Legends Of Abilene

This ghost story began in the mid 1940’s when Mona Bell agreed to meet her boyfriend who had just returned from the war. They were to meet at Lake Fort Phantom where he would flash his headlights three times. As she went to hug him, he flew into a rage and strangled her. His best friend had (jokingly) told him that he kept Mona company while he was away. Realizing what he’d done, he tossed her lifeless body into the lake. Witnesses claimed Mona was not dead because she screamed and then her screams turned to gurgles as she drowned.

‘The Lady Ghost’ makes herself known today, by causing your headlights flicker when you drive by the lake. She also surrounds your car with a dense fog. Those that have witnessed it, say it’s a hair raising experience. As the legend goes, one night during the Depression, a young mother searches frantically along a dirt road looking for her missing toddler that wandered away. Slipping on the icy ruts as she stumbled through the darkness with her lantern searching for her son. She succumbed to the elements and died searching for him. Her body was later discovered and It was presumed the toddler froze to death too, although his remains were never found.

The mother’s spirit still lives on around here, searching for her child, holding her lantern high to light the way. Thus the ‘Anson Lights’ This story gained validity when Unsolved Mysteries reported on it a few years back. The reporters saw the lights near the Mount Hope cemetery just outside of town. As they drove closer to the lights, they instantly disappeared.