DF-S2: Who You Calling Crazy?!

Freya Korhonen (Bill)	"Youth Rehab Services" (YRS) Steuben, MI
Lukas Vertanen (Michael P.)	Lawyer, Lansing, MI
Henry Harvester (Michael H.)	Electrical Inspector, Detroit, MI
Joseph Blayne (Brian)	Dept Licensing, Bldg. codes, Detroit, MI
Satele Greenwood (Dalton)	Lawyer, Brit moved to Marquette, MI

 [Hank’s musings]

Tuesday, 14 May 4pm: I couldn’t help but wonder and ask why Chris Healey wasn’t released into his mother’s care. He’d already been released from this Boys’ School almost 2 weeks ago; thus, this School no longer responsible. But per Lukas’ prodding of nurse Charlotte, we learned they were unable to contact his mother, “Here’s her address and info but her phone is disconnected. And since there is no hospital in-town, WE are the hospital for the area.” I’d hoped to get a sample of the fluid recovered from Chris to send to my wife who works for Henry Ford Health Labs in Detroit, but “we passed that along to sheriff Webb in town. You’ll have to ask him.”

Then there’s Freya. Good suggestion…for someone else to check facebook for Mrs. Healey. Lazy government worker. Turned out to be a dead-end. And that’s when we noticed the boys getting out of their classes. We split up. Joseph wanted to tour more of the facility. Lukas wanted to check admin records. Which left the two girls and I to checkout the Horse-Camp. And sure enough, we watched about 20 boys saddle-up and ride off. Without a guard! Lax security? How about NO security! After exiting the school grounds, no fences lining the path out to the Horse-Camp. I gotta agree with Freya: this ain’t no prison; rather, a summer camp like I attended in my youth.

We had to call in an ATV from the Lumber-Camp in-order-to follow the horses. Almost 20-minute wait till a guard arrived to drive us out. Which got Freya chatting with a school guard as she tried to follow-up on her own suspicion about the boys hooking up with local girls out in the woods. “Our girls wouldn’t be caught dead with these low-life. That and the history of this area. Did you hear how the 4 Nelson girls went missing 21 years ago? Back when the Nelsons only had the farm. Ages 13 to 19. Story is, they were honoring a Finnish ritual about going into the woods to see their future husbands. The strangest part…it was mid-summer…and the girls found frozen!” The story reminded Lukas of the family picture in Bill Nelson’s office. An old Olan-Mill’s logo; they’ve been out of business almost 20 years now.

As for the ATV, I got stuck on the rear luggage-rack facing backwards. Which explains why I didn’t see the red truck approaching nor get a good look at the passenger. I did hear the girls gasp; Satele mostly. Both swearing the woman passenger dressed in white had pure-black eyes. Sam, our guard driver, explained that was Mrs. Nelson, “She has a tendency to wander from the farm. Mr. Nelson always has to send someone out to find and return her. I think she’s still distraught about her dead girls.” Which just proved my point, “You need fencing lining this path to keep the kids safe and secure.” Satele questioning the woman’s age, “That passenger looked in her 30s. And what, Mr. Nelson mid-50s? What’s her skin-care secret?”

Now I ask you. Back at the Boys’ School, few guards and those unarmed. The boys here at the Horse-Camp weeks away from being released. So why do these guards need shotguns? “Rock-salt.” Really? Because the boys are disruptive or to keep something away? Like snakes? And once again, Satele gasped, “Did you see that?! A black boy. I called for him but he just ran away.” [The boy kind of foggy then melting away like mist dispersed a breeze. But Satele isn’t going to describe THAT.] Another boy. One of the missing 7? I ran into the woods and tried to track (99) but only managed to find my own prints. And that’s when Freya pointed out the eerie silence. No crickets, no squirrels chattering. Nothing. Not natural. Thankfully, Satele’s phone chirped, “We got service. And messages from Lukas.”

5:20pm: Lukas dumped a lot of pertinent info. Such as Chris Healey’s bunkmates were the Anderson brothers who were released the same day as he. And they too never made it home. Freya giving her opinion, “They came from a broken home. Even if they were ‘cured to return to society’ why would they want to return to the same broken home?!” And that’s when we met the Horse-Camp director, Jeff Wilkens. And Freya asked, “Besides Dante, were any other of the missing 7 boys black? Kaiden.” But it didn’t matter; because, when Satele looked in the Lansing DOJ file, she recognized Dante, “That was the boy I just saw!”

And Lukas provided more. Library research: Mrs. Healey died years ago of an overdose. His only living relative his aunt who didn’t even realize Chris was locked up, let alone to be released. “She’s not interested in dealing with him. So, I’m trying to get legal custody thru Patient Advocacy. That’ll give me proper access to his records and the rape-kit.”

5:30pm: And then a text from Joseph: Famished. In town for dinner. Overheard 2 older gents complaining about not getting the logging job. Concerned Nelson’s Boys’ School operation won’t abide by Indian Reservation guidelines to avoid their artefacts. Seems there are many trees marked with an Indian tree symbol. See attached imaged they drew for me.

Finally, with phone service, I was able to ask Lukas back at the Boys’ School to coordinate another search. “Before we lose the trail of Dante. And bring hunting dogs if possible.”

And once again, we had to listen to one of Freya’s wild ideas. “Mrs. Nelson touched in the head crazy from the loss of her children. She desperately wants more kids; so, she’s been wandering into the woods with some of the boys over the years. Taking advantage of them. Beyond her child-baring years, she delivers a deformed kid she tries to hide. The baby discarded in the woods which Hank here stumbled upon. You got a better explanation?” Yeah, someone’s touched in the head…Freya!

OK, now here’s where it gets weird. OK, weirder. Satele asks Mr. Wilkins if he’s seen Mrs. Tonya Nelson out in the woods. He brings out one of the fetishes she hangs in the trees. Here’s a picture of the thing. Apparently, she wanders still looking for her kids. Has been heard calling out for her oldest daughter Hannelle. So, maybe these fetishes are breadcrumbs she hopes the kids will follow home.

6pm: Finally, the search party arrived, less hunting dogs. I don’t know about you, but I was getting hungry. OK, a good excuse to get out of these creepy woods. But if that is so; then, why didn’t I ride with Freya on the ATV back to the Boys’ School. Oh God, why didn’t I?! I could have ignored her yelling as she drove, “DANTE! Where are you? Your mother is worried. She sent us. Answer up you little shit!” Instead, I was there when Satele saw our path cut by another trail. Brush trampled. Tree branches broken. Horse turds. We should have called the search party to our area. Instead, we followed the cut west figuring this is where the 7 boys turned to skip school. The same eerie silence. And came upon 4 slain horses.

The stench! And only now, me remembering that damn snake. Satele all stoic, “I’ll protect you.” Thanks for stomping on my manliness. Or lack thereof. But I think both of us screamed at the same time, “Holy Shit!” Yeah, stupid me wanting to see what killed the horses. Claw marks; HUGE, long claw slashes. Snakes? Shit, what about a bear?! I think I summed up our plan of action succinctly, “Hell No! Four horses at once? The carcasses aren’t going anywhere. Go.” Satele was more succinct, “Fuck That! GO!”

6:45pm: When we arrived at the school, Satele was gasping for breath as she told the others about our encounter. I could only wonder, “Nelson said they orchestrated a big search for Dante. So how did they miss the horses? I’m not even a tracker and stumbled upon the things! Something’s not right.” Which made me remember Judge Vansetti in Detroit. Multiple harsh sentences over the years such as 1 year for truancy. Records show all juveniles sent to the PJ Nelson School. Corruption+Money?

And Freya on another spin. But this one sounding plausible. “This town doesn’t want the Boys’ School to go under. Too vested in jobs . Maybe they get a kickback. So, who do we trust? Who can we tell? I say we keep this to ourselves as we explore more. I want hard evidence before we call the governor. If we can even trust the governor. Someone should research to see if Judge Vansetti is a big contributor to the governor’s re-election. Meanwhile, I still have a date with Sheriff Webb. I’ll have my phone on speed-dial as I prod him for info. But if things go sideways and I push call, you ALL better damn-well come running.”

And that’s when Lukas offered more news, “I couldn’t get into Nelson’s office to check his records. But given all the Indian lore you mentioned, I found a local elder woman who can tell us about the area. She’s to meet us for breakfast.”

[Freya’s email]

[Lukas had already dumped his beer in the tub and went down the hall to fill his bucket with ice. When he returned to his motel room, his phone was already chirping. It was Satele, “Lukas, sorry to bother you. I’m embarrassed to ask, but would you mind coming over. With all the scary stuff I saw today, the hushed forest and those disemboweled horses, I’m kind of afraid to be alone.”

Soon the 2 of them were settled on her motel couch as they tried to watch a movie on the flickering TV. “With the spotty phone coverage we got around the prison, I’m not surprised at the poor TV reception.” Satele nuzzled into his shoulder to find comfort. Lukas somewhat caught off-guard by her advances. It wasn’t long before Satele stirred when Lukas’ phone lit up and he moved to read the email, “Is it important?” Lukas saw Freya’s name and the subject, “Nothing. Just that crazy bitch Freya jabbering nonsense. Go back to sleep.”

Meanwhile, as Joseph and Hank finished their dinner they couldn’t help but overhear the teens at the next table, “Come on, I dare you. We’re seniors this year. It’s tradition we spend the night in the woods looking for the wandering lady in white. I’m going out tonight to see her. Who’s coming along?” Hank leaned into Joseph and whispered, “Hear that? Are you interested in checking it out? Follow them and do a little spying?” And that’s when both of their phones lit up. “Freya. What’s she got to say?”

Freya’s email: You called me crazy when I suggested the townfolk are trying to cover-up something. How they ordered Wolverine claws from Amazon to mark up those dead horses. Well, check this out. Look at the phone directory in your motel nightstand. A quick scan would tell you about 70% of the residents have Finnish last-names. I’m Finnish. Which reminded me of some of the stories my gramma used to tell. Such as this one about how the bears got their claws. Now with 30% of the residents working for the PJ Nelson Training School for Boys, it makes sense they’d use a bear reference to hide their deeds to scare us off. Told ya. Who’s the be-och now?!”

Joseph opened the link and jumped at the picture then read the lore. “Damn, she’s REALLY going over the edge now. CooCoo.” Hank read the link and suggested, “Maybe we should invite her along into the woods. They always say, when you face a bear, it’s best to how someone slower than yourself.” Joseph busted out laughing…till he realized Hank wasn’t, “Wait. What? You’re serious!”]

https://finnmyth.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/iron-bear/

Henry ‘Hank’ Harvester BIO

1.    He is not in a union and works directly for the state of Michigan.

·         He's not worried about the mob; he wants to expose any corruption he finds. 

2.  As far as the case goes he has questions and recommendations to put in his report. 

a.   Going into what was supposed to be a simple missing person's case the team has uncovered so much more.

b.   Why did it take so long to report Dante and why weren't the other missing children mentioned as well?

c.    Getting the impression that Bill Nelson shouldn't be trusted.  Possible ties to corruption with Judge Vansetti.

·         Why are these sentences so harsh for seemingly minor infractions?

d.   What happened to Chris Healey?  Surely there must have been an error in testing of the specimen taking from the rape kit.

·         Henry wants to get some of the sample to send his wife who works for Henry Ford Health Labs in Detroit.

e.   What’s going on with Bill Nelson's wife?

·         No way plastic surgery could keep her looking so young given her age.

·         Is Bill Nelson's wife insane?  Did she lose it after the loss of her girl's?

·         What's the meaning of the things she's leaving in the forest?

·         The girls went missing 20 years ago in June. What's going on with the Finnish tradition of the girls going into the woods?

·         How could they possibly have been recovered completely frozen?  

·         Now more people are going missing leading up to June.  Is there something sinister going on in the background that is somehow related?

·         Who is this wandering woman that he heard about in the bar?  Could she be who Chris was talking about?  She apparently wears all white. 

3. Overall he likes his teammates.

a.   Lukas is a workhorse doing a great job at outside investigation.

b.   He thinks Freya is a bit too jaded. Henry sees potential in the young detainees whereas Freya seems to feel that they are all a nuisance.  She seems up for the task at hand, but Henry wishes she had more compassion.  He gets that she works in this type of environment on a daily basis and understands how it could wear on someone over time.

c.    He considers Joseph to be a sold member of the team dedicating his strengths to the cause. 

d.   He's getting a 'this isn't was I signed up for' vibe from Satele but appreciates her willingness to carry on, nonetheless. 

4.  He's only afraid of snakes in a normal self-preservation sort of way.  No phobia.  

5.  He thinks it odd that the compound isn't fully secured. 

a.   There needs to be constant supervision of the detainees between all points on the complex, farms, and mill.

b.   Extreme overcrowded and understaffed.  This needs to be corrected or the facility should be shut down.

c.    After seeing what has been going on he's wondering if this isn't somehow by design.

d.   He no longer trusts anyone working here, especially Bill Nelson and his wife.

CONCLUSION: https://rigglewdf.blogspot.com/2020/10/df-s3-i-should-have-stayed-in-england.html