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Episode 26: The Case of Mary Vincent part 1
94 Plays1 year ago
Hey Everyone! Happy Monday!
It feels so good to say that again!
This week Lana tells Ellie the case of Mary Vincent and Lawrence Singleton
*TRIGGER WARNING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND GORE*
Sources:
How Mary Vincent Survived A Horrific Abduction While Hitchhiking (allthatsinteresting.com)
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Excitement
00:00:04
Speaker
Hey, guys, I'm Lana. And I'm Ellie. And welcome to Scared But Curious. Hey. Hello. How are you doing? I'm going. I didn't say how it's going. I said, how are you doing? I'm doing. I'm doing. That's the other trick question.
00:00:33
Speaker
chick question? We are back. You said chick question. We're gonna do a great time guys. We're gonna do a great time. Um, yeah. And that's about how good this break has been going. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Oh, so happy Monday.
January Challenges and Humor
00:01:00
Speaker
Happy Monday.
00:01:03
Speaker
How have you been? Can you believe that we took, oh Jesus, don't you, that's a loaded question. Yeah. Mom ain't raised no bitch, right? Yep. But I'm excited. Exactly. To hear the story that you have. We're excited to be back. I know it's a long one. Yes. Oh my God, I'm so excited to be back. Yes. Yes. So excited. Yeah, no, it's definitely been, January has definitely, I think, kicked both of our asses.
00:01:32
Speaker
It's been a lot, but I was telling my mom, I was like, if this is how 2024 is, I wanna refund. Like it hasn't even been 30 days. Can I return it? No, yeah. Is there a 30 day return policy because I am so down for that as well? Yes, yes. Or can I at least restart? Can we redo it?
00:01:57
Speaker
And I'm just gonna put it out here.
Ellie's Concussion Experience
00:02:02
Speaker
I am going to be, like you said, I'm gonna be telling you a story today, but I also have a concussion. And so it is going to be, if I don't have the normal reactions, it's because that, or if I can't think of words, it's because of that. So we're just going to,
00:02:25
Speaker
Like I said, January has been great. For all of those who wonder why she's concussed, it wasn't her fault. It was not her fault. I know that you guys have all heard. If you guys have a car, let us know.
00:02:48
Speaker
I know that you guys have also heard that she burns herself a lot on like ovens, you know, hits her head on doors. Yeah, those things still happened separately. Yes. Yeah. And then the point where didn't the emergency room like gave you the emergency room asked the emergency room asked if I was okay. And if I was in a safe place at home and I was like, yes, I am. Um,
00:03:15
Speaker
And then we're aware that the triage questions are always that, but this is beyond the triage. They sat me down and we're like just asking. We have to. Your history is a little alarming. Yeah.
00:03:32
Speaker
do we need to call someone for you? Yeah, so what actually happened, I mean, I don't really care. I got T-boned in my car, because ice is a thing. So yeah, but I'm here. And the doctor said it was definitely better than it could have been. So we're just living life now, you know, we're taking
00:03:55
Speaker
Every day is a blessing and, ew, that sounded very Christian of me and I hated it. That sounded really cliche. I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up, yeah, that was... That sounded very Christian and I hated it. Every day is a blessing and we're just honored. Yeah. I was going to say that's why they call it the present and then I remembered it's every day is a gift and that's why they call it the present. That's why they call it the present, yeah. This is what I mean about concussion. I am doing the best I can.
00:04:26
Speaker
That's okay. Aren't we all? Literally. But yeah, so like I said, I'm just glad that we're back and it feels good to be back. It feels good to like write again and record again. Oh my God, I know. Yeah, absolutely. It gives us a little bit more of a purpose that isn't just getting our ass handed to us by life. Yes, exactly. It feels great.
00:04:53
Speaker
So yes.
Technical Changes and Podcast Setup
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah. And also there is going to be some changes on our technical side. We are going to be shifting hosts and hopefully everything transitions smoothly. But in case it doesn't.
00:05:09
Speaker
Here's your- We'll get there, I promise. Here's the warning that it might be a little fucked up, but we'll get there. Yeah, and it might mean that even just intro music might be different if we can't get the same intro music or whatever it is, but- We'll figure it out, guys. Don't you damn worry. That's our worry, not your guys' worry. We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. That's my favorite mix of sayings. We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. We'll burn that bridge when we get-
00:05:38
Speaker
Exactly. Oh man. So are you ready to hear the...
Introducing Mary Vincent's Story
00:05:44
Speaker
I'm trying to think of a different word.
00:05:46
Speaker
But again, I'm concussed. I'm finding it. It's bonkers. It's bananas. It's insane. It's bonkers, man. It is bonkers. And a lot of people have actually probably heard this story before. And I know that we've there have been multiple times we're like, oh, actually, people didn't hear the story. But this was major news when it happened. So I'm I'm guessing people have heard the story. It's a pretty well known one.
00:06:12
Speaker
Um, but it's one of those, it's one of those cases that it has always stuck with me where I just think about it randomly. And I'm just like, Oh my gosh. So I jumped in a Ramsey. Yeah. Yeah. Where it's just one of those cases that pop into your head every once in a while. This one will be, this one is definitely it. Um, I will say that today is a survivor story.
00:06:40
Speaker
So it's even better because New Year, we got our ass handed to us in January and I need something good. I need a survivor story. I think you'll enjoy my next story. I think you'll enjoy it because it's one of those that really makes you stop and go, is this real life? This one is also kind of like that.
00:07:09
Speaker
Yeah, but more than like, is this real life? How can someone do something to somebody like this? That that's more this one is, but mine is more is this real life because it comes from Florida. Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, and anyone, anyone who's done the quick Google search of Florida man blank, we know it's going to be crazy.
00:07:38
Speaker
We don't, like, US is like, Florida's like the redheaded stunt child. We're like, oh, Florida. Can you, can you, you're already below sea level. Can you just, can you just go? Keep going. Thank you. Thanks. Just detach maybe. Okay. Sorry. Um, no, you're fine. Yeah. Yeah. No, by the way, um, we're joking.
00:08:04
Speaker
Yes. Not all Florida is bad. Just it's really unfortunate how much of it is. It's like the Australia of America. The wildlife just wants to kill you out there. I don't. And maybe the people. That too.
Mary Vincent's Background
00:08:22
Speaker
So have you heard of the case of Mary Vincent? The name sounds very familiar, Mary Vincent. But that being said, I feel like it's a
00:08:32
Speaker
not super unique name. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this case is pretty well known. Like I said, it's it was really big. It happened. I think it happened in like 1978. And so it was in the trial for this happened in 1979. So it definitely our parents times
00:08:59
Speaker
So yeah, I'm guessing the older people, the older listeners will definitely know what case this is because it was like nationwide news. Okay. I wonder if I know it once you tell me the story. I might be able to probably probably because it. Yeah.
00:09:15
Speaker
Let's just get started. Like I said, today is the story of Mary Vincent. And Mary Vincent was one of seven children. She grew up in Las Vegas and Mary was known to be a smart, happy kid. She was also super talented and a really talented dancer. And her dance teachers would say that they could see her going far and probably going professional in her dance career.
00:09:48
Speaker
So by the age of 15, they were very aware and established that she was going to be a very talented dancer for her future. That doesn't make me feel good because I have a feeling that she's not going to be dancing much longer, is she?
00:10:04
Speaker
So okay. Her home life would be described as difficult. I mean, she had seven siblings, or I guess six siblings because she was one of seven. But it was kind of difficult. Her parents kind of worked like dead end jobs, but at
00:10:28
Speaker
around 14, they decided that they were gonna get a divorce. And the divorce was very- When Mary was 14, right? Sorry, yes. When Mary was 14, they were gonna get a divorce. Not them, no. For a second, I was like,
Meeting Diego Montoya
00:10:46
Speaker
wait, they were nice. That seems really young. How long were they married if they're getting divorced at 14? Seven kids? Bro.
00:10:54
Speaker
No, this is actually the 1700s. Then how did all of them make it this far? 15 is a senior citizen back then.
00:11:12
Speaker
And so her parents got divorced at her age of 14 and it was a very contentious divorce. I don't really, there wasn't really any information of like why, but it just didn't really go over very well.
00:11:27
Speaker
And actually because her home life kind of tanked, she ended up running away from home at the age of 15. And it wasn't just like a, oh, I'm going to run away for a couple of hours, like what normal kids do. She would be gone for like, because like, I mean, every kid runs away and does the like goes away for like a couple of hours.
00:11:52
Speaker
I didn't even make it to a couple hours. I went to the sidewalk of my grandparents house by where the where the mailboxes were, sat there for a little bit and then decided that maybe I should go back inside now. That's really funny. I ran away, tried to run, tried to run. Wow.
00:12:10
Speaker
tried to run away. Tried to run. Yep. I tried to run away. I tried to run away a couple times. And the one time that I really remember, I was like, I'm packing and I'm running away. And my mom goes, fine, I'll help you pack.
00:12:27
Speaker
And I never ran away again because I'm like, she's not gonna miss me. Why is my mom the same way? Okay, actually, my mom did that. But like, I'd be like, Mom, if you give this up, I'm gonna call CPS on you. And she goes, okay, I'll dial the number for you. And I'm like, wait, no. Oh, I was never that bad. I was never that bad. She called my bluff. She knew I wouldn't do shit. I was never that bad. I never said I was gonna call CPS on my mom.
00:12:56
Speaker
I'm like, don't take me away, I love you, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You're stupid. So she ran, she runs away for like days to weeks at a time, and her parents just kind of let her, I don't know, it's also the 70s. So, you know, it builds character, I don't know. Where's she going?
00:13:24
Speaker
Well, she would live on the streets. She would sleep in parked cars, which is weird. I'm like, are you just leaving your cars on the seventies of it all? Yeah, yeah. She would sleep like under bridges in like. Could you imagine? Hold on timeout real quick. Accidentally getting kidnapped because you took a nap in a stranger's fucking car.
00:13:55
Speaker
like they go to work and they turn around and you're like did I just kidnap a little girl she's sleeping in my car what just what do I do now you go grocery shopping you go to put the groceries back in the car there's just some like girls sleeping in the back of your car what do you what do you do like do you need me to take you somewhere I don't
00:14:18
Speaker
I guess that's the way to get a free ride. Just sit down and act like you're supposed to be there and I guarantee it'll work. Exactly, exactly. But while she was out on the streets, she met a man. And yes, a man, we're gonna call it like he is. She met a man. Okay, friendly reminder, she's 15. She's 15. At this point. 15. Okay, I just wanted to clarify. Okay.
Hitchhiking to California
00:14:45
Speaker
And Diego, so this man's name is Diego Montoya, and he took her under his wing, and he would find food for her, like food for both of them, places to sleep, and some
00:15:00
Speaker
some sources would say that they were like boyfriend and girlfriend, but he was 26. And she was 15. Okay, um, yeah, when I say man, I mean, man, okay, I'm trying.
00:15:16
Speaker
I'm trying to like, okay, let me try to do the devil's advocate real quick because it's real hard right now. You guys can't see my face. I'm really trying here. I'm finding it. If you had to compare 15 year olds knowledge to a 26 year olds knowledge of the streets, true. Definitely the 26 year old would be able to manage it a lot better.
00:15:37
Speaker
So it's like, okay, really big gap difference, but is he treating her like a partner or like a little sister? Because like, that's where the differentiates. If it's like a little sister because they're like, you're a little kid that needs help and I'm going to help you. Or is this like, hey, I can groom you because you're a little kid and I'm a monster. So the only reason why she didn't stay with him longer
00:16:03
Speaker
was because he was arrested for the rape of another 15 year old girl. Oh my god. Yeah, I've said it before. And I'll say it again. If you cannot control it, then you don't deserve it. You've lost your dick privileges, dammit. Yep.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah, so I don't think that it was a little sister relationship. I think it was a sexual relationship. That makes me really sad, because she's just trying to survive. Mm hmm. So yeah, he he was such a keeper. You know, so good. Oh, yeah, he seemed like a total great pedophile.
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah. So after Diego gets arrested, Mary Vincent decides to hitchhike to her granddad's house in Corona, California. And I've heard multiple- That's where the coronavirus came from. Didn't you know that's why they named it after that? Didn't you know?
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah, remember when the Corona beer took a major plummet in sales when the coronavirus came out? Oh my gosh. God, America, why are you like this? Why are you stupid, America? And then it was funny because it took a major dive and then took a major uptick because everyone was like, oh, it's funny. I'm going to have me a Corona. Oh my God, I remember that. Sometimes I forget that 2020 wasn't a fever dream.
00:17:36
Speaker
I know. I know, right? God, I feel like I'm gonna wake up any moment from that moment on. I was actually just been in a coma. Yeah, exactly. I'm not actually conscious, right? Exactly. Fuck. I wish.
00:17:50
Speaker
Uh, but yeah, so I've heard, I've heard that he lived in Berkeley, the granddad, I've heard he lived in Berkeley. I heard he lived like a different places, but the most of the sources I saw, he lived in Corona, California. So that's just what I'm going with. And there's a couple times like this where I'm going to say like, Oh, this multiple sources said different things. Um, because apparently no one can get their fucking story straight, which is great.
00:18:18
Speaker
know, for researching purposes. Fantastic. It's not like big details that are wrong. It's like the little ones of like the the place that it happened in. So she hitchhikes to her granddad's house or is on her way to her granddad's house, but she's hitchhiking.
Encounter with Lawrence Singleton
00:18:35
Speaker
And it's 1978. So it's completely normal to hitchhike at this point. It's almost like encouraged to do it at this time in history. It's
00:18:46
Speaker
Like yes, get into strangers' cars to get into a completely different location in the United States where you are not familiar with anyone. Who the heck could go wrong? Yeah, exactly. What?
00:18:58
Speaker
So different, like I said, this is another place where different sources say different things. I heard at one point that she was heading back from her grandparents' house when this case happened, or she was heading to her grandparents' house when this happened. But most cases or most sources I read were she was heading to her grandparents' house.
00:19:21
Speaker
we're just going to go with that one. It doesn't really matter which way she was going. It just matters that it happened. So that's what I was gonna say. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Does it matter which direction she was going? It happened and it was somewhere around grandma and grandpa's.
00:19:36
Speaker
Exactly. Mary starts hitchhiking and everything is completely fine. She had hitchhiked multiple times during her trip and nothing happened. And she made it all the way to, so she started in Las Vegas and she made it all the way to Modesto, California, which I was gonna look up how far that is, but it's a pretty good distance. It's a couple hours. She was dropped off
00:20:03
Speaker
at a corner, literally called Hitchhiker's Corner.
00:20:08
Speaker
Like that's how normal hitchhiking was at this point. And so there were a couple other people on this corner, all having signs saying like, oh, we're going to Southern California, all this kind of stuff. And that's when this blue van pulls up. And why is it always a van? That's what I wanna know. So this is when a dark blue van pulls up to the corner
00:20:36
Speaker
And Mary goes up to the van and says like, hey, you know, can I head to ride? And the man's like, yeah, get in. Sure.
00:20:44
Speaker
And the others that were also on this corner, they were like, sweet, sounds great, he has a van. And they go to get in too. And he goes, oh, no, no, no, no, no, not you guys, only her. I have no room. And these other hitchhikers are like, one of them had looked in the van and saw that there was enough room for them. He's like, no, I can only take Mary. I don't have that much room, blah, blah, blah. And these hitchhikers are like, Mary, don't.
00:21:13
Speaker
go with him. Like don't I remember the story. Yeah, now you remember this. I remember I know exactly what story this is now. Yes. Good. Okay, carry on. You're ready to cry? Yeah.
00:21:31
Speaker
So all these other hitchhikers are like, do not go with this man. This man is something just is not good about him. And she's she's 15. She's naive. This man seems nice. What she said was that he seemed very nice and grandfather like. And I mean, if you've seen pictures of this guy, he does, honestly, he looks just like a normal dude. When
00:21:59
Speaker
he met, you know, when all this happened, he's like in his fifties and he just kind of looks like a normal dude. And so she's like telling the other hitchhikers like, don't worry about it. I'm fine. I, you know, I've done this before.
00:22:14
Speaker
It's okay, I wanna get home. And the thing too is that she actually really wasn't that far away from her grandfather's house. She really wasn't that far away. She was like 45 minutes away. So she was like, this is the last stop I have to do, hopefully. And then I'll be at my grandparents house, it's fine. So she was just kind of putting caution to the wind just so she could get to a place she knew.
00:22:41
Speaker
So she gets into the van and... This makes my heart sad. And this man was not the grandfather type. He is one of the most despicable human beings. A true waste of space. Literally. So this man's name, the driver of the van, his name is Lauren Singleton. And he was born in Tampa, Florida, which makes sense.
00:23:07
Speaker
in Florida. He was born in Tampa, Florida in 1927. Not much is known about his childhood. But after he was done with school, he went into the military and fought in Korea.
00:23:22
Speaker
And after Korea, he worked as a merchant Marine, which I had no idea what that was. So I looked it up and it's, it just kind of means that he would work on cargo ships and he got to travel around the world. And I'm like, that's cool. I'm, I want to do that. But yeah, so like he would do like the welding and like the fixing up that needed to be done on cargo ships. And yeah, he just got to travel with them.
00:23:49
Speaker
Oh, goodness gracious, sorry. I just did a quick Google search to see what this Lawrence motherfucker looked like and... This guy. He's just a true monster. Truly, there's nothing else I can say other than he is a true monster that lived for too long. Yeah. Like I said, he doesn't look like he looks like a monster. When you know what he did, he looks like a monster. But if you don't know what he did, especially when he's younger, he just looks like a normal dude. Yeah.
00:24:19
Speaker
which is the eyebrows so shitty he's very good at looking innocent because he's got those eyebrows that kind of curl up but if you i don't know those eyes look dead there's no there's yeah they have to be there's nothing you can't have an ounce of anything human within that yeah human body to do what he did
00:24:40
Speaker
Sources say that he was a drunk and a very mean one at that. He would have violent mood swings and also be very depressed. He had two failed marriages and had a bad relationship with his kids. And at one point he, when he was drunk, he slapped his teenage daughter for just doing something like she's talked back or something and he just drunkenly slapped her. Um,
00:25:09
Speaker
And I read that, like, after that point, she called the cops and was like, I want nothing to do with you. She was like, nope, I'm done, which is good for her. And at 50, Lawrence retired from his job as a merchant Marine and moved to Sparks, Nevada. And at 51 is when he met Mary. So- Run, Mary, run. So now, going back, so Mary gets into his car and they start driving.
00:25:36
Speaker
Everything seems fine at first. Lawrence and Mary are making small talk. Lawrence says that he has a daughter around Mary's age, and this actually comforts Mary. And she's like, oh, see, I had nothing to worry about. This is great. Or not great, but it's like everybody else that I've had to hitch a ride with. And at one point, Mary takes out a cigarette and takes a drag, but she ends up sneezing at the same time.
00:26:04
Speaker
which I just pictured it and I'm like, ooh, that sucks. Like, go to take a drag of a cigarette and you sneeze. You exhale it out of your nose aggressively. Yeah, that fucking sucks. Yeah, it kind of does.
Realization and Confrontation
00:26:21
Speaker
So so like, so she she ends up sneezing at the same time. And Lawrence kind of strokes her neck is weird. Sorry. Hold on. What?
00:26:36
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. He's just leaning across like her neck. That's, that's what I do too. I'm like, was it like a bench? See, was it, but also like, don't touch me. Oh my gosh. What was it from the, from the story the other day or not the other day, but the, the, the one with the, the one with the woods that I told you, don't touch me. Yep. Don't stop it. Don't touch me.
00:27:04
Speaker
And so I know we think this is creepy, of course, but Mary also kind of thought this was creepy. She was like, what the fuck? Well, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Keep your hands to yourself. Don't stroke anything of mine. Consent, sir. Don't stroke anything of mine. Not just no, but they'll know. And so.
00:27:32
Speaker
Mary like pulls away really quickly because she's like uh don't do that to me fucking weirdo and Lawrence also pulls his hand away really quickly and Mary is like oh okay so she kind of like puts it in the back of her mind a little bit because she's like well you know he pulled his hand away really quickly maybe he didn't mean for it to be like as weird like maybe he was trying to go for my back instead of like trying to like you good you got this kind of a thing and maybe
00:28:01
Speaker
He just hit my neck. That's when you vocalize. And you go, my bad. I didn't mean to pet your neck. Or even just like, you're good. I didn't mean to touch your neck. That was weird. But like, you're good. Acknowledge it.
00:28:18
Speaker
Exactly. But don't just not acknowledge it, you weird old man. Exactly! And so she was like, you know, maybe he didn't mean for it to be creepy, and he probably just didn't want to make it any more awkward.
00:28:32
Speaker
And so she was like, she's like, okay, I'm not going to say anything because I don't want to make it any more awkward because there's only like 45 minutes to her destination and she just wanted to get it done and over with. She was like, it's, it's fine. It's fine. We're almost, we're almost to my grandparents house. It's fine.
00:28:50
Speaker
And so, you know, she's been in the, she's been in the hot sun pretty much all day. So she ends up at some point, like closing her eyes and accidentally falling asleep, which I could never do that because high driving anxiety. And also I don't know you, so I'm not going to trust. Yeah. You're going to take me. No, no, no, no. If I don't know the person that's driving, I am awake the entire time.
00:29:15
Speaker
Thank you very much. Yeah, I couldn't fall asleep at all. Also, I wouldn't be in a car like you'd know. True. So she ends up closing her eyes and falling asleep. And when she wakes up a little while later, she can almost instantly tell that something isn't right. Mary notices that they were heading east towards Nevada when they needed to be heading south towards LA. And
00:29:43
Speaker
Mary starts to put all the weird things together. Mary starts to panic, of course, and she starts actually looking under her seat for something that she can maybe like protect herself with, or like scare him with.
00:29:58
Speaker
And she's able to find this metal pole or stick or some sort of, I've heard it used as like a measuring stick. So I don't know if it was like a yard stick, like a metal one, or if it was some sort of like, just like a pole. I don't really know what it was. But either way, it's like this metal object,
00:30:20
Speaker
And so she starts waving it around and telling Lawrence that they're going the wrong way and that he needs to turn around right now.
00:30:28
Speaker
waving it around. I'm just the mental image I have in my mind right now is just kind of bonkers. I have no idea. I feel like I'm probably wrong. I'm assuming I'm wrong with this mental image because I'm looking around in the air.
00:30:50
Speaker
start saying to Mary, he's like, Oh, I'm sorry. I'm an old man. I get confused. I'm so sorry. I'll turn around. It's no problem. Bitch, you 50. You're not an old man. I mean, he's old enough to where it's stop touching that 15 year old. Yeah, don't know her.
00:31:10
Speaker
Yes, but also like you're not that old of him, you're not that old man where you're gonna, he's trying to act like he's like 80 just to get her, ugh, I hate him. And actually, Lawrence turned around and started heading south.
00:31:28
Speaker
And Mary was super relieved that she handled it as well as she did. And she's like, Oh, I'm confident. Hello. Like I just handled that. That's great. You know, like you mean to tell me this metal stick fucking works. Hell yeah. Yeah. She's like, Oh, look at me. I handled it. I'm on my own rule. Look at me. So proud of her.
00:31:48
Speaker
So now that they were headed the right way, as they're driving, night begins to fall and Mary starts to notice that the road they're on is very desolate, which is not too weird for that like around Nevada, California area.
Desolate Road and Rising Tension
00:32:08
Speaker
It's yeah, it's pretty desolate between the non desolate.
00:32:15
Speaker
I would like to acknowledge the fact that at the age of 15, waking up and knowing that we're going in the wrong direction, it would take my ass probably longer after waking up. I wonder if she saw a sign, like a road sign being like two miles till blank, and she was like, wait a second. So they're headed in the right direction.
00:32:41
Speaker
And the road is very desolate, and she's not too worried about it because, like I said, it's also the 70s, so it's definitely not as boomed as it has nowadays. So it's not too worried, but then Lawrence steps on the brakes
00:33:00
Speaker
and pulls over and he's like, I got a pee. And she's like, oh, oh, OK. OK. So he gets out and goes to do his business and Mary gets out as well because they've now been driving for longer because he went the wrong way. So she's like, OK, I'm going to just stretch my legs as they're out of the van or as she's out of the van, she's kind of just like taking in her surroundings and like, huh, that's is. Yeah, it's really freaking dark. And she kind of starts to
00:33:31
Speaker
get this kind of pit in her stomach. And that's just something isn't right. Like you know that feeling when you're on a you're you're in a place like on a road trip or something and you're on a place you're like, wow, this would be so pretty in the daytime. But at night, this is fucking creepy. Like if I was not in a safe location right now. Yeah, this would be very off putting I wouldn't like this. Yeah. Yeah. So she
00:33:56
Speaker
is just kind of like oh wow it's really dark here and wow this road is really desolate I haven't seen a car in a while and she kind of starts getting this thought of like
00:34:11
Speaker
Lawrence could hurt me. Like, no one could hear me scream out here. Huh? Like, and she kind of has that thought, kind of rationalizes it of, you know, you know how anxiety works where you just kind of linger with that thought for a little bit. And you're like, well, how would I fix it? Because that's how my anxiety works, honestly, is very much like, oh, I'm having this anxious thought here. Let me talk myself through it and then I won't be anxious.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah. Were you looking, then you can counter whatever was making you anxious. Like, Oh, I'm anxious because I don't know what I'm going to do if this happens. If I make a plan, now I know what I'm going to do. Yes. You have A, B, C and D plan and you're like, okay, I got this. Yeah. So that's kind of what she was doing of like, of like, man, this guy could hurt me. But if he hurts me, I could, or if he tries to hurt me, at least I could probably outrun him. I can probably
00:35:05
Speaker
He's kind of older. I'm in really good shape because I'm a dancer. I also, and she looks into- Swift kick to the dick. Literally, and she kind of looks down. She's like, oh, I'm also wearing tennis shoes, so it'd be great. I can definitely outrun this guy. Could you imagine hitchhiking and not tennis shoes? What are you going to wear? I read that part, and I was like, what else are you, flip-flops? What are you hitchhiking in, honey? Yeah. I know. What are you hitchhiking in?
00:35:34
Speaker
And as she looks down, the thought, she's like, oh crap, my shoelaces are untied. And so she goes to tie her shoes and Lawrence, what she didn't know is that Lawrence was right behind her and he comes up behind her quietly and hits her full force with a sledgehammer.
Brutal Attack and Survival Instinct
00:35:55
Speaker
And Mary is like knocked unconscious.
00:35:58
Speaker
Why do I forget this part every fucking time I hear the story? Also, how the fuck are you okay after you're only unconscious after getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer? This girl is amazing. Because mama didn't raise no bitch. That is this whole story is just mama didn't raise no bitch.
00:36:23
Speaker
Yeah, this quite literally. I mean, if you look at you guys will learn as the story goes on that she is absolutely frickin amazing. Like I would name I would name my first born girl Mary just because of her like
00:36:38
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, she is I like I hope that my kids are even a Little drop of how brave she is like if they could just get a little drop of brave and Ted like determination. Oh My god, not even just that but the having the wherewithal yes to yeah to survive yeah, I literally I
00:37:06
Speaker
She, it's insane. Anyway, I'll let you continue. Fucking sludge hammer, motherfucker. I hate this part so much. I mean, I hate a lot of it. This is not my least favorite part. Oh, I know.
00:37:19
Speaker
Guys, grab your grab your trauma buddy. Actually, I will say right now there is going to be a trigger warning for rape and sexual assault and also a little bit of gore later on a little bit, a little bit, a lot of bit, a little bit, a lot of bit of there is a lot of mutilation that comes up and it's just a friendly reminder that this is a survival like she survived.
00:37:45
Speaker
She's a bad bitch, but it's really bad. It's really bad. I want to name my firstborn daughter after this fucking amazing ass woman. So Mary wakes up, when Mary wakes up, Lawrence is standing over her and this disgusting piece of shit made her perform oral sex on him after he hit her in the head with a sledgehammer.
00:38:14
Speaker
Okay. And then how? That's what I was wondering. Do you know, God, I don't even want to think too far. I'm not. I'm just how. Yeah. Just first. What the fuck? Just wrong. And then the worst part I know. And then after that, he throws her in the back of his van and rapes her six times. Oh,
00:38:43
Speaker
And Mary was conscious and awake through all of it. And the sexual assault lasted the whole night. And so the next morning, Lawrence drags Mary out of the van and throws her down on the ground. And it's such a desolate road that there's still no one around.
00:39:07
Speaker
So Lawrence can really just do whatever he wants, and she knows that. And she is pleading with Lawrence to let her go. Mary is saying, set me free, please. I won't tell anyone to set me free. And Lawrence says, quote, you want to be set free? I'll set you free. And I know what's coming. Oh, god, I'm not ready. OK. OK. OK.
00:39:35
Speaker
Lawrence goes back to the van and he picks up an axe or a hatchet, like one of the little ones from his toolbox, goes back to Mary, grabs her, pulls her up by her left arm, and she's like holding on to him as, you know, because she's probably off balance. She got hit in the head with a sludge hammer.
00:39:58
Speaker
sludge hammer. Yeah. So she probably, you know, not very balanced. So she's grabbing on to his shirt and he takes one swing at her left arm and cuts it off right below the elbow. And in interviews, she said her first
00:40:24
Speaker
feeling and thought was that she was so confused of what happened, because she was falling backwards, but she could still see that her arm was holding on, was still holding on to his shirt. And
00:40:45
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, God. And then as she's on the ground, Lawrence grabs her right arm and Mary grabs on to him as well again, you know, because she's like, what the hell is going on? And at this point, she's still begging and screaming. And now she's in pain and she's hanging on to him and he cuts her right arm off at the same place.
00:41:12
Speaker
And it took three- How sharp was this fucking axe? Oh, so the first one only did it through one? The second arm took three hits. Well, cause it's probably dulled from the first. Oh God, this is awful. Yeah. And her arm was still holding onto Lawrence and Lawrence, what she remembers, she's like laying there on the ground and this part is just,
Miraculous Escape and Help
00:41:41
Speaker
She can she's literally watching Lawrence shake off her arm. Because it's still attached. It's attached and he couldn't get it off. And yeah, I remember this part. Yeah. So after he was done flailing around trying to get that off of him. Why have fallen on his own axe or something literally?
00:42:12
Speaker
Oh, God. So after he was done, Lawrence grabbed Mary's body and threw it down a nearby ravine that was like 30 feet deep. So three stories tall and
00:42:32
Speaker
he went down as well. Like after he threw it in the ravine, he like slowly climbs down and is like, well, I need to hide her. And he grabbed- If I remember correctly, doesn't he think she's dead? Like she plays dead at this point? I think so, yeah. Yeah, where he's like, I have to hide her body even though she was conscious. She was very aware of what was going on still. Yeah. Yeah, he just like hid her body.
00:43:02
Speaker
And, um, he killed her. Yeah. And so he goes down there and he hides the body in like, he's like, crap, I gotta hide this body. So he goes down and he shoves it into a concrete pipe, which I'm guessing is kind of like, um, I can picture it in my head. It's almost like they have a lot of places in California and Nevada habit where they're almost like, so they don't, uh, so for flooding.
00:43:31
Speaker
and stuff like that. Yeah, it's like a water runoff because it's all... Yeah. Yeah. So he hid her in there and he climbs carefully back out of the ravine, got back into his car and just drove off. And then he crashed and burst into a ball of flames. And that's the end of the story. No. How do you do that? How do you do that to someone?
00:44:01
Speaker
not even how do you do that to a human being or anything like that how do you swing with an axe with enough force to right below right here yeah how yeah yeah oh how does that's not oh my god i like i don't know single whack to get that
00:44:21
Speaker
I can barely do a single whack. That's what I'm saying. I can. I can, but it's not with one hand. Yeah, I couldn't do that with.
00:44:34
Speaker
No, yeah, I know. Forget about it. And I'm like, I hate thinking about that right now because if you really think about it, it's like, that's a human being. That's a, oh my fucking God. But it's like, if you think about it with like a stick, a single arm, have you ever tried to like go through a stick with the, that's not an easy thing to do. And that's why the other one took three hits. But I'm still taking it back at the first one. Yeah. That motherfucker did a single, what?
00:45:05
Speaker
she was a dancer like she did have a lot of leg muscle but like you have arm muscle too like yeah that wasn't like whacking through my fucking arm that's not as strong as hers like yeah they're like bone and everything yeah a clean cut like that that is
00:45:29
Speaker
I don't want to say it's impressive, but it almost is because how did you manage that? Because how did you manage it? Yeah. Yeah, like yeah, she's holding on to your arm, right? Yeah, I don't know if she's holding on to arm or holding on here or shirt. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So she's just holding on but like, but at the same time you still yeah, you can't like
00:45:52
Speaker
And he's grabbing her by the hand, right? Yeah. So it's like this type of emotion. Every time I hear this story, it's something that I'm like, thank God, we can just keep listening through it. But now that we're the ones telling the story, it's like,
00:46:07
Speaker
like how can someone be so purely evil that this is even something that crosses their mind like i exactly also like you wanted if you wanted to be like oh set you free bitch if you just kill her just kill her why are you cutting off her arms why are you mutilating this 15 year old child yeah you've already
00:46:37
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You've already scarred her mentally from what you did to her earlier. You could have strangled her. You could have just some, you could have just hit her again in the head with a sledgehammer and you know, why do you, you don't have to mutilate her and have her just bleed out. I hate this man so fucking much. I think what makes me even more upset is that when this happened,
00:47:06
Speaker
And when he passed away. And I because it reminds me of Ian Brady and my other fucker lived way too fucking long. Yep.
00:47:20
Speaker
Son's a bitch. Uh-huh. I'm tired of this grandpa. That's too damn bad. OK, yeah, you will definitely get into that because there is a lot more. I know. Even after all of this, Mary was still alive and conscious. Mary says that she remembers being absolutely freezing.
00:47:51
Speaker
Because night was coming on fast and she was already losing a lot of blood of course I was gonna say how much blood is she lost like oh, I'll tell you actually I'll tell you God. Yeah She would later say that all she wanted to do was to go to sleep but she remembers hearing a voice in her head that was saying do not go to sleep and
00:48:16
Speaker
you have to stay awake because you have to get out of here because he will do this to someone else.
00:48:23
Speaker
And she's 15. She's 15. And she's a good bean. She's a 15, good bean. She's a good bean who's 15. Exactly. The world needed her. This is why she's here. The world needs her. Yes. So because Mary is so strong and she's such a fighter, she gathers her strength and she gets out of this concrete pipe.
00:48:51
Speaker
Uh, but because she still has so far to go and she's missing her forearms and hands. Oh my God. Yeah. She's still bleeding profusely. So she thinks to herself, I have to stop the bleeding somehow, or I'm going to bleed out. So she shoves her arms into the mud and the mix of the blood and the mud worked and it stopped the bleeding.
00:49:20
Speaker
Yep. And yeah, I remember reading that like she just knew to just dig that she like bury her limbs into the blood and that it literally like caused it to clot so that it was covered and it wasn't bleeding anymore. And the other the other reason I read that why she did that as well is because okay, this is a little bit trigger warning skipped like two seconds. So the other reason
00:49:48
Speaker
why she did it was because her muscles kept falling out and it passed. Yeah, I remember that. It was able to keep things in. Yeah. Yeah. It was keeping everything in place too. Oh gosh. Because she had to essentially climb up this ravine now with no hands. Yep. So Mary was still at the bottom of the ravine and she still somehow needed to climb up the ravine.
00:50:16
Speaker
And so she did it. And it took every ounce of strength she had physically and mentally. And it was slow moving, of course. And it took her all day. But she did it and she got to the road.
00:50:36
Speaker
And she's 15. 15. And remember, this is a deserted road. When they were on it, it's deserted, pretty much. Well, is it deserted or just isolated? The road that she was on was pretty much deserted. Okay, so it was only like an access road that people specifically took for a specific reason.
00:50:57
Speaker
Yes, but so she gets to the road and she can actually hear cars in the distance, not a lot, like it's not like a major freeway or anything, but a few like constant, a few passing ones. And so she follows the sound of the cars, but to get to that road, she had to still walk for miles.
00:51:26
Speaker
with a very obvious blunt force trauma to the head and extreme mutilation to her forearms and body. Like her body is in shock to say the least. This is pure adrenaline that's keeping her going. This is nothing else but adrenaline and shock. Yeah. So she finally makes it to the busier road.
00:51:51
Speaker
but it was still pretty empty. Not quite as desolate as the other one, but she still had to wait for a passing car. Yeah.
00:52:01
Speaker
And we kind of, like we were talking about, we kind of have to remember what Mary looks like right now. She is absolutely covered in blood. She covered in mud. She is probably white as a ghost because all the blood that she's lost, she has no forearms, you know, just
00:52:26
Speaker
I mean, just think of everything she's gone through. She's been thrown over a fucking ravine's cliff edge right now, like 30 feet down into... Oh my god. Into rocks. Yeah. I'm sure she'd be the shape of a human. And that's about it. Yeah. And so whoever is going to see her is gonna be in for a little bit of a shock.
00:52:54
Speaker
Well, yeah, you go into mind your own business going like, okay, let's go for a pretty hike today. So you're on this one little desolate road you got to take to get to your hiking place. And you just found someone's nightmare. And you can't just leave. Yeah. Oh, so so she's hoping and praying for a passing car. And she sees like this little small dot on the horizon and realizes it's a car.
00:53:19
Speaker
And as the car gets closer, she's like waving her arms, trying to get their attention or like her little, and the car gets closer, the convertible is now coming up on her and they see her, but they just pass. Oh, there's a special place in hell for you guys. They just pass her. Okay.
00:53:45
Speaker
Oh, it's one thing to keep passing because you're like, wait, what did I just see? Like you maybe not registered it right away.
Survival and Medical Recovery
00:53:50
Speaker
But like, you didn't even turn around. Like you didn't even like, Oh, wait, maybe we should pull over and see if that that animals don't flail their arms like that. Maybe we should check and make sure that this
00:54:02
Speaker
Bruh, where is your compassion? This is another human, maybe. You don't know yet, but probably a human. Yeah, later she did say, like after she does, you know, like we said, this is a survivor story. And later she did say that like she does not blame them because she looks some sort of way. She's like, I looked like I probably came right out of a horror movie. Like I don't blame them. And again, how like,
00:54:30
Speaker
She's a good person. She's a woman. It's so... Yeah. I'd be bitter as fuck. Literally. I'd be like, you think I picked this? Like, I chose for this shit to happen? Literally, I'm car over. Set up a flare if we have to. Like, because I don't have cell phones, right? Or is it... Yeah, no, this is the 70s. They just introduced them and they're like the... This is like the 70s. When did they introduce? So, nine, no, 86, I want to say like 80 something.
00:54:56
Speaker
Cause I know they had like that crazy extendable bullshit. They had to pull it out for three feet off of the, exactly. Yeah, it was a brick with a three foot extension antenna. Looks more like a fucking walkie talkie than anything. Walkie talkies are smaller than that fucking thing. True, true. I was thinking the ones for like war that they're like usually big boxes like this. Oh. And they have like a really long antenna.
00:55:26
Speaker
Luckily, after this convertible drove past, it wasn't long before another car drove up, another convertible actually. And this couple was actually on their honeymoon and they were lost. They were never actually supposed to be on this road that
00:55:49
Speaker
she was on. I never supposed to be there. They were supposed to be there. There's a reason they got lost. So unlike the other convertible, they got out, they pulled over, they got out, they actually had like, if I remember correctly, they were like going on a they were supposed to be like going on like a hike or a picnic or something. And they actually had blankets in their car. And so
00:56:12
Speaker
They were able to like bundle her up and they got her in the car and everything like that. They, yeah. So they drove to the nearest pay phone because again, like we were talking about, it's the seventies. So they got to the nearest pay phone and they called 911 and the paramedics got there immediately.
00:56:32
Speaker
Cause, duh. Yeah, it's the pyramid. Completely off topic, though. I did a quick search because I was curious. The first cell phone was invented April of 1973. Huh. Right? Sooner than we thought it was. Yeah. All right, carry on. Thought it was interesting.
00:56:51
Speaker
Cool. So cell phones weren't unfamiliar at this point, but I'm sure they cost the same as a house at that moment in time. So I don't think people had them. No, no. So the paramedics get there and Mary actually had to be airlifted to a different house or not different hospital, but two way hospital that could care for her injuries because this actually had trauma. Exactly. That had a trauma ward.
00:57:20
Speaker
And so- Level 3 trauma ward at that, like they need- Yeah. Man, yeah. So apparently, after everything Mary had gone through, she lost 50% of the blood in her body. And humans can only lose about 40% before they die.
00:57:46
Speaker
Thank goodness she was a dancer. Her body was in the best shape it could possibly have been because if it was on anyone else that was not in peak athletic shape, I without a doubt they would not have survived. Well, and the blood, so she lost 50% of her blood, and the blood that was still in her body had turned septic.
00:58:10
Speaker
because she needs a complete transfusion. She got a complete, reset all the bloods. Yeah. Yeah. So it had turned toxic in her body and she needed,
Singleton's Capture and Trial
00:58:22
Speaker
so she also needed a- So she was going into septic shock while fighting to stay conscious and eat. Yes. This woman is amazing. Seriously, what a force to be reckoned with, to say the least.
00:58:38
Speaker
And they also had to graft muscle from her leg to move it to her arms to reconstruct part of her arms. And she was fitted with prosthetic metal arms with hooks at the end. And I don't know why hooks. I mean, I don't know how the advancements of prosthetics were back then.
00:59:03
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't know why she kept the hooks like to this day she has the hooks. So I don't know if they just help with something or or what I don't know but she so they they were metal arms like metal prosthetics with hooks on the end and
00:59:21
Speaker
What is crazy is that when the police heard about all of this and they went and they talked to her and everything like that, because it's not like she did this to herself, they actually found one of Mary's severed arms a hundred miles away from where the attack occurred. What? Did he forget about the other arm attached to him? What happened? I don't know. I don't know. He's just driving and he's like, oh, yeah.
00:59:51
Speaker
Yeah. Well, so it was in San Francisco Bay. It had washed up on shore.
01:00:02
Speaker
Wow. I guess he must have thrown it in a river or something. Deserts still have water in them, especially the ones in California. They definitely still have rivers and stuff like that. It's just not as many as the rest of California. Maybe the bottom of the ravine had water, so he needed the arms maybe. That would make sense. Yeah.
01:00:31
Speaker
And so they found, they find her arm, they find one of her arms, but you know, it's been so long and there's nothing that they could do. Um, if you do, if you get your like finger cut off in it and within the hour or something like that, you can actually still get it reattached. But this is like, it's been floating in the water. It's been. Yeah. I mean, when I got, fun fact, you guys.
01:00:55
Speaker
When I got the whole bottom of my toe cut off, we found the other half a little too late. They could have attached it. But don't worry, I was young enough to where it's grown back. We're fine. Everything's good. That's so weird.
01:01:09
Speaker
But it hurt a lot. That made my whole, that made me whole like butt clench. I hate it. That made mine too, honestly. At first I was like, oh, that really hurts. You know, like when Peter like falls on his knee and he's going like, yes. Like I was literally doing that type of shit. And then I like looked at my hand because I like grabbed my foot and I looked at my hand. And then once I saw the blood, then I screamed and went into a hole like, oh my God, are these wrong? And it was something was wrong. Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:37
Speaker
So with that, great story. I was going to say that's where we're going to end, I think, for the first part.
Episode Conclusion and Future Hints
01:01:45
Speaker
Oh, man, no one's going to want to end on my foot. I'm sorry, guys. It's already really long. So yeah, I think we're going to have to I think we're going to have to end it there. But yeah, sorry about this, like, gruesome part of the first
01:02:06
Speaker
It's just, it's such a gruesome first, not first episode, but like first part to the story. Yes. But yeah, we're not done yet. There's gonna, there's gonna, we're not done. If it makes you feel better, the rest of the episode is not this gruesome or of the story is not this gruesome. So yeah. Yeah. Well, I think, yeah, I think the only thing left to say is SBC out.
01:02:34
Speaker
S.B.C. out. Man, deuces. I'm outta here. Goodbye. Alright, thank you so much for listening, and remember to follow us on Instagram at Scared But Curious Pod. And we have a Twitter. Follow us at Scared Curious on Twitter X, and join our Scared But Curious Facebook group. And if you're listening on Spotify, please write us.
01:03:03
Speaker
five stars please and if there are any stories or cases you would love to hear us cover or anything you don't hear enough about please don't hesitate email us at scared but curious pod at gmail.com