Body in the Water Tower
Debra Waugh
This is a grotesque incident that actually happened in my hometown of
Princeton, WV. I'm wondering if it has grown into a sort of urban
legend elsewhere.
Residents served by a water tower on a bluff at the intersection of
Route 460 and Ingleside Road had been complaining of an odd smell and
taste to their water. The Water Company finally felt compelled to check
the tower, and when they did, found a very decomposed body inside.
Evidently the deceased gentleman had been drunk or stoned and thought it
would be fun to swim in the water tower. Unfortunately once you jump
into a water tower, the level of the water is sufficiently far below the
rim of the tower that you can't pull yourself out again. The tower was
isolated enough that no one could hear his screams for help, and
eventually he grew exhausted and drowned.
They say that his body was so decomposed that it slipped away into very
small pieces when they tried to raise it from the bottom of the tank.
Needless to say the water tower has been torn down, and residents of
that area now receive their water from another reservoir.
Those of us who live nearby made many jokes about the situation, the
best being that in Princeton you don't have to use conditioner on your
hair--there's plenty of body in the water.
So, has anyone heard this story with fudged details that would indicate
it has passed into legend?
Helge Moulding
Debra Waugh wrote:
> So, has anyone heard this story with fudged details that would
> indicate it has passed into legend?
I was sure the story has been mentioned on AFU in the past, but I
couldn't get DejaNews to cough it up, nor did I manage to spot it
in my copy of the FAQ. Since I appear to be amazingly inept at these
simple skills, I'm sure that someone else will proudly apport the
requisite articles in due time.
Meanwhile, Debra, I am consumed by curiosity. I seem to remember
hearing this story *before* AFU, as well as on AFU. Are you certain
that you haven't been taking a local legend at face value? Can you,
for instance, cite newspaper reports of the event? Surely with a
date and name in hand one might quiz your local coroner's to make
absolutely certain that the events in question transpired as you
said.
I also wonder at the theme of "taste." Cholera and associated
diseases are commonly associated with water contaminated in the
manner you describe, and the amount of infectious organism in the
water necessary to produce significantly more serious symptoms than
a bit of a tang are small enough that they can't really be tasted.
In fact, a chrystal clear mountain stream has lead to many a hiker's
complaint.
You describe a body so advanced in putrefaction that one cannot
imagine any sort of aseptic circumstances, like extreme cold. In
short, I think the answer to your question is a resounding "yes!"
and counts for your version as well.
--
Helge "Funny how that works." Moulding
mailto:h...@slc.unisys.com Just another guy
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1401 with a weird name
Tim & Christine Morgan
In article <33375C...@INETONE.NET>, DEBW...@INETONE.NET says...
>So, has anyone heard this story with fudged details that would indicate
>it has passed into legend?
No, but there's a remarkable similarity to the drowned boys in the
Derry Standpipe in Stephen King's IT!
Christine
Richard Brandt
Ngener wrote:
>
> He never found a body, but my husband, a civil engineer specializing in
> municipal water systems, has supervised the refurbishing of several water
> tanks. In Crane, Texas, he found diving equipment - snorkels, fins, face
> mask.
Well, obviously, the occupant had already been scooped up....
> In Colorado Springs, he found a pair of men's underwear and a step
> ladder. No indication if the owner of the underwear and the ladder were
> the same.
Well I still bet he puts his pants on one leg at a time like everyone
else.
Richard "my this is a lame one" Brandt
--
===================================================
http://rgfn.epcc.edu/users/af541/virtual.htm
"I don't remember Kimball Kinnison ever pausing to relax
over a cup of Yuban." -- Redd Boggs
Joe Boswell
In article <33375C...@INETONE.NET>, Debra Waugh
<DEBW...@INETONE.NET> writes
>So, has anyone heard this story with fudged details that would indicate
>it has passed into legend?
No, but I live in a block of 10 flats(UK) / apartments(US) where people
began to get worried about the water supply last year. Things came to a
head when one resident found feathers coming out of the tap(UK) /
faucet(US) along with the water. On investigation, several decomposed
birds, principally pigeons which had been nesting above it, were found
inside the header tank, which did not have a lid. The birds must have
been regularly defecating into the tank as well. The people who cleaned
it out described it as one of the most disgusting jobs they had ever
encountered. Still, no-one here died or even became ill as a result of
it, so far as I know.
PS My flat is for sale, but I do not invite offers here because that
would be an abuse of AFU.
--
Joe Boswell * If I cannot be free, I'll be cheap.
Ngener
He never found a body, but my husband, a civil engineer specializing in
municipal water systems, has supervised the refurbishing of several water
tanks. In Crane, Texas, he found diving equipment - snorkels, fins, face
ladder. No indication if the owner of the underwear and the ladder were
the same.
Charles Wm. Dimmick
Ngener wrote:
>
> He never found a body, but my husband, a civil engineer specializing
> in municipal water systems, has supervised the refurbishing of several
> water tanks. In Crane, Texas, he found diving equipment - snorkels,
> fins, face mask.
There are probably hundreds of stories of things found in water towers,
and I would think a large proportion of them would be true. My own
favorite was one I read in a history of Orlando, Florida. The water
tower there in the 19th century was open on top. One day the inspector
found a dead buzzard floating in the tank. He quietly removed it and
didn't tell anyone about his find until quite some time afterwards.
Details I don't remember, having read this in Spring? of 1957 while
writing a paper for a contest being run by the Orlando Sentinel. In
fact, I may not have read it in a regular book. One of the sources I
was using was a scrapbook in the possession of one of the patients in
a local nursing home. Sorry I can't give better cites.
Charles Wm. "citeless but not clueless" Dimmick
Guy Daugherty
> No, but I live in a block of 10 flats(UK) / apartments(US) where people
> began to get worried about the water supply last year. Things came to a
> head when one resident found feathers coming out of the tap(UK) /
> faucet(US) along with the water. On investigation, several decomposed
> birds, principally pigeons which had been nesting above it, were found
> inside the header tank, which did not have a lid. The birds must have
> been regularly defecating into the tank as well. The people who cleaned
> it out described it as one of the most disgusting jobs they had ever
> encountered. Still, no-one here died or even became ill as a result of
> it, so far as I know.
>
> PS My flat is for sale, but I do not invite offers here because that
> would be an abuse of AFU.
Place isn't called Fawlty Towers, is it?
Guy "watery fowl" Daugherty.
Heather Aston
Debra Waugh <DEBW...@INETONE.NET> writes:
>This is a grotesque incident that actually happened in my hometown of
>Princeton, WV. I'm wondering if it has grown into a sort of urban
>legend elsewhere.
>Residents served by a water tower on a bluff at the intersection of
>Route 460 and Ingleside Road had been complaining of an odd smell and
>taste to their water. The Water Company finally felt compelled to check
>the tower, and when they did, found a very decomposed body inside.
>They say that his body was so decomposed that it slipped away into very
>small pieces when they tried to raise it from the bottom of the tank.
>Needless to say the water tower has been torn down, and residents of
>that area now receive their water from another reservoir.
I'm not going to call you a liar, but I've heard this story before. In
"The Dieter" a novel whose author I can't remember at the moment. Strangely,
the story was *exactly* the same, right down to the flesh coming off the bones,
like well done chicken. Perhaps the author is from Princeton, WV?
Corey Heim
Ok , ignore my ignorance and the fact that I am just passing through and
this caught my eye. How does a person or anything else, for that matter,
get into a water tower? I was under the assumption that they are closed
at the top (getting in through the bottom would be extraordinary to say
the least :) ) and they are used to help maintain the pressure in some
water systems. Is this untrue, i.e. are there hatches at the top that can
be accessed and if so, why would they be there?
Corey "looking for a water tower cause it sounds like fun" Heim
--
Corey Heim--...@students.wisc.edu (remove 's' at end of userid to send mail)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Political Science
The law is only as effective as those that create, enforce, and interpret it.
By US Code Title 47, Sec.227(a)(2)(B), a computer/modem/printer meet the definition of a telephone fax machine. By Sec.227(b)(1)(C), it is unlawful to send any unsolicited advertisement to such equipment, punishable by action to recover actual monetary loss, or $500, whichever is greater, for each violation.
Peter Hesketh
In article <$caheim-3003...@witt124-109.resnet.wisc.edu>, Corey
Heim <$cah...@students.wisc.edu> writes
>Ok , ignore my ignorance and the fact that I am just passing through and
>this caught my eye. How does a person or anything else, for that matter,
>get into a water tower? I was under the assumption that they are closed
>at the top (getting in through the bottom would be extraordinary to say
>the least :) ) and they are used to help maintain the pressure in some
>water systems. Is this untrue, i.e. are there hatches at the top that can
>be accessed and if so, why would they be there?
For maintenance purposes.
--
Peter Hesketh, Mynyddbach, Gwent, UK
"Which is worse: ignorance or apathy? I neither know nor care."
danny burstein
>In article <$caheim-3003...@witt124-109.resnet.wisc.edu>, Corey
>Heim <$cah...@students.wisc.edu> writes
>>Ok , ignore my ignorance and the fact that I am just passing through and
>>this caught my eye. How does a person or anything else, for that matter,
>>get into a water tower? I was under the assumption that they are closed
>>at the top (getting in through the bottom would be extraordinary to say
>>the least :) ) and they are used to help maintain the pressure in some
>>water systems. Is this untrue, i.e. are there hatches at the top that can
>>be accessed and if so, why would they be there?
Yep, they have maintenance hatches. Few water towers are pressurized as
this would greatly increase pumping costs and require a much stronger and
more expensive structure.
They are (usuaully) elevated or on the highest piece of local land. As the
water comes back out, it is 'forced' through the distribution system by
gravity, with assists by pumps if needed.
In NYC, btw, rooftop _wood-enclosed_ tanks are a common site. These have
access doors in the top, which often have been leftt (or fallen) open.
>For maintenance purposes.
>--
>Peter Hesketh, Mynyddbach, Gwent, UK
>"Which is worse: ignorance or apathy? I neither know nor care."
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
Dan Tasman
Police: neighbor killed 4-year old girl
Nationwide search ends after confession
By Ben Dobbin, Associated Press writer
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The nationwide search for a 4-year-old girl with
dimples and waist-length blond hair who vanished from outside her front
door ended with the arrest of a man who lived 100 yards away.
Police said security guard Mark Christie confessed to strangling Kali
Poulton on the night of her disappearance in May 1994 from a secluded
housing estate in Pittsford, a Rochester suburb.
Hours after he was charged with second-degree murder, police found a
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
badly decomposed body in a 30,000-gallon water tank that they drained
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
early yesterday. An autopsy was performed, but DNA tests may be needed
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
to make a conclusive identity.
Kali's mother, Judy Gifford, said she remembered talking casually with
Mr. Christie half a dozen times at a local playground in early 1994 and
becoming suspicious when he made admiring remarks about her daughter.
Kali used to help Mr. Christie's then 18-month-old son on the slide, she
said.
"He would say, 'Your daughter's a very precious little girl' and I'd say
'Thank you.' We were accustomed to hearing that," she said, sobbing next
to her former husband, David Poulton, in the doorway of her modest
townhouse.
"But then he'd make comments like, 'I look at all the little girls out
here and your daughter is by far the prettiest.' That made me feel
uncomfortable and when I'd see him outside (again), I'd not be near
him."
The day after Kali vanished on May 23, 1994, while riding her Big Wheel
back and forth on the sidewalk, Ms. Gifford said she mentioned her
suspicions and said police interviewed Mr. Christie, who's married.
"I always suspected him but police said they checked him out and there
was just nothing there that pointed a finger to him," she said. "How
wrong we all were. Sometimes the evidence is not there."
Sometime afterward, Mr. Christie moved from Gleason Estates, a dead-end
loop of 300 apartments obscured by a profusion of spruce and locust, to
the rural hamlet of Gananda, 15 miles east of Rochester.
He worked at a telecommunications company on Rochester's east side and
police said he directed them to the body in a water tank that was part
of the building's air conditioning system.
Monroe County Sheriff Andrew Meloni said a tip led to Friday's arrest of
Mr. Christie, who remained jailed yesterday, but he declined to
elaborate.
David Poulton said police told him that Mr. Christie's wife of three
weeks turned him in after they quarreled and Mr. Christie told her of
the abduction.
"Why has it taken two years to conclude the case? The best way I can
describe it is, people do not confess when we want them to, people
confess when they want to," said Monroe County Sheriff's Capt. Phil
Knight.
Every year in America, an estimated 300 children are kidnapped by
strangers. As many as half of them are killed.
Ms. Gifford, 32, said she never lost hope. After leaving her part-time
marketing job, she often worked past midnight in a donated one-room
office to keep Kali's face in the spotlight.
She passed out posters at toll booths and county fairs, consulted
psychics, appeared on talk shows, persuaded airlines to stuff Kali's
picture inside ticket jackets and pediatricians to keep missing children
albums.
Kali's disappearance was featured several times on "America's Most
Wanted." All over this metropolitan region along Lake Ontario, the photo
of a girl who had competed in the "Little Miss Petite" state finals was
displayed on car windows, office walls and storefronts.
"We never believed that our daughter was not alive," Ms. Gifford said.
"We can't even give words to describe our pain. She wasn't tortured, we
know. We know she died the same day she disappeared. As much comfort I
guess as you could get, I'd have to say we have that."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Dan Tasman dtasman AT verinet.com http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~tasman
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Growth for growth's sake is the paradigm of the cancer cell"
Edward Abbey
Corey Heim
> They are (usuaully) elevated or on the highest piece of local land. As the
> water comes back out, it is 'forced' through the distribution system by
> gravity, with assists by pumps if needed.
I understood that much--I knew they weren't pressurized themselves.
Makes sense I suppose--the maintaince idea. You'd think they would make
them a little harder to get into.
Corey
Helge Moulding
Dan Tasman wrote:
> Police: neighbor killed 4-year old girl
> Nationwide search ends after confession
Good find. However, you'll have noticed that the story that started
this thread was alleged to have occured before this date. Further,
I think that the UL's important component is that the body was found
in the culinary water tower. Thus the story is more akin to the
"disgusting coffee" threads than to any group of stories about
murdered or abducted children.
--
Helge "I'll have mine without water, please." Moulding
Ngener
Corey Haim asked
<<I was under the assumption that they are closed
at the top (getting in through the bottom would be extraordinary to say
the least :) ) and they are used to help maintain the pressure in some
water systems. Is this untrue, i.e. are there hatches at the top that can
be accessed and if so, why would they be there?>>
The only 'pressure' is the head pressure from the height of the water,
usually about
120-140 feet for the standpipe, (though can be taller) and another 30-40
feet for
reservoir at the top. There is no gas blanket or other means of
maintaining
pressure other than this. There is access at the tops and sides for
maintenance,
such access being typically bolted. They must be painted inside, unless
they
are made of concrete. When they are first filled, or anytime they are
opened for
maintenance, they must be disinfected with chlorine. There have been
incidences
or maintenance workers being overcome with chlorine fumes, or falling in a
tank
not emptied, and drowning. Once such case occurred in Odessa Texas about
1973. A kid was drowned in Wink Texas in the mid-80's.
Courtesy of Mark L. Orbeck, PE, formerly of Odessa Texas and currently the
Water Systems Engineer of Colorado Springs, Colorado
Naomi "who sleeps with him every night" Orbeck