Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: The Verge

St. Omer's Cemetery, outside of Ashmore, home to many old tombstones, continues to scare with haunting tales and a dark, wooded setting. (Chelsea Grady/The Daily Eastern News)

They all begin with a death. And they always end in a cloudy-haze of a mystery.

This is the scene for both the haunted stories of Airtight Bridge and St. Omer's cemetery.

Airtight Bridge, located between Bushton and Ashmore along Route Two in rural Coles County, was built in 1914 and designed by Claude L. James.

The bridge was said to have been a local drinking spot for Eastern students and local teens, but after the discovery of a mutilated body on the morning of Oct. 19, 1980, throwing a few back at Airtight Bridge just wouldn't have the same effect.

As the legend goes, two men passing by the bridge in the morning noticed what they thought was the body of a nude woman about 50 feet from the bridge. As the men approached they realized that the woman had had her head, hands and feet severed from her body.

The men quickly called the local sheriff's office and from there the investigation began.

Michael Kleen, an Illinois paranormal researcher and author, said that the case is shrouded in mystery.

"For years, the case has gone unsolved and still to this day authorities don't know who committed the murder," Kleen said. " The victim was buried under the name of Jane Doe in one of Charleston's cemetery's and it wasn't until 1992 that sheriff's department finally figured out who the female victim was."

The victim's gravestone has since been changed.

Kleen, a 2006 Eastern graduate, said the victim was later identified as a 26-year-old woman from Bradley, Illinois whose husband had never filed a missing persons report because the victim "had left home on occasions before."

Dan Rebbe, an Eastern history education major, said that the bridges name "Airtight" is a very suitable name for the bridge.

"When you are out there it is eerily quiet and you can't really hear any sounds in the area," Rebbe said.

Similar to the murder at Airtight Bridge, is the story of St. Omer's Cemetery.

St. Omer's Cemetery, located in southern Coles County, is said to be the site of where a woman was put to death because she practiced witchcraft.

The legend says, that in the 1880s, the citizens of the town of St. Omer's put to death a woman named Caroline Barnes, who was accused of practicing witchcraft.

Barnes was buried with three family members, who died around the same time as Barnes, in St. Omer's cemetery, but the tombstone for Barnes is what sets her mysterious story apart from others.

The tombstone is a rare massive orb-and-pyre with the date of death being listed as February 31.

Kleen said that the direction that the tombstone faces is also unusual for typical tombstone placements.

"The monument is pointed toward the north and south, while cemeteries normally place tombstones facing east to west," Kleen said.

Kleen said the Barnes' tombstone story has gained depth from local citizens that claim that the tombstone is impossible to photograph because of individuals showing up in the photos that weren't originally there.

"Me and a friend of mine were out at the cemetery just taking general pictures of everything and when we took a picture of one of the bigger tombstones it looked like a man wearing an old derby hat was standing in the background of the tombstone," Kleen said.

"Out of all the places that I have taken photographs, St. Omer's cemetery was one of my most unusual experiences."

Adding even more mystery to the story is the fact that the town of St. Omer's disappeared around the time of Barnes' death, but Kleen attributes the towns' disappearance to the emerging railroad industry.

"The town disappeared when the railroad was built, which was common for small towns during the emergence of railroads," Kleen said.

Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7942 or jnschneider@eiu.edu.

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