Further Bodies Discovered in Watchwater
Posted on Tuesday, March 28 @ 12:13:44 EST
Topic: Current Events
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Concern continues to grow as further deaths plague the streets of New London.
Last week, a total of three badly mutilated bodies were found.
This number is in addition to the currently unidentified woman found dead in an
alleyway a few weeks ago. The three latest victims: Joni Matthews, a waitress
from the Fountain District; Annabelle Hardy, a prostitute from Watchwater; and
David Simmons, a businessman from New London’s affluent St Vincent’s
Street, were all discovered in the streets of Watchwater, having sustained substantial
injuries to the arms, face and neck.
On Tuesday morning, Ms. Matthews body was discovered by refuse collectors behind
a Chinese restaurant on eastern Havre Street, and after preliminary forensic
investigations, it is believed that she had been dead for at least two days
by the time she was found. Ms. Hardy was found on Wednesday by a man walking
his dog on the derelict land near the city’s Riverwing Park, and was determined
to have died the night before. While Mr Simmons’s body was found in the
docklands near 54th Street in the early hours of Friday morning. All three are
thought to have died from blood loss sustained through their extensive injuries.
The nature of the injuries sustained by the victims: a number of cuts of varying
depth thought to be sustained by a dulled, possibly serrated weapon, has lead
many to link these deaths to the so-called “Bayougoula Beast”, an
unknown animal about the size of a big cat that people have reported supposedly
seeing in the marshes of the nature reserve for almost as long as New London
as existed. Sightings of the creature have increased during the past few months,
and many have been quick to find a link between these increased sightings and
the recent murders.
However, at a press conference given this afternoon, Sheriff Dick Theroux of
the New London Police Department played down these rumours, saying:
“I am aware that a few people have been saying that these murders are
the result of some kind of large, wild animal that has somehow found its way
into the city. However, such rumours are the domain of folklore and old wives’
tales and should not be allowed to enter into the field of professional policing.
"It is far more likely that these deaths are the result of either a particularly
brutal serial killer, of were caused by one of the packs of feral dogs that
have been known to roam the streets of Watchwater. Currently, we are in the
process of investigating these deaths, and, while we have no suspects at this
time, we urge people to take extra care when going out at night until this matter
is resolved.”
He later went on to say that people should avoid going out after dark in the
Watchwater area if at all possible and that, if a journey is unavoidable, then
extra precautions should be taken.
However, many in New London do believe that the Bayougoula Beast could be responsible
for the attacks. Asarte at Amen, a local historian and librarian at the city’s
Havre Public Library, had this to say:
“With regards to the possibility of some large, predatory animal lurking
in the nature reserve, my professional opinion is that we shouldn’t discount
it. A few hundred years ago, it wasn’t unusual for jaguars and panthers,
for example, to be living in the area, and so it’s always possible that
a very small number of these animals have survived and continue to live there.
After all, there are large parts of Hollowmarsh, much as there are large parts
of Honey Island Swamp not far from here, that remain virtually untouched and
unexplored, so there is always the possibility that there is wildlife living
out there that we are so far not aware of, and, what with the city encroaching
more and more on these wild spaces, the animals that do live in them are being
forced to come into the city to look for food and shelter.
"I’m not saying it’s particularly likely that there’s
a big cat slipping into the city at night and mauling people to death, but,
well . . . You never know, do you?”
It is doubtless, however, that opinions will continue to rage
until such a time that the police make an arrest for the killings . . . if such
a time comes.
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