In 2019 I cast a wide net, requesting information from the Connecticut State Police in my search for information about Dudleytown. I asked for Police reports having to do with Dudleytown and the surrounding areas for a three year period.

When the case list came back, it was all just numbers and brief descriptions. To get real information, I'd need to choose specific cases from the list I was provided, pay for them and wait.

Out of everything, three cases stuck out to me as being worth the time and money to look into. One was missing persons case from July 8, 2017, case No. 1700360674.

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I had no idea whether the State would approve further information, whether I'd get that information or when I might get it. The worst part was that if and when I did get it, would it be of any interest?

I waited and assumed it would take a few months -- my estimation was way off. My more detailed Freedom of Information (FOI) request was stamped "received" on April 22, 2019. The State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection mailed it out to me on March 6, 2020.

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So Ryan and Jeff go into the woods in Dudleytown, get lost, call for help and police lead them out. Seems straight forward and normal to me, so why is most of the report redacted?

This is what is so maddening about Dudleytown. Both the property owners and the authorities that patrol the area will insist there is nothing to see here, no secrets, nothing mysterious about the place and yet information is withheld whenever possible.

The folks in the woods that day, the police and the property owners could all come on the Ethan and Lou Show and say nothing extraordinary happened that day, and I'd never believe it. I would not believe it because of instances just like this one, and anyone who has looked into Dudleytown, on any level, knows what I am talking about.

I moved past the ghosts and goblins stories a long time ago -- that's not what is interesting about this place. Furthermore, I think all of that is a smoke screen for something else. A smoke screen for what? I have no idea, but I can tell you there is one constant with Dudleytown: secrecy.

I'd obviously be interested in talking to the folks that were in the woods that day, so if you know either of them, please let them know I'm interested. I did reach out to one of them through social media, but that's like cold calling names from the phone book. I have no way of knowing if I'm talking to the right person. It was just narrowed down from the people who are on Facebook with that name.

Soon, I will follow this article up with another case that the Connecticut State Police gave me. In this instance, the files given to me were not redacted in any way, and involve a person whose name appears again and again on public documents related to Dudleytown.

View PDF versions of documents here:

*Pages 2 and 8 were left out intentionally to hide the home addresses of the involved parties.

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