The Lost Lady of the Athens Asylum in Athens, Ohio

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On December 2nd, 1978, alarms went off at the Athens Mental Health and Development Center, a patient, Margaret Shilling had mysteriously vanished. Six weeks later she was found naked and frozen in one of the attics of the Development center. But after moving her body, a clear outline of it remained in the concrete. Soon stories spread of a curse caused by the grief she experienced in her final moments and it wasn't long before the curse and the lost lady took a life in return.

On today's episode of Myths, Mysteries, & Monsters, we find out the history and truth of the Lost Lady of the Athens Asylum and try to separate fact from fiction on the curse her body created.

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Sources

https://www.historicmysteries.com/margaret-schilling/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/oh-athensasylum/

https://woub.org/2019/10/29/the-legends-behind-the-ghosts-of-athens/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00862.x

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Lunatic_Asylum#cite_note-5

https://www.ohio.edu/library/collections/archives-special-collections/manuscripts/athens-mental-health-center-collections

https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1485-1660/mental-illness-in-the-16th-and-17th-centuries/

https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/mental-illness-during-middle-ages

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