Murder of Darryl Messer

On June 21, 1990, 25-year-old Darryl Messer was at his home a quarter of a mile west of U.S. 421 on West St, Medaryville, Indiana. He went to his garden to get vegetables and didn't return inside. This was when he was discovered lying in the yard suffering from a gunshot wound. He would later die due to this.

SOURCES:

Indiana State Police

The Kayhausen Boy

In 1922 the body of a young boy was found in a bog in Lower Saxony, Germany. He was called the Kayhausen Boy and was between 7 and 10-years-old and had lived and died between 300 and 400 BC. The boy had been killed and it's more than likely due to sacrificial reasons.

The young boy had been bound. Strips of woolen fabric were used to tie his arms behind his back, and a length of textile was wound around his neck, passed between his legs, and back up to his neck where the two ends were tied together. It was found that he had been stabbed 3 times in the neck and once in the left arm. It was likely killed with a dagger with a 4-centimeter blade. It's unknown if he was stabbed before or after he was bound.

It's likely he was sacrificed because he was disabled and probably considered disfavored by their gods. He had suffered from an infected socket at the top of his femur and was unable to walk without assistance. His story and identity will never be known as it was lost to history.

There is a picture of the boy, but it shows how he's tied up and to be a bit too much to post on here. Both links below do have images of this mummy though.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Mummipedia 

Murder of Jeff Curry

African American man Jeff Curry had a verbal argument with Frank Powell and Frank's son about a job he's done with them. During the argument, it was said he swore to kill Frank. Near the Blue Creek, Alabama mines he concealed himself and waited by a road that he knew Frank would pass. He was caught and arrested before he could try to kill Frank.

On the night of March 19, 1888,  Constables David Rainey and Sam Redden were going to bring him to Birmingham jail. They claimed that 12 disguised white men overtook the guards and took Jeff from them. The mob of men then tied Jeff to a large tree. They then shot him to death. It was said that his body was riddled with bullets. The men then disappeared into the woods.

In the newer article, it's stated that Frank and Jeff pulled revolvers out at each other, and this was why he was arrested. The older articles indicated that this did not happen. It's also suspected that Frank and his friends may have killed Jeff.

This case has never been solved.

SOURCES:
News and Observer- March 21, 1888
The Tuskaloosa Gazette- March 22, 1888
The Times and News- March 22, 1888
The Troy Messenger- March 29, 1888
The Columbia Recorder- March 29, 1888
Birmingham Watch- Feb. 29, 2019

Murder of Regina Mae Armstrong

 

On June 18, 1985, 6-year-old Regina Mae Armstrong was playing with her 9-year-old sister Christina and their baby sitter's younger brother in the courtyard at Semoran Terrance apartments on Semoran Boulevard in Orlando, Florida. 

A man in his 40's who was described as smelling oily and looked like he was a mechanic or worked on cars approached them. He talked to the children briefly and returned 30 minutes later. By this time the children were playing by the mailboxes.  

He would ask Regina to go with him and offered to pay the other two $2 to watch a door at a nearby Beau Barton apartment. He stated that it was where he and his wife had lived. Regina would be persuaded to go with the man. 

Her sister would soon realize that Regina wasn't coming back. She would run to her babysitter for help, but she locked the door and wouldn't listen to Christina. It was until two hours later when her babysitter's other brother and boyfriend returned when she got help. 

Police were then notified at 4:30 p.m. when their mother came to pick them up. A search was done for the girl, but she could not be found. Three years later her skull and sundress were discovered by a construction worker found her remains at a construction site in Oviedo. This was around 15 miles away from where she was abducted. 

Her abductor was a white male in his 40's and was about 6ft tall and had salt and pepper hair. He was missing teeth and had a cut on his lip with stubble. He was wearing a plaid shirt and old blue jeans at the time. 

SOURCES:

City of Orlando

Find a Grave

Orlando Sentinel 

Murder of Sara Lepkofker

On May 8, 1997, 56-year-old Sara Lepkofker was last seen alive leaving her place of employment in Brooklyn, New York. She was scheduled to go on a 2-week vacation with her live in boyfriend, John Luttrell. It was unknown what had happened to her until 2008.

On June 18, 1997, four young children found Sara's body at an abandoned Sewage Pumphouse located on 105 Locust Ave. in Red Bank, New Jersey. She had been decapitated, her legs and tip of her fingers had been amputated. It wasn't until 2008 she was identified.

SOURCES:

Monmouth County Prosecutor

Charley Project

Disappearance of Mary Ferns

aAt 9:20 a.m. on 17 June 2008, 88-year-old Mary Ferns left her home in the Howden area of Livingston, Scotland. She was believed to have been heading for the Almondvale Shopping Center to buy some tights. She was never seen again. This was out of character for Mary and police are concerned for her well being. 

Mary is a white female and was 88 at the time. She was 5'3" and has a slim build. Her hair was short and grey and she has green eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown three-quarter length jacket, brown skirt, brown shoes, and carrying a brown bag and her floral patterned walking stick. 

SOURCES:

Police Scotland

Missing People

Daily Record

Murder of Bonnie Daye

On June 14, 2005, 81-year-old Bonnie Daye lived on Buxton Street in Durham, North Carolina and was last seen alive around 10:30. The next day he hadn't been seen for the day, and neighbors hadn't seen his car. One neighbor mentioned that he got up around 6 a.m. and thought it was strange his car was gone.

 Around 7:30 p.m. is grandchildren came to check up on him  This was when they found himBonnie was found dead in his bedroom he had been strangled to death with a belt and wrapped up in a blanket. There seemed to be no signs of a break-in and nothing was missing except for his car. His car was found two hours after he had been discovered his 2002 Cadilac Deville was found. It was about a mile away on Atlantic Street near Mutual Drive.

Bonnie seemed like a grandfather to many people. He was nice and would help people when they needed it. 

SOURCES:

Durham North Carolina
WRAL June 16, 2005,/Feb 18, 2020
WRAL Feb 18, 2020

Disappearance of Rafael Gonzalez Romo

Rafael Romo was last seen at Delegacion Venustiano Carranza in Distrito Federal, Mexico sometime in 1973. He is a Hispanic male and was 52-years-old at the time. He's 165 cm and thin build. He has brown eyes and brown straight hair.

SOURCES:
Doe Network

Urban Legend: Killer in the Backseat

Version 1:

A woman after having a long night noticed that she was running low on fuel. She would pull into a sketchy gas station she'd never been to before. The gas station attendant there gave her the creeps. The attendant would come out and tell her that her card didn't go through. She didn't want to go in, but after he insisted she went inside.

He would tell her to be calm and to wait for the police as he had called them. He said that he saw a man slip inside her car while she was pumping. He was hiding in the back seat. Looking out at the car the woman saw the man come out of her car.

Version 2:

A woman driving alone is being followed by a car. It begins to scare her as the person is pursuing her and keeps flashing his high beams at her and almost rams her vehicle. Scared she would drive home and hop out of her car and the person following her surprised her.

"Go inside and call the Police!" they scream. She did just that as the man following her went to her car. Soon the police came and saw why she was being followed. In the backseat was a man. She would go talk to the police and the driver she was previously scared of. The man in the back apparently had a knife and looked as if he was going to attack her. The driver was flashing his beams because the man would hide when he would flash them.

The moral of this tale is probably to make people more aware of their surroundings. There is no proof of this tale being true it may have been inspired by a New York City Police officer finding an escaped murder hiding in his backseat.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Snopes
Live About

Who is Jane Martin?

Jane Martin is a playwright and a Kentucky native and these things are really the only things known about the person using the name. Jane Martin is just a pen name and the person behind it is a mystery. They have been active since 1981 and a long time collaborator of Actors Theater of Louisville's artistic director Jon Jory. He would keep their identity secret and people would suspect and do suspect Jon is Jane. He would direct the premiers of Jane's plays. They would release plays like Anton in Show Business, Back Story, Keely and Du, etc.

There have been many theories of the identity of Jane, but none have been confirmed.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Dramatic Publishing
e notes
Pulitzer
Play Bill
NPR
Washington

Murder of Julie B. Walden

On June 12, 1988 on the 400 block of South Columbus Street in Alexandria, Virginia the body of 63-year-old Julie Walden was found in her apartment. She had been stabbed to death.

SOURCES:

City of Alexandria