Episode 719: The Wyrick Family Haunting | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash [laughter] and I'm Elena. I almost This is morbid. [music] [music]
The amount of times that I almost say I'm Elena. >> Hello. >> I love it. >> It's so rainy today, so we're like
goofbally. It [laughter] is. And I was saying I got such a good sleep last night and I don't think that's good for
me. You can tell me that sleep is good for me. I disagree. I perform so much better when I'm when I'm like on less
sleep. >> Yeah. No, it is weird. I I wake up easier when I don't [laughter] have as
much sleep. >> Oh, I know. This morning I could not wake up cuz last night I went to sleep.
I put my ear um earplugs in because it was so freaking windy and I have wreaths so they were blowing on my window all
night >> and you're enjoying that now. >> Oh, I'm enjoying that. >> And I please know when I put in my
earbuds like my my little earplugs, I think of you. >> Yeah. >> And I say I know these days are
numbered. >> They're numbered. [laughter] >> Not that I'm pregnant to the one [ __ ]
person who asked, but >> yeah. Again, I say don't ever [ __ ] ask that question. [laughter]
>> Just don't. >> I'm just bloated. Okay. I'll say that every single episode. Don't ever ask
someone that question. >> But uh but moving on. Anyway, >> but yeah, I slept really great last
night and I'm not better for it. I actually slept really great last night and I also am not better for it cuz I
have a slight headache all day. >> Oh no. >> Uh all day it's just been >> I have a slight headache all day.
>> All day. I [laughter] like how you said I've had one. >> Uh I just took eedrin. I've been
drinking water like >> Did you eat lunch? >> Uh no. I just kind of like grazed. >> Did you eat breakfast?
>> No, I didn't. You have a headache. >> [ __ ] that's the reason. >> Have you had any water?
>> Yeah. Oh, I've been drinking water. Like, I just refilled this for the third time.
>> Okay. >> Um, water has been my friend. And I'm not like I just keep forgetting to have
full meals lately. >> Um, >> crazy girl. >> She's been busy. Don't do that though.
I'm just a grazer, so I get in the habit of just like picking throughout the day.
>> I get grazing for lunch. But >> yeah, >> you got to eat a brekie. >> I love a breakfast, too. I think I just
got out of my >> out of my head this morning. I prepped some pumpkin pie chia seed pudding for
the week. [ __ ] Slapped. >> Slappity. Slap. Slap. >> Slapped. And then >> Sounds good.
>> I'm It's the We're approaching like fall and we're in fall and we're approaching
winter. >> Dead in fall. >> Shut up. [laughter] So So yeah, I slept. I'm not better for it. But now But now
I'm making bread again. I revitalized a little tha >> sarda. So I'm well fed. >> Yeah, I like that. And
>> I I was going to say my my aura ring was like I got a good sleep score last night
for the first time in like months. And I think my aura is like it literally was like, "Wow, great sleep score." And then
it was like >> but like calm down still. Like I think it was literally like don't get too
excited. It was like you had one good sleep. Like this like my readiness was like yeah this is good but like don't go
crazy girl. Like it was literally like don't you think that this is going to happen all the time. Well, you got to
have a few nights of it before you go crazy. >> It was funny. It was literally like,
"Don't be too excited." >> Hey, what the [ __ ] >> Way to ground me. Aura ring. [laughter]
>> It It does humble you sometimes. >> It does. I love my aura ring. >> I know. And this is not an ad, but I
love mine, too. I got you on to it. And I There's this thing where you can connect with other people, but I refuse
to connect with you because we will get way too competition. >> Even though we're not connected, we're
like, "What's your sleep score last night? Mine's better." >> John has one, too. and his was two
points above mine this morning and I was like, "Fuck you." >> Yeah. >> [ __ ] you. And you're two points this
morning. >> It makes you want to like fist fight someone. >> Yeah, I get it. >> He got the crown. It gives you a little
crown if you're at optimal and I didn't get the crown cuz I was 84. I think you have to be 85.
>> Oh, that makes sense. Drew is like a Apple Watch guy. And now that we have Doolo, he gets so He's like, "I walked
like seven miles today." >> And you're like, "Shut up. >> Shut up. >> Don't say that to me. Don't cuz I don't
walk in that much. >> I know. I got to get off my ass. >> I need to do more hot girl walks. Do you
know that they say that sitting is the new smoking? >> I believe it. >> And I did a lot of smoking back in the
day. So, I can't be continuing to sit and and smoke. >> I just want to get up and enjoy the fall
weather. >> I know. >> I mean, not today or the next day. >> We're in the middle of like a nor easter
here in Massachusetts. But, you know, >> I one thing about me though, I love a noraster. Oh, my one of my kids said
there's a 100% chance of a thunderstorm today and I said, "I love you so much. Thank you for telling that information."
You know what though? Disappointing cuz I haven't heard one [ __ ] clap of thunder.
>> Day isn't over yet. >> Big big truce. >> It's only the afternoon. >> I was going to say big facts and I said
big truce. >> Big big truth. >> Big truth out here. Big feelings. Big things. >> All right. I think we've talked enough.
>> I think we have cuz this has been absolute nonsense. >> People are like, "Hey guys, are you
drunk?" No. We had a more unhinged conversation before we pressed record. [laughter]
>> Yeah, that will not see the light of day. That's not That's not for the listener.
>> No, it's not. >> I don't even remember what we said, honestly. >> I do. [laughter]
>> I won't be sharing it. >> It was It was about a couple things. Anyway, >> it was about a couple things.
>> I'm going to talk about a couple things. Just kidding. It's really one thing and
it's a haunting. >> A haunting? I say I say it's the Hayrick family haunting. >> Oh, I don't know. Rick,
>> I did an ether. Shout out to Dave. He knew of them. David always knows. >> And he said, "Let's do this cat this
case, Ash." And I said, "Okay." Okay, Dev. >> Okay, Dev, I'll [laughter] do whatever
you say. I texted him. I said, "Boy, this was a good one." >> So, did he say indeed?
>> Uh, let's see. Let's see. >> What [laughter] did >> I'll tell you exactly what he said?
Maybe not exactly, but I'll tell you what he said. He said that story spins out of control eventually, but early on
it's pretty creepy. [laughter] I love that he's like, "It goes off the rails, but good luck."
>> It does in like a fun way, sort of. All right, so let's talk about it. >> Throughout the summer of 1989, Andy and
Lisa Hyrick, they had spent months looking for a nice, affordable house for themselves and their three-year-old
daughter, Heidi. And they were looking in Harris County, Georgia. They were a young family. They were living on a
single, pretty modest income. So everything that they had seen so far felt very out of reach. was not going to
be doable. Even in like the smaller rural parts of the c county, it just wasn't working out.
>> Rural jury >> rural was so hard to say. >> So they started to feel like the situation was pretty hopeless. They were
like, I don't know about this. >> But then in the fall, they were shown a small ranch house in Ellersley, which is
in central West Georgia. It's like an unincorporated town. >> Oh, okay. >> I didn't know what that was, so I
Googled it. >> It means they don't have a town government. >> Yeah, they're just reckless. Yeah,
there's like no that means there there's no um like post office. There's no police officers.
>> Yeah, they don't give a [ __ ] >> It's a little bit scary. >> They said we're unincorporated.
>> They are. They're off the grid. >> Incorporated. >> Exactly. So, according to the realtor,
the people who lived there before had abandoned the house a few months earlier. >> I feel like that's a red flag.
>> It's the biggest. Uh so, obviously, the bank foreclosed it and that was why it
was being offered at such a low price. Oh, >> yeah. So, they didn't want to waste the
only realistic opportunity that had come across their plate in months. So, Andy and Lisa, they talked it over and they
decided to put in an offer. >> I get it. They're young. They're young family. They need a place to live.
>> Roll the dice. >> Yeah. So, luckily, their offer was accepted a few days later.
>> And Andy said, "I was happy. I wasn't but 21 years old. Had bought my own house. I thought I was really
something." Hell yeah, Andy. You were really something. >> You were. That's crazy. I wasn't 21 when
I bought my house. >> No. So, go Andy. Good on you, Andy and Lisa. So, for a young couple just
starting out in life, their new house was everything that they wanted it to be. The only downside was that the
neighborhood was made up of a lot of older couples, so there wasn't really any kids for Heidi to play with, which
kind of sucked. >> That's like a double-edged sword cuz it's like, yeah, there's no kids to play
with, but like old people as your neighbors. >> Oh, hell yeah. >> A+ like their their neighborhood watch.
>> Depending on the brand of old people. That's true. You get like really friendly old people who have candy in
their purse and like will wave at you when you cross the road and stuff or you get really grumpy old people that don't
like what you do with your house and they like yell at you about it. >> That's true.
>> Yeah, but like [ __ ] those old people. >> I was like, do you have anything else to
say? [laughter] >> Do you have anything else to say on the old people? >> I just said valid.
>> You said good point. >> I just really like that old people are always in everybody's business.
>> I lived in an old people neighborhood once and it was great. >> Yeah. Everybody minded their own
business. And >> I highly recommend it. >> Yeah, there's a really good remember the
Halloween party. >> Yeah, >> that's that's all I'm thinking about. >> Super cute. And the neighborhood watch
of it all. >> Yeah, I love >> They're always like, "What the [ __ ] is that car doing down here?" Like, I love
that. >> That's also just me. >> Some of my neighbors are super old and they're just like, they know everything.
We got a group chat going on. I love it. >> Wow. You have a group chat? >> Oh, hell yeah. My whole neighborhood.
>> We know the second somebody comes in this neighborhood that doesn't belong, we're like, "Who the [ __ ] is that car?"
And everybody's like, "Oh, that's my cousin. Don't worry about it." >> I'm a little too antisocial for a group
chat neighborhood. >> Oh, it's not a group neighborhood group chat. >> The best part is about this group chat
is we all are that way. So, it's literally like, "What the [ __ ] is that car doing there?" And somebody's like,
"Oh, this person's having a party. Don't worry about it." And it's like, "Cool. >> That's it. That's it.
>> That's it." >> But I love when I'll get the like, "What car is that?" I'm like, "Yeah, yeah,
what car is that?" [laughter] >> Well, okay. So, this this neighborhood was full of old people, so there was
nobody for Heidi to play with, which stunk. >> That sucks. And you know, it meant that
Heidi spent a lot more time playing by herself than her parents would have preferred, but she seemed happy enough.
She didn't really seem to mind being alone, so they didn't really think about it that much. One afternoon though, a
few months after moving into the new house, Heidi asked her mom if she could go outside and play, and Lisa was like,
"Yeah, totally. It's the '9s. Stay in the yard." >> Mhm. >> And then from where she was standing at
the kitchen sink, Lisa could see that Heidi was sitting on the grass, and it looked like she was just having a tea
party with her dolls. And a few minutes passed and when uh when Lisa looked up again, Heidi had appeared beside her in
the kitchen and she asked if it was okay if she went on the swings to play with the man.
>> No. No. >> Yeah. >> The answer is no. >> Uh so the question caused Lisa's stomach
to drop immediately and she was like, "What now? >> What man?" >> Years later, she told a reporter that
her immediate thought was obviously that somebody was trying to kidnap her daughter.
>> Yep. So, she looked out the window toward the swing that was hanging from an old tree, but she didn't see anybody,
but she was concerned that now somebody was lurking outside. So, she told her daughter to stay put, and she went into
full mama bear mode, grabbed a huge knife from the kitchen drawer, and slowly walked out into the yard just
frantically looking in every direction for who she needed to stab. >> Yeah, cuz if some man is asking my child
to play on the swings, I am going to stab them. >> Yeah, that's fair. That's it.
>> It's called self-defense. Look it up. >> It's called being a mom. This isn't professional advice, but
>> Yeah. No, it's just what I'm going to do. I don't give a [ __ ] what you do. I'm
just I'm doing that. >> I would I would Yeah. >> You're You're a man who asked my child
to do anything. I'm going to stab you. >> Yeah. I love that. >> Put that on a shirt.
>> That's it. [laughter] >> So, she's out there. She's like looking around for who to stab. And it was only
when a neighbor passing in the car stopped to ask if she was okay that she realized how bizarre she looked
[laughter] just creeping around with a knife. >> Exactly. >> That's awesome. >> So, she was like, "Oh, yeah, yeah. Like,
I'm fine." and she didn't find anybody, so she just went back inside. In the kitchen, she called her husband and was
like, "Uh, hey, you need to get the [ __ ] home immediately." She was like, "I didn't see whoever it was that
approached Heidi, but a man approached her and asked her to play, so please get home ASAP."
>> She waited and she sat Heidi down and talked to her about the importance of not talking to strangers, not playing
with strangers. >> Good parenting. >> Yeah. >> And then about an hour later, a half
hour later, Andy got home and Lisa filled him in again on what happened. He shared his wife's concerns and he
grabbed a pistol from the gun cabinet and also went out into the yard. >> Honestly,
>> he searched >> just parenting up in these parts. >> Yeah. He searched the entire property.
He even went as far as to go in his truck and drive around the neighborhood. >> Love these people.
>> Like he was like, I will find who asked my daughter to play. >> Yeah. >> He said later he said I didn't know if
he was trying to lure her off, abduct her, kidnap her because you don't know about people these days. But I never and
he said but I never did find nothing. >> No. And that was in like the early 90s.
Yeah, >> they didn't know about people in those days. >> Welcome to 2025, my friend. You really
don't know about people these days. >> Exactly. I love that they just went full send, though.
>> Yeah, as you should. Let let that person know >> you don't ask my kid to do anything or
I'm coming at you with a pistol and a knife. >> Yeah. And my truck. >> Yeah. And my truck.
>> And my truck. [laughter] >> So, as the weeks passed and Lisa and Andy's concern subsided a bit, they let
Heidi go outside and play by herself again in the yard. It was the '9s. Not long after she would have done that, but
you know, not long after she started talking about a new man and she called him Mr. Gordy. According to Heidi, Mr.
Gordy was a very nice older man who would come by the house whenever she was outside. She said he was average height,
gray hair, and he always wore a dark suit. >> Okay. So, the mention of Mr. Gordy
raised the her parents' concerns about predators, obviously. >> Indeed. >> But Heidi didn't seem afraid of this
man. She actually seemed pretty enthusiastic about having a new friend and she just would talk about Mr. Gordy
constantly. Lisa said she would tell me that Mr. Gordy had come to her when she was in bed and talk to her. He would sit
on the bed and just sit there and talk to her. >> Okay. >> Mhm. Okay. I mean, he said seems seems
like a nice guy. Yeah, because obviously he's not real. [laughter] >> So, where is he?
>> I would assume. I don't know. Unless he's coming in a room at night. I don't know. So, in the days that followed, she
checked in uh Lisa checked in with neighbors and asked if the name and description sounded familiar, but none
of her neighbors knew anybody by that name, and they hadn't seen any unfamiliar old men in the area.
>> Mr. Gordy's around. >> Yeah, exactly. So, she was like, "All right, maybe this is kind of like an
imaginary friend." >> Yeah, like Skeleton. >> Yeah, like Skeleton, Luke Skywalker,
Naughty Martha. >> Yep. >> So, whenever either of her parents would ask where Mr. Gordy lived, Heidi would
point to the sky and say, "Up." Oh yeah. Okay. Still, Lisa, this is >> the hard part of parenting. Just
>> Yeah, I [laughter] know. This is the [ __ ] I'm not looking forward. >> You really got to keep it together and
be like, "Cool. Awesome. I am not terrified at all." >> Yeah. >> Well, and that's the thing. Lisa wasn't
entirely convinced that there was nothing to be worried about. So, she stayed vigilant. She said after she
described him, I kept my eye on her a lot. A lot more than I normally would have.
>> Good for them. Good parenting. >> Yeah. So, as time passed, Mr. Gordy just was a regular fixture in the house.
Heidi would bring up the the subject of her friend on a daily basis. They even would humor her when she brought him up.
They'd set an extra plate at lunch for Mr. Gordy. >> That's nice. >> It is. Uh Lisa said, "I didn't see any
harm in having an imaginary friend, especially when she didn't have anybody else to play with."
>> A >> but privately she did start to wonder if it was healthy for Heidi to be so
consumed by somebody who wasn't real. >> There's a fine line. >> That's the thing. And I think they were
specifically worried because she didn't really she's three so she's not like in I don't know if she was in like
preschool or daycare really. It doesn't sound like >> see a ton of other kids right now. So
>> right so they're like is this okay? So one afternoon a few months after they moved in Heidi was playing in the living
room alone when she heard a faint knocking at the door and she jumped up, ran over and she opened the door to find
a man she didn't recognize standing before her. She said he seemed confused and upset and that his shirt was covered
in blood. >> Oh. And so she asked him who he was and she's thought he said that his name was
Con and she was like, "Are you hurt? Do you need help?" But he didn't respond. He just kept staring at her.
>> Close that door. >> Yeah. Close that door. >> Lock that door. Call someone. >> So needless to say, the presence of a
bloody man obviously made Heidi uneasy. She's a little girl. >> Yeah. >> So she ran into the kitchen and she told
her mom there was somebody at the door covered in blood. [snorts] >> And at first, Lisa thought that she was
talking about Mr. Gordy. But when she said when Heidi was like, "No, I don't know this man." and he's covered in
blood. Lisa was like, "Oh, okay." Like her heart sank. Oh, boy. She told a reporter later, Heidi said he was
wearing a blood soaked white t-shirt with a bandage on his arm and that he was younger than Mr. Gordy and scarier.
Oh yeah. So that feeling of terror that she felt when Heidi first mentioned Mr. Gordy was back. And for the second time
in a matter of months, she grabbed a kitchen knife and ran out into the yard. >> Damn.
>> But again, she found nothing. She said, "I felt kind of stupid looking for something that didn't really exist,
something that might have been made up, so I just kind of played it off when she
would talk about him, and I'd laugh with her and agree with whatever she had to say."
>> Yeah, cuz what the [ __ ] do you do at this point? >> You go to a child psychologist.
>> This is six sense [ __ ] >> That's exact That's all I could think of. >> Yeah. So, the weeks went on and Heidi
didn't mention Khan again, the the bloody man. >> I don't like Con. >> Yeah, it's scary. So,
>> I was going to say, is there more to Con? >> I don't know. More to come for Khan.
>> Yeah, hang just hang with hang. Okay. >> So, yeah, she didn't mention him again.
So, Lisa and Andy just assumed whatever it was that had led their daughter to make up such an alarming story had
passed. >> Yeah. >> You know, kids, especially like little kids, make up stories all the time. They
say weird [ __ ] that we are like, "What are you talking about?" >> Can confirm.
>> So, they were like, you know, she just has a really active imagination. >> Yeah.
>> And she didn't seem scared anymore. She started talking about Mr. Gordy again.
So, it didn't seem like a ton of reason to be super concerned. >> Yeah, Mr. Gord's back. So,
>> yeah, they were just like, "All right, that was [ __ ] weird. I guess we won't
like return her just yet." >> Yeah. >> So, initially, the mention of these two fictitious characters by Heidi had
scared them, especially since the second of the two was covered in blood. >> Yeah.
>> But when neither man appeared to frighten her or freak her out in any way, they just decided to follow her
lead, not make a big deal of it. Mr. Gordy remained a fixture, but she stopped kind of talking about the bloody
man. So they figured, you know, this all passed. But that calm in the home was finally disrupted about 14 months after
they moved in when Heidi started talking about a new character. Unlike Mr. Gordy,
who was her kind companion or Con, who, you know, his appearance kind of seemed to be a fluke. The description of this
new man was vague and very threatening. >> She didn't bring him up as often as she
talked about Mr. Gordy. But when he did come up, it was very clear to Lisa and Andy that the presence of this guy
terrified Heidi. Whoever or whatever she was seeing, she said he would always appear in shadowy parts of the house.
>> Wearing all black, that they had a hood pulled tightly around a face that she
could never quite describe. >> Yeah. >> And for the first time since they moved in a year earlier, she started to feel
unsafe. Like she was telling her parents she was scared. >> Oh, I hate that. She started sleeping in
their bed for weeks and when they finally could get her back into her room, she wouldn't go to sleep if the
lights were turned off. Like, she was genuinely terrified. >> Oh, no. >> Yeah. [music]
So, for the first year, she seemed happy to play by herself, you know, occupying
her time with Mr. Gordy, tea parties, that kind of thing. And to Lisa, that seemed like it was enough to compensate
for the lack of kids in her life. But after this latest imaginary character, she started to wonder if Heidi's
imagination had created more dramatic imaginary figures as a way to get her parents attention. And she was like, I
think we need to do something about this. >> Yeah. >> So, she was concerned that her daughter
didn't have enough of a support system. So, she turned to her family. >> She'd always been really close with her
family. And since they moved to the new house in Ellersley, she hadn't been able
to see them as much as she would liked or would have liked to. So when the house next door went up for sale, she
called her sister Joyce and was like, "Hey, there's a house for sale." >> [ __ ] you want to move in?
>> What if you moved in next door? Joyce and her husband weren't even in the market for a house at this point, but
they were like, "It'd be pretty cool to live so close to like my sister and my niece, so let's do it." So they bought
the house. >> That's sick. So, not long after Joyce and her husband moved in, Joyce started
actually noticing that Heidi was talking to herself in the yard a lot and she was
like, "That was weird." Like, I was a little bit concerned about that. >> She asked Lisa about it, and Lisa was
like, "Yeah, like I think she has an imaginary friend." She kind of like plays with him all the time.
>> And she explained that Heidi's imaginary friends were actually one of the reasons
that she wanted Joyce to move closer in the first place. She was like, you know,
maybe she'll rely a little bit on her, a little bit less on her imagination. And they also decided to get Heidi a
dog. They got a mixed breed shepherd that they named Sheba. >> Oh, Sheba. >> Sheba. Sheba's here.
>> So, one afternoon about a month after Joyce and her husband moved in, the previous owner of the house, Miss Kelly,
that's how she's known. >> Excuse me. >> They're from the south, so they're like
that's like Miss Kelly, you know. >> So, she stopped by with some documents related to the house that she thought
Joyce might want to hang on to. And Joyce was kind of just like flicking through a folder of documents. and she
stopped when a signature on Miss Kelly's mother's estate jumped out at her. Mr. James S. Gordy.
>> Mr. Gordy is real. >> Shut the [ __ ] up. So immediately she's like that's weird cuz that's
>> He's lovely. >> Yeah. Well, she's like that's weird. Like that's my niece's imaginary
friend's name. Like what are the odds? >> So she asked Miss Kelly who the man was
and she's like what does his name mean here? And Miss Kelly explained that James Gordy had been a lifelong family
friend and he was actually the executive of her mother's estate when she passed.
[ __ ] Yeah. And uh he was her business manager, kind of like a de facto caretaker of the estate.
>> Wow. >> So Gordy lived just a few houses down from this family with his wife Francis
until 1974 when they moved to Columbus. Joyce said, "I had this big great knot in my throat because that was the first
time we had seen the name. I immediately thought, I wonder if this is the same Gordy that Heidi's been talking about.
Holy [ __ ] So, Miss Kelly described Mr. Gordy, and it was like Heidi herself was
describing him. He was a kind older man. He had silver gray hair, and he always wore a dark suit.
>> Holy [ __ ] >> Which is exactly what Heidi said. So, Joyce was like, "Okay, you know, like
maybe I can put this mystery of her imaginary friend to rest, but >> don't worry, it's just a ghost."
>> That's the thing. Like, she's like, "That's [laughter] not super calming. Don't worry, it's not an imaginary
friend. It's just a [ __ ] ghost. >> Yeah. Well, and also she was like, "Is she seeing this guy? Like, he lives a
couple houses down. Maybe like he tootses by and is like, "Oh, like hello." And goes about his day.
>> Is he dead? >> Well, she didn't know yet. >> Didn't even think of that. >> She didn't know yet. So, she was like,
"Oh, okay. Like, where does he live now?" Like you said, he moved to Columbus. >> And Miss Kelly looked at her and was
like, "James Gordy died in 1974." >> Okay, good. I'm glad he's not just driving by being like, "Hi, little girl.
You want to play on a swing?" Cuz I'd be like, "That's scary." Yeah, that'd be pretty
>> Somehow that's scarier than him being a ghost. >> I'd rather him be a ghost. >> Yeah, I would much rather that.
>> Yeah, cuz I think he's just being like, "You got some crazy [ __ ] in this house.
Like, let me hang around and make sure it's okay." >> Let me protect you, >> Mr. Gordy. Yeah.
>> For life. I love it. >> Yeah. >> So, later that day, Joyce told Lisa what she heard. O,
>> including the part about Mr. Gordy having died more than two decades earlier.
>> Yeah, about that. >> And Lisa was like, "Uh, so my four-year-old's just hanging out with a
ghost? like I don't know if I believe that. >> But she also couldn't help but be
curious about the lead that her sister had uncovered. So she went to the library and she started scrolling
through the microfich of the local paper from 1974 until she found James Gord's obituary. And it was exactly what Joyce
had said. He had been a fixture in their small community all his life. He lived just a few houses down and he had died
in 1974. James Gordy. So Lisa was like, "Okay, like what's that mean for my family and my daughter that she's
hanging out with a ghost?" Like, "What the fuck?" But she decided that she needed to tell Heidi who he really was.
Like she wanted to be honest with her. >> So she sat her down and she said, "It's
kind of hard to describe the feeling that you have." I said, "Heidi, Mr. Gordy has passed away. He's not a real
person." And she said, "Well, mama, he's real to me. He's as real as you are." Whoa. Isn't that wild? He's also
adorable. James Gordy is adorable. >> Look at this man. Just like imagine him just being like, "Hey,
>> hey girl. I'll push you on the way." He was like he was like, "I won't let that
weird demon guy near you." >> Yeah. Like Mr. Gordy. I love that she's like as real as you, mama. I'd be like,
"Whoa." >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Whoa. >> But it's so cool to think about though cuz like she wasn't seeing him as like
>> the spooky ghost character. >> Yeah. Or like like translucent or anything like that in any way. Just like
fullbodied real human. Like that's crazy to me. >> That's wild. >> Right. >> Yeah. So she was like she didn't even
believe that he was dead and she was like no like and obviously she doesn't really understand the concept of ghost.
>> Yeah. She's like whatever. >> So after the revelation that Mr. Gordy was probably a ghost, Lisa and Andy were
no longer convinced it was a great idea for Heidi to invest a lot in her relationship with him,
>> imaginary or otherwise. Lisa said years later, "What do you do when you think
your child is seeing something that you can't see? You can't even talk to them and say, "Leave her alone. Go back to
where you came from." >> Yeah. So when Heidi learned that Mr. Gordy had died, she actually asked her
parents if they could go see his grave. She was like, I don't know if he died. Like he looks as real as you do.
>> So Lisa was like, okay. Like maybe it will help the process of her letting him
go. Like I don't know. >> There's nothing in the parenting handbook that tells you how to handle
these situations. So I think I think they're doing a great job so far. >> I [laughter] hope so, too.
>> Like they're doing what they can do. >> And she's like, "We don't want her to be
like attached to this man." And like, >> but you also don't want to like rip the
idea away from her and be like, "No, you can't for, you know, like this is >> hard." And like, she's a four-year-old,
so she's not really fully understanding life and death. No. So, they're like, "Well, when you die, like you you go
here." You know, like she's like, "Let me see." Exactly. So, a few days later, Lisa, Heidi, and Lisa's father-in-law
drove to the cemetery where Mr. Gordy was buried. and the car had barely come to a stop and Heidi jumped out of the
back seat and ran straight to Mr. Gord's grave. >> She was 4 years old. >> She could not read and obviously she
hadn't memorized the layout of a [ __ ] cemetery. >> No, >> but she knew the exact location of his
grave >> and ran over to it. >> I think she's seeing Mr. Gordy, guys. >> I She absolutely is. I'm like, "Was he
over there?" Like, he's just like, "Hey, I'm over here." >> Like, makes sense. >> Hello.
>> Yeah. >> So, Lisa and Andy are like, "All right, like we don't really know how to process
this. Like, we're not having a great time out here." >> No. >> But at the same time, they were like,
"Well, it doesn't seem like she's distressed about it." >> That's the thing. >> So, they were like, "Okay, like I guess
you can be nice >> with Ghosty Gordy." >> Yeah. Well, hey, it's what I did with Skeleton. I was like, "He's a nice guy."
What you say? >> But that's like so different that imagine finding out Skeleton's backstory
and that he lived like a few houses down a few decades ago. >> I mean, that'd be crazy.
>> That would rock your [ __ ] >> That would rock my world. >> And you'd be like, should you hang out
with should this grown man ghost be hanging out with my kid? >> That's the thing.
>> Like, that's a lot. >> That's a lot to take up. >> That's a lot to swallow. But at the same
time, like like I just said, she didn't seem stressed. And she also hadn't brought up Con very much lately or that
other dark figure that really scared her. So they were like, I guess this benevolent spirit is a better
alternative. >> Going to go with it. >> Yeah. But a few months after finding the
grave at the cemetery, all of that would change. And Lisa was like, I think that
there's something more happening here. >> So one night in spring of 1990, Lisa and
her niece Kelly were just sitting in the living room at the Hywork House. They were actually arranging flowers for an
upcoming wedding and they started hearing weird noises in the kitchen. Sheba, their dog, who was just Sheba,
>> who was lying on the floor beside the couch, got up and went into the kitchen.
So they were like, "Okay, like we're not crazy." Like Sheba hears it, too. >> And a few moments later, Lisa and Kelly
could hear Sheba growling and snarling. >> Ooh. >> So they were like, "What the fuck?" So
they go in the kitchen. They try to see what it is. And there was nothing there.
Kelly said it was like Sheba could see something, but we couldn't see anything. That was terrifying. A few days later,
Sheba ran away and never came back. Are you [ __ ] kidding me? Shea ran away and they literally never saw Sheba
again. >> I have two things to say about that. One, holy [ __ ] that's terrifying, too.
What a shitty dog. [laughter] What a [ __ ] dog. >> Well, he was a puppy. I can tell you
right now, Blanch is Blanch would [ __ ] an otherworldly creature up for me. Honestly, I I was like,
>> "That's a shitty dog." >> I know. I was like, "It's a puppy." But >> that dog just abandoned his family.
>> Well, whatever he saw must have been really scary. >> Yeah. And he said, "You guys can deal
with it. Good luck." Like, what the [ __ ] What kind of dog did they get? >> He said, "Listen, you're the parents."
>> Damn. >> I know. Dolo last night was literally bar. We have like like a front room area
in our house and it's like super dark and she was just barking into the abyss of the dark room for no there was no
>> she was like I'll [ __ ] someone up for >> so I I fully think she she would go
crazy. >> Blanch again I think I've said this before. Blanch will wear John's skin if
she could. Like she loves John so much. She loves John more than anything has ever loved.
>> John [clears throat] leaves and she goes and sits on a chair that faces the driveway and waits for him to come back.
>> Like she she wants to wear him. She loves him. If he jokes about like poking me or tickling me, she will dive from
the other room, come running in, and she will literally like growl, bark, jump on
him, like like literally go to bite him until he walks away. >> Yeah. >> And then she's like, "Love you." But
she's like, "Don't [ __ ] touch her." Like she is my girl. And if and if he like play tickles the girls too, she
attacks them. Like she will not let anyone touch us. That [ __ ] my girl Bl I mean Sydney might sleep through the
whole thing. She would never leave. Blanch [ __ ] something up. She would that [ __ ] would never leave me to deal with
a ghost. I'm really upset about treatment. >> I know you're big mad mad >> because that dogs I know
>> in general >> I know >> will lay down their life for you. Like they just once you're their family I'm
like damn. I mean >> like wow she I feel it. That's the I that's what I feel like this whatever
she saw had to be really bad. >> It certainly did. >> Like so so bad. >> Yeah. >> Like maybe even Blanchch and Sydney
would like at least No, like I didn't say run away and you never see them again, [laughter] but they would tuck
their tails. >> They would, you know. >> Yeah, I could see that. >> You never know.
>> For sure. >> So, here's the thing. >> Really upset about >> that. Really sucked that they never saw
she again. [laughter] >> That's a lot. It was also the first time that somebody other than Heidi had seen
or heard something supernatural in the house since they'd moved in like a year and a half earlier. Yeah.
>> And that fact frightened the [ __ ] out of Lisa. She was like, "I [ __ ] hate
this." >> Yeah. >> So, wanting to learn as much as she could out about the property, she called
Miss Kelly. Miss Kelly? >> Yeah. The previous owner of her sister's house if you didn't remember. And she
asked if she would come over for a visit. Miss Kelly's family had lived in the area for like generations. So Lisa
was like, "If anybody knows anything about what's going on here, it's going to be Miss Kelly." So Miss Kelly told
her that she'd never seen anything unusual and never had any kind of supernatural experiences on or around or
around the property. And as far as she knew, no one in her family had either. So she was like, "Can't really help you
there. >> Sorry." >> But what she did do was she brought a photo album that had pictures of like of
the property that proved to be vital to solving one mystery. Hm. >> Lisa and Heidi were just like flipping
through the album of old photos and Heidi stopped at one black and white photo and it showed a group of five men
standing in front of a house that Lisa recognized as her sister's house next door. And Heidi pointed to one of the
men in the photo and said, "That's Con, the one with the blood on his shirt." What? Like pointed him out. So Miss
Kelly looked at the photo and she was like, "Oh, that's my uncle. His name is Lawn."
Oh my god. >> That's crazy. >> That's weird. >> That's literally crazy. >> Yeah.
>> His name was Lon Bachelor and when he was a teenager, he got his arm caught in
a cotton gin. >> And it was torn off just below the elbow. >> Oh. >> And he lived on the property until his
death in 1957. >> What the? So, she had literally like experienced some kind of residual
haunting >> cuz he ran next door and like knocked on the door obviously cuz Heidi opened the
door and he was asking for help and his elbow was like bandaged and he was covered in blood.
>> Oh my god. >> So, like that's fully a [ __ ] residual haunting. >> That's terrifying.
>> And the fact that like she got his name so close >> and it's I mean it's a four-year-old so
or like a three-year-old at the time so she probably just like >> Yeah. >> you know repeated it wrong but of course
>> that's [ __ ] crazy. >> That's terrifying. And Lisa was like, "Yeah, this is so scary because now two
imaginary friends have turned out to confirm." Like, that's the thing. She said, "Just to know the fact that he
passed away and had lived on the land scared me to death." >> Yeah. >> But it also suggested that maybe there
was other entities lurking about the property, including the dark figure that she was absolutely terrified of.
[ __ ] >> And a few nights later, those fears became even more real. So days later,
Andy was out of the house and this one just [ __ ] ruins me. So Andy's not home. Lisa gets out of the shower and
she's blowdrying her hair in the bedroom and Heidi was sitting in uh her parents'
bedroom just like looking at a book and the bathroom's connected. So at one point, Heidi stopped looking at the book
and she crawled to the end of the bed to get her mom's attention in the bathroom.
And Lisa was like, "Yeah, like what's up?" And Heidi goes, "Are you sure you won't be scared if I tell you this?"
>> Nope. >> And I promise that, babe. >> Lisa was like, "Yeah, totally." like, "What's up, girl?" Heidi looked her mom
dead in the eyes and whispered, "There's a man behind you." >> Oh. Oh, I would. We would go I would run out
of the house. We'd be going to Wendy's to get a faux fo. >> I would get that [ __ ] out. I would need
a faux fo. >> I would cry. >> I would run out of the home. I don't care in what state of dress I was in.
Grab your robe and go. That would be one of those situations where as a parent, you just sit there and I think one
single tear would probably escape my eye and I would probably just stand there and be like,
>> "Yeah, >> yeah." [laughter] >> Is real? Like >> I What do you do? What do you do? You
just like what? >> Where is he? >> It was like when the girls told me about the kids, the people with the scissors
and I said, "Are they where are they?" And they said, "All around you." And I was like,
>> "Huh?" You were just standing in the middle of a >> you just you got to keep it together mob
of scissor carriers >> cuz you sit there and you're like, "Okay, what do I do here? Do I [ __ ] my
kid up or do I hold it together and maybe get my ass killed?" >> I think hold it together
scissored. I don't like It's I didn't know what was going to happen. I think Lisa, she was brave like you.
>> Yeah, you got to. >> But inside I think she was freaking out >> 100%. >> Yeah,
>> I would want to vomit all over myself. Well, the thing was it seemed like figuring out the real identities of Mr.
Gordy and Lawn kind of opened up like a door in the house and now it seemed like
they were just having terrifying experiences on the regular. >> So, she's like, "Cool, it's Tuesday."
>> Yeah. Love I love Tuesdays. So, a few months after Sheba had run away and just
a week or two after Heidi was like, "Hey, there's a man blowdrying her hair." >> Lisa and her [laughter]
I'm just dying at your hatred of Sheba. I'm real mad at Sheba. >> Giving dogs a bad name. [laughter] So, a
few weeks after that, Lisa and her niece Kelly had another scary experience. They
were sitting in the living room just chatting and they heard like a shuffling sound in the kitchen. And Sheibba wasn't
there to confirm anything. >> No, she wasn't. >> So, both of them looked up in the
direction of the dining room table just in time to see one of the chairs swing out from the table and slide toward them
from across the floor, stopping from like a few feet from where it had been. That also makes me think that this ghost
was just like, "Girls, >> I'm coming to sit. I want to join you. Who are we talking [laughter] about?
>> Talking about today." >> Yeah, right. >> I'd be like, "You wanna you want to just
chat? What's going on?" >> So scary. >> What do you do? >> I don't know. Well, and Kelly goes,
"When you're there in broad daylight and a chair just moves, you don't really have any alternative but to believe that
there's something in the house." >> Yeah. What else do you I mean, what else could that be? I mean, I'd have it just
swings out from the table and like scoots over to you. I'd be like, I okay, >> I'd be like, join us. Hey,
>> question mark. >> Do do you like want something to drink? Like, who do you talk [ __ ] about?
>> What's going on? >> What's what's your afterlife [laughter] issue? >> You got the hot goss of the afterlife.
>> So, after two years in the house or almost two years in the house during only which time like usually Heidi was
the one to see anything unusual and like the entities in the house, whatever they
were now, they were making their presence known to everybody in the house. And not long after Lisa and Kelly
experienced the chair moving on its own, Heidi started to see the dark entity moving around the house again.
>> Except this time, she was convinced that it wanted to hurt her. >> Oh, I hate that. One night, everybody
was asleep and Heidi went into her parents' bedroom and woke them up and said the dark man had been in her
bedroom and she was terrified. I would want to You just made me literally [ __ ]
my pants. I didn't actually [ __ ] my pants, but I truly almost [ __ ] my pants.
Michael, >> I'm sorry. Michael, you know what? You're fired. I [laughter] think my aura
ring is gonna be like, "Oh, you died." Like, I think it's gonna be like, "Oh, rip you." My heart stopped. Mine felt
like it kind of exploded throughout my body. Literally, >> it was just like a firework. Like, it
just stopped. It was like, "Oh, you should be dead." >> Our our music is creepy.
>> It is. Damn. >> Especially during this kind of thing. My god. Also, I would [ __ ] I'd want to
kill that shadow man. >> I know he's probably already dead, but I would want to bring him back to life so
I could kill him again. >> You want to kill him now? >> You're in my kid's room. I'll [ __ ] your
world up, buddy. >> Not only was he in her room this time, they saw fresh scratches on her cheek.
>> Oh, it's on sight. >> They said it literally looked like an animal with claws had swiped at her.
>> It is on sight. >> So, I would burn that house to the ground. Oh, I would be out of there. I
would be out of there. >> Light it ablaze. >> But also, it's like they don't have like
a ton of money to buy another house. They got this house. Like they got a good deal on this house.
>> Cuz I was going to say just ask Esther Cox in the last story we did. She burned
down a barn and she stayed in jail for like a month. >> It's true. So >> she had she had supporters.
>> She did. >> This was a little more current. >> A little different. I [laughter] don't
know. >> A little different. >> I don't know if if the Georgians would take kindly burning their house down.
[laughter] But so this felt like this attack felt like a warning. >> Oh, yeah. >> And it was one they were like, "Yeah, I
hear you." That night they went over to Joyce's house and they stayed there until the next morning. [snorts]
>> If they hoped that a night away from the house would calm whatever was in Heidi's
room the night before, they were wrong. >> Yeah. >> The next night they all This is the I'm
like, "How are you guys going to sleep in here?" >> Yeah. No, you got to go somewhere else.
>> So, they go to bed. You're close to your family. Stay with family. >> I know. Andy wakes up in the middle of
the night to this burning intense pain in his side. He said he jumped out of bed and ran in the bathroom to look in
the mirror and he saw three scratches on his side that looked just like the scratches that had been on Heidi's face
the night before. Damn. Yeah. He said, "As soon as I woke up, my side was burning just like fire, and I had three
claw marks going up my side. I knew that something was doing it, but I didn't know what." Hate that. Hate it so much.
He woke up again the next night in the middle of the night, and this time there was even more scratches across his whole
body. Lisa said he had them down his back, his legs. These were deep, long gashes and it went on for several
nights. >> No. >> Like, how do you go to sleep after that happens? Even one time.
>> What are you supposed to do there? >> I don't know. I would I think I'd probably rather sleep in the backyard
than in the house. >> Yeah. No. >> I'd be like, "We're camping tonight." >> Yeah. I'd be like, "We're camping
forever. >> We live in our car now. [laughter] >> This is what we do now. >> We're van fam."
>> Yeah. So, after everything that had happened and everything they learned, Lisa and
Andy started to wonder if it was safe for them to stay in the house at all. Especially because Heidi was just
terrified at all times now. >> Yeah. >> But like I said, like they're living on limited means. They can't afford to
move. >> I know. That's the thing. It's not as easy as just like >> you can't live there anymore. Like,
nope. >> Well, and like I said, they got a deal on the house, so they would have
probably also taken a loss if they tried to if they tried to sell it. >> Yeah. [music]
So before taking, you know, a consequential step of defaulting on their mortgage, they decided to look for
somebody who might be able to help them and, you know, get the peace and calm in
the house again. Yeah. On a trip to the local library, Lisa started looking up organizations and people who studied the
paranormal. And one name that jumped out at her was Dr. William Rule. He has played like a huge part in the history
of paranormal investigation, especially more like modern-day investigations. He's a classically trained psychologist
and he's been involved in like some of the most high-profile paranormal investigations in the US, including the
alleged poltergeist in the home of a Seafford Long Island family and the investigation into the telekinetic
abilities of Tina Rash. Oh, yeah. >> I know. I I think we've talked about that case before.
>> Um, we've me Yeah, we have. >> Not on morbid, but I think you and I have like talked about it.
>> Um, and she was from Ohio, so he was at the forefront of the field since it started to kind of formalize in the
1950s. So Lisa was like, "I feel like there's really nobody better suited to help us."
>> Yeah. >> So she placed a call to his office. She kind of gave like a brief overview of
everything that had been happening. And later he said, "When Lisa called me, she
was definitely upset." It was an unusual case in my experience because Heidi described somebody she had never met.
But then Heidi described some frightening experiences followed by the scratches on her and her father. And
that's very rare in the type of investigation that I do. But based on everything he heard, he was like, "Hell
yeah, I want to I want to investigate this. >> Shit's going down." >> And a few weeks later, he was sitting
down with the family in their living room in Georgia. Just as he usually did at the start of his investigations, he
started by interviewing the members of the family alone and together so that he could get their accounts of what they
had seen and heard since moving in and, you know, confirm that everybody was kind of telling the truth. He said or in
his experience with working with children, he knew that they obviously had a tendency to make things up and
exaggerate, usually without understanding any kind of consequences. And he wanted to make sure that wasn't
what was happening here. But he said when I spoke to Heidi and I spoke to the whole family, they felt evidently sane.
So he said, "I think some [ __ ] was going on here." >> Yeah, >> they don't they don't seem cuckoo.
>> He said, "I think this shit's really happening." [laughter] So based on the interviews, he came to
the conclusion that to Heidi, the entities that she interacted with looked and felt like they were real people. She
said she could hear them, she could see them, she could touch them, and they looked to her just like any other adult
would look. >> And [snorts] that explained why a lot of them didn't really frighten her in the
way that, you know, a like an entity would. Yeah. >> Like the dark entity >> or like it might frighten an adult if
you saw a dead person. >> Yeah. >> So according to R Live people are scarier to me.
>> It depends on the [laughter] situation. Yeah, but you're not wrong. So, according to Ro, Heidi was experiencing
what he described as place memory events, >> which is events in people from the past
whose energy had been retained in the ether and somehow broke through into Heidi's reality.
>> Obsessed with this. >> He said she picked up those traces and in her mind constructed those persons
like Mr. Gordy. That's what makes this case to me so unique. He said when he showed Heidi a photo array of various
older men, she didn't hesitate to identify the one picture of James Gordy Wow that he incorporated into the mix.
So he was like she was absolutely seeing this man >> because Mr. Gordy, no offense to Mr.
Gordy, he looks like a lot of kind older gentlemen. >> Yeah. He's like a you know like
>> like I don't know if I could pick up very easily. So it's like but she's spending so much time with him that
she's like oh that's my guy. >> Yeah. >> That's crazy. And he's like she's like four too.
>> Yeah. She's literally 4 years old. And he's like he's showing her like older men to be like, do you just like think
that all old men are >> Mr. They all have silver hair? >> But it's like, no, this is the one and
she knows it. Damn. >> Like that's big. >> Yeah. >> So his theory of place memory is it's
like complicated, but essentially he believes that the energy of people and the environment gets stored in the
fabric of space and time. >> I love that. >> I'm I kind of like I'm like this is I
think he's on to something here. >> He makes a lot of sense. He says, "When there are major shifts in
electromagnetic fields, that energy can break through into the present and that can cause somebody to literally see a
person or place just like it appeared in the past." >> That That's different than anything
we've heard. >> That's It also kind of accounts for deja vu in a weird way. >> Yeah, a little bit.
>> What it made me think of >> Yeah. >> But he said when Heidi saw those people like Mr. Gordy or lawn in the aftermath
of his incident or his accident, William Ro believed that her mind created like a
narrative around what she was seeing to make sense of what she was seeing. >> Okay.
>> And in that sense, he explained to her parents that she wasn't technically seeing ghosts, at least not as somebody
might typically understand them. She was seeing a representation of something from the past.
>> Whoa. >> Which is fascinating. >> His way of describing it is like very fascinating. It gets even more
fascinating >> and like makes a lot of sense in a way like you're just like okay
>> does well because you and I say it a lot. I do think that ghosts are made up of energy. Like I think that's a big
part of it and I think it's like left cuz energy can't be destroyed. Created or destroyed. Exactly. So it's like I
think there is something in us that >> Yeah. >> is energy. >> It's got to go somewhere.
>> And that's the thing like it's got to continue on and it like goes into space
and time >> and like the ether. This is very Donnie Darko. >> It's so Donny Darko. That's what I was
thinking of. >> So to further build his case, he and his associates started actually taking
scientific measurements of the environment in and around the house. They read electromagnetic fields around
the house and they took temperature readings in all the different rooms. And he said the experience in a haunt site
includes drops in temperature and sometimes increases in temperature. So among other things, he was particularly
interested in Heidi's reports of seeing the dark entity around the house. And she usually saw him in her bedroom. And
in that room, he found that there was a strong a source of strong positive ions,
particularly in the spot right next to her bed, which is where she would see the the dark entity.
>> Okay. So, according to him and other paranormal investigators in general, large concentrations of positive ions
can have a negative experience on a person's mood and perception, and it can kind of cause us to hallucinate.
>> Wo. >> Yeah. And like think you see things that aren't there. >> I love the science of all this.
>> Isn't it so cool? >> Yeah. >> So, after finishing his investigation, he came to the conclusion that it wasn't
really ghosts or devils or demons causing the unusual experiences in the house. He said instead they were kind of
experiencing a sort of hallucination caused by the natural environment in and around the house.
>> Okay. But where did the scratches come from? >> That's the thing. [laughter] >> That's my next question.
>> We'll get there. He also learned that there was a seismic fault near the property that could also be affecting
the energy around the house and that what that could be what was causing the experiences in Heidi's room in
particular. >> Interesting. So he provided the Hyrix with a plausible explanation for you
know why they were seeing what they were seeing and he hoped that it would give their mind some peace. But you know Andy
and Lisa appreciated the efforts but they were a little bit unsatisfied because like you said the scratches.
>> Yeah. >> Andy said I think Dr. Ro is a smart man. I know what he said has got a lot to do
with it but I don't believe that's all there is to it. >> Yeah. Cuz you got to explain the
scratches. >> That's the thing. He couldn't include the scratches that appeared on Heidi or
the scratches that appeared on her father. So that's >> and he was like, "Yeah, like I can't."
>> Yeah. >> Don't know about I don't know about that. >> It reminds me when you were saying like
all it's all like about the land essentially. >> I know I mentioned this before that like
the Sylvia Brown of it all. Remember that psychic >> that you said there's like one clip of
her where she gets something clearly wrong cuz she's not a real psychic in my opinions. [laughter]
>> It's my opinion. It's my opinion. she gets something clearly wrong and this person's like, "Yeah, I don't know. Like
nobody really lived. Like it's a new house, so like that doesn't make sense, whatever she had said." And she goes,
"Honey, it's the land." [laughter] And I immediately thought when they're just like, "So there's no ghost." And
he's like, "Honey, it's the land." >> Honey, it's the legend. [laughter] >> That's his answer for what? It's the
land. [gasps] Why is this all happening? Honey, it's the lamb. [laughter] Immediately that can
>> Can you please pull [laughter] it up? >> Sure. That's what she says is, "Honey,
it's the land." >> I need to see this. [laughter] >> Our house is only 10 years old.
>> Honey, the land. >> How old do you think the land is? >> Honey, the land. >> Honey the land. [laughter]
>> And then she goes, "All land is ancient." I mean, all right, girl. >> Sylvia Brown, if nothing else, always
have an answer. Good for her. She's like, "My house is only 10 years old." The land
>> land is [ __ ] old. You know, >> honestly, my house is new and I've had weird ass experiences.
>> Honey, it's the land. >> Did I tell this story on the pottery? >> I don't know.
>> The one where I was like, the is she okay? >> Oh, yeah. That in case I haven't, I'll
just say really quickly. So, I had Elena's kids. I just got chill. >> This [ __ ] me up. And it's one of the
only haunted experiences I've ever had at my house. But I was like, "Uh, I don't know if I've told Debb's in the
pod lab today, so I'm telling Debub." >> And she's like, "What the [ __ ] is this?"
>> So I was, and I'm telling you guys, too, so listen up. >> Listen up. So I had Elena's kids over
for a sleepover. And I went in to like check on them cuz like you do that in the night. So I got to check out them
while they're at my house and I'm like hella responsible for them. So that's scary. So, I go in and I was like
tucking the youngest in and she was kind of like whimpering in her sleep a little
bit and I was like, "Oh, like are you having a weird dream?" And I was like rubbing her back and I was sitting on
the edge of her bed and it was like a blowup mattress. So, I was like right near the doorway and it was like cracked
a little bit and I heard, "Is she okay?" And I turned like to the point where I literally turned around cuz I thought it
was Drew and I turn and there was nobody there but I heard clear as day, is she okay? Which also what a great ghost.
>> I know >> that is they're like is she okay? Like is everything good? >> I literally have like chills.
>> I literally have chills whenever you told me that. Every time you bring it up
I get chills. >> And I liter I went to my bedroom and Drew was asleep. Like it wasn't even
possible for him to have said that. And I could not calm down. It was like the weirdest feeling.
>> That's so creepy. Honey the land. >> Honey the land. >> And I do live on really old like super
old land. So, >> like Massachusetts, honey the land. >> Honey the land. That should honestly
just be Massachusetts, [laughter] Logan. >> Welcome to Massachusetts, honey. >> Honey the land.
>> Let's put it on the sign. Who do we call? >> That's what we need. That needs to be
some of our merch. >> Massachusetts. [laughter] >> It needs to be a welcome to Massachusetts sign that says honey the
land. >> How do we make it sound like that on the [laughter] shirt? >> People will know. You can't say THE
[laughter] LANDS. >> [laughter] >> YOU CAN'T say Honey the land without saying honey the land.
>> People are like stop saying it. I will never >> never I will forever >> look forward to your merch. Okay.
[laughter] So So Mr. Roll could not account for the scratches. But Honey Lynn [laughter] as the years went by.
The haunting continued. The Hayricks were trying to just like, you know, [clears throat] live normal life, but
[ __ ] was always going down. Several years after they moved into the house, Lisa had a second daughter and Lisa and
Andy had a second daughter, Jordan. >> Oh, congrats. >> And Lisa's I think she's like a
stay-at-home mom, so that was occupying a lot of her attention. And by the time Heidi entered her teen years, Mr. Gordy
kind of was like a faint memory from childhood. She wasn't like hanging out with him that much.
>> Bummer. >> But in 2002, she told a reporter, "It's been a while since I've seen Mr. Gordy.
I do miss seeing him. I always will. I considered him one of my friends." A But unfortunately, while Mr. Gordy and Lawn
had disappeared from Heidi's life. The dark faceless entity stayed. >> Oh, hate that part.
>> And just like menaced her from the shadows. Ew. >> Whenever he would appear. Yeah.
>> Now, eventually the phenomenon at the Hyrick house uh became known to the rest
of the residents living in Ellersley because the story appeared on Unsolved Mysteries.
>> Oh, hell yeah. In the fall of 1994, >> the [laughter] original one. I get I literally read Unsolved Mysteries. I
hear that song and I can immediately I can feel it. >> I used to watch that with Judy all the
time. I used to live with this older lady named Judy and she was the tits. >> We used to watch Unsolved Mysteries and
Law and Order and the Red Sox. >> I always watched Unsolved Mysteries and then immediately watch Rescue 911. And
that's why I am who I am now. [laughter] >> I love that. And honestly, Judy is why I
am who I am now. >> So yeah, Unsolved Mysteries. But in the interview, Heidi described a lot of the
ghosts that she saw around the house, including Mr. Gordy and Lon, and uh told her she told her aunt that Mr. Gordy
informed her a lot of money was buried under Joyce's pecan tree. >> I don't know if they found it or not,
>> guys. We got to find out. >> Figure it out. We got to find out. >> Did they found
>> Can you imagine if they found a lot of money under the pecan tree? Pecan. >> Pecan. Do you say pecan or pean?
>> I don't know. I was just trying to figure that out. What do I >> I say pecan.
It was a big argument on Halloween baking championship this year. It I look at that um pecan, right? You're like,
you do [laughter] like I know this about you. You say pecan. >> Did they find the money [singing] under
Joyce's pecan tree? >> That's the song of this segment. >> Joyce pecan tree. >> It's not going to be a recurring
segment. [laughter] Imagine if it is. If there's another story where we're like, did they find
the money under country, [laughter] it's not gonna be a recurring segment. I don't know. I can't find out. So, I
guess we won't we won't put that in. [laughter] >> They did. But, so eventually when the
press attention started causing problems for Heidi at school, the family decided
to step back from the spotlight. They didn't do any more interviews. That pisses me off. That like gave her issues
at school. >> Yeah. Like people get it together. >> I would want to be her friend first.
>> This is why we can't have nice things cuz people ruin it. Yeah, they sure do.
>> You can't just be like, "Oo, ah, fun." Like, they got to go ruin her experience. [laughter]
>> So, stepping back from the spotlight was obviously good for like Heidi's mental
and social health. And it didn't really do much to stop the supernatural activity, though. By the time Jordan was
born, it had become a lot more aggressive in nature. In one of the more frightening incidents, Andy and Lisa
went out for the night and left Jordan with a babysitter. And the babysitter went to check on Jordan at one point in
the night. and she discovered a quote ribbon with eight knots tied tightly around Jordan's neck.
Yeah. Yep. Here's my here's my very cynical question. Did they look into that babysitter?
>> I don't know. [laughter] I hope so. >> Did we Corey check the babysitter? >> Probably. They seem like good parents,
so I'm sure I mean they do. >> Lisa literally probably would have like grabbed a kitchen knife if she thought
it was the babysitter. So >> like what the [ __ ] I don't think it was the babysitter. I think it was the
ghosts. >> What the [ __ ] Aka ghosts. Yeah. As the years passed, the activity continued and
it started involving other members of the family. There was a long period where Lisa would regularly hear a
growling sound coming from her bed as she and Andy were like just trying to fall asleep. And Heidi kept seeing
obviously that faceless dark entity. And in time, when Jordan got older, she started seeing and hearing spirits,
particularly a little girl who she said had been killed in a car accident near the property.
>> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. So, since the first visit from William R in the early 90s, they've
continued searching for somebody who can help resolve whatever's going on there.
They think there's a demonic infestation in their house. >> Oh, yeah. >> And I tend to agree. They turn to Ro on
a few more occasions, but because he doesn't believe that they're being haunted and instead believes that the
phenomena has to do with like Heidi's kind of psychic abilities and like the electromagnetic fields, he was like,
"There's really not a lot I can do to help you." >> Oh, no. >> So, they found some support from their
church and um a local psychic who shares the family's faith. That individual encouraged the Hayworks to rid
themselves of the infestation through regular prayer and fasting. I don't believe that fasting is going to
do it, but I hope that they find some relief there. But they rely on their Christian support network and they do
different things like they get anointed with oil to try to repel the spirits and
expel the demons. >> Whatever brings you comfort. >> Well, and that's the thing. Whatever
brings you comfort and feels like it works, then go forth and comfort. >> Yeah. And it makes them feel good. They
said like it makes them feel empowered to stay in their house. But to date, they still are experiencing paranormal
activity in the house. >> Damn. >> And that is the story of the Hayrick family haunting.
>> Holy [ __ ] >> Isn't that a crazy one? >> I really like I want this family. I want
them to have peace. >> I do too. I really like that. >> I genuinely want them to have peace.
>> I know. As soon as Lisa pulled out a kitchen knife and went out into the backyard, I said, "That's my girl."
>> Yeah. I said, "That's my girl right there." >> And then Andy started driving around the
town and was like, "I will [ __ ] find whoever did this." >> Yeah. >> I want to hang out with her. Those are
those are parents right there. >> Exactly. >> What you asked my kid to get on a swing
with you? >> I'll kill you. >> I'll [ __ ] kill you. Like those are good parents. [laughter]
>> They just are. >> I just think it's crazy that not like not one time but twice she would
literally was like, "Oh yeah, like that's Mr. Gordy." And then was like, "Oh, that's Con." And then Con turned
out to be Lawn. >> Like what are the [ __ ] odds? >> That's wild. >> Crazy. >> That's a crazy story. That was
>> scary. >> It's genuinely scary. Like that one genuinely scared the [ __ ] out of me.
>> Me too. It was freaking me out. And when I was doing it, the norista was coming.
The norista came. >> So my wreaths were just bashing against the sides of my windows and I was home
alone. So it was freaking me out. And my cats were acting weird. >> I hate it. [laughter]
>> But yeah, that is one of our haunted stories of October, brothers. >> Damn. >> I mean, I thought it's the land.
>> Honey, it's the land. >> It is. [laughter] But it's not even the land, though, because next door at her
sister's house, everything is fine. >> That's land, too. >> It's got its own situation.
>> But I think everything's fine. It's just good land. >> Yeah, that's just good lands.
>> Well, there are good lands and bad lands. [laughter] >> There are >> the bad lands.
>> The bad lands. >> Damn. >> Yeah, I think it's just the house. I think it's a haunted house.
>> Yeah, for sure. >> And I I want them to have peace. >> I want them to have peace, but I also
kind of want to go to there. >> And Lisa and Andy, I think you're doing you're doing what you can, and I
appreciate that about you. >> Hell yeah. Well guys, we'll have some more hauntings to come because it's October.
So, we hope you keep listening >> and we hope you keep it. But that's so weird that Honey, it's the
land. >> Honey, it's the land. [laughter] Honey, the land [music] >> [music] [music]
[music] [music] [music] [music]

When Andy and Lisa Wyrick moved into their new home in Georgia in 1989, the young couple thought they’d lucked out when they finally found a place they could afford. Within a few months, however, Andy and Lisa started noticing strange behavior in their three-year-old daughter, Heidi, and soon after, the Wyricks were forced to face the fact that they might not be alone in the house. For a decade, the Wyrick family experienced a range of strange and seemingly supernatural phenomenon from the presence of a kindly old man to apparitions of a dark entity, all seemingly focused on their daughter, Heidi. Efforts to stop the haunting provided little relief and in time, the family came to believe they’d attracted something far darker than ghosts. References Anderson, Sherry, Michael Ray Brown, and Tom Naughton. 2002. A Hautning in Georgia. Directed by Jeffrey Fine and Tom Naughton. Produced by New Dominion Pictures. Franklin, Harry. 2002. "Harris County home may be haunted." Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, GA), April 23: 19. Walsh, Mick. 1994. "Unsolved mystery in Ellerslie is now 'Unsolved Mystery' on NBC." Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, GA) , September 18: 31. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Brief Summary

The Hayrick family faces haunting experiences, including friendly and dark spirits, in their Georgia home.

Key points

The Haunting Begins. A young family moves into a new house, only to encounter strange occurrences.
Mr. Gordy. Heidi introduces her imaginary friend, Mr. Gordy, raising concerns for her parents.
A Disturbing Encounter. Heidi opens the door to a blood-covered stranger, escalating the tension.
Heidi's Terrifying Imaginary Friend. Heidi describes a bloody man at the door, causing her mother to panic.
Heidi's Connection to a Ghost. Heidi insists Mr. Gordy is real, even after learning he passed away.
A Haunting Revelation. Lisa and Heidi discover a photo that connects to a haunting experience.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I love my aura ring.

Sharing enthusiasm for a health tracking device.

3:19WatchOct 29, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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