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THE REPORTER:

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Hello Witherburn, how's everyone doing today? I know I am tired, but we will discuss why that is towards the end of our episode. I will tell y'all that I am THIS close to cracking the missing persons cases, I just know it.

 

That's a discussion for later though, for now we will start with our regular stories. Stories like the Mayor's drunken rant at the Bog Monster bar, Hunter's mysterious news scar, and how someone stole an ambulance from Magnolia's EMS. All that and more coming up on Witherburn Afterschool News.

 

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We have a whole bunch of interesting stories to choose from, listeners, but I'm going to start with the absolutely wild ride David Chavez took three nights ago. It was a normal night shift for David, there weren't any calls, and it was a quiet night. This was good because it was David's first week on the job, he liked that he had a chance to ease into the position.

 

It wasn't until about 1am that they got a call about a DUI incident. A car had crashed, and both passengers seemed to be under the influence of some sort of drug. Which drug it was has not been released to the public.

 

One passenger was unresponsive, and the other could barely tell the officers her name. So EMS drives over there to help them out and get them stable. They're at the site for about five minutes, and everyone's vitals are starting to even out, and it looks like everyone's going to be okay.

 

David goes to grab something from the ambulance, just some extra supplies, when suddenly, the ambulance starts moving. He assumed someone didn't turn on the brakes, but when he looked up, he saw Penny Bronte in the driver's seat. Before he could attempt to stop her, she slammed on the gas.

 

Then David was holding on, making sure he didn't fly out of the open doors. The police proceeded to chase the ambulance for 25 miles. After about 15 minutes of being in a police chase, David decided he had had enough.

 

He made his way to the front and managed to wrestle the wheel away from Penny, ending the police chase. David managed to get safely off the ambulance with no injuries. So, how does this wild goose chase happen in the first place? Well, Grant Bronte, Penny's husband, was in a more critical condition than Penny.

 

So when Penny stabilized, it seemed everyone's focus was pulled towards Grant. So, scared that she was going to be arrested, which, yeah, she was, she decided to make a run for it. Her car was kaput.

 

So what was the closest working vehicle? The ambulance. This train of thought was not helped by the drugs in her system. So she snuck past the EMS workers and jumped into the ambulance.

 

Someone had left the keys in, a mistake I doubt anyone will be making again anytime soon. So she just drove off with David in the back. She reached speeds of nearly 100 miles an hour, which I didn't even know an ambulance could reach, as she sped onto a thankfully empty road.

 

Penny is currently being charged with kidnapping, grand theft auto, and driving while under the influence. She is in jail without bail till her trial in April. I guess Witherburn can't be the only town with crazy stories.

 

Makes me kind of happy that Magnolia has its own share of wild tales. Though, I don't know if Witherburn has ever had anyone commandeer a government vehicle. Let's focus on some local stories, though.

 

Mayor Burnham said some very incriminating things at the Bog Monster Bar. Things that I think should affect who we vote for in November. Mayor Burnham walked into the bar at around 7 o'clock and was hanging around and talking to friends.

 

Cool, fine, whatever. Except he wouldn't leave, he just kept ordering drink after drink until it was 3 a.m. and he was very drunk. Maisey told him to leave. She had to close up the bar. But he wouldn't go.

 

That's when he started crying. Like, full-on sobbing into the counter. Choking on snot and spit, It was apparently very gross. 

 

Maisey tried to help, but she didn't really know what to do since this was very out of character for Burnham. He then started to go on and on about how he was going to quit his job.

 

There was, quote, no point in him being in office if all he did was hurt people. So now Maisey got it. The disappearances were weighing on him, which they should be.

 

He is a person that can make a real difference in this town. Yet he's done diddly squat. Anyways, Maisey tried to console him, telling him that the best thing he could do was try to make things better.

 

But he just kept crying, saying, I'm not helping, though. I'm hurting everyone, and for what? A man I've never seen before? At this point, Maisey was getting frustrated. He had been a blubbering mess on her bar counters for about 15 minutes now, and she wanted to close and get home.

 

She threatened to call the police, but the mayor still didn't leave saying something about how he'd ruined his reputation anyway by telling her all of this, the Clarks will never let him win another election, and that he's lucky if all they do is ruin his career. Which, yay, admittance that the Clarkks single-handedly control our mayor. Don't you just love the free and fair elections of Witherburn? I know I do.

 

I mean, we knew that the Clarks were lobbying the mayor to get what they wanted, but it's nice to have confirmation from the mayor. But the issue here is, what did the mayor say that would get him out of the Clarks' good graces? I mean, sure, his ramblings were sad, but nothing was incriminating against the Clarks. If anything, they were incriminating against the mayor, not the Clarks.

 

So what, would they just throw him out and back another candidate because he embarrassed himself? Maybe, but when you already put so much money into lobbying for one candidate, you tend not to give up because they got a little drunk one time. Also, what's with the man-I've-never-seen-before comment? He has seen Richard Clark, which is who I would assume he's talking about. Maybe he just meant seen emotionally? No, that's stupid.

 

It's just so out of place. The other stuff I get, I can make logical sense of those comments, but I just don't understand that one. It's like I'm missing the last piece to a puzzle.

 

Or it could just be the musings of a drunk man. That's more likely, I will say I hope you keep in mind how Mr. Burnham thought he was terrible at his job next time you enter the voting booth.

 

I mean, there are many reasons not to vote for that man, but at this point, he's practically begging that you kick him out of office. That's enough of me campaigning against Burnham, though. I'm honestly surprised y'all still bother to listen to me.

 

I'm pretty sure everyone in town has their mind made up about that man, so I doubt I'm flipping any votes. How about we continue talking about the Clarks, huh? Hunter came to school on Thursday. Yes, he is back in the classroom despite his incident with Amelia.

 

But that's not even the story. You see, Hunter came back to class with this long scar that ran across his face. It cut deep and was all scabby and gross.

 

At one point in the day, it had opened up a bit and there was just blood dripping down his face. And he just let it drip all over him. Honestly, he looked like a horror movie villain shambling around school.

 

Someone actually went up to ask him how he got the wound. He just muttered something about how that conniving B-word got the jump on him. See, a couple of people thought he was referring to some of Amelia's friends.

 

It wouldn't be totally out of character for them to do vigilante justice, but they all claimed innocence. Now, that doesn't mean they didn't do it, because they might just be smart enough not to say anything. I know from experience that the Clark family is not a fun enemy.

 

I mean, they were nothing I couldn't handle, clearly. Brenda failed to destroy my show, though I do admire her for trying. Anyway, one person, and this was just what I was told and I could find no evidence of this, said that Hunter told them that Eva did that to him.

 

Which, if this is a lie, that's so messed up. I mean, seriously, starting a rumor about a missing... Dead. A dead girl is so wrong.

 

Just let her rest. I beg of you. If Hunter did actually say this, then I have to assume he was just having some mental breakdown.

 

They were friends, at least at one point, so it's possible that all of this is just taking a toll on him. But Eva didn't just magically reappear to screw over Hunter. This is probably someone trying to get the rumor mill running.

 

But I'm here to shut that nonsense down. Seriously, Have some respect.

 

Another person claimed that Hunter said he accidentally cut himself with one of his knives. One of his knives? How many knives does this man need? That's a more believable story, though. Accidents happen, and maybe Hunter just didn't want to admit that he messed up.

 

Maybe he thought it would be embarrassing. That's very in line with him. Here's the thing.

 

No matter what the real story is, it's disturbing. I mean, those wounds needed medical attention that they clearly didn't get, and who just sends their son to school as he's bleeding everywhere? You know, for a family that's so obsessed with image, they don't care that their son is coming to school looking like that? They don't care what people think and what assumptions people make about them? I mean, I'm gonna be honest and say I'm assuming many things about them because of this situation. Like, I'm thinking they didn't take their son to the hospital, which was obviously needed, because they just didn't care.

 

Lord knows they have enough money for stitches, so that's the only logical conclusion to make. Eva was right to call them monsters, speaking of monsters, let's discuss Monster of the Week, brought to you by Edgar Stoker.

 

See, Mr. Stoker is an avid hunter, and on Wednesday evening, it was getting late, and he was packing up after a long day of hog hunting. The sun was starting to set, and he knew he would have to walk home in the dark. He said that it was fine, and he was pretty used to walking home at night.

 

In fact, he kind of liked it. It let him enjoy the peace and quiet of nature, which, yeah, but you're also in barren bobcat country. Anyways, he was walking towards his car, which was about a mile away, when he heard a female scream in the distance, calling for help.

 

He said it was the kind of screams you only hear in horror movies. Yet here he was in the middle of the woods, and someone was begging for help. So he took a deep breath and headed towards the scream.

 

He figured he had a gun, and if he didn't help this girl, then no one would. Also, who knows, maybe if he caught whoever was doing this, then people would stop going missing. He started to walk towards it, his boots crunching on the leaves below him.

 

He was going farther and farther away from his path. The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky till it was completely dark. He didn't even have the moon to guide him.

 

He just knew he had to keep pushing forward. Soon enough, he saw fires in the distance. He could hear what sounded like gibberish.

 

And then, as Mr. Stoker stepped closer, he heard a voice coming from right behind him. He said it was like it was whispering into his ear, you really shouldn't have come here. Mr. Stoker turned around and shot his rifle at the voice.

 

But when he looked around to see who he shot at, no one was there. The voice then seemed to echo from the trees, as if a whole group of people were speaking at once. You should run now.

 

It was at this point he heard shouts from the camp behind him. He could hear a group of what sounded like 20 people running towards him. He knew at this point that he was in over his head, and he bolted out of the woods.

 

He could hear the footsteps chasing after him. But whenever he looked back, he couldn't see anything. He got to his car and turned it on.

 

He let himself catch his breath. He was still gripping his gun, and he was deciding what to do next when he saw a figure walk into his headlights. It was a man with an axe in his hand, and he was right in Mr. Stoker's path.

 

Mr. Stoker didn't wait to see if anyone else showed up. He revved his engine as a warning, and then hit the gas. The man jumped out of the way, and Mr. Stoker drove all the way to the police station to report what he saw.

 

Here's the thing, listeners, I know what he saw. I think Mr. Stoker saw a wild man. See, wild men aren't monsters. At least, not really. They are just people who've been away from civilization for so long that they turn feral. They get territorial, they become unable to speak in human language, and some stories even say they walk on all fours like a dog.

 

In America, this legend is essentially synonymous with the Appalachian Mountains. But there are stories about feral humans all over the world, with stories dating back to even ancient Egypt. Back in America, though, the wild men are a common explanation for some of the creepier things that happen in the woods.

 

Stories of human footsteps pacing around people's campsites, and people walking the Appalachian Trail and feeling like someone is watching them. There's even one story, commonly attributed to wild men, of a girl who went missing for three days, and when she was found deep in the woods, she said that a feral man was chasing her. That's the terrifying part of this legend.

 

It's that these are people who are just like you and me. But extreme isolation turns them into monsters. You know I'm pretty superstitious, but men in the woods makes more sense than monsters.

 

I mean, come on, people leave society all the time. Some choose to live a life of solitude and live off the land. Maybe it does some weird things to people's heads after a while.

 

That certainly makes more sense than the theory I'm about to suggest. See, I've been doing some research at the local library, listeners. The local library is a great resource for a plethora of topics, including the strange history of disappearances in Witherburn.

 

See, I was looking to see if there was anything that could help me figure out what was happening to the missing people. And then I remembered that Witherburn had a very famous disappearance with Evelyn Graham, so I did some digging. And turns out that Witherburn has consistently had a disappearance every couple of years since the 1950s.

 

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William Tuck, 

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Sarah Chavez,

 

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Megan Amirriti 

 

all of them disappeared without a trace. So I followed one of my more wild thoughts and checked the moon phases on the days they went missing. Every single one of them went missing on a new moon or a few days before a new moon, which is quite a coincidence, right? So then I start to think, what else did the missing people have in common? They all look different.

 

They were all different genders. And honestly, the only thing connecting them was the fact that they were teenagers. But then I thought some more and it hit me.

 

It's people that wouldn't draw attention. Hear me out. Christy, April, and Aria, three girls go missing in the span of three months.

 

And in any other situation, that makes the local news. Hell, it makes the national news. No, those were all the loners that sat in the back of class that no one really talked to that much.

 

The police all too easily were able to sell the runaway story. Then Jonathan went missing and no one cared because, and I'm quoting some of y'all, he was going to be a high school dropout anyway. Then it happened again and again and again.

 

And they just kept getting away with it. Even Tina, who by all means should have been safe, disappeared the moment she fell from people's good graces. Then the dots started to connect.

 

And I was thinking, and this is going to sound crazy, I was thinking Witherburn has a serial killer. Just think about it. The new moon is like their tell.

 

And what if all those years where he didn't kill were longer cool-down periods? But now it's happening faster and faster. At first, I thought it was Hunter because of his weird comments towards Amelia and the fact that he keeps threatening to kill people. He made the most sense.

 

And with what Eva said on air, she knew something about him. They were friends. So what if she walked in on something she wasn't supposed to see? And then I realized that doesn't make sense because what about the people that went missing before he was born? If there was a serial killer, then he would be in his 70s now.

 

But it's just, it's so frustrating. I'm missing one piece of information. I just know it.

 

I've combed through every book in the library and I've gone over all of the previous information. I have a red string corkboard in my room for Christ's sakes. God, at this point, I am about to start believing Mr. Pickler and just say that there is a monster eating people out in the woods.

 

I mean, that's the only thing that makes any sort of sense. Out in the woods… out in the woods….. Out in the woods! When that brick came through my window, there were pictures of all missing people except for one.

 

One picture was of a little cabin in the woods. Maybe this cabin is the missing piece. It's in here for a reason, right? It has to be.

 

If I can find this cabin, then maybe I can figure out what's going on. Maybe I can stop it before someone else gets hurt. I keep talking and researching, but now is my chance to actually do something. Be useful for once. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna make a game plan and I'm gonna try and figure out where this cabin might be.

 

I'll give you updates next week. I'm the reporter signing off.