Hello, so many of you may know by now that I come from a very strange town full of very strange things, from a diner appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye, to a ghost ship that seems to border our sea.
Let’s just say when it comes to strange things this town does not disappoint.
My name is James I’ve lived in this town for 30 years and for as long as I can remember there has been no children other than the ones born here that have ever lived in this town. Well, I wouldn’t say never you see in this town children just simply disappear. I don’t know if its cursed or if this town simply does not like outsiders.
The year is 1990 I was an 8th grader in JR high and captain of the school’s basketball team. We had a pretty solid record so far and we were set to face our archrivals, this team was no joke either after all they were undefeated and had one of the best scorers in the state on their team,12-year-old Jack Harvey. He was considered to be the prospect everyone wanted going into high school well, that all changed the night of the big game when he disappeared.
The day everyone was waiting for had finally came the final bell had rung and school was let out for the weekend while many pared off and did what they wanted most were excited to attend the late-night November game that would soon change the town forever.
It was 5pm November the 16th 1990 and everyone was filling up the central middle school gym for what should be the game of the year. Buses pulled into the oversized parking lot and the rival team poured off of them like they were a bunch of sweaty nerds at a convention.
The time was soon 6:30pm and both teams were taking the court. 1 by 1 the score went up and the parents of both sides were erupting into what seemed to be a mix of cheers and boos as if this place was about to be a riot zone.
I passed to Ryan who passed to josh who went for a layup to tie it up, but just as he did the Wissel blew it was time for half time. We all went to the locker room to either get hydrated or snack on something when a scream was heard from the opposing locker room.
The coaches rushed in to see what was going on and to everyone’s horror jack was gone only his shoes with blood stains all over them remained. The coaches backed out slowly into the hall where all the kids from my team were now waiting to see what was going on.
The coaches shielded us from the view of the locker room, and we quickly realized jack wasn’t the only one missing. The coaches were overheard by some of my other teammates talking about how 3 other young boys from the opposing team were now missing.
The sheriff’s department soon arrived, and an investigation was underway. Everyone from my team to their team including coaches and parents were questioned but nothing ever came of it it’s as if the boys simply disappeared.
The rest of the game was canceled from there on out and an early curfew was put into effect for the town. Any and all children under 17 had to be inside by 5 pm and were not to leave under any circumstance until 9am the next morning.
A few weeks have passed since their disappearance and that’s all the cops can talk about. That was until another boy visiting his grandmother from a neighboring town went missing as well. The sheriff’s department now on high alert started shifting their attention to predators that lived in the area. Of course, they turned up nothing with this and by the end of December the case went cold.
The new year came and went with no new leads and the families were starting to give up. Then came February 10th, 1991, 3 months after the kids went missing from central middle school the sheriff’s office got there first break. A homeless man by the name of Carl Addams reported seeing the boys wander into the old mining shafts outside of town at 2 am Saturday morning 1 day after the big game.
The sheriff’s department rushed to the mines and searched them from top to bottom only for them to disappear to. The search for the missing deputies and children went on for 3 weeks after that and turned up nothing. That was until June 2nd, 1991, 4 months after the sheriff’s deputies went missing one actually turned up.
Stumbling into town babbling on about a force of nature taking them away deputy Morrison looked to be out of his mind. The sheriff took his report and pretty much tossed it out as well him locking him away in the states mental asylum where he remains today.
The mines collapsed in 2004 and nobody has been in or out since. It remains a cold case till this day 33 years later my heart truly goes out to the missing and the 17 other kids who have gone missing in our town since but in reality, I’m just glad it wasn’t me and that it’s just another blip in our town’s weird history.