Stroll to oblivion

David Lang vanished from the face of the earth on September 23, 1880, and, has never been heard of since - apart from his ghostly voice. His disappearance, on a sunny afternoon and in front of five witnesses, remains one of the most baffling mysteries of all time. During his last moments, Lang, A prosperous farmer, was strolling across a in front of his home near Gallatin, Tennesse. His children, George, eight years old and Sarah 11, were playing in the front of the house. His wife had just walked out of the house to greet an approaching buggy carrying Judge August Peck and his brother-in-law.

David smiled, waved at the visitors and started walking towards the group at the farmhouse. He took a dozen steps, hen Mr's Lang's horrified scream shattered the afternoon. Judge Peck dropped the buggy reins. The two men sprinted across the field to join Mrs Lang and the children at the spot where David Lang had last been seen.

There was no trace of the farmer. In full view of five witnesses, he had simply vanished. His wife fell to here knees and beat frantically at the ground. Judge Peck lifted her to here feet and the five fanned out in a frantic search of the pasture. The search yielded no sign of the missing man.

The Judge summoned help. Neighbours began to arrive and search parties were formed. Far into the night, lanterns were swinging across the farm and through the woods beyond. The next morning the country surveyor arrived and inspected the area where Lang had vanished. He announced it was firmly supported by thick strata of limestone. There were no problems or caves into which a man could fall.

Mrs Land was by now numb with shock and under her doctor's care. As the search continued through day's, weeks and eventually months, she stoutly resisted and suggestion of a funeral or even a memorial service for David Lang. She asked only that all churches pray for his return.

The shock of the experience had deeply affected the two Lang Children particularity Sarah. She turned into a shy, withdraw child who spent long hours day dreaming. Finally there was an astounding incident that prompted Mrs Lang to take here children away from the farm.

On April evening in 1881, Sarah ran sobbing into the house to report that there was a "ring" around the spot where her father had vanished. When Mrs Lang went to investigate, the child said she could clearly hear her father calling. He was begging for help in a tortured voice, but it faded away into silence.

Mrs Lang did not hear her husband's ghostly voice, but in the pasture she made a strange discovery. Where her husband had last been seen, there was a perfect circle of withered yellow grass some 20 feet in diameter.

I hope you enjoyed the read, please follow me @bitminter for my next post on mystery, intrigue and suspense.

Just for the record I got this story from a old battered book with no covers or description of the source. I am sure it has possibly been posted online but I have no idea. All I can tell is that the story in this book was published in 1987 by source Hamlyn publishers but that is all the info I have left to work with as the book is in pretty bad shape unfortunately.

Cheers