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

Well executed and planned Bank Robbery in Burgettstown was like a made for TV movie still unsolved to this day

If you ever saw the  Clint Eastwood movie Thunderbolt & Light Foot
it is about  a group  of criminals planing and executing a big bank robbery  by way of a home invasion to tie up the bank president so he can not notify police and distracting and then tieing up the guy monitoring the alarms at a central monitoring station as well.

Well a very similar plot played on in spring of 1986 in Burgettstown. except with an interesting twist.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19860331&id=BYNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4373,8541348

An elderly couple who happen to monitor panic buttons etc for the Mellon bank in their home also happen to be the radio dispatchers for the Burgettstown  and several other small town Police  are invaded and tied up and then the Mellon bank in Burgettstown is sacked and thieves and money is gone never to be traced a total cold case. In what the time was a very rural area till it started being developed in 90's.

So the question who pulled it off obliviously some one had to know the couple where doing the monitoring 

so was it a town resident involved? or town resident who may have been arrested and talked about how easy the pickings would be while in prison? 

How about the people who serviced the radios or the alarms ? Or could it even have been a well organised nationally travelling ring of criminals who looked for these opportunity's ?

Of course the first question is why where this elderly couple doing dispatching and monitoring alarms in there home in the first place?

Well before massive UL Listed Central Stations with fortifications and security systems in place where popular many unusual places served and still serve  as monitoring points including Telephone  Answering Services and even Gas Stations  out west .

 Most very soft targets and criminals knew it and took advantage of it and these crimes where carefully kept from the press and TV  when they where attacked. When I first was involved with alarms and had other dealers monitoring my accounts I thought they had hardened facility's they did not they where using answering services with no protection needless to say I found out  how easy it was to just walk in and take a place over and now use a very good UL listed service 

Today attacking a Central station is futile with back up systems in place and fully supervised communications and alternative central station set  ups at the flip of a switch . But there are still plenty of the small soft targets out there if you know where to look. But criminals have gotten much more sophisticated when it comes to eluding capture and why risk getting your plan blown when dealing with 2 sites when you can hit one be on an interstate in 5 minutes and be gone. 

Some one some where knows what went on in Burgettsown that day and some one may eventually pay for the crime but the clock is ticking away.

Unsolved industrial Park Arson in Turtle Creek was it part of plan to get rich when Mon Valley Expressway came thru?

It was 1995 and there where two visions one a family's quest to to turn a former Copper Mill in Turtle Creek into a small viable industrial park the other the Pa. Turnpike Commission  completing of the Mon Valley Expressway both seen  as a means to create and keep jobs in a valley decimated when Westinghouse and steel mills closed .
Both dreams dashed one by an Arson Fire  the other by lack of funds  with possibility one may some day be completed.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19950217&id=St0oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=om4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4640,514768

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19950308&id=V-FRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mW4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4520,4467536

Remains of old Copper mill

Yes in 1995 the Mon Valley expressway- MVE was in full swing as property was being acquired and cement was being laid in Fayette and Washington county's. the ambitious project to have a continuous toll road from I-68 near Morgantown W.Va. to Pittsburgh thru the Mon Valley  would bring jobs and industry .
Unfortunately  it has only been fully built to Elizabeth just over Allegheny County line  but at the time there was a proposal to extend it from near the Squirrel Hill Tunnels in Pittsburgh I-376  to Penn Hills by way of a spur which would go thru Braddock and up thru East Pittsburgh and Turtle Creek. Yes right thru where the old Westinghouse Copper Mill was located.

MVE Gateway 

 And every where the proposed route was going there where Arson Fires especially in Hazel Wood section of Pittsburgh, plus Braddock and Duquesne and in Duquesne there was also talk of expanding Kennywood with a water park and a new development in Cochratowne section of Duquesne  both of which have not been done .
 Just as soon as it was announced the Turnpike had run out of funds and MVE was on indefinite hold the fires almost all stopped as well.
So you can see why it is so suspicious the fire at the copper mill may well have been something to do with the MVE being built  what better way to run down property values and get property owners to sell quickly and get out of a bad area. Have some shill buyers buy up the property's and then thru a series of  shell company's sell it all at a handsome price  to the turnpike commission .
But all the fire accomplish was destroy a valley and business around it   like in the picture below where a hotel/bar once sat on now vacant lot. the whole neighborhood now a slum when it would have been very viable had the Arson Fire not occurred.

I saw video of the fie during an Arson investigators class taught by the late Larry Boyle and like Larry said some one knows and sooner or later is going to brag about it and some one snitch on them. and hopefully those behind these development by Arson fires all around western Pa. will be held accountable as it goes on all the time .

No such thing as a Coincidence

ARSON VALLEY
OR URBAN REDEVELOPMENT
BY FIRE?
WHO IS THE PROFITEER


There is a valley in the City of Pittsburgh Pa. Which Pa. Route 51 runs thru other wise known as Sawmill Run Blvd. Pa. 51 runs from the Ohio Line near E. Palestine South to Union Town approx 100 miles
But I call it Arson Valley since I was a small child in the 60’s there has been many major arson and suspicious fires all along the approx 10-mile stretch of Pa.51, which runs thru the city
From the West End Bridge to Brentwood Pa. So many fires in such a small area I call it arson valley.
One of the first fires I remember was a Bar at the corner of Edge Brooke Rd. and 51 in the 60’s now a big parking lot. Another big fire was in a very large bar and a restaurant replaced nightclub at Bausmann and 51which
Tambellinis which it self had a fire and was destroyed on southern Ave. which connects to 51 from Warrington Ave.
Southern Ave was also the scene of many bad residential fires 10 family members lost their lives in a fire
And off of Bausmann Ave. runs Knox Ave., which also saw a fire, which claimed a family of 10 including children.
The Motor Cycle business still at its same location 1 block from Bausmann saw a fire, as did the thrift store

Liberty tunnels almost all buildings around tunnel entrance suffered a fire

Directly across from bausmann.
1 block down from Bausmann you have the Liberty tubes and bridge. Businesses on all 4 corners suffered suspicious or arson fires. The happy dragon restaurant and 2 Syrian restaurants. The long abandoned
Lumber yard burned and an arson fire. W. Liberty ave has been the scene of numerous Suspicious and arson fires as well The liberty tube business are all gone having been replaced by a new cloverleaf to eliminate traffic back ups.
Down the road from the tunnels. A hillside full of businesses has also seen fires. Including the old Mays dept store warehouse and Seco Manufacturing now closed. And fires back in a little community called seldom scene because t is totally boxed in. the community no longer exists a now extinct transit project came thru and was never completed.
And starting in the West End there have been numerous arson fires and a fire bombing during the 60’s riots
Going the other direction past Bausmann and Liberty there have again been numerous fires.
The old Country Belle Dairy arson, Ronnie’s Tire a fire destroyed the business possibly electrical in nature which also seems to happen a lot in this valley across from Ronnie’s, Sunset auto destroyed by fire when a car caught fire .All with in a block of the bar which caught fire. Directly beside The old country bell dairy
Sat a big old dive of a bar called the barn again destroyed by arson a convenience store sits in the location.
One time in the late 80’s while driving home from work late at night I saw what looked like a storm sewer on fire in the street directly across from the motorcycle shop that had the fire. I stopped and called the fire dept from a payphone up the street and when they arrived to investigate I showed them which grate and we found remnants of a large beer bottle which had been used as a Molotov cocktail and was apparently meant for a business but as I came up the road my lights must have spooked them.
I never received a follow up, call, which is typical in Pittsburgh.
There have been numerous fires with cars in auto repair garages along 51
One business had 2 fires each time a different owner. And Brentwood has seen its share of fires as well along 51 Versharins a large grocery burned to the ground as well as its old green houses in Mt Oliver, which is located along Bausmann. All along 51 you will find boarded up closed business most owned by a pair of brothers who deliberately keep them slummy and whom Brentwood is always fighting with to clean up businesses move in and out frequently as the owners jack up rates continuously and make no repairs.
But Brentwood as well as no other community along 51 has anywhere near the amount of fires the city of Pittsburgh has had along this particular stretch. Some communities Like McKee’s Rocks and Aliquippa 
Have had a small rash of fires along 51 in fact I know of no other stretch of road with such a deadly legacy of fires aprox.170+ fires over 40 years
So who is responsible? One theory is real estate speculators. 51 is only 2 lanes each direction and needs to be expanded as well the creek running thru the area needs scooped out and covered. Buy the property cheap after a fire has whipped out an owner with no insurance and when the state or transit agency comes thru big profits after waiting 20-30 years.
And with the liberty tubes cloverleaf project some people saw big profits as the cloverleaf was planned in the 30’s but not put into place till the 90’s people knew sooner or later the property would be worth a fortune. It seems like any time you mention highway or other big plans Arson is not faraway
Bad wiring human error OK but almost 60% of the business in the 10-mile long valley having some type of fire impossible.