- Daniel
EDIT:
This is the outcome of that visit:
Thursday, December 22, 2011
December 22nd 2011 - Holiday Update
Just recently I spoke with Chris and I arranged for a meeting with an employee of the Rainwood Memorial Elementary School tonight at 7:30pm EST. The school, apparently, is the next business to be opened by the Rainwood family after the Day Camp had been closed. Seeing as there is a strong perceived connection between the Tall Man and the Rainwood Day Camp, I suggested he check it out. Chris was very thankful for the opportunity, but in all honesty it wasn't hard for me to do. I'm hoping they find out some more information because I find investigating this case a really fascinating, if not completely bizarre, hobby of mine.
- Daniel
EDIT:
This is the outcome of that visit:
- Daniel
EDIT:
This is the outcome of that visit:
Sunday, November 13, 2011
November 13th, 2011 - I'm Still Alive
Yeah, I'm not dead t(hough it may have seemed like it). This blog was initially meant to chronicle my research on Heinrich Kaufmann the German archaeologist, but as you may have noticed that research has fell to the wayside.
These past months I've been having trouble sleeping. Terrible nightmares. Not even sure why. I've seen a doctor, a psychologist and even an "alternative healer" and no one seems to be able to help me. Insomnia sure sucks.
The reason I'm still updating this blog at all? If you recall I started helping Chris and Alex from New Jersey out after Chris e-mailed me about his situation, and I did some research for them because we had talked and I felt their pain. I was committed to helping them solve their problems. But towards the end of the summer, I got a message from Chris saying that they were giving up their own investigation into the crazy shit that's been going on in their lives. He said they'd let the police handle it. I said "Sure, no problem." Not like I need to update this blog anyway.
But, surprisingly enough, a few days ago, I got a NEW e-mail from Chris saying they ARE going to be continuing their investigation. Christ, can't these kids make up their minds? But, regardless, I agreed again. I'll be researching anything they need me to. I mean, it's really not too much trouble to run a few searches and rifle through newspaper articles. In fact, I do find it a bit fun.
- Daniel
These past months I've been having trouble sleeping. Terrible nightmares. Not even sure why. I've seen a doctor, a psychologist and even an "alternative healer" and no one seems to be able to help me. Insomnia sure sucks.
The reason I'm still updating this blog at all? If you recall I started helping Chris and Alex from New Jersey out after Chris e-mailed me about his situation, and I did some research for them because we had talked and I felt their pain. I was committed to helping them solve their problems. But towards the end of the summer, I got a message from Chris saying that they were giving up their own investigation into the crazy shit that's been going on in their lives. He said they'd let the police handle it. I said "Sure, no problem." Not like I need to update this blog anyway.
But, surprisingly enough, a few days ago, I got a NEW e-mail from Chris saying they ARE going to be continuing their investigation. Christ, can't these kids make up their minds? But, regardless, I agreed again. I'll be researching anything they need me to. I mean, it's really not too much trouble to run a few searches and rifle through newspaper articles. In fact, I do find it a bit fun.
- Daniel
Sunday, July 31, 2011
July 31st 2011 - The Rainwood Incident
This past month I've been busy with work and my social life, but I did manage to squeeze some time in to research some things for Chris and Alex. The first thing I found information on was Rainwood Day Camp & Learning Center, located right across the street from their late friend Greg's home.
Founded in the late 1950s by a Mr. Lawrence Rainwood, the Day Camp was a complex where children would stay during the summer months. It had large dining halls, a full kitchen, craft rooms as well as a large swimming pool. The camp was in operation from the mid 50s until the summer of 1958, when something called the "Rainwood Incident" occurred.
According to police reports dating back to June of 1958 all the way to May of 1960, every single child staying at the Day Camp disappeared on the evening of June 19th, 1958. This coincided with the first double-homicide committed by a serial killer, who was dubbed by the police as "The Tall Man". The murders occurred just two miles from the camp. Many speculated that the disappearances were the work of the Tall Man, though there was no evidence to back this claim. All adults who worked at the camp were institutionalized shortly after the incident, labeled clinically insane by physicians after claiming that a monster came and took the children away.
The largest missing persons case in the history of the State of New Jersey during the 50s, the Rainwood Case became a nation-wide story. For nearly three years, the police searched for the 72 missing children to no avail.
Shortly after the case surfaced in the media, however, it was forgotten. Newspapers no longer talked about it --merely days after the story arose-- and it did not become a media firestorm like so many expected it would become. Despite this, even after the three-year search for the children ended, family members of the missing children continued their search. The children to this day have not been found.
Strangely, just weeks after the Rainwood Incident first occurred there was a fire at the Day Camp. The building suffered a lot of structural damage and all documents in the building, including personal information about the children, were lost. The building was scheduled to be torn down the next year, but instead was bought by an anonymous landlord who refurbished it. It was then in use again from 1965 to 1998, when it was closed again for unknown reasons. The building has been abandoned ever since.
The history of the Day Camp prior to the Rainwood Incident is very foggy due to the severe lack of documentation, all lost in the fire.
All but one photo, that is.
This mysterious photo resurfaced a few years later, supposedly by a family member of one of the missing children who found it in the debris of the fire. No one knows who took the photo, or why.
Another thing to note about the photo, both striking and startling, is the figure. No one knows who the figure is, or why the photographer did not notice the figure while taking the picture. Some speculate it is a forgery, made by a family member of a missing child to perpetuate the legend of the Tall Man and to pin the disappearances on him in order to re-invigorate the search for the Rainwood children.
The person who resurfaced the photo was given this response by the police:
"The sad truth of the matter is that, after three years, the Rainwood children will most likely never be found. We give our sincerest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the families of the lost children. As far as the [serial] killer, the Tall Man... that issue is being handled by the federal government. We have our best boys working on that case. He will one day be brought to justice." - Chief of Police, Ronald White
- Daniel
Founded in the late 1950s by a Mr. Lawrence Rainwood, the Day Camp was a complex where children would stay during the summer months. It had large dining halls, a full kitchen, craft rooms as well as a large swimming pool. The camp was in operation from the mid 50s until the summer of 1958, when something called the "Rainwood Incident" occurred.
According to police reports dating back to June of 1958 all the way to May of 1960, every single child staying at the Day Camp disappeared on the evening of June 19th, 1958. This coincided with the first double-homicide committed by a serial killer, who was dubbed by the police as "The Tall Man". The murders occurred just two miles from the camp. Many speculated that the disappearances were the work of the Tall Man, though there was no evidence to back this claim. All adults who worked at the camp were institutionalized shortly after the incident, labeled clinically insane by physicians after claiming that a monster came and took the children away.
The largest missing persons case in the history of the State of New Jersey during the 50s, the Rainwood Case became a nation-wide story. For nearly three years, the police searched for the 72 missing children to no avail.
Shortly after the case surfaced in the media, however, it was forgotten. Newspapers no longer talked about it --merely days after the story arose-- and it did not become a media firestorm like so many expected it would become. Despite this, even after the three-year search for the children ended, family members of the missing children continued their search. The children to this day have not been found.
Strangely, just weeks after the Rainwood Incident first occurred there was a fire at the Day Camp. The building suffered a lot of structural damage and all documents in the building, including personal information about the children, were lost. The building was scheduled to be torn down the next year, but instead was bought by an anonymous landlord who refurbished it. It was then in use again from 1965 to 1998, when it was closed again for unknown reasons. The building has been abandoned ever since.
The history of the Day Camp prior to the Rainwood Incident is very foggy due to the severe lack of documentation, all lost in the fire.
All but one photo, that is.
This mysterious photo resurfaced a few years later, supposedly by a family member of one of the missing children who found it in the debris of the fire. No one knows who took the photo, or why.
Another thing to note about the photo, both striking and startling, is the figure. No one knows who the figure is, or why the photographer did not notice the figure while taking the picture. Some speculate it is a forgery, made by a family member of a missing child to perpetuate the legend of the Tall Man and to pin the disappearances on him in order to re-invigorate the search for the Rainwood children.
The person who resurfaced the photo was given this response by the police:
"The sad truth of the matter is that, after three years, the Rainwood children will most likely never be found. We give our sincerest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the families of the lost children. As far as the [serial] killer, the Tall Man... that issue is being handled by the federal government. We have our best boys working on that case. He will one day be brought to justice." - Chief of Police, Ronald White
- Daniel
Saturday, June 18, 2011
June 18th 2011 - Chris
The other day when I checked the blog again I noticed I had received a significant amount of followers since my last post. I was very curious about this sudden interest in my story, so I checked my e-mail. Apparently it had something to do with two guys named Chris and Alex.
They have a Youtube account called DarkHarvest00, which I decided to check out. The videos were pretty unnerving.
I received an e-mail from Chris explaining his situation to me. About how he believes he is being stalked. And about who he believes is doing it. The strange thing is that the word "Gorr'Rylaehotep" which was chanted when Heinrich Kaufmann found the Egyptian tablet was found in a book that Chris and Alex received. Chris believes this book belongs to a cult and that this tablet is in some way important to them. He thinks if he can find out more information on Kaufmann and the tablet, it may help him figure out why these people are stalking him and his friends.
I really don't know how much I will be able to help, but I did agree to continue my research for his sake. I also decided to look into other things that were relevant to him: the Atlantic Test Site and the Day Camp that he visited before. I really feel for these guys and want to help them out as much as I can. I'm glad my little research project is actually being used for something worthwhile. I find it surprising that the police haven't looked into this case more, but I suppose the sheer ridiculousness of it and the fact they never found any evidence made them think this was a hoax of some sort. But I believe Chris and will help them out any way I can. I'm very busy with work however and don't have much free time lately. I'll try to research as much as I can about Kaufmann and the other articles of interest for them when I can.
- Daniel
They have a Youtube account called DarkHarvest00, which I decided to check out. The videos were pretty unnerving.
I received an e-mail from Chris explaining his situation to me. About how he believes he is being stalked. And about who he believes is doing it. The strange thing is that the word "Gorr'Rylaehotep" which was chanted when Heinrich Kaufmann found the Egyptian tablet was found in a book that Chris and Alex received. Chris believes this book belongs to a cult and that this tablet is in some way important to them. He thinks if he can find out more information on Kaufmann and the tablet, it may help him figure out why these people are stalking him and his friends.
I really don't know how much I will be able to help, but I did agree to continue my research for his sake. I also decided to look into other things that were relevant to him: the Atlantic Test Site and the Day Camp that he visited before. I really feel for these guys and want to help them out as much as I can. I'm glad my little research project is actually being used for something worthwhile. I find it surprising that the police haven't looked into this case more, but I suppose the sheer ridiculousness of it and the fact they never found any evidence made them think this was a hoax of some sort. But I believe Chris and will help them out any way I can. I'm very busy with work however and don't have much free time lately. I'll try to research as much as I can about Kaufmann and the other articles of interest for them when I can.
- Daniel
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
June 7th 2011 - Mr. Clampett: Gorr'Rylaehotep
It's been quite some time since I've updated this blog. Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth updating. No one follows it. I might as well just write this down in an actual journal with the amount of people reading it haha. And to be honest between work and all the things that have been going on in my life, I was losing interest in this story. I may have never even updated it if it wasn't for the fact that I ran into my Ancient Civilizations teacher, Mr. Clampett, at work the other day.
Since school let out for the semester, I hadn't seen any of my teachers at all in fact. That was until Mr. Clampett walked into the Best Buy I work at. I was on register and I saw him. He was in fact my favorite teacher last semester and it was nice to see him. I was going on break just a few minutes after he walked in, so while I was going out to lunch I happened to see him shopping. I stopped and decided to have a chat with him, just to catch up. It wasn't until several minutes into the conversation that I thought to ask about Heinrich Kaufmann. He is quite knowledgeable not only on ancient civilizations but of the famous explorers and adventurers who brought the world knowledge of them. When I asked about Heinrich Kaufmann, he was very shocked to say the least.
He wondered why I wanted to know and I told him that I was just curious. Which is the honest truth. He seemed a tad suspicious but reluctantly told me anyway. He explained that Kaufmann was an eccentric individual and beyond that very little knowledge is available about him today. He was never all that famous and so little information was known about him to begin with, but strangely enough during the early 1990s all information about him in textbooks was removed for an uncited reason. The only biography on him ran out of publication even earlier, in the 1970s. He's become one of the most mysterious archaeologists simply due to the severe lack of information on him. Mr. Clampett was surprised when I told him I was able to find some information on him in a textbook and even a newspaper article online. When I told him the textbook most likely predated the 90s, it seemed to make more sense to him.
Lucky for me, Mr. Clampett is an older man and he's been teaching for decades. He knew quite a bit about Heinrich Kaufmann, accruing all his knowledge on him before the information was mysteriously wiped. He confirmed my suspicion that Heinrich Kaufmann Jr. was the son of the German industrialist and financier of the same name. He then proceeded to tell me a lot of information I already knew.
However, he eventually got to a part that really intrigued me. He knew quite a bit about the expedition Kaufmann made to Egypt. All information on Kaufmann's Egyptian Expedition is taken from his personal journal that he kept on his person at all times while on the trip. He wrote about the day to day activities of him and his team, made up mostly of local Egyptians. What I believe to be the most notable event in the expedition was when Kaufmann supposedly discovered the ancient tablet he was searching for, the Egyptians all started chanting:
"Gorr'Rylaehotep! Gorr'Rylaehotep! Gorr'Rylaehotep!"
Kaufmann asked his translator what this meant. The translator told him that "Gorr'Rylaehotep" was the name of a god that the locals claim came from another world and cursed the tablet. They warned Kaufmann not to take the tablet, but he was determined.
Mr. Clampett also explained what I already knew about Kaufmann's disgrace among the academic community and his retreat to New York.
This new information has renewed my interest in the story. I plan on continuing my research and updating my blog as I find out more.
If you have any new information to send me, e-mail me at dshipman90@gmail.com
- Daniel
Since school let out for the semester, I hadn't seen any of my teachers at all in fact. That was until Mr. Clampett walked into the Best Buy I work at. I was on register and I saw him. He was in fact my favorite teacher last semester and it was nice to see him. I was going on break just a few minutes after he walked in, so while I was going out to lunch I happened to see him shopping. I stopped and decided to have a chat with him, just to catch up. It wasn't until several minutes into the conversation that I thought to ask about Heinrich Kaufmann. He is quite knowledgeable not only on ancient civilizations but of the famous explorers and adventurers who brought the world knowledge of them. When I asked about Heinrich Kaufmann, he was very shocked to say the least.
He wondered why I wanted to know and I told him that I was just curious. Which is the honest truth. He seemed a tad suspicious but reluctantly told me anyway. He explained that Kaufmann was an eccentric individual and beyond that very little knowledge is available about him today. He was never all that famous and so little information was known about him to begin with, but strangely enough during the early 1990s all information about him in textbooks was removed for an uncited reason. The only biography on him ran out of publication even earlier, in the 1970s. He's become one of the most mysterious archaeologists simply due to the severe lack of information on him. Mr. Clampett was surprised when I told him I was able to find some information on him in a textbook and even a newspaper article online. When I told him the textbook most likely predated the 90s, it seemed to make more sense to him.
Lucky for me, Mr. Clampett is an older man and he's been teaching for decades. He knew quite a bit about Heinrich Kaufmann, accruing all his knowledge on him before the information was mysteriously wiped. He confirmed my suspicion that Heinrich Kaufmann Jr. was the son of the German industrialist and financier of the same name. He then proceeded to tell me a lot of information I already knew.
However, he eventually got to a part that really intrigued me. He knew quite a bit about the expedition Kaufmann made to Egypt. All information on Kaufmann's Egyptian Expedition is taken from his personal journal that he kept on his person at all times while on the trip. He wrote about the day to day activities of him and his team, made up mostly of local Egyptians. What I believe to be the most notable event in the expedition was when Kaufmann supposedly discovered the ancient tablet he was searching for, the Egyptians all started chanting:
"Gorr'Rylaehotep! Gorr'Rylaehotep! Gorr'Rylaehotep!"
Kaufmann asked his translator what this meant. The translator told him that "Gorr'Rylaehotep" was the name of a god that the locals claim came from another world and cursed the tablet. They warned Kaufmann not to take the tablet, but he was determined.
Mr. Clampett also explained what I already knew about Kaufmann's disgrace among the academic community and his retreat to New York.
This new information has renewed my interest in the story. I plan on continuing my research and updating my blog as I find out more.
If you have any new information to send me, e-mail me at dshipman90@gmail.com
- Daniel
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May 17th 2011 - Heinrich Kaufmann's Fall from Grace
I know it's been weeks since I've updated this blog. No followers yet either. Can't say I'm entirely surprised. This may not be the most interesting thing to some people.
Anyway, now with finals over I can finally focus my attention on this project of mine.
After doing a google search for Heinrich Kaufmann and finding no results relevant to what I'm looking for, I decided to do a google image search instead. Nothing remarkable came up for dozens of pages. I was growing bored when around page 100 or so I found a newspaper article. There was no date on it and I couldn't see what newspaper it was from, but it was written in English. It mentions both "Heinrich Kaufmann Jr." and "Egypt". I'm sure this must be him. This also seems to back up my theory that he was the son of the Heinrich Kaufmann I found the German wikipedia page on.
Apparently he was disgraced for supposedly forging his discovery of the ancient tablet. He fled to New York after he was ousted from his job. The words are very faded and hard to read, but certain letters, like those of the caption, are very clear. It also shows a picture of Professor Kaufmann, who I hadn't seen before so I'm quite unsure whether this is the man or not. This still doesn't tell me what actually happened on the expedition.
Seems to be pointing in the right direction though. I'm going to keep up my research and post anything interesting.
- Daniel
Anyway, now with finals over I can finally focus my attention on this project of mine.
After doing a google search for Heinrich Kaufmann and finding no results relevant to what I'm looking for, I decided to do a google image search instead. Nothing remarkable came up for dozens of pages. I was growing bored when around page 100 or so I found a newspaper article. There was no date on it and I couldn't see what newspaper it was from, but it was written in English. It mentions both "Heinrich Kaufmann Jr." and "Egypt". I'm sure this must be him. This also seems to back up my theory that he was the son of the Heinrich Kaufmann I found the German wikipedia page on.
Apparently he was disgraced for supposedly forging his discovery of the ancient tablet. He fled to New York after he was ousted from his job. The words are very faded and hard to read, but certain letters, like those of the caption, are very clear. It also shows a picture of Professor Kaufmann, who I hadn't seen before so I'm quite unsure whether this is the man or not. This still doesn't tell me what actually happened on the expedition.
Seems to be pointing in the right direction though. I'm going to keep up my research and post anything interesting.
- Daniel
Sunday, May 1, 2011
May 1st - 2011 : The Mystery of Heinrich Kaufmann II
Hello to anyone and everyone reading this blog, even though I doubt many people will follow this. I'm using this blog as more of a personal journal than anything. But anyway, here we go:
My name is Daniel and I am studying Ancient Cultures at my local community college. I'm hoping by next year I'll have enough money saved to go to University to study to become an archaeologist. Ancient civilizations, and the mystery that enshrouds them, have always been a point of interest for me. In recent years it's become my passion. How is this relevant you may ask? Let me elaborate.
One day I was at my school's library going through some textbooks (my laptop had broke and I hadn't the money for another one just yet - the one I'm using to post this now is my new one. Back on topic..) I had been going through some textbooks when I noticed something rather intriguing. An archaeologist by the name of Heinrich Kaufmann II. I had never heard of him before. I read the article in the textbook, which was quite dated (perhaps from the 1970s or 60s, I didn't check the publication date at the time). The article was a brief biography of his life - no more than a page in a section on archaeology during the early 1900s. From what I remember, he was a German born archaeologist who moved to England in his teens. He worked for a British university, I'm not entirely sure which one. He was a controversial professor at that university because of his unorthodox views of human history. He reminded me of one of those guys on that Ancient Aliens show on the history channel. He believed that most of history was being interpreted wrong and that the ancients were vastly more advanced than we gave them credit for - he even believed they could time travel and teleport. His ideas sound whacky today, and were even moreso back in his day. However, due to his impressive education and friends in high places, he was able to retain his job.
Not only that, he managed to get funding for an expedition to Egypt. He was searching for an ancient tablet that was rumored to have the secrets to the ancient's wisdom in the tomb of an unnamed Pharaoh. This was just a legend however. But, like the many archaeologists who set out in search of Atlantis, the man was undaunted and went to find this artifact.
However, that's all the information the book gave. Nothing about the outcome of this journey at all. Me, being rather curious in nature, would like to find out what happened to this man. That is why I have set up this blog.
The first thing I did was go to the library to find out more about him. However the book I read the information from before was gone, and I couldn't find a single other book with information about him in it.
I then did a search online to find out any information about him. The only information I could bring up about a "Heinrich Kaufmann" was a German wikipedia page, which I translated. My translator isn't exactly the best and so it's hard to make out what it's about. What I got from it was that a man named Heinrich Kaufmann was born in Germany in 1864 and died in 1928. He was well-educated and a teacher as well as an industrialist and ideologist. Since the Heinrich Kaufmann II (or Jr.) I am looking for made his expedition when he was in his 20s in 1906, this lead me to believe this man was his father. Any information about Heinrich Kaufmann Jr. I am looking for still eludes me. But this is a challenge and a mystery I am willing to face head-on. I think it should be pretty fun. It's like a missing person case! Or maybe I've just been watching too much Law and Order.
The image above is the image that came with the article for Heinrich Kaufmann. The caption read: "Total Board of ZdK 1903 vl, Karl Schmidtchen , Konrad Barth , Max Radestock (Chairman), Heinrich Kaufmann (Secretary)
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll update this blog when I find any new information.
- Daniel
My name is Daniel and I am studying Ancient Cultures at my local community college. I'm hoping by next year I'll have enough money saved to go to University to study to become an archaeologist. Ancient civilizations, and the mystery that enshrouds them, have always been a point of interest for me. In recent years it's become my passion. How is this relevant you may ask? Let me elaborate.
One day I was at my school's library going through some textbooks (my laptop had broke and I hadn't the money for another one just yet - the one I'm using to post this now is my new one. Back on topic..) I had been going through some textbooks when I noticed something rather intriguing. An archaeologist by the name of Heinrich Kaufmann II. I had never heard of him before. I read the article in the textbook, which was quite dated (perhaps from the 1970s or 60s, I didn't check the publication date at the time). The article was a brief biography of his life - no more than a page in a section on archaeology during the early 1900s. From what I remember, he was a German born archaeologist who moved to England in his teens. He worked for a British university, I'm not entirely sure which one. He was a controversial professor at that university because of his unorthodox views of human history. He reminded me of one of those guys on that Ancient Aliens show on the history channel. He believed that most of history was being interpreted wrong and that the ancients were vastly more advanced than we gave them credit for - he even believed they could time travel and teleport. His ideas sound whacky today, and were even moreso back in his day. However, due to his impressive education and friends in high places, he was able to retain his job.
Not only that, he managed to get funding for an expedition to Egypt. He was searching for an ancient tablet that was rumored to have the secrets to the ancient's wisdom in the tomb of an unnamed Pharaoh. This was just a legend however. But, like the many archaeologists who set out in search of Atlantis, the man was undaunted and went to find this artifact.
However, that's all the information the book gave. Nothing about the outcome of this journey at all. Me, being rather curious in nature, would like to find out what happened to this man. That is why I have set up this blog.
The first thing I did was go to the library to find out more about him. However the book I read the information from before was gone, and I couldn't find a single other book with information about him in it.
I then did a search online to find out any information about him. The only information I could bring up about a "Heinrich Kaufmann" was a German wikipedia page, which I translated. My translator isn't exactly the best and so it's hard to make out what it's about. What I got from it was that a man named Heinrich Kaufmann was born in Germany in 1864 and died in 1928. He was well-educated and a teacher as well as an industrialist and ideologist. Since the Heinrich Kaufmann II (or Jr.) I am looking for made his expedition when he was in his 20s in 1906, this lead me to believe this man was his father. Any information about Heinrich Kaufmann Jr. I am looking for still eludes me. But this is a challenge and a mystery I am willing to face head-on. I think it should be pretty fun. It's like a missing person case! Or maybe I've just been watching too much Law and Order.
The image above is the image that came with the article for Heinrich Kaufmann. The caption read: "Total Board of ZdK 1903 vl, Karl Schmidtchen , Konrad Barth , Max Radestock (Chairman), Heinrich Kaufmann (Secretary)
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll update this blog when I find any new information.
- Daniel
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