Bill Ellis | Dear Mister Thom # 34, 1994
FRACKVILLE – If someone walked up to you and told you a story about an experience they had or about which they heard concerning a hitchhiker who foretold “The end is near” and disappeared from “inside” a vehicle, what would you think?
Like most people, you would probably doubt the report or maybe turn the TV set to the popular “Unsolved Mysteries” show and try to summon its host, Robert Stack, to unravel the bizarre event.
Editorial sceptics
Such a story was brought to the attention of the Evening Herald recently and the reactions of editorial department personnel were predictable “Yeah, right”.
A check with state police, however, revealed troopers had received several calls relating to the hitchhiker incident.
Sgt. Barry Reed, station commander at Frackville, confirmed receiving three or four calls about the mysterious vanishing hitchhiker, from reliable and credible individuals who all shared the same experience.
The “hitchhiker” was described as a tall, thin man with long dark hair and wearing a long dark coat. He was picked up on Route61 near Frackville’s southern end on Monday, Jan 31, between 6 and 7 a.m.
Several stories
However, contrary to the “unofficial” reports, state troopers said they received no reports about the “hitchhiker” in conversation about the weather, the turbulence of society or the Angel Gabriel “tooting his horn for the second time”.
However, troopers did say reports made to them concerned the hitchhiker having said ‘I am here to tell you the end is near,’ before vanishing into thin air.
Some reports relayed to the Evening Herald alleged the mysterious hitchhiker warned, ‘Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming’ and then disappeared.
Sgy. Reed recalled that while he was stationed in Lancaster County about 10 years ago, a similar ‘hitchhiker tale was circulated.
Think it was a hoax
In reference to the Lancaster County incidents and the Schuykill County reports, Sgt. Reed said, ‘I believe it is a hoax. But the people are reliable.’
Sgt. Reed said he travels ‘up and down’ the Frackville grade to Saint Clair daily and never noticed anything.
‘Even people who never pick up hitchhikers pick them up,’ said Sgt. Reed, who particularly pointed to a case involving a Frackville woman who apparently had never before stopped for a hitchhiker.
Motorists tend to feel sorry for hitchhikers, especially during the cold winter weather, and subsequently act contrary to their beliefs by picking them up.
Sgt. Reed said, ‘In at least one of the reports, I regarded the person as the most reliable.’
No calls elsewhere
A check with the Hazelton and Schuyhill Haven state police revealed there were no calls about the mystical man.
Sgt. Reed offered this advice to motorists, ‘Don’t pick up any hitchhikers. That’s always good advice.’
Story by Rosanne M. Hall, Evening Herald (Shenandoah, PA), 4 February 1994.