Mattoon 1944: The Gas Prowler Disappeared, and the Town Was Told It Was Hysteria

On the night of August 31, 1944, Urban Raef, who lived in northwest Mattoon, Illinois, woke to a sweet, unfamiliar smell in his bedroom. He became nauseated and vomited violently. His wife checked the stove because she suspected a gas leak. When she returned to the bed, her legs and arms felt numb and she could not walk. The next morning, a nearby mother reported that her daughter was coughing. She tried to stand, but her legs seemed locked in place.

On September 1, a strong, perfumed odor entered the home of Mrs. Kearney on Marshall Avenue through an open window. Her legs went numb, and her sister, Ready, smelled the same thing. At about 12:30 a.m., Mrs. Kearney’s husband, Bert, a local taxi driver, came home and saw a tall man in dark clothing and a narrow hat hiding beside one of the windows. The man ran before Kearney could catch him. The next morning, the Mattoon Daily Journal-Gazette put the story on its front page under the headline “Anesthetic Prowler on Loose.”