Speaker 1: Ever get chills when you hear a story and you
just can't shake that feeling that it could be true
even though it's so strange.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, totally, like when something seems so unbelievable, but
then at the same time it feels like it just
might be real exactly.
Speaker 1: And today we're going deep into some historical mysteries, ones
that have been puzzling people for centuries, and.
Speaker 2: We're focusing on cases about children. You know, those stories
where kids are at the heart of something we just
can't explain, because.
Speaker 1: Those always seem to hit differently, right.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, there's something about the innocence of childhood mixed with
the totally inexplicable that really grabs you.
Speaker 1: It's like you get this glimpse into another time and
you're trying to make sense of events that just defy
all logic.
Speaker 2: Like trying to put together a puzzle, but some of
the pieces are from a completely different set.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great way to put it. And we've
got three really fascinating cases for today's deep dive.
Speaker 2: Should we give a little preview of what's coming up?
Speaker 1: Definitely, So we'll be time traveling back to twelfth century
England to meet the Green Children of Woolpit.
Speaker 2: Those are some seriously mysterious kids. I can't wait to
dig into that one.
Speaker 1: Then we'll jump ahead to nineteenth century Germany to unravel
the enigma that was Casper Hauser.
Speaker 2: His story is just wild. I mean, a teenager who
appears out of nowhere, claiming to have been locked up
his whole life.
Speaker 1: It's like something out of a movie. And finally, we'll
be investigating the disappearance and reappearance of Pauline Picard in
nineteen twenties France.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that case is full of twists and turns and
it's one that still hasn't been solved.
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's start with those Green Children of Woolpit
back in the year eleven hundred.
Speaker 2: Setting the scene here, picture a small village in England,
peaceful farmland life moving at a much slower pace than
we're used to today.
Speaker 1: And then suddenly this farmer comes across two children hiding
in a ditch.
Speaker 2: But these weren't just any kids. Their skin was green,
they spoke a language no one understood, and their clothes
were completely foreign.
Speaker 1: It's like something straight out of a medieval fairy tale, right.
Speaker 2: Totally, and their story has been passed down through generations,
becoming this legend with so much any different interpretations.
Speaker 1: Sadly, the boy didn't live very long. But the girl
who eventually was given the name Agnes, she learned English.
Speaker 2: Oh so she was able to tell her story.
Speaker 1: Yeah, eventually, and it was even more bizarre than everything
that had already happened.
Speaker 2: So what does she say?
Speaker 1: She described a world underground called Saint Martin's Land where
everybody had green skin.
Speaker 2: Wow, Okay, now that's definitely a story that would make
people talk, and it has.
Speaker 1: It's been centuries and people are still trying to figure
out what really happened.
Speaker 2: You know, when you think about the twelfth century, it
was a time of huge upheaval, like with the Great
Revolt going.
Speaker 1: On you're talking about, when King Henry the Second was
dealing with rebellions from his own sons.
Speaker 2: Right exactly, and that conflict forced a lot of Flemish
refugees to flee to England.
Speaker 1: So could those green children have actually been Flemish refugees
separated from their family during all that chaos.
Speaker 2: It's a really interesting theory. Their language might have been
a Flemish dialect that the English villagers didn't recognize.
Speaker 1: And maybe their clothes, which seemed so strange, were actually
common in Flanders.
Speaker 2: It makes sense. But then there's the green skin. That's
the detail that everyone gets stuck on.
Speaker 1: Do you think Agnes just made that part up to
make her story more exciting.
Speaker 2: Well, there's a condition called chlorosis where sometimes it's called
green sickness, which was pretty common back then.
Speaker 1: I've never heard of that.
Speaker 2: It's a type of anemia. You get it from not
having enough iron, and it can actually give your skin
a greenish tint.
Speaker 1: Ah. So if those children were refugees and they were
barely surviving, their diet probably wasn't.
Speaker 2: Very good exactly. They might not have been getting enough iron.
And remember how they apparently loved green beans when they
were first found.
Speaker 1: Maybe their bodies were craving those nutrients without even realizing it.
Speaker 2: It's possible. And then there's the whole thing about Saint
Martin's Land.
Speaker 1: What about it?
Speaker 2: Well, there was actually a church dedicated to Saint Martin
not far from Woolpit.
Speaker 1: Oh.
Speaker 2: Interesting, So maybe Agnes, with her limited English, was trying
to describe a place she associated with the Saint.
Speaker 1: Rather than an actual underground world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe it was a misunderstanding because of the language.
Speaker 1: That's a good reminder that we have to be careful
about jumping to conclusions, especially when we're dealing with different
cultures and languages.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, things aren't always as they seem, and sometimes the
simplest explanation might be the right one.
Speaker 1: But even with those possible explanations, the story of the
Green Children is still so mysterious.
Speaker 2: For sure. It makes you wonder about how much we
really know about history and the things that people experience
back then.
Speaker 1: It's a reminder that even the most unbelievable stories might
have some truth to them, and sometimes truth really is
stranger than fiction.
Speaker 2: Couldn't have said it better myself. And it's cases like
these that keep us coming back for more.
Speaker 1: You know, absolutely, the Green Children of Wullpit, they might
be gone, but their story definitely lives on, and.
Speaker 2: It keeps us asking questions, keeps us curious about the past.
Speaker 1: Arde So from the quiet English countryside, we're jumping ahead
a few centuries and landing in the city of Nuremberg,
Germany in eighteen twenty eight.
Speaker 2: Big change of scenery.
Speaker 1: Definitely, and this time, instead of finding a mysterious child
in a ditch. We find one right in the middle
of a busy city square.
Speaker 2: So what happened?
Speaker 1: Imagine this, a teenage boy he can barely speak or walk,
shows up out of nowhere clutching a letter.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's already pretty strange.
Speaker 1: And the letter, it's full of questions, more questions than answers.
Speaker 2: Actually, this is Casper Hauser, right, the guy whose life
and death were basically one big unsolved mystery.
Speaker 1: That's him, And according to him, he spent his whole
life locked up in a tiny, dark cell with only
bread and water to survive.
Speaker 2: Man, that's just heartbreaking to think about a kid going
through something like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to even imagine what that kind of
isolation would do to a person, especially someone.
Speaker 2: So young, to be thrown into the world with no
idea how to talk, how to act, how to even
just interact with other people.
Speaker 1: It's really no wonder that Casper Hauser's story became such
a sensation.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's the kind of thing that sparks all
sorts of theories.
Speaker 1: Right, Oh, totally. People were coming up with explanations left
and right.
Speaker 2: Like, what were some of the ideas floating around?
Speaker 1: Well, some thought he was a feral child. He's in
the wild with no contact with humans.
Speaker 2: That was a pretty popular theory back then for kids
who were found alone.
Speaker 1: Others thought he was the victim of some cruel experiment,
or maybe he was just hidden away for some.
Speaker 2: Unknown reason, kind of like a modern day Rapunzel, but
way darker obviously.
Speaker 1: And then there was the theory that really captured the
public's imagination, the lost Prince theory.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that one's classic, right, It's got everything intrigue, betrayal,
and the possibility of a secret identity.
Speaker 1: Like something out of Shakespeare exactly.
Speaker 2: And people love a good royal mystery.
Speaker 1: It's the idea that this boy, this Casper Hauser, might
have actually been a rightful heir.
Speaker 2: To some throne, robbed of his birthright and forced to
live in those awful conditions.
Speaker 1: It definitely tugs at the heart strings.
Speaker 2: But as we know, with these mysteries, things are rarely
that simple.
Speaker 1: Definitely not. Because Casper Hauser's life took a really dark turn.
He became the target of several attacks.
Speaker 2: Wait, seriously, like what kind of attacks?
Speaker 1: Well, first he was injured, he got a head wound,
and then later he was shot.
Speaker 2: That's scary stock.
Speaker 1: And finally he was stabbed, and that attack proved to
be fatal. He was only twenty one years old when
he died.
Speaker 2: Man, So not only did this guy have a super
mysterious past, but his present was filled with danger too.
Speaker 1: It makes you wonder if those attacks were connected to
his origins somehow.
Speaker 2: Like maybe someone wanted to silence him or keep him
from revealing some secret.
Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought for sure.
Speaker 2: So even after he died, the mystery surrounding Casper Hauser
didn't go away, did it.
Speaker 1: Not at all. In fact, the lost Prince theory actually
gained even more traction. How so, some historians started claiming
that he was the son of Grand Duke Carl of
Baden and Stephanie de Bournay.
Speaker 2: Hold On Stephanie de Bournay, as in Napoleon's adopted daughter
one and Only. Wow. Okay, so now we're talking about
potential connections to some seriously powerful figures, and.
Speaker 1: That just adds a whole new layer of intrigue to
the story.
Speaker 2: Right. Absolutely, we've gone from a lost boy to a
potential royal scandal.
Speaker 1: And with the rise of DNA testing, people thought maybe
they could finally get some answers about Casper Hauser's true identity.
Speaker 2: So did they test his DNA?
Speaker 1: They did in two thousand and two. They used samples
from his clothing and what did they find? The results
suggested a link to the House of Baden. There was
a ninety five percent probability that he was related to
Princess Josephine of Baden.
Speaker 2: And Josephine's mother was Stephanie de Bourney.
Speaker 1: Right, so it seemed like the lost prince theory might
actually have some weight to it.
Speaker 2: So that's a case closed, right, mystery solved?
Speaker 1: Well not quite. There's a t us. You see, the
House of Baden. They refused to provide more DNA samples for.
Speaker 2: Comparison, really, so they weren't willing to cooperate with the investigation.
Speaker 1: Nope, And that obviously cast a lot of doubt on
the findings.
Speaker 2: It makes you wonder what they were trying to hide exactly.
Speaker 1: Some people saw their refusal as an attempt to cover.
Speaker 2: Up the truth, while others thought maybe they had legitimate
reasons for not wanting to get involved.
Speaker 1: Either way, their decision just added more fuel to the
fire of speculation.
Speaker 2: So we're left with this really intriguing question. Even if
Casper Hauser wasn't a lost prince, why were they so
reluctant to help solve the mystery?
Speaker 1: And that lack of closure it's part of what keeps
the Casper Houser case alive even today.
Speaker 2: Even with all the advancements in science and technology, some
mysteries just refuse to be solved, and.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's part of their appeal. They force us to
think critically, to weigh the evidence and come to our
own conclusions.
Speaker 2: It's a reminder that history isn't always black and white.
Sometimes it's full of shades of gray and unanswered questions.
Speaker 1: All right, for our last case today, let's trade the
busy city streets for the peaceful French countryside in nineteen
twenty two.
Speaker 2: Okay, definitely a different vibe, huge difference.
Speaker 1: We're talking about a place where life was simple and
families were close knit.
Speaker 2: So what's the mystery that brought us to this quiet
corner of the world.
Speaker 1: Well, it starts with the little girl named Pauline Picard.
She was only two years old when she vanished from
her family's farm.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, a missing child. I can already imagine how
terrifying that must have been for everyone.
Speaker 1: Involved, absolutely, especially back then in a small community like that,
everyone knew everyone, so it would have been a huge shock.
Speaker 2: But the rumors were flying, everyone trying to figure out
what could have happened.
Speaker 1: Definitely, and the initial searches they turned up nothing, no clues,
no sign of little Pauline.
Speaker 2: So what happened next? Did they ever find her?
Speaker 1: They did, but the way it happened it's just as
strange as everything else in these cases.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm intrigued. Tell me more.
Speaker 1: About a month after Pauline disappeared, she was found alive
and well, hundreds of miles away in a city called Cherburg.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's incredible. Talk about a.
Speaker 1: Miracle, you would think so, right. But there's a catch.
Speaker 2: Oh, there's always a catch with these stories. What was it?
Speaker 1: When Pauline was found She didn't seem to recognize her
family at all?
Speaker 2: Wait, what do you mean?
Speaker 1: She was withdrawn? She acted like she had no memory
of them or the time she was missing.
Speaker 2: That's so eerie. It's almost like she was a different person.
Speaker 1: And that feeling that something wasn't quite right it only
got stronger when a horrifying discovery was made. What did
they find the body of a young girl was found
near the Picard farm and she was wearing the clothes
that Pauline had been wearing when she disappeared.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, So there were two girls involved somehow.
Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought, right, and it raised a whole
new set.
Speaker 2: Of questions like was the girl who has found really
Pauline or was she someone else exactly?
Speaker 1: And what had happened to the real Pauline during that
month she was missing.
Speaker 2: And of course, who was responsible for the death of
the other girl.
Speaker 1: The investigation took on a whole new urgency. The police
presented them they were desperate to find.
Speaker 2: Answers, so did they have any suspects? They did.
Speaker 1: They zeroed in on two main possibilities. There was a
farm hand who had been acting suspiciously and a local
farmer who actually confessed to the crime.
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's start with the farm hand.
Speaker 1: What made him suspicious, Well, people had overheard him saying
things about finding Pauline a better home.
Speaker 2: Hmm, that's definitely creepy, and.
Speaker 1: Some people even claimed they had seen him with Pauline
on the day she vanished.
Speaker 2: So he was definitely on their radar. But what about
the farmer's confession.
Speaker 1: It seems like it came out out of nowhere. He
just suddenly admitted to the crime.
Speaker 2: Do you think it was a genuine confession or could
there have been another reason why he said that.
Speaker 1: It's hard to say for sure. But here's the thing,
and the police they couldn't find any solid evidence to
connect either suspect to the murder really so.
Speaker 2: No fingerprints, no DNA, nothing, nothing concrete enough to make
an arrest. So the case just went cold.
Speaker 1: Pretty much. Despite all their efforts, the authorities couldn't solve
the mystery of Pauline Picard.
Speaker 2: So we're still left wondering what really happened to her
and to the other little girl.
Speaker 1: It's a tragic story and it's one that leads us
with more questions than answers.
Speaker 2: I think that's something we've seen with all three of
these cases, the Green Children, Casper Hauser, and now Pauline Picard.
Speaker 1: Definitely, they all revolve around children at the heart of
events that we just can't explain, and they.
Speaker 2: Make us question so much about history, about human nature,
about what we think we know.
Speaker 1: They're like puzzles with missing pieces. But even without all
the pieces, we can still learn something from trying to
put them together.
Speaker 2: We learn about different cultures, different time periods, and the
limits of what we can actually know about the past.
Speaker 1: These cases, they also remind us of how important it
is to think critically, to consider all the possibilities, and
not just settle for the easiest explanation.
Speaker 2: Because sometimes the truth is a lot more complex than
we initially think.
Speaker 1: And who knows, maybe someday new evidence will come to
light and shed some light on these mysteries.
Speaker 2: That would be incredible. But even if those answers never come,
the stories themselves they hold a certain power.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. They capture our imaginations. They make us feel connected
to the past, and they remind us that the world
is full of things that we may never fully.
Speaker 2: Understand, and that's okay, right. Sometimes the journey of exploring
these mysteries is just as important as finding the answers.
Speaker 1: I think so too. It's the journey that keeps us curious,
keeps us asking questions, keeps us engaged with the past
and all its complexities.
Speaker 2: So next time you hear a story that seems too
strange to be true, remember the Green Children, Casper Hauser
and Pauline Picard
Speaker 1: Remember that truth can be stranger than fiction, and that
sometimes the most fascinating mysteries are the ones that remain unsolved.