We investigated a house where a family of eight was murdered in 1912, with the case never solved. Visitors over the years have reported unexplained phenomena and communication with spirits so we brought our gear out to see for ourselves.

 

Date: May 23, 2025

Location: Villisca, IA

Investigators: Chris, Matt S, Ana, Matt K

 

Location History

On a quiet summer evening in 1912, the sleepy town of Villisca experienced a horror that rocked the citizens to their core. A local family, the Moore’s, attended a Children’s program at their church in the evening. The mom (Sarah) and dad (Joe) took their 4 children, Herman (age 11), Katherine (age 10), Boyd (age 7), and Paul (age 5) to the program. Katherine had invited her friends Lena (age 11) and Ina (age 8) Stillinger to sleep over for the night after the church program. 

By 7AM the next morning, a neighbor noticed that the Moore family was not up doing their farm chores like they normally do, so they went over and knocked on the door to check on them. When no one answered, they sought help from a family member of the Moore’s who went into the home and found a scene that was both disturbing and baffling. All 8 people were dead.  

In an upstairs bedroom, the mom and dad had been slain in their sleep with an axe. The bedroom next to them held the bodies of their 4 children still in their beds, while the 2 little Stillinger girls were found dead in the downstairs guest room along with the abandoned bloody axe. Everyone except for the mom had been bludgeoned to death with the blunt side of the axe. 

Before the crime scene could be locked down, a rush of townspeople went into the home when they heard the news. Evidence was contaminated as they handled the axe and even took pieces of Josiah’s skull as souvenirs. It was hours before authorities gained control of the scene. What they found was a complete mystery. It appeared all of the victims except for little Lena had been killed as they slept. How was it possible no one woke up to the noise in the tiny farm home? It seems the murderer had also covered every mirror in the home with fabric, had taken a slab of bacon out of the icebox and put it near the bloody axe, and left untouched food & bloody water on the table. In the attic space cigarette butts were found suggesting that the murderer may have hid there until the family went to sleep. 

What makes this case so prominent even 100+ years later is that it remains unsolved. Authorities chased down every lead from transients to disgruntled townspeople to potential serial killers, but the truth was never uncovered. 

 

Our Experience

Over the years, the home had been modernized and lived in, but in 1995 the owners converted it back to its original early 1900s state. When we arrived, we found a creaky home with no plumbing or electricity. An outbuilding had been built to provide a modern bathroom and a place to set up our headquarters for the evening. 

 

Reading notes from other paranormal investigators

 

Due to the small size, we explored the home in teams of 2 at a time. Chris and Matt started in the attic space where the cigarette butts were found after the crime was committed. The space was actually through a tiny door just next to the upstairs bedrooms, not up a ladder like you would normally expect for an attic. 

 

Attic is now filled with dolls

 

Matt conducting an EVP session in the attic space

 

We then investigated both upstairs bedrooms. The only thing that we experienced was some scratching behind the walls when we were in a closet. We believe this was likely mice though and not anything paranormal. Ana and Matt K also noted while watching the surveillance videos, that a cat ball placed between the 2 upstairs bedrooms went off while Chris and Matt S were in the closet. As the house was still and quiet, we are not sure why the cat ball indicated movement. 

Ana and Matt K took their time investigating the home as well, but our various devices did not return any compelling results. 

 

Children’s bedroom

 

Did we capture Paranormal Evidence?

The home seemed rather quiet and peaceful to be honest. We did not experience anything that indicated paranormal activity.