44 Years in Darkness
Publisher |
Mysterious Radio
Media Type |
audio
Publication Date |
Apr 10, 2021
Episode Duration |
00:41:34

Tonight, Sylvia Shultz joins me to discuss how a woman spent 44 years of her life locked away in a utica crib to the point of scratching her eyes out, pulling her teeth, loosing the ability to speak and resembling a skeletal figure...covered in rags. The mindset of care takers in those early days was truly bizarre!

Lost in the shadows of Illinois asylums in the nineteenth century is the strange story of Rhoda Derry. Left at the Adams County Poor Farm when her family could no longer care for her, she spent the next 40 years confined in a wooden box. Abandoned, ignored, and traumatized, she had clawed out her own eyes, pulled her own teeth, and her legs were atrophied to the point that she could not stand on her own, or even sit in a wheelchair. She spent four decades locked away from the world. Her crime? Falling in love.

Rhoda suffered a mental breakdown after being "cursed" by the mother of a boy to whom she was engaged to marry. Committed to the poor farm because of her violent insanity, she was eventually rescued by pioneering alienist Dr. George A. Zeller. She was taken to the Peoria State Hospital in Bartonville, Illinois, where she spent the remainder of her days in comfort. Rhoda died in 1906, but her spirit lives on at the former asylum where she found peace. 

The chilling story of Rhoda Derry is one of the great tragedies of mental health care in Illinois, but one of the great success stories of the Peoria State Hospital. Sylvia Shults, author of Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital, returns to the hilltop to tell the story of Rhoda's life -- and her mysterious afterlife.

Want more paranormal episodes? Follow our new podcast 'Paranormal Fears' on any podcast app or Apple Podcasts.

Enjoy the AD-FREE versions of our latest episodes and our archives right now from anywhere in the world.

Get her book

Visit our website 

Like our Facebook Page for a chance to win a signed copy of Sylvia's book 44 Years in Darkness

Seven - Our podcast for the jaded ones that need wicked stories in their lives!

Check Out Mysterious Radio! (copy the link to share with your friends and family via text)


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode currently has no reviews.

Submit Review
This episode could use a review!

This episode could use a review! Have anything to say about it? Share your thoughts using the button below.

Submit Review