General

A Skull Staring Back: The Unsolved Homicide Of Linda Sherman

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2021

Despite her death occurring five years prior, the story of the homicide of Linda Sue Sherman always begins on June 28, 1990. It’s on this date two flight attendants having lunch in a restaurant in the northern suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri noticed a human skull in the bushes outside their window.

It was positioned in such a way that it appeared to be staring directly at them.

Police were quickly summoned to the scene. The skull was yellowed and encrusted with dirt – indicative of being buried for quite some time.

Recalling a botched cemetery relocation project happening nearby and having no recent missing person cases to tie the remains to, investigators surmised the skull was not indicative of foul play. It was placed in evidence storage, becoming a curiosity pending further information.

Nearly 15 months later – on September 16 1991 – further information finally arrived. A letter sent to the neighboring Vinita Park police department, written in stamped purple ink, alerted them to the following:

“THE BRIDGETON POLICE HAVE LINDA SHERMAN’S SKULL”

Vinita Park investigators were familiar with the name. Linda Sherman was a married 27-year-old mother and resident of the small town who vanished on April 22 1985.

Initially skeptical of the letter, investigators quickly got in touch with the nearby Bridgeton police and confirmed there was indeed an unidentified human skull in their possession. A comparison between Linda Sherman’s dental records and the remains were arranged, and a positive match was made the following day.

Many questions had to be answered…

1) Why would someone take Linda’s skull and place it in plain view of the Casa Gallardo restaurant? Someone would have had to of gone to where Linda’s remains were buried and unearth them just to take the skull.

2) Why would someone write a letter informing the police that the skull was Linda’s?

Employed by the U.S. Government Records Center located in Spanish Lake, Missouri (now the National Personnel Records Center) Linda Sherman was by all accounts a reliable worker and devoted parent.

Her sudden disappearance reeked of foul play to police long before the startling appearance of her skull five years later.

These suspicions were amplified once police zeroed in on Linda’s husband, Donald Eugene Sherman, and began to piece together the true nature of the couple’s relationship in the months and years leading to Linda’s disappearance.

The couple met and married while still in high school after Linda became pregnant with their only daughter. Throughout the ten years they were together prior to her disappearance, Linda made several attempts to leave Don, citing his jealousy and anger issues.

They would breakup and makeup many times, culminating in Linda filing for divorce for the second time on April 11 1985, just 11 days before she went missing.

Don

In the days following Linda’s disappearance, Don proposed more than one theory to police. The one he would ultimately stick to involved Linda leaving him for another man, but he also suggested the possibility that Linda had gotten involved in a cocaine trafficking ring and was killed by co-conspirators fearful she would testify against them.

Don later told police he caught a glimpse of his wife in the passenger seat of a truck after her disappearance, with a man he didn’t know, but claims she ducked and he lost the vehicle in traffic.

None of these stories sat right with investigators, seeming more like the words of someone trying to deflect suspicion off himself.

Then there was the matter of Don’s family history. In 1974 his mother shot and killed his father in the kitchen over “one of their arguments.”

Initially denying she pulled the trigger, Don’s mother eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served six months. It was a coincidence which only served to fuel the police focus on Don as the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife Linda.

When Linda’s skull was found, the coincidences only got stranger. Not only was the restaurant where the remains were discovered a favorite drinking spot for Don Sherman, he was there the day his wife’s skull appeared.

The sudden disappearance of Linda Sherman, the equally sudden appearance of her skull five years later, and the anonymous letter devoid of fingerprints or DNA pointing police in the right direction – what does it add up to?

Despite never having enough evidence for a successful arrest or prosecution, the prevailing theory put forward by investigators ties up the loose ends rather well:

It’s the belief of investigators that Don murdered his wife sometime on or around April 21, 1985 in reaction to learning she planned to finally go through with a divorce. He buried the body and reported her missing. Ironically, he realized years later that without proof she died, he wouldn’t be able to file for divorce and remarry.

At this point, Don hatched a plan to dig up her skull and plant it somewhere it would be easily found. The scheme worked perfectly – except for the fact the police incorrectly surmised the skull originated from the nearby cemetery relocation project and didn’t bother with an analysis.

After months of waiting for news of the discovered skull being connected to his missing wife and hearing nothing, Don decided to take further action.

He wrote the letter and sent it to police, at which point the connection between the discovered skull and Linda was finally made. She was declared dead, and Don was allowed to remarry.

It’s a compelling theory, but lacks any concrete evidence. More than three decades after her death, the homicide of Linda Sherman is unlikely to be solved without the discovery of the rest of her remains. Even then, the weight of time may be too much to overcome in the pursuit of justice for Linda.

By Taylor Leonard, source: theghostdiaries.com

General

The Dark and Mysterious History of Yosemite’s Tenaya Canyon

Published

2 days ago

June 1, 2023

Tenaya Canyon is a trail-less and treacherous part of Yosemite
National Park that runs from Tenaya Lake down to Yosemite Valley. It is
known as the “Bermuda Triangle of Yosemite” because of the many
accidents, injuries and deaths that have occurred there over the years.

Some
people even believe that the canyon is cursed by the spirits of the
original inhabitants of Yosemite, who were violently displaced by the
Mariposa Indian War in the 1850s.

The canyon is a challenging and
risky route for adventurous hikers and climbers, who have to navigate
smooth granite slabs, steep rappels, mandatory swims and precarious
ledges. The canyon also offers stunning views of waterfalls, swimming
holes and rock formations.

However, the park officials warn that
“a trip into the unforgiving terrain of Tenaya Canyon…should not be
taken lightly.” There is a sign at the entrance of the canyon that
reads: “TRAVEL BEYOND THIS POINT IS DANGEROUS.”

One
of the most famous incidents in Tenaya Canyon happened in 1918, when
John Muir, the “Father of the National Parks,” fell and was knocked
unconscious while exploring the canyon.

He later wrote: “I was
suddenly brought to a standstill by a blow on the head that confused my
senses for a moment or two without wholly stunning me.” He managed to
recover and continue his journey, but he never returned to the canyon.

Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, CA

“Tenaya Canyon is one of those places where you can feel history all
around you,” said Scott Gediman, a park ranger at Yosemite National
Park. “It’s a very powerful place.”

Another notable explorer of
Tenaya Canyon was Ron Kauk, a legendary climber who lived in Yosemite
for decades and scaled some of its most challenging walls.

He camped on the side of a rock face in Tenaya Canyon and felt a mysterious force pulling on his sleeping bag.

He told SFGATE:
“It was like something that came around in a teasing kind of way or
something. It wasn’t anything too dramatic, no lights flashing around or
flying by you. Just to acknowledge that there was something else
there.”

He speculated that the canyon might be “the holding place for the original spirit of the place and the people (of Yosemite).”

Tenaya
Canyon is named after Chief Tenaya, the leader of the Ahwahneechee
tribe that lived in Yosemite Valley before they were driven out by the
Mariposa Battalion, a group of armed volunteers sent by California’s
governor to subdue the Native Americans in the area.

The
battalion captured Chief Tenaya and his people and forced them to
relocate to a reservation near Fresno. However, some of them escaped and
returned to Yosemite Valley, where they were attacked again by the
battalion.

Chief Tenaya’s son was killed in the battle, and he
reportedly cursed his enemies and his homeland before fleeing into
Tenaya Canyon. He was later killed by a rival tribe near Mono Lake.

Some
historians and locals believe that Chief Tenaya’s curse still lingers
in Tenaya Canyon, causing misfortune and tragedy for those who enter it.
Others think that the canyon is simply a dangerous place that requires
caution and respect.

Tenaya Canyon has had more than 110 people
killed there and many more injured. It is known to the Park Service as
the Bermuda Triangle of Yosemite.

Hundreds
of people go missing at national parks across the United States every
year. Some of these disappearances are never solved. Yosemite National
Park holds the notorious position as the national park with the third
most missing persons per year (233).

Either way, Tenaya Canyon
remains one of Yosemite’s most fascinating and mysterious places, where
nature’s beauty and history’s brutality collide.

General

Vatican investigates potential miracle at Connecticut church

Published

1 week ago

May 25, 2023

The Catholic Church is reportedly investigating a potential miracle that occurred at a church in Connecticut, reports independent.co.uk.

The supposed miracle took place at St Thomas Church in Thomaston, Connecticut, according to the Hartford Courant.

The
Revered Joseph Crowley, who heads St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, which
includes St Thomas Church, reported that the wafers distributed during
the observation of communion multiplied while sitting inside the
ciborium.

“God duplicated himself in the ciborium,” Rev Crowley
said after communion, referencing the metal storage containers used to
house the communion wafers. “God provides and it’s strange how God does
that. And that happened.”

In
response, the Archdiocese of Hartford began an investigation to
determine whether or not a miracle had occurred at the church.

Since
then, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, a group dating
back to the 1500’s tasked with promoting and defending the Catholic
faith throughout the world, has been notified and has begun its own
investigation.

A spokesman for the archdiocese, David Elliott,
issued a statement to the Hartford Courant saying that “reports such as
the alleged miracle in Thomaston require referral to the Dicastery for
the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome. The Archdiocese has proceeded
accordingly, and will await a response in due time.”

Miracles are
an important part of the process of becoming a saint within the Catholic
Church. Sainthood considerations typically begin five years after the
death of an exceptional Catholic.

A
number of criteria must be met, including “verified miracles” — Vatican
officials must determine that the miracles are a direct result of an
individual praying to the candidate saint. They must come to the
decision that the miracle was a result of the dead potential saint
interceding between the petitioner and God, causing the miracle.

The
Catholic Church defines a miracle as a “sign of wonder such as a
healing, or control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine
power.”

While duplicating thin bread wafers may seem like a minor
use of divine power to those unfamiliar with Catholic theology, the
Eucharist — often called communion or the lord’s supper — is arguably
the holiest and most important sacrament — or ritual — in the faith.

Catholics
typically believe in the idea of transubstantiation, or the idea that
the bread and wine given during the ritual literally become the body and
blood of Jesus Christ upon consecration, as opposed to simply symbols
of his presence.

Michael
O’Neil, who goes by the moniker Miracle Hunter, authored a book called
Science and the Miraculous: How the Church Investigates the
Supernatural, spoke to the Hartford Courant and gave examples of
previous eucharistic miracles.

“There are various types of
eucharistic miracles, but the ones that are most remarkable, in my
opinion, were on some rare occasions, the host is said to bleed human
blood,” he said.

Reverend Michael McGivney, the founder of the
Knights of Columbus, ended his clerical career at St Thomas, where the
alleged communion miracle took place. He has been in consideration for
sainthood and requires one more verified miracle before he moves on to
final consideration for sainthood within the Catholic Church.

Archbishop
Leonard Blair explained to the Hartford Courant that “what has been
reported to have occurred at our parish church in Thomaston, of which
Blessed Michael McGivney was once pastor, if verified, would constitute a
sign or wonder that can only be attributed to divine power to
strengthen our faith in the daily miracle of the Most Holy Eucharist.

It
would also be a source of blessing from Heaven for the effort that the
US Bishops are making to renew and deepen the faith and practice of our
Catholic people with regard to this great Sacrament.”

“Blessed” is a title given to saint candidates who have had “verified” miracles attributed to them by the Vatican.