Perhaps some of the most famous paranormal stories today involve cases with vanishing hitchhikers. Throughout the World, stories exist of apparitions walking down dark isolated roads at odd hours of the night and when drivers stop to help, they disappear without a trace. these apparitions display a wide range of behavior with some actually interacting with drivers, while others simply vanishing at some point. Legends of vanishing hitchhikers have persisted for decades, becoming increasingly popular. In today’s episode we will examine a strange case of a vanishing hitchhiker from Jamestown, North Carolina.
Situated in the central part of the state just outside Greensboro, Jamestown has a long and rich history. In this town though, residents say there is a ghost, one that frequently visits a bridge on foggy and rainy nights. This ghost has become known as Lydia.
The Legend of Lydia is said to date back decades probably beginning in 1924. The stories go that a young woman dressed in white is walking alone near the bridge attempting to flag down cars. As they stop to help the young woman at some point she will vanish. It is said often when the drivers look away for a second or open the door. Others say she asks for a ride home behaving quietly and somewhere along the way she disappears.
Perhaps the most famous telling of legend is those individuals who drove Lydia all the way to her home. As soon as the driver reaches the house, Lydia vanishes. The Driver goes and knocks on the door and an elderly woman meets the driver and begins tearing up. She recalls her daughter died years ago and from time to time, she flags down drivers so she can return home.
One example of this comes from North Carolina folklorist Nancy Roberts
In her 1959 “An Illustrated Guide to Ghosts & Mysterious Occurrences in the Old North State”, she writes of a case of Lydia. A man named Burke Hardison told of her of his encounter driving home one night on his way to nearby high point. It was a foggy rainy night, and he was in college at NC State. In 1924, Hardison alleged he saw a girl dressed in a white gown signaling for him to stop. She asked him to help her get to back home in High Point. He drove her home, and when he opened the car door, she had vanished.
He then knocked on the door of the house, asking if the girl was there, and soon Hardison learned from her mother that she had been killed in a car accident at a nearby overpass the year before.
Throughout the town, many have had tales just like this over the decades.
Despite this, and the popularity of the legend around the town and the state, for years there wasn’t a definitive answer to her identity. However , some paranormal researchers believe they have identified the correct person.
Researchers Michael Renegar and Amy Greer studied the Lydia case for nearly 30 years trying to solve the identity of the woman. After scouring through articles, interviewing people and doing other research, Renegar and Greer’s finally found a newspaper article from June 21st, 1923, in the Greensboro Patriot.
The article describes a young woman named Miss Annie L. Jackson dying from a fatal car crash on high point road. As the car was approaching a sharp curve on a rainy, night, the driver lost control and Annie was thrown from the car. Renegar immediately connected that this was near the original bridge and that the L could stand for Lydia. According to her death certificate, Annie L. Jackson, was already dead when she arrived at the hospital at about 10:30 p.m.. After finding her grave, they aged her at 35 years old.
While many believe this solved the mystery, it’s important to point out that the direct link was not found. Although it’s probable and likely this is Lydia, no definitive proof exists that the L stood for Lydia. Still, many investigators have tried to solve this case for decades coming up empty handed, and Annie appears to be the most likely candidate.
(Read about Missouri’s Haunted Zombie Road here)
Many of the pieces of the puzzle seem to align with Annie being Lydia. We know Annie was coming home from a dance which explains the white gown that witnesses have seen and also her asking drivers to get home. Also, she was thrown and ended up under the bridge and it’s said she haunts the underpass as well. One other thing is that this case has been extensively researched and other investigators were not able to find anything out.
One final piece of support is the testimony of Burke Hardison. Hardison’s account says he encountered her one year before in 1923. That aligns perfectly with the death of Annie. It’s important to remember too this account was published in the late 50’s, decades after Renegar and Greer’s research was released.
Today the ghost of Lydia has been acknowledged by the town with a plaque.
We should remember that as for the bridge itself, the original bridge where the horrific accident occurred was shut down decades ago and replaced with a newer version around 50 yards away. This legend has been embraced by the town and the community.
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