Four Seasons

Four Seasons Thanks for checking out the very first episode of River City Mystery! If you drive down the highway just outside Mount Vernon, Indiana, you might pass right by the Four Seasons Motel without thinking much of it. It is a quiet, family-run spot owned by Rodney Cox and his mom, Jean. They run it today, and they were running it back in the fall of 1994 when things took a really dark, strange turn. It started with a mystery that still hasn't been solved. On September 2, 1994, a local woman named Terry Rideout finished up her shift at the Main Street Burger King in Evansville, ran the night deposit, and drove off in her boyfriend Jack’s red pickup. She was never seen again. When people went to check on her home, the only thing missing was her dog, River. To this day, Terry is still listed as a missing person in Indiana. A week after Terry vanished, Jack Barnett checked into the Four Seasons Motel alone. He brought two things into the room with him: a VHS copy of the movie Falling Down and a gun. After watching the movie, he wrote a quick note to his daughter and ended his life. The room was locked from the inside with the security chain, and police ruled it a suicide right away. That is tragic enough on its own, but what happened next is where the story gets bizarre. About a month later, Rodney and Jean started getting constant complaints from guests staying in that same room. Night after night, different people who had no idea what had happened in that room kept coming to the front desk with the exact same story: the TV would turn itself on every night right at 10:00 PM. Rodney even swapped out the TV for a completely different one, but it kept happening. Eventually, when standard maintenance couldn't fix it, Rodney and Jean realized they needed a different kind of help. They called up a local preacher to come out, pray over the space, and ask whatever was there to move on. Was it a real ghost, or just a really weird set of coincidences? Give the episode a listen and judge for yourself. Once you finish listening, head over to rivercitymystery.com and let me know what you think happened. If you have any local tips or story ideas for future episodes, I'd love to hear them! Show Notes: https://www.rivercitymystery.com/1 Join the River City Mystery Discord channel to meet others from the tri-state area who are into true crime and the paranormal.  https://www.rivercitymystery.com/discord ----more---- Jack W. Barnett Death Certificate (PDF) Evansville Courier & Press article – 9/14/1994 (PDF) Evansville Courier & Press article – 9/15/1994 (PDF) Evansville Courier & Press article – 12/29/1994 (PDF) Theresa A. Rideout Death Certificate (PDF)