Welcome to a new chapter of UNSOLVED MYSTERIES. On this occasion, I will share with you the story of a family crypt on Barbados that has hidden a dark secret for more than two centuries.

Barbados is an island located between the western Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago. The bay of Oistin, on the south coast of the island, is a beautiful place; however, it is more remembered for the legend of the Chase Vault than for its tourist value.

In the year 1742, the Walrond family built a huge crypt in the cemetery of the Church Christ in Oistins. But they never used it so they sold it to the Elliot family, who in 1807 buried in a simple wooden crate the remains of the first occupant of the tomb, Thomasina Goddard.

Soon, the mausoleum was sold again. This time to the family of Thomas Chase, aggressive and violent people who were involved in criminal cases of the island.

The following year, Mary Anne Chase, daughter of Thomas Chase, died in her short two-year-old and was buried in the pantheon in a lead coffin. Four years later, in 1812, his older sister, Dorca Chase, took her own life due to her father's intolerable abuse and cruelty. She was also buried in the family crypt in a lead-covered sarcophagus.

Just one month after this event, Thomas Chase, the most hated man on the island, committed suicide. His body laid inside a lead coffin weighing more than 100 kilograms transported by slaves, but when they started to descend into the crypt, the lanterns showed a chilling scene: The coffins had been dislodged. Everything was completely out of place as if the grave had been plundered by tomb robbers.

The slaves ran terrified and said that it was caused by evil spirits, however, the devastated family lined up the coffins and placed Thomas's coffin next to them. The large marble slab once again rolled forward to seal the vault.

The members of the family accused the slaves for the crime, but they rejected the accusation and were afraid of the situation. The event remained as an enigma since the coffins remained with all pieces, so theft did not represent a possible cause.

The strange event was forgotten until 1816, when the lugubrious slab at the entrance of the tomb received a new guest, it was the eleven years old Samuel Brewster Ames. Upon entering the vault the assistants were horrified. The mausoleum had been desecrated again! It seemed a joke and those present could not believe what their eyes saw, so the pantheon was ordered and sealed again.

52 days later, the burial of Samuel Brewster, father of the boy who was already in the tomb, took place. A crowd of witnesses was present waiting for the legend to be fulfilled again and as expected, the coffins were overturned savagely.

Several investigators, including the Reverend Thomas Oderson, took matters into their own hands and conducted a thorough search inside the crypt for evidence. They examined the walls and vaulted ceiling for moisture but found the interior completely dry, they also searched the floor for cracks but found it solid. Finding no clue, it was nothing else to do, so they supervise the work of placing them once more in the prescribed order.

In a few weeks the event became news among the locals, so a lot of onlookers, came day and night to the cemetery in a failed attempt to reveal the secret. Despite this, the inhabitants of the Island had to wait three years to witness the next burial.

On July 17, 1819, the wooden coffin of Mrs. Thomasina Clarke was prepared to take place inside that chamber. Due to the seriousness of the situation, although Mrs. Clarke was not a woman of great importance to the society of her time while she lived, her funeral was honored by the presence of the Governor Lord Combermere, who was informed about the case and was accompanied by the garrison commander and hundreds of spectators.

When they opened the slab, they were horrified by the situation, this time some sarcophagi were on their heads, in opposite corners and standing against the wall. As a result, new security measures were implemented. Among them, highlight the fact that fine sand was spread on the floor of the place to capture prints in case someone broke the pantheon. In addition, the governor left impressions in the fresh cement of the slab as a security seal.

On April 18, 1820, the curiosity of Lord Combermere did not allow him to wait for a new funeral, so he went to the grave with his subjects. Initially, the governor was relieved to see that the cement seal was intact and that there was no sign of any disruption, but when they tried to open the slab, they noticed that something heavy was blocking the entrance from inside. After resorting to the force of several men, they noticed that it was the coffin of Mr. Chase that had been thrown against the entrance! The other sarcophagi were also untidy, only this time they had been moved with more violence than on previous occasions.

Surprisingly, the sand on the ground was intact; they did not find a single trace. There was no sign of flood or any other type of inrush. In addition, it seemed unlikely that an invader could have escaped with the large lead coffin blocking the door.

When witnessing these inexplicable events, the governor decided to put an end to the phenomenon. He ordered that the pantheon was emptied and that the bodies were buried separately in individual tombs.

It has never been possible to determine the cause of these horrible events, but as with other supernatural mysteries, a myriad of theories that try to explain events have arisen.

The paranormal theories are varied, some claim that the souls of the guests of the pantheon could not live in peace since in life they could not do it either, others think that Goddard was a vampire and others speak of demonic possessions.

More rational theories are based on the seismic activity of the region, although they cannot explain why only the coffins of the Chase pantheon moved, and not the others on nearby tombs. In addition, at that time, no type of seismic movement was recorded in the area.

Another natural cause discarded was the floods, since inside the crypt was no sign of humidity and it was unlikely that those heavy coffins could float.

Although nobody asked how it was possible that simple gases of human origin could move sarcophagi covered with lead, of which four men were barely able to move.

None of this explains with certainty, what happened inside that strange mausoleum more than two centuries ago? So these events will remain a mystery in the history of Barbados.

Currently, the tomb remains empty and is open to those curious who want to verify the supernatural presence, but people say that without the corpses, this mausoleum has lost its "essence".