Iowa’s parks and preserves are recognized for being some of the most beautiful in the country, but not every one has a quiet and peaceful past. Way up near the South Dakota border, you’ll find one hidden preserve that feels like it’s straight out of a horror movie.
The Gitchie Manitou State Preserve is a small natural habitat way up in the northeastern most corner of the Hawkeye State.
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This beautiful park is home to Native American burial mounds, and quartz that’s more than 1.6 billion years old. While it is certainly worth protecting, it’s also home to one of Iowa’s darkest stories.
Google Local / Tim Adams
In November of 1973, three men, the Fryer Brothers, happened across five teenagers hanging out in the gulch, and murdered four of them. The fifth kidnapped, raped, and tortured. She escaped and helped police identify the murderers.
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Though the Fryer Brothers were brought to justice, the Gitchie Manitou Preserve has remained an eerie dark place in Iowa’s history.
Google Local / Keirstin Stieneke
Today, the old ruins near the murder site have crumbled, and have been covered in graffiti. Now, the site is both a work of art, and a desecrated crime scene.
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Gitchie Manitou is still a beautiful natural preserve, but it will forever have a spot in the history books thanks to one dark and twisted night.
Google Local / Becky Twaddle
You can find Gitchie Manitou at 52141, Adams Ave, Larchwood, IA 51241. The site is perfect for day hikes, and there’s an eerie calm that comes over the preserve. It truly seems like it’s straight out of a horror movie.
Google Local / Patrick Boberg
Google Local / Tim Adams
Google Local / Keirstin Stieneke
Google Local / Johnny Theophilus
Google Local / Becky Twaddle
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