Kentucky Hauntings(13)

Soon the life-threatening predicament of Floyd Collins caught the attention of the media, and people came from all over the country to visit the site where Floyd was trapped. A kind of carnival-like atmosphere took over as Floyd was trapped and dying. His own family is said to have made a nice amount of money from selling Floyd Collins souvenirs. Reporters sent stories to their papers across the country, and everybody waited and prayed for his rescue. Tragically, that was not to be. Rescuers finally reached him on February 17, but by then he was dead from exposure, thirst, and starvation.

At that point, rescuers decided that it was too dangerous to attempt to remove the body, so they left it as they found it and filled up the shaft with debris. Later, a doctor estimated that Floyd had died three or four days earlier, probably on February 13.

A funeral service was held for Floyd Collins on the surface of the cave, but this did not seem right to his brother Homer. Sand Cave did not seem to Homer Collins like a proper resting place for his brother, even though notable explorers in Europe were often buried in the caves they discovered. Two months later, Homer and some friends reopened the shaft, dug a new tunnel, and were finally able to remove Floyd's body on April 23, 1925. On April 26, Floyd's body was buried on the Collins homestead near Crystal Cave. Later the cave would be renamed Floyd Collins Crystal Cave in his honor. It seemed that Floyd would finally be able to rest in peace, but stories about him tell us that his rest was not for long.

In 1927, Floyd's father, Lee Collins, sold the homestead, along with Floyd's grave and Crystal Cave. By June 13, the new owner had thought of a wonderful tourist attraction. He had Floyd's body placed in a glass-topped coffin and exhibited it for many years at the entrance to Crystal Cave. People say it was a profitable move because many people came and paid to gawk at a man who had become a legend.

Later, other stories circulated. As if it were not disturbing enough for people to pay to look at this unfortunate man, someone stole his body on the night of March 18–19, 1929. Some people thought the owners of the property might have done it for publicity to increase tourist interest, but they had no proof. Others thought it was a prank, but nobody ever knew for sure. The body was soon recovered not far from the cave, but Floyd's left leg was missing. The leg was never found.

After this theft, the body was kept in a chained casket in a secluded section of Crystal Cave. Most of the family had long objected to Floyd's casket being placed in the cave for public viewing.

In 1961, Crystal Cave was purchased by Mammoth Cave National Park and officials closed it to the public. At the request of the Collins family, the National Park Service removed Floyd's body and interred it in the Flint Ridge Cemetery on March 4, 1989. It took a team of fifteen men three days to remove the casket and tombstone from Crystal Cave and take it to its final resting place.

After the long ordeal of his stay in the cave both in life and death, Floyd Collins's spirit may feel more at home there than in Flint Ridge Cemetery. Some people have reported hearing a weak voice in the cave calling for help. Others claim to have seen him standing in the cave. Perhaps he is looking for his lost leg. True or not, the elements are there for the ghost of the fallen hero to return.





Kentucky's Killer Ghost


Two questions often come up in discussions about ghosts. “Are there evil ghosts?” and “Do they ever kill?” We rarely encounter stories that say yes to either question, but Kentucky folklore does have one such story, about a man named Carl Pruitt. Troy Taylor, our good friend and renowned author of many books on the paranormal, has written about this case in his book Beyond the Grave. His version is our favorite. Other renditions of the story may be found in the late Michael Paul Henson's book More Kentucky Ghost Stories, as well as on the Internet.

Our story begins in eastern Kentucky in June 1938. Carl Pruitt came home from work and discovered his wife in bed with another man. The cowardly lover escaped through a window, leaving the wife to face the wrath of her husband alone. He was so enraged that he strangled her with a small piece of chain. When his rage subsided and he realized what he had done, he committed suicide by shooting himself. Police considered it a clear case of murder-suicide and closed the case. It was not over, however. In fact, it was just the beginning.

Carl and his wife were buried in separate cemeteries. Unfortunately, no pictures of the graves are available. She evidently rested in eternal peace, but Carl's rage apparently lived on. A few weeks after he was buried, people began to notice the pattern of a chain forming on his gravestone. A discoloration in the stone kept growing until it formed a small-linked chain that twisted back on itself to form a cross. It frightened the local residents so much that they wanted to remove the stone. Officials refused to let them do it, but they remained uneasy.