On March 14th, 1960, the bodies of three women from the Chicago suburbs were discovered

in St. Louis Canyon.

One of the many natural wonders at Starve Rock State Park near Utica, Illinois.

The crime shocked the entire state and led to a manhunt that snared a confess killer

who spent the next 59 years in prison.

It's one of the most shocking stories to ever occur in this otherwise peaceful region,

but no one could say that Starve Rock does not have a violent and bloody past.

The park takes its name from a rock fortress on the Illinois River where a band of Alina

Wic Indians were trapped by their enemies in the 17th century.

As their numbers decreased from starvation desperate warriors attempted to escape, only

to be slaughter in the surrounding forests, or so the story goes.

Centuries later, the violence of the past returned with the discovery of the bludgeon

bodies of those three women and the capture and conviction of their killer.

The case was tragic, but it was over, or was it?

Not only did the Starve Rock murders leave a haunting behind at St. Louis Canyon, but

the man who confessed to their murders changed his mind behind bars and spent the next six

decades trying to get out.

Was he guilty of the murders or was he, as he has claimed for so long, railroaded into

admitting to a crime he didn't commit?

A simple case of murder just might have been an unsolved murder all along.

And if that's the case, is it any wonder that the spirits of the dead refuse to rest?

Welcome to American hauntings, the podcast dedicated to the history, hauntings, and the dark

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