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160: The Widow Who Vanished in Shullsburg, WI · Common Mystics

• 0:10
  Speaker A: On this episode of Common Mystics, we explore the mysterious death of a widow who walked out of her life and vanished, only to be discovered months later in the bottom of an abandoned mineshaft. Was it suicide? A tragic accident? Or maybe something more nefarious? I'm Jennifer James.
• 0:33
  Speaker B: I'm Jill Stanley.
• 0:34
  Speaker A: We're psychics.
• 0:35
  Speaker B: We're sisters.
• 0:37
  Speaker A: We are common mystics. We find extraordinary stories in ordinary places. And today's story comes to you from Shelsburg, Wisconsin.
• 0:47
  Speaker B: That's right, Jennifer. So let's tell the people where we were and how we got to Shawsburg.
• 0:55
  Speaker A: We had just finished our very first ever ghost walk in Potosi, Wisconsin.
• 1:03
  Speaker B: It was really fun. It's interactive. It's not the ghost walk of your parents generation. It was something new. It was something fun. And visit us on Detours so we can tell you all about it.
• 1:13
  Speaker A: I can't wait. I can't wait. So fun.
• 1:17
  Speaker B: So how did we pick out? Because we didn't set our intention, which is very different from our other episodes.
• 1:23
  Speaker A: You know what? We did not leave that day with the intention of, like, definitely stopping and working on common mistakes. Like we were stopping for lunch and then heading home.
• 1:34
  Speaker B: Correct. So we stopped where and why?
• 1:39
  Speaker A: We stopped in Shelsburg because one of the participants on our ghost walk told us, you have to go to Shawsburg. You have to go to Sholzburg. So she didn't tell us much, just that we had to go there. And so we did.
• 1:55
  Speaker B: We did. And we settled on a little cafe. I forgot the name of it, but it was on Water Street.
• 2:01
  Speaker A: I don't remember the name of it either. It was really cool. It was really cute.
• 2:05
  Speaker B: It was really cool. It was cute. It was cool. And as we were sitting there, we were getting our spideys on. As we were eating, I think you had breakfast and Jenny and I had lunch.
• 2:15
  Speaker A: I had a waffle.
• 2:17
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 2:17
  Speaker A: I had a big Belgian waffle with strawberries.
• 2:22
  Speaker B: Slut.
• 2:24
  Speaker A: Just 100 with strawberries and whipped cream. And it was real whipped cream, too.
• 2:33
  Speaker B: You need to figure out who you were. I had a sandwich. Right.
• 2:40
  Speaker A: Panini.
• 2:41
  Speaker B: Panini.
• 2:41
  Speaker A: It's a paneri.
• 2:43
  Speaker B: It was a paneri. I had a paneri. It was tomato basil, like a caprese salad.
• 2:52
  Speaker A: Tomato basil? Yes.
• 2:54
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 2:54
  Speaker A: You had a tomato and basil panini.
• 2:58
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 2:58
  Speaker A: And how much did you eat of it, would you say?
• 3:03
  Speaker B: I think just have half.
• 3:05
  Speaker A: You think so? Okay.
• 3:07
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 3:07
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 3:08
  Speaker B: You know the pouch, you know what happens?
• 3:10
  Speaker A: I. I know exactly what happens with the pouch.
• 3:13
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 3:13
  Speaker A: So the pouch can't handle what you order the pouch can't handle what you order. And you push the pouch. And then you always have trouble when you push the pouch.
• 3:21
  Speaker B: So I didn't push the pouch. That's why I was like, not. You can't push the pouch on the road. It's so precarious. No, you don't know what's going to happen.
• 3:29
  Speaker A: You don't want to push the pouch.
• 3:30
  Speaker B: Yeah, so I didn't push the pouch. I just. I was like, pouch. I hear you. I know where you're going. We will stop here.
• 3:38
  Speaker A: And to your credit, you did not overeat and need to lay on the ground to stretch out the pouch, which has happened on occasion.
• 3:48
  Speaker B: Yeah. Yes, that has.
• 3:50
  Speaker A: I love you, Jill.
• 3:53
  Speaker B: Okay, let me just explain. It doesn't happen when I stretch the pouch. It happens when I'm dehydrated and the muscles in my abs contract. And the only way to. To make them stop is to throw myself on the ground, spread eagle, as hard as I can to make it, like, to jolt it enough to make
• 4:13
  Speaker A: it stop no matter where you are.
• 4:15
  Speaker B: No, I. I've thrown myself in doctor's office bathrooms. I've thrown myself in malls.
• 4:22
  Speaker A: Oh, I know. Yeah, I know. I remember doing a psychic reading with you, and you dropped to the floor and I was like, that's how we
• 4:29
  Speaker B: met our friend Emily.
• 4:30
  Speaker A: Sit down. She's literally on the floor right now. I'm so sorry.
• 4:35
  Speaker B: That was when we met our friend Emily.
• 4:37
  Speaker A: I know, I know. Okay, moving on. So we stopped at that tiny, little cute breakfast slash lunch place. It was amazing. And. And we were starting to get our feels on sitting there.
• 4:48
  Speaker B: Yeah, we couldn't help it because the town is so historic and intriguing. So I was picking up on a female energy. But Jennifer, you stupid psychic slut, tell me what you were picking up on.
• 4:59
  Speaker A: So, Okay. I love that you called me a stupid psychic slut. Seriously, like, I want that on a T shirt. Please, please make me a T shirt. Oh, God. Okay, I. All right, so I was facing the big picture windows that overlook the street.
• 5:23
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 5:24
  Speaker A: And out of my corner of my eye, I saw a woman's silhouette. She was walking down the street and she was wearing, I want to say definitely black clothing with. It was like Edwardian kind of, with like not huge, you know, antebellum, but. But like the. The. The bustle in the back, little bit of bump.
• 5:51
  Speaker B: Are you saying that Little bit of
• 5:53
  Speaker A: bump out black hat, walking and so I mentioned it.
• 5:58
  Speaker B: Yes, you did. And then I picked up on a woman dying and is an unsettled spirit. But then Jenny B. Jenny b. Psychic self was like, we need to go to the cemetery. So we're like, okay, where's the cemetery? And you and Jenny got out of the car, and Jenny was all like. She knew our voiceless was in the cemetery.
• 6:17
  Speaker A: That's true. But it was kind of raining and it was really cold, which is why you stayed in the car.
• 6:22
  Speaker B: Mm.
• 6:23
  Speaker A: And so it wasn't like this. Yeah, whatever. That's one word for what you are.
• 6:28
  Speaker B: We.
• 6:29
  Speaker A: We didn't, like, really get to explore because of the weather.
• 6:33
  Speaker B: True. And we were tired af. I mean, honestly, we were up really
• 6:37
  Speaker A: late with the ghost walk.
• 6:39
  Speaker B: Can you tell me a little bit about the history of the town?
• 6:43
  Speaker A: Sure. I would love it. So Shelsburg is one of Wisconsin's oldest communities. Led or drew settlers into the area as early as 1818. And the community developed around the mining ventures of a man by the name of Jesse Shull, Hence the name of the town Shelsburg. By 1820s and 1830s, southwestern Wisconsin was in the middle of a major lead rush. Not as sexy as a gold rush.
• 7:18
  Speaker B: Not as sexy still.
• 7:20
  Speaker A: You know, a rush is a rush. Okay. Now, by the mid-1800s, Shelsburg was becoming a bustling little mining town populated by American settlers as well as a significant number of immigrants, some Cornish and Irish in particular, many of whom came with generations of mining experience. Jill, are you Cornish?
• 7:49
  Speaker B: I'm corny.
• 7:50
  Speaker A: You're corny? I would say I'm more potato ish. Sweet potato ish.
• 7:57
  Speaker B: Sweet potato ish.
• 7:58
  Speaker A: Do you know where Cornish people come from?
• 8:01
  Speaker B: No.
• 8:02
  Speaker A: So people from Cornwall, Jill.
• 8:05
  Speaker B: Cornwall?
• 8:05
  Speaker A: Yes. Cornwall and Ireland were really coming to Sholsburg in large numbers. Especially, like, by around 1850, there was a large number of immigrants there. And if you don't know where Cornwall is, it's the little tail of England. England has a little tail that juts out to the left.
• 8:26
  Speaker B: Where does potatoish come in?
• 8:28
  Speaker A: I'm not sure about potato ish. That's something that I just made up. But it's so cute, you guys. If you can go to Shelsburg, you have to go. It is adorable.
• 8:39
  Speaker B: It really is.
• 8:40
  Speaker A: It really is. One of the things that makes it so special is so much of the 19th century character that still survives to this day. And that is not always the case here in America, where we like to tear things down and build things up new with inferior materials. It's Water street commercial historic district, which is where we were. Which is where we were eating. It has buildings dating back to 1840. And many of them are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of those historic stone and brick buildings standing downtown today grew out of that mining boom that I was talking about, as well as because of the arrival of the railroad in 1881. Fun note. A lot of the streets are named curiously. There's Faith Street, Mercy Street, Friendship Street, Truth Street, Judgment Street. All those streets with peculiar names. Do you know why?
• 9:49
  Speaker B: Because they're shaming us. They're shaming us, Jennifer.
• 9:53
  Speaker A: They're trying to tell us we don't belong there.
• 9:56
  Speaker B: Be like you made a wrong turn. Those.
• 10:01
  Speaker A: Those are remnants of the legacy of a Dominican missionary, Father Samuel Mazzucelli, who helped lay out part of Shelsburg in the late 1840s. And he named all those streets virtues and moral concepts.
• 10:15
  Speaker B: Again, a little annoying, no? Like, really? Calm down, Father. Calm down.
• 10:20
  Speaker A: Yeah, a little high horse about it. Yeah. No wonder I didn't feel welcome. So, Jill, you. You took the lead on the research?
• 10:28
  Speaker B: I did. And I found something.
• 10:32
  Speaker A: You did?
• 10:33
  Speaker B: Yes. So everything that we just talked about is leading us to the incident.
• 10:38
  Speaker A: Okay, so you were looking. What were you looking for? You were looking for a woman.
• 10:44
  Speaker B: Turn of the century woman that was in distress, that. That's murdered, was unsettled or still questioning.
• 10:52
  Speaker A: Okay. And I found.
• 10:53
  Speaker B: Who did I.
• 10:54
  Speaker A: Who did you find? Augusta Deppy. Deppy Reinhardt.
• 11:01
  Speaker B: Reinhardt.
• 11:03
  Speaker A: Very good. So you might ask, who was Augusta Deppy Reinhardt? Yes.
• 11:11
  Speaker B: Tell me everything.
• 11:13
  Speaker A: Well, Augusta was born and raised in Charlesburg, and she had a brother and sister, William and Caroline. But when she was 55 years old, she lost her husband. Actually, I think she was 54 years old when she lost her husband, Adam, in 1903 to an illness. So later in her life, she was indeed a widow. Now, her husband was prominent in Sholzburg for being a merchant and a leader. Jill, what is that visual.
• 11:49
  Speaker B: This is what you were just saying. She was 55 years old. This is just facts about her. Just facts.
• 11:54
  Speaker A: What is the shadow? Is that her? Is that her nose? What. What is that? Is that a ponytail? What. What is that?
• 12:01
  Speaker B: It looks. It's a keyhole, I think.
• 12:05
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 12:07
  Speaker B: Okay. I don't know. I don't know what that shape is, but it's here.
• 12:11
  Speaker A: Let's see. That is off putting. I don't.
• 12:13
  Speaker B: You know what? It looks like a soap dispenser.
• 12:16
  Speaker A: It does look like soap dispenser. Okay, Good job on the graphics. Let's keep going.
• 12:21
  Speaker B: Thank you. I get better ones coming.
• 12:25
  Speaker A: She and her Husband had been married in 1877. Now they did have a daughter named Minnie, but sadly she passed away at the age of 11 due to unknown circumstances. So it was just her and. And her husband when her poor husband Adam passed away in 1903 due to illness. And that actually, Jill, sets us up for the incident. Dun dun dun.
• 12:50
  Speaker B: Tell me everything.
• 12:52
  Speaker A: Okay, so the incident happened on June 18, 1904, about a year after Adam passed away. It was mid June in Shelsburg. And. And the weather is generally pleasant and warm with daytime temperatures around the 70s, but cooler at night, like around the 50s or 60s. So basically perfect sleeping weather and perfect weather to go take a walk.
• 13:22
  Speaker B: Perfect.
• 13:23
  Speaker A: Right. Now, on June 18, 1904, it was around noon, midday, when witnesses described seeing Augusta walking down Water Street. Okay, again, gorgeous day. Nobody thought anything of it.
• 13:38
  Speaker B: Why would they?
• 13:39
  Speaker A: Right. But her head was down and she was wearing a black bonnet and a black floor length dress.
• 13:47
  Speaker B: On Water Street.
• 13:49
  Speaker A: That's crazy. Again, wearing black because she was recently widowed.
• 13:54
  Speaker B: Correct.
• 13:55
  Speaker A: And that Jill, that was the last time anyone saw Augusta alive. Now, it's unclear who reported her missing, but the community was startled by the news of her disappearance and search parties were organized and the whole neighborhood was thoroughly searched. But there are no traces of her anywhere until. Until they searched her home.
• 14:27
  Speaker B: What happened?
• 14:27
  Speaker A: Well, they found a tantalizing clue. After friends and family went through the house hoping that she had left something behind, they found something. They found a piece of light brown wrapping paper. You know the kind? Yeah, just like that. It had been carefully folded and placed on a shelf near the doorway that connected the sitting room and the kitchen. And written across it, apparently in haste, were eight chilling words. It said, you will find me somewhere down in some hole. Yeah. What would you have thought if I
• 15:15
  Speaker B: went looking for you? Yes.
• 15:17
  Speaker A: And you found a note saying, you will find me somewhere down in some hole.
• 15:22
  Speaker B: Because I know you so well. I know that that is not something that you would. That you would do, like, purposely to yourself. So I would think, like, why would you. Like, there's something, something bigger is happening here. We need to shut down the house. This is a crime scene, fellows. That's what I would be like. Okay, what would you be like
• 15:42
  Speaker A: if. If I found that. That note? Same. Because I know you and I would know if like you were going to do something, if you were going to jump in a hole somewhere. By the way, that's not the way you would off yourself. I'll tell you right now, if you wanted to off yourself, you would not jump Into a hole if.
• 16:00
  Speaker B: Oh, especially me. Because I would be like.
• 16:02
  Speaker A: Especially you. You'd be like, I'm so afraid of.
• 16:05
  Speaker B: I'm afraid of heights. Like, what a terrifying way to go. Yeah.
• 16:09
  Speaker A: No, but are you afraid of depths? That's the difference. I know.
• 16:16
  Speaker B: Really?
• 16:17
  Speaker A: I know what you really. But no, that's not how you would offer yourself. I know how you off yourself. I'm not gonna say it, but I know exactly how you would off yourself.
• 16:25
  Speaker B: I would Michael Jackson my way out of this world.
• 16:28
  Speaker A: Yes. Yes, you would. Yes, you would. Anyway, but throw yourself into a hole in the ground? Absolutely.
• 16:35
  Speaker B: No. Now, what would be more plausible is if my stomach cramped and I threw myself in there. Half of the. There was.
• 16:41
  Speaker A: There you go.
• 16:42
  Speaker B: In the ground.
• 16:42
  Speaker A: Yeah, there you go.
• 16:43
  Speaker B: There you.
• 16:44
  Speaker A: But there would be no. Yeah, right. Then we would know it was a terrible pouch accident. Exactly right. Okay, moving on. So they find this piece of paper, and suddenly the search takes on an entirely different sense of urgency. Shellsburg was a mining country, remember? And the landscape was riddled with old abandoned mine shafts. Dark openings left behind from an earlier era. And Augusta's notes seemed to point directly towards those. So the search moved from her home to the mines, the old mines, along the countryside. Hundreds, Jill, hundreds of abandoned mine shafts were examined. Now, you know, what if she really did this?
• 17:42
  Speaker B: How?
• 17:42
  Speaker A: Like, leave a map. Do you know what I mean? Like, right.
• 17:45
  Speaker B: Why would you wait through everybody, right?
• 17:48
  Speaker A: Be like, check this mine or I'm going to this area. Right, right. How inconsiderate. Anyway, I'll keep going. Hundreds of abandoned shafts were examined and nothing, nothing came up. But there were some sightings. There were rumors. Yeah.
• 18:08
  Speaker B: Yeah, that's promising. That's promising.
• 18:11
  Speaker A: There are rumors that swept into Shelsburg that there was a strange woman that had been walking around parts of Lafayette County. Augusta's own brother, William Deppy, and her brother in law, John Reinhardt, followed those reports, hoping that one of them might lead finally to Augusta. But each time they checked out one of the leads based on a rumor, they came back disappointed the sightings weren't of Augusta.
• 18:39
  Speaker B: That would suck. That would be the worst.
• 18:43
  Speaker A: So the mind searches continue to come up cold. And as the weeks and the months passed, hope began to disappear. Isn't it like the first 48 hours? Yeah, if you're not found. If a person isn't found in the first 48 hours, the likelihood of them being had alive dramatically decreases. Eventually, the people in Shelsburg began to accept. Accept a disturbing possibility that they might never know what happened to Augusta Reinhardt.
• 19:20
  Speaker B: Like, that is equivalent. And because I don't have kids to, like, my cat disappearing and me not knowing where my cat is, just saying like, that would devastate me. And I'm not saying that flippantly, because when Jinx was gone for three days, I was an absolute wreck.
• 19:37
  Speaker A: So, yeah, you were hysterical outside your home to the point where neighbors were coming up to you saying you were scaring their children.
• 19:46
  Speaker B: That's what.
• 19:46
  Speaker A: That is a fact. You know that's a fact.
• 19:50
  Speaker B: Okay, you're screwing up two different stories here. Okay, so that was when.
• 19:55
  Speaker A: When he got caught in the garage door. Other story. Okay, moving on.
• 20:02
  Speaker B: Poor Jinx. He had a hard life.
• 20:04
  Speaker A: He did have a hard life.
• 20:06
  Speaker B: Poor baby had a hard life.
• 20:09
  Speaker A: So reports described concern about Augusta's mental condition at the time. So people started talking about, well, maybe she didn't seem quite right in the head those days before she disappeared.
• 20:26
  Speaker B: Rude.
• 20:26
  Speaker A: Now, those descriptions that come up in the newspaper, they are not, like. They are not. What's the word I'm trying to say? Sensitive. You know, about mental health issues.
• 20:40
  Speaker B: Right.
• 20:40
  Speaker A: In fact, the understanding of mental health conditions was very primitive at that time. And so they would have used words going back in the newspapers. I'm sure we would be put off and disgusted by some of the ways that they write about, you know, people with, you know, depression or other mental health, you know, issues. Right.
• 20:59
  Speaker B: Also, I want to say, like, stick to the facts, man. Like, you're journalists. Okay. Don't.
• 21:04
  Speaker A: Right.
• 21:05
  Speaker B: Like, don't.
• 21:06
  Speaker A: How about finding her instead?
• 21:07
  Speaker B: Exactly. Let's talk leads. Let's talk about the rumors happening that she's walking around somewhere. Like, let's not talk about our mental health. And how would you even know anyway?
• 21:15
  Speaker A: How would you even know? Yeah, exactly.
• 21:17
  Speaker B: Would you even know?
• 21:18
  Speaker A: So another search followed, and the city of Shelsburg offered a $50 reward for information leading to her discovery. And there is the actual clipping from the newspaper. That's pretty cool, Jill. I will say this, though. 50 freaking dollars. $50. Like, in today's money, that's the equivalent of $1,800. I would hope that if I went missing, you would put up a bigger reward than that, like $2,000.
• 21:50
  Speaker B: I would hope the city of Plainfield would put up a bigger reward than that.
• 21:54
  Speaker A: Oh, why don't you just tell everybody my address, too? By the way, it is the 559 Sunshine Blvd. Sunshine Boulevard.
• 22:05
  Speaker B: Juliet Eloi.
• 22:07
  Speaker A: Great.
• 22:07
  Speaker B: She welcomes visitors. Oh.
• 22:15
  Speaker A: Augusta remains
• 22:19
  Speaker B: full.
• 22:24
  Speaker A: Augusta remained missing. I have to say that without Laughing. You should just put like a pin on. On the map on our website. Jennifer lives here. Okay.
• 22:44
  Speaker B: Bring gifts.
• 22:46
  Speaker A: Augusta remained missing, and her disappearance left two competing narratives. Either she was a grieving and distressed widow who wandered away, or there's something more nefarious happening. Yes. Now, you found evidence of something that could complicate the situation, did you not?
• 23:14
  Speaker B: I did something that was very unsettling to me.
• 23:19
  Speaker A: Tell me, what was it?
• 23:21
  Speaker B: Well, there was a lawsuit.
• 23:23
  Speaker A: A lawsuit involving Augusta.
• 23:26
  Speaker B: Involving Augusta. A lawsuit that Augusta brought to the courts.
• 23:31
  Speaker A: Interesting. So here's what I have in front of me. Just before she vanished, she was involved, like you said, in this lawsuit. Now, Adam Reinhardt, her husband, had died the previous winter. Remember I told you that?
• 23:45
  Speaker B: You did tell me that.
• 23:46
  Speaker A: And he left her a $1,000 life insurance policy.
• 23:51
  Speaker B: That's nice.
• 23:52
  Speaker A: That's nice. But according to contemporary newspaper accounts, Augusta did not receive all of that money. Instead, there was an unnamed man. An unnamed man who had collected some of the insurance proceeds. Augusta claimed that this unnamed man kept about 500, half of the entire insurance policy, and she wanted it back. And 500 in 1904 was close to 19,000. So this, this is a significant sum.
• 24:34
  Speaker B: This is not small claims court. This is like we're going directly to court.
• 24:39
  Speaker A: That's big.
• 24:40
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 24:41
  Speaker A: So Augusta did something about it and she brought suit on him. And this is where the story becomes frustrating, because the newspapers don't tell us who the man was. We don't know if he was a relative. Was he a creditor? Was he her attorney? Was he someone who was supposed to be handling Adam's affairs?
• 25:06
  Speaker B: Like, how did he collect $1,000 and then only give her 500? Like, how did that happen?
• 25:12
  Speaker A: Was he named as a beneficiary? We know nothing. We know absolutely nothing. What we do know is that Augusta had become involved in a documented financial dispute with this unknown man.
• 25:25
  Speaker B: Yes, she did.
• 25:27
  Speaker A: And then. And then, before this dispute could apparently be resolved, she suddenly disappears in the
• 25:36
  Speaker B: middle of this dispute.
• 25:38
  Speaker A: Now, that does not mean that the lawsuit had anything to do with what happened to her. Right. There's no evidence that we could find that identifies this man as being involved in Augusta's death or identifies this man at all.
• 25:55
  Speaker B: But, Jennifer.
• 25:56
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 25:57
  Speaker B: There's a question that cannot be ignored. What happens? What happens to the lawsuit now that Augusta is dead?
• 26:06
  Speaker A: Excellent question. Does the case continue with her estate? Does it disappear with her? Does someone still have to repay that $500? Do we know?
• 26:17
  Speaker B: We don't know. We don't. We don't know.
• 26:20
  Speaker A: And perhaps the most interesting question of all, was there anyone, anyone at all, who stood to benefit from Augusta Reinhardt never coming home?
• 26:34
  Speaker B: Let that linger.
• 26:37
  Speaker A: Then, about five months later, a break in the case, because her family never stopped looking. And on Thanksgiving Day, while other families gathered around their tables, Augusta's brother, William Deppy, her brother in law, John Reinhardt, and a man named Thomas Foley, who must have been a very small and very brave man, went back into the cold Wisconsin countryside to search the abandoned mine shafts once again. This time, Jill, this time they were prepared.
• 27:20
  Speaker B: So they just kept dropping Thomas Foley down.
• 27:29
  Speaker A: They brought that brave little Thomas Foley. Yes. And they also brought a rope and a machine called a windlass, which is a machine that has a notched wheel used to lower and raise heavy things like an anchor on a ship, or a little Thomas Foley down a hole? You get the idea.
• 27:53
  Speaker B: Yeah. Hold on a second.
• 27:56
  Speaker A: There it is. That's the windlass.
• 27:58
  Speaker B: So one shaft after another. Poor Tom. There's Thomas.
• 28:03
  Speaker A: There's Thomas. So, yes, one shaft after another, they lowered poor Thomas Foley deep into the old mine, into the darkness. Once, twice, three times, four times. Fifth time, still no Augusta. But they kept doing it.
• 28:25
  Speaker B: Would you keep doing it? I would be like you. Guys, guys, already it's Thanksgiving. I want to watch football.
• 28:34
  Speaker A: Eventually, the men reached an abandoned shaft near the Little Giant mine about a mile and a half west of Schulzburg. And they secured the rope around Foley again and lowered him down 10ft, 20, 30, until roughly 40ft beneath the surface, fully reached the bottom. And there in the darkness, the five month search for Augusta Reinhardt sadly came to an end because he found her. Thank you for that newspaper clipping visual. It's very nice. Augusta's remains were lying on her right side at the bottom of the shaft. She had apparently been there for so long that her clothing had deteriorated to the point that the fabric could barely hold together. And suddenly, that strange little note discovered in Augusta's house months earlier took on an entirely different meaning. You will find me somewhere down in some hole. She had told them where she would be. Kind of. She didn't leave directions, but she told them where she would be. She had searched, and they had searched hundreds of abandoned shafts looking for her. And on Thanksgiving Day, they finally found the right one. So then there was an inquest. Word of the discovery traveled quickly back to Scholzburg. The justice of the Peace, James Campbell, summoned a coroner's jury, and along with doctors Hayden and Barber and a number of local citizens, the Group made its way to the abandoned shaft where Augusta's remains had been found. At the bottom of that 40 foot hole, Augusta's body was carefully wrapped in burlap and brought back to the surface. Doctors searched her remains for evidence, for evidence that someone else had harmed her. Did they find any? Jill?
• 30:50
  Speaker B: I'm glad you asked, Jennifer.
• 30:54
  Speaker A: Coroner's jury decided what?
• 30:57
  Speaker B: No evidence of violence found and is believed that she either died from a fall or starvation.
• 31:06
  Speaker A: Exactly. But the investigation wasn't over. The inquest was adjourned until Friday and the Lafayette County District Attorney was notified. And Augusta's remains were taken to the home of her brother in law, John Reinhardt. While officials waited, the following day District Attorney Carrie arrived from Darlington, Wisconsin. The coroner's jury reconvened and after considering the condition of Augusta's body, the location where she had been found, and presumably the haunting note she left behind, they reached its conclusion. They determined that honor. About June 17, 1904, Augusta Reinhardt had intentionally thrown herself into the 40 foot shaft with suicidal intent. Okay, okay. And so you already mentioned that she may have been alive at the bottom of that shaft after she fell. And they could not tell if. If she died on impact or as a result of starvation. Yeah, yeah, but that is that, that would be worst case scenario right there.
• 32:17
  Speaker B: I. I can't imagine being stuck alive somewhere, not being able to climb out. Like, can you imagine that?
• 32:29
  Speaker A: No. No.
• 32:31
  Speaker B: I hope. I hope the fall killed her.
• 32:36
  Speaker A: Yeah. So officially, Augusta Reinhardt's death had been explained.
• 32:43
  Speaker B: But.
• 32:44
  Speaker A: But what about her story?
• 32:46
  Speaker B: What about her story?
• 32:47
  Speaker A: What about her story?
• 32:48
  Speaker B: What about her story, Jennifer?
• 32:50
  Speaker A: Well, there was still that unresolved lawsuit. And there was still that unnamed man who, according to Augusta, had kept half of her late husband's insurance money. And although investigators found no physical evidence of violence, the surviving account leaves us with an important distinction. The coroner's jury determined how they believed Augusta entered the shaft, but they didn't even touch. Why. Why she was in that shaft.
• 33:21
  Speaker B: Damn.
• 33:22
  Speaker A: And more than 120 years later, that's where the mystery of Augusta Reinhardt started. Still lives. So what do you think happened to her, Jill? Psychically, what do you think happened to Augusta?
• 33:39
  Speaker B: What I think happened to Augusta is that she was involved in this lawsuit and she was walking down the street and was lured to a location and pushed inside the shaft. I believe, Yes, I believe that the hasty written note they classified as hasty because it wasn't her handwriting is probably just scribbled as fast. And it's like you say, if you Were going to leave a note saying, you'll find me in a hole. Why not tell me the hole, man? Like, why are you going to have poor Thomas Foley go down and down and down and up and up and up?
• 34:19
  Speaker A: Right. It doesn't really make sense, does it?
• 34:21
  Speaker B: No.
• 34:21
  Speaker A: And of all. And what? I mean, she wasn't stupid. She wasn't stupid. If she wanted to kill herself, she could do it in less painful ways, you know, more certain ways. You know what I mean?
• 34:36
  Speaker B: Just like, absolutely. Also, no.
• 34:40
  Speaker A: Anyway, you're gonna jump in a hole.
• 34:43
  Speaker B: Sorry, I'm not gonna jump in a hole.
• 34:45
  Speaker A: No. If. Just because someone's jumping in a hole, does that mean you're gonna jump in a hole?
• 34:49
  Speaker B: No, but I also think that's a shitty suicide note. Just because it's not a suicide note, it's not like, bye, William.
• 34:56
  Speaker A: Bye.
• 34:56
  Speaker B: Like, I love my family.
• 34:58
  Speaker A: Right. I'm sorry. I couldn't do it anymore. This has gotten too much of me. Yes.
• 35:03
  Speaker B: Yes. So just the fact that she hastily
• 35:06
  Speaker A: wrote she was going to be in some hole. Yeah, that doesn't make sense.
• 35:10
  Speaker B: That's. No, that doesn't make sense at all. And there's so many unanswered questions, like, who's that man, Jen?
• 35:17
  Speaker A: Yeah, I know. Who is that man?
• 35:18
  Speaker B: Who's the man?
• 35:19
  Speaker A: Who's the man? What happened to. What happened to her money?
• 35:23
  Speaker B: It's no longer in the papers. Once they found her body and once the coroner's inquiry or the coroner's inquest was, like, looking into it, they stopped caring. It was all wrapped up in a bow for them. So all these questions were not answered.
• 35:38
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 35:40
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 35:40
  Speaker A: Poor Augusta. This is awful.
• 35:44
  Speaker B: Why do you think she was coming out to us?
• 35:48
  Speaker A: Well, I think she wants us. I know she wasn't coming out. She wasn't coming out to us.
• 35:53
  Speaker B: No, no.
• 35:55
  Speaker A: Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anybody who wants to calling Val. Yeah.
• 36:00
  Speaker B: It's a safe place to come out to us. But you weren't coming on to us and you weren't calling out. Coming out to us, but you were calling to us in the spirit. So why. I think she was in that.
• 36:11
  Speaker A: I think she wants us to know that she did not murder herself. She did not kill herself, that she was murdered 100%.
• 36:20
  Speaker B: And why do you think that this incident of this widow, this long ago, more than 120 years ago, matters today?
• 36:30
  Speaker A: Well, I think that the historic first of all the historical records are poor, and there's no reason why they should have been. Like, why is the newspaper Protecting the identity of this man.
• 36:42
  Speaker B: No kidding. No freaking kidding. It makes me feel like he's someone
• 36:46
  Speaker A: important, someone with power or someone with friends at the newspaper, you know what I mean? So that's not right. Oh, what about a disturbed widow? Is that what they called her?
• 37:02
  Speaker B: They said the disturbed widow walked away on June 18, never to be seen again. Wow. Now, again.
• 37:09
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 37:10
  Speaker B: Did. Did. Like, how can you make that, Call that judgment, call that the. The accusation.
• 37:17
  Speaker A: Yeah, right. Right again.
• 37:22
  Speaker B: It's a convenient narrative. It's so convenient. Like the. The. The poor disturbed widow just walked away.
• 37:29
  Speaker A: They didn't really say that. I. I think that back then, maybe today, too, women were looked at as the softer sex. You know what I mean? More inclined to mental health issues. Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So. And that's not right.
• 37:51
  Speaker B: So her emotional state, it is totally not valid in this.
• 37:58
  Speaker A: Not as evidence. Not enough evidence that she murdered herself or committed suicide.
• 38:04
  Speaker B: And what evidence that. I think there's such a lack of evidence being collected in this case. Just all like, they just took the note and they were like, oh, just the note. And based on the note, they curated this narrative around that. That fraudulent note, in my opinion.
• 38:21
  Speaker A: It's also interesting to me that it was her brother and her brother in law that keep looking, that kept looking for it and not the local authorities.
• 38:29
  Speaker B: Yes. No kidding.
• 38:31
  Speaker A: Good thing.
• 38:31
  Speaker B: No kidding.
• 38:32
  Speaker A: Good thing that they had the resources to continue this search. Wow.
• 38:39
  Speaker B: And what does it say about women. Women being like widowed and being in a precarious state after their husband dies. You know what I mean?
• 38:49
  Speaker A: Like how they would have clear. Yeah. Not. It seems clear that she was preyed upon. She was preyed upon because she was a woman with an inheritance.
• 39:01
  Speaker B: And that can still happen today. Widows look out the Tinder swindler.
• 39:08
  Speaker A: I think the elderly of all. Not that she was only, what, 55. She is not elderly. In my book. 55 is still. Still young.
• 39:15
  Speaker B: It's the new 35.
• 39:18
  Speaker A: But the elderly, you know, the elderly as well, are also preyed upon. Yeah.
• 39:24
  Speaker B: In modern society.
• 39:28
  Speaker A: Well, I'm glad we're talking about Augusta. Thank you for finding her. I. Can we go over our hits? Because I'm like, my. My mind is blown. My mind is literally stupid.
• 39:37
  Speaker B: Literally.
• 39:40
  Speaker A: To think I want to go first on here because I am so proud of myself that. To think that as I was eating that delicious Belgian waffle with the strawberries and the real whipped cream and drinking that coffee.
• 39:52
  Speaker B: That's where the slot comes.
• 39:54
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. I actually saw her. She actually made herself known by Walking across the street in her black attire. That's insane. I believe that that was her. I believe that that was really her, that I saw her.
• 40:10
  Speaker B: There is no way after reading the description that I had any doubt that this was our story. Because I remember. I remember the moment. I remember you describing it the same way you described it here today. I was so impressed.
• 40:26
  Speaker A: That is crazy. Crazy. And not only that, but in the newspapers, it was. People saw her walking on Water street
• 40:36
  Speaker B: with her head down.
• 40:37
  Speaker A: Yes, I saw her walking on Water Street.
• 40:40
  Speaker B: Yep.
• 40:41
  Speaker A: That is insane. Okay, what were you getting? Oh, yeah, yeah. Continue.
• 40:45
  Speaker B: My, my. I'm not even impressive in this, but I do think Jenny is, because. No, no, no, no, no, no. Jenny. No.
• 40:51
  Speaker A: But you were feeling. No, no, don't put yourself down. Be nice to yourself. Be nice to my sister. You were picking up on a woman.
• 40:58
  Speaker B: Woman calling to us and a woman's death being unsettled.
• 41:03
  Speaker A: Yes. And then Jenny B.
• 41:05
  Speaker B: She was like. Jenny B. Was all about the cemetery. And let me tell you, it was not easy to get to that cemetery. There was construction all around the place. Remember that? And she was all gung ho to get out of the car in the rain because she loves the rain. I was like, I'm just not going off.
• 41:17
  Speaker A: I know. I remember saying, I love the rain.
• 41:21
  Speaker B: So you guys were out looking for Voiceless in the cemetery, But I was all like, yeah, can we go now? And she's buried there with her husband
• 41:30
  Speaker A: and her daughter right now.
• 41:31
  Speaker B: Oh. So if I would have let you guys continue to look, we don't. We'll never know. I. I ruined it.
• 41:38
  Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no.
• 41:39
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 41:40
  Speaker A: I ruined everything. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Wow. What a good story. Thank you very much for sharing. And I also want to say, as we're doing some community announcements, if you all would like us to come to your town to do a ghost walk, let us know and we can look into it.
• 42:00
  Speaker B: Oh, my God. Shut up.
• 42:01
  Speaker A: Right? Isn't that a good idea? Right?
• 42:04
  Speaker B: Okay. Do you. I don't think we read this one on the air. Can you please read our last review?
• 42:10
  Speaker A: I think I already read it, but you want me to read it again?
• 42:14
  Speaker B: Because it's so good to hear. It's just good reinforcements. This is how much we need your reviews, people.
• 42:19
  Speaker A: Please, I have to find us. Here we are. Okay, so this one was written about a month ago at this point from Vada 777. Best podcast is the name of the review. 5 stars. I love listening To Jen and Jill. They are genuine and truly gifted. It warms my heart how they bring a voice to the voiceless. Thank you for what you do.
• 42:46
  Speaker B: Thank you guys.
• 42:48
  Speaker A: Thank you for listening.
• 42:49
  Speaker B: Thank you so much for that. And in two weeks, if we don't get a new review, we're reading it again.
• 42:58
  Speaker A: Someone, please. I love that. That's called negative reinforcement. Make it stop. Give us another review.
• 43:05
  Speaker B: Keep hearing it until we get another review. So please, please drop us a review on Apple because that's how people find us and we really want to grow our audience. Also, it's spooky season. That means that I am doing more readings, getting in touch with more spirits on the other side. So to build a bridge between you, your relative, and I love doing it. So please reach out for an appointment atcommonmystics gmail.com. and don't forget my lovely Jennifer James, my sister, my favorite. She is doing mentorships one on one, please. And don't forget we have options on Patreon where you can be a part of our monthly call where we go over different educational topics so you can tap into your spideys in the best possible way.
• 43:48
  Speaker A: For you, Jill. I. I believe that our Patreon rates are going up soon. So I think if you are thinking, if you're on the fence, whether or not to join Patreon, join now, because our rates will be going up. Let's say January 1st, Jill.
• 44:06
  Speaker B: January 1st. And please, January 1st. Think of us. When you're thinking about gift giving that mystic in your life, think of us. And a gift of Patreon for someone who's on the fence about learning how we can demystify and de. Criminalize these arts so that you have every tool available to you to live your life in a very fulfilled way with all your clairs and all your senses.
• 44:28
  Speaker A: But they're not illegal. We don't do the illegal arts. We're not criminals. Criminalized. No, you. Well, criminalized.
• 44:38
  Speaker B: I didn't mean in the criminal justice system. I meant in like the religious belief system.
• 44:44
  Speaker A: Oh. Not in the law and order way. Yeah. All right. I'm sorry. I was. I was a little confused.
• 44:50
  Speaker B: Okay. Well, all right. We love you guys.
• 44:52
  Speaker A: Thank you for this. Love you.
• 44:55
  Speaker B: Love you guys. Thank you for listening. Bye.
• 44:58
  Speaker A: Bye.
• 44:59
  Speaker B: This has been a Common Mystics Media Production editing done by Yokai Audio, Kalamazoo, Michigan.