Ghosts and Murder : Guest Blog by Leslie Rule

[Leslie Rule is the best-selling author of two suspense novels and four nonfiction books of ghost stories. She has published dozens of articles in national magazines, including Reader's Digest. Leslie is also a photographer and has photographed many cops and killers for her mother's (true crime author Ann Rule) books. Her ghost books are filled with dramatic black and white photos of the haunted locations she investigates. Leslie grew up in a haunted house in the Seattle area. Her latest book, Ghost In The Mirror - Real Life Cases of Spirit Encounters, will be in stores later this month]

When true crime writer, David Lohr, emailed me an invitation to blog at ID, I asked him if he had me confused with my mother, author Ann Rule. While she writes about murder, I write about ghosts. David wrote back and assured me that he knows who I am and is well aware of the fact that I write about ghosts. As an author of seven books and numerous magazine articles, I've covered a variety of topics, but always swore that I would never write true crime. That, after all, is my mother's genre and I wanted to develop my own. But as I began researching the first of my four books of true ghost stories, I realized that the most haunted locations were the sites of violent crimes. My genre has collided with my mother's, and many of the cases I cover involve murder. I've also noted that the sites with the most paranormal activity are the ones where the murders remain unsolved. Restless spirits of the dead seem to want justice for they often settle down once their killers are caught and punished.

Tragic souls around the world remain earthbound, tethered to the spots where they took their last, desperate breaths. I've covered many of these cases, including a chilling mass murder in 1912 in a little farmhouse in Villisca, Iowa. The killer (or killers) attacked a sleeping family with an axe. Joe and Sarah Moore, their four children and two of their friends were violently slain. Investigators were stumped. Of course, it didn't help that a crowd of curious onlookers had pushed their way into the home to gawk at the mutilated victims. They destroyed the crime scene before police could arrive.

Today the house is a museum where fans of the macabre can tour and even spend the night. When I interviewed Brenda Marble, from the Miller Paranormal Team, she confided that their group had heard the distinctive sound of dripping blood during their overnight stay. The psychic imprint is powerful, despite the fact that the unknown murder or murderers are long dead by now. Perhaps time stands still for the ghosts. They may be unaware of the passing years.

While it is far too late for the Villisca killers to be prosecuted, many other murderers roam freely among us. And their victims, too, cry out for justice. In fact, one Pennsylvania victim materialized on several separate occasions, startling an office worker, Katie Furman, who had arrived at her job before dawn and was working alone in the building. The weeping apparition with the wet hair appeared so solid that Katie at first assumed she was a live human being. The next time the ghost floated by, Katie was shocked to see that she had no legs. She was so disturbed by the crying lady that she wrote to me for advice. Though no one can say for certain who the ghost is, Katie felt that the anguished spirit belonged to a murdered woman who had been dumped nearby. The victim was found in a maroon suitcase on July 11, 1995. She was in a puddle, her hair wet and her legs missing.

I flew to Pennsylvania to investigate. Acclaimed forensic sculpture Frank Bender had done the reconstruction bust of the Jane Doe and he accompanied me to meet with Corporal Mark Healey of the Embreeville Police Department. Coporal Healey took us to the dumpsite on Valley Creek Road. We all hoped that publicizing the case would bring new leads. I included the story in my book, Ghosts Among Us - True Stories of Spirit Encounters.

The book was published in 2004, but no one has come forward with new information. The case still niggles at me--especially since I found a similar case in Las Vegas that I suspect is related. In each case, a woman with severed legs was found in a suitcase. The Jane Does were discovered on opposite sides of the country within nine weeks of each other. Each site is in the vicinity of a railroad track. While an autopsy revealed that the Nevada victim is Hispanic, the Pennsylvania victim may also be Hispanic.

Maybe both women are from Mexico. Perhaps a bilingual crime buff will do some online research and compare these victims to missing women from Mexico.

The case profiles are listed on the doe network at Doenetwork.org.

The doe network is a nonprofit, volunteer powered website devoted to  thousands of lost and found people. For more information on the two victims above, look for case files 147UFPA and 338UFNV. If these homicides are the work of a serial killer, Hot Case 618 may also be connected. It was 2007 when, once again, remains were found in a suitcase.

I do not know if the Pennsylvania ghost still appears in the office building. Katie Furman now works elsewhere, and no others have contacted me to say they have seen a crying spirit there. But even if no one can see her, the sad, lost ghost may wander there. Perhaps with your help, this case can be solved and the troubled spirit can find the peace she deserves.

Email Leslie Rule through her website at: Ghostygirl.com.

Author's note: For those of you who get more involved with the Doe Network and think you see a match while perusing it, please contact Todd Matthews rather than detectives. Todd has records of possible matches already ruled out. If you come up with something new, he can quickly get the information to the correct authorities. Another caveat:  Though body photos are never used on the Doe Network, this site can be disturbing.

Leslie Rule's photo courtesy of Leslie Rule.

Comments

[Todd]

Hey there Leslie,

Good to see you here! If I hear from anyone -- I'll certainly try to route them in the right direction!

-Todd

[badboo]

Fascinating story!!!!!!!!!!!

[mark L]

My friends and I were there the day the body was dumped. We had just graduated high school. It was in Downingtown tunnels near the quarry and we observed a truck parked there. And I clearly remember saying to my friends after seeing the truck near the bridge, "that is a weird spot to park a truck." I thought that it may have been a fisherman but dismissed that thought. The next day Justin and Ian said did you hear about the news they found a body in a suitcase today. Right in the water where we were yesterday. This led me to believe that we saw the truck with whomever dumped the suitcase. I said the timeline would put us there at the time the body was dumped. We heard she was chopped up and put in there. I can't remember the colore, make or model of the truck. Its hazy in my mind. I had always assumed that they had caught the person who did this.