Butler County Girl vanishes in 1985 with out a trace

It was a cold snowy day when  8 yr old Cherrie A. Mahan
got off her school bus on Corn Planter Road in rural  Winfield Twp  after a long day at school and vanished into thin air never to be seen again despite a massive manhunt by the entire community for her.

There has been no trace or contact its like she was just sucked into a vortex
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19850223&id=jKccAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GGIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4863,3874822

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19950726&id=6dhRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=im4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3638,6125357

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19870825&id=Cp5SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2195,6893514

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19851204&id=Fd4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CGMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6405,4582685

The only possible clue to her disappearance a van with a skiing scene on it kids report was in the area

Unfortunately there was a van like this driving around a woman owned which had nothing to do with the case which caused even more confusion 

Still a very rural area of butler county despite development

One weird twist to this whole case is the name of the road she disappeared  on
Cornplanter Road .
It might mean a farmer planting corn which there is plenty of in Butler County .
But there is also a legend and curse that goes with this name the name of a great Seneca Indian Chief  Corn Planter whose grave was disturbed when the Allegheny was flooded to make the Kinsua Dam  and is said to have put a curse upon the land.

 http://www.examiner.com/article/kinzua-dam-a-paranormal-hotbed

The Allegheny River passes right thru Butler County .

Coincidence?

Was McKees Rocks doomed by a curse when an Indian Burial Mound was Desecrated?

In the late 1800's some young boys discovered some bones while digging in a hill side in McKees Rocks along the Ohio river just outside of Pittsburgh  and further exploring paid for by Andrew Carnegie would reveal it was a burial  mound for a long ago Indian tribe the Adenas .
Instead of the residents backing up and replacing the bones and leaving it alone like you would a cemetery they desecrated it by digging into it and putting business and homes on it .
Ever since that day long ago McKees Rocks has seen many Fires caused by accident and arson and horrific explosions and Industrial Accidents like no where else.
Many are quick to blame a curse put upon the people of McKees Rocks for disturbing the mound .

In reality when you look at all of the incidents its mans own greedy, uncaring  hand of stupidity and ignorance  involved putting money above human life.
 The Pressed Steel Car Company where conditions where so bad a person a day died there  is just one of many examples .

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0813FE3F5C15738DDDA90A94D0405B898CF1D3

as well as the  Petromark explosion .

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19830319&id=W-AeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U2AEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1448,1170836

Just look at this sample hit from Google news all the fires and explosions which have happened in Mckeesrocks 

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mckeesrock%20explosion%20site:news.google.com/newspapers&source=newspapers

 But the curse makes for a good story and maybe there is something to it just look how many young boys  have drowned and or disappeared in the area. All I know is I work in the Bottoms of McKees Rocks as the area is known and will never be involved with the mound ever than to pay it reverence it deserves  as there may well be more remains of Indians in there. It needs to be restored and remains returned  to there eternal rest but I do not see that happening any time soon as long as money is involved.

 Of course the death of one of the Bryans in a fall and a couple fires and explosions at Bryans plants over the years  keeps the curse alive in many peoples minds because they where the ones to cut into and chop up much of the mound .

 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19980407&id=uIRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LG8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6647,6163944

Mound as it looks today

Below is pictures and links involving the mound decide for yourself .Is McKees Rocks actually cursed for having disturbed the mound?

http://pgdigs.tumblr.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArAmHRncEP4

http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-205

www.post-gazette.com/local/west/2010/08/07/Ancient-Indian-burial-mound-in-the-Rocks/stories/201008070175

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19510515&id=obpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8WoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4678,4491542

http://news.google.com/newspapers?

nid=1144&dat=19011016&id=IRAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kEgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3547,6671999

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19510515&id=_0IbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c00EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4660,6258909

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19590704&id=9JljAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5594,492063

Pine Creek Flood of 1986 was like a flood never seen before and one man never came home and is still missing

There has been flooding along Pine creek since settlers first moved to the area but in 1986  it would turn out to be a killer as 8 people lost their lives and one man William Gamble would never be seen again.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2519&dat=19860701&id=Fm9eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m2ENAAAAIBAJ&pg=6170,3044

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19860602&id=eNYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yKYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4208,3571502

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19910925&id=8LAqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=42MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2095,4246057

I remember that day well and its continual  bolts of lightning striking bolt after bolt after bolt hitting all over the north hills as I looked to the north hills from my home.
I had customers with lighting damage to there equipment I could not get to because so many roads where cut off by flooding and I would have to wait til the next day .
What I saw was horrific as I went thru Etna along route 8 and they where pulling vehicles out.
They where also looking for William Gamble and not find him some one even took an old 3 wheel Unimog  and early ATT  into creek to look but gave up after the tires flattened .
Some suggested he did not drown but decided to disappear and use the flooding to his advantage but he has never been heard from again and no man leaves his tools and money behind.
He very well could have been carried all the way down 8 and thru Etna to the river there was that much water moving.
No bones nor any trace of William has ever been found and there have been several stream improvements and dredging done to prevent it from happening again. But no closure for the family of William Gamble .

Who or What attacked our scout group while camping at Camp Semiconon in summer of 1977 in Butler County ?

My first job just out of High School was working on the Camp Staff at  the now long closed  Camp Semiconon in Connoquenessing Twp. Named for the creek which runs thru it by local Indians the word means" Long Straight way" it was part of Allegheny Trails Council now known as Laurel highlands Council and just as worthless.

I was hired as a Voyager and assistant to Camp Range Joe Huburda a really great guy whose family would get screwed in the rend by the council when he unexpectedly died.
I would take groups of scouts and their leaders on what was known as Shoe & Canoe a small version of the Boot & Paddle program run out  now gone Camp Tionesta  it was a  7 mile hike to Lake Author we would then canoe 2 miles across set up camp stay overnight and repeat in the morning.
When not doing this I would help the ranger maintain the camp along with 3 other scouts.
As a break in the first scouts we would work with would be Webelow Scouts 10 years old and 1 year from becoming boyscouts. I and another scout  was assigned a group of boys to supervise during the week.

Area has greatly grown up and changed over 30+ years 

Everything went good the first night . But the second night something went very scary and bizarre.
Our camp site was across the small feeder creek  and by it self. We where sitting at camp fire and it was pitch black when a stone came into camp hitting a scout  some one had thrown  a quick look around  with flash lights can not find anything.
Then it happened again 5 more times at this point the stones where getting bigger  I grabbed up the kids and got them  to  the camp lodge  and got the camp leader to come up to site to check things out we saw nothing and as he was asking me questions an even bigger rock came into the campsite hitting the fire pit. With that we took off back to the  lodge and brought all the webelow's and staff to lodge for safety and Pa. State Police where called 2 troopers in a unmarked car responded.  They looked and could find nothing either  and decided it was probably locals playing games .
But we decided it would be safer to keep kids in lodge for the night. That morning we looked around stones where everywhere and we climbed up the hill looking to see if it where locals playing a trick but it would have been impossible for them to do it  and sneak down in the dark.

So what could it have been? I have had it suggested we encountered a Big foot Attack but we heard nothing
but they are known supposedly for throwing rocks at cabins and such and disappearing .
 Witches Black Magic there has always been rumors of dark magic and satanic rituals  going on in the deep woods  but nothing ever substantiated than kids playing around .
Was it some one on staff playing tricks maybe but everyone was accounted for including the rangers 2 sons.
If it was locals how where they getting around in pitch black and not making a sound.
As far as I know there was not another incident like this at the camp but heard it from other scouts in other councils when I talked to them at jamboree about similar things happening to them. . But that was also year they announced
they where closing Tionesta which I helped to tear down and year they announced camp heritage was being built in Fayette County also known as Fayettenam  for a reason .Because of all the violence that goes on in that county with the highest amount of poverty in the state and its mountain people and inbreeds. yes you can definitely hear banjos playing in that county.
During the presentation of the new camp that fall  I asked what security precautions where taking place at camp and they  basically shook it off saying its so remote no one should bother any one after everyone knew what happened at Semiconon Some scout leaders started carry concealed hand guns and did not like answers they where getting as well. But like I said that's the useless council for you.
Even thou earlier that summer all of scouting world would be shocked when 3 Girl Scouts where raped and murdered in a camp as they slept.which was same week we had problems at Semiconon coincidence.  Needless to say sleeping in the woods would change for ever. I always kept a weapon close while camping after that and even to this day I am always on guard in the woods.

 http://www.girlscoutmurders.com/

To this day scouts are still camping and hiking and nothing is being done to insure their safety.

16th Street Bridge Construction Superintendent goes missing in 1921 and no trace ever found

I have always been a fan of narrator and author David McCullough  who is from Pittsburgh  I even use to buy from his family's electrical supply business before it closed and when the 16th street bridge which goes from  Pittsburgh Strip District to North Side  was being named for him   The Post Gazette did some research on the bridges history and  came across the mysterious disappearance of M. C. Sparks the superintendent in charge of building the bridge .

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2013/07/07/Next-Page-As-Pittsburgh-s-16th-Street-Bridge-is-renamed-missing-man-s-mystery-remains-unsolved/stories/201307070194

I never knew about till I read it in the Post Gazette.
but people going missing along our 3 rivers or drowning in them is nothing new.
When I worked for  Burns International detective Agency as a guard  one of the places was an old forge  that went out of business and before that it was the Pressed Steel Car Company which made rail cars and had a horrendous reputations for accidents and deaths.While working the assignment you would find all types of people walking up the railroad tracks along the river beside the plant. Kids playing teens up to no good the homeless,drifters and vagrants and other undesirables  . You always had to stay on your guard its like that today and in when the 16th street bridge was being built.

It seems like the rivers just attract this bunch just like Walmarts do.
and in M.C.Sparks case it was even more dangerous time along the rivers in 1921  with labor strife everywhere.
did he fall off into the river very possible they did not have the harnesses and safety systems in place like today.Did he commit suicide its possible he was a shell shocked WWI vet  Was he attacked killed and then dumped in river that's more likely. But we will never know till remains are found some day and thats highly unlikely .
Like I always say the storys these 3 rivers would tell if ever dried up and dug up.

Fellow Blogger who has been following a 40 year old murder mystery of a young girl

A fellow Blogger who likes to travel around and explore western pa like I di also has found info on a muder from 40 years ago which he goes into depth on.
http://swpare.blogspot.com/2013/10/40th-anniversary-of-debbie-makel-murder.html

Pittsburgh Girl missing 50 + years no trace. But lots of theory's and another from Beaver County 4 years earlier never found as well

I was very young when Maryann Verdecchia  went missing after leaving for school and no trace of here has ever been found. My late friend Grizzly claimed the school janitor grabbed her and killed her and put her body in the school  incinerator to dispose of it.

The accused janitor is long gone and not talking and there was even a site dug up in Baldwin Boro near where a school on Brownsville road is  was where a man claimed when he was a kid he saw a minister bury
body near by but there has been so much ground movement there is no way to ever know.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19910423&id=zeFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bm4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5494,6425459

 I know a Former  Scoutmaster who at one time was an auxiliary police officer who helped to look for Mary

 Ann and it haunts him to this day they could not find her.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/case-missing-pittsburgh-girl-remains-unsolved-50-y/nRB8f/

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2012/06/07/After-50-years-search-continues-for-Mary-Ann-Verdecchia/stories/201206070305

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19620705&id=15tRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7071,618278

 Some one knows what happened that morning but this is another case where only time will tell if remains are ever found. 
Whats even more interesting is the case of Rebbaca Triska who went missing in beaver County never knew about it till looking up Mary Anns case .

http://pennsylvaniamissing.com/triskarebeccaann.html

Again the question has to be asked if there is ,or has been an active serial killer or killers in these parts. 

Haunted 13 Bends Road in Harmar twp is there any truth to it? or the other 13 bend road in Boston Pa.

A local legend which persists to this day is about 2 roads Campbells  run road in Harmarville which can be accessed near the old Harmar Mine and another at the end of the Boston bridge as you go over Pa route 48
in Boston  towards Elizabeth. you turn left on to a road with 13 bends that's dead ended.

The story goes that an orphanage was located along the road and there was a terrible fire there and many of the children died and if you park along the road while dark and put baby powder on your vehicles windows that the children s hand prints will appear as will there images in your rear view window as drive away scared at your encounter of their hand prints and you will be chased down the roads by mysterious cars at night .

http://www00.homepage.villanova.edu/drew.schauble/bends.htm

None of this is the truth and nothing to it as far as I or any one else can determine.
Even more bizarre is how the 13 bends road in Harmarville fits into the picture.

There was in fact an old orphanage which sat along Renzie Road  way back off the road  which burned in Boston area but it was well after it closed and fell into disrepair no children s or adults life where lost.

In fact a very similar type fire happened over in the McDonald / Burgettstown  Pa area where old orphanage /Juvenile home vacant many years and back an impassable road burned down last summer.

It seems too many people have too much time on their hands to make up a bunch of hog wash intended to scare people like no face charlie the green man and others.

the 13 bends you go down you count 13 you come back up you count 12 also nonsense
Now other than the fact these roads are in dark isolated  spooky areas  there is nothing to it. The roads do not even have 13 bends look  up the coordinates on Google earth.

Now whats weird about this whole situation is how 2 towns same 2 stories partial truth  to both story's
just like the green man story  he was only in one town yet he was supposedly in south park
now that's weird . Did some one like a story so well they made up the story and brought it to there own town? Appears so.

Ghosts of a deadly 1927 national labor strike which came to Harmar Coal Mine comes back to haunt crew building new Hulton Bridge

As you ride over the soon to be replaced Hulton Bridge named for a local politician in Oakmont Pa. you cross into Harmarville now known as Harmar twp. and its like two completely different worlds.
Oakmont a wealthy river town Harmarville a blue collar working town with a coal mine and small industry.

The mine which shut down in the 1980's produced bituminous coal used in the production of steel
but in 1927 it became embroiled like many other coal mines across the nation in a bitter fight to unionize coal miners. and Harmar like other mines called in the Coal & Iron Police  a private commissioned Police force
that was nothing more than legalized thugs and which would eventually turn into the Pa. State police.

http://www.minerinjustice.com/strikehistory.html

http://debs.indstate.edu/a505s5_1928.pdf

Harmar  Coal Memorial near fire station 

Typical Coal & iron badge and officers below 

These thugs had absolute power and as the violence in nearby Russelton poured into the valley

The Coal and Iron police  committed assaults and murder at will .

During the time period it was rumored that many a miner who had  pushed to unionize disappeared

into the Allegheny River off the Hulton bridge wrapped in chains and dropped into the river.  

Rumors of these tales went on for decades .

But then the state decided to replace the very old Hulton bridge with a new bridge and as engineers started exploring the old river basin under bridge. low and behold they started finding many lengths of chain as reported in the papers. 

So it looks like the rumors where true. Even my friend Grizzly talked about the Coal & Iron Police dropping body's off the bridge as well. Of course every one is ready to poo poo the whole thing as you will find chain and every imaginable thing in the river but to find as much as they did where they did you have to wonder.

besides the story's of what went on during the strike there is also a road nearby rumored to be haunted as well called 13 bends which I will be writing about as well.   and all this with in minutes of unsolved missing people and  killing of a Verona Cop.

Murder of Small Town Butler County Police Chief goes on 30 +years unsolved

Saxonburg is a sleepy little town in Butler County off of Route 228  not much goes on there except for the annual Penns Colony Festival and fireman's parade .
That was till one cold December morning in 1980  then Police Chief  Gregory Adams a family man  and greatly loved by the town was found shot and bleeding to death  in the Agway Supply company parking Lot and a notorious criminal  is suspected of  committing the heinous act  but  which has  never been  proved  is still on the run .

nid=1129&dat=198101http://news.google.com/newspapers?09&id=R4BIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1747,1193968

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19801205&id=6MYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GNsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1299,1129362

 The man suspected of doing the crime a known criminal Donald Eugene Webb   was believed to be in the small town to scope out a jewelry store for a burglary and has never been heard from again other than in a letter sent to local FBI office  supposedly sent by him in which also claims he did not shoot the chief .

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19900209&id=QpQcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sGMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3861,4374109

If he is still alive he would be a very old man by now.

You might think small town jeweler how much could he have gotten in this case? Well as you can see from the pictures above this small town had money. It also has a small company at the time  which would grow into a leading developer of commercial lasers.
So he might have been after the jewelry store.
But  he could have also been there to scope out wealthy home owners as well for a burglary or even  some of the local business if he suspected they had something of value but that would take extensive knowledge he did not have of the businesses in town all small and no payroll to hit  and besides he was a burglar not a stick up man  and by then business payed by check not by cash kept in a safe over night  and burglarizing a commercial business was not his thing. He was looking for things he could easily fence or sell without question  .   If it even was him and since he is not talking  know one knows for sure but he looks good for the crime as they say.
Why FBI and police have come to this conclusion has never been fully disclosed .
But near this town  a young girl named Cheery Mahan Disappeared. a few years later in 85

never to be heard from again and maybe it was not Webb at all but the person responsible for her disappearance as well a criminal with nothing to loose  unlike Webb who at most would have done a few years and been back on the streets why would Webb shoot the officer very unlike a serial burglar to do something like this. Like I have said in other articles I believe a serial killer or killers has been operating in these parts for many years now and if I am right and this person was stopped and the chief become suspicious of them  you can understand why he was shot. But shot by a   career criminal burglar? I leave that conclusion up to you . 

40 Acres in Baldwin Boro a great place for young men to have fun and adventure and an area with its own 30+ years mysteries

Bounded by Becks Run  Road , Glass Run Road and E. Carson Street also known as Pa Route 837 

40 Acres which is mostly in Baldwin Boro  ( Not to be confused with Baldwin Twp.)

Has been the playground for kids and young adults for many decades  an abandoned piece of property due to fact of the numerous coal mines under its thickly wooded hill sides it has been lore to many tales and legends none of which seems to bare out . However there has also been its share of Criminal activity as well from underage drinking party's to stolen cars being dumped and stripped to an occasional body dump  and suicide victim so as kids you never went alone at least in pairs and with a knife or club as a weapon in case you ran into trouble exploring its vast area and  its old coal mine workings all of which have been sealed after couple kids got lost in a mine  one time you could also have sticks catch on fire in the many holes from underground mine fires which popped up all thru the property  . Supposedly there are still miners body's in one of the old shafts after a collapse and explosion but I have not as yet been able to verify it.   There was even an attempt to develop the property which has fallen thru  after Charles Betters bought it and wanted to build a casino and race track. He has done some digging and removing of surface coal but that's about it with some housing being built .The Old J&L Steel Research Center is long closed and now a private school for at risk  adjudicated youth .

As a young man I spent many a Saturday afternoon exploring the area and luckily never ran into any bogie men but we where always ready. I have been wanting to go back and retrace my foot steps but my health has prevented it. 

The place pretty much stayed out of the news till one valentines day in 1980 when a   Michael Rosenbloom from Shady side went missing along E. Carson Street where his girlfriends car was found  he was driving and Baldwin Police impounded it. and it started a fire storm of controversy  that Baldwin Police 

covered up or where involved in his disappearance . All of which I believe was a big bunch of  Hog Wash and nothing more than a bad decision to CYA   regarding the back dated letter when they realized they screwed up and State Attorney General agreed and found no wrong doing on the part of  Baldwin Police unfortunately it would put a black mark on them regardless which is a shame they have many highly professional  officers on  the force as I have interactions with them with customers property's and to  see what this force had to go thru was just wrong. 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19920424&id=rdhRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=V24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3310,8064124

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19870923&id=bLUqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QmMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4345,4398115

As you read thru the various articles you will see all the controversy and also the fact a mysterious skull showed up during the search which also and has not been identified . So what happened to Michael?

good question.

site where Michaels car was found

Was one of his dealers or some one he possibly cheated  after him and caught up to him along E. Carson?

Years later A young iron worker and drug user  from suburbs would disappear in next door Homestead and it was determined he was killed chopped up and disposed of so it not out of the realm of happening.
This whole area is a hot bed for drug dealing a car wash on Becks Run road I put a security system into in 90's was often the site where junkies from suburbs would meet  dealers from St. Clair Village section 8 housing  up off Becks Run  as the suburban kiddies where afraid to go up there we caught many a suspected  drug transaction on the car washes cameras. 

Did he end up in the river and drown  as a result of his drug use?

never saw that the river was even checked . You also have railroad and an old oil terminal now gone and scrap yard where any of these places checked dd he go for help?

Was he picked up by a robber highway man type  killed and dumped some where? 

There are always rumors of body's being dumped down old mine shafts and there are documented cases of it happening.

Was he even a victim of a serial killer?

Like I said I really think one has been operating around here

There is also another possibility at that time there where many Russian Immigrants who moved into and around  the area and rumors of the Russian Mob operating in the area involved with drugs  and if he crossed them.

To make it even more interesting this is also close to where the mysterious B-25  bomber went into the river and was never found also. But thats a story in it self.

They are all possibilities and we will never know till a body is found if ever or some one confesses like in the Homestead case  and as far as I know the reward for $25,000 is still being offered. I feel bad for the family not knowing all these years. and hopefully they will have closure some day. 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19800626&id=XmkdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aFwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6167,4315183

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19870925&id=ucpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1m0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4726,8656640

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19871231&id=htpaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2012,10079839

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19830316&id=A9taAAAAIBAJ&sjid=om0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5456,3604626

2 young Tarentum boys go out to play in cold and disappear over 30 years and no clues Was it the River Hag / Witch?

Up the Allegheny River from me is the town of Tarentum Pa.

a small working class town with a big industrial stainless steel mill one of the last in the county.
and one day 2 young boys Jon Debkowski and Gabriel Meinarcin  went out to play after school  in December of 1982 and disappeared never to be seen again .
A woman claimed she saw 2 boys who matched the description playing among the river ice a very dangerous thing to do. 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19820118&id=n8daAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6828,3285497

Blood Hounds traced the kids scent to the river but nothing was ever found of them not one trace to say they where their and fell in or where abducted.

But one Psychic claimed they would be found under the ice near where Bull creek enters the river.
 Divers looked and nothing was found ,how ever Bull creek it self has a legend of an Old Hag or River Witch who has the power to attract children to the creek where she grabs them and drowns them. Now most people will poo poo this or say they never heard such a bizarre thing. But I personally meet a woman named Rose who lost a young brother in the creek  near the old tour ed coal mine  entrance many years ago in 60's when he slipped under the very fast and strong  waters and she claims she saw the image of the Old Hag in the creek ,who grabbed and kept him down under the creeks water and she could not rescue him. No one believed her then saying it was her imagination and hysteria playing games with her .In the 70's as a boy scout I helped with a stream improvement project in the upper section of Bull Creek and can attest to the strong currents . But plenty of dead body's have shown up in that part of river and the creek as well as drownings over the decades.
 is there anything to the Hag probably not but the rumors persist and the creek and river have always been an attractive nu-sense.

Bull Run and Allegheny River 

Now there is a very strong under tow in the Allegheny River which is very deceiving and can grab and drag you down in its current I know I swam in the upper river as a young boy scout and 2 different times did the 150 mile boot & paddle canoe trip from Tionesta to Pittsburgh.

I will never forget going thru one of the locks at one of the dams higher up the river  and when we came out the hat of a young man hanging on a branch stuck in a small island below the dam this was all they ever found of him that summer when he was swimming and got too close to dam while on a fishing trip in 1974. and people who do drown in the 3 rivers around here are often found miles down in Ohio and W. Virginia if their lucky to be found at all. but 3-4 body's a month show up in the 3 rivers around this area month after month  be it accident ,suicide or murder.

So I have a very healthy respect for the rivers and I am always on my guard around them.
Just like the river men tell you beware of snakes on the deck.

Where the kids kidnapped by a pedophile that's also a possibility as well plenty of known sex offenders reside in the area.  I have long suspected a pedophile or serial killer in the area.How hard would it have been for some one to pull up looking like a detective and take the kids away . Just like in the movie " Mystic River" There are plenty of cases of motorists being pulled over by phony cops in this area and I see plenty of suspicious looking detective /security  like vehicles which I check out who they are because of the problems we have had in the past.I Call 911 when I see detectives pulling people over and it does not look right so it can be checked out .
We have a case going on right now in Indiana county where some one claimed to be a detective was shaking down a gun shop owner over an illegal lottery  and killed him in his gun shop.He also was recently charged with assault when he tried to detain a young men in cuffs for throwing corn kernels at him .

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2014/01/02/Authorities-say-gun-dealer-s-shooting-death-may-be-part-of-an-extortion-plot/stories/201401020194

Couple times as a young man when standing waiting for the bus or trolley along E. Carson street an old man pulled up opened his passenger door and offered me a ride I did not know who he was just that he lived in Carrick like I did  so I always declined ..
 thou at time I thought he was just some one being kind but then good thing I did not because you never know.
But dozens of people go missing in this area of Pa yearly never to be seen again.

Stanley B. Hoss Jr. a Bogie Man who left behind many Unanswered Questions

When I was a firefighter at Penn Hills station 224 we often had interaction with Verona Police Officers right on border of our territory  One day while we where on an extended call in Verona and while tending the engine I got into talking with a young officer controlling the scene . He was saying how safe he felt being an officer in a small town which did not see all the action like big city dept did. I said to him I would never leave caution to the wind and for him to ask his chief who Stanley B. Hoss Jr. was . Needless to say after he talked to his chief he changed his mind.
Because Stanley Hoss Jr. had killed a Verona Officer many years ago. in September 19 of 1969 along Plum Street on the Verona Oakmont Line on Plum Street after escaping from the now gone Allegheny County Work House Jail  now RIDC Industrial Park.It would close a couple years after the escape. I still remember the work house and its towers and guards with shot guns walking the wall's riding by as a kid in the family car . I drove up and down Plum Street many years and shopped in very lot where Stanley killed the Verona officer and never realized it till my friend  Grizzly told me the story. Apparently Hoss escaped stole a car came over Highland park bridge up Allegheny River blvd passing the jail on opposite side of river maybe to thumb his nose at them then was spotted by the Verona Patrolman who stopped him in the parking lot  and was then shot and killed.

AVR & Plum Street

http://triblive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_700306.html#axzz30kPvDeWr

http://thejewishchronicle.net/view/full_story/15169847/article-Pittsburgh-attorney-reflects-on-crime-spree-that-shook-nation-?instance=news_special_coverage_right_column

Ironically while working at the Bank Centre as a maintenance man the gentleman who would re-leave  me in evenings worked at the work house as the stationary engineer  and often told of the day Stanley escaped and caused general chaos in the place as it was locked down . I would also make life long friends with my 12th grade biology teacher Barbara Novasol whose family owned property next to the jails apple orchards inmates maintained and I often got to explore the old no longer used orchards  when I stayed with Barbara's family during the summer and took care of there property as a young man and her cousin Tony Skotak who owned property next to them on a couple different occasions had caught escapees trying to get away from the orchards and marched them by shot gun back to the jail.

http://booksadventuresandlife.blogspot.com/2009/12/exploring-blawnox.html

RIDC Park

But this is not the first time  Stanley B. Hoss name has come up in conversation a late friend of mine  Noel McCarthy who everyone called Grizzly knew Stanley Hoss as well he lived right near by him when he lived on the now realigned  Saxonburg Blvd. at Pa.route 910 intersection the home Stanley lived in was demolished in the realignment  he was a young man when grizzly knew him and he was trouble even then out stealing cars and such. In one of the Pittsburgh Internet news groups a relative of Stanley's appeared one time inquiring about his relative needless to say he was pretty shocked when rumors he heard about him where confirmed .

Pa.910 & Saxonburg Blvd.

So it only seems appropriate a book titled  "Born to Lose " which  was also the tattoo Stanley sported would some day be written about him before his name was lost to history.
When I was a young child in 69 ,Stanley Hoss was like the bogie man as people would say his name to scare you and as this was a time when racial tensions where high and riots in city's was going on it just intensified things.

Yes they would catch Stanley and he would die in prison but not before revealing what he did with a woman and her daughter he kidnapped in Maryland and surely murdered and dumped there body's some where
before he was captured. But the memory's are fading and any one who had any interaction with him are now well into there 70's-80's and or have passed on so chances are the Mother and child remains will never be found or if they are it will be many years from now and hopefully they will be able to be identified and given proper burial and rest as for Stanley B. Hoss Jr. I am sure he is roasting some where in the bowels of Hell .

Legend of Hangman's Hollow in Penn Hills is there anything to it?

If you have lived or known any one who lives in eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh almost everyone can tell you tales of Hangman's Hollow in Penn Hills . Its a spooky  , creepy and lonely road thru swampy nasty colored  ponds  along old Frankstown Road . I have heard the tales ever since I have lived out this way of a tree in the hollow  with a long hanging branch with supposed rope marks which was used by the KKK to conduct lynchings in late 1890's to early 1920' .
I have never ever found any of the tales to be true  of any lynchings But the Klan was active in this area and supposedly still is and was even supposedly lead at one time by a Penn hills policeman who no nobody can remember there name.  But there have been body's found there many being dumped by the Mob or other killers  and  in one case I came upon in 1958 newspaper article  where a car with man and women was found in the pond . Not sure if it was an accident or suicide which has also happened along the road.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19580427&id=Fw0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AZYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4593,3133665

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19830124&id=NLMqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AmAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2025,4352716

Now tales of hangman's hollow  are numerous all over the country as are the story's of the Green Man  who
was a real person who lived in Beaver county but there is no evidence he was ever in South park in Allegheny county or any where else , all just rumors made up to scare girlfriends etc. when out driving late on a date so they would hold on to you tightly .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Robinson_(Green_Man)

Just  like the supposed Wood Chopper legend along Hulton & Indiana road of a man who killed his wife and her lover with an ax and you could hear him chopping wood along the road when you yelled his name . Turns out the noise they where hearing was an old Oil well pumping.
But it makes for good entertainment and we all love a good scary movie once and a while.
How ever there have been real ax murders committed in  W.Pa. area over the years.

Plus Penn Hills with all its dark and windy hollows and gulleys has a creepy feel to it to begin with .
So if you really want to go check out the Hangman's Hollow the easiest way to find it is to follow Saltsburg Road just over the Penn Hills Border to Davidson road go down the road and at the bottom you are in Hangmans Hollow hang a right and go thru whats left of the ponds etc by Golf Ridge drive as a housing plan has been put in that took up part of the old hollow as well as commercial business that has expanded and filled in many of the ponds . Be careful while down there because its isolated and limited cell service should you encounter something wrong.

A young Boy goes missing in McKees Rocks over 20 years a blundered search and a similar case in 78 also unsolved

McKees Rocks is a Blue Collar town just outside Pittsburgh with a history of Labor Disputes , Violence, Murder, Arson , Explosions and Deadly  Fires  which also has an Indian mound which was desecrated and said to put a curse upon the people . So it is no wonder there are so many unsolved cases in this town  including 3 murders listed in this article

http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2005/11/22/Dennis-Skosnik-A-rough-and-tumble-history-in-McKees-Rocks/stories/200511220171

I was actually in Mr. Mancinis club day before he was murdered to give him a bid on some electrical work after a friend recommended me to Mr. Mancini  .You can imagine how shocked I was seeing this on news the next morning . Needless to say I never did the work and friend who recommended me was just as shocked it happened .

I came across 2 cases of young boys missing involving Chartiers Creek which runs thru Mckees Rocks 

While researching old news articles on the case of missing year 8 old Wille Majewski I also ran across a similar case of young man who was seen falling  in the same creek in 1978 while fishing and body apparently  never found .
But lets discuss the 1991 case first.
8 year old Wille Majewski went fishing along Chartiers creek on a chilly November 12th  in 1991 when he was reported missing and possibly drowned .

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19911112&id=xdkzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Um4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6566,2932080

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19911113&id=DnIjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FWQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1117,8055944

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19911112&id=xdkzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Um4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6566,2932080

What took place next  was a total boon dongle First off they made the mistake of allowing the Now Disbanded Allegheny County Delta Team   to get involved with the search instead of first calling a search & rescue team with search dogs  before all trace of scent of the missing person is lost.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19950419&id=D4RIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6871,2026055

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19940427&id=koRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pW8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5801,6411607

But this was not the case and the scene was contaminated . Then to make matters worse  The Delta Team rolls out this tracked vehicle and they start rolling it all thru the fields destroying any chance of a ground search with dogs finding any clues . It was a total complete mess and any chance of finding the boy was lost on the first day.

Luckily W. Pa. officials have learned over the years with missing individuals and many have been successfully recovered because they call in the right people to do the search and do not allow scene to get contaminated .

Now if Willie did fall into the creek chances are his body should have been recovered out in the back channel of the Ohio River  near the mouth of the creek as an old marina that's been there for many years should have snagged the body but this was not the case . That spring McKeesrocks Firefighters even took a boat all around the back channel and marina etc looking for any trace hoping Willies body would pop up but they found nothing and since his disappearance there has also been a deck hand taking care of barges in the back channel who disappeared few years back never to be found.  There where rumors fueled by a psychic that Willie was abducted and with family members as his parents had went thru a nasty separation but it was never substantiated. There is also the possibility of a pedophile being involved as well as Pittsburgh has had more than its share of them exposed especially since the internet has evolved.
One thing they talk about the river men who work along the Ohio river banks is they always warn you to be aware of "Snakes on the Deck " things that can trip you etc and send you into the river and this includes criminals of all kind  and homeless people who prowl around the rivers .
What happened to Willie is not clear because no one saw him fall in the creek or leave the area and head for home or some where else. So its one of those situations where you have to believe he drowned.
But till remains are found we will never know and fowl play you can never rule that out with a town with such a violent history.


Interestingly while researching Willies case I ran across this forgotten case  but young man was seen slipping into the creek .

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19780522&id=BjMcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YFgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3229,3072940

Smiley face Killers where they here in W. Pa. ? Do they even exist ?

Once again a senseless tragedy a young vibrant male college student attends a off campus party and goes missing and is found drowned shortly there after in a pond or river . With plenty of questions how did he end up in the water. Plenty of people go to party's get drunk and do not end up drowned. How could this happen

 http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19665471/autopsy-scheduled-for-nu-student-found-in-harbor

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20010608&id=GlAxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=d3ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5396,4741250

While it is easy to say  alcohol had something to do with it and it is just a tragic accident what if it was not? What if in fact an organized group of individuals are responsible for it happening? Crazy sounding ? Well maybe not so crazy after you have read numerous articles and heard these 2 retired NY detectives on various radio shows talk about the Smiley Face Killers.

A case where when college students body's are found  nearby a smiley face  and similar markings are found painted on structures big rocks etc. as crazy as this sounds and I am not suggesting this is one of those cases there seems to be way too many young college men ending up drowned who never should have been where they where found. Read the evidence these detectives present  at following links and decide for your self are there Smiley face Killers or is it all hog wash?
I know one thing for sure living in Pittsburgh  a city  with 3 rivers and working nearby the rivers first as a  security guard and many years now in my business,  which some times involves working on repairing tow boats or docks . Workers warn you about being aware of snakes on the decks. and with good reason. When several times a month missing people are found in the 3 rivers be it by accidentally falling , suicide or foul play. There really could be something to this. Yes I have even seen smiley faces painted as well along our rivers.
There have also been several cases which  same details as found with smiley face killings right here in W. Pa.  Including a  college football player found drown in Monongahela river in California Pa. and University of Pittsburgh student found drowned in the river as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley_face_murder_theory

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24366804/ns/today/t/smiley-face-killer/#.UGgypK74IdM

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7147841&page=1#.UGgxy674IdM

Who would dig up a 100 year old boys grave ? Plus Human Bones found under an old Butler Hospital floor? 2 strange goings on in Butler county

Why in deed would anyone dig up the grave of a boy who died 100 years ago .In one of the strangest cases around some one digs up a grave of a boy killed by a train nearly 100 years ago .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cZ3PzUE9lw

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/09/28/100-year-old-grave-disturbed-in-butler-county/

Could it be dark witchcraft or satanists at work?Possibly they found something in grave they needed for a ceremony ?  
Who knows very strange in deed Some one looking for treasure? well what ever it was that caused them to dig it up we will probably never know .
Then around same time this happened under the wooden  floors of the Old Butler Memorial Hospital which was turned into apartments and is visible at the towns entrance as you go over the bridge on Pa Route  8  they have found what appears to be human bones as well which there has not been anything in news with either of these incidents in last 3 years since they happened.

Old yellow brick butler hospital on right along hill side 

Butler County has many more mystery's as well including all types of disappearances and unsolved murders more than any other county in Western Pa.
Tales of bodies being dumped in old coal mine shafts and alien UFO and big foot Activity yes you have it all in Butler County which I will be discussing in upcoming articles. 

Beloved Beer Merchants Murder still unsolved after almost 10 years

I ride by the place at the intersection of Lowries Run Road & Rochester Road all the time I do not drink adult beverages so I have never been in there but those who  I know  have always said Joe was the greatest when it came to knowing his customers and taking care of them . That was till one  cold October night in 2006 when they found Joe laying out in his parking lot shot dead by unknown assailants

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2006/10/16/Fatal-shooting-of-Ross-beer-distributor-being-investigated/stories/200610160141

A possible robbery  gone wrong the full details have never been released  other than it happened late in the evening .

Was it some one he knew ? was it an argument over something ? possible was it transients traveling thru the area  taking advantage of a store sitting back in from road the way it does? very possible with I -279  a mile away but either scenario is possible and still a very cold case with no leads and no video Joe did not have a camera system either a big mistake and sitting back from the road and lighting not very good was an open invitation to trouble even in relatively quiet Ross Twp.

but it is not that quiet the Ross Park Mall and business around it  on McKnight Road also known as  Truck -US-19 have attracted the wrong elements from the North Side and North View Heights Projects  of Pittsburgh to travel out and cause problems and its just as likely it could have been some one from there . 

But so far all leads have panned out. 

I hope they find and bring Joes killer to justice some day but that day is likely to be a long time away.

Armored Courier looses its load of money and creates a massive search for money taken from scene

A colorful alarm dealer I knew who owned an alarm company which provided services to banks   often came into same 2 alarm supply houses I use for buying parts from  and he was always fascinating guy to talk to. Self made and hard working he built a small empire servicing the smaller independent banks around Western Pa. along with owning several other small business. But he recently passed  a shock to us all who knew him.
Unfortunately in the weeks leading up to his passing one of his company's  Fidelity Courier Service  had the back doors of one of there vans fall open along Pa. 19 in Upper St. Clair near a small office park and money go everywhere. people stopped some took a handful and took off to be captured and arrested  later and and some stopped and helped gather it up before police arrived. only $400.00 recovered .
However 2 young men in a small white pickup scooped up one of the bags with thousands of dollars and fled the scene and Local police and FBI has been trying to track them down since .

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/12/01/bank-courier-vehicle-loses-cash-on-route-19/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/bank-courier-van-loses-ba_0_n_1122389.html

Now this behavior of people to do this came as a shock to many as Upper St. Clair and community's surrounding it  is a very influential area you would not expect those traveling in this area to do such things but it did. People no matter there stature in life seem to act like ignorant pigs when given the opportunity.

You would think with all the technology and resources of FBI those 2 men would have been found out by now especially if all of sudden two guys show up in new cars etc.  or all of a sudden are big spenders at the casino but this does not appear to be the case there either sitting on it waiting for statute of limitations to run or there spending it a little at a time.
Now with all the cameras along that stretch of road you think something would have caught them or some one would have squealed on them but its been almost 4 years and nothing and in another 2 years the statues will be run and the colorful alarm company guy I knew will never of had the satisfaction of getting the money back after all the criticism his company received for not doing a better job securing the money in the van.

Still unsolved after 30 +years 2.3 Million Dollar Purolater Armored headquarters Robbery

When I worked for the now closed holmes protection in 1980 some evenings  whenI was not on road handling call I would be in central office in the old 6th street garage where Mellon Center is now located   I would get a call from a Guard at the Purolator Headquarters in Brentwood/ Carrick area to verify all alarms armed and set.
After I left holmes and there terribly run alarm company never thought about Purolater again but in March of 1982 when the place was closing up and a single guard was on duty  2 men would come in and say they where FBI and when the single guard let down his guard they grabbed and bound him and made off with 2.3 million dollars in untraceable cash.
To this day it is unsolved though a couple of names have come up over the years said to be involved but at this point the statute of limitations has long run and no one will be prosecuted because there was no violence involved.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19820321&id=FNgcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=914EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2680%2C1454928

When the crime happened I immediately called the FBI these criminals had to be working on inside information  and told them to make sure they look into all the guys working at holmes as we all knew only one guard was on when they closed  I do not know if they ever looked into it and never received a follow up call.

So if they ever checked the lead out I do not know. 

But who ever pulled it off definitely had inside info as almost no one  who lived in Carrick and Brentwood  even knew the place existed in a back alley behind Brownsville Road  there is just a garage door and no signage and no indication the place even exists it looks like every other back alley door along the alley.

So if it was not some one from Purolator involved it had to be some one who provided service or who even built and or repaired or cleaned the place or people who lived or worked in rest of the building upstairs.

Many leads to check out and chase but apparently none that lead any where.  Who ever these two men are and who ever helped them has never been discovered and remember this was a time when all the mills where going down and people where desperate so a little information could be easily bought  and loose tongues in bars of laid off employees from places did not help.  

http://www.post-gazette.com/home/2012/03/02/Purolator-armored-truck-robbery-in-1982-remains-unsolved/stories/201203020278