This Is The Number One Unsolved Mystery In Tennessee And It Will Leave You Baffled
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Meghan Kraft
Author
Baby stealer. Baby thief. Murderer. All words attributed to the highly terrifying story of Georgia Tann, a child trafficker who operated out of Memphis, Tennessee before the state closed her operation in 1950. We’ve found some wildly terrifying facts that will have you wondering about the black heart of this woman – and all the children who suddenly disappeared at her hand.
As the head of the Tennessee Children's Home Society, Tann placed over five THOUSAND babies and children to the age of 16, selling them to the highest bidder.
Her home was beautiful, a lovely place on Poplar Avenue. The terrifying reality of the children, however, haunts many even now.
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She took the boys and girls mainly from lower class families, using scare tactics and bullying to tear little ones from their parents. She practiced the terrible back and forth from 1924 to 1950, forcibly removing children from their homes and selling them.
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Since Tann destroyed many of the children's records, helped by the notorious Edward Crump, she didn't check on the parents she gave children to or take good care of those who were in her home. At one point the number of deaths of her "children" reached such proportions that it altered the infant mortality rate in Memphis - making it the highest in the country.
Famous movie stars such as June Allyson, Lana Turner and Joan Crawford received help from Tann in their adoption of their own children, though they were unaware of Tann's evil practices.
Fewer than 10% of the stolen children were ever found and reunited with their parents, and Tann died before she could be prosecuted. Some of the children grew up to seek their parents after their abductions so many years ago...but there were so many more whose fates will never be known.
It’s a wicked, brutal story. So many unsolved stories, so many broken lives. Do you remember hearing stories of the stolen Tennessee children? Leave your thoughts below!
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