In October 2006, the burning body of a young woman was found on an oil lease road in Kilgore, Texas. For the next 12 years, investigators, internet sleuths and police searched for her name, her identity and her killer. Progress was made but never fully realized...until very recently. Tune in to this episode of the Dispatch to learn about the tragic case of Lavender Doe and the amazing technology that may lead to her identification.
It's the early 1840s in East Texas and a gang of gun-toting outlaws have taken over Shelby County. Led by a violent, bloodthirsty colonel, the band does as they please and punishes all who oppose them. The penalty for opposing Regulator rule is death and their only enemy, the Moderators, have been driven underground. But, as so often happens, corruption and power soon reach their limits. In a story populated by characters, both wicked and wretched, who could only be found on the bloodstained pages of backwoods lore, all is nearly lost for settlers in the deep frontier, trying to find their place and purpose among the pines. Tune in for the conclusion to a two-part series on this dark, eerie chapter of my local history: the Regulator-Moderator War.
Land feuds are among the oldest conflict known to mankind. The right to say "I am in charge here" is not earned easily. It is often bought with blood and tears. In the 1800s, there was a piece of land in Texas called the Neutral Ground. After Texas became a state, the name faded away, but its legacy remained. A place where bandits and bad men hid out and preyed on settlers, this dark place among the pines was fierce and untamed. Some men rose up and tried to settle it but they were carried away by the lust for power. Others rose up to staunch the flow of violence and the result was only more bloodshed. Tune into this episode of the Nowhere Dispatch to learn about the largest land feud in the nation's history, one that surpassed even the Hatfields and the McCoys. This is the story of the Regulator-Moderator War, also known as the Shelby County War of the 1840s, a strange tale that left a bitter legacy.
That time of year has arrived again...when time begins to slow and things get quiet. Leaves die and fall, the air gains a sharp edge and our thoughts turn to old stories, the spookier the better. Last year, my friend Ashley and I read you some eerie stories to ring in our favorite holiday, Halloween. We had so much fun we decided to do it again. As the year wanes, we feel the urge to settle our bones into a good chair and share a ghost story or two...we hope you'll join us for a tale, nowhere wanderer, as the rain falls on the roof and the shadows get long. Perhaps you can share one of your own.
There is something about the land out here. Strange things happen without explanation and then fade away, sealed by time and fading memories. But the scars on the land remain. A freak windstorm that came from nowhere. A mysterious blackout that plunged and entire town into darkness. Fires that burned vast stretches of prairie and forest alike. The phenomena of the Piney Woods are unique and strange. Listen in and learn about the way nature takes its course in this part of the world.
In 1946, a mysterious wave of serial homicides fell upon the East Texas border town of Texarkana. Violence was not unknown in the town but this was something different. Young couples enjoying the moonlight on lover's lanes were being gunned down by an unknown assailant who stalked the backroads and shadowy places in the Piney Woods. To this day, no one has ever been convicted for the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and the Phantom who committed these hideous acts has never been definitively identified. Listen in and I'll tell you about the reign of terror that fell on a Texas town caught between the joy of an ended world war and the dawn of the age of the serial killer.
When you look into the woods...what looks back at you?Is there something out there, stalking through the pines? Since the beginning of history, mankind has given many names to a specific kind of beast that waits in the woods. The wild man. Sasquatch. Bigfoot.But there are other names. Names you might not know. Some of them come from right here, in my part of the world.I'll tell you all about them in this episode. Consider it my own personal take on one of the most famous cryptid legends in existence. It's true, listeners, there are strange creatures here in the middle of nowhere and one of the most famous, written about in the first printed document concerning what was once called The New World, is known as la mala cosa.
When people hear the word "cult", they tend to think of doomsday groups or splinters of major religions, operating off the beaten path in secrecy and at the fringes of society. In reality, a cult is just a small group of like-minded people who sometimes twist holy scriptures to suit their own vision. One such group can be found right here in East Texas. I'm not here to say if the Church of Wells is or isn't a cult. There's no mistaking the fact many others have called them such over the years. In this episode, I'll tell you a bit about this group so that you can decide for yourself.
Just at the edge of the county line, at the edge of your thoughts, awaits a legend. All legends are true, I think, and they only become more real with each telling. Stories live and grow through the ways we share them. This is the way that myths, folk tales and legends are born.I went on a trip to visit a legendary place not far from me. The famous Bragg Road, also known as the Ghost Road in Hardin County. I didn't see the ghostly lights that some claim haunt the road, but I learned a lot about the history of the area and the road itself. I also had a creepy experience unlike anything I had seen before. Tune in and travel down the dark, lonely road with me.
Nearly 20 years ago, a 3-year-old boy named Rebel McMahon was murdered by his mother in a small East Texas town. Although his mother was arrested and sentenced to prison, young Rebel's case never received much coverage in the media. His mother was an unstable criminal who should never have gotten the chance to do this evil deed, so why did it happen? Why did this case fade away? A reporter named Jay Arrington contacted me and I conducted an interview with him to find out just what happened to this case and about the strange details that surrounded it.
At the close of the 19th century, things were changing in the Old West. Roving bands of outlaws were still carrying out stickup robberies and train heists, but their days were numbered. One of the last and most infamous of the Old West robber gangs to terrorize the frontier was the Dalton Gang. This infamous band of outlaws went through numerous configurations but their legacy was sure to last through the years to come, like an echo from a gun blast on the empty prairie. Tune in to learn about the fate of one of the most notorious outlaw gangs of that bygone age and how they came right here to my hometown many years ago.
There are many types of killers and good reasons to fear them all. Some kill as the result of an obsession, some kill for revenge, others seem to have no motive at all. One of the most disturbing types of serial murderers is the angel of death, a healthcare worker who uses their medical knowledge and access to patients to carry out a murder spree. Believe it or not, just such a case happened in Lufkin, Texas only a few years ago. Tune in to this episode to find out how one woman in a small East Texas town held her patients and coworkers in the grip of fear as she wielded the power of life and death before their very eyes.
Few things are as terrifying or taboo as cannibalism. What drives people to commit this unthinkable act? There are many reasons why people have resorted to cannibalism throughout history. Some were members of cultures which viewed the act as a ritual while others became focused on this act of depravity as the result of a criminal fascination. Whatever the case, there have been acts of cannibalism practiced in East Texas going back hundreds of years. Tune in to take a closer look at humanity's oldest taboo as it has been practiced here in the Piney Woods.
As we step deeper into autumn, some say that the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead becomes thin, allowing communication with ghostly spectres and otherworldy beings. Whether or not you believe this is true, the feeling of the fall season lends itself well to stories of the macabre, the morbid and the downright spooky. Join me and my friend Ashley, nowhere wanderers, and we'll share some eerie Texas tales with you in this episode, just in time for the leaves to die and the air to become chilly. Huzzah!
Some towns aren't quite like the others. You could say that about Athens, Texas. The tunnels beneath the streets, the monkeys that murder...there's a lot of stories about this town. Follow me into nowhere as I discuss some of the secrets of this strange little town in East Texas.
Welcome back to the Nowhere Dispatch. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Ken as he tells me about some paranormal encounters he had in his past. These types of stories always fascinate me because they seem so strange, yet to those who experience them, their reality is unshakeable. Science tells us that such things are not possible but it is not so easy to hold fast to this belief in the face of a personal experience. Tune in to hear Ken relate some truly remarkable experiences with otherworldly apparitions.
On January 22, 2015, Kristiana Coignard lost her life after an encounter with the Longview Police Department. This case caught international attention as it occurred in the midst of a series of high-profile shootings of civilians by police officers. In this episode, I will tell you the story of how Kristiana lost her life and how I hope we can move forward.
In this conclusion to the two-part series on the Texas Killing Fields, I try to relate some finality in these tragic cases. While many of the cases remain unsolved, a few have found a resolution of sorts. Several people confessed to multiple Killing Fields murders and some were more believable than others. Finally, arrests have been made in a few cases, bringing justice to the victims and their families. Tune in to find out about the resolution of some of these cases.
For over thirty years, bodies have been appearing in a lonely stretch of land by the side of Interstate 45. Who is responsible for these heinous murders? Follow along with this 2-part episode as I examine the facts of the Texas Killing Fields, one of the most outstanding unsolved murder cases in the state of Texas.
On this episode of The Nowhere Dispatch, I explore a few of the allegedly Illuminati-linked conspiracy theories that have ties to East Texas. While I can't prove the veracity of these theories, as is usually the case with conspiracies, I still enjoy taking a close look at them. I hope you do as well, so tune in to find out more about traces of the Illuminati here in the Piney Woods