Hold My Sweet Tea
Where True Crime collides with chilling ghost stories and Southern folklore. Join us, sip sweet tea, and uncover shocking tales of murder, mystery, and the supernatural, all with a healthy dose of Southern charm and a touch of sass!
Hold My Sweet Tea
Ep. 56-The Wyrick Family: A Haunting in Ellerslie, GA
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The boundary between imagination and the supernatural blurs in the extraordinary case of the Wyrick family, whose quiet life in rural Georgia became a waking nightmare. When three-year-old Heidi began conversing with her "imaginary friends," her parents initially thought nothing of it—until they discovered these invisible companions were the spirits of people who had actually lived and died on their property years before.
Little Heidi's main spectral playmates were "Mr. Gordy" , a kindly gentleman in a suit and top hat who would push her on the swings, and a man she called "Con" who appeared with bloodied clothes and a bandaged hand. The family's blood ran cold when they learned the previous homeowner who died in 1974 was named James S. Gordy, and a former resident on the property named Lon Bachelor had lost his hand in a cotton gin accident decades earlier. How could a toddler possibly know these details without supernatural intervention?
The situation escalated dramatically when Lisa Wyrick became pregnant with their second child. Suddenly, malevolent presences invaded their home, leaving unexplained scratches on Heidi and her father Andy. The terror peaked when Heidi was found levitating upside down by her ankles, screaming for help. Throughout these terrifying events, the benevolent spirits of Mr. Gordy and Con seemingly tried to protect the child from darker forces. The family eventually fled their haunted home, but according to Heidi, at least one malevolent entity followed her, suggesting some supernatural attachments can't be severed by simply changing location. This case has inspired numerous adaptations, including "The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia," though many fictional elements were added to the family's already chilling true story. Share your own paranormal experiences with us—we might feature them in a future episode!
Sources:
WTVM Staff, February 19, 2008, Haunting in Harris County: the Heidi Myrick story, https://www.wtvm.com/story/7890511/haunting-in-harris-county-the-heidi-wyrick-story/
Atlanta Ghosts, May 6, 2024, I see dead people: The Heidi Myrick story, https://atlantaghosts.com/i-see-dead-people-the-heidi-wyrick-story/
The Wyrick Family's Haunted Home
Speaker 1In 1989 , andy and Lisa Weirich , along with their three-year-old daughter , heidi , moved into a new home in Ellerslie , georgia . It wasn't long before Heidi began talking to her imaginary friends . This is Hold my Sweet Tea . Hello , I'm Holly .
Speaker 2And I'm Pearl . Hey , yay . So little teeny tiny update before you get into your episode today . Okay , andrew James McGann , the guy who stabbed , allegedly stabbed you mean Wreck-It Ralph , wreck-it Ralph who allegedly stabbed the hikers he had his little arraignment and he pled not guilty . Of course he did , confessed to doing it . His DNA is at the scene , but he's not guilty . So , yeah , his next hearing is scheduled for November 14th , so it's going to be a big old minute , yeah .
Speaker 1Well .
Speaker 1But yeah he pleaded not guilty to murder charges on this past Thursday . He's like I redact that . It's not me , I didn't do it . I didn't , I'm just kidding , I wasn't there , I was just trying to get a haircut Right . So , yeah , yeah , well , my story today is a spooky ooky one because I just want to get into the spooky season spirit and do something .
Speaker 1Haunted , quiet , picturesque town of Ellerslie , georgia so it was here in the late 1980s . A family's idyllic new beginning would become a terrifying ordeal , all centered around a little girl and her extraordinary connection to the unseen world . So this is the story of the Weir family and their haunted home . I see dead people exactly , and you know what a lot of that , a lot of movies and things have been made because of this case , gotcha , and that's kind of one of them , because they always say children can communicate with spirits and things like that . They're more , you know , in tune to that and open to that . But , heidi , she could talk to them , she could interact with them and apparently see them Right and see them , and even to this day she still gets visions and things like that in her mind I was going to say she must have just kind of accepted it and so that's why it's still happening .
Speaker 2Like you know , you grow up , you go . Ah , I don't believe in that .
Speaker 1And then I mean there goes that door Yep , and it just closed up and done . But , yeah , she kept that door open , but her family , like I said , they were just a normal family seeking a peaceful life in the countryside , aren't we all ? I would love to go to the countryside , even if it was haunted . I'd be like , look , we got to live here together . So , yeah , calm down , hope we can be friends . Chill your chains and stop stomping in the middle of the night . Yeah , stomp during the day .
Speaker 2Right , do it , do it during the day , at least if I'm awake .
Speaker 1I'd be waking up Cletus , stop it , I wouldn't even care . But the peace they sought would soon be broken by a series of events that defied all explanation . So it began with Heidi , like many children her age , and she was three years old . Oh my goodness . So let's keep this in mind a three-year-old , she's really little . If you have a three-year-old or know a , three-year-old you that has imaginary friends .
Speaker 1I had imaginary friends when I was little , but I was probably a little bit older . My imaginary friend's name was Polly , not very far off from my own name . But I remember talking to Polly a lot and playing outside and having conversations . I had an imaginary friend or did you or did I , was it somebody that lived there before and her name was Polly Could have been .
Speaker 1So the Wyricks quickly
Meeting Mr. Gordy and Khan
Speaker 1realized that Heidi's imaginary friends were like different . She would sit outside and just have little conversations and they would hear out there talking and they were like oh , cute , she has a little imaginary friend and she would be walking out in the yard and with her hand up , like she was holding somebody's hand , like a grown-up , like a grown-up's hand , like up in the air . So her mom was like up in the air . So her mom was like what's your friend's name ? So she said Mr Gordy .
Speaker 1So Heidi described a friendly old man in a suit and a top hat and they were like okay , well , that's a little odd , but okay , cute , she has a friend named Mr Gordy . So Mr Gordy would play with her on the swings , like he was pushing her on the swings or something , and she would tell him go higher , go higher and talk to him All kinds of stuff . Wow , yeah , yeah . But then they got to talking to somebody in town and they found out the previous owner of the home had died on the property in 1974 . His name was James S Gordy . Hmm . So some people had pictures of him and they brought the pictures over and they showed Heidi and she said that's Mr Gordy .
Speaker 1Wow yeah , no prompting whatsoever , no prompting three-year-old , it's not going to make stuff up . That's Mr Gordy . So they were like , okay , this is a little bit weird . You know , lisa was a little terrified , like maybe somebody was coaxing her , talking to her off in the distance or something . But no , she said he's right here . You know , mr Gordy's right here .
Speaker 1So then came a second figure which was far more unsettling . So Heidi spoke of a man she called Khan . One day she said Mr Khan's at the door . And so they went to the door and nobody was there and she described Mr Khan as a older man with white hair . She said he had blood on his shirt and a bandage on his hand . So the wyrocks were like freaked out . At that point they were like , okay , was somebody at the door , did something happen , and all this stuff ? Well , then they learned that a man named lon l-o-n not con lon bachelor , who had lived on the land many years ago , had lost his hand in a cotton gin accident . Ouch , yeah . So she , you know , talked to Mr Gordy and Mr Kahn . That was her friends and they seemed for the most part to be kind of protecting her . There was nothing malevolent about them , nothing evil that's good .
Speaker 1They would talk to her and all that stuff . So it wasn't like a bad thing , so they just kind of let it go . She was talking to these people , it was unexplained , but here we go , but it was not harmful , so they were kind of just well , we'll just watch her .
Speaker 1So they just , they just coexisted with these friendly spirits . But but then things changed dramatically after Lisa became pregnant with their second child in 1993
When Friendly Spirits Turn Malevolent
Speaker 1. All of a sudden , more malevolent presents seemed to arrive . Heidi , who had never been scared of ghosts before because she talked to her friends and everything began to show signs of fear , describing and running from dark figures in the house . She and her father , andy , would wake up with unexplained scratches on their bodies . In particular , there was a terrifying incident . Heidi was reportedly found levitating upside down by her ankles , screaming for help in her room .
Speaker 2Oh .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2See , now that's when it's not okay . No more Right .
Speaker 1So , overwhelmed by this like escalating terror , the Wyricks sought help . They consulted Dr William Ruhle , a well-known parapsychologist . During this investigation , heidi was able to identify both you know , mr Gordy and Khan from the photographs , and a psychic medium brought in by Roll confirmed the presence of both benevolent and malevolent spirits and reportedly identified a portal in the fireplace of the home which the spirits could enter and exit . I'm like guess what . It's time to sell this house .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , especially when the bad guys start coming through the hole . Let's go .
Speaker 1Right . So they tried to stick it out , they tried to stay there , they gave it a little while longer but , crashing into them and trying to hurt the children , they made the difficult decision to leave their home .
Speaker 2I'm not sure that it would take me that long .
Speaker 1I don't think so either Like there's a portal to some other realm in your fireplace and you anger them by conceiving another child , yeah , and some bad juju guys over here hurting the other kid and your husband , I'm like mm-mm .
Speaker 2Bye .
Speaker 1And all the while , heidi would report that Khan and Mr Gordy would try to protect her . Yeah , that's what I was going to say . So they were still trying to protect her from everything .
Speaker 2Gordy would try to protect her . Yeah , that's what I was going to say . So they were still trying to protect her from everything . The good spirits were trying to be helpful .
Speaker 1So the Haunting became one of the most widely known modern cases . Its most famous adaptation , the 2013 film the Haunting in Connecticut 2 , ghost of Georgia , is largely a work of fiction . While the movie uses the family's names and basic premise of the haunting , it adds numerous fictional elements , of course , including a backstory involving the Underground Railroad and a menacing station master spirit . These were never part of the wyrick's like reported experiences , but they , you know , made things off of this and um , there were other books and things that were written and things that were reported on and kind of just based off of this story .
Speaker 2I think I remember an Unsolved Mysteries episode it was on Unsolved Mysteries as well .
Speaker 1Yep , it sure was . So today , heidi Weirich , as an adult , she doesn't . You know , she no longer sees Mr Gordian Khan , of course because she doesn't live there , or anything . Of course because she doesn't live there , or anything . Um , she stated that the malevolent entity from her childhood home never fully left her , so it kind of like attached . Attached to her to wherever she goes . The case still remains a testament to the power of the unexplained and the thin veil that some believe that separates the world of the living and the world of the dead . You can move spirits from one place to the other .
Modern Impact and Heidi Today
Speaker 2Yeah , I was going to say that doesn't like especially the bad ones . It seems like the weirdest thing , like that a bad spirit can attach itself to a person . Yeah , and go with them . Why can't the good ones right ?
Speaker 1I mean , maybe they were just kind of stuck in this house and couldn't move anywhere , but they lived with this for years and years and years and I don't know . I think I would have . I think I would have been okay with the good ones . Like I said , we would have had to coexist . I may have been okay with some of the more malevolent ones a little bit , but after a while like if they started scratching and doing those things , especially my kid . It's one thing that happened to me .
Speaker 2A whole other situation when my kid starts getting hung upside down by ankles and stuff like that physically scratched .
Speaker 1Yeah , now it's dangerous .
Speaker 1Yes , well , I lived , I grew up in , you know , my parents home and everything . This house was built from old wood from another house . Like some , they had tore down the house and used some of that to build this house with . So don't know if whatever it was attached itself to that stuff . The wood , yes , but there was definitely a ghost in my parents' house there , like it was . You could hear it walking in the attic all the time . You could hear music boxes playing um disembodied voices just having a conversation , and it was nothing ever bad because , like you lived there and you never heard it , did you ?
Speaker 2and you know , yeah , and I mean I sleep like I am dead a lot , so I don't think I heard crap . And then when I was awake I was like I always had music or something on .
Speaker 1But my friend Andrea that lived there , her grandpa that built the house , she always talked to the man in the attic , so there was always some that there and everybody was like ha , ha , ha , ha ha . But when we bought the house , my parents bought the house and moved in there . There was definitely something there . And I was on the phone one night talking to somebody and I was joking around about cause one of the recliners in the living room like made a pop sound and it started rocking a little bit and I was like , oh , that's just the ghost that lives here . We called him Frank and we were laughing about it on the phone and stuff and then my leg started burning and so after I got off the phone I went and checked I had three large scratch marks down my leg .
Speaker 2Ouch .
Speaker 1Yeah , so I guess , because I talk smack about the ghost .
Speaker 2The ghost was like watch this .
Speaker 1Yeah , so just Frank never talked about that again , so don't know if it was Frank or whatever . But yes , children's imaginations run wild , but also sometimes it's not their imaginations , it's actual things happening , did her other child also see things ?
Speaker 1No , because the other child was too young at the time when they moved out , so they didn't , you know , they had stayed there maybe a couple years , so I don't think she was old enough to say anything actually say anything . But they , they got the heck out of Dodge . They were like you know what . This is too much . I can't have these children here and live in this house .
Speaker 2Gotcha , I was just curious to know if it was something that was like passed on somehow some way I was going to say maybe mom and dad used to see stuff when they were little .
Speaker 1It's a possibility . I don't think they did , because they were just like , really like . Maybe they don't remember , maybe they yeah because you do lock things out yeah because I've told you and
Speaker 2I've told the podcast world about my thing that I told my mom when I was little Right About the bright man coming to see me and all this stuff . And then later she asked me stuff about what he looked like and I ended up describing her grandfather and she
Personal Ghost Stories and Experiences
Speaker 2was like so upset because she said that he was really sick and he was trying to live until I was born because he wanted to see me and then he died right before I was born . So he came to see you , so he came to see me and she's like she told me about that , but I don't remember that and I'm the one who told her , but I don't remember any of it . So that's why I was like saying maybe , yeah , maybe it's a possibility and I do believe that children can I .
Speaker 1When my son Dylan was little he was just , he wasn't even a year old we were doing a plantation tour and I was holding him and we were talking about you know , the person was going through telling us about the room and this , this and this , and my child starts pointing in the corner and babbling and everybody looks and he's just like you know , pointing up there and stuff , and the woman she's like . Sometimes children can see ghosts or spirits that we can't see . Ghosts are spirits that we can't see and I'm like okay , because I'm pretty sure that's what that was , you know at the moment , because he was .
Speaker 1He was interested in something in that corner up there , yeah , babbling conversation with something and he was like reaching out toward whatever it was something right right , wow , so yeah , I mean I would love to know if anybody out there has had any paranormal experiences like this . Have your children had any paranormal experiences ? Have you seen things ? Do you talk to ghosts ? Is your house haunted ? Maybe , Let us know .
Speaker 2My dogs like to look into the master bathroom and bark .
Speaker 1I know that's so strange . Dogs like to look into the master bathroom and bark . I know that's so strange Ever since you moved into that house .
Speaker 2They have been weird . It's been weird . So Ling , my dog that passed away in January of last year . She , when we first moved into that house , would not go in the closet . And then she got to where she'd go in the closet , but would not go in the closet . And then she got to where she'd go in the closet but only if I was in the closet . And now it's like I always felt a little weird about the closet . I still feel weird in that closet . I don't know why , but anyway , my current animals and the new babies that I got since she died , um , they literally will look towards that door into the bathroom , like towards the the closet door and bark and I'm like what are you barking at right ?
Speaker 2and they will just bark and bark and bark , like the closet door stays closed because they'll go in there and steal stuff and chew it .
Speaker 1But they know that something is . It's weird In that area and sometimes it happens like throughout the day .
Speaker 2Other times it happens in the middle of the night and I'm like , what are you doing ? And they're barking into the bathroom and there's a nightlight on in the bathroom , but they're still just like'm like what do you see ? Is the cat in there ? And then I get up and look no cat , no , nothing . Yet growling and barky dog is still on the end of the bed . So who knows exactly ?
Speaker 1could be something there , but I definitely want to hear from somebody . Somebody write us and tell us your paranormal experiences and we might even , like you know , put it on the show next time and be like hey I think if we get to do like a live podcast , we should do something where we just invite people to come and tell their scary stories that would be really cool on a live podcast . I think that would be fun would be awesome .
Speaker 2Gotta promise not to live podcast . I think that would be fun . Would be awesome . Gotta promise not to cuss and act like a fool and say weird , crazy things . But we'll have that conversation beforehand , obviously , with the people who do it . But I think it would be cool to do a live somewhere and just let people come and tell us their stories and tell us their stories and tell us their stories . That's right . That would be nifty , nifty .
Speaker 1I bet you , I know somebody that has some really good stories . Yeah yeah , patti Salzetta , she might . She's got some really good music though , yeah she created our theme music Yep that we
International Listeners and Final Thoughts
Speaker 1love . She gets a boost of confidence every week when we say her name she's like , she's like .
Speaker 2They're talking about me again every time she hears her name she's like oh , there I am . But yeah , definitely send us . Send us what you got . Yeah , because we have an email steeped at HoldMySweetTeacom . You can also send it via messenger or message us on TikTok .
Speaker 1And what other countries are listening to us . Oh , we had .
Speaker 2Spain yes , join the roster .
Speaker 1Let's see I'll pull it up , right now we just it's like we've said many times , it's been a busy summer , so we really haven't been checking as much . But then , all of a sudden , more countries and we're so excited because we would love to hear from y'all too . We would love to hear from somebody in spain or anywhere please talk to us All the places .
Speaker 2So currently I mean obviously we have the United States , australia , france , canada , the United Kingdom , singapore , spain , guernsey , reunion , sweden , poland , the Netherlands , belgium , finland and the Philippines .
Speaker 1Nice , and I'm going to need somebody from Sweden and Belgium to send me some chocolate , because I like the chocolate .
Speaker 2It's cool .
Speaker 1It's so cool . When we see all that pop up , we're like hello , hi guys . We started this with like , oh , maybe a few people listen to us , but we just wanted to get out here and tell some stories . It's not like we even like to hear our own voices no , I got used to it we just needed a creative outlet to get some stuff out there . And then the fact that we have this many followers and then followers in other countries is just mind-blowing . Yep , it's crazy yeah .
Speaker 2Outrageous , outfreaking outrageous .
Speaker 1Yeah , and , as always , hold , my Sweet Tea is a drunken bee production Bzzz . And remember to stay safe out there . And just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep sipping . Bye , thank you , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey , hey .