Yore Town

THE BUFFALO CAVE MYSTERY: A BODY HIDDEN FOR 63 YEARS What if you discovered a body in 1979, only to learn decades later that the person had been missing since 1916? On August 26, 1979, a family searching for arrowheads inside Buffalo Cave in eastern Idaho made a disturbing discovery. Buried beneath the cave floor was a human torso. No head. No arms. No legs. Investigators were baffled. The remains were so remarkably preserved that authorities initially believed the man had died relatively recently. They were looking for someone who disappeared in the 1960s or 1970s. But they were searching the wrong generation. In 1991, another discovery inside the same cave added to the mystery. Then, in 2019, forensic genetic genealogy finally provided a breakthrough. The unidentified man was Joseph Henry Loveless, a bootlegger and repeat jail escapee who vanished in 1916 after being accused of murdering his wife. His identity had remained unknown for more than a century. But identifying him only uncovered another mystery. Who killed Joseph Henry Loveless? And why was his dismembered body hidden deep inside an Idaho lava tube? In this episode of the Yore Town Podcast, Matt and Megh explore the remarkable investigation that connected a 1979 discovery to a fugitive who disappeared in 1916. WHAT WE EXPLORE: • The disturbing discovery inside Buffalo Cave in 1979 • Why the cave's unusual conditions preserved the remains • The discovery of additional body parts in 1991 • How forensic scientists investigated the unidentified remains • The extraordinary DNA investigation involving family trees containing approximately 31,000 people • The mysterious headstone with no death date • Joseph Henry Loveless and his history of escaping jail • The 1916 murder of his wife, Agnes • The historical clothing descriptions that helped connect the evidence • How investigators finally confirmed Loveless's identity • The unanswered question of who murdered him A body discovered in 1979. A fugitive who vanished in 1916. An identity finally established in 2019. And a murder that remains unsolved. ABOUT YORE TOWN Yore Town is the podcast exploring the strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Join Matt and Megh as they travel through forgotten history, mysterious locations, bizarre discoveries, and real events that sound too unbelievable to be true. From hidden secrets to historical mysteries, every episode begins with a real place and uncovers the extraordinary story behind it. NEW EPISODES WEEKLY! LISTENER QUESTION: Who do you think killed Joseph Henry Loveless? Was it someone seeking revenge for Agnes's murder? Someone connected to his criminal past? Or someone whose involvement was never discovered? We want to hear your theories! Follow Yore Town on your favorite podcast platform, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with someone who loves a good mystery. The story is real. The place is real. And sometimes, the truth is stranger than anything Hollywood could invent. YORE TOWN PODCAST The strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Axeman of New Orleans: Play Jazz or Die New Orleans, 1919. A city famous for its music, nightlife, and vibrant culture was living under the shadow of a mysterious killer. Families had been attacked in their own homes. Investigators struggled to identify the person responsible. Fear spread through neighborhoods as residents wondered whether they might be next. Then something extraordinary happened. A letter published in a New Orleans newspaper claimed to come from the Axeman. Its author warned of another visit but suggested that anyone listening to jazz music would be spared. Imagine an entire city confronting a terrifying question: Could playing music really keep a murderer away? In this episode of the Yore Town Podcast, Matt and Megh take you into the streets of early-20th-century New Orleans to investigate one of America's strangest unsolved mysteries. In this episode, we explore: The New Orleans neighborhoods where the attacks occurred. The early murders and the terrifying pattern that emerged. The tragic attack on the Cortimiglia family. The mysterious letter attributed to the Axeman. Why jazz music became part of the city's response to the threat. The suspects, accusations, and disputed evidence. Why the Axeman's identity remains unknown. How New Orleans became forever connected to this extraordinary mystery. EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 — The Jazz Music and the Axeman's Threat 02:48 — Understanding New Orleans in 1919 04:21 — The Pattern of Attacks 10:59 — The Cortimiglia Family Tragedy 14:45 — The Letter from the Axeman 16:46 — The Night of Jazz 22:14 — The Aftermath and Unsolved Mysteries THE QUESTION THAT STILL HAUNTS NEW ORLEANS Was the infamous letter actually written by the person responsible for the attacks? Or did someone else exploit the city's fear and create one of the most enduring legends in American criminal history? More than a century later, the answer remains uncertain. ABOUT YORE TOWN The strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Join Matt and Megh as they uncover forgotten history, unexplained mysteries, extraordinary disasters, and the true stories that make ordinary places unforgettable. Every location has a story. Some are almost impossible to believe. JOIN THE CONVERSATION Who do you think wrote the Axeman letter? Was it the killer, a hoaxer, or someone connected to the investigation? Share your theory and tell us which mysterious place we should investigate next. If you enjoyed this episode, follow Yore Town on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, leave a rating or review, and share the story with someone who loves a good historical mystery. HISTORICAL NOTE The attacks attributed to the Axeman were real, but the identity of the perpetrator and the authorship of the famous jazz letter remain unresolved. Historical accounts sometimes conflict, and the episode examines the evidence alongside the legends that developed around the case. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A young woman is found dead. Her husband insists nothing suspicious happened. Her mother says her daughter came back from the grave to tell a very different story. And then the body is dug up. In January 1897, Elva Zona Heaster Shue was found dead in her home in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Her husband, Erasmus "Trout" Shue, reportedly interfered with the doctor's examination, and Zona was buried. But her mother, Mary Jane Heaster, refused to accept that her daughter's death was natural. Mary claimed Zona's ghost appeared to her four times, revealing that her husband had killed her and describing the injuries that caused her death. What happened next turned a small West Virginia community into the setting for one of the most extraordinary murder cases in American history. Authorities exhumed Zona's body. Doctors discovered devastating injuries to her neck. Trout Shue was arrested, and the case went to trial. Then came the twist that made the Greenbrier Ghost a legend. The defense brought up Mary's alleged ghostly encounters in court. And Mary insisted it wasn't a dream. This week on Yore Town, Matt and Meg investigate the strange, dark, and unbelievable true story behind the Greenbrier Ghost. IN THIS EPISODE: The mysterious death of Elva Zona Heaster Shue in 1897 The suspicious circumstances surrounding her husband's behavior The doctor's interrupted examination Four alleged visits from beyond the grave The disturbing account of an argument over supper The exhumation that changed the investigation The medical evidence of homicide Erasmus "Trout" Shue's past The extraordinary murder trial in Lewisburg, West Virginia Why the defense introduced the ghost story in court Mary's testimony and the jury's decision The difference between documented history and supernatural legend Was Mary truly visited by her daughter's ghost? Was she piecing together clues that everyone else had missed? Or was something happening that history still can't explain? One thing is certain: a young woman was murdered, her mother refused to let the matter rest, and a jury convicted the man responsible. The haunting remains a mystery. ABOUT YORE TOWN The strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Join Matt and Meg as they uncover the history, mysteries, disasters, and extraordinary events that make places unforgettable. Follow Yore Town on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen. Watch the video version on YouTube. THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK: If you had been on the jury in 1897, would Mary's story about her daughter's ghost have made you more likely to believe her, less likely, or would you have focused entirely on the medical evidence? Share this episode with someone who loves strange history, true crime, or unexplained mysteries. Content advisory: This episode discusses murder, domestic violence, death, and exhumation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

THE ALIEN BURIED IN TEXAS: THE AURORA UFO CRASH OF 1897 Welcome to creepy season on the Yore Town Podcast! More than 125 years ago, something extraordinary supposedly happened in the little town of Aurora, Texas. On April 17, 1897, a mysterious flying machine reportedly appeared above the community, lost altitude, and crashed into a local judge's windmill. According to a newspaper report published two days later, the wreckage contained strange metal, mysterious documents, and the remains of a pilot who was believed to have come from Mars. And what did the people of Aurora supposedly do? They gave the alien a Christian burial. Yes. An alien funeral in Texas. In 1897. But there's a fascinating twist. The original newspaper article really exists. Aurora Cemetery really exists. And people have spent decades searching for evidence of the supposed extraterrestrial burial. However, historians have raised serious questions about whether the entire event was invented. At the time, Aurora was struggling. Disease had driven residents away, and a proposed railroad connection had bypassed the community. Could a bizarre story about a crashed Martian have been an attempt to put the town back on the map? THIS WEEK ON YORE TOWN: • The mysterious airship reports sweeping America in the 1890s • The alleged April 17, 1897, crash in Aurora, Texas • The supposed discovery of a pilot from Mars • Strange metal, mysterious writing, and an extraordinary newspaper report • The alleged Christian burial of an extraterrestrial visitor • The historical circumstances that may have inspired the story • The possibility of an elaborate newspaper hoax • UFO investigators searching for evidence decades later • The mystery surrounding Aurora Cemetery • Ned, the alleged alien who became a Texas legend Matt and Megh examine the claims, question the evidence, and explore how one extraordinary story became part of a small town's identity. Was Aurora the site of an extraterrestrial encounter decades before Roswell? Or did somebody create a legend so unforgettable that people are still investigating it more than a century later? One thing is certain. Aurora, Texas, will never be remembered as just another little town. ABOUT YORE TOWN The strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Hosted by Matt (Beard Laws) and Megh, Yore Town explores the bizarre events, forgotten disasters, historical mysteries, and unbelievable legends connected to real locations. New episodes every week. Listen, follow, and share Yore Town wherever you enjoy podcasts. QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Do you believe the Aurora alien crash actually happened, or was it an elaborate hoax? We want to hear your theories! Remember, sometimes the strangest stories aren't about what happened. They're about why people never stopped believing. Rest easy, Ned. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On October 17, 1814, a 700-pound iron hoop fell from a massive wooden vat inside London’s Horse Shoe Brewery. The vat held more than one million pints of porter. The workers noticed the problem. They reported it. But hoops had slipped before, and nothing catastrophic had happened. About an hour later, the vat exploded. The resulting flood tore through the brewery, brought down a wall, and poured into the neighboring St. Giles area, where families lived in cramped homes and basement rooms directly in its path. Eight people were killed, including children and a 14-year-old girl working at a nearby pub. Pasted text But that's only part of the story. Over the next two centuries, the London Beer Flood became a legend filled with stories of people rushing into the streets with buckets, drinking free beer and turning the disaster into a giant drunken party. The contemporary historical record tells a very different story. This week on Yore Town, Matt and Megh dig into the true story of the London Beer Flood of 1814, including the enormous wooden vats used by London breweries, the warning that came before the disaster, the people caught in the flood, the myths that developed afterward, the bizarre legal verdict, and the financial relief eventually granted to the brewery. In this episode: 00:00 The London Beer Flood 01:57 Why London Built Enormous Beer Vats 04:36 The 700-Pound Warning 08:01 The Vat Explodes 10:59 A Neighborhood in the Path 13:50 Eight People Are Dead 16:55 The Legend vs. What Really Happened 19:46 Nobody Is Held Responsible 22:54 What the Beer Flood Left Behind Eight people died. Nobody was held responsible. And somehow, the brewery eventually received tax relief for the beer it lost. Pasted text Sometimes history doesn't need help being weird. Yore Town The strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.