When it was built in 1903, the Claypool Hotel was designed to be the best and brightest of Indianapolis’ hotels. And, for forty years, it was. Then, starting in 1943, a serious of tragic events that included two murders and a fire led to the Claypool’s dramatic destruction in the 1960’s. But does something of …
Episode 110: Fire, Murder, and Spirits: The Last Days of the Claypool Hotel Read More »
Bates House had to go. It was beautiful and famous, but it had faded. There were modern amenities that it couldn’t offer, not to mention the fact that it just wasn’t big enough to accommodate the growing number of people that were coming into the city. The owner, Edward Claypool, knew that. When he …
Fire, Murder, and Spirits: The Last Days of the Claypool Hotel Read More »
In 1954, two maids found a horrible odor coming from a dresser in one of the rooms at the Claypool Hotel. When the dresser was searched, hotel staff found the badly decomposed body of a woman in the bottom drawer. Her name was Dorothy Poore, an 18-year-old trying to build a future in Indianapolis. What …
Episode 109: The Murder of Dorothy Poore: The Girl in the Drawer Read More »
Dorothy Poore was nervous. She knew that there were more opportunities for a good-paying job in Indianapolis, but now that she was here, Dorothy had already run into problems. First there had been the man at the bus stop. He was a little older than her, around his mid-twenties, with dark hair and a …
The Murder of Dorothy Poore: The Girl in the Drawer Read More »
Lillian McNamara wondered how many times she had checked these rooms. It was part of her job as a housekeeper to make sure that the guest rooms were clean, presentable, and didn’t need any repairs. The Claypool Hotel was the go-to event venue in Indianapolis, and the people who stayed there expected a fresh …
Maoma Ridings had joined the United States Army during World War II to aid the war effort. A professional nurse turned physiotherapist; she was a young woman who enjoyed a good time. On August 30, 1943, she was found murdered in an Indianapolis hotel room. Who had ended the life of the well-liked nurse from …
In 1990, a highway patrolman in Arizona stopped to check on a semi pulled off to the side of the road. Inside he found a woman who was naked, handcuffed, and wearing a horse bridle. While the driver, Robert Ben Rhodes, said that everything was consensual. The patrolman suspected otherwise. The investigation would turn into …
Episode 107: The Truck Stop Killer: Robert Ben Rhodes Read More »
The young teenager was ecstatic. Her and her boyfriend had decided to run away together. It was 1990, a brand-new decade to start a brand-new life in. The truck stop was teaming with people. Some had stopped to get gas, others to take a shower and grab a quick bite to eat. Mostly what …
In January of 1926, Ed Rinebold was driving his normal newspaper deliver route in western Illinois when he had a strange feeling. The car at the railroad crossing had just been in an accident. He hadn’t heard or seen anything, but just knew that’s what happened. When he went back, the flaming ruins of the …
Ed Rinebold drove his delivery truck carefully down the icy roads toward the railroad tracks at Poppy Crossing, about twelve miles from Moline, Illinois. He had driven that route dozens of times as a driver for the Daily Times, a local newspaper. But he wasn’t taking any chances. The last thing that he wanted to …
