Hi, I'm Holly and I'm Haley welcome to Mountain Mysteries Tales from Appalachia I got a little right there. Sorry. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. My my Friends. This is the shit show you come back for every day every every week every week. I mean they could join us every day Because it really is a shit.
Oh, yeah, it's rough. It was equally. I mean, yeah, it's a tough time out here really is Well, I tell you what Haley you're joining us for part two. I'm so ready.
It is it is wild Yeah, so really quickly just to pick up or should I say previously on Mountain Mysteries Tales from Appalachia? Yeah, I don't really don't recap. Okay, so we talked about Mary shot Well, little Mary was a newlywed she was working as a bank secretary where she's been employed in Atlanta for the last three years She and her husband had gotten married about six weeks before it seemed that you know, everything was great with her marriage She talked really well about him. So on this particular night in October of 1965 Closed up shop at work had agreed to meet a friend for dinner her husband was out of town for work So she meets the friend for dinner tells the friend hey I'll see you later, but she doesn't shop or work the next day Mary's boss and co-workers think that's strange.
So they end up calling the manager of her apartment who says yes She never made it home. So they seek out where she had last been seen which was the parking lot of the shopping center and her car Had not been seen when they patrol the area the security and say him But when the boss came to that area at 1230 her car was magically there and cool to the touch meaning that it had been parked for several hours It also had a North Carolina license plate, but it was registered in Georgia It was very strange. They interviewed the husband thinking maybe it was him He gave off some you know weird vibes weird vibes Particularly because he didn't have a reaction But once they sort of searched his past they realized that he came from a military background and he wasn't really allowed to kind of have a reaction However friends and family did say that they didn't approve of Mary's marriage to him because he was so aloof and rude and kind of controlling Right, but there was no evidence that really pointed us towards the husband So then police started looking in other areas and pretty soon they found that Mary had been receiving flowers Specifically five red roses to her office They didn't know who they came from it seemed like a mystery admirer And the flowers had come from a florist right down the street from Mary's house Very strange. It does appear that the flower whoever sent the flowers did not want the husband to know about it Right.
She also had been receiving several calls from someone that her coworkers didn't know who it was But they heard Mary say I'm married now. I can't visit you but you can come visit me Again very strange Mary also said to her coworkers that she was scared to be in her apartment alone and drive alone But didn't expand on that and she Scaringly enough. I don't know if that's a word But she also said to them right before she went missing that she had something really important that she wanted to tell them And she never did now Mary's car was found with blood It was found with her garments including her underwear bald up in the backseat her girdle her slip You know all these things that you would not go without right? They also found a piece of grass and tangled in blood on the passenger seat There's just a lot of things where cigarettes were just sitting there and God knows in the 60s You didn't leave your secret that's fine.
So there's a lot of things going on And another thing that we ended on was that they searched her credit card receipts and they found gas receipts from October 15th Just eight hours after she went missing in Charlotte, North Carolina And then again the gas receipts were found for 4 p.m. In Raleigh Who signed the gas receipts? Mary and they verified it. So now we're gonna pick up because the question is is Mary still alive right?
Did she leave of her own volition did someone kidnap her what's going on? Who knows who knows we shall see we shall see all right? We're starting off this episode of me doing a little math and I know that's scary So I started wondering okay, how far is Charlotte, North Carolina from that parking lot in Linux Square in Atlanta? So it's about four hours and 30 minutes, which is 242 miles now remember in episode one I told you that on the odometer her car only had an extra 40 miles on it So how could it have traveled all this way?
Did somebody just have a North Carolina license plate that they switched out? She maybe so there was a car in North Carolina that the owner was like wait a minute somebody switched out my tag I live in North Carolina. There's a Georgia tag on my car. So that was reported.
That's so weird. It is so weird So Charlotte to Raleigh because remember they found one gas receipt in Charlotte in 12 hours later They found one in Raleigh, North Carolina. That's an additional two hours and 46 minutes give or take traffic another 167 miles so there is no way that in a span of around 14 hours You know from the time she went missing to the time her boss found the car at 1230 p.m There's no way that you could do all that driving I mean you might be able to but she would have had to if she was lasting at 8 p.m The car would have had to be in the parking lot again by 10 a.m. At the latest to be able to make that all work Right and the odometer said 40 miles.
I don't know. There's no way so None of this makes sense and also even if she did make it put the car back You know in that span of time she wouldn't be making any stops Right just to get gas That's it like you wouldn't have time to pee you wouldn't have time to stop and take a rest nothing So that makes no sense and that would also mean that she's in the area and they can't find her anywhere Yeah, okay, so we also know that for some reason like I said her car only had the 40 extra miles But all of when I did the math again the trip to North Carolina and all the places they went and then back would give you 811 miles There is no way that in this span of time she would have been able to do that Yeah, and change the license plate. No, no way Another interesting factoid when police went to the gas stations in both Charlotte and Raleigh They asked the attendants to pull the credit card slips that all the customers had to sign when they use credit the signature was Mary's Absolutely, no question about it. So we know that at least by the 15th of October Mary was still alive Sounds like it so either she was forced into the car and had to pay for gas or she ran off.
Yeah When investigators asked the service station attendants if they had seen the woman who signed the credit card slips They said that yes, they had recalled seeing a woman with a a cut on the back of her head Okay, so remember on the passenger seat there was blood mix with grass. Yep Both station attendants reviewed a photograph of Mary and were convinced that this was the same woman that they had seen The attendants told investigators that the woman was with two middle-aged men who appeared to be unkempt and unshaven So kind of scruffy look yeah, which does not seem like her emote like she's a classy lady. She's very put together Yes, so these men appeared to be barking orders at Mary and she seemed fearful of them kind of kept her head down Even so the Charlotte attendant even said that Mary was actually sort of lying scrunching down in the passenger seat And she had put a map like over her head like trying to shield her face so that you couldn't recognize her Yeah, I mean just very strange the attendant went on to state that the man who was driving Was the one who handed the credit card over okay? There was also another man in the back seat and Mary was in the passenger seat So once the credit card, you know had swiped And he hands it back he gives the receipt to the man to sign but instead of the man signing it signing it he hands it to Mary For her to sign for her to sign which she does she signs it as Mrs.
Roy H. Jr. We're done Again, it's the 60s. Yeah, so it's so it's now it's important to note that the time between filling up gas in Charlotte and Raleigh There's a time lapse of 12 hours now remember what I said this city is only you know these cities are like two two and a half hours Yeah, that's not of our journey.
So that leaves us nine and a half hours that are unaccounted for So what were they doing in between Charlotte and Raleigh? Who are these men? Yeah? This one indicate they stopped somewhere Yeah, we don't know where though So police share the information about the gas receipts with the public hoping that those in the Piedmont area of North Carolina You know could be on the lookout in the meantime Mary's husband Roy receives a phone call from someone stating that they had Mary But if he wanted to see her alive He was gonna get $20,000 in unmarked bills and go to an overpass in the Pizzamas National Forest in Western, North Carolina Dang area you and I know quite well comes back to this area comes back to us So the collars stated that there would be a sign with a note that would deliver more detailed information and instructions You will open the brown police Like just say just drop them on you like why does there now like I gotta solve a freaking riddle The troll at the end of the road, you know like it kind of does make it feel that way and ultimately it just makes it Like they're screwing with you.
Yeah, you know, so the collar insisted no cops obviously Yeah, because you risk your wife's life. No no cops Roy. What? Rancive demander is gonna say actually if you would Bring the entire police department with you that would bring the FBI.
Yeah, that would be fun Would be perfect if you have and actually bring marked bills. Yeah, cuz I want people to know that I have your money So Roy was no dummy. Yeah, Roy was like cool. Sounds good hangs up and he calls the FBI Immediately, so okay props to Roy, you know, he wasn't doing as well in episode one.
He's making a comeback He is good job Roy. So the FBI's like cool. Here's what we're gonna do We're gonna sit an agent in your place So kind of the skies is you Roy and you know, we're gonna go to the overpass we're gonna do all the things So that's what happens. They send the agent to Western, North Carolina.
He makes it to the overpass. He gets to the sign It's like all right Here's your next riddle FBI and so he gets the sign he sees a note on it. He takes it down. It's blank Nothing I didn't want to go to the mountains.
Why am I here? Why is there a blank letter? Why why you know? Okay, I got a blank space and I'll write your name clearly.
Yep. Okay, so Roy and anyone associated with Mary was never contacted by These people again, so he shows up with the money to the troll bridge It seems like a terrible hoax that somebody just thought this is gonna be fun You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna prank call that poor greeting husband And we're gonna tell him to like bring money and instead he brought the FBI. Oh, that's not cool And then we don't even get the money out of it.
No, that's weird. That's super weird I don't like it. Me neither So a month after Mary went missing a young boy into Cobb County to Cobb to Cal Cal but there we go County Georgia found a note and scribbled on Hey, we just heard a bear. I know another note but this time it wasn't empty Scribbled on the bottom of a southern citizens citizens and southern citizens and southern that's what they said.
That's what it was Thank receipt now remember. That's where she worked. Yeah was this writing that said quote help Mary Little being held captive When they tested the you know handwriting it was indeed Mary's they searched the Georgia area, but didn't find anything So is this just like a random note on the ground that was found? Yeah Alright, police thought that Mary may have been abducted by a stranger in the Linux Square parking lot Now part of why they thought that it could have been a stranger Which is weird to me is because a lady had been accosted by a random man Just moments before Mary's abduction in that same parking lot that a man kind of came off to her came up to her and she falling off basically That's like it's a little Tuesday, Atlanta I mean, that's just a night of the club.
Come on now. You know people gonna cost it all the time. Oh, absolutely I mean, that's literally anywhere. Not sorry, Lana.
Not to we've just lost all the Atlanta list. I mean either that or they're like Yeah, yeah, we're not sure. Let us know keep us posted Every time I get into any major city is always there's always something there's a lot of a costing a lot of costing yeah verbal Costing yeah, I'm a lot of physical costing. Yeah, you're like hey you homeless lady.
You're like actually I am fully employed I just dressed like this I just she's just Thanks so much and thanks so much for sharing it with everybody here in public. Yeah, how often do you bathe? Today actually good job before I came here. I noticed your hair was yeah I was very wet.
Yeah, it was very wet. I got the car. I haven't but I need to I have an event tomorrow. I need to like do something Sorry, you guys I'm Okay, all right so it was also a theory that Mary snocker who sent these five random roses were could have been the person who was Watching her and found that perfect opportunity to just you know attack or Was Mary actually not as happy as she said she was it kind of you know I think about like the social media post of all the people were like oh my husband's so great and this is the perfect and Realistically, it's not right and so maybe she was saying this about her husband She wasn't happy and this was her you know escape route.
I don't know Yeah, but these two random dudes that she knows so there is one theory that Mary's disappearance had something to do with a sex scandal At the bank she worked out so there was this sex scandal that had happened described as prostitution on the bank premises Whoa lesbian harassment Wow? So the FBI came in to investigate any all of this but the separate layer as part of the case I think separately but possibly as part of the case like they were like man. We got a good check out like we Like was she gonna you know blow the whistle on it and somebody had to take her out blowing the whistle and the lesbian harass That's pretty wild Yeah, all right I mean who knows and it also seems weird because like her boss was clearly trying to find her Yeah, even they had posted money for her like nobody's gonna say like here's tons of money for somebody if we wanted to like keep her Quiet and killer, you know like that doesn't make sense So but they were trying to say like oh Mary knew about all this and I want to know more about me too And that's why she went missing But I mean who knows and and it all could have been It's a most exciting thing that happened in that bank and I just yeah when the banks are rocking Lesbian sex I mean, I was expecting more than I did. Oh my gosh.
That's amazing. I know right in the 60s in the 60s Scandal how she involved in the lesbians can I mean I hope so lesbian harassment I don't think that harassment right I hope the harassment is not like that she was doing it or that it was like actual harassment And it was just something that these people were like oh, we don't like lesbians. We're gonna call whatever they do harassment Right or maybe she came up, you know, she and I love were like lesbian friends. Oh, maybe maybe could be we don't know We don't know knows.
I do have something else to share that's fascinating. Okay, so there's another interesting fact to share Several months after Mary went missing, you know, they obviously had to fill her job Yeah, so they filled it with a 20 year old named Diane Shields, okay So two years later in 1967 Diane herself went missing after leaving work However, Diane was found oh that's good. Yeah, she was found fully clothed and deceased Yes, so happy for Diane You got it you're surviving but she didn't know what she was called. I mean that's good I guess you found fully clothed and deceased No, of her own car in a laundry mat parking lot in Atlanta.
So she had not been assaulted. Okay, actually Okay, her cause of death was suffocation. Oh, and this is weird her hands were placed like in front of her in a prayer position Which is what 20 22 is well, she's baby and she had a piece of phone book like a phone book page Shut down her throat that that's screaming like signature to me right that is somebody who has done this before correct And had a was angry at her. Yeah, like that's Yeah, that's not good.
Very personal. Yeah, so it was also clear that Diane had not been robbed Like she had on all her jewelry including her new engagement ring because another parallel to Mary Diane was recently engaged And we know Mary had recently been with yeah a friend of Diane's told police that Diane actually was heavily invested in them Missing persons case of a woman named Mary. So could this investigation of sorts like lead to Diane's death? Like did she get too close?
Did she take her job an effort to learn more about what was happening? Oh, you told me to Let's be friends No, I'm in the truck of the car. But fully dressed. That's good.
Yeah. Yeah, so did she learn too much? Did someone want to shut her up for good? Mm-hmm I don't know so Diane's case has never been solved and I would love to do a deep dive on this story So I would like to find out more about Diane's story just you know to kind of book in here But police obviously thought like okay, is this a coincidence or are these connected and I mean Like they worked at the same job, you know, they both went missing one night after work They both were like recently engaged in their coincidence exactly, but sadly there was no evidence that came to light that could truly link them other than The fact that they worked at the same place.
Hmm. So going back to Mary's case for a minute in 1966 an inmate at the Georgia State Department of Corrections Requested an interview with the FBI The inmate's name was Larry Sturgel and he wrote a letter to the police stating he had some information They may want to hear He's told them that there was a bank lady who had gone missing two years before, excuse me a year before He indicated that he knew who killed her Now Larry himself was serving a life term for murder But stated that she was kidnapped by two men who were hired to do so for a fee of five thousand dollars He was unsure of the motive or who hired these men He offered up that in 1965 he was working at a movie theater taking tickets in Gainesville, Florida This is just right over the line from Georgia So it was at the theater that he met a fellow employee named Gerald Mason or Jerry The two hit it off and became friends one night Jerry convinced Larry to go drinking with him in the college park area Larry agreed and the two highly intoxicated went to an overlook in Atlanta Jerry encouraged Larry to look through this like telescope and not the worst thing And the telescope was directed at this construction site behind the Atlanta airport So if you all know anything about the Atlanta airport, it's massive and I hate it Not to disadvantage more, but honestly, I hate the Atlanta airport Yes, it's that one in Charlotte Charlotte too is pretty terrible. I don't hate Charlotte I really hate Atlanta. That's one of my least favorite airports.
I found anyone I hate even more what Dallas. Oh, yeah, Dallas I was terrible Dallas is rough. I love Phoenix if you've ever been through the Phoenix airport. It's amazing.
It's all like so He's pretty great. It's a beautiful beautiful. Yes So he's looking at this construction site behind the Atlanta airport because at this time in the 60s They're doing a lot of building particularly to the airport. They're adding on all these things Now I just want to throw out that the bank that Mary worked at Was providing loans construction loans for all these major businesses who were expanding and building Yeah, they provided the loan for the airport to be able to build this construction area just throwing that out.
Interesting. Yeah So Larry's you know looking out at this vast area and that's being excavated and built upon and Jerry turns to him and says Yeah, well, that's where Mary's buried. Mm Larry knowing of the crime looked at his friends like you're bullshitting me. You're crazy I mean who wouldn't like you know, you're drunk.
Yeah, we talk it out of your head like come on man So Jerry's like oh, you don't believe me he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a citizen's and southern credit card It has Mary's name. Whoa Larry also mentioned that he was told by Jerry and another friend that they needed to meet someone near this construction site and pick up a Brown envelope Inside this envelope was money. Apparently this money was being used to blackmail someone in Atlanta Payment for kidnapping me and there was payment for like the kidnapping So I guess that they were helping blackmail. So I wonder if they were trying to blackmail the husband Or Her work or I don't know.
Yeah, it was very weird and then remember there was that whole fake Ransom. Yeah, the riddle the scavenger. Yes. It's not that.
Yeah, so Larry didn't think that Jerry was responsible for the murder But that he helped kind of orchestrate it. Oh, the real killer He believed and he named but I don't it didn't say here. Um, was a man who in 2003 Um was convicted of killing two police officers in 1957 So they used DNA evidence and he actually died in the South Carolina prison in 2017 You know, they never like made that connection. It wasn't him.
So I don't know if they interviewed him I don't know if they were able to fully make that link None of Larry's claims though could be proven and he was also a murder and an omelier Point on your most reliable source. Yes And they believe that he was just looking for a ticket out of jail. Yeah, so another tip Is that Larry knew a lot of information about Mary's physical injuries, uh, including the gash on her forehead He knew what she was wearing But again, this could have been written in a newspaper. This could be released to the public So I don't I don't know Larry stated that the two men who took Mary had held her captive in a cabin in western, North Carolina They stated that Mary was tortured of swords and eventually killed now again.
This could go back to That's where they wanted to drop off the money was in western North Carolina in the Pizzgan National Forest Maybe there's some validity to some of this could be or he's just been reading a lot and gathering information So he also claimed, you know, her body was dumped at the construction site So I assumed the police searched it but didn't come up with anything Right So in 2017 an Atlanta cold case team opened both Mary and Diane's cases and continued to work on them in the hopes That they will find her killer or at least like what happened to Mary. So is it possible that Mary's still alive? I mean, yeah, maybe maybe she would be 85. I mean it is possible that she could still be out there, but Highly unlikely.
Yeah, so that is the story of Mary shortwell little wow. Yeah. Thank you guys for joining us for part two I know it's crazy crazy crazy story We needed a minute gosh. Yeah I mean it it pinged in so many different like is it the husband is it this is it that is a stalker?
I have like there's no resolution There's nothing and that's what's most frustrating about it And I'm sure I can't imagine how her family has felt all these years and the husband I don't know if he's still with us, but oh my gosh It's how you would feel and to be like accused almost, you know, like that is horrible. So Anyway, that's my story. Well, I know Well It's hard to segue it is hard to segue from that You know if you want to get in touch with us, haley, how do they do that? You can do that by emailing us at about mysteries dot apple legend at gmail.com find us on our facebook mountain mysteries tells me about Find us on our instagram about mysteries dot apple legend and check us out on patreon patreon.com slash mountain mysteries And my shout out is torrents california.
Yes. Thank you for listening. Thanks and uh haley's episode is next week We've got some new fun stuff. Yeah, it's about some new fun stuff.
It's our five-year anniversary. That's right So we are ready for that. Yeah, and we're gonna talk about um, maybe some new adventures. Oh, I love new adventures All right.
Well until next week. Bye