WEBVTT - S04 Episode 18 Extra: Buried Under Brambles

0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:14.560
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where

0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.079
<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories

0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.920
<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make

0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:23.799
<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In last week's episode, The

0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:28.200
<v Speaker 1>Dark Ascending, we took a trip to Chanctonbury Ring in Sussex,

0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.760
<v Speaker 1>England to shine a light on the many peculiar happenings

0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:33.879
<v Speaker 1>that are said to have occurred there and in the

0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:39.320
<v Speaker 1>surrounding countryside over the years. The episode focused largely on

0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.200
<v Speaker 1>Charles Walker from the town of Worthing, who, after looking

0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.440
<v Speaker 1>into a number of these strange events, became convinced that

0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.559
<v Speaker 1>a local occult group known as the Friends of hecate

0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:54.360
<v Speaker 1>were operating in the area. It was Walker's belief that

0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.760
<v Speaker 1>this group may even have committed murder as part of

0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:02.280
<v Speaker 1>a series of rituals they were conducted, as many people

0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.399
<v Speaker 1>have noted. However, despite Walker's claims, very little has been

0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.640
<v Speaker 1>uncovered to prove that the Friends of Hecateae even exist,

0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:13.880
<v Speaker 1>let alone were responsible for ritual murder of humans or

0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:18.160
<v Speaker 1>indeed dogs, which they have also been linked with. As

0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:20.920
<v Speaker 1>one listener of the show kindly wrote in to explain

0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:26.440
<v Speaker 1>though historically ancient worshippers of Hecateae did sacrifice animals in

0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.400
<v Speaker 1>the hope of gaining favors from the Goddess, the Great,

0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.479
<v Speaker 1>many Hecatea and practitioners of magic that exist today are

0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.440
<v Speaker 1>fervently opposed to violence and cruelty and are unlikely to

0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:40.679
<v Speaker 1>do such a thing. Certainly, there is no evidence that

0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.400
<v Speaker 1>such practitioners have ever made a human sacrifice to the goddess,

0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.600
<v Speaker 1>who is also considered to be the guardian of dogs,

0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.200
<v Speaker 1>all of which makes this Hecatea connection or the more

0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:56.840
<v Speaker 1>fanciful attempts to associate the group with Satanism, a theme

0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.600
<v Speaker 1>that was later picked up and expanded on in a

0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:03.000
<v Speaker 1>book by Toy Newton, author of the nineteen eighty one

0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:07.600
<v Speaker 1>magazine piece about the Peculiar String of Events, are also problematic.

0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.320
<v Speaker 1>Without wanting to go into too much detail since it

0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:15.400
<v Speaker 1>will likely feature on a future show, supposed Satanism has

0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:19.160
<v Speaker 1>long been demonized pun intended as a practice of heinous

0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.239
<v Speaker 1>and wicked acts, as opposed to merely being an outlet

0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:27.800
<v Speaker 1>for nonconformist and unorthodox ideas. That said, it's hard to

0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:31.600
<v Speaker 1>deny that this small pocket of southern England for whatever reason,

0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:36.240
<v Speaker 1>has certainly had its fair share of weirdness. In fact,

0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:40.720
<v Speaker 1>only last year, yet another peculiar story emerged from out

0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.960
<v Speaker 1>of the shadows of the Sussex Downs, as compelling as

0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:53.880
<v Speaker 1>any other that had previously come to light. In nineteen

0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.840
<v Speaker 1>forty six, nine year old Anthea Ring was playing outside

0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.160
<v Speaker 1>her home in Surrey with her best friend when the

0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:06.200
<v Speaker 1>pair of them got into an argument. Upset, Anthea turned

0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.200
<v Speaker 1>to run back inside, but was stopped in her tracks

0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.280
<v Speaker 1>when Peter called after her. I don't care if you

0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:16.160
<v Speaker 1>tell on me to your mother, he said, she isn't

0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:22.320
<v Speaker 1>your real mother anyway. Shocked and confused, Anthea ran crying

0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.240
<v Speaker 1>to her parents and demanded to know what Peter was

0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:31.000
<v Speaker 1>talking about. That night, her parents, Margaret and Douglas, revealed

0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.080
<v Speaker 1>the truth that when she was a newborn, Anthea had

0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:40.040
<v Speaker 1>been abandoned on the doorstep of Worthing Hospital in Sussex. Thankfully,

0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.000
<v Speaker 1>the surprise revelation didn't appear to upset Anthea too much,

0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.160
<v Speaker 1>who loved her kind and caring parents. Regardless, she had

0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.160
<v Speaker 1>even been a little excited at having such a unique

0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:56.560
<v Speaker 1>story to share with all her friends. At fifteen, Anthea

0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.400
<v Speaker 1>went to work at a department store in London before

0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.120
<v Speaker 1>moving to to train as a nurse. It was there

0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.000
<v Speaker 1>that she met and fell in love with Francis, with

0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:10.000
<v Speaker 1>whom she would have two children, Jonathan and later Christine.

0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.600
<v Speaker 1>One afternoon in nineteen sixty one, Anthea was showing pictures

0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:19.400
<v Speaker 1>of her baby Christine to her parents when her father

0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.720
<v Speaker 1>Douglas went quiet for a moment, then turned to look

0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.360
<v Speaker 1>at her mother, Margaret. Is it time to show her?

0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:31.760
<v Speaker 1>He asked. Anthea looked on, confused as Margaret went upstairs,

0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:36.479
<v Speaker 1>returning moments later with an old newspaper clipping, complete with

0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:41.360
<v Speaker 1>the photo of a small baby. Anthea took the article

0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.839
<v Speaker 1>and began to read. It told the story of a

0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:49.039
<v Speaker 1>Margaret and Arthur DoD who'd been out for a walk

0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.640
<v Speaker 1>with their children on the Sussex Downs one bright summer's

0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:58.400
<v Speaker 1>afternoon in August nineteen thirty seven. The family had been

0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.520
<v Speaker 1>walking along the side of cisp Berry Ring, an iron

0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.479
<v Speaker 1>age hill fort barely two and a half miles south

0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:10.600
<v Speaker 1>of Chanctonbury Ring, when Margaret heard something peculiar. Stopping suddenly,

0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:14.480
<v Speaker 1>wiping the sweat from her brow, she told the others

0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:19.360
<v Speaker 1>to be quiet and listen whatever for her husband had

0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:25.880
<v Speaker 1>asked that said, Margaret, can't you hear it? It sounds

0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:31.680
<v Speaker 1>like a baby crying. Within seconds, the family was staggering

0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.840
<v Speaker 1>about the hill trying to locate the source of the sound,

0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:40.280
<v Speaker 1>when finally, hidden deep inside a BlackBerry bush, they found it,

0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:45.240
<v Speaker 1>a tiny baby in a pink dress, covered in scratches

0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:51.480
<v Speaker 1>and mosquito bites, with its hands bound tightly together. Margaret

0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:55.360
<v Speaker 1>immediately gathered up the baby, and together the family went

0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:57.839
<v Speaker 1>in search of the nearest house to use a phone,

0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.320
<v Speaker 1>eventually ending up at a farm house in the nearby

0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:06.120
<v Speaker 1>village of Something. From there, the police were called and

0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:12.800
<v Speaker 1>a baby promptly taken to Worthing Hospital. After careful examination, Mercifully,

0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.400
<v Speaker 1>despite a few minor injuries, the baby was found to

0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:21.880
<v Speaker 1>be in good health. However, despite a national appeal for information,

0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.520
<v Speaker 1>the police were unable to ascertain who her parents were

0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.719
<v Speaker 1>or how she came to end up abandoned in a

0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:33.640
<v Speaker 1>bramble bush on the Sussex Downs. It wasn't long after that,

0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.360
<v Speaker 1>having read about it in the newspaper, Douglas and Margaret

0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:44.360
<v Speaker 1>contacted the hospital and offered to adopt her. Are you

0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:47.320
<v Speaker 1>always taking care of your family? Do you often take

0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.320
<v Speaker 1>care of others and not yourself. Now it's time to

0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.479
<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself, to make time for you. You

0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.840
<v Speaker 1>deserve it. Tele adoc gives you access to a licensed

0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.679
<v Speaker 1>therapist to help you get back to feeling your best

0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.960
<v Speaker 1>to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, you can speak

0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:07.760
<v Speaker 1>to a licensed therapist by phone or video. Therapy appointments

0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.680
<v Speaker 1>are available seven days a week from seven am to

0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:15.160
<v Speaker 1>nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe

0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.280
<v Speaker 1>you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or you

0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.840
<v Speaker 1>might be struggling with a personal or family issue, teledoc

0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:27.600
<v Speaker 1>can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches,

0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:30.400
<v Speaker 1>so they make it easy to change counselors if needed.

0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:35.560
<v Speaker 1>For free teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers.

0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:39.840
<v Speaker 1>Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash

0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:46.520
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com

0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:55.600
<v Speaker 1>slash Unexplained Podcast. Having learned the full story behind her adoption,

0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:01.360
<v Speaker 1>Anthea was understandably devastated, but after discussing it with her husband,

0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.320
<v Speaker 1>decided not to share the news with her children, but

0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.400
<v Speaker 1>instead do her best to forget it and move on.

0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.040
<v Speaker 1>But as the years wore on, the gnawing urged to

0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:17.120
<v Speaker 1>find out more only grew more intense. In nineteen ninety four,

0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:22.240
<v Speaker 1>Anthea made attempts to gather more information, contacting Worthy police

0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:26.040
<v Speaker 1>for any records they might have regarding the original investigation,

0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:31.880
<v Speaker 1>but sadly, nothing significant came to light. It wouldn't be

0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:36.120
<v Speaker 1>until two thousand and twelve, when, after taking a DNA test,

0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.600
<v Speaker 1>that the by then seventy five year old Anthea really

0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.880
<v Speaker 1>started to get somewhere. After first matching with a woman

0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:48.160
<v Speaker 1>in North Carolina in the United States, Anthea was eventually

0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.280
<v Speaker 1>able to trace both sides of her family to County

0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:55.880
<v Speaker 1>Mayo and County Gorway in Ireland. After teaming up with

0:08:56.000 --> 0:09:00.640
<v Speaker 1>Julia Bell, an expert in genetic genealogy, the pair were

0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.800
<v Speaker 1>able to narrow things down even further, until finally they

0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:08.400
<v Speaker 1>hit upon the name of Lena O'Donnell from County Mayo.

0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:15.360
<v Speaker 1>O'Donnell was Anthea's birth mother. A birth certificate was quickly

0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.600
<v Speaker 1>discovered that revealed Anthea had officially been born on twentieth

0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:26.760
<v Speaker 1>of November nineteen thirty six and given the name Mary Veronica. Incredibly,

0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.679
<v Speaker 1>the identity of Anthea's father would also be discovered soon after,

0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.320
<v Speaker 1>thanks to DNA evidence taken from a stamp that he

0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.240
<v Speaker 1>once used to send a letter to a cousin of hers.

0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.760
<v Speaker 1>His name was Patrick Coyne, who traveled to London from

0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.480
<v Speaker 1>County Gorway to work as a laborer in nineteen thirty six.

0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:51.160
<v Speaker 1>As Bell investigated further, it appeared that Lena and Patrick

0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:55.160
<v Speaker 1>were not in a relationship when Anthea was conceived, and

0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.960
<v Speaker 1>it's not known whether Patrick even knew that Lena was pregnant.

0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:05.160
<v Speaker 1>In any case, Shortly after giving birth, Lena O'Donnell moved

0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.080
<v Speaker 1>with her baby to a Roman Catholic care home in Chiswick,

0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:13.760
<v Speaker 1>West London called Devonnook. That, however, was the last recorded

0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:18.000
<v Speaker 1>address of Anthea's birth mother until two years later, when

0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:21.480
<v Speaker 1>she appears again on an electoral role, but with no

0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:27.439
<v Speaker 1>mention of her baby. At the time and even today,

0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.679
<v Speaker 1>there were many who considered an unmarried woman with a

0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:35.000
<v Speaker 1>baby to be a moral degenerate. For years, the Catholic

0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:39.200
<v Speaker 1>Church encouraged women with so called illegitimate children to give

0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.960
<v Speaker 1>them up for adoption, with many being sold to wealthy families.

0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:47.680
<v Speaker 1>In America, the Devonnook Care Home was different, however, in

0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.520
<v Speaker 1>that it often encouraged mothers to keep their babies if

0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:54.960
<v Speaker 1>they could. Though it isn't known for sure how Anthea

0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.720
<v Speaker 1>ended up separated from her birth mother, Julia Bell has

0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.439
<v Speaker 1>raised the tragic possible ability that she may have been

0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.439
<v Speaker 1>stolen and sold on by a foster mother that had

0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.840
<v Speaker 1>been trusted to look after her when Lena was out working.

0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.600
<v Speaker 1>For what reasons the baby's hands were tied, and how

0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.280
<v Speaker 1>it ended up left for dead in a thicket of

0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:22.000
<v Speaker 1>brambles remains just another mystery of the Sussex Strange. As

0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:26.080
<v Speaker 1>for Anthea herself, speaking to the BBC about her story

0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.400
<v Speaker 1>in two thousand and eighteen, she is now said to

0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:38.319
<v Speaker 1>be at peace with the mystery. Unexplained. The book and audiobook,

0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.440
<v Speaker 1>featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on

0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.040
<v Speaker 1>the show, is now available to buy worldwide, who can

0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:49.480
<v Speaker 1>purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores.

0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.000
<v Speaker 1>All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced

0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.280
<v Speaker 1>by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the

0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.480
<v Speaker 1>show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel to get

0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.280
<v Speaker 1>in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories

0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.160
<v Speaker 1>you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation

0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.360
<v Speaker 1>of your own you'd like to share. You can reach

0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.560
<v Speaker 1>us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at

0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:17.440
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward Slash

0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:27.880
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained Podcast. Now, it's time to take care of yourself.

0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.040
<v Speaker 1>To make time for you. Teledoc gives you access to

0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.280
<v Speaker 1>a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling

0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:39.040
<v Speaker 1>your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or

0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:43.000
<v Speaker 1>video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time,

0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:47.360
<v Speaker 1>seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most

0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:52.080
<v Speaker 1>insurance or employers. Download the app or visit telldoc dot com,

0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:56.719
<v Speaker 1>Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started. That's t

0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:01.239
<v Speaker 1>e Ladoc dot com. Slash Unexplained Podcast