HeyJaredRoots & Riddles
Unearthing forgotten chapters from Fillmore County, Minnesota, Roots and Riddles shares true tales that shaped the county—from vanished towns and courtroom mysteries to old letters and lost voices.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 11
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- Sep 23, 2026
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- Jul 15, 2026
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The Mystery of Wykoff’s John Doe (opens the original)
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On the night of July 6, 1947, an unidentified man was struck and killed by a freight train near the Wykoff depot. He carried no identification, and no one seemed to know who he was. But his fingerprints told a much stranger story. Authorities connected the dead man to seven different names, used during arrests stretching from New York and Pennsylvania to Iowa and Minnesota. One of those names—Oar Diehl—would provide tantalizing clues about his past, including a birth date and hometown. Yet despi
Wykoff’s Imaginary Murderer (opens the original)
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In November 1929, a Wykoff man walked into Rochester police headquarters and confessed to a murder in Germany. There was just one problem: the murder apparently never happened. George Rohde told police he had killed a friend, stolen his identity, and come to America using the dead man’s passport. But as officers questioned him, the story began to unravel. Soon Rohde admitted the confession—and even his tale of a lost $20,000 fortune—had been fabricated. His real motive was much stranger: he was
The Great Wykoff Fire of 1895 (opens the original)
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In the early morning hours of March 28, 1895, fire tore through the heart of Wykoff. Starting near the town hall, the flames raced through the village’s business district, destroying stores, homes, barns, and nearly an entire block before finally burning itself out. With limited firefighting equipment, intense heat, and rapidly spreading flames, residents turned their attention to saving whatever goods and belongings they could carry into the street. By morning, Wykoff’s once-busy commercial cen
Wykoff’s Last Civil War Veteran (opens the original)
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September is Wykoff month on Roots & Riddles as we celebrate the town’s 150th birthday—and we’re starting with one of its most remarkable early residents. Robert Crowell came to the Wykoff area in the 1850s, built a log cabin, and later enlisted in Company K of the 6th Minnesota Infantry. He served under General Sibley, saw action during the U.S.-Dakota War, and later campaigned in the South during the Civil War. By the time he died at age 95, Crowell was remembered as the oldest Civil War veter
Murder on the Minnesota-Iowa Line (opens the original)
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In December 1921, 23-year-old schoolteacher Inga Magnusson failed to return home from the rural school where she taught just across the Iowa line from Houston County, Minnesota. Her family went searching—and what they found inside the schoolhouse launched a manhunt across three counties. Bloodhounds followed the trail. Evidence was discovered beneath a suspect’s bed. By the end of the day, 26-year-old Earl Throst was in custody. Throst would later confess to killing Inga, and little more than a
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