In the remote mountains of Oregon, where trees grow so dense they block sunlight even at midday, there exists a place that locals avoid mentioning. Crater Lake in 1903 was a community of only 300 souls, surviving on timber extraction and hunting.

 It was a place where secrets could be buried as deeply as the roots of century old sequoas. The legend I’m about to tell was born in these wild lands where isolation transformed ordinary people into something very different. It’s one of the most disturbing stories I’ve ever heard about the limits of human nature, about how far a family can go to protect their darkest secrets.

 On an isolated property 15 miles from the nearest town, two twin siblings made a decision that would shock any civilized person. But what was discovered years later hidden in the dark corners of their home would reveal that some horrors are far worse than anyone could imagine. Tell me in the comments where are you watching from.

 And if this is your first time on the channel, subscribe so you don’t miss any stories like this one. You’ll need courage for what’s coming next. The Oats property sat at the end of a dirt road that snaked for miles through dense forest. Waldo Oats had bought this land in 1885 when he was still young and ambitious, dreaming of building a timber empire.

 The main house, a sturdy two-story structure made from the very logs he cut, stood at the center of a 200 acre plot. Waldo was known in the region as a hardworking but reserved man. His wife had died in childbirth with the twins in 1884, leaving him to raise Phoebe and Wilbert alone. The nearest neighbors lived 3 mi away, and even then they rarely saw the Oats family in town.

 The family sustained themselves mainly from the sawmill that Waldo had built on the property, selling lumber for construction in the region. Phoebe and Wilbert grew up practically isolated from the outside world. They were pale children with almost white blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. From an early age, they demonstrated an unusual connection that made any visitor uncomfortable.

 They frequently finished each other’s sentences and seemed to have a mutual understanding that dispensed with words. The family’s isolation intensified after an incident in 1895 when Phoebe was 11 years old. During one of their rare visits to town, she had been ridiculed by other children due to her extreme palenness and shy behavior.

 Waldo, furious with the treatment given to his daughter, decided that the family didn’t need outside society. From that moment on, visits to town became even more sporadic. When they turned 18 in 1902, Waldo began to notice behaviors that made him uneasy. The twins spent hours locked in the attic, and sometimes he found them sitting in absolute silence, just looking at each other.

 They had developed the habit of communicating through glances and subtle gestures, a silent language that completely excluded Waldo from conversations. The situation became even stranger when Waldo discovered that the twins had begun sleeping in the same room. When questioned, they simply responded that it was natural and that it had always been that way.

 Waldo, a simple and religious man, felt that something was wrong, but didn’t know how to approach the situation. During this period, Waldo noticed that the twins had begun studying books left by their paternal grandfather, a man who had been considered eccentric by the community. The library included texts on genealogy, some old treatises on family lineages, and even some books on animal breeding that discussed basic concepts of heredity.

 In the winter of 1902, Snow completely isolated the property for 3 months. During this period, the twins became even closer, spending entire days together without including him in their activities. They had established their own routine that seemed to deliberately exclude any external interference. When spring arrived and the roads became passible again, Waldo went down to town to buy supplies.

 It was then that the local merchant asked him about the wedding preparations he had heard about. Waldo was confused. There were no wedding preparations whatsoever. But when he pressed the merchant for details, he discovered that Phoebe had been in town a few weeks earlier buying white fabric and talking about a ceremony that would take place within the family. The merchant naturally assumed she was preparing to marry some young man from the region.

 Waldo realized that the twins had made this trip without his knowledge, taking advantage of a day when he was working at the sawmill. Upon returning home, Waldo confronted the twins. What he discovered would disturb him for the rest of his life. Phoebe and Wilbert, sitting side by side in the living room, calmly explained that they had decided to get married, not to other people, but to each other. They had reached this conclusion after months of discussion and study of their grandfather’s books.

It said that Waldo exploded in indignation, citing the Bible and the laws of nature, but the twins remained impassive. According to rumors, they had researched pure lineages in their late grandfather’s library books and believed it was the only way to keep the family united as it should be.

 They argued that many important families in history had practiced marriages between relatives to preserve their special characteristics. Waldo threatened to expel them from home, but the twins had an answer for that, too. They were the only heirs to the property, and technically they were already of legal age. Besides, who in the region would really care about what happened on such an isolated property, they had thought through all the legal and practical aspects of their decision. The ceremony took place on a May morning in 1903 on the property grounds behind

the house. There was no pastor. There were no guests. Just Phoebe, Wilbert, and Waldo who was forced to serve as witness. The twins had discovered a legal loophole. Marriages performed on private properties away from authorities were difficult to contest, especially when all involved were adults. After the improvised ceremony, the twins moved to the main bedroom of the house.

Waldo, deeply disturbed, began avoiding the house during the day, spending long hours at the sawmill. At night, he locked himself in his room and tried to ignore the sounds coming from upstairs. He began drinking more than usual, trying to drown his guilt and confusion. The months that followed brought an atmosphere of growing tension.

 Waldo noticed that the twins had begun making modifications to the house. They installed extra locks on doors, covered some windows with boards, and began digging something in the basement. When questioned, they simply said they were preparing for the future for the family they plan to have. During this period, the twins also began making strange purchases in town.

 They bought large quantities of non-p perishable food, construction materials, and items that seemed destined for home modifications. The local merchant commented to Waldo that the twins seemed to be preparing for a long period of isolation. In the fall of 1903, it became clear that Phoebe was pregnant. The news should have brought joy, but instead it brought a heavy silence that hung over the property like a storm cloud.

 Waldo knew that any child born from this union would carry the weight of its forbidden origin. During the pregnancy, the twins became even more reserved. They rarely left the house, and when they did, it was always together, walking the property in silence. Waldo began to notice that they whispered constantly to each other, as if they were always planning something.

 The first child was born on a stormy night in March 1904. Waldo was awakened by Phoebe’s screams, but when he tried to help, Wilbert prevented him from entering the room. The screams lasted for hours, followed by a silence that was even more disturbing.

 When he was finally allowed to see the child, Waldo understood why the twins had been so secretive. The baby, a girl, had visible deformities, extra fingers on her hands, and an unusual skull shape. But what shocked him most was the parents reaction. Instead of sadness or concern, they seemed satisfied, almost fascinated by the child’s unusual characteristics. They say Phoebe murmured something about the child being perfect, exactly as they expected.

 Wilbert just smiled, a smile that Waldo would never forget, cold, calculating, as if everything was happening exactly as planned. In the following months, Waldo rarely saw the baby, whom the twins kept constantly in their room. When he asked about the child’s health, he received evasive answers and looks that made him feel like an intruder in his own home.

 The second pregnancy came quickly, just 8 months after the first birth. This time, Waldo noticed that the twins seemed even more anxious, constantly whispering to each other and making notes in a notebook they always kept hidden. During this second pregnancy, something strange happened. Waldo began hearing sounds coming from the basement during the night.

 Not just construction noises, but something that sounded like a child crying. When he mentioned this to the twins, they simply explained that it was just winds passing through loose boards. The second baby was born in December 1904 during a blizzard that completely isolated the property. This time, Waldo wasn’t even informed about the labor until everything was over.

When he finally saw the child, a boy, he was surprised to discover that it appeared completely normal. No visible deformities, just a healthy baby. But there was something disturbing about how the twins reacted to this normal child. Instead of the satisfaction they had shown with the first, they seemed disappointed.

 It was as if the child’s normaly was a flaw in their plans, not a blessing. During this period, Waldo noticed that the twins had begun treating the two children completely differently. The first, with her deformities, received constant attention and meticulous care. The second, apparently normal, was frequently neglected, left alone for hours, while the parents concentrated on the deformed child.

 It was during the winter of 1905 that Homer Mixon first appeared at the property. Homer was an experienced hunter who knew every trail in the mountains around Crater Lake. He had noticed smoke coming from the oats chimney at strange hours at 3:00 in the morning, for example, and decided to investigate. Homer was the type of man who couldn’t leave a mystery unsolved.

 He had served in the war against the Indians and had the confidence of someone who had faced real dangers. The isolated oats property with its strange sounds and unusual schedules aroused his curiosity in a way he couldn’t ignore. On the first visit, Homer was cordially received by the twins.

 They offered coffee and talked about the weather, but Homer noticed several strange things. First, he didn’t see or hear any of the children despite knowing that at least two had been born. Second, there was a strange smell in the house. Not exactly bad, but medicinal, as if something was being constantly disinfected. Even more disturbing were the twins themselves.

 Homer had known many couples in his life, but had never seen two people who behaved so coordinatedly. They frequently spoke almost simultaneously, as if they shared the same thoughts, and when one moved, the other seemed to automatically adjust. During the visit, Homer also noticed that the house had been significantly modified, several windows had been covered with boards, new locks had been installed, and there was evidence of recent construction in the basement.

 When he asked about the modifications, the twins explained that they were improving the house to accommodate their growing family. Homer asked to use the bathroom and took the opportunity to explore the house a bit. It was then that he heard something that made him stop in the middle of the hallway.

 The unmistakable sound of a child crying coming from somewhere beneath his feet. But when he returned to the living room, the twins were conversing normally, as if nothing had happened. When Homer casually mentioned that he had heard a baby crying, the twins reaction was immediate and disturbing. The smile disappeared from their faces simultaneously.

 And for a moment, Homer saw something in their eyes that made him instinctively take a step back. They explained coldly that he must have heard the wind, that these old houses make strange noises. Homer left the property that day with the feeling that he had stumbled upon something much bigger than simple family eccentricity.

 He had seen enough of life to recognize when something was fundamentally wrong, and everything about the Oats twins screamed danger. In the weeks that followed, Homer couldn’t get the visit out of his mind. He began asking discreet questions in town about the Oats family. What he discovered only increased his concern. No one had seen the twins children. Dr. Clarence Benson, when questioned, became visibly uncomfortable and quickly changed the subject.

 Homer also discovered that the twins had made several unusual purchases in recent months. Large quantities of lime, excavation tools, and strangely several yards of heavy rope. The local merchant mentioned that they always paid in cash and seemed anxious to complete their transactions quickly.

 During this period, Homer began observing the property from a distance during his hunts. He noticed strange patterns of activity. Lights moving through the house at unusual hours, smoke coming from the chimney even during hot days, and occasionally figures moving around the yard during the early morning hours. Homer’s curiosity turned into suspicion, and suspicion into determination.

 He decided he needed to discover what was really happening at the Oats property. As an experienced hunter, he knew how to move silently through the forest, how to observe without being seen. During this period, Phoebe became pregnant for the third time in early 1905. The twins became even more secretive, making frequent trips to town to buy supplies they hid before anyone could see.

 Waldo noticed that they had begun spending more time in the basement and the sounds coming from there became more frequent and disturbing. The third child was born in the summer of 1905. And this time, not even Waldo was allowed to see her immediately when he finally got a glimpse of the baby, a girl.

 He was shocked to see that the deformities were even more severe than those of the first child. The child had visible breathing difficulties and clearly abnormal physical development. But what most disturbed Waldo was realizing that the twins seemed to be meticulously documenting every aspect of their children’s development.

 They made constant notes, measured parts of the baby’s bodies, and discussed physical characteristics as if they were scholars observing specimens. During this period, Waldo also noticed that the twins had begun referring to the children not by names, but by numbers or characteristics. The first was the special one, the second was the failure, and the third was the improved one.

 This clinical and inhuman language deeply disturbed him. At the end of February 1905, Homer made his second and final visit to the Oats property. This time, he didn’t knock on the front door. Instead, he waited until dawn and approached the house through the trees, moving with the skill of someone who had spent decades hunting in the mountains. What Homer saw that night would change everything, but he never had the chance to tell anyone.

 Through a basement window that the twins had forgotten to completely cover, he witnessed something that made him question his own sanity. The basement had been divided into sections, and in each section there was evidence of occupation. Small spaces that seemed to have been prepared to confined something or someone.

 Homer saw the twins moving between these sections, carrying food and water, as if they were caring for animals. But the sounds coming from inside the sections weren’t from animals. They were clearly human, clearly from children. Homer realized with horror that the twins were keeping their own children confined in the basement as if they were laboratory specimens. But Homer Mixon never left that property again.

 His absence was noticed 3 days later when he didn’t show up for a planned hunt with friends. A search was organized, but they never found either Homer or any clue about what had happened to him. The only thing they found was his rifle abandoned in the forest about a mile from the Oats property. When questioned about Homer, the twins seemed genuinely surprised and concerned.

 They offered help in the search and expressed hope that he would be found safe and sound. Their performance was so convincing that initially no one suspected their involvement in the disappearance. But from that moment on, a dark legend began to grow around the Oats property. People began whispering that the family protected their secrets lethally, that anyone who got too close simply disappeared.

 Phoe’s fourth pregnancy occurred at the end of 1905 and the child was born in the spring of 1906. This time, not even Waldo knew about the birth until weeks later. When he finally saw the child, a boy, he discovered that it appeared physically normal, but there was something disturbing about its behavior. The child rarely cried, rarely moved, and had an empty look that didn’t seem to focus on anything.

 Subscribe to the channel to discover what Homer really saw that night and why his discovery sealed not only his own fate, but revealed a horror that was growing in the dark corners of the Oats House. Homer Mixon’s disappearance created an atmosphere of silent fear that spread through the Crater Lake community like an infection.

 People began avoiding not only the Oats property, but the entire area around it. Experienced hunters who had once freely roamed those mountains began taking detours of miles to avoid that region. In the months following Homer’s disappearance, the twins became even more isolated and secretive. Waldo noticed that they had begun making more extensive modifications to the house.

The basement in particular seemed to be constantly under renovation. He heard construction sounds coming from there during the night. But when he tried to investigate, he found the door locked. During this period, something disturbing happened to Waldo. He began having constant nightmares about sounds coming from the basement.

 Not just children crying, but noises he couldn’t identify. They were sounds that seemed like a mixture of moaning, scratching, and something that resembled furniture being dragged. When he woke up in cold sweat and went down to investigate, he always found the house in total silence. Waldo also began to notice that his own health was deteriorating.

 He was constantly losing weight, developed tremors in his hands, and had difficulty concentrating on work at the sawmill. The occasional workers he hired commented that he seemed haunted, always looking over his shoulder, as if expecting to see something terrible. Phoe’s fifth pregnancy occurred at the end of 1906, and this time, Waldo noticed that the twins seemed especially anxious.

 They spent hours whispering to each other, making notes in notebooks they always kept hidden, and making frequent trips to town to buy mysterious supplies. Doctor Benson, who had avoided the property since Homer’s disappearance, began receiving disturbing reports from people who passed near the area. A lumberjack claimed to have heard multiple children’s voices coming from the property during an early morning.

Some crying, others making sounds he described as not completely human. Another report came from a traveling merchant who had gotten lost during a storm and sought shelter near the property. He claimed to have seen Wilbert carrying something wrapped in sheets to the basement during the early morning, something that moved and made muffled noises.

 When the merchant tried to approach to offer help, Wilbert saw him and made threatening gestures for him to stay away. During this period, rumors began circulating about other minor disappearances in the region. A young shepherd who tended sheep in the mountains had disappeared for 3 days before being found wandering through the forest, apparently with no memory of what had happened.

 He constantly muttered about voices in the basement and children who shouldn’t exist. The fifth child was born in the spring of 1907. And this time, not even Waldo knew about the birth until much later. When he finally managed to see the child, a girl, he was shocked to discover that she had even more severe deformities than any of the previous ones.

 The child seemed to have basic survival difficulties and required constant care. Waldo occasionally heard crying coming from different parts of the house, but when he tried to locate the source, the twins always intercepted him and redirected him away from the area. They had become extremely territorial about certain sections of the house, especially the basement and some upstairs rooms.

 During this period, Benson made a disturbing discovery. While organizing his medical records, he realized there was a discrepancy in births registered in the region. According to his calculations, based on the pregnancies he knew Phoebe had had, there should be at least five children at the Oats property. But officially, only two had been registered.

 Benson began considering the possibility that the twins were keeping these children hidden for reasons that went beyond simple shame about the deformities. Perhaps they were conducting some kind of observation, using their own children as study subjects.

 The situation became even more sinister when Benson discovered that the twins had begun studying texts on heredity and human development. They had ordered books on anatomy and even some treatises on hereditary characteristics from bookstores in distant cities. During this period, Waldo began to notice dramatic changes in the twins behavior toward him.

 They treated him increasingly like a stranger on his own property, making important decisions without consulting him and establishing rules about where he could and couldn’t go. In 1808, Benson made a decision that would change the course of events. He decided he needed to discover the truth about what was happening at the Oats property, no matter the personal cost.

He began planning a discrete investigation using his medical knowledge to try to understand what the twins were really doing. But Benson wasn’t Homer Mixon. He didn’t have the military experience or survival skills of the disappeared hunter. And the Oats twins had learned from the previous incident.

 They were prepared for anyone who tried to discover their secrets. During this period, Waldo began to notice that his own position on the property had become precarious. The twins frequently whispered to each other when he was around, stopping abruptly when they realized he was listening. He began to suspect they were planning something regarding him.

 Phoe’s sixth and final pregnancy occurred in 1808, and this time Waldo was barely informed about it. The twins had become completely secretive about their family activities, treating Waldo more like an intruder than the family patriarch. When the child was born in early 1809, Waldo never got to see her.

 It was during this period that even more disturbing rumors began circulating about the Oats property. People reported seeing strange lights coming from the basement during the early morning, and some claimed to have heard sounds they described as muffled screams.

 A pastor passing through the region during a missionary trip claimed to have felt such a strong evil presence near the property that he was forced to make a detour of several miles. Benson, determined to discover the truth, began making discrete observations of the property from a distance. Using binoculars, he spent several nights hidden in the forest, trying to understand the twins activity patterns.

What he observed left him deeply disturbed. The twins seemed to have established a rigid routine that involved multiple visits to the basement during the night. They carried buckets, food, and sometimes what appeared to be clothes or blankets.

 Even more disturbing, Benson occasionally saw them removing buckets that seemed to contain waste or other materials they buried in the forest. In December 1912, Benson finally decided he had enough evidence to justify a more direct investigation. He announced his intention to make an important medical visit that could clarify some disturbing questions. But just like Homer Mixon before him, Benson never returned from that investigation.

His carriage was found abandoned 2 mi from the Oats property with his horses still hitched, but clearly frightened. His medical instruments were scattered on the ground as if he had run out in panic. But there was no sign of the doctor himself. When questioned about Benson’s disappearance, the twins demonstrated the same convincing surprise they had shown with Homer.

 They offered help in the search and expressed genuine concern for the doctor’s well-being. But those who knew them well noticed something different in their eyes. A cold confidence that hadn’t been there before. With Benson’s disappearance, the dark legend around the Oats property solidified.

 Two people had disappeared after investigating the family, and now no one dared approach the property. Sheriff Skyler Tucker had avoided the Oats property for 10 years. Like most people in Crater Lake, he had heard the rumors, felt the instinctive fear that surrounded that family and decided that some stones were better left unturned. But in 1913, he had no choice.

 The pressure had begun early in the year when families from other towns began asking questions about missing relatives who had passed through the region. Homer Mixon hadn’t been the only one. In the past 8 years, at least three other people had disappeared near the Oats property, a traveling merchant, a government land inspector, and most recently Dr. Clarence Benson himself.

 The state governor had begun receiving letters from concerned families, and Tucker knew his own position as sheriff was at risk if he didn’t take action. Additionally, the local community was becoming increasingly nervous. People refused to travel alone through the region, and some merchants had stopped making deliveries to the area.

 Tucker had also received reports of strange activity from people who passed near the property. A group of lumberjacks reported hearing screams coming from the direction of the house during an early morning. Screams they described as not completely human.

 Another report came from a hunter who claimed to have seen figures moving around the property yard during the night. In March 1913, Tucker finally mustered enough courage to obtain a search warrant alleging suspicion of criminal activity related to the disappearances. He knew he needed concrete evidence to justify invading private property, but the multiple disappearances provided sufficient legal basis.

 On the morning of March 15th, 1913, Tucker rode to the Oats property, accompanied by two deputies and a county representative. It was a cold and foggy morning, and the property seemed even more sinister than he had imagined. The house, which had once been well-maintained, now showed signs of deterioration. What most impressed Tucker was the absolute silence surrounding the property.

 There were no animal sounds, no birds singing, and even the wind seemed to avoid that area. It was as if nature itself had decided to keep its distance from what was happening in that house. The twins received the group on the front porch. At 29 years old, Phoebe and Wilbert still maintained their youthful appearance, but there was something different about them.

 Their eyes had a glazed, almost fanatical quality, and they moved with a coordination that was disturbing. Tucker noticed they seemed to have anticipated the visit, as if they had been preparing for this moment. When Tucker presented the warrant, the twins showed no surprise or indignation.

 Instead, they simply looked at each other and smiled, an identical smile that made Tucker feel a chill down his spine. It said that Wilbert calmly said they had been waiting for this visit for a long time. The search began on the main floor of the house. Tucker immediately noticed the extensive modifications that had been made over the years.

 Doors had been reinforced with metal bars. Windows had been sealed, and there were heavy locks on practically every room. The house seemed more like a prison than a family residence. On the upper floor, Tucker found evidence of the twins family life. There was a main bedroom where they clearly slept together, and several smaller rooms that seemed to have been used as nurseries, but what most disturbed him were the drawings on the walls, detailed anatomical diagrams, complex family trees, and schemes that seem to map physical characteristics through generations. Tucker also found

piles of notes written in the twins identical handwriting. The notes documented physical and behavioral aspects of various children using clinical and inhuman language. The children were referred to by numbers and characteristics, not by names.

 It was in one of the upstairs rooms that Tucker made his first truly disturbing discovery. In a small, poorly ventilated room, he found a child of approximately 9 years old. The girl had severe deformities, atrophied limbs, distorted facial features, and clearly limited mental development. She was locked in the room with the door reinforced from the outside.

 The child appeared malnourished and frightened, making inarticulate sounds when she saw the strangers. Her clothes were dirty, and there was evidence that she had been kept in those conditions for a long period. The room had only a small window covered with boards, and the smell was nauseating. When Tucker confronted the twins about the locked child, they remained calmly impassive.

 According to reports, Phoebe explained that she was dangerous to herself and that confinement was for her own protection. Wilbert would have added that Tucker didn’t understand the special nature of their children. Tucker ordered the door to be opened immediately, but when his deputies tried to approach the child, she began screaming.

 Not normal screams of fear, but sharp and piercing sounds that seemed almost animalistic. The child had clearly lost the capacity for normal communication. The search continued to the ground floor, where Tucker discovered that the kitchen had been partially converted into something that resembled an observation space.

 There were rudimentary instruments, jars containing unidentified liquids, and piles of detailed notes about physical development and hereditary characteristics. But it was when Tucker went down to the basement that he discovered the true extent of the horror that had been growing on the Oats property for almost a decade.

 The basement had been completely transformed into a series of improvised rooms, each with reinforced doors and small openings for ventilation. In the first room, Tucker found a boy of approximately 8 years old. Physically, the child seemed relatively normal, but when Tucker tried to talk to him, it became clear there was severe mental retardation. The boy just stared fixedly, making repetitive movements with his hands.

 The second room contained a girl of about 7 years old with physical deformities similar to the child upstairs. She was in even worse condition, malnourished to the point of emaciation with open wounds on her wrists where ropes had cut her skin. When she saw Tucker, she tried to hide in the darkest corner of the room.

 The third room was empty, but there was clear evidence of recent occupation. The floor was covered with dirty straw. There were ropes attached to the wall and a nauseating smell that Tucker recognized as decomposition. On the wall, someone had scratched marks, hundreds of them, as if counting days or trying to maintain sanity. It was in the fourth room that Tucker made the discovery that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

 In the darkest corner, partially hidden under a pile of rags, he found the mortal remains of a small child. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, but it was still possible to see that the child had died under terrible conditions. There was evidence that the child had tried to escape before dying.

 The nails were broken and there were desperate scratches on the wooden walls. The body was in a fetal position, as if the child had died trying to protect itself. When Tucker confronted the twins about the body, they didn’t deny its existence. Instead, according to reports, Wilbert calmly explained that not all specimens survive the process. Phoebe would have added that death is part of observation, just like life.

It was then that Tucker realized the true nature of what had been happening on the oats property. It wasn’t simply a case of child neglect or even abuse. The twins had been conducting deliberate observations on their own children, treating them as study specimens instead of human beings.

 The notes Tucker found confirmed his worst suspicions. The twins had been meticulously documenting each child’s development, recording deformities, measuring mental capacities, and even testing different forms of confinement to see how the children reacted. One of the most disturbing notes described how they had tested one of the children’s resistance limits, depriving her of food for specific periods to observe the effects on physical and mental health.

 Another note documented how different types of confinement affected behavior. But perhaps the most disturbing discovery was the revelation that the twins didn’t see their actions as cruel or wrong. In their twisted minds, they were conducting important observations about heredity and human development. Tucker also discovered evidence of Homer Mixon and Dr. Benson’s fate.

 In a separate section of the basement, he found personal belongings of both men along with detailed notes about how they had interfered with important work and needed to be removed to protect the research. The notes about Homer and Benson were particularly shocking. The twins had documented the methods used to lure each man into a trap as if they were predators studying their prey.

 They had learned from each incident, refining their techniques to eliminate future threats. Tucker also found evidence that the twins had planned to expand their operations. There were drawings of additional modifications to the basement, plans to build more confinement rooms, and even notes about how to acquire more test subjects.

 During the search, Tucker also discovered that Waldo Oats was in much worse condition than anyone had imagined. The man was found in an attic room in a state of almost complete mental collapse. He was malnourished, dirty, and constantly muttered about sounds in the basement and children who shouldn’t exist. Waldo had tried to keep a secret record of what was happening, scratching marks on a wooden beam to count the days.

 His fragmentaryary notes revealed that he had tried to intervene several times, but the twins had threatened him and eventually confined him. The arrest of Phoebe and Wilbert Oats in March 1913 shocked the Crater Lake community in a way no one had imagined possible. When news about what had been discovered on the property spread, many people simply refused to believe it.

 The reality was too horrible, too far beyond normal understanding of human behavior. The four surviving children were removed from the property in conditions that left even experienced deputies visibly shaken. The 9-year-old girl, who had spent most of her life confined, couldn’t walk properly and had developed additional deformities due to prolonged confinement.

 The 8-year-old boy, despite being physically more normal, had the mental capacity of a much younger child and seemed incapable of basic verbal communication. He had developed strange repetitive behaviors, constantly rocking, banging his head against walls and making rhythmic sounds that seemed to be his only form of self-consolation.

The two youngest children, found in the basement, were in even worse condition. The 7-year-old girl weighed less than 40 lb and had infected wounds all over her body. She had developed a pathological fear of sunlight and hid whenever exposed to any bright lighting. The youngest boy, approximately 6 years old, had lost sight in one eye due to an untreated infection and showed signs of severe trauma.

 He didn’t respond to his own name and seemed to have forgotten how to be human. When they tried to feed him, he ate like an animal using only his hands. A female doctor specializing in child care was brought from Portland to examine the children. She described their conditions as the worst she had seen in a 20-year career.

 It was estimated that the children had been kept in captivity for years, possibly since birth. But perhaps more disturbing than the children’s physical conditions was their behavior. They seemed incapable of forming normal emotional connections with other people, reacting to attempts at affection with fear or aggression.

 They had developed strange mannerisms and refused to be separated from each other. The children also showed signs that they had been conditioned to obey specific commands. When someone clapped twice, they immediately curled up in fetal position. When they heard heavy footsteps, they automatically moved to room corners.

 During interrogations, Phoebe and Wilbert maintained the same disturbing calm they had demonstrated during the search. They didn’t deny any of the accusations against them, but also showed no remorse or understanding that their actions had been wrong. According to interrogation reports, Wilbert explained that they had been exploring the limits of human heredity and that their children were unique study subjects due to their consanguinous origin.

 He genuinely believed that his children’s deformities and mental limitations provided valuable data about how genetic characteristics were transmitted through generations. Phoebe, in turn, would have described the captivity conditions as controlled environments necessary for precise observation.

 She didn’t see confinement and isolation as cruel, but as necessary tools to keep variables under control. During interrogations, it was also revealed that the twins had planned their actions for years before even getting married. They had studied cases of consanguinity in other families, researched hereditary deformities, and even visited institutions for people with disabilities to observe other cases.

The bizarre nature of the crimes combined with the perpetrators scientific coldness captured public imagination in a way few criminal cases had achieved. The Oats Twins trial became a regional sensation, attracting curious onlookers from various neighboring towns. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the twins had planned their observations for years before even getting married.

 They had studied texts on heredity, corresponded with people who had theories about human improvement, and even visited institutions for people with disabilities to observe other cases. The defense tried to argue that the twins were mentally incompetent, victims of their own isolation and distorted ideas.

 They brought experts who testified about the effects of extreme isolation on the human mind, and about how consanguinity could have affected the twins own sanity. But prosecutors demonstrated that their actions had been deliberate, planned, and executed with precision over almost a decade. The verdict was unanimous, guilty of murder, aggravated child abuse, and a series of other charges.

Phoebe and Wilbert were sentenced to life imprisonment. Even in prison, they continued to maintain that their actions had been justified and that one day science would validate their methods. Waldo Oats, who had been found in a state of complete mental collapse on the property, never recovered from the trauma of discovering the full extent of what had been happening under his own roof.

 He was committed to a state asylum where he spent his last years muttering about sounds in the basement and children who should never have been born. He died in 1918, still tormented by nightmares about his family. The four surviving children were placed in specialized care, but their recovery prospects were grim. Years of abuse and neglect had caused physical and psychological damage that was largely irreversible.

 The oldest girl never learned to walk properly and remained in institutional care for the rest of her life. The boy with mental retardation showed some improvement with dedicated care, but never developed beyond the capacity of a small child. He learned some basic words and managed to perform simple tasks, but was never able to live independently.

 The two youngest children had even more tragic fates. The 7-year-old girl died from medical complications just 2 years after her rescue. Her body simply unable to recover from years of neglect. The youngest boy lived until 15, but never fully adapted to the outside world. He developed a series of debilitating phobias and died during a panic attack.

The oats property was abandoned after the trial and quickly deteriorated. The house, which had been the scene of so much horror, was eventually destroyed by fire in 1920. Some say it was arson, others that it was caused by lightning.

 But most people in Crater Lake preferred to believe that the house had simply decided to destroy itself. The bodies of Homer Mixon and Dr. Clarence Benson were never found despite extensive searches of the property. The twins took the secret of where they had buried their victims to prison, refusing to reveal the location, even when offered sentence reduction in exchange for the information.

 Phoebe died in prison in 1934 at 50 years old from natural causes. until the end. She maintained that her actions had been justified and that history would vindicate her. Wilbert survived until 1951, spending almost 40 years in prison. He never showed remorse, never asked for forgiveness, and never stopped believing he had been conducting important work.

 In the years following the trial, the story of the Oats twins became a dark legend in the Oregon mountains. The legend tells that on the quietest nights, it’s still possible to hear echoes of what happened on that property. Hunters who venture too close to the area where the house stood report hearing sounds they can’t explain.

 Muffled moans, scratching, and sometimes what seems to be children crying, carried by the wind. Some older residents of Crater Lake whisper that the forest around the old property was never the same again. Trees grow strangely in that area, twisted and sickly, as if the very earth had been contaminated by what happened there.

 Animals avoid the region, and even the most experienced hunters report a feeling of unease when approaching the location. In the silent mountains of Oregon, where trees grow dense enough to hide humanity’s darkest secrets, the legend of the Oats property remains as a haunted reminder of what happens when isolation and obsession combine lethally.

 The story of Phoebe and Wilbert Oats forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth that the deepest horrors don’t come from supernatural forces or creatures of our imagination, but from the human capacity to rationalize the unthinkable. Two siblings who should have protected their children instead transformed them into objects of observation, convincing themselves they were serving a greater purpose.

 What makes this legend even more disturbing is the coldness with which the twins conducted their actions. They didn’t act on impulse or in moments of anger. Every action was calculated, documented, justified in their twisted minds as scientific progress.

 They created a complete system of horror complete with classifications, detailed observations, and even elimination of interferences. The children who survived carried the scars of those years for the rest of their short and traumatized lives. They never knew normal parental love, never experienced the security every child deserves, never had the chance to develop their full human potential.

 They were reduced to specimens in an improvised laboratory. their own basic needs sacrificed on the altar of perverted curiosity. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is that the twins never showed remorse until their last days in prison. They maintained they had been doing important work, that their discoveries would one day benefit humanity.

 This inability to recognize the monstrosity of their actions reveals a fundamental disconnection from basic human empathy. The legend also reminds us how dangerous isolation can be. Crater Lake in 1903 was a place where secrets could be kept for years, where screams in the middle of the night could be ignored as wind in the trees, where disappearances could be explained as hunting accidents.

 Geographic isolation allowed the twins to operate without supervision, transforming their property into a chamber of horrors that functioned for almost a decade. Today, when we look back at this legend, we are forced to question how many other dark secrets are hidden in isolated places. How many other families use isolation to hide unthinkable acts? And perhaps more importantly, how can we recognize the signs before it’s too late? The oats property may have been destroyed by fire, but the lessons of its story remain. They remind us that we must be vigilant, that we must question when

something seems wrong, and that we should never assume that civilization and morality are guaranteed. Sometimes the most dangerous monsters are those who hide behind facades of normaly, conducting their horrors in silence, away from society’s eyes. In the Oregon mountains, where the wind still whispers through ancient trees, the legend of the Oats Twins serves as an eternal warning.

 That human capacity for evil has no limits, and that sometimes the deepest horrors are those created by our own hands. The mountains of Oregon still hold countless secrets buried beneath their ancient trees. And the legend of the Oats twins reminds us that some of humanity’s darkest chapters unfold in the most isolated places.

 If this story left you questioning what other mysteries might be hidden in forgotten corners of our world, make sure to subscribe and hit that notification bell because everyday we dive deep into the legends that refuse to stay buried. Share this video with someone brave enough to hear these tales and let me know in the comments what other remote locations do you think might be hiding secrets like this.

 Your suggestions might just become our next investigation into the shadows of the past.