In 2015, Henry McCabe was a 32-year-old auditor for the state of Minnesota. He was married with two kids and lived a happy life with his family in the town of Mounds View, Minnesota. That is until the 7th of September when a disturbing and unsettling voicemail was left on his wife’s cellphone.
Henry would later be found dead.
His body was discovered two months later on the 2nd of November. Police are baffled by what could have happened to him.
Kareen McCabe, Henry’s wife, was in California when she received a mysterious message. For two long minutes, the terrifying message records what sounds like what could be a creature growling and grunting menacingly or a person in excruciating pain. Although the full recording hasn’t been released to the public, it is said that the voice of McCabe seemingly comes through, and he is heard at the end saying “Stop it.”
This was the last time anyone ever heard from Henry McCabe.
The next day Kareen filed a missing persons report.
Unexplainable Disappearance
Shortly before he went missing, McCabe had been at a local club called Povlitzki’s in nearby Spring Lake Park, Minnesota. It was Labor Day weekend and he was enjoying a night out with friends. His friend, William Kennedy, claims he dropped McCabe off at a gas station after they decided to end their evening. The two men left the club together at 2 am. Kennedy was driving.
He claims that McCabe had made the request himself to be dropped off at a gas station 6 minutes in the opposite direction of Mounds View. Kennedy first described the SuperAmerica gas station in Fridley, MN and when investigators brought him there, he even pointed out where he had parked and last seen his friend. However, a security camera confirmed that McCabe was actually dropped off at the Holiday gas station off Central Avenue and Hackman Avenue.
Was the discrepancy just an innocent mistake?
Over the next few weeks, police had no leads and no direction to go on. Henry McCabe seemingly vanished into thin air. He never again accessed his bank account or used his cell phone. In fact, soon after the chilling voicemail was sent, his phone was turned off.
Horrifying Voicemail
At 2:28 am that evening, Kareen McCabe would receive the last communication she ever had with her husband. It is difficult to decipher what is going on in the message. To some, it sounds like a human moaning in pain. To others, alarming sounds of an animal-like being can be heard, along with a voice that sounds eerily like McCabe possibly in a fight for his life.
The voicemail pinged off of a cell tower in New Brighton, Minnesota.
The bizarre recording still leaves law enforcement and the public baffled as to what clues it could contain. What is it telling us about Henry McCabe’s last moments? Was McCabe trying desperately to reach out for help? And if so, what was he in danger from?
William Kennedy has never been considered a suspect in McCabe’s death. However, there is one word on the chilling recording that may point to his involvement.
“Papus”
According to those who know him well, William Kennedy’s nickname was “Papus.” He also had McCabe’s car keys and wallet in his possession which he promptly turned in to police, claiming that he had taken them from his friend to prevent him from driving home intoxicated that night.
To add to the confusion, when initially questioned by police, Kennedy gave the wrong gas station description, and only when CCTV footage captured him at another gas station did he change his story. Kareen has no explanation for why Kennedy would have left her husband at a gas station in the middle of the night instead of just taking him home.
Over the next two months, volunteers searched the areas where the cell towers had pinged. Unfortunately, nothing of value was ever found. Even the FBI got involved and attempted to analyze the mysterious voicemail, hoping to reveal more clues about McCabe’s whereabouts, but that seemed to lead to a dead-end as well.
More Questions Than Answers
On a Monday afternoon, only 6 miles from where McCabe had been dropped off at the gas station, a kayaker on Rush Lake came upon a body floating in the water. An autopsy was performed on his body and the coroner could find no evidence of injuries and nothing to indicate foul play was involved.
Decomposition was so advanced that it took two days for the body to be identified. His cause of death was ruled a drowning by the medical examiner. The case remains open, and investigators are looking at all possibilities including that of suicide and homicide.
A motive for suicide has never been found. McCabe had a family he adored and was successful in his career as a state auditor. There is nothing in his past that would indicate his desire to kill himself.
McCabe made three calls that night. Each one pinged a different cell tower in three different towns: Fridley, Spring Lake Park, and New Brighton. This was all within a small 30-minute window. It’s impossible for him to have walked to all three locations in that amount of time.
Did he get into a car with someone else?
The chief executive of Minnesota Community Policing, David Singleton, believes McCabe’s death was not an accident and that he was not alone that night.
“I don’t believe that he just wandered that far on his own and the audio doesn’t support the idea that his death is not suspicious,” he stated.
Alternate theories have been suggested by internet sleuths, such as a vicious attack by an animal or even supernatural beings causing his demise. So far, none of these have been backed up by any credible evidence. No suspects have been named at this time. So many questions remain about McCabe’s true fate.
If you have any information about the death of Henry McCabe, please call the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office at 651–767–0640.
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