Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In our last episode, Lost in Stormy Visions, we cast our eye over the epic tale of the lost Colony of Roanoke. Having only had a loose understanding of the story before researching it, I was staggered by its sheer scale and how wide and deep the connections were with many major events of the age.
It is unfortunate too that so little was known about the lives of the undeniably brave individuals, regardless of how we might measure the consequences of their actions, who made the journey in the first place. It's worth noting too that though this is often referred to as America's Mystery, from the perspective of the people and communities already existing there, it was anything but. I find the notion of entire vanishing communities or mass events such as this endlessly compelling.
One such story that's always fascinated me is the mystery of Scara Bray in Orkney, Scotland. It was during the winter of eighteen fifty that a severe storm ripped into the Bay of Skylee on the west coast of the island's mainland, tearing at a large and unusual grassy knoll
known locally as Scara Bra, which overlooked the coast. When the storm finally cleared one morning, the local villagers woke up to discover the knoll had been completely removed, and in its place, the outline of an ancient village was discovered buried in the earth when the site was eventually excavated. The settlement, which dated to around three thousand to five hundred BC, was unusually modern and well preserved for its time, with the site being littered with various enigmatic ornaments and
decorative features, as well as ancient pottery. It was as if its inhabitants were not only strangely advanced for the time, but had just decided one day to up and leave. That much of the island is home to ancient mystical architecture only added further to the mystery. More often than not, if we dig deep enough, we tend to find, if not the answer, then at the very least a number
of credible possibilities to explain such disappearances. There is one story, however, that has so far proved a little harder to fathom. In nineteen thirty, Joe la Belle was an experienced fur trapper who worked in what was then known by some as the more than Territories of Canada, in a region often referred to as the barren Lands. In winter, these barren lands would be little but snow and ice for hundreds of miles, with occasional tufts of barren rock peppering
the crisp white landscape. During the trapping season, LaBelle could often go for weeks at a time, dragging himself and his wares across the barren lands without ever seeing another person. In the more sparsely populated regions, LaBelle was grateful for the hospitality of a number of local Inuit communities which he had befriended over the years. One such community had, for a significant time been camped on the shores of Lake and Jucuni, located about five hundred miles north of
the Port of Churchill in Hudson Bay. It was one afternoon in November nineteen thirty LaBelle, having been paddling across the lake for some time, decided to make his way toward the settlement to check in with the people there. From a distance, things already seemed a little odd. There was no sign of campfire or any movement from the twenty strong community, nor the animals which they kept there. Nearing the shores of the camp, LaBelle cried out at greeting,
only to be met with a deathly silence. Paddling all the way to the shore, LaBelle hauled his canoe onto the ice. Hearing something padding toward him, he turned sharply to see two lethargic and emaciated husky dogs slowly making their way toward him. Clearly they hadn't eaten in days. Calling out again, the concerned LaBelle wandered into the camp, finding the dead bodies of the seven other dogs, barely
more than bones, lying frozen in the snow. There were six tents in total, all made of caribou skin and perfectly preserved with no signs of damage. Standing for a moment to try and comprehend the scene, LaBelle moved nervously toward one of the tents, after calling out one more time, still to no reply. He braced himself before pulling back the flap and ducking inside, Having been half expecting to find a rotting corpse or perhaps something even worse. He
was somewhat relieved to find the home completely vacant. His discovery, however, only added more fuel to the mystery. Are you always taking care of your family? Do you often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself. To make time for you. You deserve it. Tele Adoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, you can speak to a
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the app or visit teledoc dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started that's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. Parker coats made from deer hides were piled up on the floor next to a number of pairs of boots. A black iron pot, still a little greasy from the last time it had been used, was positioned to the side, surrounded by fish and deer bones. It was as if the owners had merely gone out to run an errand but never come back. Pulling up the jackets,
LaBelle also found a badly rusted rifle underneath. Considering this and the starving dogs outside, it was clear the occupants had been gone for some time. Moving from one tent to the next as the two skeletal dogs shadowed his every move, LaBelle found them all to be in exactly the same state, each full of bedding, skins and furs and cooking utensils. As he went, LaBelle pondered on what
could possibly have happened. Perhaps they had all ventured out on a hunting trip, he thought, but had been unexpectedly caught up in a lethal shift in the weather. It wasn't unheard of, but certainly unlikely considering the Inuit's experience with such matters and how unlikely it would be for the entire village to have gone out together, nor were they likely to have simply moved camp or joined another settlement, since there was simply no way they would have left
all their possessions behind in the process. Then, in the final tent, Lebelle found something else, an Inuit charm placed just inside it, a device to ward off evil spirits, and one in particular that the Inuit were most wary of, an entity known as a torn rack, who was often blamed for causing terrible events. Le Belle knew this spirit to be something monstrous, with a grotesque face and two long tusks sticking up from its nose, though he wasn't
the superstitious kind. As he stood outside moments later, surrounded by the stillness of the tundra, as a quiet breeze slipped through the village, it was hard to resist the sense of unease steadily intensifying inside him. LaBelle wandered down to the edge of the lake and gazed over its mirrored surface. Could they have drowned? He thought? It seemed ludicrous to think so, considering their skill on the water. Unless they had been forced to take some kind of
drastic action, but LaBelle dismissed this idea too. Turning back, he noticed something he hadn't picked up on before, a pile of stones scattered about just behind the village. Having swiftly made his way over to it, LaBelle realized it was a cairn of some sort, the remnants of a traditional grave site. What didn't make any sense, however, was that the grave was open and whatever had been buried in it was now gone. Hearing the wine of the dogs behind him, LaBelle stayed on to catch them a
few fish before eventually deciding to head back out. Throughout the rest of the trapping season, LaBelle would encounter a host of other Inuit communities, but none had any idea as to what could have happened to the missing villagers. All muttered something about the torn rack. Some have speculated that this event never actually took place, but was instead concocted from the imagination of writer Frank Edwards, who included an account of it in his nineteen fifty nine collection
of stories Stranger than Science. Recently, however, the truth became a little less clear when an earlier account of the story was actually traced back to a November twenty seventh, nineteen thirty article that appeared in The Bee, a Virginian newspaper from the town of Danville in the United States. The article, written by one Emmett Kelleher, also goes on
to mention a few other details. At the first opportunity, le Belle is said to have contacted the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, who Julie began an investigation of the case. A short time later, an unknown ten year old boy was said to have arrived out of the blue at a settlement a hundred and fifty miles to the north of the abandoned camp. When quizzed by police, the boy was apparently unwilling to say exactly where he'd come from.
Not long after that, a man named Salmec entered a hospital located somewhere along the Hudson Bay Railway line, suffering from severe frostbite on both his legs. Since the man didn't speak English, doctors were forced to wait until a translator it could be found to find out what exactly had occurred. However, when they finally located one Salmac refused to talk to them, repeating only that same familiar word torn rack. I'd like to thank Scott Bathgate for recommending
this story. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can now go to Unexplained Podcast dot com Forward Slash Support. All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. All elements have Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an
explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Now. It's time to take care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time,
seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit telldoc dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started. That's t e LA d oc dot com Slash Unexplained podcast