VANISHED IN APPALACHIA | The Bennington Triangle (Part One) | Scary Stories in Appalachia (Ep 318)

0:00

It's actually called the Appalachin Trails Zone of Death. The [ __ ] There is an area in southern Vermont where the wilderness is watching, where ancient mountains loom silently, where time bends, compasses spin, and where people vanish without a trace. It is called the Bennington Triangle. This episode is going to be a two-part episode. It has everything. Yeah. Yeah. Very spooky. Hey. Hi. What's up? What's up? This is two girls, one ghost. Two girls, one ghost. And we are your ghostesses. That

1:00

is Curran. Hello. In green, blending in with our office. And that is Sabrina, who's very much not blending in because you just got back from Mexico. And you're tan as Also, I chopped off my hair. What? I didn't even notice. It cried because I was distracted because you're wearing a Loyola Marmont University shirt. My hair cried. Wait, what do you mean? Like, I've never had this. And this might sound woo woo, but like after I got my haircut, cuz I was bored and I was just like, I want to do something different. So, I chopped that afternoon and evening, I like felt from my scalp to my roots my hair crying. I like cannot comprehend what you were feeling. Like, it felt like pain. My hair had pain. Is that a weird thing? It's like It's the only time I've ever experienced that. This is very magical. But my hair experienced pain. Why do you think it is? Do you think it was like mourning? like it chopped off a piece of your hair that was with you during a rough time and then it was like shedding that and letting it go. I don't know. I know that hair does hold memories so perhaps. I've never experienced that and

2:00

that was strange. I've never heard that. I was thinking this whole time you were just going to say there was like a weird buzzing noise or like a weird like like it cried. I felt it crying. Wow. I know. It's so weird to say, but if anyone else has experienced that, please let us know cuz I'm so curious. I feel like you should start when you're getting your haircut. having them bag up the old hair, just keep it just in case. I don't need to collect more things. I feel like the hairdresser that you go to and that now I go to out of all people would be okay with that. She would for sure. She would not ask questions. She would be like, "This makes sense for you." But

what is the bennington triangle?

enough of the chitchat because today's episode is quite long and I am so excited about it because it has and I went into this like I don't even know how I found it. We may have actually covered it or parts of it. Definitely only a part of it because yeah, we we covered a section of this topic back in 2021. We could not find the episode. So, we're not sure what part of it we covered if anything that you're going to cover cuz but it's a huge topic. Huge topic. And I had no idea when starting

3:00

it that it's actually part of the Appalachia Mountains and it's along the Appalachin Trail. So, it all makes sense. It's actually called the Appalachin Trails Zone of Death. the [ __ ] I know. And I found that after I had finished researching the two parts, which is so crazy that there's so much more folded in that you have to kind of like dig hard enough long enough to uncover. I'll tell you when we get to that point in the story, but had I not seen cuz I mapped out this like whole journey that someone went on on Google Maps. And that's when I saw on Google Maps it said Appalachia. And I was like, "Holy [ __ ] is this in the Appalachian Mountains?" And it is. Good old New England, baby. This is crazy. Okay, this episode is going to be a two-part episode, so it's two episodes, not just one. It has everything. But first, I'm going to paint a picture. Okay. Okay. Cozy. The woods hold a powerful magic. They can be a sanctuary, a place of

4:00

peace, a space to reconnect and ground oneself. It's a place where time seems to slow. And if you close your eyes, you can become one with nature. The rustle of the leaves, the chirping of the birds, the roots of life beneath your feet, and the soft touch of wind upon your cheek. I feel like I'm walking through one of those like children's museums where you're walking along the wall and it has the voice over and it's like through the crappy speaker. It's like a little bit of music. Yeah. It's the kind of place that calls to you and welcomes you with open arms. But sometimes it never lets go. Because those same woods host a duality that is present among all living things, good and evil. Shadows can shift, unfurling sinister secrets. And the woods that one time created serenity can become menacing and unforgiving. There is an area in southern Vermont where the wilderness is watching, where ancient

5:00

mountains loom silently, where time bends, compasses spin, and where people vanish without a trace. It is called the Bennington Triangle, a patch of land surrounding the ancient mistcovered Glastonbury Mountain, a place long believed cursed. It is a region filled with so much mystery and shadow that you can say the ground itself is hungry. Oh, and the deeper you look into it, the more it pulls you in. Hikers have heard voices calling from the trees. People mysteriously disappear. A maneing stone, UFOs, cryptids, energy vortexes, paranormal phenomena. This is the Bennington Triangle. Holy [ __ ] balls. And it's a part of the freaking Avalanche mountains and region. Why did I suddenly become so concerned for all the cows in the area? Yeah, there are more cows and people in Vermont. So immediately I was like, "Oh my gosh, the

6:00

cows, they're being eaten by the mountain." There might also be more cows in this area than there are people because I think in like a 2020 census cuz there's a lot of ghost towns in this area specifically near the Glastonbury Mountains cuz like the triangle is not clear defined like what? Yes. But the Glastonbury Mountain region there's like multiple ghost towns and the population census in 2020 was nine people. Oh my gosh. So there might be more cows there. Wow. I need to look on a map because I'm curious if I've driven through and I've wandered around. Oh, so Sabrina, you and I have both driven through there because you had to technically go through part of that to get to my wedding and I had to technically go through part of that to get to Saratoga Springs from Vermont over the holidays. So, we have driven through both driven. I grew up in Wilmington. Willist. Willist. Okay. Very close. Are But are they close to each other? No, that's probably like an hour and a half from where I grew up. Okay. So you wouldn't have been like

7:00

frequently driving through there. No. But you know what? It's along what? It's not perfectly along this route because it's 91 that goes down, but like some of the drug running goes down like any of the which you're very familiar with. You may not have been to the Bennington Triangle, but you know all about the Vermont who's literally allergic to marijuana. How embarrassing. There's the drug route. How do you know that? Cuz Vermont has a huge drug problem. episodes talked about like certain roads and stuff at night. My question is why do and I know not all triangles fall in this but like the Bridgewater Triangle/Kidney Bean that we've talked about, the Bermuda Triangle, why do they all start with B's? Oh, I don't know. Bennington triangle. Ghosts. Also, that is very close to um the Bigfoot calling uh Whiteall, New York. Oh, Whiteall, New York. Yeah, that's not far from Whiteall. Oh, so this is going to be a two-parter. And I honestly like it could be more. And I just want to say like this episode we're going to talk a lot about a lot of missing person's

8:00

cases. And one of like the most intriguing things is like people just walking into the woods and never being seen again. There is obviously a lot more to these cases, but because there are so many of them, I'm going to give like the big picture that is understood publicly and generally. And this is not a true crime podcast. So it's more of just scratching the surface, understanding all these patterns to look at the bigger picture of the Bennington Triangle. So it could be more. Okay, but we're doing two parts. So in part one, we are going to discuss the history and the mysterious disappearances in Bennington Triangle. And in part two, we will dive into stories of the paranormal, UFOs, and Krin, your favorite, a Bigfootlike creature, the

history

Bennington monster. So, the Bennington Triangle was not always called the Bennington Triangle. Uh, it was aptly named in 1992 by a New England author named Joseph A. Citro, who has written so many books about New England, Vermont urban legends and like lore and mystery.

9:00

After he read about and studied the region and realized how many similarities it had to the Bermuda Triangle and the Bridgewater Triangle, he was like, "Is this another triangle?" and named it Bennington Triangle. I think on an interview of a TV show immediately though I'm like wait a second all of these I mean Bermuda Triangle might be the exception here but in terms of the Bridgewater Triangle and the Bennington Triangle they're only separated by probably 4 hours driving. So it makes me curious about all of the like tunnel systems and whatnot. Like how does it just pop up and now there's just like a random pocket of activity all with kind of the same sort of cryptids and paranormal. Well, I mean it goes back to when we were talking about Appalachia, like there is just I mean everything paranormal, but like specifically when you're talking about cryptids and these like old rock formations that hold so much history and magic and energy of the universe. Like maybe they're just little like energy portals. So fascinating. The Bennington

10:00

Triangle is home to the thick untamed wilderness in southern Vermont and home to the ancient Glastonbury Mountain of the Green Mountain National Forest. The area has always had a haunting area and there's superstitions that have been shared since the original settlers of the land who are called the Avanaki tribe which is part of the Alagonquin nation. At 3,747 ft, the Glastonbury Mountain area covers roughly 36 square miles of inhospitable terrain. So uninhabitable that the only town that exists there now was at 9 people in 2020, which is so wild. And I read one article that was more recent that said six people live there. Now I really want to go because I'm like, how is this so much more harsh than the rest of the area? You know, like people live on Mount Washington and that gets colder than planet Mars. So how are people not able why the top nine individuals? But sometimes they drive their car up there and then you get a bumper sticker. Yeah. I don't know. But I do think like

11:00

so the native tribe had this belief that it was cursed. like the mountains were cursed and they cautioned about a malevolent stone that if you were to step upon it, it would devour anyone. So keep that in mind. This has been around a long time, that belief. Wow. Which is interesting given the fact this episode is about the mysterious disappearances of people walking into the woods never to be seen again. You're transported to Ireland in the 1600s, right? Or like Outlander. Like Outlander. I also saw like something that and I think I'll specifically say it again in episode two, but the native tribe like refused to go up into the mountains unless I think they buried the dead up there. Huh. Which is also interesting. Yeah. Because maybe they felt it was like more connected to the spiritual realm. I don't know. I'm

missing persons

making that part up. But like I know. I'm so curious. Yeah. So many people believed this man-eating stone was just a myth and a legend. But a string of

12:00

mysterious disappearances haunted this secluded area. Between the 1940s and 1950s, this number varies. Five to nine people disappeared. That's almost double the second number. Well, so the ones that are often mentioned are the five. So then people say there are five, but there are six big stories and then there are two other stories that I found later on that people are like, "Oh, so maybe the number is actually closer to nine." Okay. Interesting. Yeah. But five to nine people and these are all documented. People vanished into the woods without a trace. No blood, no struggle, just gone, never to be seen again. How can someone just disappear without a trace? Prior to the 1940s, there were multiple murders or deaths in the area. And we'll talk about a couple of them in part two, but the exact number is unclear. Before 1943, but from 1943 to 1950, nine people lost their lives to the woods. Five of them went into the

13:00

woods, never to be seen again. Their disappearances still a mystery. Midi Rivers, Paula Weldon, James Tedford, Paul Jeepson, and Freda Langanger. All five disappeared. Were any of them traveling together or they were individual one-off disappearances? Individual one-off. H there are a lot of similarities. So, I'm going to start with one mysterious disappearance that a body was recovered. And this this is often ignored in terms of the mysterious disappearances. But when I read this, I was like, how are we ignoring this? So, Carl Herrick, considered to be the first disappeared. Carl Herrick was 37 years old. In November of 1943, Carl and his cousin Henry went out into the woods surrounding Glastonbury Mountain for a hunting trip, something they had done many a time before. Somehow, the pair got separated and Henry contacted the authorities to help locate Carl. Unfortunately, after a few days, Carl Herrick's body was discovered. He was dead. His gun lying beside him. No bullets had been discharged. Some

14:00

reports state that there were bear tracks near his body. And after an autopsy, it was determined that Carl Heric had been constricted to death. Squeezed to death. His ribs punctured his lungs, making it impossible for him to breathe, leading to Carl's death. In none of these articles could anyone say what constricted him, what squeezed him to death? If a bear did, why did the bear not eat him? And then they've done studies like there are no snakes that could do that of that size that could constrict a person in Vermont. How is this not more like what the [ __ ] And also, it's so weird because even like with the bears, first of all, it's not like we have grizzly bears. They're black bears. They're skittish. They don't want to be by humans. And if you are in a battle with a black bear, I can't imagine a situation where a black bear ends up on top of you and just sits on your chest for like 10 minutes until you perish and then walks off. And then also that there'd be no evidence of like hair because I'm sure he would be like grabbing and whatnot. Like wouldn't

15:00

there be hair around there, right? Bigfoot. So, this is also so confusing to me because Carl Herrick is never really thought of as one of the major disappearances because his body was located. Yeah. But his death is absolutely mysterious. While Carl's body was found after he disappeared, most others were not. Midi Rivers is often believed to be like the first of the big five that everyone talks about and associates with the Bennington Triangle disappearances to have disappeared. Midi Rivers was 74 years old and was a skilled outdoorsman, a veteran hunter and fisherman. He worked at Benmont Papers and was a beloved member of society. On Friday, November 9th of 1945, Rivers traveled to his son-in-law Joe Lousen Jr.'s hunting camp just above Hunter Rest. He was there with a hunting party and had been there many a time. He was familiar with the trails and the surrounding area. Rivers spent the weekend hiking, hunting, and fishing. All in all, it was a great trip. But

16:00

then Monday morning came. The hunters woke with the sun. Went about their day in the woods. More hunting, more fishing. But when night came, Rivers did not return to camp. This was very unusual. And naturally, panic amongst the friends arose. And the hunting party was like, "We should go look for him." Mhm. So they went out looking for him, but Rivers was nowhere to be found. Concerned for his safety, some of the men went into town to ask for emergency services to assist. And by 6:00 the next morning on Tuesday, November 13th, an emergency call was sounded and the fire chief rounded up a score of men to search the woods and surrounding area. They searched until 10 p.m. that evening with no luck. Officials spoke to witnesses trying to piece together a timeline. No one noticed anything strange. The morning and day of November 12th was like all others during their hunting trip. It was determined that Midi Rivers was last seen around 400 p.m. on a nearby trail walking away from camp. He was never seen again. Dozens of people searched for rivers over the coming days and weeks. After a few days,

17:00

they anticipated finding his remains cuz they were like, there's no way he would have survived this many days out in the wilderness, right? Especially cuz they were like, he must have been injured and like couldn't get back to camp. I know. That's my question is like, are there any spots that like I'm just thinking about like drop offs and cliffs and like places for him to slip? Like what? I don't know what this terrain looks like, but like are there any like in his hunting it's a very treacherous mountain range or mountain is one not range but you would think that there would be some evidence something that washes up many like months later. Yeah. Rivers was never discovered. The only evidence ever found was River's handkerchief found six or seven months after his disappearance after they had searched this area for weeks. Honestly, all of these sound a lot like all the like missing campers, missing hikers, missing whatever. Yeah. But also like a serial killer, right? Like going back and placing something, right? Because they no longer get that

18:00

high like they there's no search party anymore. So like they can't get off on anything. So then they have to plant something of the person that they took or killed. So that is one of the theories that it could be. The variety and ages and like gender of all the victims is so different. Yeah. But Israel Keys, the same thing. Yes. Yes. But again, no evidence of anyone. Okay. So, this next case is one of the most famous and tragic stories about disappearances in the Bennington Triangle. And it actually led to the creation of the Vermont State Police. I mean, obviously I lived in Vermont for a good chunk of time. So I and like in my own neighborhood there are Vermont State Police, but immediately my mind goes to Super Troopers. The Super Troopers were created after this case. Okay. One year later, 18-year-old Paula Jean Weldon disappeared in the very same wilderness that Midi Rivers had disappeared in. Paula Gene Weldon

19:00

was an 18-year-old sophomore attending Bennington College from Stamford, Connecticut. She loved the outdoors, which is partially why she chose to go to school in Vermont. And between studying and working on campus, she loved going outside, hiking, and exploring the Vermont wilderness. It brought her peace, calm, something every college student, or as every human desires. On December 1st, 1946, after finishing her shift at Bennington College dining hall, Weldon returned to her dorm room to change into hiking clothes. She was desperate for some fresh air after spending hours inhaling the smells of that day's mystery meat. She put on a red jacket, jeans, and lightweight sneakers before asking a couple of friends if they wanted to join her on her outdoor adventure. They were all busy, so Paula decided she would go out on her own, which was common. She did this all the time. Yeah. She was determined to go explore the long trail, which was about 7 mi from campus. Mhm. This is 1946, so just keep that in mind for time

20:00

frame. Welden had no mode of transportation. So what did she do? She hitchhiked, which was normal at this time, right? Yeah. Paula made her way to the edge of Bennington College campus. And if you're watching on YouTube, I mapped this all out. I have one map where it's she's at the edge of Bendington College campus, which is close to State Route 7A. And a man named Louisis Knap, who was a local contractor, saw Paula with her thumb outreached, and he pulled over. Paula asked Lewis if he could drop her off at the trail head of Woodford Hollow on Long Trail, which was a seven mile drive. That is the first picture. If she were to go from point A to point B, it would have been a 10-minute drive in today's roads. Also, just to add extra context, the long trail is not just like she was hiking a portion of it. It goes like the it's a long trail. It's a long trail, you know, like it's not like they could just search like the beginning to end of that trail. and it is called Appalachin National Scenic Trail/Long. So Louis was driving home from work. So he told her that he could

21:00

drive her as far as Route 9 about 2 and 1/2 miles from the trail head because otherwise it was out of his way. So that now if there's a second map that would be a 3minut drive 2 and 1/2 miles to the trail head and he said he did this and that he dropped her at the trail head. No, he dropped her off on Route 9. So, she still had two and a half miles to get to the trail head. Got it. What happened then? Paula either walked or hitchhiked the remaining two and a half miles to the trail head. And before you say the man killed her, which I was my first thought, Paula was seen on the trail by a group of hikers who were leaving and they interacted with her like she approached them and asked them questions about the trail because she had never really hiked it before and wanted to know where to go. I wonder what the time stamp was to just understand if there was someone else who drove her there. I know because that's another clue. Like it it still matters how she got there because it's like who did she interact with? Like who knew that she was going there and could Lewis

22:00

have dropped her off at Route 9? Not to like shame this man, but could you could be Yeah. And then he knew where she was going, you know? Right. Exactly. If I were a killer, that would be like the perfect crime, right? You circle back like an hour later, people already see your car, other places, you go to the supermarket, whatever. And then you go find the person who's hiking on the mountain that you know is going to be up there for hours. Stay inside. Okay. But also, that's where they kill you. It was inside your home, too. That's true. Go to space. Either way, this group of hikers were the last people to ever see Paula Walden. They claimed that she walked north on the road portion of the trail that is now known as Harbor Road and Paula was never seen again. The next morning, she did not return to campus. And on December 2nd, the next day, 1946, Paula's roommate woke up to find Paula's bed empty, but she was not like concerned because it was in the middle of finals. So, she thought that maybe Paula woke up early, went to the library to go get work done. It was not until

23:00

the morning of December 3rd that her roommate was like, "Something is wrong." Like it's one thing for her to be in the library all day. It's now her bed is untouched. Nothing has been moved. She has clearly not been back to this room since the first. That is when the roommate notified the college and a campuswide search began immediately. The sheriff was brought in to assist and do a search and they started to piece together Paula's last known whereabouts. Hundreds of people joined in on the search. They even employed aerial searches, but no traces or clues have ever been found on the case of Paulo Weldon. There are many theories like running off to start a new life, running off with a man, suffering an injury that caused amnesia or death. But if that's the case, they would have found her wandering around somewhere. Yeah. Although there's another Well, again, but this is another like crazy weird disappearance where I think it might have been somewhere in Mexico or was it in Brazil? I don't remember. It doesn't matter. somewhere, not in America, there's a a disappearance of like a college-aged male American student who I

24:00

think he had fallen and hurt himself and then he was brought to see a medic and then he wasn't cleared to fly for like a day or something. So his friends were like, "Oh, we'll stay back with you." And he was like, "No, no, no. I'll be fine." Stayed at like a nearby hotel, went back to the airport, but then suddenly was super paranoid. And the last known footage of him is on airport security. Like him running out of the airport and like hopping a fence and going through a field and never This was in recent past. This like had to have been in the last like 10 years or so. I don't know the story at all. Oh my gosh. Yeah. But like again it's it's someone who you know he suffered an injury and then started acting bizarrely and he called his own mom and was like saying weird things like people were after him and never seen again. Never seen again. Especially in this day and age, like people just vanishing feels so otherworldly and mysterious because we do have so much more technology now. Yeah. But unfortunately, Paula was never seen again potentially. People theorized, did she have a brain injury?

25:00

Did she die? Some theorized she was depressed and overwhelmed by school and died by suicide. And then others thought maybe she had been kidnapped and murdered. The police did momentarily suspect a lumberjack by the name of Fred Goddet who had lived along the road and lived along the road that she was last seen walking along. Like it's like the road portion of the long trail. And apparently Godette had recently gotten into an argument with his girlfriend and stormed off in a rage, which people were like, did he have a runin with Paula after storming off from his girlfriend? Okay. But also to me, I hear he got in a fight. His emotions were escalating and so he removed himself from the situation to you're like healthy healthy management of emotions. I don't hear him hurting his girlfriend or punching a hole in the wall. Like he got so upset that he had to go cool down somewhere else. Well, to be fair, again, we don't know all I'm not sharing all of the details. I didn't do a deep deep dive,

26:00

but they had some reason for suspicion. Either way, there was no evidence. No body ever found. So that investigation went no further. During the same time and within like 40 to 100 mile range, there were multiple other female hitchhikers who had disappeared in New England. And these are also unsolved murders. But the other two, I'll share those stories. Their bodies were eventually discovered. Catherine Hull, aged 22, was last seen hitchhiking in Lebanon Springs, New York. And then this is sad. Constance, I mean, it's all sad. Constance Christine Smith, age 10, was last seen hitchhiking 40 mi south of Bennington. Age 10 baby. Oh my god. So, their bodies were eventually discovered and many believed they were the victims of an unidentified serial killer. And so, because there was some similarity in time frame. I think it was like a 5 to 10ear span between all of them, they're like, could Paula have been another victim of the same potential serial killer? But unfortunately, we don't have

27:00

the answer. and Paula's remains are still missing. She is still missing last seen walking into the depths of the Medington Triangle. I mean, it does seem like it would be if there was a known killer or known disappearances and murders of people fitting that exact same bill, which is just like a lone female heading out to either hitchhike or hike. Yeah. Feels I know. Actually, I want to say this real quick. Little tangent. I know that I have commented about the devil and demons and being interested and be like, I want to meet them. I need to tell you all something. I am not like, hey, Satan, let's be best friends. It's more of like from a psychological standpoint, I am fascinated by demons and their mental pathology. And I feel like human beings are bigger monsters than anything supernatural and paranormal in this world. Yeah. And I have dealt with some monstrous humans, demonic humans who are way worse in my mind. But I'm not like

28:00

Lucifer, come have my child. I just want to make that very clear. Humans are worse. Humans are worse. Unfortunately, smoking some lemongrass does not get rid of the bad humans. No, it doesn't. Unfortunately, you can't throw th Well, you could throw crystals. It might inflict some harm. Anyway, back to the disappearances. Exactly 3 years after Paulo Weldon's disappearance into the wilderness, the Bennington Triangle stole yet another soul. And this is considered one of the more paranormal disappearances because this man vanished into thin air while sitting on a bus. What? Supposedly on December 1st, 1949, 68-year-old James Tedford disappeared. Tedford was a World War I veteran who had been living in the Vermont soldiers home in Bennington and had been visiting his relatives. I believe his wife was like living with family in St. Albins's and he was visiting them. On the evening of December 1st, they dropped Tedford at

29:00

the local bus station, helped load his luggage aboard, and watched as James boarded the bus. At 6:15 p.m., they waved goodbye as the bus took off heading towards Bennington. James Tedford and all of his belongings were on board. This drive was approximately 150 miles and I did a quick Google map search. It approximately takes 3 hours and 24 minutes without any stops. So, let's just give it 4ish hours plus. So, maybe the bus arrived presumably in Bennington by 1000 p.m. on December 1st, 1949. The bus driver did his like, "Welcome to Bington." and watched as all the passengers unloaded, embarking on their own ways. This was the final stop, meaning the bus should have been empty. But the bus driver noticed something strange. There was some luggage left behind on board. This luggage belonged to James Tedford, still on board above where he was sitting. James was nowhere to be seen. In his seat lay open a bus timet. James was never seen again.

30:00

People over time have fictionalized this a bit and said that they saw a man dematerialize from his seat. Although if that had happened, I am sure that the bus would have been in an uproar. Yeah. C I mean, could he have just walked off without any of his stuff? In the lore, people are like he dematerialized in the area as they were driving through Bennington Triangle. But the tricky thing is that his disappearance was not reported for over a week. So there was no like investigation or like it was more of like, "Oh, I I guess he forgot his luggage. I'm just going to leave it at the bus station and maybe he'll come get it." He missed a doctor's appointment and then the senior home he was living in was like, "This is suspicious. Actually, is he missing?" And so then the police got involved, but by that time, like all evidence was presumably gone and they spoke to the bus driver, but it was all pretty like muddy. Like he was like, "Maybe I dropped him off in a different place." Like I could kind of recall like a man similar to James Tedford's appearance

31:00

getting off in um I think he said Brandon, Vermont, which was 70 miles north of Bennington, but he couldn't be sure. Then in like the police investigation, apparently the night of December 1st, 1949, the night that James Tedford was on this bus, there was a report of like a man acting strangely in Brandon, Vermont. And according to the doctors and staff at the senior home, Tedford had been suffering some like mental illness and dementia. Okay, that's what I was going to ask because I was like especially because he left everything. I could see him being this older individual getting confused and wandering off. Like that is such a classic thing with people who have Alzheimer's or dementia. But like that's where the trail goes cold. Like that's so sad. if it was him in Brandon, Vermont that night. Like I don't think there was any like arrest. There was no detainment of this man. Yeah. Unfortunately, James Tedford was never seen again and his disappearance

32:00

still remains a mystery. And he became the third Really? I went like this. He became the third He became the third but fourth missing person in the Bennington triangle. This next missing person's story does involve a child. So, if anyone wants to skip ahead, I'd skip like two to three minutes. On October 12th, 1950, 8-year-old Paul, nicknamed Buddy Jeepson, disappeared, becoming the fourth person to mysteriously vanish in the Bennington Triangle. Paul Jepson's mother, Paula Jeepson, worked as a caretaker in Bennington. And on October 12th, she had to go feed the pigs at the local dump. She didn't think it would take that long, so she brought Paul with her in the car and she parked her truck near the dump and just said, "Stay in the car." Yeah, I've got questions about that. Why are there pigs needing to be fed at the local dump? I don't know that either. Again, this is the story that's been told in like all the articles when

33:00

you search Bennington Triangle. I didn't do like a police investigation of this case. She parks and she tells her son Paul, 8 years old, to stay in the car. Before Paula knew it, an hour had passed and she was like, "Oh my gosh, I have to get back to the car." She returned to the car to find Paul was gone. Panicked, she called out to him. She obviously punished herself for leaving him for so long. He was 8 years old. And she looks around and she's like, "Yeah, they're surrounded by the wilderness." And her son at that time had kind of been in this like rock and mountain phase. And so like she's like, "Oh, he probably got excited. He got bored. He didn't want to wait for me anymore. He got out of the car to go explore and look at rocks." Mhm. She thought she would find him, but she was wrong. Paul was nowhere to be found. She got police involved and over 200 people joined in the search. Blood hounds followed Paul's scent to a local highway, but the trail stopped there. Some people thought maybe the rain washed it away. But this is a similar thing where blood hounds followed multiple people's scents and then it

34:00

just vanished. Like it was like it just stopped in the middle of like an open clearing. Yeah, that's so weird. And unfortunately, again, with no evidence to follow, Paul's case grew cold. There are a couple theories, but one is that perhaps Paul wandered into the road and was tragically struck by a vehicle and the driver like in a panic took the body, which could explain like the end of the trail. Oh. But there was no blood or evidence ever found on that road. So like especially they searched that day. Like it's not like this person like cleaned up the road if that happened. Well, I guess that's assuming that someone hit him. What if someone just took him? Okay, which they could have. Others believe Paul wandered into the woods and got lost. Whatever the answer, the loss was a profound tragedy and Paul was never found. Freda Langanger. This is only 2 weeks after Paul's disappearance. Another disappeared. On October 28th, 1950, 53-year-old Freda Langanger disappeared in the woods near Somerset, Vermont. Freda was a skilled hiker and hunter and had gone into the

35:00

woods with her husband Max and her cousin Herbert Ellner. Together they had been staying at their family cabin on the Somerset Reservoir and they had spent the morning of October 28th in the wilderness walking, hiking, exploring when around 1:00 p.m. Freda slipped and fell into water and got soaked. And it's October 28th, so it's not like freezing, but it's chilly. I mean, it could be snowing and she's wet. Yeah. So, she's like, "I'm going to go back to the cabin real quick. I'm going to change my clothes. I'll meet you back here." That is the last time Freda was ever seen. They watched as she turned back soaking wet to go change her clothes. Over 400 people helped in the search for Freda Langanger, but they feared the worst that Freda was dead. They searched so much of this terrain, like miles and miles and miles, which again, like I'm I'm hearing this, I'm like, "What if she was hypothermic and then she becomes confused?" So apparently Freda suffered from a seizure disorder and after 2 weeks of no evidence, her husband was

36:00

like maybe because cold the cold weather can like cause her seizures. Maybe she was like wet and cold and she got a seizure and like hit her head or got amnesia and something happened to her and she was disoriented, went off the trail and fell. Unlike all those other missing people stories I just shared with you, Freda's body was discovered. But months later, on May 12th, 1951, Freda's body was discovered some 3 and 1/2 miles southeast of where she had last been seen. An area that the search parties and multiple different groups had searched time and time again. Her body was just there. But her remains were in such a state of decay that no cause of death could be determined. No one knows what happened to her. Why all of a sudden she showed up, which again you could say serial killer who like

conclusions

dropped her body off again, but like there was no other evidence in that way though is kind of bizarre. Yeah. So no one knows what happened to her. No one

37:00

knows what happened to any of these people who went missing. God, this is like one of those things where I'm just like, do we live in a simulation? And there was just like glitch in the code and then someone fixed the bug and then there she was again. It's just like what what what's the answer and why can't we find an answer? We have to grasp it anything and it does feel paranormal when it's like you can't it's unknown. It's a full body that people have gone over this spot time and time again. Yeah. Some people were like maybe it washed up but like my understanding of it was almost like in a thicket. It wasn't in a body of water. I don't know. And if there were no obvious signs of like animals, you know, dragging Yeah. the body or something. It didn't look like it. No. I just shared six missing persons stories of people who just vanished into the woods, never to be seen again. But there apparently are more. Dated October 25th, 1981. Burlington Free Press published an article that stated, "Two years after Paulo Weldon's disappearance, a trio of hunters from Massachusetts disappeared

38:00

near the ghost town of Glastonbury." On October 11th, 1942, a 13-year-old boy, Melvin Hills, disappeared in the same area. So, that is nine mysterious disappearances/ deaths. Only two bodies were ever recovered, and the cause of death could never be clearly determined for either bodies. Yeah, that's bizarre. So, were they murdered? Did they vanish? Did they simply get lost and couldn't find their way out? Did they happen to step upon the man-eating stone that swallowed them whole, took them to a different dimension? People want to shake their head and say that there is no such thing, that these were just accidents, nothing paranormal or supernatural about them, or perhaps something malicious like a murder. But what would these missing people have to say if they had survived? What if they wandered into the woods, got lost, and a day or two later they found their way home? What stories about the Bennington Triangle would they have to share? Lucky for us, one person did survive. Oh my

39:00

god. Okay, this is crazy cuz when you were talking about one of the previous disappearances, I was immediately thinking about I can't remember what episode, but there was this one man who like went missing and then like a month later came too. Oh, yeah. I remember that. There's also like the kid who appeared like 13 miles away. Yes. Yeah. Oh god. The story that he has to tell is otherworldly. Literally. From loss of time to possibly entering another dimension, what he endured was mindbending and lifealtering. That story and more in part two. There is something undoubtedly strange within the Bennington Triangle and most certainly within the Appalachia Mountains. Some blame the land, cursed by ancient spirits or disturbed by something buried deep beneath. Others whisper about a portal to another dimension or creatures that dwell just beyond the veil, watching, waiting. Whatever the truth, one thing is certain. The Bennington Triangle is no

40:00

ordinary forest. It is a place where the veil thins and the woods may never let you go. Next week, we will unpack more of the mystery that lies within this terrain. An incredible story of survival, monsters, murderers, aliens, and more. Damn, that was cruel. I like was so thrilled when I found this because it has everything. It has everything. Everything. And it's terrifying because that is horrifying to just think that you could go on a hike for like a leisurely peaceful hike, get outside, reconnect with nature, and you're gone. Right. It doesn't discriminate against who's local and who's just a visitor. It seems like anyone could just disappear here. Yeah. Dang. Yeah. When do we record part two? I'm like dying to next week. Damn it. I have to wait a week too. We can record it tomorrow if you want. We should. Okay. We should. I need to know. You need to know. I It's really Yeah, that is wild. So, if you've hiked the Bennington Triangle, we'd love to know if you've seen anything strange

41:00

over there or anywhere, I guess. Yeah, it is one of those weird things where it's like we've mentioned the Medington Triangle before, but we haven't fully covered it to like the extent that you are, but it's one of those weird things where it's like, why is this not being talked about more? Good question. You know, Bermuda Triangle. Yeah, there's a lot of weird stuff, but at least we can blame the seas and weird currents and yeah, air pockets and stuff for the disappearances. This is not the middle of the ocean. This is a little mountain in southern Vermont. 36 square miles is the Glastonbury Mountain area. Crazy. Yeah. Holy [ __ ] If we're playing with the simulation theory, are mountains just like these things to cover up coating or like some coating where you're like, I don't know what to put here. I'm just going to shut them. Yeah. Put a mountain in there. Or like it reminds me of Did you ever watch Don't Worry Darling? Yes. And the mountain is like the place where the all the men go for work. I don't want to

42:00

ruin it. That was one of the few movies I pride myself on usually figuring out the plot decently early on. Mhm. No clue where it was going. Oh, I was disappointed with it because I wanted it to I felt like the end was still the beginning, you know? Like I feel like that was like a plot pivot that I wanted to continue following. Yeah. But that's the issue with movies. We don't have as much time, right? I did just read a book. Okay. Actually, two books we read for or are reading for our Patreon book club, The God of the Woods. Yeah, I'm only like a quarter of the way through it, but I am. It is so good. I have to read it slowly because I'm hooked on every word and there's so many clues and people and you have to follow. It's written so well and it weaves so many story lines. When I first started it and I said, "You'll be in it within the first like two pages." Hooked. So good. But it reminds me a lot of this episode because it's a lot about like disappearances in the woods. It takes place in the Aderondax. But I also read The Haunting of Maddie Claire by Simone

43:00

St. James who wrote The Broken Girls. Well, cuz I was thinking about The Broken Girls when you were talking about the guy who disappeared on the bus cuz there's the whole like bus thing and that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm like, how has Simone St. James's books not been written into like TV shows yet? Cuz Broken Girls would be the best show or movie. I'm going to You want it to be a show? I just like the characters. I think about that book all the time. Me, too. Haunting of Maddie Claire was good,

listener story

but I like Broken Girls more. Haunting of Matty Clair was like a really easy I read it in a day. Broken Girls has stuck with us for a long time. Those are a couple book wrecks for you. I was delighted by this topic because then I got to type in Vermont into our inbox and call upon my brothers and sisters. I know. I was like, do I save this one? But like, no, no, it's too good. It's too good. Okay, so this isn't exactly in the Bennington Triangle, but it's a Lake Champlain haunting. We're Are we going to get Champ the monster? The lake monster? Wait, no. What's it called? Champ. Champ. Okay. Yeah, Champ. But lake monster. I have seen Champ. He is the lake monster. But he's not a monster. He's our big green monster.

44:00

He's a friendly like dragon of the sea. Our local baseball team is the lake monsters. I love that. And then Champ comes out in his outfit and plays. Well, he doesn't play. He dances. He dances. Yeah. I like Champagne Haunting. Hello, Curt and Sabrina. My name is Ellen and I'm loving your podcast. I'm also a new listener. Episode 14 is playing as I write this. Ooh, I love hearing all of the New England scariness, having grown up in Vermont, and that Karin is a fellow Verter. Heyo. Heyo. Speaking of, when I first heard a few other stories from your emails, I knew that I had to share my most impactful experiences that not only affected me, but each individual of my family. Oh, how many members of the family? A lot. Cousins, siblings, parents. Oh. Oh, sorry. This is such a random fact, but the same guy who wrote Haunting of Hill House, the book, wrote another book based on like the Bennington area, and I think it's paranormal. We should read that for our next book club. Yeah, usually we let people vote. Yeah. Not this year. We're in control. Back when I was around 11 or 12, my

45:00

entire family on my dad's side rented a lakehouse on the beautiful Lake Champlain in Charlotte, Vermont. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even close family friends were all staying in this huge old house right on the water. The house was pretty simple. A very old kitchen, big living room, porch looking out on the water, and enough beds for everyone crammed into the room upstairs. Oh my god, I'm getting the chills and freaking myself out just remembering this place. To be honest, the room I stayed in with my cousin Rose was so creepy. Unlike the rest of the house, our room had a tall ceiling and dark barnboard walls. All that was in it was a metal bunk bed in one corner and in the opposite corner was this little white sink, a mirror, and a clothing rack. I laid my bags down and I went to the little mirror and I put my hair up and as I tied it up, I swore I saw a light blonde ponytail with some kind of ribbon move behind me, bouncing as it went towards the door. I turned, but I saw nothing. I can get pretty scared pretty easily, so I just

46:00

shut it out of my mind to avoid freaking out too much. and I didn't tell anyone. And then I went downstairs. After having dinner as a group, my cousins and I put on some wacky play to entertain everyone in the living room. We performed at the base of the stairs, which is I just I'm picturing like the theater's called the base of the stairs. We performed at the base of the stairs. Honestly, that is such a good idea. We sold out the base of the stairs. What theater kid who performs at the base of the stairs didn't also perform at the base of the stairs? Sabrina, someone's got performed at the second floor landing. Yeah. And you would ghost watching, so this is a perfect opportunity. Everyone likes to be entertained except for your parents who have seen you do it a thousand times. Thousand times. Yeah. Okay. We performed at the base of the stairs, which were the ones that have a corner after a few steps and then they lead to the second floor. So, you could only see a little bit of the hallway upstairs. I didn't know until a few days later that while we were putting on our play, my aunt Martha swore she saw someone watching us

47:00

from the upstairs banister, their face moving slowly between the rungs. They were enjoying it. Mhm. This is like the reverse of your story. Exactly. That first night, I slept soundly on the top bunk except with my cousin Rose snoring below me. The next morning, I woke up alone in my room and I headed downstairs where I heard some talking and I saw everyone on the porch, including Melinda, my aunt Lynn's best friend, who was staying with us for the week. Sorry if there are too many names in the story to keep track of. No, because this just proves the point that like there were a lot of witnesses. Yes, Melinda was standing next to all of her packed bags. And I remember being confused about why she was leaving. When I went out, she was explaining that she had to leave because she experienced something that terrified her so badly she couldn't possibly stay in this house another night. What the [ __ ] I am dying to know which house in Charlotte because Charlotte, I went to CVU. Charlotte is one of the towns that like feeds into CVU. My best friend Meg lived in Charlotte. I've spent a [ __ ] ton of time in Charlotte. I would go do a little like work retreat on Lake Champ with

48:00

you. Lake Champ. Lake Champ. Lake Champlain with you and ghost hunt. We need to know what this is. Yeah. Oh man. She told us that in her room, which she was in by herself at the end of the hallway, she woke up in the middle of the night after hearing something in another room. She said the light from the moon was bright enough to see around. And moments later, a man dressed in a green suit moved through the wall by the head of her bed, slowly moved through the room, turned at the end of her bed, and then moved through the closed door. He was apparently holding a briefcase in one hand and had a hat on. He was going to work. He was very slowly. Very monsters in Monsters Inc. Yes. Yeah. She said the whole time that he was there, which was minutes with how slow he moved, she felt paralyzed and felt a very dark, heavy presence. Jeez. She left shortly after. My family was no stranger to paranormal experiences, but this was the most intense encounter any of us had heard, and I at that point was

49:00

lucky enough to have never experienced anything that felt dark or evil. My dad and uncle said that she was overreacting and was mad at her for scaring all the kids with the story, but she was scared shitless, right? She could help it. I avoided being alone after that and made sure not to venture to the end of the hallway. After having some fun outside and eating dinner in town, we came back to the house. I was up in the room with my cousin Rose, changing into some comfy clothes when we heard some singing coming from outside. At first, we thought this was my sister, but when we looked outside, we didn't see anyone. The melody got louder, like a humming, and we both swore we saw the rocks of the driveway being kicked up as if someone was skipping by. They were putting on their own performance inspired by yours. That night is when it all went down. To help visualize the upstairs, I'll share that the hallway was a big L shape. At the top of the stairs, was the bathroom, and at the end to the left was my mom and sister's room. Right of the bathroom was Vine and Rose's room. And at the end of the hallway, by the corner of the L, was Melinda's room. Next to that was another

50:00

room. And then at the end of the hallway was my grandparents room and my aunt Martha. That night I climbed up into the top bunk and I hit the light. Once again, Rose was snoring. I woke up abruptly in the middle of the night when I felt a presence like someone was watching me. I opened my eyes without moving and I saw something at the foot of my mattress. And she's on the top bunk. She's on the top bunk. Holy [ __ ] This is the scariest thing in the world. I can best describe it as the shape of a person but made out of dust. Oh, I could see a head and shoulders and legs in a crisscross all made up of this dust particle. I couldn't breathe. I didn't feel evil. More like an innocent spirit. But still, I'm terrified. So, I lay there for a few minutes trying to work out what to do. I'm paralyzed with fear. The worst part of all of this was in my head, I was thinking that this is the girl that I saw with the ponytail. I heard her singing and now she's sitting directly in front of the ladder. My way down. I honestly don't know where I got the courage, but I sat up and I moved

51:00

down the ladder, hoping that my brain was just messing with me. And as I moved, the dust shifted and then disappeared. I practically hurled myself down the rest of the ladder. I shook Rose awake to no avail. And I gave up. I went down the hallway into the room where my mom and my sister were sleeping. And I didn't want to disturb my mom too much, so I just laid next to her on the twin bed without waking her. And I tried to go to sleep. The only thing was that her bed had a perfect view down the hallway, which was dimly lit with an old sconce light by the bathroom door. I was too scared to move or to close the door. I figured I would be safe with my mom. So, I closed my eyes and I started to drift when I heard the bathroom door close. I remember feeling relieved that someone else is awake. It had to be like 3:00 a.m. at this point. Gross. But with everyone in the house, I thought maybe it was my grandmother or one of my aunts needing to go use the bathroom. So, I laid awake waiting to see who it was. But I kid you not, like a full hour passed. I kept hearing rustling and movement in the bathroom, but no showering, no flushing,

52:00

no water running. At this point, I was exhausted and it was starting to get lighter outside. So, I gave up and I tried to go back to sleep. That's when I heard the door open and I sat up just in time to see a blonde slender girl in a long white night gown move out of the bathroom and run down the stairs. I remember running at her. That would have been so terrifying. Just no. I would I would shoot myself. Jeez. I remember seeing the wave of white fabric flip behind her as she moved out of the hallway. It was the most scared I had and probably have ever been in my life. I slept with my mom the rest of the time that we were there and I didn't experience anything else personally for the rest of the trip. And I think that might be because of what happened to my grandmother that same night. So much is happening. I know. Around the same time that I saw the girl leave the bathroom, my grandmother said that she woke up to a huge bright ball of light floating above her. She was extremely open to

53:00

spirits and had frequent experiences with the paranormal. So, she told the light to transition and to find the other side. And apparently, it faded and then was gone. I love you, Grandma. And we all felt much lighter in the house after that. Thank you for all that you do. I'm having so much fun listening and love hearing the stories from people who've experienced paranormal things just like me. Have a great spooky season. Best, Ellen. Ellen, I feel like, okay, your whole family is clearly way more open. And I think it was this like perfect combination of a haunted house and the openness of Ellen's family because I wonder if like any other family would have stayed there had they just been like, "Yeah, there's something kind of weird about this house." But they wouldn't have seen as much. Like, yeah, this is such an active manifestation, right? It's so bizarre because it's like the little girl is clearly so active, but she doesn't come with bad vibes. It's like it's scary to see her, but she's fine. But then there's this man who does feel dark, but it at the same time it just feels like the others where this ghost family is

54:00

just living it their lives. They're going through their lives. Yeah. Which does make me wonder. I always my mind always goes to carbon monoxide poisoning. Like did a whole family just like die here before they were able to go through their morning routine and leave for work and play in the yard? I love that your family I mean that your mind always goes to carbon monoxide poisoning. Well, cuz I'm like how does the whole family just like you know perish but in a confusing way that sure they all could have also just come back to the house cuz it has such good memories like after they die. Yeah. But then the poor dad has to go to work. He has a briefcase suit on. He likes his briefcase. My god. Play with your kids in the yard, man. Take a break. Go into the lake. You have a lakehouse. Live a little. Although he's got to work, you know. Now he's got to pay the bills for that lake house. Exactly. Got to keep the lights on. Okay, I get it. I don't know how ghosts work. We just like them. Do ghosts have jobs? I hope What if they have to pay paranormal rent and every time that there's like we're basically evicting ghosts who've paid rent and worked

55:00

really hard to stay in the place that they brutal in or so bad. How do they pay though? It's like what's the form of payment? It's something we can't see. It's in the paranormal world. You know, like if you want permission from the paranormal world to be able to come down and live on Earth and haunt this one particular place, like you better pay up. You owe something. And see, this is another example of why I'm so curious by all types of spirits, demonic ones as well, because I just want to pick their brains and understand what's on the other side and the abilities that they have. Not because I want to canoodle, but just knowledge. I just I want to understand it all. Yeah. Yeah. I'm slurring my words. I need my coffee. I need part two. Let's cancel the rest of the recordings for today. You need to tell me part two right now. Well, stay tuned next week. You'll get part two of the Bennington Triangle and some more listener stories about Vermont and hauntings there. And then if you have any personal ghost stories that you would like to share with us, please email them to us at two girls onego

56:00

podcast@gmail.com. And if you want episodes ad free and one week early, plus bonus content, plus joining us live every Tuesday for Campfire Stories where you can share your ghost stories with us on the virtual stage live. We can see your face, you can see ours. You can join us on Patreon. It's $5 a month and you get all of those benefits and more. Yeah. Tell everybody about us. Come back next week. Yeah. Thank you. And thank you to Jamie Ryan who edits and produces our podcast. We love you, Jamie. And we love all of you. Yes, we do. And we will see you on the other side. Very spooky.