Susan Kelly

Jul 22, 2012 8:59 AM EDT

Dear Susan,
Over the years I have wanted to share this incident with someone who might be interested. Also, interested if you might have any incites.

Summer of 1963 (I'm not good at years so I could be off a year), the summer of my sophmore year, I attended Harvard Summer school with my then room mate at Lake Forest College. Diana grew up in Brookline Mass and summered in Duxbury Mass.

One weekend we decided to go to the Cape and camp out. There were four of us. Diana, her sister, a friend of hers and myself. I'm not sure now of the exact beach. I'm thinking Dennis. I don't think we were to far onto the cape as the drive back to Duxbury didn't take more than a couple of hours as I recall. I do recall that the asphalt parking lot wasn't too far from the beach. It was a national or state beach (I think all of the Cape beaches are such [I was new to the east, a midwesterner]).
There was a good sized dune or two between the parking lot and the beach. A sandy road ran from the parking lot to a small abandoned sort of one room cinder block or some such material, building.

O.K. heres the story. We went to the beach and then in the late after noon checked out the dunes for a place we would be unnoticed by the jeep that patrolled the beach so we could spend the night there. We found a depression in the dunes a sort of little valley. Of course being young it didn't occur that our Fiat being the one vehicle left in the parking lot would give us a clue to our presence. And, as you'll see apparently it did.

Signs said somthing like beaches close a six. Now it was becoming evening and we were settled in our little sand valley and may have started a fire, when a very large man appeared wearing dark blue knee length sort of bermuda short type pants, dark socks pulled up, black military looking shoes, I think a dark short sleeved shirt. He had dark hair pretty short but not a crew cut and he had a kind of unusual head, I remember it was very flat on the back. He towered over us for a moment asked if we were going to spend the night. When asked said he wasn't the beach patrol and set down with us, uninvited. He was very weird and scary. Kept telling us that there was a little building behind us used by the world war two plane spotters and we could stay in the cabin. We had left a butcher knife we had brought with us lying is the sand. He kept looking at the knife and began rubbing his bare legs with his hands and repeating that we could stay in the cabin and he would help carry our stuff. I was getting darker. We said no we wouldn't and he said we should. Clearly we were now terrifeyd of this man but somehow immobilised. Emily's younger sister came to the rescue by standing up and saying well we're going now and began picking up things. We all grabbed things and said we didn't want his help and to leave us alone. We just about ran to the car. I may have forgotten some of the interchanes but we were all shaken and it seemed clear that he was to attack us. Probably thwarted by there being four of us. When he suggested that we stay in the cabin he exuded a kind of glee.

We were all practically hysterical in the car and couldn't get away fast enough. We discussed going to the police but decided to drive back to Duxsbury as quickly as possible. Nervously discussing what had happened. Glad to have escaped.

I always felt he was the Boston Strangler. The real Boston Strangler.

I know this isn't much of a story. You had to be there. But, my thought is that if he fits the discription of one of the men you looked into and by the way I haven't read your book. I'm sorry but it would probably be upsetting, it might be something that you would see as one of their activities and you to would think we had a close run it with a very dangerous charactor.

Anita

- Anonymous

Oct 18, 2012 8:16 AM EDT

What a frightening experience. I'm glad you came out of it safely.

- Susan Kelly

Jul 12, 2013 5:10 PM EDT

That was my grandmother Margaret Davis , I have tryed to fig. out who killed her but have had no luck. I feel I need to do this for her. If anyone out there has any leads let me know

Thanks Steve

- Steve O

Jul 06, 2015 9:25 PM EDT

Dear Susan,
This is extremely hard for me to write you, as I don't want to come across as "crazy". About 10 years ago I had experienced recovered memories with the help of a counselor. They were bizarre and traumatic, leaving me searching for answers over the past decade. I have stumbled into the possibility of the perpetrator (now deceased) being in the Boston area during the strangulation crimes in the early 60s. I have made more than one connection to him being there as well as other eerie connections with the victims. I am afraid to go into details any further at this time. I wonder if you'd be willing to email me? I might be able to piece more of this puzzle together. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Susan

- Anonymous

Jul 07, 2015 6:52 AM EDT

You can email me at the address provided on this site.

- Susan Kelly

May 15, 2011 11:17 AM EDT

Hi, Susan Kelly, This is Ruth Housman from The Company of Writers.

- Ruth Housman

May 18, 2011 4:16 PM EDT

Good to hear from you, Ruth. You can write me at the email address given on the main page here.

- Susan Kelly