Almeda Huiet: The Forgotten Victim of Rowan, Indiana

Standing in a remote Indiana cemetery surrounded by cornfields, you're looking at the gravestone of an 18-year-old whose murder was covered up as suicide. Almeda Huiet's name is even misspelled on her tombstone. For over a century, she was exactly what her killer intended: forgotten, disposable, a "throwaway."

Born in 1870 near Dayton, Ohio, Almeda survived brutal childhood abuse, a kidnapping by her own father, and exploitation that would follow her from rural Indiana to the streets of Chicago. In 1888, she met a mysterious man using multiple aliases—Edwards, Arts, possibly Holmes. Within weeks of moving back to Chicago to be with him, her body was found floating in Lake Michigan near Lincoln Park. The case was quickly closed as suicide. No investigation. No justice. Just another young woman erased from history.

But here's what matters: Almeda's story exposes how predators identify vulnerable victims, and how society's failure to protect the marginalized enables violence. Her life deserved more than a misspelled gravestone. This episode gives her the remembrance she was denied.

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Show Notes:

In This Episode:

• Almeda Huiet's tragic childhood of abuse and kidnapping in 1870s Ohio and Indiana
• Her escape to Chicago at 14 and relationship with a mysterious married man using fake names
• The suspicious circumstances of her death in 1888 and rushed "suicide" ruling
• Evidence connecting her murder to a man possibly using aliases before becoming H.H. Holmes
• Shane's visit to Almeda's grave in rural Rowan, Indiana, and the misspelled tombstone that symbolizes her erasure

Key Figures:

• Almeda "Mewd" Huiet (1870-1888) - Abuse survivor and suspected murder victim
• Ira Huiet - Almeda's abusive, alcoholic father who kidnapped her at age 8
• Miss Turo - Wealthy Chicago woman who took Almeda in at age 14
• "Edwards"/"Arts" - Mysterious man using aliases who identified Almeda's body

Timeline:

• 1870: Almeda born near Dayton, Ohio to abusive father
• 1878: Kidnapped by father at age 8, forced to live in North Manchester, Indiana
• 1880: Rescued by wealthy Rowan, Indiana family at age 10
• 1884: Escapes to Chicago at age 14 to live with Miss Turo
• 1886: Meets mysterious "Edwards" (same year H.H. Holmes moved to Chicago)
• Late 1888: Almeda moves back to Chicago to be with mystery man
• December 1888 or January 1889: Body found in Lake Michigan near Lincoln Park

Tags: Almeda Huiet, Rowan Indiana, H.H. Holmes, 1880s murder, Chicago true crime, forgotten murder, Lake Michigan, Indiana history, Wabash County, throwaway victims, unsolved murder, Victorian era crime, local history, American history, true crime, documentary, cold case

Category: History

Chapter Markers: 0:00 - Introduction: Standing at Almeda's Grave in Rural Indiana 2:30 - The Throwaway: Who Was Almeda Huiet? 4:00 - A Childhood of Abuse: Ohio to Indiana (1870-1880) 7:15 - Kidnapped by Her Own Father at Age 8 9:30 - Escape to Chicago: Meeting the Mysterious Man (1884-1886) 11:45 - The Suspicious Return and Her Death in Lake Michigan (1888) 14:00 - The Cover-Up: Why No Investigation Was Done 15:15 - Conclusion: Visiting Rowan Today and the Misspelled Tombstone

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