Creepy Dolls photographed by Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser

Bear Camp Swamp Yeilds 21 Creepy Dolls

Twenty-one dolls affixed on bamboo stakes were retrieved from Bear Camp Swamp last week. Chief Deputy Joe Sedinger noticed the dolls earlier in the month when he was responding to a stolen vehicle call. The Augauga County (AL) Sheriff’s Office decided to collect the dolls when the story exploded on social media.

The dolls were mostly porcelain. A lot of the faces were painted white. All were staked in the swamp in a cluster. The dolls were described as creepy. Deputy Sedinger canoed out to get them. The swamp is owned by a timber company; however, the company failed to respond to calls. Currently, the dolls have been catalogued and are being held until someone claims them. The question remains as to why the dolls were even there.

Rumors about supposed hauntings abound. The swamp is located in Prattville, Alabama. Native Americans lived in the area. The Civil War impacted the area as well. Local lore mentions sightings of Native American Indians and Civil War soldiers. Unexplainable lights have been seen. “Little People” are said to live deep within the swamp. The most chilling story claims a mother haunts the area looking for her child. If someone calls “We have your baby” three times, the ghost is said to appear. The reality TV paranormal group from Deep South Paranormal investigated the swamp in 2013.

In addition to the paranormal community, Bear Camp Swamp attracts geocaching groups. Geocaching is a hide and seek adventure where people use global positioning systems (GPS) to play a scavenger hunt. It is incredibly popular.

Deputy Sedinger speculated that the dolls were a prank leftover from Halloween. Several ghost hunting groups have investigated the location. Observations are available online. I hope that no one was attempting to provoke any spirits by offering the dolls up for sacrifice. It would be horrible for anyone to do. Trigger objects are one thing. A cluster of creepy dolls is a whole nother thing.