January 20, 1987- a day that lives in infamy with true crime aficionados all over the country, with the arrival of that haunting theme music and Robert Stack inviting us to join him in solving some of America’s wildest unsolved mysteries.
As a young kid, I spent a lot of time being babysitted by my grandparents, who were balls deep into this show and would pretty much force me to watch it every Tuesday night with them. I mean, it was either that or hiding in the pantry eating saltines with ketchup, (they were never that great at having any kid-friendly snacks around). So yeah, I opted in for that nightmare fuel that traumatized the shit out of plenty of us 80s kids. To be clear, I was no stranger to horror in my home. Hell, I was watching JAWS and HALLOWEEN in diapers. But Unsolved Mysteries was no fantasy or the option to tell your brain that it isn’t real. It was the real-life Boogeyman that awaited you when you shut off the light and laid your head on a pillow for a very restless night’s sleep. Usually accompanied by that fan-fucking-tactic theme music spinning around in your head like a hamster wheel.
Tuesday nights were never the same, folks.
Anyway, I can certainly rattle off a few episodes that induced a couple of sleepless nights. Segments like the La Posada Hotel, The Black Hope Horror, the abduction of Angela Hammond are all top contenders for me personally. However, Season 2, Episode 3 of Unsolved Mysteries is one that to this day, still fills me with dread and anger and one that I can’t ever rewatch because it’ll make a cry like a baby.
That segment I’m referring to is the Mabel Woods Kennel fire of 1987.
As an avid UM lover, I think about this case all the time, and it fills me with a sense of rage that I cannot convey with words. But I suppose I’ll try.
Sixty-eight-year-old Mabel Wood loved animals. So much so, she been started a sanctuary for stray dogs in southern Missouri and ran it for fifteen successful years. In 1985, she moved to a 110-acre farm in Bonne Terre where she poured her life savings into a $60,000 kennel to house the 115 dogs she was caring for. They were offered for adoption, but those who didn’t find new homes, just lived with Mabel on the sanctuary.
How sweet is that?! As a fellow animal lover, that’s the dream for me. They would have to cuddle and watch A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 with me at least twice a month.
The farm was in an isolated location with her closest neighbors a mile away, so pretty ideal as that would ensure a low disturbance complaint. However, after 18 months of peace and harmony on the farm , on December 11, 1986, that wonderful existence turned to tragedy. Someone had broke into the kennel and shot at some of the dogs, killing two and injuring two. When she discovered them the next day, she rushed the most seriously injured ones to the vet, and they were saved. The police investigated, but at the time, there was a low priority on animal cruelty because the crime was only considered a misdemeanor. Which I to this day disagree with heavily as the murder of innocent animals should be goddamn high on the “let’s find this cocksucker and string him up by his toes” list.
After the shooting, Mabel hired an assistant named Charlie Jacobs to help her and to mostly keep a lookout. Two months later, what we could assume were the previous assailants returned with a vengeance, and what transpired next is nothing short of everything worse than any horror movie you could ever put in front of me.
On the night of February 10, 1987, they burned down the kennel with sixty beautiful dogs trapped inside. It was reported that the blaze was so intense that smoke alarms were set off in homes a mile away. It completely destroyed the kennel, the lives of 60 dogs, along with many hearts that watched this story- including mine.
According to Mabel and the investigation goes, there was no reason for the fire to start accidentally. The kennel was up to code and still brand new. It was noted that the burning came from the inside, not the outside. Mabel also stated that she was certain that it was arson because the dogs were “blazing” as if an accelerant had been put on them.
Just writing that makes my stomach turn with my own fiery rage and disgust.
Days after the murder of these animals, the investigators cleaned off the kennel floor and noticed a “spalding” pattern which occurs when a flammable substance is ignited on concrete, giving credence to Mabel’s theory. Authorities mapped out their own theory and string of events as it transpired: They believe that on the night of the fire, the assailants entered through the doors that separated the two parts of the kennel. They then poured gasoline on the dogs, walls, and floors. They then went back out the doors and lit the fire. Once it was determined that arson had caused the fire, police officials joined the investigation. One hundred yards away from the kennel, a single tire track was found in the mud as their only clue.
And to this day, the case has never been solved. To add insult to injury, poor Mabel and her lovely dogs were targeted once again in 1994 with one shot, one beaten, and another gone missing (never recovered). Mabel Woods was a hero to animals and despite the brutal harassment, kept the sanctuary going for as long as she was able. Miss Mabel passed away on July 4, 2012, at the age of 91 with no justice for her or her rescued puppers.
Massive credit to the folks at Unsolved Mysteries for at least bringing this case to the public eye on a nationwide scale. The show itself has been a life boat for investigators trying to solve crimes with the public’s help. It’s just a shame that one of the saddest stories ever seen on this show, remains unsolved. My mind and heart also remains scarred on the visuals alone of what was described during the crime, and it’s VERY unnerving that, perhaps, these people who did this are still walking around unscathed among society.
If you’d like to actually watch the episode, here’s the video but I warn you, it will fuck you up and want to go on a murderous rampage of your own. And as always, in a long shot but have to do my due diligence here, anyone with any tips on this case, can send them to Unsolved.com or reach out to Bonne Terre authorities in Missouri.
Nightmare Nostalgia 