Phoenixville, Pa: While filming the pilot episode of Town Trekkers –a show that explores the history of small towns – the cast and crew made a real-life discovery.
During a portion of the show, a 3D ground scanner is used at the Morris cemetery in Phoenixville. Using ground-penetrating radar, the device revealed a mysterious coffin-shaped object buried alongside the coffins of the Sundance Kid’s family.
“When we were filming this episode, we had no idea that we’d actually find something,” says Mark Cook, the host of Town Trekkers. “We were all just shocked—the cast and crew, the historian, even Keith who operated the machine.”
Mt. Zion cemetery which owns the Morris cemetery didn’t have a record of a body being buried in that location. It’s possible that they once did have a record, but for now the identity of the coffin-shaped mass may require exhuming to know for sure.
The scanner also showed the object was buried deeper than the coffins beside it by two feet. President of the Phoenixville Historical Society Ryan Conroy says, “If a famous person was buried at that time, they’d often be buried deeper than the usual six-feet. So it was a deterrent against grave robbers.”
The pilot episode of Town Trekkers follows the childhood roots of Harry Longabough aka the Sundance Kid—Butch Cassidy’s partner in crime. Longabough grew up in Phoenixville and would often visit home in disguise while running from the law.
Historians disagree on how Harry Longabough died. One popular theory had been that he died in a shootout in Bolivia after fleeing the United States. However, that body had been recently DNA tested and discovered not to be his and since then the mystery had been reopened.
Could this object be the body of the Sundance Kid? Could Harry have returned home and lived out his remaining days with his family in disguise? And if it’s not Harry’s coffin—whose coffin is it?
Town Trekkers is making its debut on WHYY soon.
Learn more at towntrekkers.com.
