Back about 1978 I was leaving a project in Oklahoma and headed to MO for the next contract. Somewhere just southwest of Springfield MO, but I believe still in OK, I stopped to fill up with gas. It was late, somewhere between 11 and 2AM and a truck pulled in at the same station. Regular cab pickup like we all drove back then with 2 guys and a girl in the middle. All looked to be close to my age, in their early 20s. the driver got out and pumped gas and the passenger went inside to pay. The girl looked DIRECTLY at me and had a look of absolute fear on her face. I'll remember this to the last breath that I draw. I went in and paid or my gas and the guy in there didn't act suspicious. I left and headed on my way. back then I bought a newspaper every day from the storefront news stands no matter where I was. 2 or 3 days later I was reading the paper and there was a headline about a female body being found within 100 miles of where I encountered these 3. It shook me but not enough to call the police and relay what I'd "seen". I thought maybe she was just wide eyed and that was her normal look when out in the wee hours with 2 guys. Years went by but I never forgot this. It's has haunted me ever since in wondering if that was her and if I let her be murdered that night. I reckon I'll always have trouble with it until I get to the end and maybe learn if it was her.

Yes that would weigh on me also.

This ^^^^

Regret is a terrible thing to live with. A few years ago a coworkers wife was in a Kmart and caught a man trying to lure her daughter to go outside with him. She quickly ended it when she saw what was happening. However she didn't notify the police to file a report. Fast forward a few weeks later a young girl was taken in the same area. She remained missing a long time until her skeleton was found.
The mother and her husband just brushed the Kmart incident off and didn't want to get involved . It may have saved lives

Not a gas station but Sonic. I went and ordered some food at Sonic. The carhop brings it out
and I pay her. About a week later, the week before Christmas, I hear a car turning over multiple
times outside. I run to the car, which is on its side. I look back next to the culvert and a young
woman with a red Sonic shirt is lying on her side, ejected from the car. She was unconscious
the entire time and so I just held her hand until the paramedics arrived. She passed away that
night. I'm pretty sure it was the same young woman who was the carhop one week before.

Man if I had a nickel lol. And na I wouldn't think anything of it she was probably wide eyed from drugs lol

Yeah i have mine too. I know the feelin.

Never had anything like that but as much traveling as I’ve done, I’ve run into some real characters at gas stations. Been robbed once. Been solicited by numerous prostitutes, female and male. Nasty!!

I grew up in Winfield. When I was about 11 or so, I had a pair of Jordan tennis shoes. We had a garage that we always entered our house thru. Right outside the kitchen door, we had a chest style freezer in the garage. My shoes were muddy one day, so I put them on top of the freezer. We ordered a pizza that night and never left the house again. The next day I was leaving for school and could not find my shoes. Finally it dawned on me that the Vanilla Ice looking pizza boy might have stole them. So, I watched for him that evening when getting on the bus and sure enough he had on my Jordans. I got home and told my brother Mark and he went to town to find pizza boy. Mark found him at Cardinal drive-in and pulled him out of the truck and yanked my shoes off him. That was on a Wednesday I believe.

Fast forward to the following Sunday night and the pizza boy was on the news. Him and a black friend waited in the woods till a preacher and his wife got home from church Sunday night. They shut the power off to their house, then killed the preacher outside when he went to check on the power. They used a sword from what I remember. They stole the wife's jewelry off her hands and the money from the church offering. It took several days for them to capture these 2 thugs. My brother carried a shotgun everywhere he went till they were caught. The vanilla ice dude is still in prison on death row. That happened around 1991.

Dayum. Good story

When stationed in NJ, they pump your gas. Headed to work at 0530 and stopped to get gas. Waited,waited, and waited. Got out, went to the front door and haji was kneeling on the floor praying to allah.

When I was 16, my best friend and I went to buy some beer at a station we alsways went to on Oporto Madrid blvd. We went inside and there wasn’t anyone there. We figured the guy was in the back. Right as I grabbed a 12 pack, half of Birmingham PD east precinct came flying into the station. They came in with guns drawn. We threw our hands up. They ask us what we were doing and we said buying some chips and cokes. They ask us if we saw anyone else there and we said no. They told us they received a call about a robbery in progress and were responding. Turned out the clerk was laying dead behind the counter. He had been killed during a robbery about 2 minutes before we pulled up. We had to sit there for about an hour before they let us go.

I’m thankful to this day for three things. 1. We weren’t earlier getting there. 2. They didn’t shoot us when they came in the store and 3. We didn’t match the description of the robbers the person who called them gave.

After that, I started buying my beer from the Asians in Avondale.

Man that’s crazy. This past fall I was put in a situation that could have been very bad.
So I decided I was going to go hunting back home at my parents place the next morning and I would need to leave real early. Like 330am early. My 2 young boys wanted to go with me and stay with my mom. We don’t get to go down there a lot so I was like sure. So the next morning I put the in the truck while still asleep and the put my 70 lb lab in the passenger side floorboard and take off. Right before I get to the Bankhead forest a big truck ahead isblinking his lights from a distance. I look to see if my bright lights are on, nope. So I start slowing down a little. Then he starts flashing them on and off and has his flashers on so I know something is wrong. There’s a few houses around but not many and no lights. As I start rolling up to the big truck to see what’s going on a woman comes running out in the road from the ditch on my side. I mean like going crazy slinging her arms and screaming. Runs out in front of me so I have to stop or hit her. She runs to the passenger side and I roll my window down She is screaming you have to let me in this truck this guy is trying to kidnap me. She’s like got her head in the passenger window. She may have tried to open the door not real sure. I think the only thing that keep her coming through the window was the dog. I’m like o crap. 1 of 3 things
1 He really is trying to kidnap her
2 They are about to try to rob me
3 she’s crazy as a run over dog

Keep in mind I will loose phone service in 1/4 mile for at least 20 minutes and there are no other roads for a good while that I can take that I can get back to town easily. So if it is a robbery what lies ahead? All this goes through my head in seconds. I look to the big truck which is less than 10 yds from me to see if the driver is coming my way. He’s still in the truck . Still at the same time the woman is screaming. I yell at her to get in the back of the truck. She still pacing around screaming. I yell again to get in the back of the truck. Then she disappears. I roll the window up and pull towards the big truck he’s got his head out his window and I ask what is going on. He says she crazy and he picked her up about a few hundred yards down the road and she started saying he was kidnapping her so he lets her out. He said has called the law. About that time she’s back beating beating on my passenger window. Then goes missing. So I’m still like either he’s lying and really try to kidnapp her or she’s crazy. He saws he’s called the law. So I. Ease on up the road and call 911. I can’t keep going or I lose service. 911 dispatcher says same the the driver said and that he had called already. So I take off. Still shook up pretty bad about halfway through the forest I think I wonder where that lady went, did she get in my truck? I thought oh heck naw I dang sure ain’t finding out in the middle of the forest. So as soon as I rolled into double springs I jump out and go look in the back because she is not going to jumping out at my moms house and going crazy. Luckily she wasn’t.

I bet if your brother had known what the dude was capable of he probably would have told you to just forget about the shoes.

Your story piqued my curiosity so I googled for more information about it. The guy convicted is set to be executed tomorrow according to the second article below.

https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news...for-inmate-convicted-of-killing-preacher

https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/401059...r-inmate-convicted-of-murdering-preacher

I grew up in Winfield also. I was pretty young when that happened but I remember people talking about it a few years later. Crazy deal

In 1987 I was involved in an accident, to make a long story short - the guy had some mental issues, which was evident when he told the deputy, “Just go ahead and arrest me!!!” (apparently there he had several issues with law enforcement). About 2-weeks later my wife was reading the news paper and said, “Do you know Jim Smith (I cannot remember his name now)?” I said yea - he was the crazy guy that I hit when he pulled out in front of me. She said, “He was arrested at the Wooden Nickel for pulling his gun out and shooting at some people at the bar.”

Yep that's him. Still looks weird AF. It's pretty ironic thgat I thought about this today.

After they killed the preacher. On the get away they turned down the road by UPS in Winfield and threw out the wife's rings on the side of the road. They would Have turned down our street to get over to the Price boys house before packing up to flee to Tennessee.

Got all ya’ll beat. I’ve met BhamFred and Perchjerker.

not at the same time. When Perch comes up this month we will come and see you....LOL