Two men in suits. Two homemade lead masks. One cryptic note. And a mystery that's haunted Brazil for nearly sixty years.

In August 1966, a teenager flying a kite on a hillside outside Rio de Janeiro stumbled onto a scene that would become one of South America's most baffling unsolved cases. Two electronics technicians—Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana—lay dead on the grass, positioned side by side like they'd simply fallen asleep. But they weren't sleeping. And the crude lead masks covering their eyes weren't for rest.

Jinkies—wait until you hear what was in their pockets.

A handwritten note with specific instructions. References to ingesting capsules at precise times. And the chilling phrase: "Await signal. Mask."

The gang investigates what these two "scientific spiritualists" were actually doing on that remote hillside. Both men had lied to their families about where they were going. Both had been conducting experiments combining electronics with supernatural practices. And both died reaching for something—whether spirits, extraterrestrials, or something else entirely—that required lead shielding and careful preparation.

What killed them? The most frustrating part: we may never know. Brazilian authorities in 1966 never performed a toxicology test. Two men found dead with a note explicitly mentioning capsules, and no one thought to check what those capsules contained. The case was closed as "undetermined."

Like, what if someone gave them those capsules knowing exactly what would happen?

Shane, Josh, and Kim explore every theory—from a spiritual experiment gone wrong to UFO contact (witnesses reported strange orange lights over the hill that night) to murder by a mysterious female contact who purchased the water bottle found at the scene but was never investigated. The trail leads through 1960s Brazilian spiritualism, amateur electronics experiments, and a community of believers who thought they could contact beings from other dimensions.

Jinkies—since 2007, at least twenty-one human feet have washed ashore along the coastlines of British Columbia and Washington State. All of them still wearing athletic shoes. No bodies. No explanations. Just feet.

In this episode, Shane, Josh, and Kim investigate one of the strangest forensic mysteries of the 21st century. The gang traces the trail from that first disturbing discovery on Jedediah Island—when a twelve-year-old girl found a Size 12 Adidas sneaker that was far too heavy—through seventeen years of shocking discoveries that had the world convinced a serial killer was stalking the Pacific Northwest.

The theories ran wild. A drug cartel dumping bodies. A government cover-up. "The Sneaker Killer" targeting victims by their footwear. The 2004 Asian tsunami somehow depositing remains twelve thousand miles away. Someone even planted a hoax—an animal paw stuffed into a sneaker—desperate to feed the frenzy.

But the truth? It might be even more unsettling than fiction.

Forensic science eventually provided an explanation that nobody expected. Modern athletic shoes—with their lightweight EVA foam and air pockets—float. When bodies decompose in cold water, the ankle joint naturally separates within days to weeks. Before the 1970s, leather shoes would have kept these feet on the ocean floor forever. But Nike Air technology turned human feet into messages from the dead, carried by currents that all flow toward shore.

The BC Coroners Service has been categorical: no evidence of foul play in any of the discoveries. No tool marks. No cutting. Every identified victim matches a documented suicide, drowning accident, or natural death.

And yet... not every case fits neatly into that explanation. Antonio Neill was twenty-two when he disappeared from Everett, Washington in December 2016. His boot—with his foot still inside—washed up on Jetty Island two years later. His mother recognized it immediately. The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office still has his case open. Still classified as suspicious.

Of those twenty-one feet, approximately six remain unidentified. Six families who don't know what happened to their loved ones. Six names attached to cold cases that may never be closed.

Some mysteries have explanations. Others have closure. This one offers something rarer—a reminder that the ocean keeps its secrets, but sometimes gives something back.

Long before Santa Claus squeezed down chimneys with bags of presents, Scandinavian families knew something else watched over their homes during the darkest nights of winter—something small, ancient, and very particular about its porridge.

In the folklore of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, the Tomte (or Nisse, depending on where you're from) has been guarding homesteads for centuries. These diminutive spirits—typically described as elderly men the size of young children with long white beards and red caps—were believed to protect families, tend to livestock, and bring abundance to farms that earned their respect.

But the Tomte's help came with conditions. They demanded cleanliness, proper treatment of animals, and one non-negotiable offering: a bowl of Christmas porridge with butter on top, left out on Yule. Forget the butter? The consequences could be severe—from mischievous pranks like tying cows' tails together to outright catastrophe for the farm's fortune.

Josh Waters takes Shane deep into the world of these fascinating household spirits, exploring their origins in pre-Christian Norse tradition and their surprising connection to modern Christmas customs. You'll discover why the Tomte is considered an ancestral guardian, what happens when you hide the butter under the porridge (spoiler: don't), and how these ancient spirits evolved into the gift-giving Jultomte and Julenisse we recognize today.

Plus: An extended conversation about the brothers' favorite Christmas treats and Josh's meticulous eating rituals that have to be heard to be believed.

• Wikipedia: Nisse (folklore) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisse_(folklore)
• Ingebretsen's Nordic Marketplace: Legend of the Nisse and Tomte - https://ingebretsens-blog.com/legend-of-the-nisse-and-tomte/

Alright gang, buckle up—because this case gets weird.

In January 1897, a young bride named Zona Heaster Shue was found dead in her rural West Virginia home. The local doctor took one look and said "heart trouble." Her husband Erasmus—who went by "Trout," which should've been everyone's first red flag—played the grieving widower perfectly. Case closed, right?

Not so fast.

Zona's mother, Mary Jane Heaster, wasn't buying it. Something about her new son-in-law just didn't sit right. So she did what any determined mother would do: she prayed for answers. For four straight weeks. And then, according to her actual sworn testimony in an actual courtroom, her daughter's ghost showed up. Four nights in a row. With receipts.

The spirit allegedly revealed that Trout had flown into a rage because dinner didn't include meat—and snapped her neck over it.

Now here's where it gets really interesting. Mary Jane took these ghostly details to prosecutor John Alfred Preston, and somehow convinced him to dig deeper. Literally. When they exhumed Zona's body, the autopsy found exactly what the ghost described: broken neck, crushed windpipe, finger marks on the throat.

Trout Shue was arrested, and what followed was one of the most bizarre trials in American legal history—the only known murder case where spectral testimony helped secure a conviction.

Jinkies.

Sources & Further Reading:

West Virginia Encyclopedia - Greenbrier Ghost

Greenbrier County Tourism - The Greenbrier Ghost

Historical Marker Database - Greenbrier Ghost

The Case of the Vanishing Paralyzed Dude

Like, this one's gonna give you the creeps—and there's not even a guy in a rubber mask at the end!

Picture it: June 1763, a spooky little English town called Shepton Mallet. There's this old timer named Owen Parfitt just chillin' in a chair outside his sister's cottage. And here's the thing—the dude couldn't walk. Like, at all. Hadn't moved those legs in years!

Farm workers were right there in the field, practically close enough to wave. Travelers on the road. Witnesses everywhere!

His sister Mary goes upstairs to change some sheets. Fifteen minutes, tops.

She comes back down and—the chair's still there. His coat's still there. But Owen?

Poof. Gone, baby, gone.

No footprints. No screaming. No nothing!

The whole town searched through a gnarly thunderstorm—woods, ditches, ponds, wells. Everywhere.

They found absolutely zilch.

Now here's where it gets really weird. Mary—his own sister—went to her grave saying Owen got "carried off by the Devil." And the neighbors agreed! See, rumor had it old Owen spent his wild years as a soldier, sailor, pirate, and maybe even dabbled in black magic down in the West Indies.

Fifty years later, some lawyer tried to crack the case. Interviewed witnesses. Nobody could get their stories straight, and the last person to see Owen alive gave super suspicious testimony.

Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called it "one of the most piquant mysteries" in British history.

So what happened? Murder? Kidnapping? Actual demons?

Like... we may never know, man.

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The Haunted Bunker

PO Box 690

Wabash, IN 46992

We'd love to hear your thoughts on Owen Parfitt's vanishing—or share your own mysterious encounter with The Bunker.

In the Bay of Bengal lies an island where no outsider has ever returned alive after setting foot on its forbidden shores...

North Sentinel Island may be only the size of Manhattan, but it holds one of the world's most enduring mysteries. For thousands of years, the Sentinelese tribe has lived in complete isolation, untouched by modern civilization, hostile to any contact, and protected by Indian law that makes approaching the island a criminal offense. Their language remains unknown. Their customs are a mystery. And their response to outsiders? Deadly.

The island's dark history includes the 1800s kidnapping of tribal members by British colonizers—an act that may have sparked generations of hostility. In 2006, two fishermen who accidentally drifted too close were killed and buried on the beach. And in November 2018, American missionary John Allen Chau made three attempts to reach the tribe he believed occupied "Satan's last stronghold on Earth." His first approach was met with drawn bows. His second visit saw an arrow pierce his waterproof Bible. On his third and final visit, he was killed—his body dragged across the sand and buried where it remains to this day.

What We Explore:

• The haunting 1800s encounter that may have triggered the tribe's violent isolation
• Why the Sentinelese use metal arrowheads despite living a Stone Age existence
• The 2018 missionary incident and the diary entries Chau left behind
• India's "hands off, eyes on" policy and why the island remains forbidden
• The ethical debate: Should uncontacted peoples be left alone forever?
• Shane and Josh's believer/skeptic takes on respecting indigenous isolation

Sources & Further Reading:

• Wikipedia: North Sentinel Island — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island
• Wikipedia: John Allen Chau — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Allen_Chau
• National Geographic Documentary: "The Mission" (2023) — https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-mission
• Outside Magazine: "The Last Days of John Allen Chau" — https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/john-allen-chau-life-death-north-sentinel/

Mail us a Postcard!

The Bunker, PO Box 690, Wabash, IN 46992

In the hills of Rajasthan stands a city so cursed that the Indian government forbids anyone from entering after dark.

Bhangarh Fort rises from the dusty landscape of India's Alwar district like a warning carved in stone. Built in 1573 by Raja Bhagwant Das for his son Madho Singh, this sprawling complex of temples, palaces, and crumbling havelis was once home to over 10,000 people. Today, its roofless ruins stand silent beneath the Aravalli hills—abandoned, allegedly cursed, and officially restricted by the Archaeological Survey of India, which has posted signs forbidding entry between sunset and sunrise.

What happened here? Two competing legends fight for credit. The first tells of a holy man named Balu Nath who permitted construction of the fort on one condition: no building's shadow could ever fall upon his meditation spot. When an ambitious successor violated this agreement, the sage cursed the entire city to destruction. The second, more dramatic tale involves Princess Ratnavati, whose legendary beauty caught the obsession of a dark sorcerer named Singhia. When she discovered his attempt to bewitch her with enchanted perfume oil, she flung the potion onto a boulder—which then rolled forward and crushed the sorcerer to death. With his dying breath, he cursed Bhangarh to ruin, declaring that no roof would ever stand and no soul would ever find peace within its walls.

The timing of Bhangarh's abandonment adds another layer of mystery. In 1783, the Chalisa famine swept across North India, killing an estimated 11 million people across the region. Bhangarh was completely abandoned by this period and never resettled. Whether the curses caused the exodus or merely explained it, the result remains the same: an entire city left to decay, its grandeur consumed by time and legend.

Modern visitors report unexplained phenomena that keep the paranormal reputation alive. Locals speak of disembodied screams echoing through empty corridors, the sound of bangles jingling in rooms where no one walks, and an oppressive heaviness in the air that defies the open architecture. Some claim to have seen shadowy figures moving among the ruins. Others describe equipment malfunctions and sudden temperature drops. The Archaeological Survey of India's official restriction on nighttime visits—while standard for protected monuments—has only fueled speculation that authorities know something they aren't saying.

In this episode, Shane and Josh descend into the bunker to investigate one of Asia's most notorious haunted locations. They examine the historical evidence behind the curses, explore the natural explanations for the paranormal reports, and debate whether Bhangarh represents genuine supernatural activity or the power of collective belief amplified by centuries of storytelling.

What we explore:

• The two competing curse legends and their historical origins

• The Chalisa famine connection to Bhangarh's abandonment

• Modern paranormal reports and eyewitness accounts

• Skeptical explanations for the phenomena

• Why the Indian government restricts nighttime access

Sources & Further Reading:

• Bhangarh Fort - Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhangarh_Fort

• Chalisa Famine - Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalisa_famine

• Archaeological Survey of India: asi.nic.in

• Rajasthan Tourism - Bhangarh Fort: www.tourism.rajasthan.gov.in/bhangarh-fort.html

Ruh-roh! The Mystery Inc gang is hitting the road for a two-week adventure, but before we go, we've got some news you're NOT going to want to miss.

Shane, Josh, and Kim are taking a little vacation to scout out some brand new mysteries - and trust us, we've got something REALLY exciting cooking for when we get back. Let's just say things might look a little different around here... in the best way possible.

We'll be back with a fresh mystery on December 2nd for everyone, and if you're hanging with us on Patreon, you'll get the first episode back on November 28th!

In the meantime, catch up on any episodes you might have missed, join us over on Patreon for exclusive content (link in the show notes), and whatever you do - keep your eyes on the Mystery Inc feed. You're going to want to see what we've got planned.

Thanks for being the best mystery-solving community out there. We love you guys!

See you in two weeks, gang! 🔍

Find us on Patreon at Patreon.com/itsmysteryinc