I'm Kendall and I'm Simon and this is When the Light Goes Out.
So today Simon's here with us. It's okay though because still got Bree here.
Bree's still with us. Say hey Bree from the back. We love you. We love you. I know I
got big shoes to fill but I'm gonna do my best to keep this podcast rolling.
Yeah no Bree's okay everyone. She's just a little under weather today so we decided
to just swap it out a little bit. We have Simon here with us and I'm excited.
This is gonna be fun. She'll slap me on the head if I make any mistakes.
She's just chillin on a couch. We love it. So we had just talked about a little bit
briefly me and Bree before we started the show. But some of the unfortunate
happenings that had taken place the last week I want to say. Plenty of stuff. A
lot of stuff. Oh my god yeah. So if you guys aren't familiar there was a very
very fatal shooting that had occurred. Colorado Springs. I totally messed up.
I'm so sorry. So this was in Colorado Springs and unfortunately five people
happened shot down at a LGBTQ nightclub called I think if I remember correctly
I think it's Club Q and 18 were injured and I just want to say my heart goes out
to those families that have to unfortunately go through this because
it's just anarchy out here guys. These guns these gun laws are just getting so
out of hand. I mean it's terrible. It's just terrible at the end of the day and
you know there was that other story. I can't remember where it was coming off from.
We're six college students. We're stuck. Yeah we were just talking about that.
We slept in our sleeps. And four. Four. No the fifth one died. Yeah and the police
have butchered that investigation apparently. Really? Yep that's the last
story I read is that they butchered the investigation. I've gotten nowhere with
it. So like whoever whatever monster did this is just out here Scott free right
now. And that's that's another thing. I just never feel that the media sometimes
doesn't give these stories the closure they need and I feel like they just
summarize them in certain ways and I'm not calling out any specific social
media I mean sorry any specific media companies or anything like that because
we don't want to get sued but there are a lot of them out there that just don't
cover these cases the way they should be covered. I mean it's about the the
catastrophe not the closure in it. Definitely definitely and I know Bree
had also mentioned that there was a thing a shooting on a school bus. I think
I think it was a Virginia player in Tennessee. Yeah. Virginia football
players three of them died. Wow. One of them survived the shooting. It was a
former football player who had been cut from what I understand. That's just so
heartbreaking to hear. Wow. Yeah again guys definitely research this kind of
stuff inform yourselves because this stuff is real and again going back to just
specifically just the club cue shooting just because as a gay black man in this
world it's scary. Don't get me wrong. It happens anywhere but just knowing and I
know this this show comes out on Friday but I know Wednesday I know I have a lot
of friends I want to go out things like that you know enjoy themselves because
it's a holiday and it's just so scary because I'm just like I'm scared. You
can't enjoy your own time. Yeah. You can't even just like feel safe going out
and having a good time with friends and that's just sickening. And I'll even yeah
I don't feel safe anymore. I just I it's terrible. The thought of like this
happening anywhere in the world is just terrifying. And no one should have to
think like that. No. No one should have to feel like the amount of hate that people
have it's just it's beyond me. It's truly beyond me. I don't know why and I don't
want on a I don't even want to understand how people feels minds work the way they
do but it's truly just devastating to even see this on the news and having to
just you know at some point I feel like a lot of the world just becomes numb to
it. Oh yeah. Yeah. Such a desensitization. I don't know if I said that right. No I
think it's like you know everyone's desensitized to it's like you know it's
just because yeah it's tragic and we all think it's tragic but like you know we
don't know how that mother feels of a 25 year old who's just an outgone. Yeah. We
don't know how you know that family feels and you know it's just on to the
next one it feels like you know a lot of the times it's awful. It truly breaks
it just breaks my heart. I even I even have the words. You just get the same
people coming on TV being like this is a terrible tragedy it never should have
happened but nothing. It shouldn't happen again. Yeah. When will this end? That's my
question. It's just it's just crazy and again you know I see everyone on like
social media giving their thoughts and prayers and things like that but like
how can we really change this though? Like how can we inform each other about
gun safety? How can we make sure that you know if we have kids our kids are safe
but they're also you know in a safe space to feel like they need to come
forward if they're having any problems because you know when it comes you know
that's I think if I'm not mistaken that Skull Bus shooting was a kid that
brought a gun onto the Skull Bus and shot these these football players and it
just it's just crazy to me because I'm thinking like how did this kid get the
allowance to have this gun and bring it to school? Like I mean it's like how
can we go through this as a people instead of this division? Yeah you know
like how can we be united in all of this and be like hey this is a problem this
is not just one individual problem or a certain corner of the world problem this
is a problem yeah we have to deal with it and it's our problem yeah so we need
to learn how to come together really yeah definitely deal with this and I'm
just a slightly slightly lighter note I know that Thanksgiving was just a day
ago by the time this comes out so happy Thanksgiving everyone. Happy Thanksgiving
guys. Happy Thanksgiving turkey day. And I hope everyone's just saying
safe out there if you guys you know I know a lot of people around Thanksgiving
like to just have a lot of fun with their friends and family again be safe out
there it gets crazier around these times this time of year especially you know I
don't know if it's the way it always used to be but I know Black Friday is
today too or Friday technically again if you guys are doing shopping things like
that just stay safe. Enjoy yourself be safe drive safe. Yeah I already know here
in Detroit how could I forget this I know that sorry to bring it back down
but I couldn't leave this out but I'm not mistaken there was another shooting
in Detroit that had happened and two people were shot during the light the
tree lighting ceremony that happened last Friday if I'm not mistaken really yeah
yeah and I'm just like what the hell like oh my god it's a nice thing of the year
I can't even go outside anymore without thinking who who might pull a gun out at
some point I don't know. Yeah no it's no way to live at the end of the day it's no
way to live. Yeah no definitely not but to bring it back up again I know that we
had we had run into each other at the mall what was it Saturday? Yeah it was
Saturday. I was telling three I was like mightly hung over at the time and I was
just going through it for a minute and then I just look over with my slightly
fainter eyes and I'm like who is that Simon that's coming into the store? We were in
Express. And there I was dressed out buying clothes for a wedding and
call and breathe to help me because she gets all the clothes I wear she's you
know my stylist. Not to teet my own horn but no no Kendall
Kendall pulled through guys I would have not made it. Like Angel said from
happening that moment I was like hell yeah let's get this done. Some things are
just meant to be and Kendall was there for me. I'm just saying I was just there
picking up some clothes and I was like let's do this let's do it. So I ended up
looking pretty great. I don't want to lie best one at the wedding. No I'm just kidding.
No I bet. I love it. Between me and you. I love it. So today I have got a story
ready for us and this story is a listeners recommended story. I think
we're on episode 13 so that's kind of crazy. We're in our teenage years now.
13 is an unlucky number though. Oh don't say that. Triska-Pecophobia.
Triska-Pecophobia. What's Triska-Pecophobia? It's the fear of the number 13.
Wait I didn't know that's a thing. Yeah it's actual phobia. Oh my god. Yeah more
you know. Holy shit guys. Shout out Mr. Magni. Yeah does anyone have Triska-Pecophobia?
You got it. Anyway it's cool. Just comment if you need me to pronounce it again guys.
Seriously we need some pronunciations on that one. But yeah so this story was a
listener recommended story. This is Chris that recommended this. So shout out to
you Chris. Chris we love you. Thank you for sending the story in to us and yeah.
So I don't want to waste any more time without further ado. Let's get into the
story. So the story starts out in the Labbitt County, Kansas. On Tuesday May 6th
1873 75 men traveled to a great distance through mud and gravel to
continue their search for a missing local physician William York. William had been
last seen traveling the prairies of Kansas earlier that spring and hadn't
been seen since. The men obtained help from local official Leore Dick who also
at the time had simultaneously have been locating his missing cousin. Eventually
the search brought the group to a cabin in the middle of the prairie only 10
feet away from the outsized trail. They look around and they see starving and
dead animals around the area and as they knock on the cabin they get no answer
and found that the cabin appeared to be abandoned. So they then bust open the
wooden door and then all of a sudden the local official Leore Dick and some other
of the the men that were falling behind him abruptly get whiffs of strong vile
orders of death and decay. Eww yeah really bad. So some of the men are trying
their hardest to ignore the urge to recurgitate which I don't blame them
because I would definitely throw up if I had to smell this. Yeah I never smelled
that but I don't think it would smell good. Oh yeah I don't think I can do that.
I can't even hardly put up with like bad food in my refrigerator. I can definitely
not do that. No we can talk about it on the podcast but like that's as far as I
go. Uh no. Personally. Uh no. No true. I work retail the bathrooms get bad enough.
Oh no no no no I get that. Oh my god. I can imagine. I've seen some shit. I
you want to suggest I got horror stories we can tell on this podcast. Oh god. Oh god.
The bathroom horror stories. Oh my god. That would really haunt y'all. Well the group then
splits up to find and locate just where the smell is coming from and inside the
cabin Leore describes this cabin to be a 16 by 24 foot single room divided by one
single white canvas sheet that was often used for white horse drawn wagons at
the time. Yeah. And so Leore then proceeds to walk into the cabin and
draws a curtain aside to unveil a well furnished living space covered and waste
and grime and golfton flies. Nice. You love that right. Right. I found that on
Zillow and shit you know. On Zillow. Well with a given scene before a Leore he finds
that the space appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time but wherever
the landowners went they appear to have been left in quite a hurry. So as we way
continues to scut the space in the middle of the cabin near the canvas sheet he
picks up a Bible with a ripped spine laying near the wooden table creeping
closer and closer to the floor next to the table table. Leore then discovers
what is a trap door underneath the table. This is also in the kitchen area by the
way. So he then pulls the table aside revealing a leather strap used to used
as a handle and he prized it wide open and immediately it releases the
putrefying smell of rotting and decomp and sees it's a very small cellar. So one
of the men participating in the search named Silas Toll volunteers to go down
to check out what is below fucking Silas dude. I know the goat here. So
immediately regretting this volunteer he just gets a unbearable stench obviously
and then he just continues to climb down but realizes that there is a heavy slab
inside of the cellar blocking him from seeing what is lying underneath it. But
what he did find was thick layers of clotted blood all over the cellar. There
was so much clotted blood actually that it seeped through the slab into the
crevices of the into the dirt below. The whole slab? The whole slab. The entire
entire thing was covered. So this was the main source of the smell. So the men
tightrope the horses and police which separated the cabin from its like
foundation unveiling the entirety of the pit that Silas had jumped into and the
man began the men began just to dig and dig but unfortunately nothing but blood
kept coming up. Oh my god. It was that bad. It's not crazy. No that's fucking insane.
Like literally a pool of blood. So Ed York brother of missing physician
William York eventually writes in a few hours following the dig and search after
news was said and sent to him from Leroy of the search parties current
findings in the cabin. Now the smell of human decay still reeks but no sign of
bodies just blood just was throughout the cabin. This led to Ed York proceeding to
search a property himself in case he recognized any you know clues or anything
that his brother might have left around. So as Edward walks through the cabin
he's looking through the already searched items and he sees a horse brittle.
He specifically recalls belonging to his brother William and it's immediately
struck with the overwhelming feeling that something very very bad has happened
to his brother in the cabin and he cannot help but wonder if he let the
people who owned this cabin escape. Now that might be a little confusing right
now but I promise it'll make sense later. I was gonna say this this seems like you
know what seems like a stretch but like there's some messed up stuff going on in
that cabin. Yeah definitely and now if you guys are a little confused about what
the horse brittle is because actually didn't know what that was after his
wife found this a horse brittle. So a horse brittle is that kind of mask that
you put on horses to keep them retain. Oh yeah yeah yeah so that's what that is.
I had no idea I was just gonna say to be honest. I was confused too don't worry.
So that same day searchers along with Ed York discovered disturbed soil with an
apple orchard in vegetable garden not too far away from the cabin. So they use a
metal rod to see if they can hit anything and immediately the rod hit
something below. They began digging right away and beneath the land in a shallow
grave they find human remains. As the search party spreads throughout the
area they realized that there are several areas with freshly laid soil they
had not realized was there before. Soon the man began to realize that they are
not just suing with one or two missing persons but entire field of murdered
and missing victims. Jesus. And it was at that moment Ed York knew exactly who had
been behind this because only months before he had himself met these people.
These people were known to be the bloody benders. No fucking kidding. Yeah you can
already see what they got their names from. Makes a lot of sense from the start of the story.
You said blood everywhere. I know. I thought they were going to be called the
the Johnson's. The Johnson's. No they died. They died right and I died right into this.
Oh my god. So just a little background just a little quick history lesson about
the time before we go any further. Around the time sorry around the spring time
of 1854 Kansas had just become a new territory in the U.S. and settlers were
heading west for Missouri and search for a new land for farming. Families,
individuals and nomads flocked to the Kansas Purys because of a great number
of resources perfect for farming such as clean water and abundant sub forest for
timber and acreous land. Also to comment slavery became notarized as an
institution for the territory. So in May of 1854 the U.S. Congress released the
Kansas-Nebraska Act which was created to allow settlers of Kansas and Nebraska to
decide whether or not enslavement would be reinstated as the territories had been
already areas of free land. So if I'm not mistaken Nebraska remained a
free state while Kansas was pro enslavement of innocent people of color.
Now for a very long time well into the 1860s and 70s the drawing feud between
Kansas being a free state versus a slave state persisted and made Kansas a huge
hub for political debate. This also created a ton of violence not to mention
settlers attempting to protect the communities from guerrilla warfare
because at this time the Civil War was also in the works. So eventually in
1861 Kansas deemed itself a free state which ignited what thousands of
civilians in Kansas losing their lives leaving an outcome of Kansas and shambles
leaving remaining civilians to rebuild what they had once called home. Terrible
this terrible. No no. So towns did begin to flourish once again although more and
more white settlers started clinging onto Kansas and what it could offer to them.
As more Kansas began to become established by these white settlers
indigenous colonies would just be disrupted. By the 1970s the US
government really just ignored settlements they made with the native
tribes and just began building railroads right on top of their land.
Right smack through everything. Straight through it. And then LeBek County which
is where the story takes place in the 1970s was a beautiful terrain where
prairies as far as I could see but all the while was a messy scene at the same
time. So the crime rate around here just grew and grew and settlers just
entered like crazy. Eventually all the natives of the Osset's tribe were forced
out from the LeBek County which is where we get the name Osset's Trail to
Oklahoma and thanks to the Homestead Acts but not really in October of 1875
families moved into the area. Now real quick before I go on I just wanted to
quickly mention what the Homestead Act is just in case you
spent a minute since history class. The Homestead Act allowed for pretty much
settlers and travelers mostly of white descent. You were able to claim land. To
claim land. Yeah. You were able to claim tents to hundreds of acres. A lot. Yeah.
A lot. By just exploring this territory. That's why there was so many people
flocking west and you know south and stuff. Yeah it's crazy too because it was
like dirt cheap to just to get where I'm. And it was like it was next to nothing.
Yeah and it was pretty much like the Homestead Act is pretty much like a
land. As long as you can make the land like better they'll let you say kind of
a thing. So I mean at that point it was a no-brainer for so many people. Yeah
you're farming. You're keeping. Living on these port towns there wasn't much to do
about that. Many job opportunities land or opportunities to go so a lot of
people said screw it. Just gonna go. Let me go let me go see what's out there.
That's true. Yeah definitely. With no regard to anyone else. Yeah they did not
care whatsoever. So yeah like I said five families specifically in Lebede
County at the time of October 1870 had moved into the area. They all settled
approximately seven miles away from where Sherrivale, Kansas will later be
established and one of these five families were father and son John Bender
Sr. who was 60 and John Bender Jr. who was 25 at least approximately 25 and they
were given a 160 acre plot of land facing the Osage Trail. That's a lot of
land folks. That's a lot of land folks. Yeah no kidding. Geez. So now these
benders were thought to have been German immigrants as they were told they had as
we are told from just archives and such that they had really thick accents and
after a year of building a lot cabin home in Barn in 1871 two more
benders arrived. This was 55 year old Avira Bender who went as Ma and was also
known to be very unfriendly. Yeah she has a bad reputation. Ma! Ma! I'm sorry.
Was it Avira like the mistress of something? I know it's like the mistress of
darkness or something. I think that was the old TV show. I don't know. I like the
name. Avira? Avira. That's a name right there. So there was her and then we have
Kate Bender who was thought to have been around the age of 20 years old. This
woman was noted to be a very beautiful woman and was a quote self-proclaimed
healer and psychic. Okay. So why not? Take that as you. So like I said they all
had what was recognized and thought to be German accents but no one was for sure.
Kate spoke fluent English. She was kind of the family's more prized possession
while living in Kansas. John Jr. spoke a little English but very broken English
and then Ma and Pa were not English speakers whatsoever. So they just spoke
German or they just spoke with a German accent? German accents but also kind of
German. But the thing is they worked as we see from the archives and things I've
read. People assume that it was German I think at the time. I mean people people
around them just were like yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say yeah they're probably ignorant to
it so we don't know for sure if that was German but apparently it's definitely
foreign people. Foreign. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So they're definitely from out of town.
They're not in Kansas. They're not in Kansas. So just keep in mind ultimately
Kate being most spiritual and most clear with English was pretty good at drawing
in the travelers for the most part. So the Benders did realize that their cabin
was a hotspot for travelers and really began realizing that they could use their
geographic location to their benefit. So they decided to split the cabin into two
parts. So the front of the cabin sorry I'll say this in front of the white
canvas that divided the cabin would be converted into a general store in a
kitchen and a dining table for guests to eat at. So travelers traveling along the
trail would have a place to rest and eat. The other side of the canvas would
remain as a living quarter. So this would eventually become known as the
Bender Inn. Bender Inn as in Bender Inn. Like a yeah you get that. Oh my god they're like the first
bed and breakfast. Bed and breakfast. Yeah. They were like the the first what are they
called. Oh my god I'm blanking right now. Like when is somebody's house. Oh oh oh oh.
Why am I blanking right now. I know you're talking about why can I think of what you're saying. I don't know why I keep
thinking Uber. That doesn't make sense. No Airbnb. Airbnb. Yeah like the first Airbnb. Yeah yeah yeah.
Or Zillow. Right. No I think Zillow is like apartments. Oh is it. Yeah. I didn't know that. Okay. I think so.
Well now I know I'm doing my next image level. I love it. But yeah pretty much like the first
Airbnb. I love it. But with a twist. Yeah seriously. So also keep in mind that that white canvas is very
important. So it comes back later. Okay. Let's keep that in mind. And also just keep in mind that this this
end quote unquote was a very very small space. So it might sound big but it's a cabin. It's literally
cabin in the woods. Yeah. Cabin on a prairie. But yeah let's let's just produce some of the TM.
It's like five people would be crowded or something. Yeah. So like pretty much like they would have one or
two people at most and anything else. Because how many people are really traveling the wilderness.
Yeah. Anyways at that time. Yeah. They would get maybe a couple people every so often kind of a thing.
So so now let me also say this. Going back to old Kate Kate what apps Kate will often travel
around Kansas to give curious citizens readings. Spiritual spiritual lectures healings and contacting
loved ones and people ate this shut up. And again people found her really pretty. So it was in her
kind of favor to just go around giving these palm readings readings to people things like that. Hey
get your bag girl. She was in her bag. She was in her bag. I'm here for it.
And some may think why didn't more people see Kate's line of work as bullshit or why didn't they
you know invalidate her work or what she preached. Many did. But around this time spirituality was
very huge and it's a very big talk topic and people took it seriously like.
I mean if you just look at the time like lots of people had a lot of thoughts on a lot of
things that were a lot of bullshits. Let's be honest folks. Good point. I'm glad to be living
in the time I am even though it's complicated. It would have been a lot worse back then. No.
Let's be honest. You have a point there. That is so true. So any who I had just briefly mentioned
how the Ossach Trail that the Indians took in order to vacate Lappet County was the trail that
was soon also used for all travelers. And being that this trail wasn't super far from the Benersin
they definitely knew what were they were doing and just had the benefit of the doubt to start
pulling on anyone they needed to pass by who passed by at least. So many travelers would
start getting sick or just dying from malnutrition or dehydration. So it was a perfect reason to
start Beners business. Many neighboring counties would understand that travelers will also get
sick or even die from traveling the Ossach Trail but eventually the record of missing persons on
this trail just significantly increased and heads up really started to turn because people are like
I mean if it's that drastic even back then people are gonna be like wait a second. Yeah you know
some of this fishy because obviously like yeah we didn't have like dexenes or things to protect you
back then. People putting on dirty bandages ripped off their clothes you know and all that but
wouldn't it number when it jumps up like 20% like that's gonna be like yo where's little Jimmy you
know where it's yeah we gotta find this dude. No exactly exactly my point and so people really
became worried and especially in May of 1871 after a corpse of a man was found in Jump Creek
which will later be named Montgomery Creek in Kansas. He would be found with his skull crushed
young and his throat split. So that's not good? Yeah by February 1872 two more men would be found
with the same exact specific injuries crushed skulls and slit throats. By fall of 1872
travelers really started to disappear left and right. The news of missing travelers really
started to spread and would not sit too well with the travelers even vigilante mobs would just start
arresting innocent random men but what really caught the attention of nearby counties was the
disappearance of a man named George Newton Longer or Long Longer. They spoke differently
if we recheck it. Okay. So he went missing on his way from Independence Kansas to Iowa. At the time
of his disappearance he had been also traveling with his 18 month old daughter Marianne. They were
both never seen alive after being seen traveling along the Ossach trail. Jesus. Yeah not a fan of
kid stuff but oh my god yeah. So in March of 1873 a little under a year later we are then brought
to the physician that was mentioned at the beginning Dr. William Henry York. William York was also
known sorry. William York was also from Independence Kansas and was very popular as a physician.
If everyone left in the door he can even go to a neighboring town and people would know who he was
and he had eventually set out to find George Longer and his daughter Mary Ann who were his neighbors.
So William would question homesteaders and travelers along the Ossach trail and after
getting off a train he eventually made his way to Fort Scott also in Kansas. On that search on Fort
Scott he actually identified a wagon and horse belonging to the uh to Longer that Lork actually
sold to him prior to his move with his daughter and York is just asking around he's like hey you
know does anyone know anything about this. Yeah does anyone know like who these where the people
are that yeah they've been missing and like I know what that is. Yeah and no one had answers no one
knew no one saw anything it's just the craziest thing. Yeah. So York had no such luck finding either
of where there were abouts were and he eventually just took a horse back to the route home to
Independence but halfway some say that he may have gotten tired or wanted to question people that owned
a cabin he was passing by. Oh no. So well Mr York no. Yeah so witness later recounted seeing York
getting off a horse knocking on the door went inside and that was the last time he ever
be seen alive. So if that's not telling I don't know what it is. Yeah shout out Mr York though you
know. You know great guy. Try to do the right thing. I would like to hope that if I ever and Lord
forbid I ever go missing my neighbors would go looking for me. Right we all need a Mr York in
our life. We really do. That's all I'm saying. Oh god so killing anyone obviously is a big no no.
Thank you Kendall. Thank you. Yeah you're welcome. If you guys didn't know it's frowned upon in most
societies thank you. But killing the well respected and highly cared for physician who just goes missing
was where the benders really just fucked up. I mean that's that's going to turn heads. Yeah at that
point. If anything turned heads at this point they'll be like where the fuck is Mr York. Yeah
yeah where's my physician. If he's known in like I mean it's crazy if he's known in that many different
areas at that time in this country when it's just territories that's like that's the guy that's a
that's big boss right there. Yeah he's definitely he's having the guy to go to and he's like LeBron
James of physicians at that point you know. And the crazy part is not only was not only was William
York very widely known but he had two brothers that were also higher ups and very well respected.
His brothers were Colonel Edward York who if you remember he was also the guy that was looking
for his brother at the beginning of this story. Yeah. And also Senator of Kansas Alexander York
big names. Okay so like they're that family. They're that family. Okay yeah yeah. So then
she really hit the fan after this. Yeah. So immediately after William York went missing
Colonel York started investigating and started looking throughout LeBot County right away.
One of the first homesteaders that he would actually question was the Benders.
So during this meeting the Benders denied denied denied whole way through. They denied
ever acknowledged or ever knowledge of meeting William York or knowing his whereabouts.
A newspaper from the time described the interaction with Ma Bender being a hag that set
quiet and gloomy pretending that she could not understand English or speak speak English.
Pa on the other hand just said nothing at all. Kate Bender smirked the
Ed with an evil eye and denied William ever coming to or in contact with him. I don't like Kate no
more. Yeah we don't like Kate. I don't like Kate. John Jr. then spent a story suggesting that Ed's
brother may have been Matt with foul play at a remote location near Drum Creek where John Jr.
had claimed quote unquote that he was shot around the same time at claim that his brother went missing
and he says it must be the it must be the same people that shot me around the same time. Oh he
fucked up. Yeah and now if you specifically remember John Creek was also where a body was found.
Yeah. So he fucked up. Mentioning that. Big no no. No. But with hardly any evidence to
suggest otherwise Colonel Atwork really had no option but to leave the Benders in peace.
He had to be suspicious though. But he was definitely suspicious. Some shit was definitely
happening here. Like after talking to those people I'd be like huh yeah okay. This is
fucked. Definitely. So only a short few weeks later on April or sorry in April of 1873 Colonel
Ed York returned to the Bender Inn confronting the family that a woman had escaped and fell victim
to a virus or a mob when she threatened her with knives and pistols. The victim claimed that she
barely escaped so Ed kept fiercely suggesting that they were liable but Ed knew my couldn't
understand English. But all of a sudden my stance up and she says quote get off my house.
I did nothing wrong. Oh my. No. You fucked up ma. Ed knew there was much more to this family
than what they were letting on. I mean obviously at that point he knew they lied. Yeah. At that
point they like ma is ma's hide and shit. Wait like ma I thought you couldn't speak English.
What did this come from? And we don't even know about pa yet. So like you know he's probably all
fucked up. At that point I'd be like where the fuck is my brother. Oh yeah. And then luckily for
the benders because of Kate they managed to charm Ed and she told him I have psychic abilities
and if you come back without your man here I will help you find your brother. Okay he's gonna kill
out of you. My boy Ed. Well I'll spoiler it's fine it's okay he doesn't go in your hair. Oh my god.
It's okay. Okay Ed's not completely dumb guys. Ed's not completely done. Can't say the same for
the brother but we'll get there. I know. Well during the same time the local township organized a
town meeting at Harmony Grove school house where officials attended including Colonel Ed York
and locals of the area had come as well as pa and John Bender Jr. At the meeting some have believed
that Dr. William York's disappearance was the doing of the Auschwitz tribe which typical assumptions
of for the time I guess. Oh no not us. Someone must have been them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's not one
of us. It's none of us. It's none of us. It's gotta be. It's gotta be the innocent tribes
that we kicked out. Not the crazy people who can speak English actually and got blood stains all
it not it couldn't be. Oh no it couldn't be them at all. No. So while these assumptions
didn't let on officials agreed to obtain search warrants for every property along the route
that Dr. William York would have traveled and only days later a local noticed animals on the
Bender's property that looked to be either dead or starving. So elected township official Lee
White Dick was sent to the cabin where 75 men later came and he then sent to fetch Colonel Ed
York to come help him check the area. So we've now come full circle right which makes a lot more
sense now because like at the beginning I'm like what 75 people like to search this like I feel
like they don't even do that today like 75 people but I have to really I mean like 110 acres though
right it's a big land yeah yeah they did eventually you know rile up enough men to come to this
well I mean obviously the the town knew something was fucking up oh yeah definitely and now if you
couldn't remember from the last three minutes we started where Lee Roy had scoped up the house
with the search party they found a ton of clotted blood underneath the house in a trap door leading
to a cellar underneath the kitchen table they found no bodies Ed York showed up eventually goes down
to Moss apple orchard in Kate's vegetable garden where the dirt looked freshly plowed after digging
they found what was indeed the body of Dr. William York. Oh William. His body was found face down in
a very shallow grave and the back of his head had been smashed in and his throat had been slit
and he must have been in that cellar when Ed was there yeah oh my god so on that same day seven
more bodies were found in the garden or in the orchard with the same ammo the victims had the
throat slit open their heads uh sorry the victims had the throat slit open and their heads were caved
in and it looked like it must have been through a hammer or by a hammer at least yeah I mean at
that point you know it's it has to be it's not a bear it's not a mountain lion it's people it's it is
the worst thing it is people the benders the fucking benders did and oh
kind of weird enough some of the bodies were even
is uh indecently mutilated which suggests oh no genital mutilation so
though the only body different from the rest had been the body of a infant who we can probably guess
was little maryanne the 18 month old mm-hmm no we had previously gone missing with her father
she was found buried beside her father george george's feet and is said that her body was on
harms therefore it is suggested that she may have been buried alive that that that doesn't
that's terrible that doesn't mean anything good uh I know I'm not that is the benders are so humane
yeah they don't my god no it is suggested so I don't want to believe that she was buried I want
to believe that oh I don't want to believe anything but I want to at least hope that it wasn't being
buried alive that killed this I mean and in any case that was an infant that was it alive it was
alive you know then you know whether it was suffocation or being buried alive or anything
like they killed her they killed this poor poor child who had no life to live and not even a chance
huh it just these child that's man they get me they really do so her father
uh William right george george george so William went to look for george's neighbor
okay and William it was the brother of ed okay got you caught up so her father was
beat in the back of the head with his short slit and stripped there and I hope by now it's evident
that this was a murderous family of four that were the reason for many child was going missing if it
wasn't already it wasn't the ozac tribe shocker I mean it was all on their land yeah it was all
on their land like I said and at this point like you said before um the cabin was abandoned right
the family wasn't there nope not at all not suspicious at all now when the bodies had been
recovered from the land a lot of the bodies were intact while others found just limbs and body parts
oh my god being that it's the 1800s they couldn't just use DNA testing to identify the bodies
the way we could today so they had to literally just go by way of the reports that were filed for
missing person supports in the area and just yeah and correlate them that way yeah just an arm at
that point with yeah what are you gonna do if it was by the arm or like if it was based on you
know the jewelry or the clothes they were wearing yeah you had to do your best because what's someone
to say yeah that's jimbo's arm no yeah they wouldn't know that yeah no idea then that's sickening
this is still tragic geez so according to various sources tall bodies were for sure discovered
and the victims found were jane spheric, william jones, william york, henry wikenni, benjamin
brown, john phipps, william mcrotney, george lonker, mary ann lonker, and john slash peter boil
now these are just a few of the volunteers i'm sorry a few of the victims that were found
is suggested that there are many more that have been on this territory or sorry territory this
land how long have they been there for and how big that land is now that's the that's the crazy part
because keep in mind everyone who's digging up people right now are not investigators they're
simply just people coming to help like they don't have like a whole unit at that point yeah they
probably got one sheriff one deputy and that's anything like that and you know the rest of it
are just like people with the rifles volunteering you know yeah and keep in mind they found they
literally found musli's bodies by sticking like the the metal yeah pipes down in the ground to see
they have no idea how far this goes then yeah there's no way of knowing so it's suggested that
there may be as many as 20 more than 21 victims total but um it's it's hard to say now i just
want to kind of go over some of the victims um because i did find some evidence or some information
about who these victims were not all of them but we know benjamin benjamin brown was one
he was identified with a silver ring on his finger by a friend of his that traded horses with him
once shortly before his disappearance william Mcgrotney who was traveling to independence from
cedarville cancels to make a claim on this land and was said that he did not have a ton of money on
him at the time of his disappearance henry mckinney who was a victim that lived in indiana and was just
simply traveling to visit his sister in independence unfortunately he was traveling by foot and again
hardly had any cash johnny boyle slash peter boyle i don't know which name is right because i kept
finding different sources right both different names but his body was the most unrecognizable
and the only person that recognized him was his little wife who only recognized him because of
the shirt he wore and she recognized that shirt because she actually handed that shirt for him
yeah so that's painful horrible so any other unknown or unclaimed bodies had just been respectfully
laid to rest in independence kansas and just given the respected ceremonies which is heartbreaking to
hear cannot imagine being a jondo or jendo unable to be with my family during that kind of uh just
so sad and then they'd never know they never know i mean it was crazy to me that you just kind of
pointed out though about these victims is this clearly wasn't a money grab no they weren't robbing
people no these were just straight up monsters straight up monsters like these women people like
you know not that i'm saying it's better no but i get people but it's just like you know
to quote batman some people just want to watch the world burn you know it's true people are
too terrible this is kind of and to find a whole family like that it's crazy because
i mean at first i was kind of like oh this reminds me a lot of our first story that we
covered me and bry covered which was uh hh homes yeah because you know he you know killed a lot of
people put them in this dungeon but like he insurance frauds for him and stuff yeah like you know he
as fucked as he was he was you know benefiting from it in a certain way and that was it seemed to be
always his end game whereas you know you know these people just straight up welcome to our cabin
yeah literally it reminds me of um i think you say you didn't see it yet but um it's this movie called
house of a thousand corpses i recently yeah no i've seen yes but um that is a drop zombie film and
it's kind of it reminds me of it because i guess more of a updated version like an 80s version of
it uh because um that story kind of takes place with like these friends that are going to this like
i don't know somewhere or whatever but they happen to break down on the road and this family of like
four or five people are all crazy as hell and they seem nice and then you know all of a sudden one
night in you know half their friends are getting you know killed and and i i said this to kendall
earlier i i swear i have heard this story about this family before or i've seen like a representation
of it in a movie it has to be i don't remember what movie though it's been killing me this whole
episode you have to look that up i really i was trying to look up oh my god wait i was trying to
look up some of the names you were telling me and oh it has to be a movie like how it let's see
okay well there is one movie it's called bender and now that looks like it's based off of this but
doesn't seem like a huge film or anything but yeah like you said i'm sure there has to be something
out there about this because or at least referencing it yeah like even slightly because there's this is
a i mean i think this is literally one of the first i mean it's a killers in america and it's a
crazy story really and it's like you know wild west you set the scene way back when you know
it's it's a different time yeah i'm sure it's referenced i don't remember i think it's in a
leo movie you know i don't remember which one or like a leo the leo movie or maybe it was um
um god what was that movie we're uh you know i think i thought where it was i was a morgan freeman
was it not morgan freeman but uh i know you're talking about there was like a like four or five
big name actors in it and it was kind of like a comedy you're not talking about the jango are you
no not jango but like it was like kind of like a comedy and there's not no country for all men but
there's like four or five big name actors in this movie and they all end up in this and this cabin
yeah oh oh oh you're talking about the um um um tarantino film yes i can't remember the name
it's that movie hold on i want to look this up too i think that's what i've been talking about
this entire time you know i think you're onto something i think that might be like at least
influenced right oh my gosh wait because the people in that in that movie like the people who had the
cabin were crazy if i remember correctly they hatefully they hatefully yes oh i wonder oh
huh yeah that might that might be you never know huh that's cool uh that's interesting at least
wow and that was around the civil war area too and everything so yeah definitely a good movie by
the way if you guys haven't seen it that's a really great movie wow great connection i didn't even think
about that i'm like i'm so glad we remembered it because it's gonna bother me my brain for a long
time that was a good movie yeah yeah well sorry we got a little off course for a minute so the
question still remains where the hell did the benders flee off to and what happened in the benders
in well i found the perfect summary from crime reads that i just couldn't pass up thought it was
a perfect summary and this is what it said quote it is believed that guests were given the seat of
honor at a dining table which backed up against the canvas remember the right canvas divider and
was positioned over the trap door to the cellar once their victim was sitting one of the men
would knock the visitor out with a hammer from behind on the other side of the curtain one of
the women would then slit the victim's throat to make sure they were dead for good measure the body
would then be dropped through the trap door stripped and later buried or dismembered though
some victims were wearing valuable valuables or carrying cash a lack of targeting suggests that
benders killed just for the thrill like you said not for the money a lot of dozen bullet holes were
also found in the cabin likely from victims who tried to fight back one of the few items found
in the cabin was a bible with notes in german which identify john jr as john goop goop heart good
i think it's good hot i'm not sure this was as well as reports from neighbors to adjusting that
john jr and kate may have actually been a couple instead of a brother or sister in fact it is now
believed that none of the four were actually named bender and that the only mother and daughter were
related evira is select to have been born in amira mark and ultra-dark mountains and to have been
had multiple children and husbands some say who died of head injuries before she took up the bender
alias so john senior was likely born john finnich i think it's finnaker before immigrating from
germany or the netherlands and kate bender as a virus fifth child eliza griffith which was her real
name crazy so in a whim they're basically saying that everything was bullshit and you could have just
been whoever you whoever the fuck you wanted and you could have just been like pretty much yeah my
name is jeremy now literally and i kill people just kidding i'm kevin i just think that's crazy
people you know i'm kevin well really just gives me chills it's just to think that you're going into
this cabin right you just walked you just walked or rode a horse for and you've been going for like
yeah and you're finally like oh here's a house let me pay for some food let me pay maybe rest my head
i'm tired you're sitting at this table and they're nice yeah they're feeding you and everything
next thing you know you're getting hit in the back of the head your six get your throats getting
slit and then they pull a lever unveiling a trap door and you're just bleeding out and then the next
person comes in next person comes in like it's nothing that's insane to me insane to me that
that means fucking and then kate's going around like i could speak to your dead relatives because i
killed them oh she's full of shit yeah she definitely is and there was one thing i also wanted i wrote
down on paper i had also found that the location where the apple orchard and vegetable garden was
once known today was called or is called today hell's half acre which is also the name of the
novel i had read for this story by susan jonisus which is a really good read you guys should check
it out and i also found that anthropologists even today that have studied the benders for years are
confident that there are still bodies undiscovered buried beneath the surface of the land that benders
once owns a hundred percent hundred percent you said to yourself how they tried to find the bodies
yeah and like we don't know how long that family was there for and if they killed just that many
people and that many their definitely you think they just happened to start right around they got
caught no not it not a chance it just it that also gives me chills thinking like this this one
of quote family must have been doing this for a long years before they i mean they were i know
it's messed up to stay but they were good at it they were they they really were good at it that's
how they evaded they fooled everybody they really did after a while like if they weren't good at it
people like hey don't go to that cabin yeah and that's to keep keep keep the horse going yeah and
that's to the question where where did they go after this that's crazy no one knows who knows if
they just went up and did it somewhere else i'm sure or even if they split up and you know kept
doing it on their own we don't know no yeah the world is the states were so wild at that point
like there's no way of ever getting any information about that really no no they just had to go by
way of ear i think i found a couple sources i said that you know after that whole thing happened
and they finally understood it was the benders this whole time there were a couple sightings i think
i they quote unquote saw or some witnesses say that they saw the benders or at least the ma and
daughter um in michigan at the time trying to escape from the united states up into canada
others say that they had seen sightings of the benders um overseas back in germany so who knows
but as far as we know they because they could have changed their name again vanishing vint vint
vint air yeah they were never found again and so this this case doesn't have justice unfortunately
for that sake but luckily they you know found out that this happened so we can tell the story today
and then then that it stopped at least in that area it just stopped in my area yeah so yeah that is
the chilling case of the benders or i'm sorry the bloody benders and i hope you guys really like
that one because that was that's interesting and i always like to bring it back to these bloody
crime stories so thank you to chris yeah thank you chris for giving us this story and i i don't have a
i don't think i've gotten any um listeners suggestions yet but if you guys have any
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thanksgiving