The following journal entries were found in the home of Duane Findley of Ashbyburgh, Kentucky. Mr. Friday, in addition to four neighbors, has been missing since December 2018. Based on entry dates, it is believed that he left or was removed from his residence on Christmas day. If you or anyone you know has any information that may lead to the location of The Ashbyburgh Five**, please contact the Hopkins County Sheriff's Office.**

12/22/2018

Hello there,

I’m starting to get a little stir-crazy trapped in the storm, so I figure I may as well fill out a few pages of this old notebook to pass the time. It’ll give Dottie and the kids something to laugh about when they get home. They are warm and toasty down in Florida with her parents and I’m tucked away like a damn yeti here in Kentucky.

Just for the record: You were right, Dot. I should have asked for vacation leave earlier. If I had, I wouldn’t be trapped in this winter wonderland.

My cellphone died yesterday and… well… we got rid of the landline years ago. Not that it would do much good anyway. The lines running by the road are drooping: a telltale sign that it has broken somewhere down the line.

Doesn’t bother me too much, but I miss Dot and the kids. This storm doesn’t look like it will let up soon so I can’t imagine I’ll see them until well after Christmas.

Oh well. It is what it is.

The power’s been off since the 18th, I think. Snow has been coming down by the bucket full. Last time I checked, it was over a foot. That was about six hours ago. I’ll probably head outside after dinner and measure it again. Probably nearly two feet by now.

I’m gonna need to put more wood in the barn next year. There should be enough out there to keep the fireplace going for another week, so I’m not worried, but this has shown me we need to be a little better prepared. The old gas furnace sure doesn’t do much good while the power is out.

Dot’s green thumb sure has come in handy. We’ve got more canned vegetables and homemade soup to feed me until the end of days. At least I won’t be hungry! Tired of vegetable beef soup, maybe. But definitely not hungry.

Took everything out of the fridge and shoved it in the snow just off the side of the porch. It’s a pain in the ass to walk outside to get the coffee creamer every morning, but at least everything didn’t spoil. Could have been worse.

I guess I’ll wrap this up. The sun is going down and I need to haul in some more firewood. Don’t want the fire to get too low!

Looks like John and Patsy Rainey down the road made a snowman. Kinda funny. It is sitting down by their mailbox. Doesn’t seem like a good idea for two folks in their late seventies to be building snowmen in this kind of weather, but I guess they are getting stir-crazy too.

Smoke is billowing from their chimney so I guess they survived their arctic adventure. That’s good.

Until tomorrow,

Duane

12/23/2018

The snow is even deeper today and still falling. Two feet when I measured it last night. I ended up bringing a shovel in from the garage and digging it into the ground just off the porch. It’s about four feet tall so I can just look out at it to get an idea of how deep it has gotten.

Didn’t sleep as well last night. Part of it is sleeping on the couch near the fireplace. Makes my back feel like it was tied in a knot. Too damn cold to sleep in the bedroom though. Besides, I need to keep the fire going through the night and don’t want to leave it completely unattended. You never know when a log will pop and send an ember out of the hearth.

That wasn’t really the biggest problem though. It sounded like something was bumping against the house last night. Not knocking or slamming, just bumping. You know, like when a tree limb gets a little too long and taps against a house in a strong wind.

Only there are no trees close to the house. Nothing close to the house, as a matter of fact.

The first few times I heard it, I kind of ignored it. Tried to go back to sleep. It wasn’t constant, so it didn’t worry me too much. Closer to midnight though, it started to become more frequent. I timed it in my head. Something would thump against a different part of the house roughly every five minutes.

I tried telling myself it was a squirrel or raccoon in the attic. It was a comforting lie, but in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t true. We installed a new roof, insulation, and flashing around the house last summer. Probably the best shape the roof has ever been in. Wouldn’t have left a spot for a critter to get inside.

I crept through the house looking out the windows to see if I could spot what was making the noise. The thought had occurred to me that someone was trapped out in the storm and may be trying to get inside to get warm. It wasn’t likely, but hey, weirder things have happened.

Just for a moment, I thought I spotted them. Through the guest bedroom window at the back of the house, I saw someone standing in the snow. Maybe a mile away. My heart raced. They just stood still as a stone at the end of the driveway from my other neighbors, the Stanleys. Smoke curled lazily from the chimney behind him.

I watched the man peer toward my house for nearly fifteen minutes before it dawned on me.

Another damn snowman.

I laughed and finished checking outside of the windows. There was nothing to see. All of the snow surrounding the house was undisturbed. No footprints. No wading path. Just pure sheets of glistening snow.

I tossed a few more logs on the fire and curled up on the couch.

The soft bumps continued for the rest of the night, but I did my best to ignore them.

Hoping for better sleep tonight. Just finished up two bowls of Dot’s tomato soup with a couple of slices of stale bread. Maybe a full stomach will help me sleep more deeply.

Time to wrap it up. I’m exhausted and need some rest. Maybe if I’m feeling squirrely tomorrow, I’ll go build my own damn snowman.

Until tomorrow,

Duane

12/24/2018

The snow is up to two and a half feet. Most of the shovel handle is gone. I’m getting worried.

Almost no sleep last night. The bumping noises were much louder and more frequent. Maybe every two or three minutes. I’d jump from the couch and look out the window on the side of the house where I had just heard the noise, but when I get there, there was not a damn thing to be seen. Undisturbed snow as far as the eye can see.

New snowmen, too. A half dozen of them.

They aren’t just by the neighbor's houses anymore. No, some of them look like they are in the middle of the unplowed road or out in the Stanley’s soy fields. Just random places. Farther away from the house than anyone would want to get in this God-forsaken storm.

The snowmen in my neighbor's yards look like they are closer to my house now, too. I’m not positive. Just seems that way. I can almost see the black coal specs of their faces and I don’t feel like I could before. Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me. I don’t know.

I’m just confused.

There’s no more smoke coming from either of my neighbors' houses either. It’s starting to worry me. The Stanleys are young enough that I think they are probably fine, but John and Patsy are old. This kind of cold could kill them.

Maybe someone drove through the snow and got them out of the house.

Maybe…

I think I’ll try to go check on them in the morning.

The snow may slack off by then.

I hope.

Until tomorrow,

Duane

12/25/2018

Merry Christmas, I guess.

There were no noises last night so I slept like a log. Wish I hadn’t, though. When I woke up this morning, I nearly pissed my pants.

Staring in through both living room windows were two massive snowmen. Heavy coal eyes beamed at me and a grizzly maw of twisted sticks made up the horrifying mouths. I fell onto the hearth and nearly shoved my hand into the fireplace trying to push myself away before I realized what it was.

When it registered in my mind they were just snowmen, I started to laugh. I laughed until I cried, but not in that overly amused way. My tears were genuine panic and anxiety.

I managed to get myself calmed down and looked out the window to see if I could spot the perpetrator. To my horror, there were dozens of snowmen surrounding the house. Nearly a hundred maybe.

Yet there wasn’t a single damn track in the snow.

I’ve got to get the hell out of here. Maybe if I get up enough speed in the barn, the old four-wheel drive can plow through this mountain of snow. I feel like if I stay here another minute, I’ll go mad.

Dot, I love you and the kids. I’ll call as soon as I get to a phone.

Love,

Duane

A wellness check was performed by emergency crews on 12/28/2018 at the request of Dorothy Findley. The house was locked but there was no sign of Duane Findley. His pickup truck was found parked in the barn behind the house. The keys were discovered on a hook by the back door. No snowmen were seen in the vicinity of the house and no tracks were discovered coming or going from the property.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Mr. Duane Findley, please contact local authorities. The family is offering a monetary reward for his safe return.