City of Industry presents “Industry Hills Psychopath”

In 1940 the Harry Brown purchased the Homestead estate that had been lost by Walter Temple due to foreclose. The Brown family turned the property into a psychiatric sanitarium they christened it “El Encanto,” meaning “The Enchanted” in Spanish. Patients returning from the war were often treated for severe combat fatigue or shell shock as it was called in the First World War. Some of the most disturbed patients received lobotomies, a form of psychosurgery as a form of treatment of severe mental disorders. The surgery involves severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex to the frontal lobes of the brain. The operations had severe side effects, including increased temperature, vomiting, bladder incontinence and abnormal sensations of hunger.
By 1973 changing standards implemented by the state forced the Browns to abandon the historic structures and move to a new facility and sale El Encanto and the Homestead estate. As part of the deal the Browns were responsible to transfer the patients of El Encanto to the Metropolitan Mental Hospital in Norwalk. The day the patients were transferred records indicated the patients were signed out of El Encanto but never signed into the facility in Norwalk. Nurses at El Encanto reported never seeing the lobotomy patients in Norwalk. Urban legends through the years spread that many of the last patients to be transferred had undergone botched lobotomies. Around the same time newspaper articles mention an employee of El Encanto Ken Calvo a van driver had gone missing after not returning home from work. Mr. Calvo and the van were never found and the case went cold. Some believe the last patients that were transported may have commandeered the van and escaped into Industry Hills.
For years the story has been lost to time and the Browns and those involved have since past. That’s until recently after new expansion of the Industry Hills trails. Many workers have reported animal noises and seen figures in the hills late in the evening, one worker reported seeing an abandoned van left in the woods. City of Industry Mayor Moss said the noises and reports of missing pets are due to the displacement of a local band of Coyotes. Ms. Welch a nearby resident reported her 120lb mixed German Sheppard “ Wuffy” went missing last night from her yard that backs up to the hills. Industry sheriffs have been called out to patrol the trails and are assuring residents that the area is safe, and the annual trunk or treat car show and festival will go on as scheduled.

 

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