911 Calls: Part I
MAY 28, 1999
911 Call: Miriam Holloway, 282 Plaza Pines
Operator: 911, what's your emergency?
Holloway: Uh…[inaudible]…my house is shaking—[static]
Operator: Your house is…shaking?
Holloway: …[static]…I saw a girl outside…
Operator: Wait, ma'am, you said your house was shaking—?
Holloway: Yes. My house was shaking…and I was standing by the windows in the living room. And the next thing I knew…my windows broke [static].
Operator: Your windows just…broke?
Holloway: Pretty much.
Operator: And you said you saw a girl. Did she…throw something at your window—?
Holloway: No. No. I saw the girl…[pause]
Operator: Ma'am? Is something wrong?
Holloway: [inaudible] I hear sirens…Oh my god…oh my god…[static]
Operator: What's going on?
Holloway: [scared] I have to put the phone down.
Operator: Stay on the line with me—!
Holloway: Something's wrong! Something's wrong!
(Mrs. Holloway, age 63, disconnected for reasons unknown. She was later found on Pecan Street, two miles away, with a broken leg. She was one of many to be injured in the Townsville Tragedy.)
911 Call: Emily Doe, McDonald's Employee; Sycamore Boulevard
Operator: 911?
Doe: Yes. I'm at the McDonald's on Sycamore Boulevard, and…we have…people down.
Operator: What? You said…you have…people down?
Doe: Uh huh. They… [inaudible] Oh god, they just, like, collapsed.
Operator: How many people collapsed?
Doe: I don't know—like fifteen or something?
Operator: Okay, we are sending paramedics.
Doe: It's a huge mess over here. [static] We have a huge situation over here, you need to hurry! There's children crying for their mothers and one man isn't moving—!
Operator: I'm…I'm doing everything I can, you need to stay calm, ma'am.
Doe: My manager is on the floor as well…oh god [sobs]…only a few of them are moving…
Operator: Do you know how they collapsed?
Doe: [panicked tone] Uh…I thought [sobs] it was a gas leak or something…but I didn't smell any gas—and they next thing I knew it was like every customer in the restaurant was having a seizure!
Operator: What's your name sweetie?
Doe:…[crying] My name is Emily….I'm so scared!
Operator: Emily, where are you now?
Doe: I'm—right outside of the McDonald's [inaudible]
Operator: Are there any other employees inside?
Doe: Yeah, like, two…[pause]
Operator: Emily? What's going on?
Doe: I see someone. I can't tell who it is…I think it's a girl…[inaudible]
Operator: The paramedics are close—
Doe: Yeah. I can…hear the sirens.
(By now Emily Doe has stopped crying. The operator tries to get her attention for the next minute, but Emily takes a while to respond.)
Operator: Emily?
Doe:…I'm still here [inaudible] She looks so beautiful tonight…
Operator: What are you talking about?
Doe: The girl.
Operator: What girl?
Doe:…[screams]
Operator: Emily!
Doe: [glass shattering] OH GOD—[inaudible voices from a distance]
(The operator loses the signal and Emily Doe does, age 19, not call 911 again; her body was found early the next morning, through the wreckage of what was left of the McDonald's on Sycamore Boulevard. Cause of death was unknown.)
911 Call: Aaron Aretino; Aaron's Motor Shop, 3114 Opal Street
Operator: 911 Emergency.
Aretino: I need you to get the cops down here! There's some looney little bitch messin' up the street!
Operator: Excuse me?
Aretino: Things are flyin' and my tires are just fallin' off of the racks by themselves. Things are getting f***ed up!
Operator: Things are flying?
Aretino: Hell yeah! My son went outside to see what was happenin' and the next thing I knew he was a mindless f***ing zombie! [static]
Operator: Sir, I need you to calm down!
Aretino: I've been tryin' to calm down for the last thirty f***ing minutes! AND NO ONE IS PICKING UP THE DAMN PHONE WHEN I CALL THE POLICE STATION!
Operator: Sir, we have…received multiple 911 calls of strange things happening. And everyone has reported a girl in a dress.
Aretino: [static] Girl in a dress? I know nuthin' 'bout that sh*t!
Operator: Where is your son now?
Aretino: Still outside. I've screamed "Michael!" like eighty f***ing times! He's a zombie. Completely lifeless. I'm 'bout to slap 'im in the damn face! [inaudible background noise]
(Suddenly, Aretino goes quiet. What sounds like a conversation background goes on for nearly three minutes.)
Aretino: [calm] I have to go—
Operator: Sir?
Aretino: She's coming. And my whole shop's 'bout to collapse…[hangs up phone]
(Aaron Aretino, age 48, and his son Michael, age 22, are never heard from or seen again. What's left of Aaron's Motor Shop is nothing but rubble, tires, and piles of bricks and cement. Michael's baseball cap—the New York Yankees—would later be put on display at the memorial museum four years later. Blood was found on the edge of the cap. DNA tests determined that it wasn't Michael's blood…but…pig's blood.)