True love can take tragic turns

Here are two award-winning true stories from James Rada, Jr.

This short work shows that history can be just as interesting, and sometimes, stranger than fiction.

A Love Returned

Steve Shaw finds a 30-year-old girl's class ring at a Boy Scout Camp in 2003. He sets out to discover the owner and return the ring. He hunts down clues and slowly uncovers a love story that takes some surprising turns before its surprising conclusion. Steve also finds out that some loves never die.

The Death of Young Lovers

Charles Twigg and Mary Grace Elosser were to be married on January 1, 1911. However, while sitting alone in a closed room on New Year's Eve with Grace's mother just in the next room, the couple was somehow killed. Just how they died remained a mystery for weeks as investigators sought information and witnesses. The case generated national headlines until the answers finally came from a cat and a rabbit.