The Fourth Child: Unveiling the Forgotten Tragedy of the Dawson House Hoarding Case

In 1986, the rescue of three siblings from a hoarder house in rural Indiana made headlines nationwide. Their parents were arrested, and the community breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Yet, hidden in the shadows of a single photograph was a haunting mystery—a fourth child, a barefoot girl with no name, no records, and no follow-up.

Nearly 40 years later, one of those siblings returns to the house, uncovering a sealed trap door beneath the porch. What she finds rewrites everything they thought they escaped from.

This is the story of May Dawson, the forgotten fourth child, and the dark secrets buried deep within the walls of the Dawson house.

The 1986 Rescue: A Family Torn Apart

August 14th, 1986, Floyd County, Indiana. The small town was shaken when child protective services raided the Dawson house—a collapsing farmhouse piled high with trash, rotting blankets, and forgotten memories. Three children—May, her twin brother Mark, and their baby sister Bethany—were rescued from the filth and neglect.

A photograph from the scene captured the three siblings being led to safety. But in the background, almost hidden by shadows, stood a fourth child—a young girl, barefoot, with long dirty blonde hair, her face half-turned toward the camera. No one present recalled her existence. The image was cropped from the official releases, and the girl vanished from public record.

May’s Return: Confronting the Past

May Dawson hadn’t set foot on the property since she was eight years old. On May 3rd, 2024, driven by a haunting memory and the mysterious photograph, she returned to the overgrown, sagging house. The once familiar porch groaned under her feet as she held the laminated photo of that fateful day.

Her eyes fixed on the spot where the fourth child had stood. There, beneath the warped floorboards, May discovered a seam—a trap door, previously hidden beneath years of rot and debris.

With trembling hands, she pried open the hatch, revealing a pitch-black crawl space filled with tattered blankets, old dolls, plastic utensils, and a single pink canvas Mary Jane shoe with a star patch—the unmistakable mark of a child’s presence.

Etched faintly on the dusty wood inside were the words: “I am the fourth.”

Mid-Article Deep Dive: The Hidden Chamber and the Unseen Child

May’s discovery ignited a chain of revelations that would unravel decades of silence and cover-up.

The Crawl Space: A Secret Prison

The crawl space beneath the porch was more than a hiding spot; it was a confinement chamber. Inside, May found a tiny plastic mirror, a matted hairbrush, and torn pages from children’s books—some chewed or shredded in frustration.

On the wall, a crude drawing of four stick figures appeared: three marked with X’s and one circled, representing the fourth child. The circle symbolized survival, but at what cost?

May’s heart pounded as she descended into the claustrophobic space, the stale air thick with the scent of mold and despair. A sudden creak above made her freeze. A distant voice called out, “Hello… we’re with the sheriff’s department.” Relief and fear washed over her simultaneously.

The Conditioning Room: Where Innocence Was Broken

Further investigation revealed a hidden chamber beneath the house, accessible through a sealed metal panel. Inside, a small room with a bolted metal chair, restraints, and old toys lay in eerie silence. The walls were scarred with claw marks—signs of desperate attempts to escape.

A cracked mirror bore a chilling message scratched in red crayon: “I am the fourth. They said I failed. I hate pink. I am not bad.”

This was the place where the fourth child—now known as Kala—was broken.

The Unseen Puppeteers: A Dark Conditioning Program

The evidence pointed to a sinister truth: the Dawson house was not merely a hoarder’s nightmare but a site of systematic psychological conditioning and abuse.

The Cassette Tapes: Voices from the Past

Hidden behind the living room wallpaper, May found an unlabeled cassette tape. When played, it revealed clinical recordings of a man’s monotone voice documenting the conditioning of “Subject 4,” who resisted food and sleep deprivation protocols.

The tape played a haunting rhyme, repeated by children’s voices:

“One for food and two for light, Three for sleep, and four for night.”

The chilling chant echoed the torment inflicted on the children, a cruel reinforcement cycle designed to control and erase their identities.

The Butterfly Code: Symbols of Survival and Loss

May uncovered a small notebook filled with drawings of butterflies, spirals, and stars—each symbol linked to a child and their fate. Names like Angela, Tessa, Meera, Elise, and Kala were marked with colored butterflies, representing compliance, relocation, or disappearance.

The code revealed a horrifying system of selection and erasure, where children were cataloged, conditioned, and discarded.

The Forgotten Children: Names Without Records

The investigation unearthed index cards cataloging children who were never officially registered—“unnamed,” “unregistered,” “defective,” or “relocated.” These cards exposed a network of abuse far beyond the Dawson family.

The Final Resting Places: Unearthing the Truth

Forensic excavations in the backyard uncovered a rusted lockbox beneath a broken swing tree containing letters from a behavioral research center, St. Augustine Center for Behavioral Alignment. The documents detailed the chilling experiments conducted on the children, including isolation, obedience trials, and “static monitoring.”

In a shallow grave beneath the porch, the remains of Kala were found curled in a fetal position, clutching a ceramic butterfly—a gift May had made in first grade and given to her sister.

The Aftermath: Justice, Memory, and Healing

The story broke nationwide as “The Butterfly Case” exposed decades of horrifying child abuse and psychological experimentation hidden in plain sight.

May Dawson, alongside Detective Howerin and survivors, worked tirelessly to bring the truth to light, uncover more victims, and create a memorial dedicated to the forgotten children.

The Haunting Legacy: Remembering the Unseen

May’s journey is a testament to resilience and the power of remembrance. The fourth child, Kala, once erased and forgotten, now has a name, a resting place, and a story that refuses to be silenced.

Her story reminds us that behind every cold case lies a human life, a family, and a truth waiting to be uncovered.