Black Swan Inn Reopens

Damage caused by recent gang violence repaired (V)

By: Jim Smith


The Black Swan Inn has completed renovations, and is reopening at the end of this week.
The famous inn was shut down recently after gang violence erupted one weekend. Sources say that a group of ghost hunters, in town for the convention, ran afoul of a local gang while investigating the Inn.


The Black Swan Inn is one of San Antonio’s many famous haunted places. It was built in 1867 on the site of the Battle of Salado, only 25 years after the battle took place. While the battle had relatively few casualties, as go (60), it is one of several reasons people say the Inn is haunted today. There are also legends and rumors that there is an Indian burial ground on the property, as the land was once home to the Coahuiltecan tribe.


Reported ghost sights have been frequent. The former owner has seen a man standing at the foot of her bed, a man working underneath the house reported children poking him with sticks and laughing, dolls in a room had been rearranged and left out as if they had been played with and a visitor reported a “creepy looking” man standing outside her second story window.


Rumors among the contractors hired to rebuild the walls talk of strange whispered conversations in other rooms, and laughter after the sun goes down. Aside from the workers, the rooms have remained empty for the duration of the remodeling.

Bosco, a black panther, rests in his cage at SA Zooworld. Despite the initial call that tigers had escaped, the owner claims that he has not had any tigers on the premises in over 3 years. Bosco is one of three panthers that currently reside at SA Zooworld.

STREETS REMAIN SAFE FROM WILD CATS
No Big Cats Escaped Say Local Police (V)

By Tammy Kendall
San Antonio Gazette STAFF WRITER



BEXAR COUNTY- Bexar County deputies are saying false alarm after investigating a report of loose tigers in north Bexar County that prompted the lockdown of a nearby elementary school.


Deputy Chief Dale Bennett said three tigers were reported loose at a home in the 27000 block of O'Kent drive around 7:05 a.m. He said the homeowner does own large exotic cats, but that all three cats were found inside their cages when deputies arrived. There was one empty cage, but authorities were assured it was only used as a back-up, and was not regularly home to any of the cats.


The property is registered as SA Zooworld. The owner has reportedly worked with wild animals for 40 years and has rescued a number lions, tigers, leopards and mountain lions. According to the sheriff's department, he is only permitted to have three large cats on the property.


The sheriff's office was alerted after the owner called a friend, saying he needed help, that the cats were lose. Fearing for his friends safety, deputies said that person then called authorities.San Antonio Zoo officials said they sent three workers -- a member of their shoot team, a veterinarian and a member of their living collections department -- after the sheriff's office contacted them for help in recapturing the tigers. Nearby Timberwood Park Elementary School, of the Comal ISD, was locked down Tuesday morning per the request of the sheriff's office.


Sgt. Valentine Saucedo said deputies thoroughly searched the property but found nothing.


"We've pretty much concluded our search as far as we've determined," he said. "We've gone all over the whole property. We've walked it. We've driven and we've driven around it. We've gone looking, checking in all the trees to make sure they didn't climb up there."


Deputies said the owner of the cats appeared confused.


Late Tuesday Bexar County authorities were back out at the home after saying they received a second call from the owner.
They will be conducting an evaluation on the man before closing the books on this case.


After the second false alarm, he suggested that he became alarmed when he saw the outline of a stuffed bobcat in the dark that he keeps mounted in his living room, and became convinced his cats had escaped.


Despite being assured that all the animals were indeed accounted for, reports of a large bengal tiger heading towards interstate 35 were called in by several anonymous sources.

Blood oozes from the closet were victim was found.               Associated Press Photographs

Homicide in Castroville (V)
Teen found butchered in abandoned condominium
By Jim Smith
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CASTROVILLE — Police were called to a Castroville condominium, slated to be renovated and resold, after the realtor reported a "horrible stench."
Upon entering the unit, the patrolmen called in a forensics team. The scene was, according to the realtor, " a slaughterhouse."
The remains that were discovered had apparently been butchered by someone with a knowledge of human anatomy, and had been stored in a closet

with blocks of dry ice to slow decomposition.
Police have yet to officially release an identity for the victim or a possible description of the suspect, but among the evidence found was a Medina Valley High School Class Ring.
Police are not, at this time, looking at the possibility of a serial killer. However, according to some experts, this gruesome murder has many of the earmarks of a mass killer in the making.
Residents of Castroville were stunned, and police are working diligently to find the person responsible.
Due to the state that the body was in and the huge amounts of recent disappearances in the San Antonio and surrounding areas, identification of the victim might take some time. Meanwhile, many families are left without comfort, as they pray that the butchered remains are not one of their missing loved ones.
If you have any information about this murder, or if you have witnessed suspicious activity in the Castroville area, please contact Crime Stoppers, at 555-555-5434.