Introducing The Fountain Road Files, a new horror fiction podcast from Unexplained creator Richard McLean Smith. In March twenty twenty, twenty seven year old cafe worker Ben Williams began recording an audio diary of the coronavirus pandemic. Two months later, he was found dead in the South London flat where he was spending lockdown alone, or so he thought. Search the Fountain Road Files wherever you get your podcasts, and for more information go to the Fountain Road Files dot com.
Some know it as the Crossroads of America, others as the home of Hawkins and the gateway to the upside Down. But I've only ever known it as Erie. There wasn't much that I wanted more as a kid than to be Marshall Teller, uprooted from his home in New Jersey to live among the freaks and weirdos of Erie, Indiana. And by freaks and weirdos, of course, I mean the
best kind of people. I have no idea what inspired writers Jose Rivera and Carl Schaffer to use the Hugier State as the location for one of the greatest TV shows of all time, or what exactly they thought was eerie about it, but if the following story is anything to go by, it certainly earned its reputation. You're listening
to one, explained, and I'm Richard McClean smith. The doctor asked for the family to be sent in, then sat back in his chair as one by one, thirty one year old LaToya Ammonds and her three children filed into his office, followed by Latoya's mother, Rosa. Doctor on Yuquo waited for them to take a seat, then asked what the problem was. LaToya took a moment to gather her thoughts. It's the demons in our home, she said. They're attacking
the children. The doctor took a moment to process demons, he said, as he pulled out a pad and paper, what do you mean exactly? LaToya looked at her mother for reassurance, and Rosa nodded for her to continue. It had all started a few months before, back in December two thou and eleven, shortly after the family had moved into a new home. The property, a modest, one story rental on Carolina Street, a quiet, leafy suburb on the outskirts of Gary, Indiana, was meant to be a fresh start.
Within days, of moving. However, there were ominous signs. It was Rosa who noticed it first, the way the flies swarmed all over the screen door as if it were rotting meat, despite it being the middle of winter at the time, and how despite their rigorous efforts to get rid of them, their number never seemed to diminish. Then one night, not long after the flies appeared, LaToya had just put the children to bed when she heard something moving above her, like someone pacing about on the ceiling.
She hadn't thought much of it until a few nights later, when she and Rosa heard the basement door creak open when no one was near it, despite it being locked. From that point on, they continued to hear it open. Another time, after Rosa heard the basement door open again, she found a series of wet footprints coming away from it, as if someone had just walked up into the house. Late one evening in March, after a member of their extended family had died, a number of friends and family
were that at the house to mourn. With the children in bed, a cry was hurt coming from one of the bedrooms, where Latoya's twelve year old daughter and her cousin was sleeping. Running to the room, LaToya pushed open the door just in time to see her daughter appearing to fall from the air onto her bed. Despite being fast asleep, the cry had come from the clearly terrified cousin.
When asked what had happened, she claimed to have seen the girl drift up from the bed, hang in the air for a moment, and then collapsed back down onto the mattress. Concerned that something other worldly was happening in her home, the deeply religious LaToya turned to the church for help. Following the advice of one representative, she cleaned her house from top to bottom with ammonia, then used a holy oil to draw crosses on each door and
window frame to keep out any malicious spirits. That night, as she put the children to bed, she used the same oil to mark a small cross on each of their foreheads. But, as LaToya explained to the doctor, the spirits would not be deterred. One afternoon, LaToya overheard her seven year old son talking to someone inside a cupboard. When she asked him who he was speaking to, he replied simply that it was his friend. He always asked him to play in the cupboard, he said, but there's
no one there, said LaToya. You can't see him because he's dead, replied her son. It wasn't long after that that Latoya's nine year old son began talking in odd tones about knowing what death was like, and her daughter claimed to be hearing voices telling her she would die soon and that she would never see her family again. Back in the doctor's office, doctor on Yoku began making
some notes. Clearly, he wrote, the family were experiencing some sort of mass delusion, that there were ghosts in the house, or they were hallucinating perhaps, But as he spelled out the words, he became aware of a strange gurgling sound. Looking up, he realized it was coming from the youngest boy. As the gurgle became more of a growl, the boy's
face began to screw up in anger. In an instant, the doctor watched with astonishment as the boy leapt from the chair and charged against the wall, almost as if something had thrown him across the room, and then he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. As LaToya gathered him up and cradled him in her arms, the stunt doctor yelled for his staff to call nine one one. After being rushed to the ear of a nearby hospital. The young boy and the rest of the family were thankfully found
to be in good health. However, with both LaToya and her children maintaining that they were under attack from demons, a decision was made to call the Department of Child Services for help. It had just gone eight forty five pm when DCS case manager Valerie Washington arrived at the North Lake campus of Methodist Hospitals. After being debriefed by the medical staff, she was led into a consultation room to speak with LaToya and Rosa, while the children were
kept in a separate room next door. No sooner had LaToya started telling Valerie what had been happening, they heard that strange growling sound again coming from the adjacent room than her oldest son screamed for help. The women ran next door, shocked to find Latoya's youngest with his nine year old brother in a headlock. Valerie gasped at the sight of his eyes rolled back into his head and his teeth bared as he held tight to his brother's neck,
choking him. It took five members of staff to finally pry him away. With his eyes still rolled back in his head. The boy started shaking and was placed on a bed. When he finally settled down, he claimed to have no recollection of what he'd done. Later, with all the family gathered together, Valerie is joined by nurse Willie Lee Walker and a psychologist to deliver the painful news.
Given the evident disruption occurring at the home, Valerie had little option but to recommend that the children be placed elsewhere for the time being. But just as she was about to go into further details, Latoya's youngest began to growl again, fixing his brother with an uncompromising stare. The others watched with alarm as his mouth broke into a strange, wide smile, before he then ran head first into his
grandmother stomach. Again and again, he butted into her, his teeth clenched tightly together until Rosa grabbed his hands and began to pray loudly over him. It's time to die, he said, as he wrestled to get free. Then all of a sudden, the boy stopped, walked steadily backwards and up the wall. The others could only watch with utter confusion as he continued moving up toward the ceiling, until eventually he flipped over his grandmother and landed back on
his feet. Valerie bolted from the room in terror. Later, when police asked her to go over exactly what had happened, the best way she could describe it was that the boy had glided up the wall. That night at the Ya, LaToya and her youngest child were kept in for observation while Rosa took the other two home. The following day, they returned to the hospital, where case manager Valerie Washington broke the painful news to LaToya that she would be
officially separated from her children pending a formal investigation. Though she didn't express it explicitly in her report, Valerie had come to believe that the family really were suffering at the hands of a genuine evil. When the hospital chaplain then heard about the peculiar events of the previous night, he too came to the same conclusion. That afternoon, he contacted local reverend Michael Machineau to ask if he'd be
willing to conduct an exorcism on the family. Father Machineau agreed to help, but only if the family contacted him directly. They called him the next day and made arrangements to meet at the Carolina Street property. A day later, Machineau arrived at the house to find LaToya and Rosa waiting anxious outside. Neither had been back since their visit to the hospital. Reassured by Machineau's presence, however, they made their way inside and invited him to take a seat with
them in the living room. Over the next few hours, they told him about everything that had happened, from the abundance of flies in winter, toward the times that they'd heard strange noises coming from behind the basement door, to the time LaToya caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure watching her from inside her closet. They had stayed in a hotel that night. Just then, the bathroom light began to flicker, but when Machineau walked over to investigate, the
flickering abruptly stopped. Perhaps the demons are afraid of me, he wandered out loud. Returning to the sofa, Machineau was just about to speak again when Rosa interrupted. Look, she said, pointing to the blinds. They were swaying, but there was no breeze inside. After four hours of conversation, LaToya complained of a headache. Taking a crucifix from his bag, father Machineau placed it on her head, and she began to convulse violently, and when he pulled it away, she returned
to her usual self. It was just as he'd suspected, LaToya was possessed. Machineau finished by sprinkling holy water in each room and made arrangements to get back in touch with La Toya to make a plan for the exorcism. In the meantime, he suggested they move out permanently. A few days after father Machineau's visit, DCS case manager Valerie Washington made her routine visit to the house. The official purpose was to assess the family's living standards, in which
she was assisted by Captain Charles Austen from local law enforcement. However, with rumors about the apparent demon house beginning to circulate, two other officers tagged along out of curiosity. LaToya and Rosa met them outside, but with LaToya too angry after having her children taken away from her, it was left to Rosa to show them around. An anxious hush came over the group as they cautiously made their way through
the screen door and into the property. Footsteps cracked and creaked across the hardwood floor as Valerie made her inspection of the three bedrooms, bathroom, and open kitchen, glad to find it all in good condition. Finally they arrived at the basement door. Rosa led them down. Woe, said one of the officers, when he caught sight of the peculiar
table arrangement in the corner. That's just the altar, explained Rosa, comprised of a white sheet over a table with a single candle and a small statue of the Holy Family on top. They'd been advised to construct it by a local self described clairvoyant when the strange events started happening. An open Bible and a burned stick of sage had also been placed on top of it. And that's where
we think the demons are coming from. Rosa pointed to a large spot under the stairs where the basement's concrete floor appeared to have been smashed open, almost as if something had erupted out of it from out of the black earth that was now visible from underneath. One of the officers pulled out a video camera to film it, but when he went to press record, he found the battery light blinking on and off. The batteries were dead, despite being brand new that morning. Luckily, they had a
spare device on hand. Rosa pointed out the various circles of salt they put on the ground toward off the malicious spirits as the officer made a quick sweep with the camera. Satisfied they'd seen everything, the group returned upstairs, relieved that it was over. Valerie and the officers thanked Rosa for her time and headed on their separate ways. Back in his patrol car, Captain Austin reached for the radio receiver when a violent blast of static burst out
at the speakers were there. Austin drew back in shock. What the hell was that? Came the dispatched voice from
the other end. No idea, replied the captain. Later, when the officers watched the recording of their visit, they were convinced they heard a voice that didn't belong to anyone in the room at the time, and when they examined photos they took of the front of the property, they noticed something peculiar that seemed to be staring out at them from a window, something with unusually large eyes and a gaping mouth. It looked as if it were screaming.
Under further psychological examinations, Latoya's children spoke of shadow figures that roamed their home, and how the children would sometimes go into trances. They spoke of doors slamming unaided, and objects being moved around without anybody touching them. It was also discovered, however, that the children had been regularly missing
school since two thousand and nine. Despite Latoya's protests that this had only happened recently because the unusual events had kept them awake all night, the DCS investigation concluded that she was in neglect of her duties as a parent. As a result, a temporary wardship was awarded to the state and her children were placed in care, with LaToya and Rosa now living with family in Indianapolis. Father Magineau took the opportunity to conduct a blessing on the house,
joining a second DCS visit on May tenth. He conducted the ritual in front of two police officers and Samantha Ilitch from Children's Services. As the reverend conducted the blessing, flicking droplets of holy water into the furthest corners of the house, Ilitch made her way into the living room when she began to feel a sudden surge of pain in her little finger. It was as if something were breaking it from the inside. Then a tightness began to
take hold in her chest. With a growing sense that the walls were beginning to close in and all light was diminishing, she ran for the door and burst into the street, gasping for air as if she had just broken the surface from out of water. After suffering a string of medical problems in the following weeks, including broken bones and burns from a motorbike crash, many of Ilich's friends were left wandering if something of the house ended
up attaching itself to her. A few days later, Father Magineau received permission from the local bishop to conduct the exorcism on LaToya. One morning in June, LaToya arrived at the designated church in Merylville to begin the ritual with Father Magineau. They were joined by the two police officers who'd assisted in the original house investigation, and one other
parishioner in case LaToya needed restraining during the procedure. Throughout that morning, Magineau railed at the demons he was convinced were hiding in Latoya's body. I cast you out, unclean spirit, he shouted, along with every satanic power of the enemy. Every specter from Hell and all your fell companions in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. With his voice rising in volume, he pressed a crucifix against her head,
and her body volst wildly. And so the session continued, with Latoya's energy seeming to ebb and flow as the day went on. By the end of that day, sensing they'd made progress, Father Magineau gave LaToya a set of rosary beads to take home. Later that afternoon, after she'd left, However, Magineau found the beads ripped apart and abandoned in the parking lot. For the second exorcism session, Magineau decided that they'd need the names of the demons that they were
really going to make it work. He suggested to LaToya that she look up the names on the internet, telling her that she would know them when she saw them, but when she tried to do it, her computer kept shutting down inexplicably. Instead, Magineau brought his own list of possibilities to the next session and had LaToya point out the one she believed were responsible. Armed with two names,
Magineau conducted the right for a time. This time, LaToya convulsed and cried out in pain whenever the names were shouted out, until finally it seemed she was too weak to carry on and fell asleep. After the second session, Father Machineau went on a retreat to prepare for the next one, leaving a backup plan with an assistant in case there were any problems. While he was gone, a piece of paper with the long name of a demon written on it that was then tucked into an envelope
and surrounded with blessed salt. The assistant was to burn it if LaToya was in distress. Not long after the reverend left, LaToya called the assistant, complaining that she was suffering from terrible nightmares. The envelope was promptly burned, and the nightmares apparently ended. With Machineau returning soon after, they conducted the third and final exorcism, this time in Latin.
Machineau claimed later that although LaToya didn't understand the Latin, she remained quiet during the moments that God was praised, but convulsed violently during the condemnations. When the ritual was finished, LaToya fell asleep, exhausted. When she finally woke, she claimed the demons were gone. That night, after LaToya had driven back home to Indianapolis. A storm ripped through the local area, knocking the power out for twenty four hours, with local
news getting wind at the incredible story. Though the family were no longer living there, the house on Carolina Street became somewhat of a curio, with local police often even stopping by to take a look. Landlord Charles Read was eventually forced to demand that the police stopped coming because they were scaring the lieutenant. He told the press that there had been no plus before or after LaToya and
her family stayed there. After having her children removed from her, LaToya was given a strict set of guidelines to follow in order to prove that she was capable of looking after them, which included the requests that she attend therapy sessions, that she no longer discussed the notion of demons, and an insistence that she work on different ways to discipline her children that weren't directly related to religion or the
notion of demonic possession. In November two and twelve, having successfully demonstrated her commitment to the guidelines, Latoya's children were returned to her. She later said it was the happiest day of her life. The Department of Child's Services closed the case in February two thirteen, stating that there had been no demonic presences or spirits in the home. LaToya, however, remained convinced it wasn't the psychologists that helped, but God.
When you hear something like this, don't assume it's not real. Because I've lived it, she said, I know it's real. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add free episodes, discount or merchandise, as well as brand new video and audio content exclusive to Patreon members. Just go to patron dot com, forward Slash Unexplained Pod to sign up, or if you'd like to make a one time donation, you can go to Unexplained podcast dot
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