The Windham Phantom

To: Sergeant Finnegan,

Now, I may not be the most decorated uniform in the department, and this may seem like a whole lot of monologue from a 42-year veteran that should probably be out there slowin’ my roll, by enforcing hunting laws with those Fish guys or Game Conservation officers, or whatever those wildlife folk like to be called, who’ve now become too big for their britches. And you may think this is way above my pay grade, but I promise you I’m not trying to convince you the Tennessee wild man is alive. I know what I’ve seen. I promise you; the things I am writing in this report Case No. 34-8940597 are the truth and only the truth. I would not have stamped my name and badge and put my job on the line otherwise, sir.

Respectfully, Samuel Archibald, State Marshall, Badge #564.

Case Number: 34-8940597

Incident Type: Missing Person, Suspicious Activity Report

Date of Report: 08/24/2025

Reporting Officer: Samuel Archibald, State Marshall, Badge #564

Time and Date of Incident: 08/20/2025

Location of Incident: Nipmuck State Forest

At approximately 0730 on August 21, 2025, an operator received a call from a distraught Mrs. Sharon Barnes regarding her missing 43-year-old husband, Frederick Barnes, a white male and owner of a hardware store in town called Windham Hardwares. I’ve included the audio of the 9-1-1 call for better evaluation of the case and to identify the missing person.

DISPATCH: Windham County, what’s your emergency?

SHARON BARNES: That pig, he fucking left in the middle of the night to meet some young filthy SLUT, and he hasn’t come back!

DISPATCH: Ma’am, who exactly is missing?

SHARON BARNES - My Husband! Aren’t you listening to me!? Tell you what, if you don’t catch him first, you'd better make sure you do. Because I’m going to KILL HIM myself! And all his shirts and power tools are going in the front of the house, for a yard sale! 5-finger discount, whoever can carry them.

DISPATCH: What’s your husband's name?

SHARON BARNES: Sam. He’s got 3 daughters! That disgusting piece of trash, can you believe it?

DISPATCH: Ma’am, how do you know he’s cheating?

SHARON BARNES: I called his job last night, and a coworker of his said he was flirting with this stupid little tramp, probably still in college. That homewrecker, she can keep him and deal with his high blood pressure medication, I couldn't care less!

DISPATCH: Ma’am. What’s your husband's full name?

SHARON BARNES: Fred Barnes! (Mrs. Sharon Barnes then hangs up.)

On August 21, 2025, I received a call from a Windham Forest park ranger regarding a suspicious abandoned 2015 Chevy pickup truck blocking the entrance to the main parking lot. After running the plates, ALPR came back confirming co-ownership for Mr. Frederick Barnes and Mrs. Sharon Barnes. I proceeded to walk the Wolf Rock Trail to follow several footsteps of two suspects, I came across a nearby campground where I interviewed a possible witness by the name of Margaret McFinny, who can corroborate a partial sighting obscured by the darkness of two individuals, female and a male, and hearing an unknown female suspect, presumed to be in her 20s, and a middle-aged man in his 30s or 40s, allegedly presumed to be Mr. Frederick Barnes, walking down the Wolf Rock trail around 2215 for possible intercourse.

Ms. Margaret McFinny was later called in for further questioning and identified the voice of the man with a personal video recording of Mr. Frederick Barnes that Mrs. Sharon Barnes provided. Ms. McFinny could not confirm his appearance matched, only the voice. Here is a live recording captured on my Body-worn Camera from Margaret McFinny during the initial interview.

“Can you tell me about the two individuals you saw walking towards the forest late at night?” I asked.

“Eww, I heard them making out.” Margaret McFinny gagged with a wrinkled nose. She gazed out towards the trail as she recounted the event.

“That must have been uncomfortable and probably yucky, believe me, I once walked into my in-laws' making out during a barbecue party. What else did you hear, Ms. McFinny?”

“Uhmm... what else did I hear? They kept bickering about turning off a light and how he wanted to be inside her, and then after that, strange moaning, gross, I said, Nope!” She shook her head. “I’m not going down as a perv tonight, so I quickly put my earbuds on and started listening to Giggly Squad (Podcast) before I took a bunch of melatonin to sleep. My bae (witness boyfriend named Logan) was already knocked out; poor guy had the most unhinged shits all night after we tried this chicken and veggie foil dinner from this food blog my girlie recommended.”

We also reviewed CCTV footage captured from Windham Hardware's, Mr. Barnes leaving for the parking lot in his vehicle at around 2133, but no female had been riding along; we suspect he had met her at the Nipmuck Forest location. He had allegedly told his wife, he had been stuck on a graveyard overtime shift and that he would return before she woke up early morning, as they had planned a short road trip to upstate New York with the kids.

After the interview at the campground, I proceeded towards the dense area of the forest about 50 yards away until the two footsteps had disappeared and followed a trail of broken branches and scattered leaves from trampled bushes, broken spider webs, and poison ivy onto an unusual possible crime scene. I ordered a closure of the park from the public to investigate, and had ordered any hikers and campers on-site to evacuate due to a possible crime scene and hazardous material incident. We had gathered evidence and later in the day had the forensic team run a DNA swab on the black decaying substance and found it inconclusive to match the DNA of Mr. Barnes that Mrs. Sharon Barnes had volunteered (Hair strands, saliva from a toothbrush, a sweaty workout T-shirt). The strange, rotting, decaying matter resembled a [REDACTED] found around the ripped fabric of the clothing Mr. Barnes had been wearing after his shift ended. There is evidence suggesting blood, but instead of the usual scarlet coloring, it was [REDACTED]. The DNA does not match any known animal or human DNA, but similarities to the [REDACTED] species.

We are awaiting further evaluation and have escalated the investigation to include the homicide unit. If they deem necessary, they can request assistance from other agencies.

Officer Archibald's additional supplementary Notes:

After investigating similar incidents within the neighboring states, there have been a few similar phenomena around Windham Country, more missing person reports, mostly of middle-aged men in established positions in the community. The footage of the CCTV footage of the young woman who had dressed in inconspicuous clothing had been requested and confiscated by the department of [REDACTED]. There is also an unusual case that occurred several months ago where an unidentified woman was noted being seen around the crime scene of the death of a John Dough, regarding an examination where the victim bled internally due to the [REDACTED] being contorted through his [REDACTED].

Refer to file [REDACTED] for full report.

Evidence Log:

One (1) Cargo Pants {size 42} sold from “Windham County Hardware”.

One (1) White dress shirt and shredded (as if something had [REDACTED] from inside.

Three (3) unused condoms, Trojan BareSkin, found in pants.

Ten (10) footprints from the site of the possible crime scene.

Eight (8) footprints heading from the abandoned vehicle.

One (1) ripped fabric of jeans, belonging to possible suspect #2.

One (1) long organ presumed to be elongated [REDACTED].

Mr. Sergeant Finnegan,

Heck, I know I barely passed the CPCA entry exam in '87’ when I was hired here, but I care about this department, and most of all, I care about this community. I don't know what's going on with this particular case, but the interest in it seems a little strange, mostly due to the case being linked to a lot of cold cases around the state in the last few months, but the other agencies have been confiscating a lot of the evidence and redacting files we worked hard to build and refusing to keep us in the loop. We owe it to the community here who have been affected to catch a potential serial killer.

I grew up here in this small town, my parents grew up here before me, and Mr. Barnes was a good man, a God-fearing family man, and a pivotal member of the community, as well as those other missing men. I look forward to declaring my end of watch, my final 10-42 on the radio waves, and having it mean something, so here we go, we have discovered something that may be the final clue in the investigation my department is no longer a part of, a third set of footsteps leading to the Wolf Rock trail and into the crime scene. This trail came from a person walking from the playground of a small private elementary school near the park where the kids take field trips during the summer, and a napkin found with a bloody sample thrown in the trash. Now, the school had been closed for the last few months, and the soaked napkin, possibly from wounds sustained during Mr. Barnes' abduction, were fresh. I’ve ordered forensics to take a look, just in case under a pseudonym. The results came back for a local 19-year old, Ashton Hilliard, you are free to investigate this covertly, or present it to the Fibbies. I trust you will make the right decision here, sir in order to catch The Windham Phantom once and for all (that is the code name of the suspect they're giving the press if ever details of the case attract attention.)

Respectfully, Sam.

P.S. Please tear this letter up at your convenience.