'Witches Castle' | Southern Indiana property famed for urban legends up for sale | Local News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A southern Indiana property shrouded in urban legend and tainted with true crime is now up for sale.

Mistletoe Falls is located off Upper River Road near the Lewis and Clark Bridge. It's a peaceful riverside plot in Utica with crumbling stone structures, but it's also the site of many morbid myths.

"You hear a lot of different stories, witch stories," Frankie Garrett Jr., who owners a general store in Utica.

IMAGES | 'Witches Castle' near Mistletoe Falls in Utica, Indiana

"It was rumored there were several witches on the property," Curtis Wells said. "They had a dispute with the townspeople of Utica... at the end of this dispute, the townspeople went up and supposedly burned them out."

"There is a guy that lived there, like a doctor, and then there's three witches that was caged in there," Aremeda Spencer said.

Most versions of the story end with the wronged witches cursing Utica and its people. Those tales have made the place a spot for people to explore, vandalize and graffiti much of the old structures.

"You can tell people are still frequently going up there, teenagers and stuff," said Mark Hack, real estate broker and realtor with GreenTree Real Estate.

Many locals see the property in a different light.

"If somebody comes in here and says I'm looking for the witch's castle, and I'll say, 'no, I think you're looking for Mistletoe Falls,'" Garrett said.

Garrett is quick to correct people when they stop by looking for the place, most often around Halloween.

"I showed them pictures that I have in here of it many times," Garrett said.

Mistletoe Falls has long been untouched with pieces of old flooring and stonework hinting at the home it used to be. People say a fire decades ago made it unlivable.

The three-and-a-half acre property is up for sale by Collins Properties for $285,000. Hack believes the land has gotten a bad rap.

"It just needs a future," Hack said. "It needs something that will get it past the past."

Some argue the land truly became known as "Witches Castle" after a very real horror took place in 1992.

12-year-old Shanda Sharer was abducted and tortured before being killed in Madison by four teenage girls. The Witches Castle was one of the first places Sharer was taken that night, but she was not tortured there according to investigators.

Since then, the place has been linked to the crime.

"We do have people that come from states surrounding all around Indiana, this time of year," Curtis said. "They come to get a look at it or get a photograph of it. And a lot of this connected with the murder of that girl."

Hack believes with the right developer, Mistletoe Falls can get a fresh start.

"I would really like to see somebody come in here with a really cool vision," Hack said. "Build something really unique."

Some people in Utica hope to see the land and its stonework preserved and be opened to the public, while others think it's overdue to be turned into something entirely new.

"I think it will have a bright future for somebody that really wants to put time into it," Hack said.

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'Witches Castle' | Southern Indiana property famed for urban legends up for sale