On a sweltering day in August 1925, Mary Vickery vanished from Coxton, Kentucky. Several months later, her remains were found in an abandoned mine located just outside the town. A local taxi driver was apprehended, tried, and sentenced to life in prison for the teenager's murder. In the spring of 1927, a young woman appeared in Harlan County with information that could clear his name.

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Episode Sources

• The Lexington Herald: Coxton Child Still Missing, August 30, 1925
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Vickery Girl Still Missing, September 18, 1925
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Dabney Caught: Now in Jail, March 5, 1926
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Dabney Given Life for Slaying of Vickery Girl, April 2, 1926
• The Atlanta Constitution: When Justice Triumphed, September 4, 1932.
• Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem: “She Rose from the Dead”, September 10, 2020.
• The Messenger: Marie Jackson fails to know Mary Vickery, March 22, 1927
• The Park City Daily News: A Woman Scorned, March 22, 1927
• The Lexington Herald: Senate Bill Asks $5,000 to Repay Harlan Man for Erroneous Imprisonment, February 15, 1928
• The Voice: An Act of Revenge, August 17, 1935
• National Register of Exonerations: Condy Dabney
• Edwin Borchard: Convicting the Innocent: Errors of Criminal Justice (1932)
• FindaGrave: Condy Ulysses Dabney, 1895-1966

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

Anna Hauptrief was the first known female serial killer in Texas. Her 1924 case was known as one of the most sensational and unexplainable in Texas court history.

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• The Houston Post: Suspect Mother of Poisoning Five. July 24, 1924.
• The Houston Post: Bodies Taken From Graves. July 31, 1924.
• Belleville Daily Advocate: Woman Held for Death of Five Persons. September 9, 1924.
• The Houston Post: Hauptreif, Although Crippled, By Wife’s Poison, Loves Her. October 14, 1924.
• The Austin American: Anna Hauptreif Hangs Herself in Jail. November 1, 1924
• The Waco News: Mrs. Hauptreif’s Burial Place is Changed By Her Father’s Demand. November 3, 1924.
• The Austin American: Hauptreif Goes to Grave. November 3, 1924.
• Unknown Gender History: Annie Hauptreif, Texas Black Widow Serial Killer – August 11, 2011.
• FindAGrave.com: William Louis Hauptreif
• San Marcos Daily Record: A San Marcos Serial Killer. October 31, 2019.

Episode Music

• Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

The Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida is one of the most peculiar historic sites in the American South. This state park showcases the life of Dr. Cyrus Teed, the founder of Koreshanity. Those who joined this religious and scientific movement sought immortality through celibacy and believed the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. The Koreshan Unity has been dubbed “one of the most bizarre” communal utopian societies organized in the 19th century. They were forced to relocate several times until they found a permanent home in the swamplands of southwest Florida.

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Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

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• The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet by Lyn Millner
• Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage by Jeff Guinn

Episode Sources

• WGCU Gulf Coast Life: The connection between Cyrus Teed and the Koreshans and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. March 14, 2023.
• The Koreshnans: Archives of former holdings of the Koreshan State Historic Site.
• Florida State Parks: Koreshan State Historic Site
• World Religious and Spirituality Project: Koreshans by Lyn Millner
• WGCU: Florida History: Koreshan Unity: A Quest for Utopia | Untold Stories | Florida History
• US Department of the Interior: Preserving America’s Utopian Dream, 2001. “Dr. Cyrus Teed and the Koreshan Unity Movement” by Catherine Anthony Ohnemus.
• Florida Rambler: Koreshan State Park is Florida’s strangest historic site. August 3, 2024.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.