Written in collaboration with Megansdad

If you are reading this blog then you are seeking more information concerning the urban myth about how some women check into the Empirella Hotel like any other person and never seem to check out yet all of their possessions including their clothes, electronics, and valuables are left in the room.

At the beginning of this tale, Patricia Kama, age 18, had just recently graduated high school. She and her friends were gathered at the home of Heather Decline, one of her friends, to talk about urban legends and what they had planned for after graduation. Heather had chosen to attend the University of Maine on a scholarship. Patricia had enlisted in the Navy and would be leaving for that in a few weeks. One of the girls had enlisted in the Airforce and the last of them had joined the Army. So, they each had our immediate futures planned out.

Patricia’s friends were frustrated at how obsessed she had become with the legend of the Empirella Hotel. Many of the urban legends have some truth in them but this one was the most notable. The historical hotel was located in the Blue Ridge Mountains roughly 200 miles from my home of Freedom, Virginia.

Patricia heard of this urban myth back in her freshman year of high school at a Halloween party and it has haunted her imagination ever since. Eventually, she came across a website that debunked such myths as unfounded urban tales despite the attached news articles from three years ago citing reports of nude women around the area acting as if their nudity was the most natural thing to them. Their nudity, according to others from that town, was taken as if they were clothed.

Another article stated that each woman had left behind all of their possessions; clothes, electronics, money, and ID. A search for the missing women turned up nothing. What made her question the validity of the stories was no mention of any reports of missing persons from the authorities. Even in that mountain town, a person walking out of a busy hotel naked would stand out among the daily travelers.

Here is the version of the urban legend the way she heard it from the other girls.

The disturbing stories are about female guests who check in but when they get up in the morning, they have no idea who they are. Once they leave that room, they leave everything behind in the room, such as clothes, identification, electronics, etc. It has been said they abandon their old lives entirely, with no possessions, not even the name they were born with. But this is just an urban legend, right? It can’t possibly be true. Can it?

Patricia’s friends couldn’t understand her obsession with that crazy hotel legend. After being caught by her mom while researching the hotel legend, she was told that once she reached adulthood and graduated high school she could spend one night there to satisfy her curiosity and put all that nonsense behind her.

On the weekend two weeks before she was to report for basic training for the Navy, she checked the hotel’s website and made a reservation. Considering the possibilities, she decided to take some precautions just in case those legends were true. Records show she purchased a prepaid Visa® for the reservation, the bus ticket, and the rideshare. She left her car, her purse with her debit card, and all of her other valuables at home. She packed an overnight bag with a change of clothes, something to sleep in, and toiletries (found in the room). She left her new iPhone at home (found in her room at home) and took her old iPhone with a cracked screen.

Patricia checked her ticket to make certain she was boarding the correct bus, she stepped aboard and was relieved that several seats were still available. She noticed the redhead sitting near the front of the bus, her nudity making Patricia uncomfortable. Finding a window seat in the middle of the open seats Patricia was relieved at not being able to see the naked woman up front. During the next stop, Patricia was unhappy to see the red-headed naked woman walk back and sit next to her as more people boarded the bus filling most of the available seating.

Due to her discomfort and shyness, she was unable to even say, ‘Hi’ to the woman much less look at her. At one point she was looking at her hands in her lap and saw out of the corner of her right eye the naked woman looking at her smiling. She spent the rest of the bus ride looking out the window. When the bus reached the town that time forgot and drove through the town square it turned right to continue down a country road lined on both sides by large country estates. After the bus pulled up to the front of the mansion-turned-hotel most of the people disembarked.

Patricia entered the hotel and checked in. Retrieved her key card and took her bag to the room. After exploring the hotel and its amenities Patricia decided to take a taxi to the nearby town and explore it as well. It was late enough that Patricia chose to eat dinner at a local restaurant before returning to the hotel.

When she awoke the next more it was like waking from a bad dream. She felt sticky and constricted. Noticing the unfamiliar garment wrapped around her body like a wet boa constrictor. she sat up on the edge of the bed and wrestled with the garment to remove it. She was confused and wondered whose garment it was and why was she wearing it. Once she was free of it she felt much better then looked around the unfamiliar room and wondered whose things were lying nearby. She got up to shower. After drying off she grabbed the room key she saw on the table and walked out. The image below is the last image of Patricia leaving her room. It was taken from the hotel security camera footage.