Jeepers Creepers
Where'd ya get those peepers?
Jeepers Creepers
Where'd ya get those eyes?
Okay, for cereal though. Has anyone watched that movie Jeepers Creepers?
Well did you know part of it is based on actual events. Not the creepy creature that comes out every 27 years or whatever, but the car tailgating and then two people in a car see a dude dump something suspicious down a hole?
I can actually tell you the exact part of the movie that this takes place. Derry and his sister are following a car/truck/van thing that almost tries to drive them off the road - and then they get past him and they see him dump a blanket that looks like the shape of the body. In the movie they go down there and there are a bunch of bodies in cobweb-cocoons things. Okay that part. This part is loosely based on a true story.
So this is apparently when Hanks Lore is venturing into movie descriptions.
No, I kid. I kid.
But we are venturing into True Crime. **Insert some sort of true crime dateline bullshit theme music**
This dude Dennis DePue (I have been cackling at his name) decided he no longer wanted his wife to be alive. And, to be clear there's no real reason that he wanted this. He was a 46 year old man, married to a 48 year old woman. For like 18 years. They had 3 kids together.
Dennis was a Coldwater High School Counselor. So, I mean he had a job and a family and all that shit.
So, they are together for basically a lifetime and then one day shit gets tense. And, too tense. The wife Marilynn just can't do it any more. She expressed multiple times that she felt unhappy and unloved. She also said Dennis really treated poorly. Dennis really just said Marilynn was turning the kids against him. But, really didn't address the rest. Marilynn couldn't take it anymore and filed for divorce. This would have been early in the year of 1989.
Dennis was super pissed about this and really tried his best to fight the divorce. Maybe this was his way of "fighting" for his family. But, ultimately a judge sided with Marilynn and granted the divorce in December of 1989.
Dennis would have access to their family home, their guest home in which he used for an office, and visitation with their children. This was short lived because Dennis used this access to try and control everything and everyone in the home. Marilynn was super unhappy and the kids didn't want to be around their father. Eventually Dennis was only allowed access to the guest house, the kids weren't forced to see Dennis, and Marilynn changed the locks. This absolutely pissed Dennis Crazy-Eyes off (I nicknamed him this & you will see why below)..
In April of 1990 Dennis went to see his kids. One of them refused to go with him, and the other 2 were hella reluctant to go. This made Dennis mad, and Marilynn concerned. (GO MAMA BEAR) Marilynn tried to talk to Dennis to maybe get him to see his kids perspective. And, he flipped. Absolutely lost his shit.
Dennis pushed his now ex-wife down the stairs, and then violently beat her. But, when is a beating not violent? I digress.
THEIR MOTHERFRECKING CHILDREN WATCHED THE WHOLE ATTACK!
Luckily, one of their kids made it out of the house and over to the neighbors to get police assistance. But, of course before the police could make it Dennis got to schemin'.
He scooped up his severely injured wife and brought her back up the stairs. He then told his children that he was going to take her to the hospital. Only, they never made it. And, people quickly took notice.
Let's bring some more people into this story. Introducing Ray and Marie Thorton.
Ray and Marie were talking a Sunday drive. They were on Snow Perry Rd.. Looking out the road they noticed a van speed past them. This completely caught them off guard, as cars didn't do that in this area. They kept their vehicle at the pace that they were going. They finally passed where the van that had sped past them was.
They see the van at an abandoned school and what they see makes them worry. They noticed a person get out of the van with a what looks like bloody sheet or large towel. They also noticed what also looked like blood on the passenger side door. They really didn't know what to make of this. So, they kept going.
Shortly after going past the abandoned school Marie and Ray noticed that same van getting very close to their bumper. It didn't matter how fast they went - this van was on their behind. Marie made note to look at the driver. Once they could really see the blood on the car they decided they would have to go back to the school to make sure everything was okay. Eventually the van turned off onto the highway and the couple could turn around and see what was going on.
When they got back to the school they found an indeed bloody sheet in an animal hole. They knew this is the one they had seen when originally passing it. They immediately went to the police to report what they had found and experienced. After speaking with the police the couple learned that they had indeed encountered Dennis DePue.
Tire tracks at the school and blood on the sheet confirmed that Dennis was the one in the van. The police really heavily believed that Marilynn was dead. But, they really couldn't confirm because they did not have her body. Nor, did they know where Dennis went.
Shortly after this, highway workers would find Marilynn's deceased body on the side of the highway. She had one bullet wound in the back of the head.
So that's it. This is the end.
Just kidding.
There's more!
Days after Marilynn's body was found the DePue's family began receiving bizarre and rambling letters in the mail. They came from various states, but all said the same thing. Basically Marilynn was to blame on what happened. And, she had it coming. She brought this on herself ..blah blah blah.
After the death - or killing - of his ex wife Dennis fled to Texas. He got himself a girlfriend. He changed his name to Hank - oh the fracking irony there - get it Hank's Lore? - One day a broadcast came over the tv that Dennis saw. He then decided he needed to leave. So, he told his girlfriend that he had a "family emergency," and would have to leave.
What Dennis didn't know what his girlfriend had been suspicious of him for awhile. So, she had a private investigator follow him. She already knew about the broadcast and was super worried then. After he left the home they shared the girlyfriend let her friend know what was going on. They then called the police.
The police were able to locate him, and a high speed chase happened. The cops tried to shoot out his tires. They succeeded in that. But, not in capturing him. Once his tires were popped he turned his gun on himself and shot himself.
Soooooo there's that.
The School that the bloody sheet was found:
OKAY! But, I see the resemblance.
Just a little timeline!
· Couple sought - April 16, 1990
· Murder victim died of a gunshot wound - April 18, 1990
· Missing man sought in wife's slaying - April 18, 1990
· Search turns up empty; murder suspect still free - April 20, 1990
· Fugitive murder suspect mailed letters to 7 people - April 27, 1990
· Murder - July 12, 1990
· Police believe letters are from victim's killer - July 17, 1990
· "Unsolved Mysteries" steps into Depue case - March 19, 1991
· Man featured on crime show takes own life - March 21, 1991
· Man Wanted for Michigan Murder, Featured on TV, Dies During Shootout - March 21, 1991
· Man wanted for murder dies in police shootout - March 22, 1991
· Fugitive dies - March 22, 1991
· Case ends in death - March 22, 1991
· Authorities trace Dennis DePue's last actions - March 22, 1991
· Fugitive kills himself after shootout - March 22, 1991
· State fugitive kills himself - March 22, 1991
· Television program unmasks local fugitive - March 24, 1991
· Woman finds boyfriend is murder suspect - March 24, 1991
· TV show reports mystery it aired no longer unsolved - March 28, 1991
· Did 1990 Michigan murder inspire Jeepers Creepers film? - February 15, 2017
· Arson suspected in an abandoned school fire - March 26, 2017
· Dennis DePue: The Real-Life Killer That Inspired Jeepers Creepers - July 1, 2021
So, are we doing more true crime? What do you think? Let me know.
XOXO
Hank