MYSTERIES IN… is an original Project Astral series that investigates cases that have similiar connections.

Ellerslie, a small town near Columbus, Georgia, and part of Harris County, Georgia, is the home to two of the most mysterious cases in the world.  One is a highly publicized account of paranormal activity that first appeared on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries and was chronicled in the Hollywood film “A Haunting in Georgia.”  The other is a lesser-known case of a man who just vanished into thin air while on the job as a land surveyor.  They take place in the same vicinity of Ellerslie (10 minutes from each other) and in different eras; one in the early 1990s and the other in 2002.  Although there are logical explanations for almost everything, these cases perplex even the most skeptical minds.

The first case consists of the Wyrick family and the emergence of a spirit called “Mr. Gordy.”  Andrew and Lisa Wyrick had just moved into their new house in the heart of Ellerslie in February 1989.  Their daughter Heidi, eight years old at-the-time started to engage with a spirit by the name of Mr. Gordy through the use of her ESP.  Mr. Gordy sported a black suit and tie and was an elderly man in the form of a white light spirit. 

Mr. Gordy would play with Heidi in the backyard and often in her bedroom. Heidi’s parents first thought Mr. Gordy was an invisible friend, this changed when a new spirit who called himself “Con” appeared at the Wyrick’s front door; Heidi answered and Con was covered in blood and had an injured hand.   The Wyrick’s searched their neighborhood and found no trace of a man named Con.  This was their entry into the world of the paranormal and Heidi’s amazing journey of ESP.

Soon after the appearance of Con, Lisa made an inquiry with her sister about the spirits and the names of “Mr. Gordy” & “Con”.  Lisa’s sister informed her that the property used to be an estate of Catherine Ledford’s family.  They contacted Catherine and found out that a James S. Gordy once owned the property and James S. Gordy had been deceased since 1974.  The Wyricks contacted renowned parapsychologist, Dr. William Roll.  Heidi accurately pointed out Mr. Gordy and Catherine’s Uncle Lon “Con” Batchelor from an array of photos shown to her by Dr. Roll.  Mr. Gordy was a prominent real estate investor in Columbus, Georgia and had several properties that spanned into nearby Ellerslie and Lon “Con” Batchelor had lost his hand in a cotton gin accident and died in 1957 from cancer. 

The evidence clearly pointed to a paranormal realm and that Heidi was opening a channel for the spirits she encountered.  The Wyrick family contemplated moving, but the information provided to them advised that the ESP activity would resume regardless of location.  Other paranormal investigators claimed that the portal to the Wyrick’s house manifested in front of the fireplace… the energy field is the strongest at this location.  In the Discovery channel documentary “A Haunting in Georgia,” Lisa Wyrick made a statement that in her hometown she could hear screams and witnessed paranormal instances related to Indian burial grounds and the Trail of Tears.  The investigators also came to the conclusion that Heidi’s natural ESP mixed along with the location and high energy levels produced a perfect channel for the spirits to communicate through.

Heidi’s sister Jordan was born February 3, 1994, and soon had her own experience with spirits, but these were not Mr. Gordy or Con.  Jordan was attacked in her sleep at two-weeks-old and sustained facial wounds; Andrew and Lisa initially thought Jordan had scratched herself on accident until Andrew suffered similar wounds by a shadow figure Heidi had seen recently in the house.  The Wyrick finally moved from their home in Ellerslie, but this didn’t stop the attacks.  In their new location, Heidi was lifted by her legs towards the ceiling and frequently saw the shadow entity.  Heidi now resides nearby in a new house and is married with children of her own.

Christopher Thompkins’ disappearance was first brought-to-light by investigator David Paulides and his work within Missing 411.  On January 25, 2002, Christopher left his house at 8:10 a.m. for work.  Christopher was one of four surveyors positioned near Highway 85 in Ellerslie, Georgia.  The area can be seen in the pictures below or here.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The three co-workers and Christopher were working in a line 50 feet between each other.  Christopher was the last person in line and was communicating with the co-surveyor in front of him; after a few moments of silence, the surveyor turned around and notice Christopher was nowhere to be found.  The surveyor then phoned his wife at 1 p.m. and informed her of Christopher’s disappearance.  In a statement retrieved by the Ledger-Enquirer, Christopher’s mother speaks on her son’s investigation:

“Christopher left home about 8:10 a.m.  He parked his car at work and drove to the job site with the surveyor he worked for. (At the time I was also employed by the surveyor’s family as their babysitter.)  He worked that morning with three other employees in a lightly wooded area off County Line Road.  All the workers were about 50 feet from each other, walking in the same direction.  Sometime after lunch, around 1 p.m. the surveyor phoned his wife to inform her that Christopher was missing.  One of Christopher’s co-workers stated that ‘Chris was walking in the same direction as the others when he looked away and then looked back, Christ was gone.’ I was not informed of his disappearance until 4:15 p.m.”

Found nearby was one of Christopher’s work boots hanging on a barbed wire fence.  His work tools, a blue fiber from his work pants and twelve cents were found in the grass near the fence.  The other work boot was located months later approximately 900 yards from where he went missing. 

Some theories point to Christopher being lifted from his boots with such an immense energy/force that it proceeded to drag him by his feet through the fence… this would’ve resulted in the money and work tools falling loose and a blue fiber from his work pants getting snagged on the barbed wire — falling to the ground.  What or who is capable of lifting a 130 lb man out of his shoes and dragging him 900 + yards with most of the evidence left intact in a concentrated area near the fence-line? 

Foul play is not suspected in the case and some people think Christopher simply walked off the job.  With limited information, we are left to ask, are the co-workers involved in Christopher’s disappearance?  Amongst the other theories are Native American folklore such as the Wendigo and Indian burial grounds that populate Columbus and the local areas.  Bones are found on a regular in Harris County, Georiga since the Muscogee Creek Indians thrived on the landscape for thousands of years. 

A description from GeorgiaEncyclopedia.org details the removal of the Creek Indians from Harris County:  

“Land speculators based in Columbus, Georgia, saw opportunity in the Creeks’ misfortune.  They illegally purchased Creek land from the Creek Indians and then secretly encouraged hostilities between whites and Indians, hoping to spark a war that would clear the Southeast once and for all of its native residents.  They found success in a brief conflict between the United States and Creeks in 1836.  At its conclusion, U.S. troops, assisted by Georgia and Alabama militia and led by General Winfield Scott, forcibly rounded up Creeks and sent them to Indian Territory.  Some went in chains, under the watch of armed soldiers.  Creeks had to begin life anew in lands west of the Mississippi.”

As mentioned above in the Heidi Wyrick case, the mixture of energy from the surrounding areas and her unique ability of ESP made for a perfect combination.  Could Ellerslie, Georgia and nearby areas be a hotspot for paranormal occurrences due to the presence of Native American mysticism and burial grounds?  Does the lack of evidence stem from the police investigation or due to the actual circumstances that took place in the woods that day?

The G.B.I. lists the clothing Christopher was wearing when he went missing.

“At the time, he was wearing a pair of navy blue pants, a plaid jacket with a grey hood, and a black skull cap.”

Project Astral has conducted our own Investigation and we have a few questions pertaining to Christopher’s disappearance.

The picture below depicts a standard safety vest (BRIGHT ORANGE) that is used by road workers, construction crews, and surveyors when they work near any form of machinery, transportation or roadway. 

Did Christopher forget his vest or did he just not wear it?  Was this regular protocol amongst the workers?  Or was Christopher wearing his vest and for some reason it didn’t end up on the G.B.I report?

Paulides has assembled case-loads of work dealing with missing persons in the national park system and within wooded areas.  All persons who went missing were found with their shoes displaced; most had bright colored clothing and bore no bruising or scratches (when and if they were found).  Some are returned alive, but with no memory of the events.

A recent article on Unknowncountry.com presented a case of vanishings.  A man by the name of Alan Lamers claims that in the jungles of Indonesia, locals warn of abductions that take place if they wore certain tints including YELLOW and other bright colors.  Some are returned, but with no memory of the events.

Stay tuned for our upcoming article where we explore more details of Christopher’s disappearance.

This is an official PROJECT ASTRAL article.

– Color Pessoa