Thomas Mulbery sat in his chair, staring down at some papers on his desk. It was going to be the biggest project of his life. The largest investment he ever sunk into. Thomas thought about his parents and how hard they fought for him in his childhood. They wanted me to do well in life, so they left me this money. I will do something with it. He looked over his papers on the desk and smiled. Let’s do this. He called his associates into the room. A few minutes later, they walked into the room. Thomas nodded at them, and they nodded back in agreement.
“Showtime.”
A few months later, in June of 1985, everything came to fruition. Thomas’s dream came to life as Forest Park. It was the newest, hottest theme park in the small town of Bovine, Indiana, with the best new rides and technology. Sixteen-year-old Mary read the pamphlet advertising Forest Park. She couldn’t wait to go. She’d been waiting anxiously for weeks for the park to open. But she wasn’t the only one. Her friends and many others had been awaiting the park’s opening. Mary begged her mom for weeks to let her go to the park with her friends. Her mom kept saying no. The day of the opening. Then finally she relented.
On the opening day, Mary’s mother gave her strict instructions to come back by dusk. Mary nodded, only half listening. Then she ran out the door with two of her friends, Riley and Stacy. The park was massive, much bigger than Mary expected. A big wooden coaster called the Pike stood in the middle of the park. A teacup ride, a wooden swing, and a big tower stood on the other side of the park. Mary and her friends paid for their tickets and entered the park.
“Let’s go on the big coaster!” Mary said excitedly. So the three friends did.
They got in line for the coaster. While they were in line, one of Mary’s friends spotted a boy in the line.
“I’m going to go talk to him,” she said.
“Wait, we’re coming too,” her friends said. The boy looked up at them and smiled. He pointed towards the tree line.
“Let’s go there, get away from this crowd.” And off they went, walking out of the park.
Several hours later, when it got dusk and Mary didn’t return home, her mother rang the police.
They tracked her location to the park. The park was a quarter to closing. The park staff stated that they saw her get in line for the wooden coaster. Shortly after that, she left with her friends and a young man for the other side of the park.
The park staff joined in the search. The search lasted for hours but turned up nothing. The search lasted days, weeks. Mary’s mother was at the forefront of the search. They tracked Mary with dogs, planes, and everything they could think of. But they found nothing.
A year into the case, it was closed. It was now a cold case. The park continued operating after that. More mysterious disappearances began happening, always turning cold.
Coincidentally, the park buried the evidence. The park closed three years later due to financial difficulties. Or, at least that’s what the park said publicly.
Ten years later in 1991, a group of friends stumbled upon a body in the woods. On their way to explore Forest Park.
To be continued…
Helenmollybooks 