1999 Part 2

[Update] - November 14, 2009

People have been emailing me asking what exactly happened in 1999, I will get to that. Those weird TV shows I was watching apparently were meant to attract kids to Mr. Bear's house, what Mr. Bear did shocked the entire town.

My dad actually drove me to Caledon along with the address Mr. Bear left on the letter. The house was actually in the outskirts of the town, in the open farmland. I still remember the house. It looked like an older farmhouse that looked to have been built in the early 1900's. The windows were all boarded up, and the house looked in a state of disrepair. As we walked up to the house, I remember dad checking the address over and over again and looking at the house in disbelief. Then the door opened. 

I expected Mr. Bear to be at the door, but I was surprised to see a police officer emerge from the creaking doorway. The officer began talking to my dad, while I quickly asked if that was Mr. Bear's house. The officer's face cringed slightly, and he muttered, "Oh God," or something like that. He started talking quietly to my dad so I couldn't hear, although my dad told me to go to the car anyway. And then we just went home. My dad was quiet the whole way home. I felt something strange had happened.

My dad never told me what happened for a while, I forgot about it anyway too. Channel 21 no longer came on, and when I asked about it, my dad would not acknowledge its existence. I think it was when I turned 13 where I learned the truth. I remembered Channel 21 one day, and asked my dad about it. I guess he finally decided I should hear the truth. 

Caledon Local 21 was a local TV channel that ran from October 1999 to August 1999 in the Peel Region of Ontario. The entire channel was made from a house in Caledon (The one I visited) and run by a man who was not really known by anyone in town. The channel was only available to older TVs because the signal was one only picked up by rabbit ears (Weaker frequency). The man created all the shows on the channel, all of which were kid shows. He was Mr. Bear, and he was the mysterious cameraman. The real reason he created the channel was more disturbing than what was originally thought. As you might have already guessed, he kidnapped kids and held them in his cellar. But while most people thought he was a serial child molester, he really wanted to use the kids for another purpose. The day I arrived, the man had fled his house the night before, the day before the police went in for their investigation. I wasn't the only one who was watching. 

[Update] - December 2, 2009

Sorry for not answering any questions for so long, I haven't accessed my email account for some time. Anyway, let me finally set things straight about what I know. Back in October, I visited the house previously owned by the man who ran Caledon Local 21. Two women lived there, operating a daycare business...how ironic. Now to answer the questions you guys emailed me:

Q: Who else watched Caledon Local 21?

A: I know other people watched it for sure, including those kids who wound up at Mr.  

Bear's house. After some Google searches, I found a few people on the Neoseeker forums who were discussing shows from Caledon Local 21. They talked about the two shows I had never seen before. A user named iamreallife seemed to know all the shows that were broadcasted on Channel 21; here are the two I've never heard of:

The Fallen Angel of Life - iamrealife described it as a fairly boring show about a guy rambling on and on in front of the camera about how we must please Satan and appease him before it's too late. 

Paint with the Soul - iamrealife and another user called sigy92 were discussing this show. they describe it as "Blair Witch like" as it consisted of the cameraman wandering around a forest at night, doing nothing particularly interesting. 

I'll go looking for the conversations and see if I can get the link. 

Q: Where is Mr. Bear, or the guy who wore the costume?

A: If I did know, I would have said earlier. I have no idea where this guy is, or if he's dead 

or alive (hopefully dead). When I see my dad's friend next time, I will ask him about this. Maybe I can get a more definite answer.

Q: What did Mr. Bear do to the children?

A: This is by far the most common question I've been asked. I found this out in October 

as well, via my dad's friend who is a retired Caledon regional officer. Apparently, the man playing Mr. Bear took the kids out of the house and into the forest nearby. What he did there, police are not exactly sure how it happened, but 16 charred bodies of children between the ages of 4-13 were found in a 15-by-15-foot ditch deep within the forest. My dad's friend did not want to go into exact details, but I'm seeing him next Thursday anyway, so maybe I can extort more information from him then.

    That's all I have for now. Thanks for keeping an interest in my blog. I will try to gather as much information as I can for my next post. I've actually been getting pretty interested in this myself. It should be my right to know what the hell happened. 

[Update] - January 14, 2010

    I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for a while, I kind of lost interest in this blong since I hit a standstill while looking for more information about the identity of the owner of Caledon Local 21. 

    However, a few weeks ago, I struck gold. I found some answers surprising from the father of a kid I used to babysit. He lives just across from my street, and I used to look after his kids when they were younger. He currently doesn't have a job either. He used to live near the woods outside of Caledon, and witnessed the owner's activities in the woods. His name is Anthony Pollo.  

    When he lived in the small bungalow outside the woods, he would often venture in to smoke a joint of marijuana or two before returning to his work as a wood craftsman. Pollo described that sometimes he would hear voices of children coming from deeper within the woods, as well as a glowing light off in the distance. Pollo told me these events started in late 1997 (Note: This is around the time Caledon Local 21 began airing). He apparently became annoyed by this happening every once in a while and actually went to investigate. 

    Pollo then described what the whole scene looked like when he got there. There was a group of kids (He said about 13-17) and ages 5-12 gathered around a large fire pit with a burning fire. With them was a single adult. Pollo talked to the man (noting his unusual unkempt appearance of a crack addict, as well as his constant twitching) and asked what he was doing out in the forest with children. The man said they were on a camping trip, something they did frequently. Pollo, not suspecting anything (Caledon has one of the lowest crime rates in Canada) simply left it at that and told them to be quieter. Pollo then paused for a while before telling me that they never became quieter, in fact sometimes he heard loud chanting from the children in an unknown language. He didn't bother meeting with the man again, as he was moving anyway. 

    I told Pollo that the man was probably the owner of Caledon Local 21, but he doubted it, as he heard that the man was moving to Pickering by several other residents near that area. 

    Here is what I know now:

The Man would take kids into the woods regularly for "camping"

The fire pit Pollo described may be the hole the bodies of the children were found in

The children Pollo saw are probably the ones found dead

The man moved to a city called Pickering (a smaller city east of Toronto) 

    I will discuss this with my dad's friend (the ex-cop) and see if this matches anything the police knew about the man. I also want to see if he has any other knowledge of what was aired on Caledon Local 21.

[Update} - February 10, 2010

    Good news guys, I talked to my dad's friend and he disclosed a lot of information for me. First I asked if the police had any information on the man who ran Caledon Local 21, he replied that they have only had the same leads for years and never found a suspect. However, the Peel regional police do have some of the tapes found in the house Caledon Local 21 was broadcasted from, he took me over so I could watch a few. I guess I haven't said much about him yet, my dad's friend's name is Mitchell Wilson, a pretty nice guy, he seems to understand my thirst for knowledge on what happened during the late 90s in that house. He feels it was wrong that my dad went so long without telling me much.  

    He took me to the Davis road police station (if you don't know, it's the largest within the Peel region itself). Each of the main stations around Peel have some of the tapes. I was able to watch all of the footage that the Davis road station has. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any tapes home for obvious reasons. 

    Paint with the Soul- Episode 10, "Garbage Thrown Away": Paint with the Soul was one of the shows that iamrealife and sigy92 discussed on neoseeker. I told the police about this and they informed me that 12 episodes of the show were made and broadcasted between 'December 5, 1997' and 'January 8, 1998.' 

Exactly as iamrealife and sigy92 described, the episode opened with the cameraman wandering around the forest. It appeared to be during the evening as it seemed the sun was setting. The cameraman walked along a path until he got to an area where there was a lot of garbage lying in the leaves. 

The camera looked around at the various wrappers, bottles, bags, and boxes, making sure each item got a few seconds of screen time. The camera then focused on a single area before the man spoke. I recall he spoke in a very timid quiet voice, and I swear I've heard it somewhere else before, like on another Caledon Local 21 show. I could barely hear what he was saying, but he mainly talked about how humans are garbage, or something that had to do with saving ourselves by cleaning up the garbage (us). It actually sounded really stupid, but still a feeling of dread came over me, I mean, that forest was possibly where those bodies were found, right?

Mr. Bear's Cellar- Episode 25: When the police administrator brought this tape in, I actually said "Ohhh, shit," and chuckled a bit out loud. Of course, I got stares from the staff, but Wilson explained to them about my little experience with Mr. Bear and how I still kept the letter he sent me. Like the previous episodes, this one included a guy wearing a bear mascot costume. 

The episode began with Mr. Bear waddling over to his cellar door with a bottle of orange juice in his paws. On the ground were sixteen shot glasses as well as a small bottle that contained an unknown liquid. Mr. Bear poured an equal amount of orange juice into each glass before opening the smaller bottle and depositing one drop into the glasses. Mr. Bear then went off-camera, there were some minor sounds such as shuffling, and then Mr. Bear emerged from behind the camera's location. 

Following him were 16 children. Some looked as young as four, while others looked like they were practically teenagers. As the children entered, the administrator commented that this is the only episode that showed all 16 victims. 

The kids all looked rather content except for this one who had visible bruises on his face, and unlike the other kids, he had a more fearful expression. He also looked about 11-12, which caused me to recognize him. He was the kid who had asked about his sister and subsequently met an unknown fate at the end of episode 23, that one episode I watched during July 1999. 

When I told the administrator this, he confirmed it was the same kid. He was also featured in episode 24, an episode that only aired once at 3:00 in July 1999 (the police have not found the tape). Mr. Bear then broke into song, singing about citrus fruits and how good vitamin C was for you (I could barely hear the lyrics as they were muffled by the bear mask). The kids all drink their juice (the one from episode 23 doing it rather reluctantly), and the episode ended. 

After viewing the tapes in possession of the Davis Road police station, I'm satisfied but only temporarily. I still want to know the full story. The police just keep giving me the same crap about the creator of Caledon Local 21 being a fetishist pedophile as well as an apparent cultist. I will sign off for now, get into university first, and get information later. Hopefully, I will get back to this blog as soon as possible. 

[Update]- May 8, 2010

Last month, I finally got my G2 license (in Ontario, Canada, this allows you to drive in a car by yourself as well as with some passengers after 6 months). I, of course, took advantage of this and drove into Caledon for a little "Sunday drive." Since I haven't updated this blog in a while, I figured I might as well visit the house where the infamous channel of my childhood was located. The house looked different than when I last saw it in October. The place was no longer used as a daycare, and just sat there abandoned. However, it did have a "For Sale" sign showing that someone still owned it, wanting to get rid of it, though. 

The abandoned house drew fuzzy memories from my mind, mainly of that day my dad took me to visit Mr. Bear. A feeling of dread came upon me. What happened to the children while they were living in the house? I walked up the steps to the front door and peered through the window. Inside I could see a nearly empty hallway with a few boxes at the end. 

At the end of the hallway to the right was an open doorway presumably leading to the kitchen. To the left were two doors, both apparently leading to the rooms visible through the windows outside. I wondered where the cellar entrance was located and whether it had been sealed up. I walked around the back of the house and found my answer. Two wooden doors lying at an almost flat angle were padlocked shut; this had to lead to the cellar. Not wanting to hang around (you cannot imagine what was going through my mind at that time), I departed. 

Behind the house, the empty field continued on until it reached a dense forest that lined the horizon. I wondered if that was the forest where the bodies of the children were found. I thought to myself "Fuck it" and proceeded to walk across the field behind the house into the forest. The forest was oddly quiet, save for a few periodic sounds of a woodpecker drilling into a distant tree. I cautiously made my way deeper into the woods, not really caring about the fact that I had no idea where I was going. I don't know how to explain it, but it felt like there was something I had to find. I came to a thinner part of the woods and a few small houses in the distance. Pollo's house crossed my mind and I wondered if one of these homes had belonged to him. I neared a small clearing in which I could see 3 adequately sized logs gathered around a black, charred area (showing a small fire had been lit there recently). 

"HEY! GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR FORT!" Those words nearly gave me a heart attack. I turned to my left and saw two dark-clothed people running towards me. My initial thought was to run; however, as they came closer I saw they were really just kids in their early teens, prossibly 13 or 14, maybe even 12. As they approached me, they realized my size as well. I'm 6' 1", while they could have been no bigger than 5' 8" (one might have been 5' 7").

"We said...get the fuck out," the larger one who was wearing a Slipknot shirt said half-heartedly. I stood my ground and shrugged. The shorter one, who was wearing a Metallica shirt, swung out a butterfly knife and held it in my direction. 

"No, you wouldn't want to," I said in a deep, serious voice (trying to sound as badass as possible). I pulled out my cell phone.

The two kids withdrew, the one in the Metallica shirt putting away the knife. "Look, dude, we don't like people in our fort, so can you just go?" The one in the Slipknot shirt said, obviously intimidated. I had no business in the forest anyway, so I uttered out a simple "fine" and turned before I realized I had a great opportunity. 

"Did either of you hear of a guy who murdered a bunch of kids in these woods about… 13 years ago?" I asked the kids. The two looked at each other in confusion, before the one wearing the Metallica shirt answered. 

"Yeah...everyone knows about that guy," He said to me as if I were stupid. The kid in the Slipknot shirt continued, "He still lives around here, in the storm drain...my big brother's friend says he saw him in a bear costume once, wandering around the forest at night." 

My instincts told me this was probably a lie, and the owner of Caledon Local 21 is probably long gone, only existing as folklore in this smaller isolated community. However, as a human, the thought of the mysterious unknown sparks interest within. "And where is the storm drain?" I asked (Just out of curiosity, I don't actually believe the kid's story). The kid in the Metallica shirt stared at me for a few moments, his eyes seemingly full of annoyance, yet curiosity for me. "You're not from around here, are you? Why did you even come here?" Now, I do admit I was slightly startled by the nature of his question. However, I figured I might as well explain why I was there, just in case people mistook my intentions. I told the two kids about my experience with the man and Caledon Local 21, and that I had to come to maybe seek out some sort of closure (although even I wasn't exactly sure). 

The kids seemed familiar with the channel as they smiled and looked at each other when I mentioned it. They also became more understanding and gave me a detailed description on how to get to the storm drain. Shortly after, I decided to just turn around the way I came and head back to the house, leaving the kids at their fort. But now you're probably wondering why I left out such detail about what the kids told me just now, it's because I'm choosing to conclude what I have gathered now. 

Here is what the kids told me in detail:

The storm drain lies ahead of the kids' fort, the same direction I was heading. 

The drain ends at a small river, where excess water is drained out. Near here is a small playground (the kids told me people rarely use it). 

The man supposedly lives in the large pipe that rainwater drains out of. People have seen him, although always either wearing a bear mask or the mask and a full body bear costume. Note: I do not believe this is true, and in fact simply a myth made by the residents of Caledon. the story does not seem plausible in any way, why did no one call the police? Didn't this guy look suspicious? And other questions like these leave the story invalid. 

I may visit the storm drain. Not because I believe the story, but because I want an excuse to visit Caledon again, so this blog doesn't die (With no more tapes to watch, I don't know what to talk about anymore!). 

Thanks for continuing to support me and my blog. I know many are looking forward to more information about what happened in Caledon during the year of 1999, and I will do my best to continue my research into the topic. Elliot out. 

[Update]- October 7, 2010

Wow, nearly five months since I last updated. I'm guessing everyone pretty much thinks I was dead, right? Thankfully I'm not. But in all my seriousness, I really have been busy these past few months, and a blog about something that could have killed me as a kid is a little low on my current priorities list. As of now, I am living in Waterloo, Ontario, attending the University of Waterloo for computer engineering (yeah, I'm a keener). As you can imagine, engineering is no walk in the park, so obviously I nearly forgot about this blog. But as you can see now, I am back. 

I remember to visit the storm drain the kids from the Caledon forest told me about. It was out in a clearing between the wooded areas, near a marsh. Unfortunately, I found absolutely nothing; save for a turtle that retreated into its built-in home when it saw me. I snapped some pics of the pipe which I have posted as well. Also, let me tell you it was NOT a storm drain like they said it was. 

What I saw was a simple pipe, possibly to channel the access water from the marsh. When I returned from Caledon; however, I simply kept putting off uploading everything until I forgot all about my blog. It just didn't seem important anymore (please forgive me). It wasn't until only recently that I am now interested in my case again. On September 10th, I received an email from the email address: returntheb@hotmail.com

Funny, am I right? Well, it gets better. I'm going to copy and paste the exact email this guy sent me:

"Dear Elliot,

My dear, dear boy, 

    You see this story may or may not be true but it could happen. There are many slots for air time, if you have money you can have a public access TV channel. Some public access channels share air time like EWTN (Religious channel based out of Michigan). That shows Catholic based programming but during off air hours have independent shows or just blue screen. Cable networks have empty channels available for rent space. So the scenario of a pedo renting a channel on basic TV is not far fetched at all. However, public access TV is widely reviewed and can be terminated at any time. (These are the rules for the United States not for Canada where this story took place). So if this happened in the US the pedo would be tracked and arrested immediately. Yes this story could happen but it is unlikely.

100 fuzzy hugs,

Mr. Bear"

Now obviously this letter is fake and sounds almost corrupted, but still, I would like to thank whoever sent it - though they could use some English lessons. Just reading this letter creeps me out, but because of it, I am now full of this new interest in continuing my blog. I guess it's just funny trying to pursue the mysteries I've always questioned. Now my roommate knows about all of this. He thought the letter was real and actually seemed more scared than I was for a second. But then I shrugged it off, so he did too. I mean, what are the chances of this being real? How would "Mr. Bear" know all this about public access TV, and about when I went to Caledon on those occasions? More or less know my email or me still be interested in his cellar. Ha. 

I'm going to send a reply to "return b." Wow, just looking at the email address, you can tell someone wanted to freak me out. It didn't really work, though. Although, to whomever you are, thank you for sparking my interest back into the full matter. Maybe I can find out more about what happened to "Mr. Bear;" hopefully, because although I don't buy that email, a part of me still feels anxious. Thank you to all those who are still following me and have become avid fans, you are also why I am choosing to continue this! 

Thanks, guys. 

[Update]- November 7, 2010

Wow, I can't believe this blog hasn't been deleted yet, I haven't posted anything for so long. I have my reasons and I'd rather not discuss them just yet, it has been a rather...traumatic year for me. Some of you were right, I shouldn't have gone back trying to relive the mysteries of my childhood, but I couldn't resist. It has been over a year since my last post and a lot has happened. Let's recap where I'm at right now with regards to the whole "Mr. Bear" incident. 

returntheb@hotmail.com is no longer in use, I tried replying to the email but I got no reply. I tried again a while back, still no response. 

I've actually moved up to Ottawa (Capital of Canada for those who don't know) for university so I haven't been back to Caledon or back home in the Peel region for a while. I had my reasons for leaving as you could guess why. 

I've had to make a new email account because people keep prank mailing me pretending to be Mr. Bear. Thanks a lot, guys (not). 

Why have I ventured back to this blog? Mitchell Wilson (Remember my dad's ex-cop friend?) gave me a phone call on October 23 about a tape that was found in a branch of the Brampton public library. Brampton is my hometown in case you haven't picked up on that. He claims he isn't allowed to discuss the contents of the tape with me as it is still in evidence, but he asked me to come check it out when I return home. That tape got the gears grinding again because we all know what was on the last tapes I saw. I can only imagine what can be on it; I'm guessing it must have something to do with Caledon Local 21.

I guess I just wanted to say I am continuing this blog and thank you to everyone who still follows it. I don't know when my next entry will be, but when I see that tape I'll write what I find. I don't know what to expect, but the idea of seeing another tape has gotten me interested in this whole mystery all over again. 

-Elliot

[Update]- January 21, 2011

It has been a long year for me. University has been giving me the usual sleepless nights especially since I transferred to Ottawa which is the place to party (sarcasm). But now I'm back home with my dad in Brampton, the town I grew up in. I got home on the 18th of December and have been visiting with friends and family, or at least that's what I would rather have done. Now that festive holiday cheer that I usually have at this time of the month is absent. 

To answer the hundreds of emails and comments I got- yes I did see the tapes that my dad's friend (Mitchell Wilson) promised to show me. These tapes, however, act as a curse; I want to know more, yet I want to forget everything. I couldn't help it; I needed to see those tapes. Not only for myself, but for all of you guys who are just as intrigued as I am by that ominous man in a bear suit from my past. However, after viewing those tapes, I feel that pit of dread deep inside me once again, that feeling where I know that all those kids in those videos are dead, that I could have been one of those kids, and that humanity is a dark, dark place. If you haven't skipped this paragraph for the "juicier" detail below, thank you for listening to my rambling. 

On January 1st, I called Mitchell Wilson and asked if there was a time I could come by and view the tapes. Things were pretty slow at the station because of a snowstorm, so he said I could come down anytime that day. The tapes were located at a branch not too far from me. So I braved the slushy roads and terrible Brampton drivers and made my way to the Peel regional police station located at the Bramalea city center. 

I met Wilson at the front desk where he then led me up to the second floor and into a small office. He instructed me to have a seat and wait while he went and got the tapes. Before leaving the office he turned and said, "I know you're curious but...are you sure you want to do this?" 

Of course I did, or at least thought so. Besides, Wilson's friend had pulled a lot of strings to get me in there and I didn't want to waste the opportunity. This particular station had two tapes on hand. I was only able to watch a few minutes of footage; however, because the second tape was apparently too damaged to be played on a VCR. 

Mr. Bear's Cellar - Episode 30: Mr. Bear never ceases to disturb me, especially after what almost happened when I was younger. This episode took place outside in a forest at dusk, making it slightly hard to see especially considering the quality of the film (A trademark of anything from Caledon Local 21). The episode started with the camera behind held in the "paws" of Mr. Bear aiming it at himself. 

That bear mask...it looked more sinister in the shadows of the trees. The unmistakable muffled voice spoke up; "Hello children! Today I will be doing a wonderful thing for my friends, I will be delivering them to a faraway land where they will surely be happy!" Mr. Bear turned the camera around to show an ATV with an attached trailer, but what stood out the most was that the trailer contained seven motionless children lying side by side. "T-this here is the first load, but more will be on their way soon!" Mr. Bear turned around and pointed the camera at a large burlap tarp spread on the ground. 

He picked the tarp up revealing a large hole that must have been at least 12 feet deep and maybe about 15 feet wide. The rest of the episode consisted of Mr. Bear taking each kid and dropping them into the hole. I asked Wilson if they were dead to which he shook his head and replied, "Not yet."