WEBVTT - S03 Episode 7: Shadowplay 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:14.760 To paraphrase author Terry Pratchett, though light might think it 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:19.520 travels fastest, darkness appears always to find a way of 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:25.880 arriving first. Wherever light goes, it seems the darkness is 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:32.400 already there, ready in waiting. In the United States's Detroit 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:36.559 Institute of Arts hangs a strange and captivating painting of 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:41.040 an unconscious woman dressed in white, her body stretched out 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.400 across a bed, with her arms and head dangling toward 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.640 the floor. Squatting on her chest staring out at the 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.839 picture with dark red eyes is a peculiar and somewhat 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:57.920 grotesque cherubic imp. Though the woman is bathed in light, 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:04.600 the imp, clearly a creature of the night, resolutely remains steadfastly, 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:09.000 refusing to be cast back into the shadows, and in 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.959 the darkness beyond, another creature is emerging, a black horse 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:21.120 with flared nostrils and bright white eyes. The Nightmare, painted 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.280 by Henry Fuseli in seventeen eighty one, serves as an 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:30.319 ironic repost to the Enlightenment, Europe's pervading cultural movement of 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:35.280 the day, or, as art historian doctor Noel Paulson puts it, 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.440 the painting demonstrates the ultimate futility of light to penetrate 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:46.480 or explore the darker realms of the unconscious. For many, 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.760 myself included, the picture brings to mind the terrifying and 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.600 vivid effects of sleep paralysis, an uncanny phenomenon that can 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.240 result in the seemingly very real experience of believing you 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:03.680 have woken from sleep only to find yourself completely paralyzed. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.920 Though I am now familiar with the experience enough to 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:10.960 know it when it happens, what I have never grown 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.600 used to are the occasions when I believe I have 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.040 woken up to find not only am I unable to move, 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:21.680 but that there is a shadowy humanoid creature standing over me. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.480 Much worse, when that figure scurries out from the corner 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.240 of the room and launches itself at me as I 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:35.200 fight to regain consciousness. It was some time before I 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:39.840 discovered others had also had similar experiences to myself, and 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:46.680 that these illusory creatures had a name, shadow people. The 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:51.160 term's modern iteration was popularized by Art Bell, the much 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.600 missed late night talk show host who sadly died in 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.359 April of this year. It was back in April two 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.680 thousand and one that Art dedicated an entire episode of 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.840 his pioneering Coast to Coast AM show to the discussion 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:11.680 of the phenomena. Listening to it again recently, I was 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.320 struck by how similar my own experiences had been to 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:19.320 those described by his listeners, but also how different some 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.400 of them were too, like the ones where listeners claimed 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.360 to have seen shadow people when they were wide awake, 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:30.920 for example, or those who had come across their children 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:35.520 talking to themselves late at night, only for their children 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:40.560 to tell them that they weren't talking to themselves. The 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.880 episode reminded me also of a deeply unsettling story I 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:51.000 came across recently, regarding the two thousand and seventeen film Veronica. 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.520 The film tells the story of a teenage girl from 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:59.120 a suburb in Madrid who dies in terrifying circumstances after 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:04.000 fooling around with auiji board. Many may, no doubt have 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.400 seen the film, but did you know that it was 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:13.560 based on a true story. You're listening to Unexplained and 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:28.120 I'm Richard McClane smith, Please, said the operator. You need 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.360 to calm down. You say this someone in your house, No, 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.080 not some one came back the desperate voice on the 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:45.240 other end of the line, something please hurry. Maximo Gutierrez 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.039 had placed the call to his local police station in 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.560 the early hours of November twenty seventh, nineteen ninety two, 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:55.720 going on to explain that his family were being terrorized 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.880 by something in their apartment and that they didn't know 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:04.680 what to do. The operator listened with amusement as Maximo 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:09.200 frantically recounted the events of that night. He had been 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.960 woken by the screams of his terrified wife, Concepcion, shouting 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:17.040 about some one she couldn't see, pressing down on her 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:22.040 chest and grabbing at her arms and legs. Within seconds, 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:26.839 an incessant banging could be heard reverberating around the flat. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:31.760 Concepcion screams, along with the terrible thumps, had brought four 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.400 of the couple's five children racing in fear into the bedroom. 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.239 Their fifth child, being a young baby, was now crying 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:45.400 in its cot, panicked by all the commotion. Moments later, 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.080 the petrified family gathered in the living room, only to 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.480 watch with horror as the crucifix nailed to the wall 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:58.799 seemingly turned upside down on its own accord. Maximo concluded 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.640 that they had decided to stay together in the family 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:06.920 room since they were too afraid to leave the apartment. Why, 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:11.320 asked the operator, because there was something standing at the 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:15.640 end of the hallway blocking their way out, he replied. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.880 Wary of how all this might sound, Maximo passed the 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.159 phone around his wife and children, who all repeated the 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:31.080 same to the operator with equal desperation. If their story 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:35.000 seemed confusing to the officer, the distress and their voices 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:40.120 at least was real enough. The officer duly advised Maximo 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:44.320 to keep the family together and try to stay calm, 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.040 and offered to send a squad car to investigate at 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:52.520 the first available opportunity. It would be another forty minutes, however, 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:57.279 before Chief Inspector Jose Pedro and Negri, along with four 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.599 other armed officers, pulled up alongside the vast thirteen story 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:07.520 housing block on Callier Louis Marin. The street was located 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:12.120 in the Vacas district of Madrid in Spain, a proud 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:15.920 and tight working class neighborhood on the southeastern fringes of 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.520 the city. On exiting the car into the freezing night air, 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.960 the officers were surprised to find the family, including the baby, 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:29.160 whose conception clasped firmly to her chest, now standing in 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:34.080 a huddle in the entranceway to the apartment block. Approaching 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:36.640 them from across the road, it was clear to the 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.480 bespectacled Inspector Negri that they were in a state of 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:46.680 deep distress. Maximo explained that they had been unable to 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:51.000 withstand the strange activity any longer, and finally plucked up 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:56.840 the courage to abandon the apartment. Moments later, having been 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:01.360 reassured by the presence of the police, Maximo, followed by 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.280 the rest of the family, led the officers into the 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:21.320 building and towards the apartment. Anxious faces peered out from 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:25.200 behind half closed doors as the family and police officers 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:29.679 made their way along the narrow hallway, with Inspector Negri 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.680 assuring each one as they passed that all was fine 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:40.800 and to go back inside. Finally, Maximo stopped through here, 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:46.320 he said, pointing the way into the flat. Negri could 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.480 clearly see the reticence on the family's faces as they 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:54.440 lingered outside the entrance. Taking the lead, he made his 0:08:54.520 --> 0:09:01.520 way inside, followed closely behind by the other officers. Clean 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:04.480 and well kept, if a little cramped for a family 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:08.360 of seven. The flat seemed much like any other family 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.640 home that Negri had visited, with the exception of one thing. 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.720 On stepping into the living room, Negri's attention had been 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.640 caught immediately by what looked like some kind of shrine. 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:26.720 Lined up along the mantelpiece of a back wall, a 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:31.240 row of vases filled with bright plastic flowers, small angel 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:35.280 figurines made from porcelain, and just above it, in the 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.400 middle of the wall hung a large painting of a girl, 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:42.920 and underneath it was the original photo of the same, 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:50.160 all watched over by the beatific face of Jesus. Come 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.520 and sit, said Maximo, inviting the police to join him 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.400 around the dining table. The officers looked to each other 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:02.319 with concern, having expected to be chasing out an intruder 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:07.000 by now. It will only happen when we are calm, 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:12.000 he continued. The officers sat down at the table while 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.600 the rest of the family gathered round, a look of 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:21.160 apprehension on their faces. Negri watched intrigued as Conception collected 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.920 herself before nodding to one of her children to switch 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:31.480 off the light. Though it was dark, Negri was still 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.040 able to see all the family gathered close to the 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.720 table when the sound of a cupboard door creaking open 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:43.560 broke the silence. Moments later, another door was opened suddenly 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:49.360 before violently slamming back shut with an almighty bank. An 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.640 officer jumped from the table and swiftly turned on the light, 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.560 revealing at the far side of the room a cupboard 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.400 door which had been closed when they sat down, was 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:05.560 now wide open. Inspector Negrie walked over to the door 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:10.040 and pushed it shut, expecting it to loosely swing back open, 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:14.920 but it remained firmly shut. He turned back to the 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.959 family and looked again to the shrine along the back wall. 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:27.000 Her name was Estefania, the couple's third child. She had 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:32.400 died just over a year ago, explained Concepcion, before proceeding 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:36.680 to tell the offices about everything that had happened ever since. 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:48.160 It had all started after the death of Concepcion's father 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:52.880 in nineteen ninety, when he had fallen gravely ill that year. 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.480 Although they had rarely got on, Concepcion requested that the 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.200 family gather round his hospital bedside to comfort him in 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:07.400 his final moments. However, it was reported that the elderly 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:12.040 man still bitter and cantankerous from many years of family feuds, 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:17.079 was unmoved by the gesture, vowing that not even death 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.440 would prevent him from continuing to be a nuisance to 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:26.920 the family. A short time after the old man died, Estefania, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:31.120 who was sixteen at the time, arrived at school one morning, 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:35.600 shocked to discover that her friend's boyfriend had been tragically 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:41.320 killed in a motorcycle accident. At some point, perhaps in 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:45.520 an effort to alleviate her friend's suffering, Estefania made a 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:53.200 peculiar suggestion, what if she thought they tried to contact him. 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.000 Her friend, who had been understandably devastated by the death, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.360 leapt at the opportunity death brute for any comfort she 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:06.720 might find. A few days later, Estefanier set off on 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:11.080 the short journey to the Colegio Arragon, located barely five 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:15.320 minutes walk from her family's apartment, with something extra peeking 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:21.520 out of her rucksack her Wuiji board. That afternoon, she 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.520 and her friend, along with another classmate, made their way 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.400 to the back of the playing field, finding a quiet, 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:32.800 secluded spot in the shadow of the nearby Callia Louis 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:37.480 Marin apartment. Blocks, with the three of them sat cross 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:41.240 legged in a semicircle. Estefania laid the board out in 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.600 front of them as another of the girls removed a 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.520 glass tumbler from her bag, turned it upside down, and 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:53.400 placed it in the middle of the board. It wasn't 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.160 clear how long they had been sat there when the 0:13:56.240 --> 0:14:00.480 teacher found them, asking questions into the air, with their 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:04.160 fingers lightly touching the glass as it moved around the board. 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.520 When the teacher demanded to know what was going on, 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:12.000 it was said that the glass shot off the board 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:16.480 and smashed into pieces soon after. One of the girls 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.480 would later claim that in that moment, a strange, dark 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.560 vapor was released from the glass, rising like the smoke 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.400 of a recently blown out candle, straight up and into 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:35.800 estefanius nose. The teacher, scolding the children, demanded their return 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:40.000 to class immediately before picking up the board and breaking 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:43.640 it in two. It was only a few weeks later 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:50.480 when the voices started. Are you always taking care of 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.000 your family? Do you often take care of others and 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.280 not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.840 To make time for you. You deserve it. Tell it, 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.920 Doc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.560 you get back to feeling your best, to feeling like 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.600 yourself again. With teledoc, you can speak to a licensed 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.720 therapist by phone or video. Therapy appointments are available seven 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.920 days a week from seven am to nine pm local time. 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:22.000 If you feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.280 depressed or lonely, or you might be struggling with a 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:30.080 personal or family issue, teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.800 to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:38.200 to change counselors if needed. For free. Teledoc therapy is 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.400 available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:46.840 visit teledoc dot com forward slash Unexplained podcast today to 0:15:46.840 --> 0:16:00.960 get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. The 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.400 first time Estefania heard them, they were little more than 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:09.520 whispers in the night, hurriedly spoken words she couldn't quite discern. 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:15.080 But soon she found she could understand them. They were 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:20.920 calling out her name, and it wasn't long before she 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:26.360 could see them too, Whispy, shadowy shapes that seemed to 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.080 flicker in the edges of rooms. It was clear to 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:35.880 her that they were stalking her. Conception had noticed the 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:40.560 quiet change in Estefania, how she had become irritable and withdrawn. 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.520 At first, she merely put it down to the shock 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.520 of her friend's boyfriend's death, but after hearing about the 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:52.240 incident of the school, she began to wonder if it 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:57.680 might not in some way be related. One morning, after 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:02.240 hearing a commotion coming from her daughter's bedroom, Conception found 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.680 her lying rigid on her bed and foaming at the mouth, 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.520 with her eyes rolled in to the back of her head. 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:16.159 Moments later, Estafania came too with no recollection of the event. 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:21.439 For the next six months, she would be plagued by 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:26.600 similar insidances. Conception, who had suffered for years from epilepsy, 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.520 began to wonder if her daughter was suffering from a 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:35.000 similar infliction. However, after countless trips to various doctors and hospitals, 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:41.399 nobody was able to give a satisfactory diagnosis. One evening, 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:46.520 Conception found Estafania sat upright in her bed, her eyes 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.960 wide with terror. They were beckoning me to go with them, 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:55.520 she said. Her mother could only look on aghast, trying 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.760 her best to comfort her daughter, who would later request that, 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:01.800 if the time came, that she be buried with a 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:09.160 photo of her mother and father. On Tuesday, August the thirteenth, Marianella, 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:14.520 Estefania's sister, entered the bedroom they shared together, only to 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:19.520 find Estefania in a peculiar state. Having at first not 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:24.879 registered the sister's presence, Estefania turned toward her suddenly, before 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:28.800 leaping from the bed and trying to grab her, managing 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.680 to jump away just in time. Marianella could only watch 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:36.040 on in horror as her sister then collapsed to the floor, 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:42.879 convulsing violently. The fit lasted only a few minutes before 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:49.359 Estefania regained full consciousness, but again having no recollection of 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:55.199 the event. That evening, Estefania went for a walk with 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:59.880 her boyfriend in the warm summer air, returning home lay 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:04.640 to that night. It was some time in the early 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.240 hours of August the fourteenth when the family were woken 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.760 by the strange and hideous sound of gurgling and grunting 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:17.760 coming from Estefania's room. Maximo switched on the light to 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:20.680 find her in the grip of yet another terrible seizure, 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:26.200 writhing about in her bed, terrified and screaming. At each 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:29.760 other to do something. They did their best to restrain 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:35.920 her while Conception rushed to call an ambulance. Estefania, having 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:40.040 slipped into a coma, was already unresponsive when the ambulance 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:43.760 arrived and rushed the now seventeen year old to nearby 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:49.639 Gregorio Moranan Hospital. Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:55.960 declared dead at two am. Though there was no obvious 0:19:56.080 --> 0:20:00.240 explanation for the cause of death, a subsequent autopsy would 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.760 conclude that she had died as the result of asphyxiation. 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:21.320 Tissue samples sent off for further tests yielded nothing. In 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:25.320 the months following Estefania's death, her grieving family did what 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:29.240 they could to support each other, praying each day for 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:33.399 her salvation at the Makeshifts Shrine that Conception had constructed 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:39.040 for Estefania's siblings. Especially the strange nature of her death 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.760 and her disturbing behavior prior to it had left an 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:49.159 indelible mark. Though her sister's decision to move out of 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:52.399 the bedroom they shared together had primarily been made on 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:55.440 account of how unbearably sad it was to sleep there, 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:58.919 she couldn't help but feel a little scared when in 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:02.720 there too, But if she had hoped a change of 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:06.080 rooms would bring her peace, she was going to be 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:12.359 very much mistaken. It began in the early hours one morning, 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:19.560 as winter settled into the city. The sisters heard it first, 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:24.480 a quiet voice coming from somewhere in the apartment, always 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:30.160 after the lights had gone out. Mamma, mamma, it seemed 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:34.640 to be saying, with no sign of it abating. One 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:38.040 of the girls decided to investigate and made her way 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:42.879 to the bedroom door. Opening it, she found only the 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:49.760 emptiness of the apartment. Beyond Mamma came the voice again, 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:56.280 but this time from the direction of the bathroom. Quietly 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:58.879 making her way over to it so as not to 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:04.159 disturb her parents, Slowly she pulled open the door, but 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:11.879 there was nobody there. A few days later, when the 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:15.800 flat was empty, Conception was cleaning the apartment when she 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:21.600 heard a tremendous racket coming from Estefania's old room. The 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:26.199 room was kept clean and virtually untouched, but when she 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:30.199 opened it that morning, he found it completely rearranged, with 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:36.240 bed sheets, books, and toys strewn across the floor. Soon after, 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:40.040 the children began to complain of a bizarre scraping sound 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:44.560 coming from inside the walls. Appliances would turn off and 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:49.120 on randomly, whilst doors slammed open and shut without anyone 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:54.200 standing near them. Thinking it nothing more than the effects 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:58.440 of a draft coming from the communal hallway, Maximo took 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:01.840 to placing the sofa cross one of the doors, as 0:23:01.880 --> 0:23:05.000 well as a heavy marble table, in an effort to 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:09.240 stop it from opening. One night, with all the family 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:13.280 gathered in their living room, a heavy pounding noise was 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:17.320 followed by what seemed like an inordinately strong gust of wind, 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:22.200 unlatching the door and sending the table and sofa sliding 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:26.040 back across the room, knocking a photo of Estefanie to 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.919 the floor in the process. Conception picked up the frame, 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:34.560 only to drop it again when it burnt her fingers. 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:40.119 When Maximo picked it up moments later, he turned it over, 0:23:40.600 --> 0:23:43.879 only to find, to his horror that the photograph was 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:49.160 now burning from inside the frame. He watched, completely stunned 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:53.160 as the smiling face of his daughter melted and turned 0:23:53.160 --> 0:24:07.240 to ash right in front of him. Late one night, 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:10.720 with the family fast asleep, two of the sisters who 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:14.119 shared a room together, were awoken by the sound of 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:20.159 whistling outside the apartment. The noise soon dissipated, only to 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:24.640 be replaced by a strange groaning. But this didn't come 0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:29.400 from outside the apartment. It came from outside the bedroom door. 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:36.280 One of the girls screamed, look, she said, on the floor. 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:42.000 Now huddled together on one bed, the sisters stared in 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:47.399 disbelief at the ground. There. Caught in the soft orange 0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:51.800 glow of the street light outside, was the silhouetted shape 0:24:51.880 --> 0:24:57.719 of a man crawling towards them. The pair screamed together 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:01.080 as the shape brought one arm over the other and 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:07.640 dragged itself closer and closer. They cried out again as 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:11.879 the toys on their shelf were sent flying across the room, 0:25:11.920 --> 0:25:15.600 followed by loud, banging noises that echoed throughout the house. 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.320 By the time their parents arrived, the activity had stopped 0:25:21.760 --> 0:25:27.400 and the shadow man was nowhere to be seen. From 0:25:27.400 --> 0:25:31.359 that moment on, however, the family continued to witness what 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:35.600 they took to be strange humanoid shapes drifting about inside 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:41.000 their apartment. Neighbors and friends also reported seeing them, and 0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:45.160 it wasn't long before local paranormal investigators were queuing up 0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:51.199 to see them. Two By autumn nineteen ninety two. The 0:25:51.280 --> 0:25:53.320 family had been suffering for the best part of a 0:25:53.440 --> 0:25:59.320 year before finally deciding to seek help. In October, they 0:25:59.359 --> 0:26:03.399 were visited by two self described psychics who promised to 0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:07.520 help them get to the bottom of their troubles. Their 0:26:07.560 --> 0:26:11.240 subsequent efforts were filmed by a local news channel and 0:26:11.400 --> 0:26:17.159 broadcast later that month. The report documented a number of 0:26:17.200 --> 0:26:21.040 bizarre occurrences, including what seemed like the voice of a 0:26:21.119 --> 0:26:24.840 young girl speaking through a radio device that had been 0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:33.600 placed in the bathroom. The voice said, simply, beware of Grandpa. 0:26:33.880 --> 0:26:36.719 It was only a few weeks later when Conception awoke 0:26:37.000 --> 0:26:40.000 with the sensation of someone pressing down on her chest 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:48.320 and grabbing at her hands and feet. Investigator Negri, having 0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:54.959 listened patiently to the family story, was speechless. As they 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:57.200 stood up from the table to examine the rest of 0:26:57.240 --> 0:27:01.000 the flat. One of the officers just a rusty, brown 0:27:01.119 --> 0:27:05.240 colored stain that seemed to be materializing on the tablecloth 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:09.200 right in front of them. Pulling a pen from his pocket, 0:27:09.760 --> 0:27:12.399 he prodded at it, finding it to be damp and 0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:17.600 made from something like the drool of a dog. Three 0:27:17.640 --> 0:27:21.800 of the officers, deciding they had seen enough, requested permission 0:27:21.840 --> 0:27:25.760 to leave the flat. Before hurriedly making their way downstairs 0:27:26.200 --> 0:27:30.639 and out of the building, Negri asked to see the 0:27:30.680 --> 0:27:34.600 bathroom first, where the family believed many of the bizarre 0:27:34.640 --> 0:27:40.880 noises had first originated. By this point, so terrified were 0:27:40.920 --> 0:27:44.000 they of it, they used it only as a storeroom 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:48.639 and kept it locked at all times. As soon as 0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:53.600 Negri stepped inside, he felt the temperature plummet, but otherwise 0:27:54.320 --> 0:27:58.280 there was little of note, and then they showed him 0:27:58.359 --> 0:28:11.240 into Estefania's old bedroom. The room had not been much 0:28:11.359 --> 0:28:15.480 changed since the day Maximo and Conception's daughter had died. 0:28:17.720 --> 0:28:21.560 Posters and pictures of Estefania and her friends lined the walls, 0:28:21.840 --> 0:28:25.240 as well as a large crucifix with a smaller, pearly 0:28:25.280 --> 0:28:29.480 crucifix hanging off it. The two twin beds that she 0:28:29.640 --> 0:28:32.679 and her sister had slept in remained side by side, 0:28:33.400 --> 0:28:38.640 unused for months. The inspector took a seat on Estefania's 0:28:38.640 --> 0:28:43.840 old bed and looked about, noticing another large poster stuck 0:28:43.880 --> 0:28:47.680 to the back of the door. He had been sitting 0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:50.160 for less than a minute when an odd sound was 0:28:50.240 --> 0:28:55.320 heard coming from the balcony right outside the room. It 0:28:55.360 --> 0:28:57.880 was as if a heavy stone was being rolled about 0:28:57.920 --> 0:29:02.120 on the concrete. It was drowned out moments later by 0:29:02.160 --> 0:29:07.120 a terrible scream that came from the same direction. Negri 0:29:07.240 --> 0:29:10.800 and his partner rushed to the balcony, flinging open the door, 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:16.840 unleashing a cold wind into the room outside. However, they 0:29:16.880 --> 0:29:23.440 found the balcony completely deserted. Turning back into the room, 0:29:23.640 --> 0:29:29.320 Negri could see that something was wrong. The family stood frozen, 0:29:29.920 --> 0:29:36.120 staring at the wall, their faces completely pale. Negri followed 0:29:36.120 --> 0:29:40.120 their gaze to the crucifix that was now turned completely 0:29:40.440 --> 0:29:45.840 upside down. The smaller crucifix seemingly thrown into the middle 0:29:46.000 --> 0:29:52.400 of the room. Look, said one of the children, pointing 0:29:52.400 --> 0:29:56.480 to the back of the door. Negri moved in for 0:29:56.560 --> 0:30:01.400 a closer inspection, completely stunned to find three slash marks 0:30:01.520 --> 0:30:05.120 in the poster, as if something had clawed at it, 0:30:07.480 --> 0:30:10.440 pulling it away from the door. He could see also 0:30:10.680 --> 0:30:13.600 that the scratches had gone right through into the wood. 0:30:17.000 --> 0:30:21.920 Utterly dumbfounded and cautious of the family's obvious distress, Negri 0:30:22.080 --> 0:30:25.040 agreed to stay with them for a while longer until 0:30:25.080 --> 0:30:28.360 he was satisfied that whatever had been occurring had come 0:30:28.400 --> 0:30:34.479 to an end. Later that morning, the inspector stepped back 0:30:34.560 --> 0:30:37.560 into the cold and joined his colleagues in the car 0:30:37.800 --> 0:30:41.600 before driving back to the station, not one of those 0:30:41.640 --> 0:30:46.320 officers being entirely sure what on earth they had just experienced. 0:30:48.440 --> 0:30:52.440 Inspector Negri's official report of the event, attesting to what 0:30:52.560 --> 0:30:56.040 he heard and saw, remains the only report in the 0:30:56.120 --> 0:30:59.760 history of Spain's police force to allude to the possibility 0:31:00.080 --> 0:31:04.160 that what had been witnessed had been of a paranormal nature. 0:31:15.720 --> 0:31:18.400 If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to 0:31:18.400 --> 0:31:21.600 help support us, you can now go to Unexplained podcast 0:31:21.680 --> 0:31:26.640 dot com forward slash support. All donations, no matter how 0:31:26.720 --> 0:31:36.240 large or small, are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained 0:31:36.240 --> 0:31:39.560 are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 0:31:39.680 --> 0:31:41.800 rate the show on iTunes. Feel free to get in 0:31:41.840 --> 0:31:44.560 touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 0:31:44.560 --> 0:31:47.440 heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of 0:31:47.480 --> 0:31:49.920 your own you'd like to share. You can reach us 0:31:49.920 --> 0:31:52.959 online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter at 0:31:53.040 --> 0:32:18.160 Unexplained Pod. Now it's time to take care of yourself. 0:32:18.600 --> 0:32:22.320 To make time for you teledoc gives you access to 0:32:22.360 --> 0:32:25.560