October 30, 2022 • 12 mins
Halloween episode 2022! This is a brief episode that focuses on the Werewolf of Defiance, Ohio. We also delve into other mythical (or maybe not so mythical) creatures that live in the area.
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All music by Kai Engel licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For more info, please visit https://www.kai-engel.com/.
Produced, written, edited, and hosted by Steve from Great Lakes True Crime.
SOURCES:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WuhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8AEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2493%2C5444610#:~:text=Link%20to-,article,-Related%20articles
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WuhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8AEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2747%2C5934344
https://www.columbusnavigator.com/ohio-cryptozoology-creatures/
Buy Me Coffee (please!) - https://paypal.me/greatlakestruecrime
Website - www.greatlakestruecrime.net
TwitterX - https://twitter.com/greatlakescrime
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/greatlakescrime
**Five-star reviews really help and are always appreciated**
All music by Kai Engel licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For more info, please visit https://www.kai-engel.com/.
Produced, written, edited, and hosted by Steve from Great Lakes True Crime.
SOURCES:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WuhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8AEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2493%2C5444610#:~:text=Link%20to-,article,-Related%20articles
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WuhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8AEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2747%2C5934344
https://www.columbusnavigator.com/ohio-cryptozoology-creatures/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In nineteen seventy two, a werewolfprowled the streets of Defiance, Ohio.
At least that was the buzz allover town. It may seem like a
frivolous claim, but police took thereports very seriously. From the south shore
of Lake Erie, This is aGreat Lake's True Crime Halloween episode twenty twenty
two, catered in northwest Ohio.Defiance is the county seat of Defiance County,
(01:19):
about fifty five miles or eighty ninekilometers southwest of Toledo, Ohio,
and forty seven miles or seventy sixkilometers northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The population was sixteen thousand, sevenhundred forty one as of the twenty twenty
census. Defiance is the home tomany notable people, including race car driver
(01:42):
Sam Hornis Junior, who won thetwo thousand and six Indianapolis five hundred.
Now back to the story. InJuly nineteen seventy two, a Great Year
by the Way, police began receivingreports that a large beasts resembling a werewolf
was seen lurking along the railroad tracksnear downtown Defiance. All of the alleged
(02:07):
sightings occurred in the early morning hours, and all were made by men.
One man working at the railroad saidhe was attaching an arrow hose from one
train car to another when he lookeddown and saw the enormous, hairy feet
of a werewolf below him. Whenhe looked up, he saw the creature
(02:28):
holding a large two by four pieceof lumber, and the werewolf proceeded to
strike the man on the shoulder witha piece of wood and then run off
into the woods. Another railroad workerreported that he saw the werewolf around three
am a few days later, althoughhe had no interaction with it, and
(02:50):
a third report came from a localgrocery store worker driving home from a late
shift at work around four am whenhe saw the beast from his car.
The two railroad workers, Ted Davisand Tom Jones, worked for the Norfolk
and Western Railroad, which provided localovernight freight service. Both of their sightings
(03:12):
were said to have occurred under afull moon. What makes that even more
incredible is that the men told anewspaper reporter that when they leave their house
in Toledo, where they live,the moon could be a quarter full.
Yet when they arrive at the railyard in Defiance, the moon is full.
(03:35):
Ted Davis reported the first sighting ofthe werewolf, and Jones laughed it
off, assuming it was a coworker pulling a prank. However, all
the rail yard workers were accounted forand Jones became concerned. Tom Jones then
saw the werewolf himself, noting thatit was wearing blue jeans. Jones said
(03:55):
that when he first saw the creature, he also assumed it was someone playing
a joke on him. When hesaw how Harry and Woollie it was,
Tom was frightened. The two menalso reported hearing screams coming from a car
in the area. The first mediareport of the sightings was published on August
(04:19):
second, nineteen seventy two. Whencontacted by the Toledo Blade newspaper about the
sightings, Defiance Police Chief Donald Brecklersaid, quote, we don't know what
to think. We got the firstreport about a week ago, but now
we're taking it seriously. We're concernedfor the safety of our people. The
(04:44):
chief went on to say that hedid not think this was a prank,
and he doesn't think that whoever orwhatever this is is motivated by robbery.
The werewolf didn't take anything from thepeople had encountered, and you wouldn't expect
a railroad worker to be carrying aroundmuch cash or valuables to begin with.
The chief didn't think that an actualwerewolf was prowling the streets of Defiance,
(05:10):
but suspected that this was someone wearinga mask in a costume. As we
said earlier, Though police took theexciting seriously, fearing that someone was going
to get hurt. Chief Breckler saidthat the descriptions police received were all very
similar, yet vague, if thatmakes sense. The first detail each person
(05:34):
reported was that the creature was veryhairy. It was also described as being
barefoot and standing upright, yet frequentlyhunched over. One other complicating factor in
determining what exactly was roaming the streetsof Defiance was that it was described as
being six to nine feet tall,obviously much larger than the average human,
(05:58):
or even the tallest humans for thatmatter. The railroad workers gave additional details,
saying that whatever they saw had hugefangs and lunge from side to side,
similar to the movements of a cavemanthat they had seen in movies.
When word got out about the werewolf, many people in Defiance were frightened,
(06:20):
with some in outright hysteria. Everyonewas on the lookout and many people reported
strange sightings. In one instance,a man ran into the police station at
one in the morning and reported thatquote, something had followed him as he
walked through the streets of downtown Defiance. The man didn't actually see anything,
(06:45):
but the police report noted that theman was certain something followed him because he
had quote a crawley feeling up theback of his neck. The police report
also noted that the man was anear hysteria and he spent the remainder of
that night in the lobby of theHotel Henry. Just ten minutes after that
(07:08):
report, a resident on the northside of the city called police and said
that a friend was at her houseand the friend was quote almost in hysterics.
Apparently the friend had heard about thething and was scared to death.
The caller requested that police come andtalk to our friend. The woman also
reported that every night about two AM, someone or something rattles her doorknob.
(07:35):
She said that if someone or somethingcomes through her door, she would shoot
it. In fact, her exactwords were quoted in a newspaper as quote,
if I see him. The policeare going to find out who he
is. That's because of about totake him to the hospital to get the
buckshot out. But not everyone inDefiance was scared. However, The Toledo
(08:01):
Blade quoted several residents as mostly dismissingthe sightings, attributing it to a hoax.
One man did note that while hewasn't scared personally and most other adults
weren't scared, many of the childrenin town were frightened. The peculiar sightings
were not limited to Defiance, though. At the same time of these werewolf
(08:24):
sightings, A man named Harold Annonin the Tiffin, Ohio area, which
is about seventy miles or one hundredand twelve kilometers east of Defiance, reported
seeing an ape like creature about sixto seven feet tall walking in a wooded
area on River Road just north ofTiffin. When he got spotted by the
(08:46):
creature, the man drove off asquickly as possible. After this report,
the county game warden checked the areafor signs of apemen, but shockingly,
he didn't find any odd track disturbancesto vegetation. So after a few weeks,
(09:07):
the werewolf sightings in defiance stopped.Whether a real werewolf decided to move
along, or if a man ina mask realized he may get shot if
he keeps it up, we maynever know. I did learn about the
term dog man when looking into thisstory, and apparently dog men are a
(09:28):
big deal. Perhaps I'll look intothem more as time permits, but for
now we'll have to be content withthe defiance werewolf. I also learned that
Ohio is home to many mythical creaturesor are they mythical? A couple I
have heard of previously, but mostof them I haven't heard of. According
(09:48):
to this list I found online,the eleven most bizarre creatures in Ohio folklore
are the following one, the LovelandFrogmen, a trio of creatures that were
part human, part frog. TwoGrassman, who was a little smaller and
(10:11):
more human looking than sasquatch. Threeis Mothman, a legend that apparently goes
back several centuries to a time whenthe Wyandot people lived in the Ohio River
Valley. Next up is the MinervaMonster, who was first seen in the
late nineteen seventies. Number five isthe Cedar Bog Monster, who was said
(10:33):
to have lived in the Cedar BogState Nature Preserve. Six is Orange Eyes,
who might actually be an alien accordingto some people. Next up is
the Charles Mill Lake Monster, whowas seven feet tall and had webbed feet
(10:56):
and may have been a scuba diver, but I digress. Eight is the
Crosswick Monster, who hasn't been seenin over two hundred years, so I
think we're probably safe from the CrosswickMonster. Number nine is the Peninsula Python,
and Peninsula is also the home ofHelltown, which I covered in a
(11:16):
previous Halloween episode. Ten is dogMan, who seems to have migrated to
Ohio from Michigan. And of course, the most famous of all Ohio mythical
creatures is Bessie the Lake Eriemonster,who has first spotted in seventeen ninety three.
And I've got a link to thislist in the show notes if you're
(11:39):
interested in reading a little more aboutall these creatures that are inhabiting the state
of Ohio. And that's all forthis brief episode of Great Lakes True Crime
Special. Thanks to friend of theshow Sarah, who clued me into the
Defiance Werewolf and provided some great referencematerials. I had never heard of this
phenomene on before, so I'm gladI looked into it. Also, many
(12:03):
thanks to those who recently left fivestar reviews on their podcast app. If
you haven't left a five star review, I could really use your help as
it helps get the word out aboutthe show and for Great Lakes True Crime.
This has been Steve, your hostand producer. Thanks for listening,
byes and happy Halloween.
In nineteen seventy two, a werewolfprowled the streets of Defiance, Ohio.
At least that was the buzz allover town. It may seem like a
frivolous claim, but police took thereports very seriously. From the south shore
of Lake Erie, This is aGreat Lake's True Crime Halloween episode twenty twenty
two, catered in northwest Ohio.Defiance is the county seat of Defiance County,
(01:19):
about fifty five miles or eighty ninekilometers southwest of Toledo, Ohio,
and forty seven miles or seventy sixkilometers northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The population was sixteen thousand, sevenhundred forty one as of the twenty twenty
census. Defiance is the home tomany notable people, including race car driver
(01:42):
Sam Hornis Junior, who won thetwo thousand and six Indianapolis five hundred.
Now back to the story. InJuly nineteen seventy two, a Great Year
by the Way, police began receivingreports that a large beasts resembling a werewolf
was seen lurking along the railroad tracksnear downtown Defiance. All of the alleged
(02:07):
sightings occurred in the early morning hours, and all were made by men.
One man working at the railroad saidhe was attaching an arrow hose from one
train car to another when he lookeddown and saw the enormous, hairy feet
of a werewolf below him. Whenhe looked up, he saw the creature
(02:28):
holding a large two by four pieceof lumber, and the werewolf proceeded to
strike the man on the shoulder witha piece of wood and then run off
into the woods. Another railroad workerreported that he saw the werewolf around three
am a few days later, althoughhe had no interaction with it, and
(02:50):
a third report came from a localgrocery store worker driving home from a late
shift at work around four am whenhe saw the beast from his car.
The two railroad workers, Ted Davisand Tom Jones, worked for the Norfolk
and Western Railroad, which provided localovernight freight service. Both of their sightings
(03:12):
were said to have occurred under afull moon. What makes that even more
incredible is that the men told anewspaper reporter that when they leave their house
in Toledo, where they live,the moon could be a quarter full.
Yet when they arrive at the railyard in Defiance, the moon is full.
(03:35):
Ted Davis reported the first sighting ofthe werewolf, and Jones laughed it
off, assuming it was a coworker pulling a prank. However, all
the rail yard workers were accounted forand Jones became concerned. Tom Jones then
saw the werewolf himself, noting thatit was wearing blue jeans. Jones said
(03:55):
that when he first saw the creature, he also assumed it was someone playing
a joke on him. When hesaw how Harry and Woollie it was,
Tom was frightened. The two menalso reported hearing screams coming from a car
in the area. The first mediareport of the sightings was published on August
(04:19):
second, nineteen seventy two. Whencontacted by the Toledo Blade newspaper about the
sightings, Defiance Police Chief Donald Brecklersaid, quote, we don't know what
to think. We got the firstreport about a week ago, but now
we're taking it seriously. We're concernedfor the safety of our people. The
(04:44):
chief went on to say that hedid not think this was a prank,
and he doesn't think that whoever orwhatever this is is motivated by robbery.
The werewolf didn't take anything from thepeople had encountered, and you wouldn't expect
a railroad worker to be carrying aroundmuch cash or valuables to begin with.
The chief didn't think that an actualwerewolf was prowling the streets of Defiance,
(05:10):
but suspected that this was someone wearinga mask in a costume. As we
said earlier, Though police took theexciting seriously, fearing that someone was going
to get hurt. Chief Breckler saidthat the descriptions police received were all very
similar, yet vague, if thatmakes sense. The first detail each person
(05:34):
reported was that the creature was veryhairy. It was also described as being
barefoot and standing upright, yet frequentlyhunched over. One other complicating factor in
determining what exactly was roaming the streetsof Defiance was that it was described as
being six to nine feet tall,obviously much larger than the average human,
(05:58):
or even the tallest humans for thatmatter. The railroad workers gave additional details,
saying that whatever they saw had hugefangs and lunge from side to side,
similar to the movements of a cavemanthat they had seen in movies.
When word got out about the werewolf, many people in Defiance were frightened,
(06:20):
with some in outright hysteria. Everyonewas on the lookout and many people reported
strange sightings. In one instance,a man ran into the police station at
one in the morning and reported thatquote, something had followed him as he
walked through the streets of downtown Defiance. The man didn't actually see anything,
(06:45):
but the police report noted that theman was certain something followed him because he
had quote a crawley feeling up theback of his neck. The police report
also noted that the man was anear hysteria and he spent the remainder of
that night in the lobby of theHotel Henry. Just ten minutes after that
(07:08):
report, a resident on the northside of the city called police and said
that a friend was at her houseand the friend was quote almost in hysterics.
Apparently the friend had heard about thething and was scared to death.
The caller requested that police come andtalk to our friend. The woman also
reported that every night about two AM, someone or something rattles her doorknob.
(07:35):
She said that if someone or somethingcomes through her door, she would shoot
it. In fact, her exactwords were quoted in a newspaper as quote,
if I see him. The policeare going to find out who he
is. That's because of about totake him to the hospital to get the
buckshot out. But not everyone inDefiance was scared. However, The Toledo
(08:01):
Blade quoted several residents as mostly dismissingthe sightings, attributing it to a hoax.
One man did note that while hewasn't scared personally and most other adults
weren't scared, many of the childrenin town were frightened. The peculiar sightings
were not limited to Defiance, though. At the same time of these werewolf
(08:24):
sightings, A man named Harold Annonin the Tiffin, Ohio area, which
is about seventy miles or one hundredand twelve kilometers east of Defiance, reported
seeing an ape like creature about sixto seven feet tall walking in a wooded
area on River Road just north ofTiffin. When he got spotted by the
(08:46):
creature, the man drove off asquickly as possible. After this report,
the county game warden checked the areafor signs of apemen, but shockingly,
he didn't find any odd track disturbancesto vegetation. So after a few weeks,
(09:07):
the werewolf sightings in defiance stopped.Whether a real werewolf decided to move
along, or if a man ina mask realized he may get shot if
he keeps it up, we maynever know. I did learn about the
term dog man when looking into thisstory, and apparently dog men are a
(09:28):
big deal. Perhaps I'll look intothem more as time permits, but for
now we'll have to be content withthe defiance werewolf. I also learned that
Ohio is home to many mythical creaturesor are they mythical? A couple I
have heard of previously, but mostof them I haven't heard of. According
(09:48):
to this list I found online,the eleven most bizarre creatures in Ohio folklore
are the following one, the LovelandFrogmen, a trio of creatures that were
part human, part frog. TwoGrassman, who was a little smaller and
(10:11):
more human looking than sasquatch. Threeis Mothman, a legend that apparently goes
back several centuries to a time whenthe Wyandot people lived in the Ohio River
Valley. Next up is the MinervaMonster, who was first seen in the
late nineteen seventies. Number five isthe Cedar Bog Monster, who was said
(10:33):
to have lived in the Cedar BogState Nature Preserve. Six is Orange Eyes,
who might actually be an alien accordingto some people. Next up is
the Charles Mill Lake Monster, whowas seven feet tall and had webbed feet
(10:56):
and may have been a scuba diver, but I digress. Eight is the
Crosswick Monster, who hasn't been seenin over two hundred years, so I
think we're probably safe from the CrosswickMonster. Number nine is the Peninsula Python,
and Peninsula is also the home ofHelltown, which I covered in a
(11:16):
previous Halloween episode. Ten is dogMan, who seems to have migrated to
Ohio from Michigan. And of course, the most famous of all Ohio mythical
creatures is Bessie the Lake Eriemonster,who has first spotted in seventeen ninety three.
And I've got a link to thislist in the show notes if you're
(11:39):
interested in reading a little more aboutall these creatures that are inhabiting the state
of Ohio. And that's all forthis brief episode of Great Lakes True Crime
Special. Thanks to friend of theshow Sarah, who clued me into the
Defiance Werewolf and provided some great referencematerials. I had never heard of this
phenomene on before, so I'm gladI looked into it. Also, many
(12:03):
thanks to those who recently left fivestar reviews on their podcast app. If
you haven't left a five star review, I could really use your help as
it helps get the word out aboutthe show and for Great Lakes True Crime.
This has been Steve, your hostand producer. Thanks for listening,
byes and happy Halloween.
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