Radio Rental - Episode 51

Episode Date: December 1, 2023

On today's tapes... >> Ghost Children > Bike Path Killer

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Welcome. Welcome, welcome to Radio Rental. Come on in. Oh, sorry about that. If you're new here, Radio Rental is a video rental shop filled with VHS tapes of the scariest stories that you've ever heard in your life. And they're all told by real people. Hey, oh, oh, stop it, stop it. Come on, you're gonna hurt each other. Or me, or our guest. So, you'll remember we discovered a mouse

in the store the other day. First we thought it might be the spirit of my late wife, Zelon, but as it turns out, it was, well, it was just a mouse. Just a regular mouse basic mouse classic mix-up anyway now Malachi and mousy have been at each other's throats it's a very toxic relationship kind of a Tom and Jerry vibe if you know what I mean yesterday I think I actually saw Malachi put an M-80 into a piece of cheese.

I swear to God, it was impressive. Ah, hey, hey, come on. Don't you dare set that mousetrap next to Malachi's tail. You're on thin ice, mister. I'll plug your hole. That's what she said. Not like that, no. Get your minds out of the gutter, you two. The hole in the wall that you live in, you know, you know what she said. Not like that, no. Get your minds out of the gutter, you two.

The hole in the wall that you live in, you know what I mean. Well, as entertaining as all this is, let's just pop in a tape. That's what you're here for. I am a paranormal investigator as well as an embalmer. I collect objects that have really deep personal histories. In this instance, my partner was traveling for work and asked me if I wanted to come with him. I have the entire week to scour social media, Facebook Marketplace, even eBay listings to try and find something within the region that I could bring home that really memorialized the trip. As an embalmer, I find a great interest in things that are related to funerary history, and I had typed in antique funeral. And I found something four hours away that caught my attention.

I came across a listing that said antique funeral photos. It was a series of three images. One of them was an antique early 1900s memorial lithograph. In the Victorian era, what they would do to memorialize someone, instead of just having a funeral and a mass card, they would basically make a poster for the funeral with the person's information so they could always remember them when they're passing through the hallway

or even host a little bit of a vigil. They could light a candle next to it. It was very meaningful to them. That is the main item that caught my attention. The other images in this were a portrait of two twin infants that you could tell was over a hundred years old. They had the little booties, white christening gowns, and an older portrait of two gentlemen,

Victorian gentlemen standing side by side with very serious looks on their face. The price for the items had actually been reduced from $150 to $75, so it was a really good deal. I messaged the seller, "'Hi, are these still available? They weren't. She had already made arrangements with another collector,

and they were going to get them tomorrow. Of course, I would find this really rare memorial lithograph. There's only been one example seen, and they're already claimed. The next morning, I receive another message from this woman. I actually decided I'd like you to have these. Hadn't heard from the other guy in a while and I not only want you to have them, but I'm going to give them to you for free. We're in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we are going to be driving to get these. She said, don't worry about it. I'm actually going to meet you halfway.

She just has this feeling that they should go to me and she's going to drive two hours to give me these items for free. I told my partner, something is a little fishy. Who sells something for almost $100 and then decides, I'm actually going to sacrifice that and drive out of my way, use my gas money and meet this person. The times that a dealer or a collector of antiques have given me something of value for free is few and far between. Maybe there's something more to these portraits. We decided as a courtesy we were going to give her gas money.

So we took gas money out, and we meet her in the parking lot of a gas station. When she arrived, she said, oh, it's you. And I said, here's the gas money. And she said, oh, I wasn't looking for anything. She was almost offended that I gave her gas money. I'm like, you drove two hours to give these objects to us. We load the car with them and she hands me a book.

The book is from the 1950s. It's a reprint of an antique book. And it's called the Encyclopedia of Demonology in Witchcraft. What if this is something sinister, and she wants to say it without saying it? We drove back to the hotel. The seller actually reaches out to me. Hey, I know it's really difficult to find the names and stories of these objects. I don't really know too much about them, unfortunately, but I can tell you they came from this house.

She sent me a screenshot of a Google Street View where it showed the house. It was this white colonial house, white pillars on the porch. It had a highway address. I start researching the history of the house. The first thing I did was try to find any names associated with the address. This wasn't that long ago that they cleared out this estate. I can probably find someone. The address I was given was

a highway address. In the Victorian period or early 1900s when these people would have lived there, their address would not have included that highway number. I need to find the historical address. I need to find what the road was called before if I'm going to find out any information on these people. It was called Zellner Road. On a whim, I was like, I bet these are the Zellners. Whoever was living in the house was likely the same name of the road because that's how they did it back then. I start researching the Zellners. The first article that I find related to the Zellner family,

I find someone who was living on that property. He came out to assist a group of teenagers who had crashed an automobile into his house. He comes out to help them, and unfortunately, he passed away from the excitement of the accident. I find out that that man who had a heart attack on his porch had a brother. The brother, I was able to locate a photo of him and he looks exactly like the men in the photo. Then I find another article that's literally titled Forsyth Family Pursued by Streak of Bad Luck.

It's the Zellners. The first thing that happens this week is a 26-year-old man in the Zellner family gets hit by a train the same day that his mother dies. And then you continue and his twin brother gets pneumonia. This whole family is plagued with these horrible things that are likely affiliated with the photos. We think that the brothers, the man with the heart attack

and the other one may be these gentlemen in the photos, but we need something. I need to know that he had twins. So I find his grave. I look up the plot and I find out that the man who fell dead on his porch from heart failure had a set of twins. They were born in 1894

and their name was Lois and Louis, a boy and a girl. If you look at the photo of the twins, she has scalloped lace at the edge of her dress, and he has a straight hem. So it was a boy and a girl. This is them. I just know, like there's an intuition, there's something pushing me that this is them.

We find that they have this really dark, macabre history. In fact, one of the twins died in infancy. Lois had passed away while she was still an infant. We decided they were going to stay in his collection room. I said, these items are very fragile, so I'm going to leave them with you. He's like, why are you leaving them with me? You pick out these strange objects with this backstory, and you're going to leave them at my house. I left, and within 20 minutes, he called me. And he said, as soon as you left, I was sitting here watching TV.

My closet just completely came crashing down. What do you mean your closet came crashing down? He sent a picture and he was like, look at this. He had this shelving that is attached, so it's a permanent fixture. It's not something he installed himself. This permanent fixture with these tubs that had been that way for the entire three years he lived at this place. Those shelves stayed put,

but every single bin that had been stored on top of the shelves came crashing down. Everything spilled out. The next morning, he was half asleep half awake and he could hear the sound of a coin flipping. That sound of the coin dropping and flipping. That metallic sound. I said okay I need to come back and we need to address this. We had a hunch for a reason. The lady was more than willing to give them up with a book on demonology for a reason.

He did film immediately after the show and he was physically like shaking. I decided that I wanted to bring in equipment to try and investigate. I did a spirit box session. It's a rapidly scanning radio that spirits can allegedly manipulate the white noise of the radio to communicate with you. Setting this up, I set the spirit box, sweeping the radio stations as quickly as possible.

I was communicating and I said, what's going on here? I didn't get any responses at first. Maybe we're just kind of getting too invested in this. Then the responses started coming through. They said, I'm not home. I said, what is your name?

Lois. I said, why did you do that with a closet? The response comes out and says, I'm far from home. Scared. If this is possible, if this is a reality, then they would be scared. We took them from their home where they were

for a long time with a custodian, bring them and put them in this room full of objects and potentially other spirits. They don't really know why they're there. We just brought them home. So I said, you're in our collection now. We only intend respect. I was at an antique store and I found a rattle that kind of suited their era.

I said, this is for you. You don't have to be scared. You can move freely. You can communicate and reach out to us anytime that you want. We only have good intentions. We only intend to tell your story. We're not here to exploit or hurt you. The spirit box session ended. In that moment, we had kind of solved what was going on and pacified them. Since then, we have not experienced any activity. We now keep them on display in our house. All three of them are stacked.

I have the memorial photo, the men, and then the infants are at the top. They have a little pocket in the collection room where they stay together. I have this best intention, and until a family member or museum or curator would reach out, I wouldn't give them up, especially not to someone who was like, I know these objects are haunted. When I received the information that I felt that I needed to receive, I realized we need to treat these with respect.

I genuinely feel like in some way that I kind of take care of these ghost children. Ooh, what a ghoulish story. But no time to debrief now because it's time for some ads. Ah, just like the good old days of cable TV, where we all sat around as a family, eating microwaved meatloaf and getting sold stuff that we didn't need, like good American citizens. So wholesome.

Unless, of course, you're subscribed to Tenderfoot Plus, and in that case, this episode will just continue onward with no ads whatsoever. Ha ha! Look at you circumventing the system. Thanks for watching. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe. I am so dreading groceries this week. Why? You can skip it. Oh, what? Just like that? Just like that. How about dinner with my third cousin?

Skip it. Prince Fluffy's favorite treats? Skippable. Midnight snacks? Skip. My neighbor's nightly saxophone practices? Uh, nope. You're on your own there. Could've skipped it. Should've skipped it.

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There's a big mallet. I don't know where he got that mallet, or even how he's hoisted it. Bigger than his little body. Where do you get a mallet like that? Acme. Of course. Oh, oh, hi.

You're back. Ready for another tape? Okay. Thirsty for some more thrills. Mouse? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. If you drop that anvil, so help me God. Uh, all right, you know what?

This seems like a good time for another tape. I was 20 years old. I was living in Buffalo, New York. I had not finished college. I had just come out as gay and to mixed results. Things were a little rough with my immediate family. Because of that, I was just kind of looking for some sense of belonging, specifically romantically. I ended up living in an apartment with a woman who I thought I was going to end up being together with.

She ended up getting back with her ex-girlfriend on the day that I moved in with her, so it made for a really overall dark mood for me that entire summer. There was a lesbian bar that was about 20 minutes or so walk from where I lived. Back then, it was where all the Buffalo lesbians would go hang out. I lived there at the time because it was, you know, a place where I felt some sense of belonging, even though I didn't really know most people there. We all had that one thing in common. On this particular night, the woman that I was living with had talked about how we should go meet up at Roxy's and then we

could talk about us. Me being a very naive person, I was at 20. I thought, oh, wow, you know, finally we can talk about this and she can, you know, be done with her ex because exes are exes for a reason. And then she and I can go, you know, right off into the sunset and live happily ever after. When I got there and she got there shortly after, her ex was there too. And she started dancing with her ex and just completely shut me out. These little breadcrumbs of hope that had been straddled for me this whole time, I just realized it was all nonsense. I was really bummed out. I was really angry. I felt really disrespected.

I just want to go home. I want to shut my door, and I just want to be away from all of it. At like 2 o'clock in the morning, I just said, screw it, I'm out of here, and just decided to take the walk home down Main Street. I was booking it down Main. There was an intersection I distinctly remember. It was Main and Pearl.

Right about when I got past Main and Pearl, this green sedan came driving toward me. The guy in the green sedan pulled up, just said a quick, hey. I just ignored him, and he just pulled away and then turned off onto Pearl Street behind me. I just kept walking. About a minute later,

he drove back toward me. He gave me a little more of a firm, hey. Again, I was pissed off. I was like, you know, there's one person's attention that I want and it ain't yours. I gave him a dirty look.

Maybe he was mistaking me for somebody who he would pay for company. I thought, you know, I'm just going to ignore this guy. I'm not going to, you know, I'm going to try not to look at him. I'm not going to address him, and maybe he'll just get the message he's barking up the wrong tree, and he'll just leave me alone. He drove off, and then once again, he turned onto Pearl Street.

A minute later, I see the green sedan come up again. He rolled his window down and he held his hand out with his palm up and said, Hey, come on! I was scared. My heart was racing. It was terrifying. I looked at his eyes and they were very angry eyes. Beyond just being angry, they were the eyes of a predator.

This goes beyond him being frustrated that I won't talk to him. He's trying to get me to come closer to him, and I won't. I think he's getting ratcheted up to the point that he is going to make it happen himself. Started up again, punched his gas and then turned back onto Pearl Street. I was in trouble, serious trouble. I was in mortal peril. He was getting progressively more agitated, progressively more aggressive, and he was getting more insistent on my company. I'm worried that the next time he pulls around this corner, he's going to somehow grab me

and get me into his car. And once he gets me in there, I'm done for. I had probably 45 to 55 seconds before he'd come around again. Think fast. Earlier that night, I'd gone to this convenience store on my walk down to Roxy's and gotten a pack of smokes. I was near that convenience store,

looked to see if they were open. They were closed. I had nowhere to go. I can't go anywhere where I can go in and tell a store clerk what's going on and have them call 911. Even if I ran, I can't outrun this green sedan. Seconds were ticking by. I'm running out of options. My next thought was, okay, I need to make myself as obvious and as unavoidable as possible. Somebody needs to stop and pick me up before I get picked up by this guy.

I just ran right into the middle of Main Street in Buffalo, screaming and waving my hands and moving around, making myself as obvious as possible. First car drove right by. Didn't even slow down. I continue waving my hands and screaming. Second car right by. Didn't even slow down. I continue waving my hands and screaming. Second car goes by. If I can't get a third car to stop,

or if I don't see a third car, I'm dead. I see a third set of headlights come on. I just got like right in front, waving my hands and absolutely screaming. This van pulled over. I looked into the van and there were four guys in it. They pulled over, rolled down their window. I just started spewing,

you've got to help me, you've got to let me into your van. There's this guy who keeps going around the block. He keeps trying to get me into his car. I'm afraid that he's going to pull me into his car. You've got to get me to my house. I need to get home. I need to get away from this guy. The first thing they asked is, do you have any money?

And I said, no, no, I don't have any money. Do you have any cigarettes? I said, yes. I went to the convenience store tonight. I bought a whole pack. You can have the whole thing. Just get me home. So they, you know, pondered for a sec, opened up the back sliding door, and I went. The way that they were all situated was I ended up getting into the middle seat by the window closest to the road. And as I was getting myself settled into my seat, I look to my left and the green sedan is creeping up next to my window.

For the first time since he started casing me, I felt safe. I was in this van closed up with these big young guys in there with me, I just very defiantly looked at him like, screw you, I got away from you. I don't think I've ever seen a more hateful look on my face. He answered that with eyes of his own. He was just dripping vitriol toward me. His eyes, if they looked dead and predatory before, they were just the most hate-filled, dead black eyes I'd ever seen in my life. I am angry at you because I had marked you. You escaped my grasp. I asked the guys in the van to not really take a direct route home because I didn't want to get followed. They just kind of zigzagged through town,

got me back to my apartment. They got their pack of cigarettes. I was so scared that I checked all the windows and doors to make sure everything was locked, and as soon as I was sure, I just laid on the floor. I was on the ground floor apartment. I was worried that if he could see me walking around in my apartment, that he would try to come in and nab me that way.

Once I checked everything, I grabbed the cordless phone and I just called the police. I told them the intersection where it all started going down. I told them, you know, I'm a lesbian, I was at a bar, and this guy started following me, so I don't know if he's trying to harass women leaving that bar, but he really needs to be looked into. They took everything down. They filed a formal police report. After that night, I never heard anything. Three years later, after this all happened,

I was living in a western suburb of Chicago. I had never lived outside of New York State, so it took me a really long time to adjust. I was really homesick for a long time. One way that I coped with being homesick was that I read a lot about what was going on back in my home state. I was online scrolling through news articles from Buffalo. All of a sudden, the headline popped up, bike path killer caught. The first thing I thought was good. That's a terrible human being.

He'd been responsible for multiple murders. The article had no picture. And in that moment, I knew that I needed to see that picture to go with this article, to see the face to go with the monster that they were describing. I went to a different

article, pulled up a picture of the guy's mugshot. I knew absolutely who I was looking at. I remember the eyes. I know who I saw, and that person that tried to nab me that night in July of 2003 was El Temio Sanchez, the bike path killer. He would find all these different bike paths around Chicago suburbs. He would lie in wait for a woman running by herself, grab somebody while they were running, hogtie them, and then assault them. His other proclivities, he would cruise around downtown and he would try to pick up prostitutes. I can't know for sure what he was thinking when he saw me, but knowing what I know, my guess is that he was trolling a certain kind of person downtown,

and sometimes he was mistaken, but that didn't stop him. I really do think that if I hadn't managed to flag somebody down in those 45 seconds when he was making his third circuit, I genuinely think that he would have pulled me into his car, he would have assaulted me, he would have murdered me, and I would have ended up just dumped somewhere downtown. I put myself in a situation where I could have been killed. Almost made myself a victim of a serial killer.

And now it's time for some more ads, baby. Pure, unfiltered ads. Ads, ads, ads, ads, ads. Yeah, baby, yeah. Crime Writers On is the podcast where authors and journalists talk about the latest true crime series, documentaries, and podcasts. Talk about what's on the charts and find those up-and-coming podcasts you'll be talking about. It's like a fun and smart book club discussing what makes good storytelling and teaching how to become a critical listener.

Or not. And stick around for the Crime Writers Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down reviews. It's the original True Crime Review Podcast. Crime Writers On, wherever you get your podcasts. Like probably right here. Now, it's the weirdest thing. Look at this. Malachi and the mouse are now getting along so well.

It's just, it's so cute. I'm shocked. Look, they're cuddling. Oh, I think he's grooming the little thing. Would you look at that? I'm actually overcome with the oddest sensation right now. I think I'm a little jealous. Hey, hey, friends.

Hi, cuddle time, cuddle time, huh? Can I, can I get in on this action? Just a little snuggly snugs, hmm? Okay, okay, okay, jeez. I get it. Okay, fine. Oh, well. Oh, and I suppose you have to go, too.

No, I get it. I get it. Nobody wants old Terry anymore. That's fine. I'm fine. I'm fine, really. I happen to be very independent. So I'll see you back here next week, then, okay? Good. Good, good. Okay. So take care. And, um, honestly, be careful,

because there are a lot of booby traps in here right now. Let me show you out. Here, come right this way. Oh! God damn it! Mother of... Ah, who set this tripwire? Ah, ah, El Cabong. Oh, this frying pan tripwire is exceptionally well engineered. Impressive, Malachi. Mouse. You really need to give that mouse a name. We'll be right back. Albright. Hosted by Rainn Wilson as his character, Terry Carnation. Written and produced by Meredith Stedman. Additional writing by Mark Laughlin. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Associate producer is Jaja Muhammad. Editing by Eric Quintana, Mike Rooney, and Meredith Stedman.

Sound design, mix, and master by Cooper Skinner. Additional sound design and mixing by Devin Johnson. Original score by Makeup and Vanity Set. Video editing by Dylan Harrington. Cover artwork by Trevor Eiler and Rob Sheridan. Special thanks

to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, the Nord Group, Station 16, Beck Media and Marketing, and the team at Odyssey. If you have a radio rental story that you'd like to share,

please email us at yourscarystory at gmail.com or contact us Odyssey. If you have a Radio Rental story that you'd like to share, please email us at yourscarystory at gmail.com or contact us via the form on our website, radiorentalusa.com. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Radio Rental. You can also follow the illustrious Terry Carnation on social media. Just search at Terry Carnation. On behalf of the Radio Rental store, we'd love it if you'd subscribe, rate, and review. Thanks for listening. I'm Nadine Bailey.

I've been a ghost tour guide for 20 years and have taken people into haunted places to uncover macabre tales and dark secrets. On my podcast, Haunted Canada, I share bone-chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for Haunted Canada on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you're listening right now. Then join me if you dare.