The Haunted Toy Car of Anamosa

In December of 2002, I visited an orphanage in Anamosa, Iowa. I visited this orphanage because Irene Walters, the orphan keeper, indicated that there was something amiss with a child in her care. I am not an expert on children, but I am well versed in demonology and the paranormal, so I was happy to offer my expertise.

The following is the history of the Haunted Toy Car of Anamosa, as I have come to understand it.

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The Forester Family

The history begins with the Foresters, a young couple who lived in a middle-class, suburban home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Gillian worked as a secretary in a small publishing house, and Benjamin was a mechanic. They were well-liked and active members of the Cedar Falls Catholic Community, and by all accounts were respectable, generous people.

In July of 1996, Gillian and Benjamin gave birth to their first and only child, a boy name Gary Forester. Tragically, Gillian died during childbirth, and Benjamin, devastated by the loss of his wife and exhausted from his many hours at the hospital, crashed into a tree on the drive home. Benjamin died instantly. Gary, remarkably, was unharmed, and so the newborn entered the foster system.

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The Grey Family

The Grey’s were a happy, middle-class family of three – Joseph, Emily, and their three-year-old daughter Angela. Unable to have more biological children, the parents decided to adopt, and were blessed with Gary Forester in August of 1996.

When Gary was six years old, tragedy struck once again. Joseph, Emily, and Angela Grey were killed in a hit-and-run incident. The perpetrator was never caught, and Gary once again entered the foster system.

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The Orphanage

In 2002, Gary was placed in the orphanage run by Irene Walters. Now, it is not abnormal for children who have experienced trauma to have difficulty bonding with their peers, but Gary was particularly resistant. He kept to himself, and would sit in corners, facing the wall, rolling his toy cars along the warped floorboards.

When Irene contacted me, it was because she believed that Gary was possessed. Several times she witnessed his eyes turn to an aggressive, demanding yellow. Although this would only last for a couple of seconds, these moments terrified her. Irene described the otherwise quiet and obedient child as violent and contentious. Twice while yellow-eyed he threatened her life; he said he would kill her with a car, “like I killed my parents.”

Upon hearing this testimony, I began looking into Gary’s past. If he was possessed, I needed to determine what would have caused it. The following are my findings:

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Claire Vernon, Nurse at the Hospital When Gary Was Born

My research began at the hospital where Gary Forester was born. Here, I spoke to Claire Vernon, who was one of the nurses present during the boy’s birth. Interestingly, Claire told me that Gillian and Benjamin had arrived at the hospital pale and shaken. While most parents are full of energy when giving birth to their first child, Claire described Gillian and Benjamin as morose and lethargic.

Of even greater significance, Claire told me that when Gary was born, his eyes were an aggressive yellow. She emphasized how unsettling it was; how the eyes appeared to have a clarity and anger to them which no newborn should. However, after a few moments, the baby’s eyes turned to brown.

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Jerry and Harriet Caring, Friends of the Grey Family

I met Harriet and Jerry Caring at the church which the Grey family attended. The Carings were good friends of the Greys, and spoke highly of the family. They told me that Joseph and Emily were good people who loved their children, and they spoke at length about Angela. They did not offer much information regarding Gary Forester.

When I pressed, the Carings described Gary as a quiet child, who rarely spoke and never interacted with other children. Whenever they visited the Grey home, Gary would be sitting in a corner, facing a wall, playing with his toy cars. Yet despite his quiet and submissive demeanor, they told me that Gary had been caught urinating in the holy water and stealing from the church donation box. They also recounted a particularly alarming story wherein his parents had caught Gary torturing a cat in the backyard.

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Daniel Pinta, Police Officer in Cedar Falls, Iowa

Eventually my research led me to the obituary for the Foresters in the Cedar Falls newspaper. Alongside them, I noticed that there was another death that day. I contacted the Cedar Falls Police Department and was able to speak to Officer Daniel Pinta. Daniel told me that, on the day of Gary’s birth, a five-year-old boy was struck and killed by a car outside of his home. The perpetrator was never found.

When I investigated this further, I found that the street on which the boy was killed was very close to the home of Benjamin and Gillian Forester. When I delved further, I discovered that this street was on the exact route Benjamin and Gillian would have taken to the hospital on the day Gary was born.

I contacted Irene Walters and recommended she speak to an exorcist.

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I went to visit Gary on the day of the planned exorcism. I found him sitting in a corner, head down, playing with his toy cars. As I approached, the little boy stiffened. When I knelt behind him, he slowly turned to face me. His eyes were a piercing yellow.

“Take it, old man, and go,” he spat, with a venom in his voice that no child should be capable of. He scowled and dropped a damaged, yellow V W Golf into my open hand.

Almost immediately, Gary’s eyes turned to brown and his demeanor changed. His shoulders slumped; his head dropped. The little boy turned his back to me and sat quietly in the corner, rolling another of his toy cars, back and forth, back and forth.

The priest never arrived to perform the exorcism. He was killed in a collision en route to the orphanage. The priest’s vehicle? A yellow V W Golf.

That week, Irene Walters resigned from her position at the orphanage. Shortly later, the orphanage was shut down, and the children were distributed across the country. Despite my best efforts, I lost track of Gary Forester.

For years, the Haunted Toy Car of Anamosa has sat in my collection, a sinister reminder of the failed exorcism of an innocent child. Although I have no proof, I believe that Gary was possessed when his parents killed a young boy on the way to the hospital where he was born. I do not know where Gary is today, but I fear that he still carries the demon with him.

Perhaps the Toy Car does as well.

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To the person who purchases The Haunted Toy Car of Anamosa, the item will be meticulously packaged, and delivered with a copy of its history. Thank you for reading this tall tale, and I wish you all the best.

Sincerely,

J. W. Smithworth

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