Roxbury Pond

Here lies a small town with big secrets. A place where kids grew up skipping rocks into the famous Roxbury Pond. A united community, where wealthy families lived, where the police are called when a cat is stuck in a tree. Everyone knew each other. A virtual Utopia of their own, so they thought, until the first incident that would rock this community to its core. It was here at this famous pond in Roxbury Michigan, where six young children were last seen playing.

The first child that was abducted was Jordan, a troubled teenager, so no one really thought anything of it. Some people thought he ran away to go to the big city and there were other rumors that he left with a girl he met. He was always talking about getting away from the small town, so when he didn’t show up that day from school when it all started, no one suspected anything other than his parents. After all, troubled or not, Jordan was only thirteen years old. “No way my son ran off” his parents said. The parents filed police reports and led a search party looking to find Jordan. On the third day of his disappearance, without any clue as to what happened to Jordan, the Sheriff’s Department and the search party had no choice but to give up the search without any clues. Against the family’s protests.

It wasn’t until the second child didn’t come home from school, that the community, would come to realize that there may have been foul play in both cases. Because this child, David, unlike Jordan was a good student, an athlete, adored by his teachers and classmates and had no obvious reasons to run away, the community began to realize that their utopia wasn’t so protected. It was all a lie. As the search party gathered to look for David, they would soon find out he too would seem to have vanished without a trace. Both sets of parents attempted to console each other and wanted to know what had happened to their sons.

A month went by without a trace of either teen and the community tried to get back to normal.

Suddenly one day, they heard the familiar screams of agony. A sound that comes from the soul, a sound of pain, that had only been heard twice before in this community. It was a mother screaming for her son. Another child was missing. “Kevin, where are you” a voice echoed throughout the community. The residents began to think that it can’t be happening again, only this time it was different, there was an eyewitness. Paige, another kid, saw Kevin hanging by the pond shortly before his parents realized that he was missing. Her statement to the police was that he was skipping rocks by the pond. “I didn’t see anyone else I went inside to answer the phone and when I went back out, he was gone” Paige stated. “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone else” the police asked? The police then looked by the pond where he was last seen. Cameron, another kid from the neighborhood, notices three rocks next to the pond that don’t seem to belong. One was red, the second was dark green and the third rock was pink, all stacked on top of each other. It struck him as odd because he had never seen those rocks when he visited before. But he didn’t say anything at the time and continued searching for his friend.

The community leaders decided to hold a meeting to figure out what was going on in their normally peaceful town. As the meeting gets started, the town obviously shaken, looks at each suspiciously because they haven’t noticed any outsiders around town. So therefore, the wolf must be among the sheep. As their minds wonder, it was suggested that maybe Jordan was the culprit. He was missing first, and he was a troubled teen. “Let’s not jump to conclusions, let us do our job” the Sheriff stated. Sheriff Buckley finds himself in an awkward position during the meeting, trying to keep it peaceful, as it used to be a tight knit community. I’ll be damned if I allow three kids to go missing on my watch, I will find out what happened to these boys, the sheriff stated passionately. But for now, go home and we will resume the search as soon as the sun comes up, the sheriff went on to say.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and still no sign of the missing children. The community was now divided and in fear that they knew the suspect, but who, they all wondered? Whoever it was it was someone they know and trust, or could Jordan be behind all of this? No one knew but were all eager to find out who could be behind this. With nothing happening for months, maybe it was a transient, some stranger that blew through our town they all thought? Taking the innocent with him. Maybe we will never know.

As life goes back to normal in Roxbury and school lets out for the summer. The sounds of a none too familiar scream echoed through the neighborhood, it was another parent calling out their child’s name. The community thinks “not again” as they hear another parent calling out “Chris where are you?” As they begin to search Chris’ normal hangouts, they call Sheriff Buckley. Before the sheriff could arrive on the scene, he was stopped by two other parents frantically searching for their child. The sheriff lets them know that he is headed to the home of another missing child. They begin to explain that their son Sean is missing, and the Sheriff lets them know that Chris Stanfield is missing also.

Sheriff Buckley arrives on the scene and the neighborhood is frantic. They begin a search party for the kids. As they do a head count to begin the search for the two missing children, Deputy Johnson then notices that the sheriff’s son Damien and one of the other kids, Paige is also not accounted for. The town is now frantic because there are now four children missing within hours. They look to the sheriff, and he states that we will find all the children and that everyone needs to remain calm.

Paige’s father then jumps into the sheriff’s face and says it has been six months and you don’t have a clue where those other boys went, you don’t have a clue as to where they are. Sheriff Buckley says, “my son is missing also.” As the entire town starts searching, they comb through the woods near the pond. As the search party begins looking for the missing children, Cameron notices that there are two more stones near the pond. One rock is white and brown, and the other rock is yellow. Normally he wouldn’t think anything of it, but with all of this going on he finds it odd because they weren’t there before. He knows that he has seen these stones before, but he can’t put his finger on exactly where? It’s not until Deputy Johnson’s search party comes near the pond that Cameron points out the odd stones that looked to be positioned there. The Deputy picks up the stones and says “I know that Damion would love to add these to his collection. “Damien would love these” Cameron asks? Deputy Johnson then responds, “yeah he collects unique rocks like these, he’s a little older than you, you’ve never seen his rock collection before?” “I’ve been over there but it has been a while, Cameron says”. The sheriff then said, “when this is over, I’ll come back for these stones and give them to him, he’d love them!”

Cameron then sees his friend Jacob and walks toward him with the stones. “I think I know who’s responsible for all of this, I believe it’s the Sheriff!” But his son is missing, you think he did something to his own son, Jacob asks? They aren’t going to walk off with a stranger, we all know better than that! Maybe he did do something to his own son, who else does everyone trust? He grabs Jacob and says come with me and let’s see. They head to the Sheriff’s house while everyone is searching. When they arrive, they break into the house. They begin to search; they didn’t hear anything but there was a putrid smell in the air. There were a few things out of place as though there was a scuffle, and it looks like someone left in a hurry. The smell grew worse as they ventured further into the house and Cameron pointed towards the basement because that is where it seemed to be coming from. They slowly crept down the stairs.

Meanwhile back at the search, Sheriff Buckley is isolating himself from the group and is staring out into the pond. He seemed distraught. Deputy Johnson approaches, feeling that he is worried about his son. He goes and comforts him and assures him that they will find his son. With tears in his eyes the Sheriff turns to him and says, “I have something to tell you, I have a secret that I can’t keep to myself any longer, too many people are getting hurt.” The deputy had a confused look on his face and is wondering what he is about to tell him. Then the Sheriff states, “unfortunately I know what happened to all of the kids, you’re not going to find those kids in the woods, they’re all dead and it’s my fault.”

Back at the Sheriff’s house they reached the bottom of the stairs where the odor is coming from. Their mouths dropped when they see what is in the basement and they see where the smell is coming from. It was Damien standing there covered in blood over Paige’s body. He was stabbing her. Cameron immediately attacks him from behind and knocks him down. Jacob helps him hold him down. But he’s so strong the two kids struggle to keep him down. He breaks loose, and Cameron tells Jacob to go and get help. Cameron picks up the knife and threatens Damien so Jacob can get away. Jacob runs up the stairs and out of the house. Damien was standing there with a deranged looked in his eyes and then tries to get the knife from Cameron. There was a commotion at the top of the stairs, as Cameron looks to see what is going on Damien lunges at him and takes the knife from him. As he is about to stab Cameron, they both hear the Deputy say, “Damien stop!” But he doesn’t stop and continues forward to stab Cameron, leaving the Deputy no other choice but to fire his weapon. As the Deputy goes down the stairs to check on Damien, he sees Paige clinging to life covered in blood, and the horrors that remain in the basement. He calls in more Deputies and carries Paige out of the house. They get the kids out of the house where the rest of the search party is eagerly waiting. As the Deputy goes back in to check on Damien, Damien comes running toward the deputy with the knife in his hand, stabbing him once in the arm. He then lifts his arm to stab him once again there is a shot fired, killing Damien instantly, this time it was from the Sheriff. The Sheriff can’t believe that he had to kill his own son.

The town would learn the details of Damien’s crimes and the Sheriff’s coverup. The Sheriff would reveal that he stored the bodies in Roxbury Pond. All five bodies were recovered where the Sheriff said they would be. The mystery was solved but the utopian town had lost its innocence. Sadly, it took the life of six children with it.