Buried Nine Days, Still Ticking: The Watch Nobody Could Explain

Buried Nine Days, Still Ticking: The Watch Nobody Could Explain

The first image is a left hand rising from the mud with a running watch on its wrist after nine days in rain-soaked ground - the watch, a 1938 Hamilton railroad-grade sold for $11.50, kept perfect time. Who put the watch back on Norman Christensen after his death, and why did no official follow up during his eleven days missing?

In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events and the people who intersected with Norman Christensen in Millhaven in spring 1943, from his steady routines to the discovery that reopened questions about his disappearance. What the running watch tells us about the last days of a twenty-two-year-old press operator is the central mystery we follow.

Person: Norman Christensen
Date: April 14, 1943
Location: Caldwell Stamping property, Millhaven, Pennsylvania
Age: 22
Occupation: Press operator, first shift

- The body was in the mud for at least nine days and endured four separate rainstorms totaling 2.25 inches of recorded rainfall.
- The pocket watch was a Hamilton railroad-grade, nickel case, manufactured in 1938 and sold for $11.50, with glass intact and the second hand moving when revealed.
- Norman had been missing for eleven days according to his boarding house landlady before his body was found.
- Norman lived in a boarding house on Sycamore Street, paid rent on time, and sent cash to his mother every two weeks in plain envelopes with no return address.
- He kept a fixed weekly appointment every Thursday at 6 p.m. visiting Cecil Potts at Patricia Finch’s house for seven months, last kept on Thursday, April 1, 1943.

Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.
Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7194310

© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.