WEBVTT - Secrets in the Mailbox 0:00:05.881 --> 0:00:22.320 Approach production. Hi, Welcome to Silent Secrets, a bedtime podcast 0:00:22.401 --> 0:00:31.521 for curious minds. I'm jay, I'm glad you're here. This 0:00:31.921 --> 0:00:35.961 is your time to let go of today, to settle 0:00:36.001 --> 0:00:42.041 in and slow down, and let curiosity gently carry you 0:00:42.081 --> 0:00:48.641 towards sleep. In each episode, I'm going to share a 0:00:48.681 --> 0:00:52.401 true story of the unexplained, not to alarm you, but 0:00:52.480 --> 0:00:55.801 to quiet your mind, to remind you that the world 0:00:55.921 --> 0:01:02.001 is full of wonder and some things we'll never truly understand. 0:01:05.641 --> 0:01:10.241 So take a deep breath, feel your body sink into comfort, 0:01:13.521 --> 0:01:17.000 let the weight of the day drift away as we 0:01:17.081 --> 0:01:27.001 begin tonight's story. Tonight, let's travel to a quiet town 0:01:27.321 --> 0:01:32.601 in Ohio where ordinary lives were interrupted by something as 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:40.041 simple and as unsettling as the daily mail. In Circleville, 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.641 the envelopes that arrived in the mailbox during the late 0:01:42.681 --> 0:01:48.241 seventies were not filled with bills or birthday cards, but 0:01:48.361 --> 0:01:54.001 with accusations, secrets, and threats. Even after a man was 0:01:54.041 --> 0:02:02.081 convicted of sending them, the letters never stopped. This is 0:02:02.081 --> 0:02:17.441 the mystery of the Circleville Letters. Circleville was the kind 0:02:17.441 --> 0:02:23.481 of American town where everyone seemed to know everyone. Circleville 0:02:23.641 --> 0:02:26.481 was the kind of American town where everyone seemed to 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:31.881 know everyone else. The population was small, the streets were 0:02:31.921 --> 0:02:35.720 lined with neat houses, and the days passed in the 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:40.641 rhythm of routine. It was the kind of place where 0:02:40.641 --> 0:02:45.321 a letter in the mail is usually welcome, a reminder 0:02:45.361 --> 0:02:49.201 from a friend, a note from a family member. That 0:02:49.561 --> 0:02:54.721 was until the spring nineteen seventy six, when the first 0:02:54.841 --> 0:03:08.840 letter arrived. The envelope came in plain handwriting. Inside were 0:03:08.881 --> 0:03:14.681 carefully printed words written in block capitals. The writer claimed 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:19.921 to know intimate details about people's lives, things no stranger 0:03:20.001 --> 0:03:25.881 should know. The first target was Mary, a local school 0:03:25.881 --> 0:03:31.960 bus driver. The letter accused Mary of having an affair 0:03:32.881 --> 0:03:38.521 with the superintendent of the school. It warned her to stop, 0:03:39.441 --> 0:03:45.361 what terrible things would happen. Mary was stunned. She hid 0:03:45.361 --> 0:03:48.481 the letter at first, unsure what to make of it, 0:03:49.681 --> 0:03:59.561 But then Moore arrived. They were blunt, angry, and unsettling. 0:04:00.881 --> 0:04:07.241 They seemed to watch her, and soon Mary wasn't the 0:04:07.241 --> 0:04:13.921 only one. Other townspeople began to receive their own letters, 0:04:15.001 --> 0:04:23.041 each one exposing private details or dark allegations. Circleville, once 0:04:23.241 --> 0:04:37.761 so ordinary, began to feel uneasy. By the end of 0:04:37.801 --> 0:04:40.401 the year, dozens of letters had made their way to 0:04:40.521 --> 0:04:47.320 homes across town. No one knew who was writing them. 0:04:47.761 --> 0:04:52.241 Was it a neighbor, a co worker, a family member. 0:04:54.841 --> 0:04:58.561 The words seemed to come from someone close, someone who 0:04:58.601 --> 0:05:07.401 watched quietly and then put pen to paper. The anonymity 0:05:08.081 --> 0:05:12.640 was the worst part. People whispered about each other in 0:05:12.681 --> 0:05:22.121 the grocery store. Suspicions spread like wildfire. The postman deliveries 0:05:22.121 --> 0:05:28.481 became dreaded, and then the story took a darker turn. 0:05:36.001 --> 0:05:40.441 In August of nineteen seventy seven, Mary's husband, Ron, received 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:46.520 a phone call. The caller, many believe was the letter writer. 0:05:48.601 --> 0:05:54.121 Ron was furious. He picked up his gun, climbed into 0:05:54.121 --> 0:06:03.400 his pickup truck, and drove off into the night. Moments later, 0:06:04.041 --> 0:06:09.641 his truck into a tree and Ron was killed. The 0:06:09.721 --> 0:06:13.361 official listed it was an accident, but the whispers in 0:06:13.481 --> 0:06:20.321 Circleville said otherwise. Had Ron been drinking, as some reports suggested, 0:06:22.001 --> 0:06:25.320 or had he driven off the road. Was the letter 0:06:25.681 --> 0:06:32.320 somehow behind it. No one could say for sure, but 0:06:32.401 --> 0:06:49.681 after Ron's death, the letters only multiplied. For years, Mary 0:06:49.761 --> 0:06:57.080 continued her school bus route. The letters followed her. Then, 0:06:57.281 --> 0:07:02.961 in nineteen eighty three, she noticed something strange along her 0:07:03.041 --> 0:07:08.760 route into a signper was a crude message. When Mary 0:07:08.761 --> 0:07:11.881 stopped to remove it, she found it was more than 0:07:12.081 --> 0:07:16.401 just a sign. Attached to the post was a box, 0:07:17.321 --> 0:07:22.481 and inside the box a gun rigged a fire. If 0:07:22.521 --> 0:07:28.801 she pulled it loose, it was a booby trap. Police 0:07:29.041 --> 0:07:33.721 examined the weapon and traced it back to Paul, Mary's 0:07:33.761 --> 0:07:39.681 former brother in law. Paul insisted he was innocent, but 0:07:39.801 --> 0:07:43.241 in nineteen eighty four he was convicted of attempted murder 0:07:43.521 --> 0:07:49.361 and sentenced to prison. The Circleville it seen the mystery 0:07:49.521 --> 0:07:55.280 had been solved, and yet even with Paul behind bars, 0:07:56.161 --> 0:08:05.641 the letters didn't stop. Prison officials were baffled. Was denied 0:08:05.681 --> 0:08:10.601 paper and pens. Yet letters postmarked from two other towns 0:08:10.681 --> 0:08:22.321 kept arriving. They accused, they threatened, They unsettled. One even 0:08:22.361 --> 0:08:28.001 went to Paul himself behind prison walls. If Paul wasn't 0:08:28.041 --> 0:08:41.641 writing them, then who was. Over time, many theories have emerged. 0:08:42.721 --> 0:08:46.361 Some believe Paul was indeed the writer, clever enough to 0:08:46.401 --> 0:08:51.321 find ways to send letters from prison. Others were convinced 0:08:51.321 --> 0:08:55.761 there had to be another culprit, perhaps even more than one, 0:08:56.001 --> 0:09:00.881 who carried on the campaign of fear. A few suspected 0:09:00.881 --> 0:09:04.641 the letter writer may have been part of Mary's extended family, 0:09:05.521 --> 0:09:09.601 or someone who knew intimate details of her life, but 0:09:09.681 --> 0:09:16.481 no clear proof ever surfaced. The truth was blurred, evidence 0:09:16.721 --> 0:09:22.841 was circumstantial, and the letters, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, 0:09:23.601 --> 0:09:29.961 remained the only solid thing. For nearly two decades. The 0:09:30.041 --> 0:09:34.761 letters cast a shadow over Circleville. Imagine walking to your 0:09:34.801 --> 0:09:41.201 mailbox every morning, wondering what secret, what accusation, what threat 0:09:41.361 --> 0:09:49.281 might be waiting. Imagine knowing that someone may be a neighbor, 0:09:50.401 --> 0:09:54.961 maybe a friend, was writing to you in silence, with 0:09:55.081 --> 0:10:02.121 no face, no name. Even after Paul was paroled, the 0:10:02.201 --> 0:10:06.801 mystery endured. Paul lived the rest of his life proclaiming 0:10:06.841 --> 0:10:12.361 his innocence. The true author of the letters was never uncovered. 0:10:17.561 --> 0:10:20.681 The Circleville letters remind us how powerful words can be, 0:10:22.321 --> 0:10:29.081 especially when written in secret. One anonymous hand changed to town. 0:10:30.761 --> 0:10:37.361 It's so distrust among neighbors. It ruined reputation. It may 0:10:37.601 --> 0:10:41.841 even have led to a man's death. To this day, 0:10:42.761 --> 0:10:48.521 no one knows who picked up the pen. So as 0:10:48.521 --> 0:10:53.001 you drift off to sleep, think of Circle Fill, small 0:10:53.041 --> 0:10:57.281 town where letters were more feared than welcome, Where every 0:10:57.401 --> 0:11:04.401 envelope carried not warmth, but unease. The mystery still lingers, 0:11:05.681 --> 0:11:23.961 as quiet as enduring as ink on paper. Thank you 0:11:24.121 --> 0:11:28.041 for listening to silent secrets. I hope tonight's story has 0:11:28.041 --> 0:11:32.001 given your mind something soft to wander through as you 0:11:32.121 --> 0:11:37.001 drift towards rest. With the quieter the night wrap around 0:11:37.041 --> 0:11:41.081 you now and know that mysteries will still be here tomorrow. 0:11:41.801 --> 0:11:47.881 Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and let's sleep take over 0:11:49.841 --> 0:13:28.961 until we share another secret next time. Good night. 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