Highway of Darkness
In 2016, Highway 99 a 400-mile highway that runs through Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto and other valley cities was found to be the deadliest highway in a five year span.
California's State Route 99 (SR 99) has been described as the "Golden State Highway" and "Highway to Hell". It runs north to south from Kern County in the south to Shasta County in the north, and serves many major cities in Central California.
According to data from the National Traffic and Highway Safety Administration from 2011 through 2015, Route 99 had 62 fatalities per 100 miles of any highway in the nation.
It was the primary north-south highway on the West Coast from 1926 to 1972. Highway 99 originally measured 1,754 miles as it stretched from the Canadian Border through Washington, Oregon and California, ending at the Mexican border. It was one of the busiest truck routes in the country during those years.
By 1946, Route 99 a.k.a. the Golden State Highway had been given the moniker of "Bloody 99" described as a "death trap for hundreds of motorists".
Only a month into 1947 there had been 16 fatalities on the highway, and it wasn't only motorists. Robert McDaniel and Samuel Bell were walking north along Highway 99 towards Madera when they were hit by George Thompson when he tried to pass another vehicle and crashed into the pair. Bell suffered major injuries and McDaniel was killed.
The day before Tetsuro Kajiwara and Akira Ishibashi both in their 20s were in critical condition after a head-on crash due to heavy fog when they tried to pass another vehicle. Earlier the same day Sister May Isabel, waited to make a left from Highway 99 but because of the fog another vehicle slammed into the back of her vehicle.
Nine months later a retired rancher died after being struck by a truck as he walked across the highway. His was the 75th death in 1947 on Route 99.
It's not surprising a highway with so many fatalities would not have some type of ghost story attached to it. What else would you come across on this lonely stretch of road if not a hitchhiker’s ghost?
One of the ghosts is a young woman wearing jeans and a red top. A truck driver saw her on the side of the road with her thumb out, but didn’t stop for her. This was not out of the ordinary until he saw the same woman 1/2 mile later. He shook his head and wrote it off to coincidence, until he saw her again but this time she stepped out in the middle of the road, her mouth open in a silent scream and then disappeared.
Needless to say he braked hard, and on shaking legs he got off to find what was left of the woman except there was nothing on the road.
He saw her again before reaching his destination, and he slowed down to make sure it was the same woman. This time he heard her scream loudly before she disappeared once more.
The following is a story retold by an anonymous person:
I use to drive along highway 99 between Fresno and Chico for work. Sometimes I would have to drive to San Francisco in between the cities and would have to take Highway 132 through Modesto. This highway only has two lanes going each way. This is my story and I remember it well.
It was summer and the days were long and it was pretty hot. My work van didn’t have the best AC, so in the summer I’d drive at night with the windows down. My job required me to drive late sometimes, picking up medical supplies from various hospitals up and down California. The beauty of this job was that I can schedule my own pickups sometimes. Due to the heat, I always chose to drive later at night on long trips and return in the morning.
This particular trip had me starting in Fresno, stopping at UCSF in San Francisco and then dropping supplies off in Chico before returning home. So I left at 7 PM that night. There was nothing special, no omen, nothing about that night that would make it memorable. I grabbed Starbucks on the way out of Fresno so I would be well awake for the drive. I also had friends scattered throughout the area so I stopped in Modesto to grab a bite with a friend before continuing to the Bay Area. As I wasn’t watching the time, we ended up hanging out to 11 pm before I realized I had to hit the road to San Francisco.
Modesto is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from SF with good traffic, so I thought - no sweat. I drove a utility type work van that didn’t have windows in the back, so at night, it’s pitch black back there. The windows were the only source of any light coming into the van.
Back to the story… I headed west on 132 and there were not a lot of cars driving during this time. Every 10 minutes or so, I would see a car coming from the other direction. There is a section of this highway that runs next to a small river and is heavily wooded by California’s standards.
So as I was approaching this area, which has no lights, I can see a faint silhouette of a person walking on the shoulder of the other side of the road. As I got closer, she looked like she was middle aged and was walking in the same direction as I was driving. I thought it was kind of weird at first but nothing more and as I drove pass her, looking in my rear view window just out of curiosity to see her face. Although I can see her face, I couldn’t really see much because she was sort of walking with her face down and her long black hair was covering her eyes. She was wearing jeans and a red t-shirt.
I shifted my eyes to the road in front of me and then looked back to the mirror but she was gone. I thought to myself (maybe trying not to scare myself), that she was probably fishing like many people do around that part of the river and walked down to the river. I drove on…
At this point, I was thinking about who she was as I continued driving. Then about 5 minutes later, I look in front and I could see there was someone else on the road, but this time they were on the shoulder on my side. I wasn’t scared yet, but thought to myself: "Lots of people with broken cars tonight."
As I got closer, I could see that it was a woman in a red shirt and jeans; the same woman that I had seen earlier. My heart started pumping hard and I was scared! I stepped on the gas and zoomed passed this woman again but didn’t look back. I knew that there was nothing on that highway until I got to the Bay Area, so there was nowhere I could stop if I wanted to. I kept my foot to the gas pedal and would take a glance in the rear view mirror every so often, just to reassure myself there was no one there.
I’m sweating by this point and opened the window to get some fresh air. My eyes were wide open and zeroed on the task of getting out of there as fast as possible. As I was approaching the turn off point of the highway, I heard a voice that was distinct and clear as it said, “I’m hungry” and I glanced in the rear view and momentarily noticed a shadow sitting in the dark.
I know it’s not possible, but this shadow was darker than the space behind my van. It was only for a split second but I’m sure I saw someone there. I saw a 76 gas station so I pulled over to open the back of my van. I hopped out and slid open the side door; there was no one there but boxes of medical supplies. I continued to finish my deliveries that weekend but couldn’t sleep. Ever since then, I only travel that road if someone is with me.