The Honey Island Mystery(Martha Hume) Sitting around a campfire in the dark is a perfect time for telling stories Especially if that campfire is In the Notorious Honey Island Swamp.

Mystery, intrigue, and legend have Always enshrouded one area of the lowest part of the Pearl River basin for centuries—Honey Island Swamp. Located between the East and West Pearl Rivers, it has spawned tales of pirates, ne'er-do-wells, robbers, murderers, and other unsavory characters. It has also been a hideout for such local outlaws as James Copeland and his gang as well as numerous moonshiners and others.

In the Honey Island Swamp, One Rat Killing (murder) in particular drew attention from federal as well as state and local authorities. In the mid to late 1920,s , two U. S. Department of Agriculture entomologists ventured into the swamp for a hunting trip. Exactly as my companions and I probably do.

They had been warned of the types of questionable characters who were inhabitants of the area, but they scoffed at the admonitions. Just as they were, we were warned and like them we scoffed at the admonitions. What harm could possibly happen ? We are in a federally protected wildlife preserve.

The men, William and John, crossed the Pearl River bridge south of Picayune and parked their truck a distance from the roadway on the Louisiana side of the river. They found a shack, which they mistakenly thought was abandoned. they began unloading their truck, making several treks between it and their discovered shelter. Suddenly, a shot rang out, dropping William to the soggy ground with a fatal head wound.

John had been assembling his gun at the truck. When he heard the shotgun blast he raced toward his friend. Another shot rang out sending buckshot into the center of John's chest and dropping his lifeless body to the inhospitable musky damp earth. A few minutes later a raggedly dressed, “ dark-complected resident of the swamp stole the truck and raced away as if he were being chased by the demons from Hell.

Overdue from their hunting trip, the bodies of the two men were found two days later by a search party led by the head of the the supervisor of the murdered men. The scene discovered by the searchers was gruesome. the buckshot having left a ghastly impression on the two men. In addition their clothing had been stolen as well as the high topped boots they were wearing when they left Picayune. Missing from John were an automatic pistol and gold watch.

other evidence which included footprints and tire tracks which led to the Pearl River bridge and then turned eastward, indicating the murderer had crossed into Hancock County near where John C. Stennis Space Center would be built in the future. Continuing to search further, other signs were discovered and isolated.The footprints of the culprit which led to a large oak tree behind which was found two spent .12-gauge shotgun shells.

When word of the rat killings reached Picayune, the townspeople were up in arms and were soon joined by a lunch mob of local farmers with whom the victims had worked to rid their crops from pests. Immediately the group suspected a Honey Island inhabitant by the name of Dock

“Shooting a man from behind a tree is just like Dock,” yelled one excited vigilante “Let’s find him and lynch him!”

Dock was an inhabitant of Honey Island Swamp with a notorious reputation. People of all races gave him a wide berth because his reputation as a soulless scoundrel was well-known. Stories of him seeking revenge on those who crossed him as well as their families were legendary,

locals didn’t want to do anything to bring Jackson’s wrath upon themselves or their families. If angered Dock slaughtered your livestock, He burned your home, he is notorious for torturing the family membersof his enemies.and legends of other atrocities ran rampant.

Three reports of Dock's vengeance bear repeating. Once after his visit a widow named Mrs. Emmaline's body was found in her home. Dock's explanation was that a pistol had fallen from a table sending a .44 caliber bullet through her heart.it was just another Rat killing. He left without calling the police.

Another Rat killing attributed to Dock is that of a man named Henry, Henry had been killed mysteriously by a shotgun blast as he drove along a lonely Pearl River dirt road. Supposedly Dock had been seen in the area of the mysterious death a few minutes earlier.

A third reported Rat killing was a black man with whom Dock had had “words” the victim was found shortly thereafter with a fatal shotgun wound to the head.

For these and other atrocities, Jackson was wanted by the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff. However, once Dock made it back to Honey Island Swamp, he faded into the surroundings as did the alligators, snakes, and his fellow inhabitants of the marsh.

Dock Jackson was an inhabitant of Honey Island Swamp with a notorious reputation. People of all races gave him a wide berth because his reputation as a heartless scoundrel was well-known. Stories of his seeking revenge on those who crossed him as well as their families were legendary, and locals didn’t want to do anything to bring Jackson’s wrath upon themselves or their families. Stories of his slaughtering livestock, burning homes, torturing family members, and other atrocities were rampant.

Three reports of Jackson’s vengeance bear repeating. Once after his visiting a widow named Mrs. Emmaline Pierson, her body was found in her home. Jackson’s explanation was that a pistol had fallen from a table sending a .44 caliber bullet through her heart.

Another is that a man named Henry Bennett had been killed mysteriously by a shotgun blast as he drove along a lonely Pearl River road. Supposedly Dock Jackson had been seen in the area of the mysterious death a few minutes earlier.

A third report concerns a black man with whom Jackson had had “words” who was found shortly thereafter with a lethal shotgun wound to the head.

For these and other atrocities, Jackson was wanted by the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff. However, once Dock
made it to Honey Island Swamp, he faded into the surroundings as did the alligators, snakes, and his fellow denizens of the marsh.

Over the past ten years , over forty people were brutally torn to pieces in Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp. A lone survivor, Andrew, claims that local legend Victor is responsible for the horrific massacre

I'm intrigued. I want to investigate these " Rat Killings" if Dock or Victor is still in the swamp. I hope my guide's and bodyguards know their stuff and successfully keep me from harm.

While I was sitting around another campfire just like the campfire tonight I was camping with several friends and close family members right here in the Honey Island Swamp and saw a humanoid creature. It wasn't entirely human but it wasn't entirely a creature or beast.

The first sound out of my mouth was a strong gasp then I probably said," What in Sam's Creek was that thing.Honestly, I don't know what I said or what I saw. But as sure as I'm sitting here there was something there. I saw something.

My companions teasingly said my curiosity was answered. What I saw was Dock or maybe Victor.Others laughingly said I saw Letiche.Have you ever heard of "The Letiche" swamp children? I had not heard of the Letchie.

This hulk of a humanoid has green scales growing underneath its fur and broad, clawed hands and feet that are human with alligator claws. Its face is something like a hairless ape.it is like our face and something like an alligator.

A letiche is anywhere from eight to ten feet tall and weighs anywhere from 600 to 800 hundred pounds. They are typically reclusive loners. One of my friends but mated pairs hunt together .The females lay multiple eggs, but rarely raise more than one whelp at a time, as the juvenile that hatches first makes a meal of its siblings. Imagine if you dare eating your brothers and sisters.

The letiche are violent swamp monsters that lurk in the densest, more remote marshes. Exactly where we are camped tonight.

The glowing eyes of a letiche can freeze an enemy in its tracks through fear, allowing the letiche ample time to tear it apart.

A letiche is a meat eater that hunts by ambush, creeping through the swamp in search of prey. They are patient hunters, and may stalk their quarry for hours before closing in for the kill.

They are rumored to be the demonic spirits of infants and toddlers abandoned in the swamp and left to be raised or eaten by alligators, some children are drowned before being placed in the muddy waters of the bayou. The souls of these babies were denied baptism because they were illegitimate. Unbaptized souls go to Hell.

The Letiche, as some believe , may be creature's that have escaped from John C.Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. If the Letiche are byproducts of some scientific experiment. They could be The humanzee.


There is a rumor saying that feral wild humans" live in the remote regions, the buffer zone of Stennis Space Center and that through the decades of exposure to unknown chemicals and who knows what toxins have mutated and have become cannibalistic. These " feral humans" have a grudge against the Federal Government. Imminent Domain and the government stole their homes.

The Letiche, as some believe , may be creature's that have escaped from John C.Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. If the Letiche are byproducts of some scientific experiment, possibly by researchers in the People's Republic of China in the 1960s, They could be The humanzee

John C. Stennis Space Center is 33 minutes away only 25 miles from where we are camping.

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