colored hair.


SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Doe Network

Wikipedia
Prescott News

Alamogordo Daily News July 22, 1960

Alamogordo Daily News July 24, 1960

Alamogordo Daily News August 3, 1960

Disappearance of Katheryne Mary Lugo

On Jan. 8, 1994, 4-year-old Katheryne Lugo was last seen by her mother Frances Moya at 5:30 a.m. when she left for work. She was left at their home in Riviera Beach, Florida with her mother's boyfriend's sister. Katheryne was nowhere to be seen when Frances returned home.

According to Frances, her boyfriend Misbah Kazi threatened her. He told her that he'd sent Katheryne to Bangladesh and wasn't coming home until he got their baby who was due soon. At the time Frances was 8-months pregnant and was about to end their relationship. He was mistreating her and Katheryne throughout their relationship. In 1992 she sought an injunction against him for domestic violence.

After both Frances and Misbah were questioned by police it led to police believing Frances. They were convinced that Misbah took Katheryne to force Frances to give up custody of the unborn child. He was then arrested and charged with kidnapping, but at trial, he was acquitted. His sister had recanted statements that she saw the girl with her brother. Frances suspected that his family had something to do with Katheryne's abduction.

Even though Misbah was acquitted the FBI kept the case open and tracked him. He remained the main suspect and they hope he would lead them to Katheryne. Months after the acquittal he started threatening Frances over the phone with promises, never fulfilled. In 1995 he was arrested for attempted murder in California and was sentenced to life in prison. 

Misbah has been offered several deals but remains tight-lipped about what had happened to Katheryne.

It's possible that Katheryne may not be in Bangladesh and is somewhere in the U.S.

Katheryne is a Hispanic female and was 4-years-old at the time.  She was 3'0" and 65lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She has pierced ears and a nickel size birthmark on the hamstring of her right leg. She may use the alias name Parag Khondokar and/or the alias date of birth of January 2, 1989.

She was wearing a purple and white Barney The Dinosaur shirt and underwear.

SOURCES:

Doe Network

Charley Project

CBS

Monsters: Dziwożona

 

Dziwożona. Woodcut by Jan Styfi (1839-1921) based on an earlier engraving by Henryk Pillati. 

According to Slavic folklore, a Dziwożona is a female swamp demon. It's believed that women would become one after death. Typically these women were midwives, old maids, unmarried women, pregnant women, and children that died before birth or were abandoned after birth. She usually lives in thickets near rivers, streams, and lakes. She typically is seen as an old woman with a hairy body, long straight hair, and breasts so large she uses them to wash clothes. She's usually wearing a red hat with a fern twig attached to it.

Dziwożona is said to kidnap newborn babies and switch them with her own children (changelings). If she did switch it was noticeable that the child was a changeling. They would have an uncommon appearance such as a disproportionate body, a disability, huge abdomen, unusually proportioned head, a hump, thin arms and legs, hairy body, or long claws, and would prematurely cut their teeth.

It's also said that these changelings would have a wickedness to them. They would be spiteful towards others, fear its mother, noisiness, be reluctant to sleep, and an exceptional glut. It would be rare for a changeling to reach adulthood as they typically die young. As an adult, they gibber instead of talk and do not trust people.

In order to keep the Dziwożona away from their newborn's mothers would tie a red ribbon around their child's hand, put a red hat on its head, and shield its face from the moon and sun. She should never wash the nappies after sunset or turn her head away from the child when it sleeps. Another method is to keep a St. John's wort flower at home or nearby as to grab it if she comes for the child for protection.

If she was able to take the child and leave a changeling there is a method to get the child back. The mother would have to take the changeling to a midden and whip it with a birch twin and pour water over it from an eggshell. While doing this she will have to shout "Take yours, give mine back!" The Dziwożona would want to save her child and switch them back.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Brendan Nobel

Disappearance of Cynthia Dawn Constantine

 

On July 11, 1969, 15-year-old Cynthia Constantine went on a walk with her dog along the railroad tracks in Oakland, New York.  Earlier that day Cynthia and her brother found a muskrat den in the woods and she wanted to check it out again and brought her dog with her. Three young boys would see Cynthia go into the woods and minutes after she left for her walk the dog would return home with its leash and collar on. Her brother would soon lead authorities to the muskrat den and there was evidence that Cynthia and the dog were there, but rain would soon wash away her tracks. 

Cynthia is not believed to have run away as she had brought nothing with her and she was looking forward to her rabbit giving birth. It's believed that Cynthia had met foul play and may have been abducted. Where Cynthia disappeared was near the train station and if someone was responsible for her disappearance it's possible they may not have been from the area. 

Cynthia is a white female and was 15-years-old at the time. She was 5'3" and 117lbs at the time. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and wears glasses. She has a mole on her throat, a discolored front tooth, and had previously broken her arm the summer before. She was wearing a white blouse, black Bermuda shorts, orange sneakers, and was possibly wearing a yellow metal chain necklace with a cross. 

SOURCES:

The Doe Network

The Charley Project

Missing Person Directory 

Find a Grave

Murder of Annette Fernande Bellot

 

On December 1, 1907, 6-year-old Annette Bellot and her older brother were playing in the street on Place de Brouckere or Dam St. in Anderlecht, Belgium. A man would approach the children and ask Annette's older brother to buy him some cigarettes and would give him candy as a reward for doing so. The man told the boy "Leave your little sister with me; you will go faster". Trusting that the man and Annette would be there when he returned. He would go and buy the cigarettes and returned with neither of them there.

The next day Annette's body would be found behind the Veterinary School near the Gare du Midi. The unknown man had raped and strangled the girl to death. The Murder will never be solved.

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

Murder of Mary Catherine Olenchuk

 

In the summer of 1970 13-year-old Mary Olenchuk and her family were staying at their summer home in Ogunquit, Maine. On August 9th Mary would go on a ride on her bike. She would be last seen talking to someone in a maroon car in front of the beachside motel that was 200 yards from their summer home. The man in the car was in his mid-thirties wearing dark clothing. Her bike would be found under an archway at the hotel, but she wouldn't be found.

For two weeks there would be no traces of Mary. On August 22, 1970, an abandoned barn that was previously searched was searched again. The barn was at the Parson's Estate in Kennebunk which was 10.2 miles away from where she was abducted. This time a bale of hay was moved by an officer and this was when Mary's body was found. She had been murdered.

Mary had been strangled to death, the rope that was used was still around her neck. A shirt nearby her body would be identified as hers by her parents. It's suspected that the man in the maroon car had abducted and killed Mary.

SOURCES:

Maine State Police

Find a Grave

Lebanon Daily News August 14, 1970

Lebanon Daily News August 24, 1970 

Bennington Banner August 24, 1970

Disappearance of Federico Daniel Escalante Fuentes

On September 16, 1972, 2-year-old Federico Daniel Escalante Fuentes went to Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico to watch the Mexican Independence Day parade. His mother would sit him under a tree as he was eating cacahuates (peanuts). When she looked back he was gone. It's believed that someone abducted the boy.

Fredrico is male and was 2 at the time. He has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing green shorts, a beige shirt, and black rubber boots. 

SOURCES:

Doe Network

For the Lost