0
writingthevision.com
In a scene worthy of a Hollywood horror picture, an unsuspecting tenant farmer in southwestern Sussex County was calmly plowing a field when the earth opened up and swallowed his horse. Fortunately, the animal sank only belly deep, and after some work, the farmer was able to extricate the animal from the mysterious hole. Intrigued by the sudden appearance of the ragged hollow, the farmer cleared away the loose dirt and discovered a blue chest. After the odd box was brought to the surface and pried open, the farmer looked upon the jumbled bones of a dead man.
The farm was owned by Patty Cannon, who had long been suspected of a number of unsavory activities, and news of the grizzly discovery spread quickly. A horde of neighbors descended on the farm, and after uncovering several other skeletons, the mob broke into Cannon's house, where they discovered a hidden trapdoor in the ceiling of a closet. The frenzied searchers climbed through the secret door of the garret, where they discovered a windowless room constructed of heavy planks and equipped with leg irons. Here, the throng believed, was the answer to the mysterious disappearances of travelers that had plagued Sussex County for years.
Source
