The Secret of Crisfield Pond

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Three boys were playing near an old mill pond on the outskirts of Crisfield, Maryland. An old man arrived carrying two bundles. He told the boys the sacks contained either puppies or kittens, which he meant to drown. After the man threw the sacks into the water and left, they retrieved one of the bags intent on saving the animals only to make a gruesome discovery.

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Residents of W.T. Handy's packinghouse, Crisfield, MD c.1940

​April 20, 1923
​Crisfield, Maryland
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Inside the bag was the headless bodies of two children, and just the head of an older child. One of the victims was perhaps 6 to 7 years of age, while the others were from a week to 6 months old.

When the police dragged the pond situated near a brick kiln, for the other bag they found more than they bargained for. There were several bones, unquestionably those of infants scattered throughout the bed of the pond.

The police were perplexed by the fact that no complaints were made of children killed reaching them. They believed this was due to the children being sacrificed in voodoo rituals.

Police chief James W. Kirwin said the populace on the Eastern Shore peninsula were taciturn, and they never told on one another, no matter what they were accused of doing.

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The occupants of the packing house worked on canning vegetables for part of the season and oysters the rest. c.1940

Dr. C.E. Collins who examined the bodies of the children found in the bags testified at the inquiry he thought they were dead about 6 months. He planned to test the bodies to determine whether there was any indication of the presence of formaldehyde. He said this was found in all kinds of embalming fluid, which might indicate the bodies were stolen from their graves.

He also kept the records of birth and deaths, and planned to check the death of any children against the births recorded at his office.

The three boys named: Edward Justice, 11, Edward Landon, 9, and Leonard War, 10, said the old man had on leather puttees, and was riding a red bike.

Police could find only one person who owned a red frame bike as described by the boys. It belonged to Carnett Brown. He admitted to owning the bike, but that he didn't know anything about throwing bodies into the pond.

Nothing more came of the story, leading one to believe the residents of the area were keeping some type of horrific secret, which unfortunately took the life of children. If the remains were stolen from a cemetery, this and the fact they were decapitated points only to occult practices.

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