In this episode, the hosts discuss the mysterious skeleton of Jeff Davis from Ragersville, Ohio. Jeff Davis was a criminal who committed various crimes and was eventually lynched by the townspeople. His body went through a series of owners and was even displayed in a doctor's office before finally being put on permanent exhibit in a local history museum. The small town of Ragersville kept the story a secret for many years, but the discovery of the skeleton brought it to light.Takeaways

• The story of Jeff Davis and his skeleton is a fascinating and disturbing tale of crime and punishment.
• The small town of Ragersville, Ohio, kept the story a secret for many years, refusing to talk about the lynching and the passing of the skeleton from owner to owner.
• The discovery of the skeleton in the 1980s and its subsequent display in a local history museum brought the story to public attention.
• The journey of Jeff Davis' skeleton highlights the strange and macabre ways in which human remains can be treated and passed down through generations.

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This episode explores the story of Centralia, Pennsylvania, a ghost town that has been burning for decades. The town's decline began with the decline of the coal mining industry, and a fire that started in a landfill in 1962 has been burning underground ever since. The fire has caused sinkholes and released toxic gases, leading to the evacuation of the town. The government eventually used eminent domain to condemn all the buildings in the area. Centralia has become a subject of fascination and has been featured in books, documentaries, and films.

Centralia, Pennsylvania is a ghost town that has been burning for decades due to an underground coal mine fire.

The decline of the coal mining industry and a fire in a landfill in 1962 contributed to the town's decline.

The fire has caused sinkholes and released toxic gases, leading to the evacuation of the town.

The government used eminent domain to condemn all the buildings in the area, and Centralia has become a subject of fascination.

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Hi, Meg. Hey, we're back. We indeed are. We had and for everybody just listening to this your town podcast, we got another episode. And welcome everybody. Hopefully you guys have a great Thanksgiving. And we're trying a little bit different of a format. So anybody that does continue to give feedback like all the amazing people on the deluxe edition network, shout out to them and the podcast of the month, the beard laws podcast and take on the world. Make sure you guys check them out deluxe edition network.com.

and let us know if you like this new format. And as always, if you have a story from a town that you've heard of, you live near, please just give us a topic. We're going to do some writing. Zach's still not back. Pretty busy. Keep going. I'm going to be back. I'm going to be back. So I wrote it. And that's cool because I'm having a little bit more fun with this. And again, new format. Meg, are you excited about the new format? And why she went, is because she's going to do a little bit more talking in this episode on a cool story. So

I like my dribbling. Well, it turns out you were a cheerleader, not a basketball player. So no more dribbling. Well, let's try this. And if you if you don't like it, we'll go back to sprinkling and dribbling. Fair. I like to just do a dusting here and there. OK. Well, fair enough. So either way, what we're going to do is we might as well, I guess. Why don't you tell them a little bit about the intro there? Well, today.

We are going to be talking about a story that involves mystery, wealth, and the disappearance of a predominant socialite. It's the intriguing tale of Helen Brock, Chicago's greatest unsolved murder mystery. I know. Dun dun dun. There it is. I love it. Like I said, I've done a little bit of some research on this. This randomly popped into my brain. We're going to do the introduction here. And I'm going to...

We're gonna do the intro real quick, and then I'm gonna get into it and why I found this story. So, ready for the intro? Should we run the intro? We're on it. All right, we're gonna do it right now. All right, so you're probably wondering who is Helen Brock? All right, she was born in 1911, so we're kicking it back. We're not doing the 2000s anymore. We're going back to 1911, and she was a Harris to the Brock's candy fortune. And for anybody, what are you looking at me like that for? Did I say it wrong? Say that one more time. Harris?

Beard Laws (02:20.278)

Harris? Yeah. It's an heiress. Heiress of the heiress. She's the hairiest heiress. So she's the heiress. OK, I've never heard anyone say it like that. Yeah, it's hard for me. I say funny words and on all the shows, people are like, oh, Matt, can't say those words, but they're sure funny. It was for comedic purposes. I apologize. No, it's good. It's OK. I saw I could feel guard could feel the look from you. And I was like, OK. But either way, she was the heiress to the Brock's candy fortune.

and Meg and anybody else. I love candy corn and the best candy corn is from the Brock's Candy Company. Even have some in studio if you don't believe me. Hear that crinkle? Brock's baby. I'm a big fan of it. I mean, you can leave it open. It just never goes bad. It's you buy a bag and say best buy the next four years. So the company itself was founded in 1904, seven years before she was even born.

And just another kind of fact is Helen was really known for her love of horses, philanthropy, and she was a very, very prominent kind of figure in Chicago's high society during the gangster phases of the mid-20th century. Soon we'll discover her life took a dark turn. In the mid-1970s, Helen vanished without a trace, leaving behind a web of unanswered questions. It was a very tangled...

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Beard Laws (00:00.25)

Hey, what's up, man? Oh, hey. Oh, hey, we did it. We pressed it. We're live by pre recording and happy Thanksgiving week. Happy Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. I mean, Thanksgiving's in a couple of days. It's pretty much a week, you know, a couple of half days. I'm no school. I get a day off work. So that's cool. Thanksgiving. It's like probably my favorite holiday. It's up there for me, too. It's just awesome. You know what I mean? You.

You get the smell of the turkey and all the fixings. There's football all day. You know, you just, good company. Hopefully everybody gets some good company, or mediocre company at least. And just a good day. Everybody seems to be happy. Just pretty awesome. I prefer it over Christmas. Yeah, less. I think it's less pressure. Mm-hmm. Less expectations. True, I mean people know they're just gonna eat. You don't have to do the whole present thing. Either way, but it's a...

It's supposed to be a good thing. There's supposed to be a bunch of people that enjoy themselves, but in 1991, there was a situation on Thanksgiving that wasn't so good. And we're gonna call it the Thanksgiving Day murder, but I don't know if there's an actual one or whatever, but do you think we should jump right into this? Let's jump. We're gonna jump. And right at this point is when I'm gonna put the intro in because it doesn't play well in this new thing.

But you don't want me to sing it again. I mean, you can sing it again.

Beard Laws (01:32.47)

Shhh, holy cow. Nailed it, nailed it. And obviously, happy Thanksgiving. We're back from our awesome intro and shout out to the Deluxe Edition Network. Podcast of the month is the Beardlaws podcast and take on the world. So make sure you guys check them out, deluxeeditionnetwork.com. And again, what are you thankful for, Meg? Thankful for my family and my friends. Yeah.

It's good to be thankful. Lots of stuff. Yeah. And it's, I'm also thankful that, you know, pretty healthy overall family. You know what I mean? There's, I'm thankful for that. People are pretty happy. People are pretty healthy. I'm thankful that this year I'm not buried in six feet of snow, having to shovel my way out. So yeah. That's also thankful for that. That was a very stressful day. But this story also is pretty wild.

way more wild than six foot of snow, no offense. But again, what we're talking about is, well, like what's that? We're calling the Thanksgiving Day murder. And it starts at least this murder happened in 1991 in Costa Mesa, California. Looked it up. I mean, it's not we try to do small towns, smaller stories. But every once in a while, there's just a crazy story that's in a bigger town. And like I said, it's at the end of the day, it's your town, your stories for the Yorktown podcast. So somebody else. Even big towns are someone's town.

And they were all small towns at some point, probably. But at the same point, it's your town and there's probably about 110,000 people or so that are living in Costa Mesa, California, that it is your town. So hopefully this story makes it out there. And if you happen to be from the area, let us know. And let us know if you remember this wild family. And it's about the Nelsons and their apartment on Thanksgiving Day. And it's honestly one of the most gruesome things out there. It's even.

up there with some very, very wild horror stories and maybe even some documentaries that you have seen recently. But have you ever heard of anything crazy on Thanksgiving in Costa Mesa, California? I don't think so. Okay, let's give a little backstory. Okay, we have a couple. I'm gonna say it's Oma, Omaima, Nelson, and her husband Bill. Sure.

Beard Laws (03:50.966)

Bill's much easier to say. This couple has a 33 year age difference and you're probably thinking who cares? Well, you know, that could come into play, but whatever. So at the time, Mrs. Nelson or Oma Yima was an Egyptian model, actually immigrated to the United States...

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So we had another story submitted to us by a listener and I'm pretty stoked about it. So I just wanna give a quick shout out. Thank you, Rob from the Drink O'Clock podcast for bringing this story to us. It's a little bit different of a story than we typically do. We typically do stories from like way, way in the past. And this one occurred in 2017. So I'm kind of excited about it. What's your initial thoughts on this, Meg? Pretty recent. Very recent. Pretty different.

Different, wild, wild. I mean, it is in the whole kind of thing is your town, your story. So when Rob was like, hey, I have one for you guys. And I was like, let's do this. So dug into this, did the research, put together a story and pretty excited. Quick shout out to the Deluxe Edition Network, Drink O'Clock podcast is on there and podcast of the month, the Beardlaws podcast as well as take on the world podcast. So check them out, deluxeeditionnetwork.com. And again.

This story is wild. It happened in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is very close, apparently, to where Rob lives. So that's why, hey, he's like, you should do this. Put your take on it. Super excited. And I don't know if you've ever heard of what went down in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Nope. I haven't either. I haven't either. But apparently there's movies and series and all sorts of crazy stuff that did it. And maybe you know it as the Lost Boys of Bucks County. Nope. Still don't. OK. Me neither. And that's OK. But I feel like.

We should do the intro. What do you think? Let's do it. Last time didn't work so well. Maybe this time it'll work better. Fingers crossed. If not, we'll just edit it in. Let's try, what do you think? Right now or when? Now.

Beard Laws (01:40.654)

doesn't appear to be working. I press play. It's doing nothing. Okay then, maybe we'll have to edit that in.

Beard Laws (01:55.474)

Let me make some sound effects. Let's go. Okay. Well, I did that in. Hopefully, I remember. If not, then you're just going to have us in this weird little video. But either way, let's just go right to the story. So between July 5th and July 7th, 2017, four young men were reported missing in Bucks County, which is in Pennsylvania. Obviously, in the United States, Buck County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

And guess what? The county is named after the English county of Buckinghamshire. Yeah, that was better. Yeah. I don't know why that's so weird. Saying words is hard sometimes. Anyways, what's cool about this is General George Washington might have heard of him in his wooden teeth and his troops that camped in Bucks County as they prepared across the Delaware River to take Trenton, New Jersey by surprise on the morning of December 26, 1776.

Beard Laws (02:51.606)

That happened just a little bit ago. But the story had many people, not only in the county, the state, but even the country focused on finding these boys. And what kind of started as a missing person case shocked the world with what actually went down. So shocking, as we mentioned in the introduction, there's documentaries, podcasts, books, shows, almost anything you can count of because or that you can watch or listen to because of this event.

So I think because of this, we're gonna have to check it out. And like I said, I watched a couple of episodes real, real quick, like kind of skipped through them and it's wild. So hopefully we can do this in justice. We're gonna put our take on there and the sources that we found. So let me think, jump right into this. Let's do it. All right, so the disappearances began on July 5th, 2017 with Jimmy Patrick being the first of the men or the boys to vanish. He was, I believe, 19 at the time.

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There is a pretty shocking and mysterious murder that happened in Upstate New York in the early 1900’s A murder that is so scandalous there are conflicting versions of what really happened. It could be the most shocking murder to ever take place in Upstate NY. What are we talking about? The Murder at Big Moose Lake. 

Big Moose Lake, at the head of the Moose River, is a large lake about five miles (8 km) north of Fourth Lake in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. The lake is within both Herkimer and Hamilton counties, and covers portions of the towns of Webb and Long Lake.

Just like most movies that have a murder in it or murders that make a movie it begins with a love story. Grace Mae Brown grew up in the village of South Otselic, Chenango County, New York, the middle child and daughter of a successful Chenango County dairy farmer. She was reportedly given the nickname "Billy" because of her love of the contemporary hit song "(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey". Brown attended grammar school in the village, and became close friends with a teacher, Maud Kenyon Crumb, and Crumb's husband. Later, Brown often signed her love letters "The Kid", after the Western outlaw Billy the Kid. In 1904, at the age of 18, Brown moved to nearby Cortland to live with her married sister Ada, and to work at the new Gillette Skirt Factory. While working at the factory she met someone. That someone, Chester Gillette. 

Chester Gillette was the nephew of the Gillette Skirt Factory. He grew up in Montana and bounced around from place to place in his not so stable childhood. He moved to Cortland NY in 1905 to work at the factory. Since he was the nephew of the owner he met people in the upper class society in Cortland. He then meets Grace and they began a relationship. A very secret relationship as she was a factory worker and wasn’t up the family standards.  It then comes out that Grace Brown is pregenant. She’ 20 and he’s 23. Since it was the early 1900’s unwerd mothers were outcast from society. She decides for those reasons it’s best to go back home to her be with her parents. The two keep in touch writing letters back and forth. Love letters at that. In a lot of these letters it was said the she was begging him to marry her. Gillette finally agrees to take her away to the Adirondacks for a romantic weekend. Many believe that she thought it was he was going to propose or even marry her. Other reports suggested that he was going to bring her to a maternity house where she could live until she had the child. 

The couple then travels around the state. They spent the first night in Utica NY where they registered at a hotel under false names. They even left the hotel without paying. They then jump on a trian  to Tupper Lake the second night. They planned an outing by a nearby lake once arrived by train but it rained out so it ruined the day. They jumped back on the train and went to Big Moose Lake on July 11th. They then decided to rent a a canoe and spend the afternoon on the lake. People reported seeing hotel guest Carl Grahm aka Gillette check in with his bag and initials C E G with a tennis racket attached to it. Her lueggage was to be reportedly left at the train station.  Odd right. Even more odd it was seen that he brought his suitcase with him on the canoe trip. 

It is alleged that he used the tennis racket to smash brown in the head and she fell into the water. Brown had told Gillette in a letter that she could not swim. Gillette fled the scene and spent the night at the Hotel giving multiple stories of why he returned alone. Brown’s body surfaced not long afterwards, with the autopsy eventually revealing bruises on her head and a four-month-old fetus inside her.

After Brown's body was found the next day, Gillette was arrested in the nearby town.

Let’s skip ahead to the trial that occured in Herkimer was the biggest trial to ever happened in the area. Newspapers allover the state covered this story.

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The Toolbox Killers sounds as bad as it is. Well, actually it’s worse. There have been movies, books, documentaries you name it on these guys. If you haven’t heard of them let’s give a little back story on these guys and then talk about the Halloween Murder. Feel like that’s a good move right? Yeah.

Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris were just a couple of guys who were up to no good. Started making trouble in many neighborhoods. They killed a bunch of people and everyone was scared so they ended up in jail in the same state as Bel-Air. See what I did there.

Alright, The Tool Box Killers were two American serial killers and rapists who committed the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of five teenage girls in southern California over a five-month time frame in 1979. The crazy 70’s. So glad I wasn’t around then. Lawrence Bittaker was described by FBI agents and others as the most disturbing person they ever profiled. He was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in the 40s and spoiler alert went to jail and was actually sentenced to death for the 5 murders.

Norris testified against Bittaker and was sentenced to life in jail. You might be thinking why were they the Tool Box Killers? Well…the majority of instruments used to torture and murder their victims, such as pliers, ice picks, and sledgehammers, were items normally stored inside a household toolbox.

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Join us on a thrilling underground adventure in the latest episode of the Yore Town Podcast with your hosts, Matt and Megh! In this intriguing installment, we journey deep beneath the glitzy facade of Las Vegas to uncover a hidden world that few have ever witnessed - the mysterious realm of the Las Vegas Mole People.

Beneath the neon-lit streets of Sin City, a subterranean community of people lives in the shadows, away from the dazzling lights and endless entertainment. Who are these enigmatic individuals, and what led them to this hidden existence beneath the desert? Matt and Megh dive headfirst into the subterranean world, unveiling the secrets, struggles, and stories of those who call the underground passages of Las Vegas home.

As we explore the history, urban legends, and real-life accounts of the Las Vegas Mole People, you'll be taken on a gripping journey filled with intrigue, compassion, and a newfound perspective on the City of Entertainment. Join us for a captivating episode that peels back the layers of this world-famous city and shines a light on a community that few even know exists.

Tune in to the Yore Town Podcast, where history meets mystery, and discover the untold tales of the Las Vegas Mole People. Subscribe now to unearth the secrets beneath the surface of one of America's most iconic cities.

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For whatever reason I cannot stay away from the 70’s and NY jails so here is another wild story from the 70’s in a little place called Attica NY. I wonder if I was a prisoner in my past life in the 70’s in a jail or something. 

Attica is a town in Wyoming County, New York, United States. The population was 7,702on the last census. The Department of Corrections is a major employer, as both the maximum security Attica Correctional Facility and medium-security Wyoming Correctional Facility are located here.Since the 1930s Attica had been a prison town, and most correctional officers live here or nearby with their families.

The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison. it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. At the time it was the 10th of notable prison riots from 1929 to 1971. What was wild there were 4 prison riots in 1971 and 6 in the ’70s. 

In this riot, 43 men died. 33 of them were inmates and 10 were employees of the jail.  all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The Attica Uprising has been described as a historic event in the prisoners' rights movement. 

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Every once in a while I stumble upon a story that leaves me thinking wow there is no way this is true. This story is one of those. From stories of the past to some a little more present dark and twist might be an understatement. If you read the title you know what town this is. If you haven’t well it’s Skidmore Missouri. This town puts the misery in Missouri. 

Skidmore is a city in Western Missouri. The population in the latest census is 245 people. When you look up this town everything that it’s known for is not good. Not good at all. We use Wikipedia for a lot of stuff and you know this place is pretty dark based on it’s Wikipedia. It’s legit the shortest Wiki page I have ever seen. There are multiple major stories this town has seen I’m not even sure where to begin. Talking with a friend from near the area he suggests starting with the town bully. 

The town bully is officially known as Ken Rex McElroy. He was born in 1934 the 15th of 16 kids born to a poor migrant tenant farming couple Tony and Mabel. He dropped out of school at 15 and was known as a thief, cow rustler, and womanizer. For over 20 years he was suspected of being involved in theft of anything from grain to gas to booze to livestock. Somehow was never charged in any of the 21 convictions. He ended up having more than 10 kids with multiple women. 

In the ’60s and ’70s, he was more than the town bully and often referred to as a dictator. He ran the town from everything I have read and heard. He legit raped and pillaged for over 2 decades. If he thought you were pretty you were now his. It didn’t matter if you were 12 or older. He would steal whatever, whoever, whenever, and if you didn’t like it, watch out. He stole a 12-year-old girl that he did terrible things to and married and made her have his child at 14. The parents fought back he stalked them, burned their house down, and killed their pets. When the girl escaped and went back home he did the same exact thing to that family again and took her back. 

Just like myself, you are thinking how in the heck could he do this? He had such a stronghold over anyone who wanted to press charges. He had a mob-connected lawyer, he would harass you like no other. He would stalk you, shoot you anything he wanted and so feared the police wouldn’t do anything. There is a story that in the summer of 1973 he was arrested for arson, assault, and statutory rape. He was released on a 2500 bail. His very young wife and their maybe fled and were put into foster care in a nearby town. When he got out he sat outside the foster home for hours at a time. He then told the foster family that they would trade him a girl for a girl so he could get his child back. He even threatened the foster family as he knew where their biological daughter went to school and which bus she rode. A few weeks before the dust settled on this he then shoots a farmer twice with a shotgun after the farmer told him to stop shooting on his property. He was charged with assault with intent to kill. He was acquitted after some locals came to his rescue.

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