There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them. ~Andre Gide

So, I'm not really one of those people who likes scary movies or stories for that matter, but this one just really grabbed my attention. Mostly because, I'm pretty sure I showed this home to a client about a month and a half ago. I am now freaking out. Good thing they didn't write an offer or I would be hiding in the corner breathing into a paper bag. It was raining that day, and I had problems getting the lockbox open too. I don't usually show houses at this low of a price range (nothing wrong with it, but usually just don't have people looking in that range or neighborhood) but this was a "floor call" and so I guess I was the lucky person. Funny thing is, I've been following up with these people all this time and haven't heard anything since...



Today I heard on the radio broadcast of WRTV news that the house where Sylvia Likens was tortured & murdered in, was bulldozed. I had not really heard much of the story, and I'll spare those who don't want to know that gruesome details, but basically in the 1960's when she was about 16 years old, Sylvia's parents who were carnival workers, sent her and her younger sister to live with their neighbor Gertrude Baniszewski, while they were on the road working. They paid Gertrude $20 a week to keep the kids in line. This lady already had 7 kids of her own, by several different men who were abusive with her, and this may have something to do with her craziness and depression which lead her to torture & kill this poor girl.



Anyway, the house at 3850 E. New York Street in Indianapolis has a lot of history (actually listed with someone in my office at one point, bet they didn't know what they were getting into) but has never been able to hold an owner or a tenant steadily. At one time, it was a shelter for abused women, but it was boarded up and today apparently bulldozed.



There have actually been several movies (An American Crime) and books (The Girl Next Door) based off of the "most horrific crime in Indiana" but now that the building is gone, all that is left of this appalling case is rubble now, but hopefully after the dust settles she will be able to rest in peace.



Some articles related to the case:

Indy Star Library

The Cabinet

(Just an FYI, in our Indiana purchase agreements, there is a clause in there stating that we are legally obliged to inform clients of any craziness going on- so murders or big crimes yes, but if the neighborhood kids say the boogie man lives there, no that doesn't count. Had I written up a contract, the listing agent would have told us at that point because there is info in the system. Still, creepy!)