0:00

Hey Task Force, this is Trevor and I

0:02

have a very important announcement to make.

0:05

So as some of you may have heard

0:07

last week, our parent company Rooster Teeth was

0:09

informed that it is being shut down. Later

0:11

this week we are going to upload a

0:13

separate update about the future of Red Web

0:15

and what the broad implications of that are

0:17

for us. It'll be right here in the

0:19

podcast feed so you won't miss it. We're

0:21

going to go over as much as we have, but

0:24

suffice to say we're still figuring things out. Thank

0:26

you so much for all of your

0:28

love and support over these past three

0:30

and a half, four years. But

0:33

for now, here's our

0:35

regularly scheduled mystery. It

0:48

is said that on Halloween night, people from

0:50

all over the state of Virginia gather around

0:52

or under a local bridge. Legend

0:55

says that if you don't leave the

0:57

area before midnight, you might not live

0:59

to tell the tale. Today we discuss

1:01

the story and origin of the urban

1:03

legend known as the Bunny Man. This

1:06

is Red Web. Welcome

1:15

back Task Force to Red Web,

1:17

the podcast all about internet mysteries,

1:19

supernatural phenomenon, and unsolved true crime.

1:21

Today we're discussing a very interesting

1:23

case, an urban legend. In fact,

1:26

I'm your resident mystery enthusiast, Trevor Collins, and

1:28

joining me hearing this urban legend for the

1:31

very first time, Alfredo Diaz.

1:34

This sounds like the premise to a

1:37

cheap, but not, but not, not, not

1:39

essentially like bad horror movie.

1:42

Indie level. Yeah. Like, yeah. Charming. Yeah.

1:44

Like a indie level. Relatable. Yeah. Indie

1:46

level. Cheap, but not bad. Yeah. Yeah.

1:48

It does sound like that. I've also

1:50

come to realize, I think in

1:53

this like space, I like urban

1:55

legends the most. Yeah. Yeah. So this

1:57

is, I'm very, very excited. I'm

1:59

interested. See where the money aspect

2:01

to learn from him as the dark

2:03

figure you see of funny man. Which.

2:06

Reminds me I used to be scared the Easter

2:08

Bunny when made by parents. Meme: sit down to

2:10

a picture with and there are good reasons you

2:12

even some of what we're about to discuss today.

2:14

Money should never be that big and in kids

2:16

have those instincts and you especially with your gut

2:19

check. You. Know you just do

2:21

some sort of psychic ability emanating off your

2:23

aura that I scares me. Some connection there

2:25

that I need to like Kite that he

2:27

define a big curses We need to further

2:29

tether that all like ghostbusters into the Bartlett's

2:31

frank I'm not capture your essence and and

2:33

know how to duplicate it so we can

2:35

all be psychics. I still I gonna be

2:38

if I give em ever a ghost I

2:40

just want to be so an environment or

2:42

is like I thought to catch you know

2:44

I'm about soon as biology out know have

2:46

a know box hours at a summit on

2:48

I know don't bark at. A science it

2:50

up arms and allows a is hop

2:53

big as as bridge. If you can

2:55

have a ton of people like someone

2:57

under it he I'd So it we

2:59

say people from all over Northern Virginia

3:01

it's It's kind of an urban legend

3:03

again to it's well spread. I don't

3:05

know how many people go at midnight

3:07

on Halloween specifically but it's not super

3:09

long. It's a modest length christian

3:12

Other know we actually discuss later on the

3:14

dimensions of this bridge but it's yeah we

3:16

our hazard a guess as to saying like

3:18

eight feet wide? It's. Pretty small

3:20

opening. it's a train bridge out over

3:22

the small opening a suit and it's

3:25

also not super deep. Also,

3:27

not that many people who play as if

3:29

you've on the edge. I like, I get

3:31

a foot it right? This isn't like one

3:33

of those a hundred plus foot long bridges.

3:35

Yeah, you kind of like my Cd A

3:37

Zola. Gather Yeah we're you're You're in the

3:39

middle and then suddenly you're having like a

3:41

someone's entered the the tunnel on both ends.

3:43

Can a moment or far? Yeah. There's.

3:45

No official dimensions. it's kind of looking at

3:47

photos of it and extrapolating printer which I

3:49

was doing but he adds. Eight

3:51

to ten feet wide may be. Your

3:54

mom south learn about I am as main business is.

3:56

Twenty. To thirty feet long. It's a

3:58

pretty small over it. Malaria. Yeah so like

4:01

the I feel like there are a lot of.

4:03

Local haunted bridges and a lot of states.

4:05

I grew up near one and that there's

4:07

always a tail. Know I wanted to. Wanted.

4:10

To gather some friends go at at dusk.

4:12

But it was. It was like. And.

4:14

Fourteen. I can't drive an hour away.

4:16

I yeah and my parents like more

4:18

not doing that. But there's always

4:21

some bridge somewhere in they are usually like

4:23

curve or arab or the really long even.

4:25

This was interesting but it does have sort

4:27

of breakdown what that urban legend is for

4:30

hims had a grounded in reality a little

4:32

bit as you we me why it's an

4:34

urban legend and then gives some sightings and

4:36

some of the origins elements to it and

4:39

want and courtesies. How this urban

4:41

legend A team to be? So Yes!

4:43

so the bridge is officially called the

4:45

Colchester Overpass. It is a single lane

4:47

road under a railroad tracks in the

4:49

woods of Clifton, which is city roughly

4:52

thirty miles southwest of Washington Dc. These

4:54

monsters and myths and legends like kick

4:56

in and around just in this little

4:58

area who do As the Appalachians. you

5:00

know it's a historic. Spooky.

5:02

Mountains or produce like the culture. There

5:04

you go and get a couple of

5:06

religions are corrupted and diverse. Like all

5:09

it's Make a buck wild with Reiner

5:11

and never next liar. Their apps like

5:13

the Adventures of the Crypt it's live

5:15

out that way. Know it is said

5:17

that the visitors leaves from under the

5:19

bridge just before midnight because they don't

5:21

know, but I'm the system. The Bunnymen.

5:23

Others say that it doesn't have to

5:25

be Halloween that you can go on

5:27

any given night and say bunny Me

5:29

And three different times I like Bloody

5:31

Mary. Bloody Mary. And if you do

5:33

that, he might show up to slit your throat

5:35

and hanging from the bridge or the trees. Would.

5:38

You risk it As anyone been.

5:41

From the bridge or the trees? Yes.

5:43

Oh now was it because they said

5:45

bunny Me and three times right? Audibly?

5:48

not. Probably not. but will find some

5:50

reality in the in the legend you

5:52

know. But it is also said that

5:54

you might see him and hear the

5:56

screams of his victims because there are

5:58

elements to the. We were people have

6:01

seen things from afar. They left but

6:03

their friends didn't. Rape Some.

6:05

Legends also say the you might see rabbits

6:08

running around before he shows up. What the

6:10

in the Bunnymen A Said to beat the

6:12

ghost of a man dressed up in a

6:14

bunny suit or costumes? Awesome carrying a hatchet

6:16

or an axe. That some legend state that

6:18

the lights under the bridge become so bright

6:21

that some of the victims don't even get

6:23

to see him before he strikes. Was.

6:25

That worse. But. I do

6:27

with the lights could so bright that you

6:29

can't you like I was going on in

6:31

the new field and yeah or or a

6:33

white like the lights. Go Bri! Here's some

6:36

noises. See. Know someone there. Who

6:38

especially if you're alone yeah used here

6:40

like that worse or like seeing am

6:43

I in hearing so you hear him

6:45

close right now noise of right you

6:47

can see him close you know is

6:49

closed for you see him but he's

6:51

way off and a distance. All

6:53

terrible thought out else. honorable thoughts probably the

6:55

does this because I'm under the false pretense

6:57

that I can have run that we covered.

7:00

Try and then you in a trip on

7:02

a route and it's all it's all over

7:04

from. they're both term yeah when with the

7:06

likes to get so bright I can't see

7:08

and I hear like a soft padded bonnie

7:10

foot suit kind of man next to me.

7:13

Know some claim that he specifically

7:15

attacks couples in parked cars. There

7:17

are many stories about the origin

7:19

of Money Man, but the general

7:21

gist is that the urban legend

7:23

is that you are not safe

7:25

around the Bunnymen Bridge after midnight.

7:28

So. Let's talk about some of those

7:30

legends and then we'll move into of

7:32

course, some of the reports and their

7:35

actual stories from the Nineteen seventies. That

7:37

could be, as is theorized the origin

7:39

for this entire thing. Oh okay, but

7:41

otherwise the legends go back to the

7:44

early Nineteen hundreds. So. Timothy

7:46

see Forbes published the most commonly referenced

7:48

origin story online back in Nineteen Ninety

7:50

Nine. As most popular legend goes, the

7:53

post Civil war townspeople of Clifton wanted

7:55

to relocate the local asylum in Knights

7:57

No. Three and passed a petition. For

8:00

it and want to be very up front

8:02

about a few elements year the so called

8:04

local Cylon we don't know the name of

8:07

it. we can't find any record of it's

8:09

so there are some holes in the story

8:11

and in the plot as we move along.

8:14

Again it is an urban legend and soldier

8:16

hominin with the deal with the idea that

8:18

it is a story. However, I'm curious and

8:20

figuring out what are the truths that build

8:23

to the story or a plethora perfectly with

8:25

urban legend. That's where people take the most

8:27

liberty. Yeah with their story telling him what

8:30

are. Clunker fact thrive. Well some people

8:32

are storytellers and they want to elevated

8:34

and spooks their friends or their kids

8:36

or whatever. And then some people, it's

8:38

like a game telephone they miss. Remember

8:40

it, they change it in a what

8:42

is ready to be more scary to

8:45

you. I might. Shift. At a

8:47

little bit he up for my audience.

8:49

but in the fall of Knights no

8:51

for the patients were supposedly move from

8:53

this local asylum and they were bused

8:56

towards Lorton Prison. This would be the

8:58

temporary housing place for these patients until

9:00

a new facility could be built. It's

9:02

unclear if this was an asylum for

9:04

the mentally ill, for convicts or for

9:06

a mixture of both. That.

9:08

Said. Andrew. Same

9:10

transition me neither. Patients.

9:13

Of unstable mine and him to

9:15

prison, right? acted very much aggravate

9:17

these patients. Oh yeah, and also,

9:19

don't I when they're. So

9:22

it seems to be even mildly

9:24

temporary. They're going to build a

9:26

whole building that's a year to

9:28

know how long, right? Yeah, our

9:30

contractors we know how that time

9:32

when I'm at now supposedly in

9:34

this move is very Halloween asked

9:36

right? Michael Myers This on the

9:39

move. One of the bus is

9:41

actually tipped over and in the

9:43

crash. Many of the inmates were

9:45

injured, but some escaped into the

9:47

surrounding forest After four months, all

9:49

but two of the runaway inmates.

9:51

Had been found by police. These

9:53

two were Marcus while stir in

9:55

Douglas Griffin. Supposedly. while

9:58

police were certain the woods for these two men the chemical multiple

10:00

disemboweled bodies of rabbits, some

10:03

hanging from the bridge. Eventually

10:05

police discovered the body of Walster hanging near

10:07

what is now known as Bunnyman Bridge, somewhere between

10:09

the end of 1904 and the beginning of

10:11

1905. In

10:14

his hand was a sort of makeshift hatchet,

10:17

a strong branch with a carved rock attached to

10:20

it. And the police believed that Walster

10:22

had attacked the bunnies, he was the one disemboweling

10:24

them, perhaps even consuming them, to survive

10:27

in the woods for these months. But

10:29

as time went by, many people started to believe that

10:31

instead of it being Walster, it might have been

10:33

Griffin. Because now Walster's

10:36

been found, he's hanging, right,

10:38

he's dead, but Griffin at

10:40

this time was still missing. Now some

10:42

versions of the story say that Griffin

10:44

was arrested because he murdered his family

10:46

on Easter Sunday. Yet another

10:48

version says that the police almost caught Griffin,

10:50

but he was struck by a train passing

10:52

over the bridge. Hmmm, I

10:55

don't want to lend myself more to the urban legend aspect.

10:58

See here's the thing, are

11:00

they hunters? I mean we're not going to have this information,

11:03

but like are they hunters because how

11:05

are they catching all these bunnies? That's

11:07

a good point. Bunnies

11:09

are kind of like skittish and very fast.

11:11

Yeah, skittish and they're fast. Like every time

11:13

I let my two corgis in

11:15

the backyard, they chase out these bunnies and

11:18

they get away every time because they're just

11:20

so fast. Me as a human,

11:22

not as fast as a corgi. I'm not going

11:24

to catch no bunny. But I mean they

11:26

could be laying out traps and everything like that. Traps, I don't

11:28

know if they found like vegetables, sort

11:31

of, some sort of bait. Or

11:33

they just sat, very still, very patiently

11:35

for a long time. Yeah, but that's just

11:38

what I cross my mind with, very skillful

11:40

people. It's valid thought. It's valid thought. So,

11:42

the search for Griffin supposedly ended in April

11:44

1905. In the

11:47

common telling of the story many months later, in October of

11:49

1905, dead rabbits were once

11:51

again found discovered around the bridge.

11:54

On Halloween night of 1905, teens were hanging

11:56

around what is now called Bunnyman Bridge, but

11:58

wasn't at the top of the mountain. time,

12:00

so they had no reason to fear. They

12:02

were hanging around this bridge, and three of

12:04

them happened to stay there past midnight. This

12:06

is how people figured out the

12:09

rules. The rock cake. That's about to

12:11

determine how do we know. Right. And

12:13

again, this is as the legend goes,

12:15

right? So the next morning, each of

12:17

them were found hanged and disemboweled with

12:19

their throats slashed. The next Halloween, 1906,

12:21

a girl went to the bridge

12:24

with other teenagers, but she left before

12:26

midnight knowing what had happened a year prior.

12:28

Some versions of the story say that she was

12:30

teased for being too scared and left

12:33

purely out of embarrassment, just wanted to be

12:35

away from the teasing, and then say that

12:37

she remained close by to see what would

12:39

happen if anything would happen. And

12:42

at midnight, she claims that she only

12:44

saw a bright light and heard screams coming

12:46

from the bridge. Supposedly the

12:48

girl was blamed for the murders, but

12:50

these murders continued even after her arrest.

12:53

And for over 100 years, the same

12:55

thing would supposedly happen at Bunnyman bridge

12:57

every Halloween. And now Bunnyman is considered

12:59

to be an evil spirit.

13:01

I mean, I guess I understand like

13:04

law enforcement has to do their due diligence, right?

13:06

And arrest the person that was there at the

13:08

scene of the crime. But that

13:10

can't stick, right? Like there's feels

13:13

like a perfect setup for an indie

13:15

horror movie, right? That the weapon and

13:17

the protagonist is blamed. They go to

13:19

jail and they go, we got our

13:21

guy. Yeah, period. It's true. We're

13:24

not referencing a specific horror movie.

13:26

We're putting it in the landscape.

13:28

Yeah. What was the one with

13:31

the lighthouse and the silence, right?

13:34

With the one that's a tooth

13:36

fairy one. Yes. Yes. Why am

13:38

I blanking darkness? Yes. That movie

13:40

was amazing. Somebody goes to prison

13:42

for an untimely presence

13:45

around almost disappearance. And then

13:47

the entity goes

13:49

ripping apart the police station while they're in

13:51

prison. Yes. That scene was terrifying. It was

13:53

such a good movie. I watched it with

13:56

a broken arm. Anyway, I broke

13:59

my own net. I didn't know it so I did the

14:01

two Well, I don't maybe What

14:04

is the arm but a giant tooth? Yeah,

14:07

that's throat that one. See

14:09

my my issue with like I'm

14:12

very much like Followed the rules to

14:14

a tee you I mean and that's why I'm terrible

14:16

with like building stuff from like Ikea where you go

14:18

step one Use these four long

14:20

bolts and you look at the bolts and

14:22

you go well, there's too short too long

14:24

What the hell like I now I'm confused.

14:26

Yeah, my issue with this is what

14:29

happens during daylight? Oh

14:31

man, you think What

14:34

a man is he on Eastern or Central? I don't

14:36

he changed my season right does he fall back or

14:38

does he do what Indiana used to do? Which is

14:40

just we're just gonna stay put and let everyone shift

14:43

around us. That's what I'm saying I have no clue

14:45

right. That's a question that comes to mind. He operates

14:47

on 1905 time,

14:49

you know, I mean that could be it, you

14:51

know seconds off. It could yeah, I

14:53

could definitely be off Like maybe screwed

14:55

man. I don't know Time

14:58

back then maybe was slower. I don't know

15:00

there might be some scientific thing that I

15:02

was like Well back then time moved point

15:04

five five five five ball meters before the

15:06

Gregorian calendar We had 13 months

15:08

and every month. Yeah 28 days or years it shortens of one Like

15:13

one minute 30 seconds. I don't know man. Don't scare

15:15

this guy with leap year This

15:20

year this year the year leap, yes,

15:22

okay. Yeah divisible by four I think

15:25

so Yeah, that's that's the legend and it's

15:27

fascinating. It has all these kind of nuances

15:30

Of course again juries out on if any

15:32

of this is factual, right? However, what we

15:34

did what Jillian did was go into 1970

15:38

reports dig into a man named Brian Connolly

15:40

We're gonna talk about him and his

15:42

theories on what was the

15:44

genesis of this urban legend? What actual

15:46

events is it leaning on to kind

15:48

of validate its existence how it kind

15:51

of grabbed hold of people in the

15:53

in? The zeitgeist and kind of stayed

15:55

alive on its own. That's what I

15:57

find very interesting about this one. So let me ask

15:59

this They confirmed that tons of people

16:01

have died there in this bridge. Because

16:04

it doesn't seem like it's a disappearance type

16:06

of situation. It seems like they're murdered and

16:09

left there on this bridge. We

16:11

have a few cases of

16:14

people being murdered or going

16:16

missing in this area. And we're going to

16:18

talk about those in just a second. But

16:20

as far as the legend itself goes, it's

16:22

mostly unsubstantiated. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Like

16:24

I said, the asylum is undocumented as far

16:27

as we can tell. Therefore,

16:29

the buses going from this to

16:31

the prison is kind of

16:33

up in the air. And I have another piece

16:35

about the prison itself and the timeline later on.

16:37

But again, some of the elements are going to

16:39

fall away very easily because again, it is a

16:41

story. But some of the elements are very kind

16:44

of true to a few things that have happened. Right. Now,

16:47

before we go, I do want to say

16:49

you mentioned movies and we

16:51

are the movie podcast about mysteries.

16:53

Yeah, we are. But now we

16:55

have a book podcast about movies.

16:58

Yeah, we do. How we do. And

17:00

I know it sounds confusing to the friend that's

17:02

listening with an official task

17:04

force member because I know you guys like sharing this

17:06

podcast and you're like, what? What did it talk about?

17:09

And then the task force members go, it makes sense.

17:11

Trust me, it makes sense. Yeah. But

17:13

yes, we have Red Web Book Club hosted

17:15

by myself because a ton of you guys

17:17

wanted me to host something. And that's where

17:21

I started off suggesting a graphic novel,

17:23

which is a great horror mystery. And

17:25

now we're diving into some movies. We

17:27

did the autopsy of Jane Doe. We're

17:30

going to talk to me. We got screen

17:32

coming up. We're coming up. We're recording this

17:35

out of time. Yeah.

17:37

What's coming out this Friday? Might not follow

17:40

a line, but that's where you'll get the

17:42

sense of like where the timeline is. But

17:44

yeah, we were testing different formats for that.

17:46

And Jillian joined us on that as well.

17:48

And we the four of us go through kind

17:51

of give an outline of the movie and

17:54

then give our reactions opinions. Oh, yeah. It's

17:56

going to have spoilers. Yeah. But come indulge

17:58

anything horror media. Good little. Watch a

18:00

little for everybody. Yeah, we all can like

18:02

discuss and you know You guys can discuss

18:05

in the comments and give us suggestions to

18:07

absolutely. Yeah, very excited about that show I

18:09

love an excuse to watch scary

18:11

movies and read scary graphic

18:13

novels and theorize Oh, I love it.

18:15

We can watch all the news game movies

18:17

that come out I'm ready for a terrible one where

18:19

we all go to the theater watch a horror movie

18:21

and it's just terrible and we just Dog

18:24

on it We just missed the

18:26

window on what was it night swim night swim?

18:28

Yeah, I was atrocious We gotta go back and get

18:30

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That's shopify.com/system. So

22:42

of course, what we just went

22:44

over is the popular origin story.

22:46

But historian and archivist for Fairfax

22:48

County, Brian Connolly, believes that the

22:51

urban legend actually comes about from

22:53

events in the 1970s, especially because

22:55

there's no records of an asylum in the area in the

22:57

early 1900s. Additionally, there's

22:59

no county records of the specific inmates

23:02

that we mentioned earlier. And

23:04

on top of that, Lorton Correctional

23:06

Complex was not established until 1910,

23:08

which would have

23:10

been about five years after these

23:13

inmates would have been moving from

23:16

their asylum to this prison.

23:18

So timeline's not adding up.

23:20

Looks like people looking back with out

23:23

of focus lenses, trying to look at history and

23:25

go, that's what happened. Yeah.

23:27

I mean, 1900s wasn't too far back, where

23:33

it'd be like, far fetched, it'd be like,

23:35

oh, records and stuff like that. We

23:37

are kicking more into modern day 1970s. But

23:41

I mean, yeah, it's hard to

23:43

put any weight behind the whole asylum,

23:46

bus transportation thing. There's absolutely

23:48

nothing at all. Yeah, nothing substantial.

23:50

So you can't put any weight

23:52

on it. It's an interesting piece

23:55

of storytelling. Right. Especially in this

23:57

time. blame

24:00

the asylum nearby. Yeah, that's

24:02

true. Or let's blame the

24:04

giant decrepit dark building that

24:06

definitely is haunted, right? That

24:09

tends to be, or the bridge that

24:11

no one wants to go to because it's just spooky.

24:13

Any bridge is spooky every night. If

24:15

it's not well trafficked, it's spooky. Yes, 100%.

24:18

If the sun's gone, I'm not there.

24:20

My staircase that night is spooky. I

24:24

get all tucked into bed and then I ask,

24:26

Alexa, turn off the lights and the whole house

24:28

goes dark. I'm already saved. I'm

24:30

good. No running through and hitting and switching.

24:33

We've talked about the ghoul rules and

24:35

the ghoul rules are once you're under the blanket, you're

24:37

protected. You zip up the tent,

24:40

you're perfectly secure. One,

24:42

I don't think that's true, but a part of me

24:44

just goes. I think it's true. Just pictures like the

24:46

ghouls just going, damn it. Right.

24:48

Your foot's hanging over the bed, they're getting closer,

24:50

and then you adjust, you bring it back into

24:52

bending. Ah, homos. Yeah. The

24:55

ghoul rules. Help me sleep when I was about seven. So

24:57

I hold on to it. So

25:00

here's what happened. So Brian Connolly in

25:02

his youth had heard the tale told

25:04

about two children who were killed by the

25:06

bunny man because of their bad behavior. In

25:09

his search for the origin of bunny man, Connolly,

25:11

he's obsessed with his childhood stories like I am.

25:14

Connolly came across crimes in the

25:16

Northern Virginia area that may have actually

25:19

influenced the legend. He published

25:21

his findings in an article titled The

25:23

Bunny Man Unmasked. In 1918, a teenager

25:25

named Eva Roy was murdered in birth,

25:27

which is a suburb in Fairfax County.

25:29

It's near Clifton, about 15 minute

25:32

drive maybe. She was found hanging from a tree

25:34

in the woods. After the case

25:36

went cold, an escaped convict from Lorton prison

25:38

claimed that he was the one who did

25:41

it. He got out of prison, he escaped

25:43

in some way. He says when he was

25:45

caught, I did it. I was the one

25:47

who killed Eva Roy. Though somehow later on,

25:49

it was determined and confirmed that he was

25:51

lying. Yep. Well, I

25:53

mean, you know, if you listen to this

25:56

podcast, this is a pattern. Yep. Sometimes

25:58

People claiming to have done a very. the terrible

26:00

thing. Too. Because they want to

26:02

claim that they did. Or. This case

26:05

you know they want like cover for another.

26:07

Murderer. Or something and so they're like

26:09

well this will cause chaos if you if they

26:11

think they got em but they're still out there

26:13

do and stuff you know. roots And another case

26:15

there was a woman and her daughter he of

26:18

France's in June pullover. They were murdered and

26:20

buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Fairfax

26:22

County Night and Forty Nine. So.

26:24

Her estranged husband was arrested for this

26:26

crime and then sent to an asylum.

26:28

This was factual and he did go

26:30

to an actual asylum of can sort.

26:32

Only get this completed. What Yazidis? He's

26:35

a the Saudis are actual fact. Yeah,

26:37

so calmly. Later found an article from

26:39

Washington Post on October twenty second, Nineteen

26:41

Seventy. It was titled Quote Man in

26:43

Bunnies who Sought in Fairfax. So.

26:45

In this article, this man had attacked

26:47

and Air Force Academy cadets Robert Bennett

26:50

and his fiance in a parked car

26:52

on Guinea Road while dressed as a

26:54

bunny so this seems to be wear

26:56

the suit coming from and the postcard

26:58

couples elements coming from. So.

27:00

As this article claims, this man dressed in

27:03

the bunny suit was the yelled quotes you're

27:05

on private property and I have your tag

27:07

number. However, The. Girlfriend

27:09

claimed that the ears that made

27:11

him a rabbit actually looked like something

27:13

else. to quote her, she said

27:15

quote like a Capriati. If

27:18

you haven't heard of what that is,

27:20

it's like the conical hoods originally born

27:22

in Spanish Catholic ceremonies bloods. To modernize

27:24

it Americanize. It is possible that this

27:26

man who attacked them was a member

27:28

of the Kkk. As not to say

27:30

the long was the hood twenty hood.

27:33

Celts, On Halloween there was

27:35

another article that said the bunny man

27:37

had reappeared quotes a man wearing a

27:39

story rabbit suit with too long ears

27:42

appeared again on Guinea Road in Fairfax

27:44

County. Thursday night police report it, this

27:46

time wielding an axe and shopping away

27:48

and a roof support on a new

27:50

house. When. This man was approached

27:52

by the Construction project security guards. The man

27:55

said quote, you're trespassing If you come any

27:57

closer, I'll chop off your head. As.

27:59

Reporting. in the Minneapolis Star. The

28:02

guard then left the scene to go get their gun

28:04

and come back and re-approach the person, have

28:06

some sort of weapon to defend themselves on

28:08

his person, but the Bunny Man by that

28:10

point was gone. So the guard spotted

28:14

someone trespassing, didn't have

28:16

his gun on him. Mm-hmm. Interesting.

28:20

Just patrolling, making sure, you know, because he's the

28:22

security guard for this construction project and you got

28:24

this guy banging away on one of the new

28:26

houses. He's like, all right, let me, gotta get

28:28

this guy out of here. Just dark, you're patrolling,

28:31

you never know. Handles, gang

28:33

members, I don't know, you know,

28:35

you have a gang. Or a man in a bunny suit.

28:37

Or a man in a bunny suit. I'm patrolling with a

28:40

gun and two hands. One and my ankle too, just, you

28:42

know, and then maybe one in the back. You get one

28:44

of those shoe knives like Will Smith. Yeah. Wild

28:46

West. Gah. You never

28:49

know what you need. It's just, yeah, I don't know. I

28:51

couldn't, I couldn't, man, I couldn't be a security

28:54

guard patrolling even like a

28:56

mall at night. Mm-hmm. Yeah,

28:59

I've seen a lot of TikTok videos, security

29:01

guard. Yeah, we've seen some. I indulge in it.

29:03

I'm like, hey, props to you for going out

29:05

in the dark and patrolling around the

29:07

cemetery. I bet it's chill as hell. Very

29:09

chill, I'm sure. And you get acclimated, I'm sure, to

29:12

the dark environments and you start to trust. But like,

29:14

but otherwise, when you see a dark empty

29:17

mall for the first time, it's kind of spooky.

29:19

No, I don't know. So anyway, when describing this

29:21

man in the bunny suit, there's not a lot

29:23

of details he can give other than the estimated

29:25

height of about five foot eight. And

29:28

the person was around 20 years old. Some

29:30

incidents of vandalism and Burke were also attributed

29:32

to this same supposed bunny man. Police

29:35

reportedly received about 50 reports

29:37

of the bunny man sightings in

29:40

a two week time period. This is

29:42

a report to the news. A lot of times, like, they'll

29:44

escalate because there's reports of the news or

29:46

something like that. So some hit newspapers

29:48

and I think that's maybe why suddenly you're seeing a bunch

29:50

of calling in. I see them too.

29:53

I've seen it. It's like the clowns from a

29:55

few years ago. You remember that? Like there were clowns in sewers

29:57

and there's. In the clowns. in

30:00

the woods. Well, I think there

30:02

were like clowns getting seen on ring doorbells

30:04

too, like neighborhood stuff. Yeah, it was

30:06

like a huge thing. Yeah. It was

30:08

just like everyone do this because it's

30:10

like going viral. It's making people freak

30:12

out. But then none of them

30:14

actually did anything, thankfully. But it's

30:17

deeply unsettling. Yeah. I mean,

30:19

the thing is, you just can't trust the general public

30:21

with that, right? Someone's gonna... The tale

30:23

is always time. One person ruins it

30:25

for everybody. Oh, yeah. And while we

30:27

can talk about, you know, believing or not

30:30

in the paranormal, when you see a

30:32

man in a bunny suit or a man in a clown

30:34

suit, you're like, that's a man. There's a man in there.

30:36

Yeah. That's a human being that can do something. Yeah, it's

30:38

true. So that's like kind of real

30:40

scary. So yeah, 50 reports of

30:42

seeing the bunny man in two weeks could be

30:44

a case of it being viral because of the

30:46

news or more than

30:48

one person dressing up or whatever.

30:50

But at least one was reported

30:52

nationally by the Arizona Republic who

30:54

wrote on November 4th that

30:56

three children claimed to have seen a man

30:58

in a bunny rabbit suit with a hatchet

31:01

in seat Pleasant, Maryland, which is about 30

31:03

miles from Fairfax County. Interesting. So

31:05

not too far, but not too close. But

31:07

yeah, it's a different location. But these were

31:10

kids. So you know... What's

31:12

away from the bridge, though? What's away from the bridge?

31:15

So were they impressed upon the news to

31:17

like kind of see a figure

31:19

and think it was a bunny man or did they actually see

31:21

it? This could be a point in

31:23

either column. Yep, it really could be. But

31:26

either way, these are all things that did happen

31:28

or at least were reported. Now, despite

31:30

the two reported sightings, police during the

31:32

1970 year specifically weren't sure

31:35

the bunny man ever actually existed. So

31:38

Fairfax County Officer W.L. Johnson wrote in

31:40

his report that quote, after a very

31:42

extensive investigation into this and all other

31:44

cases of this same nature, it is

31:47

still unsubstantiated as to whether or not

31:49

there really is a white rabbit. Interestingly,

31:52

on Halloween night of that same year,

31:54

1970, Johnson

31:56

received a call from someone calling

31:58

themselves, quote, the Axman. I'm

32:01

wondering if they're like I saw what you said in the paper.

32:03

I'm real. I'm real. It's it me

32:06

it me So they said

32:08

to WL Johnson here the officer

32:10

They said quote you have been messing up

32:13

my property by dumping tree stumps limbs and

32:15

brush and other things on the property and

32:18

Asked to meet with the police to hash

32:20

things out, but never showed up. Hey

32:23

Props to the officer for going to the

32:25

spot right probably Very

32:27

wary quick eyes quick hands

32:30

go to the spot alone, but at a moment's

32:33

notice five

32:36

sniper lasers Hello

32:40

bunny man a trap bunny man. He's standing

32:42

under the light back to the bunny man.

32:44

Yeah smoking a cigar Mm-hmm. I

32:47

thought you wouldn't come after

32:49

his fingers ten laser beams in the night

32:52

Right on his soulful little forehead yeah, and then

32:54

they put a giant net on him and catch

32:56

him like a bunny I've

33:00

always wanted a rabbit yeah So

33:02

it's possible that the a local just a

33:04

specific local of the Fairfax County area was

33:07

frustrated with the growth and construction all

33:10

the new neighborhoods going on in Burke

33:12

and Fairfax and you and Might

33:14

have just taken it out by This

33:16

is the only thing they had an arms reach

33:18

a bunny suit that would kind of help hide

33:20

their figure their build Would help hide their face

33:23

Yeah And so the only thing you would really

33:25

see from them is their height and maybe a

33:27

little bit of their face because we had Somebody

33:29

say they looked about 20 years old. I

33:31

would just surprising when I heard no I

33:34

mean it could be anyone right but to

33:36

see someone's 20, but not be like brown

33:38

eyes. Yeah blue hair, you know Well, how

33:41

you listen the details in that? Yeah,

33:45

I don't know what they look like but God

33:47

they were handsome. Yeah. Well, okay. Yeah, that's

33:49

weird. Definitely 21 years old Yeah, just

33:52

nailing the age. So those are the

33:54

kind of specific true crime elements

33:56

that Brian Connolly

33:59

believes kindled the story in the

34:01

70s. And man, I gotta say a

34:03

lot of these urban legends, stories

34:05

of UFOs we talked about in recent weeks

34:07

with Roswell and everything, a lot of these

34:09

stories really stem from mid-century. The

34:12

60s into the 70s are where a lot of wild

34:14

things happened. That was birthed, cryptids

34:17

and all that kind of stuff. They were going

34:19

buck wild with stories and

34:23

really escalating the presence of

34:25

these beings. But

34:29

now that we've kind of talked about the

34:31

story, we've talked about perhaps the origin, some

34:33

of the true crime histories, I'm gonna talk

34:35

about some of the final sightings and

34:38

one true crime element

34:40

that happens in this location in

34:42

recent history. Oh. That a

34:44

lot of people use to substantiate the bunny man, but

34:47

we'll see, there could be a wrinkle there. I

34:49

think there's a wrinkle there. So while it appears

34:52

that the true story of the bunny man is

34:54

mixed across multiple incidents, the bunny man bridge receives

34:56

many visitors every year. And based on

34:58

online discussions, it seems that the area is often very

35:00

foggy. It feels very creepy, of

35:02

course, especially after night.

35:05

And it doesn't even matter if you believe it

35:08

or not, people have gone and have always reported

35:10

that they feel very eerie, regardless of their belief

35:12

in the legend. And some claim

35:14

that if you park your car or leave

35:16

it under the bridge, an unknown force will

35:18

push it. That is another common trend

35:21

I've noticed with like haunted bridges and roads, that

35:24

if you park your car and kind of leave it, that

35:26

it will move, like it'll get pushed. It's

35:28

like, usually the story is like, it's

35:30

pushed out of the way because this is where I crashed

35:32

and I died, so let me push you to safety. You

35:35

know, your car can idle if you don't put it in park, if

35:37

you leave it in drive, if you put it in neutral, if

35:40

there's a non-zero grade, it could technically be

35:42

a slope that it rolls down. Yeah, rolls

35:44

down a bit. A few elements that could

35:46

be happening there. So interestingly, this

35:49

brings us up to modern times. There

35:51

was a body that was in fact

35:53

discovered only a couple hundred feet from

35:56

the bridge itself in 2018. It's

35:59

somewhat strange because... As of this

36:01

time period, not only 2018, but

36:03

now, this was a dead-end residential road,

36:05

so this is not usually a well-trafficked

36:07

area. It doesn't seem to make sense

36:09

that somebody would end up there unless

36:12

something nefarious was happening. So,

36:14

according to NBC Washington, the death

36:16

was investigated as a murder,

36:18

but there was no connection to the

36:20

Bunny Man. However, police told

36:23

Fox News 5DC that

36:25

they couldn't rule it out at the time. In

36:28

2020, three men were arrested and

36:30

the murder was found to be drug-related according to

36:32

a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. But

36:35

despite that, despite that arrest, despite

36:37

an apparent conviction, some people claim,

36:40

nope, this is in fact proof

36:42

that the Bunny Man is real and still

36:44

very active even to this day. Well,

36:47

maybe the Bunny Man has turned a new leaf

36:49

and is going after bad people. He says, ah,

36:52

having a deal on my residential road,

36:54

I see. Not today. Not today.

36:57

Well, the Bunny Man always gets his take.

37:00

Well, yeah, the Bunny Man wants his cut.

37:03

The thing is, like, it's a bridge at

37:06

night. People are going to do

37:08

shady things in the dark. So it's a

37:10

perfect landmark to be like, let's meet

37:12

there and do, like, illegal things. Right.

37:15

That being said, those people generally

37:19

are in

37:21

the, like, in the spectrum of,

37:23

like, I'll commit a crime, whether

37:25

it be murdering someone, stealing from

37:27

someone, et cetera. So not

37:30

the best citizens. So

37:34

the probability of something going sideways are

37:37

always much

37:39

higher. It just seems like, yeah, drug deal

37:41

gone bad in a, I mean, if you

37:43

remove all legend, this is just a dark

37:46

removed spot. Yep. Very much

37:48

near a metropolitan area. I mean, we are not

37:50

far from downtown Washington, D.C., here. You

37:52

are kind of out in the suburbs, but if

37:55

a deal's going to go down and you don't want anyone

37:57

to see, this seems like a prime spot. Yeah, the landmark.

38:00

Maybe more like a coincidence right maybe the people

38:02

doing the deal one of the fear of the

38:04

location I'd be interested to see what time it

38:06

goes down. I mean you have to be

38:08

after 12, right, right? Which

38:10

is maybe probably went down like around one or

38:12

two You could have an early bad time, but

38:15

you know, but early to bed early to rise

38:17

But then like, you know, hold on now. When

38:19

does it end? How we find that

38:21

out in the sequel? Bunnyman

38:23

2 true the return very true.

38:25

This is a drug deal situation. That's not

38:27

like the beginning of the movie Honestly,

38:30

yeah, there's always a scene like that

38:32

where you're just watching normal life happen

38:34

and then an electric ball shows on

38:36

nearby And then

38:38

there's a naked Arnold Schwarzenegger that

38:40

shows up and then ask for your

38:42

clothes You know the normal happening until

38:44

it goes south always a naked bodybuilder

38:47

When a naked bodybuilder shows up and demands

38:49

your clothes just do every day drug deal

38:51

with a naked bodybuilder, right? But

38:56

that is the urban legend of the

38:58

bunny man, maybe how it

39:00

began Maybe how it ended

39:02

definitely feel like urban legend.

39:04

Yeah, for sure. There's a lot

39:07

of like storytelling involved Then

39:10

what helps substantiate it is the urban

39:13

legends created Then it brings a

39:15

lot of attention to the area and then you start

39:17

pinpointing things that went down this area And

39:20

then use that to substantiate the urban legend It's

39:23

a very interesting one and I think I

39:25

love the storytelling aspect of this because while

39:27

it is more inclined to

39:29

be not true Yeah, my interest

39:32

was diving deeper in figuring out

39:34

what's the origin of some of these urban legends?

39:36

How do they come about what's going on in

39:38

the zeitgeist in culture at the moment or what

39:40

kind of crimes might be happening

39:43

that Obviously people

39:45

plucked some of the elements from some

39:47

of these rhymes to then embellish the

39:49

story But that all comes from again

39:51

the historian and archivist from Fairfax County

39:53

Brian Connelly think fascinating I I you

39:56

know anytime we're gonna cover urban

39:58

legends on or

40:00

just hear about it anywhere, I'm

40:02

always gonna think, okay, obviously, it's

40:04

gonna be kinda like fluffed

40:07

up, right? It's an urban legend. But

40:09

the enticing part about it is what's

40:12

the location? What

40:14

is the urban legend? And then what are

40:16

the rules around it? Right, because there's

40:18

always rules. Yeah, there's always rules. This

40:21

one is a little less creative. They pulled

40:23

that Bloody Mary element. Right.

40:25

The earlier is like, let's say Bunny Man

40:27

three times. Like, ah, we've already got that.

40:29

Right. After Midnight Thing, I'll give

40:32

it to them. Yeah. A little less,

40:34

it's less inspired, but not as common. Or like,

40:36

you know, Bloody Mary's gonna sue Bunny Man. Because

40:38

like, that's my thing. Whoa, what if I do

40:40

Bloody Mary and you do Bunny Man, and then

40:42

we'll say, all right, hold on, before you slash

40:44

me to pieces, I need to tell you- You

40:47

guys need to have a talk. We

40:49

got somebody over here who's copping your bets.

40:52

You need to meet. And then they go

40:54

to town like Jason versus Freddy. That'd be

40:56

the dumbest moment. That'd

40:59

be like the craziest, but also dumbest

41:01

moment simultaneously in our lives. Yeah, dude.

41:03

And it would be so cool. I'd

41:07

be there with my VHS camera,

41:09

because none of these ever survived 4K. I've

41:11

never seen a 4K video of an alien or

41:14

ghost show up to my face. So

41:17

something must happen with that. So therefore, I

41:19

will continue to use degraded, bad footage.

41:21

It's gotta be. Because

41:23

ghosts allow that. That's why. It

41:26

should have happened already. But what year

41:29

is it gonna be when we finally cross

41:31

into, okay, everything is high

41:33

definition? For paranormal evidence?

41:35

Oh, yeah. Well, once we're

41:37

past Ultra HD, ghost

41:40

evidence will hit HD. So

41:42

our human eyes will have elevated, and

41:44

we still won't like it. That's true. Because

41:46

I remember looking at 480p, 720p resolution, and

41:51

I'm like, this is amazing. Now I go, whoa.

41:53

Right. Whoa, 720i. Oh,

41:55

blurry. Interlace. Yeah. We're

41:58

getting into way too much nerve. But

42:00

yeah, so it's a pretty straightforward case Happy

42:03

to discuss another urban legend one we did

42:05

before a long time ago was Polybius The

42:08

urban legend of the arcade machine

42:10

the arcade. Oh, yeah showed up

42:13

in in Loki the Disney show

42:15

You did but so task force

42:17

you want to check that one out available

42:19

for you believe your old archives please

42:24

Please Plavius

42:29

Man, I think he's melting. That's why

42:31

it's not popular people can't say its

42:33

name You know what? That's

42:35

a very valid point wrinkle in the theory. No one

42:38

can say it Alright

42:41

task force and Fredo. I'll see you right

42:43

back here next Monday for yet another mystery, please