Ohio Mysteries

On Nov. 4, 1985, Mary Yocono, the 79-year-old matriarch of a family that owned a popular Akron restaurant, was struck, killed and abandoned by a motorist on a dark, rainy night. The inspirational story of Mary's life, and the tragic story of the hit and run that ended it. www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/...

Ep. 58 - The miracles of Rhoda Wise The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown has been on a mission to have the pope recognize a Stark County homemaker for a handful of miracles and personal visitations by Christ. Rhoda Wise has passed the first phase toward possible sainthood, having been deemed "a servant of God." We explore who she was and what she is said to have done and witnessed.  www.ohiomysterie...

Franklin Castle, built in 1883 in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, was built by banker Hannes Tiedemann. His wife, his mother and four of his children died on the property from various causes, leading to rumors that helped put the building on many lists of America's most haunted locations. www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysterieso...

In 1973, four Army Reservists in a helicopter on their way from Columbus to Cleveland had a close encounter with a cigar-shaped metallic object that they couldn't identify. What happened next has often placed this particular UFO incident on the list of the most credible sightings known to modern man. www.ohiomysteries.comfeedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/myst...

In 1972, two Loveland, Ohio police officers, on two separate weeks, spotted a large, strange lizard-like creature on the side of the road, near the banks of the Little Miami River. Paired with a similar sighting from 1955, the legend of the Loveland Frog was born.   www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomy...

In a rite of passage, young folks in and around Lake County often make pilgrimages down Wisner Road in Kirtland in search of the Melonheads, mythical humanoid creatures with bulbous heads. What is the story, and how did it get started? We explore this urban legend, as well as the lore of the Kenmore Grassman, a bigfoot type creature that has been reported by residents of an Akron neighborhood for...

In Mansfield, businessman Virgil Cates ended up in the news three times in 1983 - first as the victim of a burglary, then arrested as a member of a regional auto theft ring, and finally as a homicide in a still-unsolved murder case.  www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Music: Audionautix- The G...

In the first case to bring the fraternity tradition of hazing to national consciousness, 18-year-old Stuart Pierson is found decapitated next to train tracks where he was instructed to wait as part of his initiation ceremony at Kenyon College in 1905. Did he fall asleep on the rails, or had he been tied to the tracks? Due to controversial moves made in the aftermath by college officials and Pierso...

Ohio became a state more than 100 years after all the witchcraft frenzy that made Salem, Mass. famous. And yet superstitions lingered into the 19th century. We recount three witch stories from Ohio: The state's only known witchcraft trial, the tale of a farmer who was convinced he'd killed a witch, and the story of how a brave Quaker stood up to Shawnee Indians intent on killing an alleged witch....

12-year-old Michael Klitch left home one summer day to go practice his tennis serve at the municipal courts in Grandview Heights. A single tennis ball was all he left behind when he vanished from the courts before his mom could pick him up. A couple of weeks later, his remains were found in a burned out shack miles from home. www.ohiomysteries.comfeedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomyst...

How did the hamlet of Knockemstiff, Ohio get it's name? It's a mystery, but the historical record suggests its a name that is well-earned. We explore the kinds of things that kept Knockemstiff in the news a century ago, and touch on strange names of other Ohio communities. www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com...

Sharon Lynn Pretorius was 13 years old when she left her Dayton home in 1973 to collect from customers on her newspaper route. She never even made it to her first house. She vanished that day in a case that has never even come close to being solved. www.ohiomysteries.comfeedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Music: Some...

In 1926, Rear Admiral Richard Byrd became a household name after being the first to fly over the North Pole. But after his diary from the trip was re-discovered in the 1990s, experts disputed his claim. If Byrd wasn't the the first man to fly to the pole, then that honor would belong to Lincoln Ellsworth of Hudson, Ohio and his expedition partners. www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com...

In the 1930s, Cleveland had its own gruesome version of Jack the Ripper. The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run - also known as the Torso Murderer - targeted men and women living on the fringes of society during the Great Depression, beheading his victims and leaving their body parts strewn about the city. Famed lawman Eliot Ness was Cleveland's Safety Director, and while those who have studied the case...

Lake Erie has a reputation for swallowing ships whole in a storm, but what reason did it have for taking the tug Cornell? The boat left Cleveland for Buffalo four days before Christmas, under fair skies and little wind, but within hours, it had vanished. The frozen bodies of two of its 8-member crew would eventually be discovered, but the rest of the men, the location of the ship, and the cause of...

Some say Athens is one of the most haunted places in the world. If true, much of it is owed to an old asylum that spent a century using barbaric practices on its patients, and features the infamous concrete floor stain that shows the outline of a body that decomposed there for more than a month. Today, the old asylum is part of Ohio University and now called The Ridges, but the memories - and mayb...

Elizabeth Hocking, a British mother who was relocating her entire family to Ohio from Cornwall, England, boarded the Titanic for the move. Six family members survived the sinking of the "unsinkable" ship; her son was lost. Two years to the date of that tragedy, death came looking for Eliza again. This time it won. Eliza was found dead on an Akron city street, officials uncertain of whether she had...

Tiffin Officer Patrick Sweeney was at Marshall August Shultz's side when a shooter cut Shultz down in 1895, an event that stunned the small town and made national news when a mob stormed the local jail in an attempt to lynch the killer. The story almost repeated itself 13 years later when another criminal killed Sweeney, but there was no chance of vigilante justice this time. The murderer escaped....

The Great Serpent Mound in Adams County is the largest effigy mound on the face of the planet, a 1,348 earthen sculpture of a snake swallowing an egg. But who built it? When? And for what purpose? The debate has been going on for more than 150 years. www.ohiomysteries.com  feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Music: A...

In 1950, Mansfield native Richard Cox was in his second year at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY when he was visited several times by an aquaintance with a violent and disturbing history. After his third off-campus trip with the man, Cox never returned. But those who suspected foul play were soon questioning their conviction when other evidence - including letters sent back hom...

It's been 40 years since Akron teens Ricky Beard and Mary Leonard vanished while on a date, and 34 year since their remains were found. Investigators don't know who killed the couple, or why, but there are plenty of ideas. We explore the top three theories: The motorcycle gang, the angry homeowner, and the serial killer.​ ​ Find photos, maps, timelines, links, videos and more at www.ohiomysteries....

Six years after Akron teens Ricky Beard and Mary Leonard vanished during a date in 1979, a utility crew digging a trench through the Merriman Valley discovers their weathered bones in a wooded area two miles from where their car had been abandoned. The police and families - and even psychics - hope the find will offer new clues as to what happened.​ ​ Find photos, maps, timelines, links, videos an...

An Ohio Mysteries/Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com crossover​ ​ In the summer of 1979, 19-year-old Ricky Beard and 17-year-old Mary Leonard, teen sweethearts from Akron's North HIll neighborhood went on a date to a drive-in movie. They left early, telling friends they needed to be home in time for curfew. But Ricky and Mary are never seen by their loved ones again.​ ​ For six years, police, private i...

The 1946 case of Lola Celli, a pretty, dark-haired school teacher who left the front stoop of her parents home in broad daylight to walk to a bus stop a few blocks away, and vanished without a trace before she got there. www.ohiomysteries.com feedback@ohiomysteries.com www.patreon.com/ohiomysteries www.twitter.com/mysteriesohio www.facebook.com/ohiomysteries Music:  4:30 by Angela Perley. Find mor...

The year 1929 was the start of the Great Depression - and the start of a would-be serial killer in Cleveland. Someone was shooting women on the streets of residential neighborhoods over the holiday season. Most survived the assault, but just after New Years, a high school girl named Janet Frater Blood became the "mad masher's" first homicide.   www.ohiomysteries.com     feedback@ohiomysteries.com...