The Body in the Glacier & The Woman Who Wouldn’t Stay Buried

A body emerges from a California glacier more than sixty years after a World War II training plane vanished in the Sierra Nevada. He’s still wearing his military uniform, carrying coins, a fountain pen, and an address book—but who is he, and what happened to the other men aboard the missing aircraft? Then, we head to Colorado for the strange story of Emma Crawford, a young woman whose dying wish was to be buried high atop Red Mountain. Unfortunately, death was only the beginning of Emma’s travels. Her grave was moved, her coffin was swept down a mountainside, her remains spent years in a basement—and today, thousands of people gather every year to race coffins through the streets in her honor. In this episode of The Box of Oddities: the frozen mystery of WWII airman Leo Mustonen and the wonderfully bizarre history behind the Emma Crawford Coffin Races of Manitou Springs. Strange history, unsolved mysteries, frozen remains, bizarre burials, and one of America’s most unusual festivals. Just another day inside The Box of Oddities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices