Legends 88: Tell-Tale Heartland
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In 2010, a family of four in California goes missing, and the clues left behind send investigators on a years-long search. Is this a family on the run? Or is the truth far more sinister? From ABC Audio in 2020, this is what happened to the mixed days, coming August 11th, wherever you get your podcasts, or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts for ad-free episodes, early access to new episodes, and so much more.
Names hold a certain amount of power, especially when it comes to the place you live. With just a few syllables, you get a sense of history, culture, people, a whole identity in a few small letters. I live in New England, and even hearing those two words brings up specific images. Old stone walls, clabbered houses, fall colors, and quiet winter nights. New England can mean different things to different people. To some, it means Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, the Kennedys and Summer Ice Cream. To others, it's Salem and Witches and Stephen King. The perfect setting for Halloween scares. Yeah. Head west from New England and you'll get to America's heartland. The name's simple, but it's evocative. The industry that made America's cars, the coal and iron that built its cities, and the farmers that grow its food, all of them make up the beating hearts of the country.
The state of Ohio's name conjures up a specific image as well. It's from a Seneca word, which means great or beautiful river. The name evokes something. Natural, peaceful, nurturing, and serene. But just like in New England, this bright side of Ohio has a dark counterpart. Ohio grew during a time of great change. Westward expansion, industrial revolution, changes to culture and traditions all left their mark. And in this great upheaval, some people, or their spirits, got left behind. A lot has changed from what Ohio looked like even 150 years ago. But in the forgotten corners of old buildings and shadowy woodlands, memories remain. And every now and then, They make themselves heard again. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore Legends.
By 1918, the Majestic Theater had been a lot of things. In 1802, it was built as the first bank in Chillicothe, Ohio. By the 1830s, it had become a Masonic Lodge. From there it led many lives, serving a stint as an opera house, a vaudeville venue, even as an early movie theater. And now, a morgue. The disease had come from Camp Sherman, an army facility just north of the city. Soldiers coming home from the war in Europe had brought home more than just battle scars and bad memories. Each case started innocently enough, a sore throat, a fever, a headache. But soon coughs and sniffles would give way to more severe symptoms. Strange odors, teeth and hair that fell out, bleeding from the mouth, the nose, and the ears, and a creeping discoloration turning the face blue.
And finally, pneumonia would take over, and as their lungs filled with fluid, victims of the The illness that people were calling the Spanish flu would drown in their own beds. Throughout 1918, this new deadly strain of influenza had been cropping up around the world. It was believed to have first appeared somewhere in Kansas shortly after the new year began. But with World War I raging in Europe, all the countries involved were keeping a tight lid on reporting any possible weaknesses, and that included illness. So the sickness spread unchecked, only gaining a name and a reputation. when neutral Spain started to report cases. By the time the plague came to an end, fifty million people had lost their lives.
And that fall in Chillicothe, nearly two thousand at Camp Sherman would die. Beyond preventing infection, the people of Chillicothe had another problem on their hands. What to do with all the dead bodies. The military morgue was full, as were the funeral homes around town. So the majestic theater answered the call. Embalmers set up shop on stage while the seats were taken out to make room for the coffins. The alley behind the theater was rechristened Blood Alley after the bodily fluids that were dumped in it nightly.
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