In the early 1900s, the name Ernest Bush appeared quietly in Nebraska newspapers — just another name in ink.

But behind that ordinary name was a story of murder, manhunts, prison escapes, and a brazen outlaw who would earn the nickname “The Chain Man.”

Born in Denmark and raised in Nebraska, Bush’s life veered far from the immigrant dream. After a first-degree murder conviction, a surprising pardon, and years behind bars, he resurfaced again and again in headlines across the Midwest.

He escaped from prison.
He stole horses.
He confronted law enforcement while shaving at a roadside camp.
He forced his way into homes and cafes.
And he left entire communities on edge.

By 1922, the man once known as Ernest Bush was making national headlines under a different name — and standing trial before packed courtrooms.

But even in death, the mystery lingered.

When his grave was finally marked, it wasn’t under the name most people knew.

In this episode of Headlines & Tidbits, we unravel the strange, violent, and almost unbelievable story of the man called The Chain Man of Nebraska.

In this haunting episode of Headlines and Tidbits, we uncover the unbelievable true story of Concetto Formica, an Italian immigrant, musician, and carnival worker whose tragic death in 1911 led to one of the most disturbing and misunderstood chapters in American funeral history.

After Concetto was murdered while working with a traveling carnival, his embalmed body was never laid to rest. Instead, it remained in a North Carolina funeral home for more than 61 years, earning him the nickname “The Italian Mummy.” Through newspaper accounts, interviews, and historical records, we trace how Concetto’s body became a fixture of a small Southern town — and why.

But this story doesn’t end there. We also follow the heartbreaking fate of Concetto’s father, Vincenzo Formica, an Italian immigrant and fellow musician, whose own mysterious death less than a year later raises even more unsettling questions. Along the way, we explore carnival life in early 20th-century America, immigrant identity, racial prejudice, ethics in death, and the long fight to finally lay Concetto to rest.

This episode is a deeply human story about loss, dignity, and how history remembers — or forgets — those on the margins.

In August 1909, 17-year-old Anna Schumacher left her Rochester, New York home on a warm summer afternoon to bring flowers to her father’s grave—an ordinary, tender act that would end in tragedy. What followed was one of the most disturbing and baffling unsolved murders of the early 20th century.

In this episode of Headlines and Tidbits, we trace Anna’s final hours, the shocking discovery of her body in the cemetery, and the explosive newspaper coverage that followed. From bungled police responses and public outrage to multiple arrests, false confessions, and sensational headlines, this case drew national attention—and still produced no answers. Years later, dramatic confessions from troubled men promised closure, only to collapse under scrutiny.

Using original newspaper accounts, witness statements, and historical context, this episode explores how Anna’s murder became a cautionary tale, a media spectacle, and ultimately a cold case that refused to fade. More than a century later, the question remains: how did a crime committed in broad daylight, with witnesses nearby, leave behind so much noise—and so little truth?

A haunting true crime story pulled straight from the past, and a reminder of how easily justice can slip away.