Badger Bizarre

In the summer of 1994 in Baraboo, a fourteen-year-old boy named Chris Steiner went to bed early on the night of July 3rd, anxious for the upcoming July 4th Holiday.  By morning he was gone. A week later, his body was pulled from the Wisconsin River. The cause of death: accidental drowning. Case closed. But the bones told a different story — one that authorities in Columbia County apparently never...

On a quiet spring morning in La Crosse,  a twenty-year-old woman was suddenly gone — dead of a heroin overdose in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. What followed was a legal case that almost never happens: two men charged not with drug delivery, but with homicide. At the center of it all is a law named for a basketball star who died nearly a quarter century earlier — a law that has sinc...

During the Minnesota Sioux Uprising of 1862, which created a stream of settlers fleeing their homes to get out of the way of an advancing warpath, a young mother protecting her small children became a national hero; the poster child for a loving, devoted mother.  A decade later, now living in the western Wisconsin community of Trimbelle, in Pierce County, that same young mother, Charlotte Lamb, st...

On December 10th, 1967, a crowd was gathering outside of The Factory in Madison, as Otis Redding was scheduled to play 2 shows there that evening. The Factory was a newer venue in Madison, and Otis Redding was one of the fastest growing musical acts in the world, just coming off his renowned performance at the Monterey Pop Festival earlier in the year.  Otis never played that night, and the traged...

In June of 2007, police in Portage, WI were following-up on a tip regarding a missing persons case from Florida, when they found a literal "House of Horrors" in a local rental property.  The sheer amount of abuse and torture, ultimately culminating in murder, created headlines nationwide, and led to numerous states reviewing and ovverhauling state laws in regards to foster care and oversite. Altho...

  A collection of our conversations with others at the Great Lakes Paranormal Conference this past September. Interviews include owners of the Humbird Hotel Bar & Grill, Ghosts & Us, and 'friends of the show', Katie Skuban and Pat Haberman.  The opening banter includes initial thoughts on the current happenings in the continuing saga of Morgan Geyser.  Sit back and enjoy the conversations, here, o...

  Pirates are not usually associated with the Great Lakes, as most folklore and real historical seafaring adventures took place on the southern high seas, such as The Bahamas or the Carribean.  That does not mean, however, that pirates did not exist in the Great Lakes region, because they most certatainly did.  The most famous of which was "Roaring" Dan Seavey, whose playground was Lake Michigan a...

In July of 1971, an unkown, incoherent teenager was found outside of St George Catholic Church in the town of Wilson in Sheboygan County.  Presenting as conscious, but non-responsive when authorities were called, an investigation quickly began into his identity, and turned into one of the darkest days in Sheboygan's storied history.  5 lifeless bodies were found throughout the city, another previo...

  In July of 2021, Bart and Krista Halderson, of suburban Dane County, were said to have gone up north to their cabin in Langlade County to celebrate the July 4th Holiday with friends.  After days of no contact with their family back home in Windsor, WI, they were reported missing by their 23-year-old son, Chandler.  When they were finally found by police, the shock and awe of what happened to Bar...

The Fox Valley has a rich history of paper barons and lumber kings who ushered in an era of opulence shining with steamboat excursions along the river, palatial mansions in plush neighborhoods and lavish hotels and movie houses. But before this, native tribes reigned supreme in the region, leaving behind signs of their long -time dominance as well in our landscape and culture. Could it be that tho...

In June of 1988, the abducton of a 13-year-old girl in Massachussettes sent shockwaves through several communities in Wisconsin.  The perpetrator of that crime, 30-year-old James Duquette Jr, was a native of Appleton, WI and had only just moved to Massachussettes months prior. A bombshell confession, not by Duquette himself, but by a friend, led police in Wisconsin to investigate Duquette for seve...

Wisconsin was home to many towns throughout its history that, for various reasons, simply don't exist anymore. Whether bypassed by the railroad, faded away after a loss of industry, or disbanded by its own residents, the towns have been wiped from the modern-day landscape, some with visible ruins as reminders, and others have literally nothing existing other than stories. Those stories are largely...

From the early 1970's through 1990, Racine was the site of several brutal homicides, shocking the community and creating fear and panic in its residents.  Helen Sebastian, Eric Hansen, and John Michael Madden were all found murdered within only a few miles of each other, several years apart.  Although the murders were similar, as all were dismembered, were they committed by the same offender? Or w...

On November 9th, 1975, the ore freighter, Edmund Fitzgerald, once known as the "Queen of the Great Lakes" left the Burlington Railroad Loading Dock No 1, in Superior, WI.  Loaded with over 26,000 tons of iron ore, "Big Fitz" was to arrive at Zug Island, MI 46 hours later, as it had done many times over. As recalled in Gordon Lighfoot's famous song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," the ship ne...

Although not usually thought of as a state steeped in UFO history, Wisconsin lays claim to some of the most influential and important names in the field, dating back to the beginnings of the study itself. From the founding of the oldest and largest civilian research organizations in the world, to 3 different towns claiming to be the "UFO Capitol of the World," to some of the strangest reported sig...

On August 11th, 2009, 15-year-old Kayla Berg, after a fairly unremarkable day of hanging out with friends, went out with a trusted family friend, named Kevin Kielcheski.  Although Kevin was 9 years older, Kayla had known Kevin virtually her entire life, was somewhat of a 'protective older brother-type,' and there was nothing unusual about them spending time together, according to her friends and f...

Scott and Mickey talk with Jeff Finup, of Badgerland Legends and the Wisconsin Legends Podcast, about his newly published children's book, "Wisconsin Legends for Kids." The book is a wonderful piece to stir your child's ever-inquisitive mind and sense of wonder, as well as learn about the rich cultural heritage of our state.  10 tales of Wisconsin history are featured, some fact, some maybe up for...

From 1997-2010, a rash of drownings in the Mississippi River in La Crosse were mostly blamed by police on the culture of alcohol in Wisconsin. The deaths being attributed to people becoming inebriated, wondering down by the river, and ultimately falling in, unable to find their way out of the rushing or icy waters before succumbing.  However, a pattern soon began to appear, as all of the victims w...

We celebrate Halloween again this year by bringing you stories collected at the 2nd Annual Great Lakes Paranormal Conference.  Real people telling us their real paranormal experiences, in their own voice. Happy Halloween, everyone. We hope your week is frightful...   Facebook Twitter Website Email us:  badgerbizarre@outlook.com   Opening Trailer: Ed Gein Sound Byte : "Hard Copy" - Paramount Domest...

On the night of December 26th, 1983, friends Margaret Anderson and Terry Apfel entered a Green Bay bar named the Back Forty, at 618 Bodart Way, during a night out.  The Back Forty was owned by a member of the Drifters Motorcycle Club, and known as a popular hangout for Drifters members, and members of other motorcycle clubs as well.  Clubs like the DC Eagles, thought by some to be a more menacing,...

In October of 1978, Adams County was rocked by the brutal murder of 20-year-old Nancy Potts, a nurse practitioner at Adams County Memorial Hospital, who was supposed to be married on the very day her body was found. The killing of this seemingly innocent would-be bride opened up unhealed wounds around past violent crimes in the area, including an unsolved double murder with ties to Nancy's fiancee...

In 1949, St. Coletta of Wisconsin, a non-profit organization in Jefferson providing residential services for people with disabilities, accepted a new resident. This resident had a unique history, however, and the facility would need to implement very specific arrangements.  Her name was Rosemary Kennedy, the 30-year-old sister of the current senator from Massachussettes, and future President of th...

On March 4th, 1998, the small town of Dane, WI awakened to the shocking news that the Rev. Alfred Kunz, the priest at St Michael's Catholic Church had been murdered in a brutal scene in the elementary school.  Found as teachers began to arrive for the school day, Father Kunz was lying in a pool of blood in a hallway, a gaping wound in his throat, which was slit by an edged weapon.  In the 26 years...

On August 25th and 26th, 1990, Alpine Valley Music Festival hosted 2 sold-out shows featuring headliner Eric Clapton, along with special guests, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, and the Robert Cray Band. Both shows played to 40,000 strong, and the second show ended with one of the most legendary collections of guiratists on one stage at the same time, when Clapton was joined on stage by Stevie...

Authors Heather Bourget and Kristin Menth have conducted paranormal investigations in some of the most haunted places in the nation, all part of continuing their quest to discover the true answers to the questions of the unexplained. In their book, "Unlock the Unknown; Keys to the Paranormal," Heather and Kristin document their investigations in many of these locations, including numerous places r...