Vicksburg Write-Off: The house on China Grove Road by Allison Smith

There once stood a house on China Grove Road, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, that has always captivated my imagination. I first learned of the house when I was a teenager, out riding the back roads with my friends, late one Saturday night. As we drove past the little house that was slightly off the paved road, my friend asked me if I had ever heard of Mary Franklin. I had not, and he proceeded to tell me that the house was once home to Mary Franklin, an elderly woman that went missing from the home in 1986. The rumor around town is that a teenager came forward saying that he and 3 other people had murdered Mary and buried her body at the county landfill. The landfill was searched, but no one ever found Mary’s remains, and no one was ever charged with her murder. She remains missing to this day.

As a teenager, my rebellious friends and I would explore the remains of the house on China Grove Road. It was just a shell of a house at the time, with the floors falling in, and the ceiling leaning into the rooms throughout the house. I always got an eerie feeling when exploring there. Over the years, people had come along and stolen or destroyed anything left behind when Mary disappeared. Old papers and clothing were strewn all over the derelict home. From the very first time I visited the home, I felt drawn there…..

Over the years, I could not help but admire the dark, abandoned house from the street as I would drive by. Then, I began to do some research on the home, and I was absolutely floored with what I found! The property where the Mary Franklin house once stood is now just an overgrown, empty lot, with mother nature slowly taking back what once stood there. The only thing left to know there was once a home there is a small driveway that leads to a small woodsy area. But the history, and the sadness that happened there will live on forever.

In 1991, a fugitive of murder from Michigan, named Dennis Depue was chased into Vicksburg, Mississippi by state troopers. In Vicksburg, then sheriff, Paul Barrett, and his team of officers picked up the chase of Depue. They chased him through the town, down Gibson Road, and onto China Grove Road. The chase ended in a shootout with The Vicksburg police officers, where Depue took his own life. While this incident didn’t happen at the Mary Franklin home, it was right in front of where the home stood, which fascinated me.

In 1994, the absolute worst imaginable happened at the Mary Franklin house.

Three college students from the Hinds Community College in Utica, Mississippi, Dorian Martin, Michael Garrison, and Clifton Brown, were found murdered inside the Franklin house. They were found eleven days after they were murdered with their hands taped behind their backs, and gunshot wounds to their heads. It is said that the students had a large sum of money in their possession, and they were kidnapped, robbed, then murdered. Shawnderic Horton, from Vicksburg and Dennis Berry, from Glendale, Arizona, were arrested, and charged with kidnapping and armed robbery. Berry was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Horton was convicted of armed robbery, aggravated assault, and murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Of course, when I learned of these stories, my interest in the Mary Franklin House only grew. But in 2011, the most mysterious thing happened to the home. Out of nowhere, and with no one on the property at the time, the shell of the house that still stood on the overgrown property burned to the ground. To this day, no one knows how the fire started. It just burned to the ground, leaving behind nothing but a concrete slab and a little driveway that nature would one day take back as its own.

Today, I am convinced that there is something malevolent about the area where the house once stood. Where is Mary Franklin? Why did she just vanish into thin air? Do the spirits of Dorian, Michael, still wander the area, lost, and wondering why their lives ended so tragically? Was Dennis Depue’s angry spirit left wandering in the spot where he took his life? Does Mary herself walk the property where her home once stood? I will never drive by that spot on China Grove Road without getting goosebumps, and feeling like someone, or something is watching me……

About the Author

My name is Allison Smith. I have been a Vicksburg native since 2001 and love my little town. I am married, and work as a server at Walnut Hills. I love to write, and Vicksburg daily news gave me inspiration to tell this story about the Mary Franklin house! (I send my love to the Franklin family, as well as the families of the college students, whose lives were taken far too early in this life.)