While there are plenty of reasons to love Wisconsin, we have unfortunately been home to some of the most gruesome killers the United States has ever known. In the 1950s, Ed Gein was found to have committed atrocities in Waushara County. Though he confessed to just two murders and multiple grave robbings, authorities suspect that he may have been involved with other disappearances in the area. His demented terrorizing of women in the area made Waushara County one of the most dangerous places to be.
Located in the south central part of the state, Waushara County is home to Plainfield, a small town surrounded by farms.
Gein grew up there and never left the family farmstead. As family members passed away, his mother became possessive and obsessed. She kept Gein and his brothers on the farm and away from others.
By the time she passed away, leaving Gein all alone, his mental state had devolved. He was adrift without his mother, as she'd set herself up as the only person in his life. When a local shopkeeper went missing and police started investigating, they found Gein to have been the last person to have seen her alive and blood within the shop.
He said he'd visited at least 40 times and had removed nine different bodies. The house was full of human parts, including masks made of human skin that Gein had tanned and sewn together. He was so traumatized and obsessed with his mother that he was trying to recreate her and bring her back. He wanted to literally crawl into her skin through the bodies of these deceased women.
Gein was only tried for a single murder - that of the shopkeeper. He was committed to a mental hospital where he later died of natural causes years later. The story of his demented life has so fascinated people that he's the inspiration for multiple horror films.
People have been so fascinated by Gein and the unfathomable things that he did that his gravestone was stolen. Though it has been recovered, the local authorities leave his as an unmarked grave between the members of his family.
