In some parts of the world, strange news stories become so well known, that they become a part of national folklore and legend. Even stranger is that even though these stories gain such prominance in one country, they are seldom heard in others.
One such case has become a major talking point for the people of Spain, but is virtually unheard of outside of the country. It is the true story of what happened to the boy from Somosierra?
It was the 24th June 1986. Andres Gomez was a truck driver who made his living delivering highly combustible and corrosive compounds to Madrid. On this particular day he was excited because his delivery was a little different – he had brought his family along for the ride.
His wife, Carmen Gomez, and their son, Juan Pedro Martinez Gomez had never been to Madrid before and as his delivery was in that part of Spain, he decided to bring them along with him. They were all excited about the trip and the next day they had decided that on the way home, they would stop off to see the amazing scenery at the Somosierra mountain pass in the Sierra de Guadarrama north of Madrid in Spain. But fate would have a different plan.
The Volvo F-12 refueled near the town of Cieza, Murcia. At 00:12, the family was seen by the staff of the petrol station. After taking a nap at a rest area, they returned to the 301 national highway to Madrid. At 5:30 am, they made their last stop at the Aragon Inn. Witnesses who saw them there said that the family looked happy and nothing was amiss. But shortly afterwards things changes drastically.
Witnesses on the road reported seeing the truck accelerating to speeds of over 140 km/h, stopping suddenly before speeding off again at high speed. It wasn’t long before the police received a call that a major accident had occured. The truck has collided with another car, overturned in a ditch and the tanker had ruptured, spilling the explosive, corrosive liquid all over the road.
Authorities rushed to the scene to contain the environmental damage. Specialist clean-up crews arrived at the scene and started cleaning up the spill. When they managed to get to the cab of the truck, they found that the liquid had penetrated it and the two bodies inside has suffered terrible burns, but were otherwise intact.
Everything looked like a tragic accident. That was until the grandparents asked authorities: Where is my grandson, Juan Pedro?
Fearing that the boy was perhaps injured, the crews and police scoured the site of the crash but there was no trace of the 10 year old boy. The only indication that he had even been in the cab with his parents was one lone shoe.
People immediately speculated that his body had been dissolved by the corrosive liquid, but this was quickly dismissed by the forensics team who said that even if his body had come in contact with large amounts of the fluid, bones and other biological materials would still have been evident.
The police interviewed witnesses to the events leading up to the accident. It as then that the true bizarre nature of the story became evident. Continue reading »
“Though three men dwell on Flannan Isle
To keep the lamp alight,
As we steered under the lee we caught
No glimmer through the night…”
W.W. Gibson: “Flannan Isle”
Lighthouses always evoke an air of mystery and solitude and many lighthouses have ghost stories attached to them. One of the most famous stories attached to a lighthouse is the mysterious happenings in December 1900.
On the 15th December, 1900, the steamer Archtor was on passage from Philadelphia to Leith. The weather was poor and as they approached Flannan Isle, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, they noticed that the familiar lighthouse lamp was not burning.
On their arrival at Oban, they reported the matter to authorities but no immediate action was taken.
The island lighthouse had a three man team, with a fourth man on shore leave. Although planning to arrive on the 20th December the relief craft, Hesperus, along with Joseph Moore, the relief man, only managed to arrive at the isle at noon on the 26th December.
On arrival, they noticed that the flagpole did not have the flag flying, provision boxes which should have been left on the dock were not there and more strangely none of the men were waiting to greet them from the beach. Despite blowing the ship’s whistle and setting off a flare, the beach and lighthouse remained ominously silent.
Quickly they launched a boat with Joseph Moore to investigate. Joseph was dropped on shore alone and he made his way up to the eerie lighthouse. He found the entrance gate to the compound and main door both closed, the beds unmade and the clock stopped.
He quickly returned to the landing area and summoned the second-mate and a seaman to accompany him back to the lighthouse. The second search showed that the lamps had been cleaned and were filled. A set of oilskins (heavy duty raincoat) was found, suggesting that at least one of the men had left the lighthouse without them which was strange considering the recent bad weather.
The only other sign of anything wrong was an overturned chair in the kitchen area. There was no sign at all of the occupants.
It was decided that Moore and three of the crew would remain behind at the lighthouse to ensure it was functioning. Despite a thorough search of the island by the men, nothing turned up besides the damage to western landing from the storms. Looking at the keepers’ log, their last entry was at 9am on the 15th December where they mentioned that this damage had already taken place. Continue reading »
