Disappearing People

My fiancé told me many of the legends of Spanish Lake. He told stories of local folk lore and of his personal experiences. If anyone is curious, Spanish Lake is a small North St. Louis County town. It is under no sanctioning and for the most part, it has a feeling of freedom that most of the area does not. Spanish Lake runs along the Missouri side of the Lewis and Clark trails of Illinois. The two states share this important piece of history. Many locals believe the legends, if they haven't shared these experiences themselves.

My experiences in Spanish Lake have impacted me in such a way that would have most people packing bags and leaving town. I don't fear most of these incidents like many others. I simply take them as proof of what we all want to believe in anyway.

One incident in particular was puzzling. I heard the story of the disappearing people from my fiancé and his friends. These men grew up in Spanish Lake as I grew up in Granite City Illinois. One of his friends told me about a time he was walking down Prigge road and it was just after dark. He had just come to the farm run by an older man that preferred his privacy. On his property there was a large field, about an acre or so, of prairie land. Just behind that was a thick mass of over-grown woods. This particular night he felt as though he was not alone. He looked across the field and there were several people walking toward the east side of the property. They were not wearing clothing modern to the early 90s and they were not speaking. As he stepped closer, they began to vanish one by one, until they were all gone. As he told me this story, I thought it was interesting, yet fabricated.

It wasn't until I was night hiking with my fiancé and our friend that I believed the story. The three of us walked down Prigge, to the Riverview and around to Coal Bank. All of this was dark, cool and as late as it was, a little dismal feeling.

When we finally reached the back of the middle school (where the farm once was located) , a veal of heavy air fell over us. We walked through the parking lot to the track. As we walked along the track I looked over toward the woods. They were the same thick woods that lined the back of the farm. I saw, clear as day, a man running along the other side of the track. The two men accompanying me said they too could see the person running. My fiancé said, "He is really booking it, let's get off the track before he runs us over". Just as we stepped off the track, the person was gone. He had vanished right in front of us.

We walked toward the area that the man was running and there was no one. I have heard many stories of Spanish Lake. The locals believe them beyond a shadow of a doubt. I do know one thing though, the legend of the Disappearing People, is real. It happened right in front of three very logical people. I will give all stories of Spanish Lake hauntings a chance to prove themselves.