Brief Reports in Chronological Order
Date: January 22, 1930
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Nora Lake's Fiery Death
The Legend:
On January 22, 1930, 42-year-old Nora Lake was found burned to death in her home in Kerhonkson, New York; although her body was severely burned, the clothes she was wearing were undamaged.
Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event compiled from two sources, Charles Fort's Wild Talents (1932), and an article from the New York World of January 24, 1930; I have a copy of Wild Talents, and will dig through it soon -- I will, of course, attempt to locate a copy of the article. Charles Fort's book is the origin of the claim that Lake's clothes were undamaged; but when Nickell requested a copy of the newspaper article that Fort cites (New York Sun, Jan. 24, 1930), the New York Historical Society was unable to find a copy. According to the New York World article, published two days after the event, firemen had been called to put out a fire in the kitchen and dining room of Lake's house. Lake's body was found upstairs, burned but fully clothed in unburned clothes, lying "carefully arranged on the bed;" her purse was "found open and rifled," and cash she was known to have was missing.
Sources:
- Now available on Request.
See Also:
