Hotel Urban Legend

We've definately have some cooler weather here in Oklahoma. Not freezing cold, but a bit chilly. Not what we've been used to. It is refreshing!

There is a horse show this weekend. I think I'll take Wee One and go. One of my friends is showing her horse in Western Pleasure, Halter, and Hunter under Saddle. When I spoke with her at the beginning of the week she hinted about needing some grooming help because she was showing all alone this weekend. Hubby has to work 4 hours on Saturday and I declined to assist him since that would include minding Wee One while we were out in the middle of no-where checking leadlines. Umm, no thanks! I'd rather make an hour and a half road trip and gaze at some equine beauties while catching up with my friend. Wee One is usually behaved in his car seat...usually...

In honor of Halloween, I am posting an Urban Legend story.........it'll make you check under your bed the next time you check into a Hotel.

Urban Legend: A couple check into a remote hotel and smell a strange, rotting smell coming from the bed. After complaining to the desk clerk, they discover that a dead body has been stashed in the box springs. Unfortunately, this tale has true roots.

The Story:
Most of these stories take place at a Las Vegas, Nevada hotel either in the city or in the desert in a remote location. They have been around since the early 1990s. There have been cases like this actually happen around the country. Under the bed or in the pedestal for a mattress makes a great quick hiding place for a dead body that needs to be stashed out of the way. In each case, it wasn't until the smell brought attention to the body, that it was discovered.

Some Examples:
On June 10th 1999, the rapidly decomposing body of a 64yo man was discovered inside the bed in Room 112 at the Burgundy Motor Inn in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A German couple on vacation had spent the night sleeping over the man's remains and had put up with a rank smell all night. It was their complaint to the manager about the smell which led to the discovery of the corpse.

In July of 1996, a woman's body was found under a mattress in the Colorado Boulevard Travelodge in Pasadena, CA. The motel's staff discovered her 10days after her death after a guest had complained for several days of a foul odor coming from that room.

In Virginia in 1989, a man, disposed of the remains of his 2 murder victims this way: the first was a 27yo woman, who was discovered in May under the floor of a motel room on Route 1, the second was a 29yo woman, who turned up in June under a bed in the Alexandria Econo Lodge. In the first case, the killer first kept her body partially hidden under his bed for 2 days, then subsequently placed it in the crawl space under the carpeted floor. Her presence seemingly didn't bother him, because he didn't move out of that room until 3 or 4 weeks later. Both girls' bodies were eventually found after other guests complained about the stink.

Sick f*cker! I say this because, when I was 10 yo I found a 5 day old decomposing body of a 17yo girl who has been murdered while mushroom picking with some of my family, that smell is the worse ungodly thing you can imagine. Once you smell it, you never, ever forget it, it is burned into your memory and senses forever.

In Mineola, New York, motel in 1988, a body turned up in a box spring. The remains of a 29yo woman were found at the Oceanside Motel. Again, the body was discovered days later and only after other patrons complained about the smell. At least 2 other guests unknowingly co-habited with the body before it was found, and at least 1 guest refused to stay in that room because of the smell.

This legend was used in the 1995 Quentin Tarantino film "Four Rooms"

P.S. I'll write about the murdered girl I found when I was 10 yo. I am a spur of the moment type writer and its hard for me to 'plan' post. I just type whatever comes at me when I have time to blog.....soon, I promise Ill tell ya about 'The Dead Girl"