A man whose hobby is exploring abandoned buildings found evidence in the Route 66 ghost town of Cuervo, New Mexico, that someone might be engaging in sex crimes.
As it turns out, that evidence turned up at another site off Route 66 several miles west at another abandoned structure.
According to a special report by KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, City of Dust blogger John Mulhouse in the summer of 2013 stumbled across graffiti and used underwear on the walls of the long-closed Getty Memorial Baptist Church that suggested rape and incest.
Later, when someone else explored ruins at a structure seven miles west and found the same macabre display, that got the attention of state police and the TV station.
Granted, this might be an elaborate hoax. But the fact the entire display was moved — and reports the graffiti was quite specific — suggest the work of a serial rapist. It was proper that the state police was called.
KRQE also posted a gallery of photos from the scene, but the link to it is dead. That could be because of a technical error. Or it could be police asked that it be taken down.
A fair number of Route 66 fans explore ruins along the old highway. If you encounter something like this elsewhere along the I-40 corridor, you’d better call authorities, and pronto.
Cuervo, which declined rapidly after it was cut in half by I-40, is a semi-frequent stop for Route 66ers because of its abandoned but picturesque buildings and it being the start of the fascinating Cuervo cutoff alignment of Route 66 that ends near Santa Rosa.
(Image of the closed Cuervo School in Cuervo, New Mexico, by Gallopingphotog via Flickr)
So is it a hoax or a serial rapeist? Was it a cop who committed these rapes?
Investigation found that it was someone named Amanda Kraus hanging her wet undies to dry