Podcast Summary: MrBallen Podcast—Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

Episode: Fan Favorite - "You Can't Leave That Way"

Date: January 30, 2026
Host: John Allen (MrBallen), Ballen Studios

Overview

In this fan favorite remastered episode, MrBallen narrates the chilling, true story of Carrie Selvage, a 43-year-old woman who vanished from an Indianapolis psychiatric hospital in 1900. Initially appearing as a simple missing persons case, the tale takes listeners through a labyrinth of dead ends, mistaken identities, criminal intrigue, and ultimately, a haunting plot twist that upends all expectations. MrBallen’s signature storytelling blends rich historical detail, suspense, and emotional depth, culminating in an unforgettable revelation about Carrie’s fate and the failures of those who sought her.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Carrie Selvage and Her Institutionalization

• [01:41 – 05:08]
  • Carrie Selvage, formerly a schoolteacher, became overwhelmed by poorly understood mental health issues and was ultimately diagnosed with “hysteria”—a common, dubious label for women at the time.
  • Against her wishes, she was confined to the Union State Hospital in Indianapolis.
  • The story opens with an evocative scene of Carrie longing for her lost freedom as she stares out her window and wistfully remembers her former life.

2. The Disappearance

• [05:09 – 09:53]
  • One morning, Carrie slips out of her room while her nurse is distracted.
  • When the nurse returns and finds her missing, she initially assumes Carrie is with a doctor, but panic sets in when this isn’t the case.
  • By early evening, chaos consumes the hospital as staff realize Carrie is gone, and her brother Joseph arrives, horrified and incensed by the lack of oversight.

3. The Investigation and Missing Person Search

• [09:54 – 20:58]
  • Detectives Chauncey Manning and Adolph Ash lead a thorough search of the hospital and surrounding area, to no avail.
  • Concerns rise as Indianapolis is plagued by grave robbers who sell bodies to local hospitals for medical research—sometimes resorting to murder for ‘fresh’ corpses.
  • Eyewitnesses claim to have seen a woman matching Carrie’s description nearby, but these leads evaporate.
  • Newspapers publish Carrie’s photo citywide—unusual publicity for the era—as Joseph refuses to give up hope.

4. False Closure—A Shocking, Gruesome Confession

• [20:59 – 26:38]
  • Two years post-disappearance, a medical student recognizes the corpse in a surgical demonstration as Carrie Selvage, sparking citywide shock:

    "It's the missing woman!" [medical student, 22:34]

  • Police investigate with Joseph and Carrie’s dentist, who confirms the gold tooth matches Carrie’s dental work.
  • Detectives visit notorious grave robber Rufus Cantrell (“King of Ghouls”), who chillingly confesses that his gang murdered and sold Carrie’s body.

    “That was the woman who’d gone missing from the psychiatric hospital over two years ago.” [Rufus Cantrell, 25:14]

5. Doubt and Lingering Mystery

• [26:39 – 32:10]
  • Joseph adamantly refuses to accept this story, convinced his sister wouldn’t have put herself in such danger and suspicious of Rufus' motivations for leniency.

6. The Real Twist—Discovery of the Truth

• [32:11 – 42:07]
  • April 26, 1920 ([34:01]): Nearly 20 years later, Joseph receives a call from Detective Manning—remains have been found during the renovation of an old orphanage (formerly Union State Hospital).
  • Joseph follows construction crews to a secret, cramped room above the building’s attic. There, he discovers skeletonized remains in tattered pieces of a blue flannel dress, confirmed to be his sister.
  • The room, bright with sunlight from two windows, is both a symbol of freedom and a tragic tomb—Carrie had died forgotten, painfully close to those searching for her.
  • Official reports claim she got lost due to poor eyesight and froze to death; Joseph speculates she may have chosen final solitude.

7. The Episode’s Final Reflections

• [42:08 – 46:03]
  • Carrie is buried next to her mother; the woman from the dissection table remains unidentified.
  • Mistaken eyewitness accounts underscore the unreliability of memory and the profound mystery surrounding Carrie’s final days.
  • MrBallen leaves listeners contemplating the isolation and tragic yearning for autonomy experienced by Carrie, and the unnerving fallibility of justice—even with the best intentions.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Setting the Tone:

  “At first, this story will seem like a pretty ordinary missing person's case. That is, until you reach the very end. Let's just say this story has one heck of a plot twist.”
  — MrBallen, [00:12]

• On Carrie’s Loss of Freedom:

  “Carrie desperately wanted to go somewhere on her own where nurses and doctors weren't hovering over her every few minutes and telling her what she could and couldn't do.”
  — MrBallen, [04:39]

• The Desperation of Search:

  “They had crisscrossed the city, dragged small ponds, and conducted hundreds of interviews. At this point, they could only think of one other place to look.”
  — [17:23]

• The Haunting Confession:

  “Rufus said he was sure because members of the grave robbing gang he was a part of had murdered her.”
  — MrBallen narrating Rufus Cantrell, [25:30]

• Joseph’s Enduring Doubt:

  “Carrie had bad eyesight, and she was generally nervous and unhappy, but she wasn't stupid… so how true could it really be?”
  — MrBallen, [29:08]

• The Heartbreaking Discovery:

  “At this moment, Joseph knew he had been right for decades. That grave robber, the king of ghouls, Rufus Cantrell, had lied… Joseph started crying. Because now he understood that as much as he’d wanted to believe it, his sister Carrie had never escaped and found her freedom.”
  — MrBallen, [38:42]

• Final Reflection:

  “Maybe Carrie had just decided to sit there quietly, looking out the window and across the city where she’d once been free… And when night fell and she felt that bitter cold coming on, she chose to stay in that room—the only place she knew where she could be on her own.”
  — MrBallen, [41:36]

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–01:40 | Introduction & premise of the episode | | 01:41–04:46 | Carrie’s life before the institution | | 05:09–09:53 | Vanishing from the hospital; staff's frantic scramble | | 09:54–15:28 | Joseph’s reaction and police investigation begins | | 15:29–20:58 | Canvassing the city, canal search, and efforts by Joseph | | 20:59–26:38 | Dissection room shock & grave robber confession | | 26:39–32:10 | Joseph’s doubts about the official explanation | | 32:11–38:41 | 1920: The true discovery in the orphanage attic | | 38:42–41:36 | Joseph’s realization and the story’s emotional climax | | 41:37–46:03 | Aftermath, burial, and reflective conclusion |

Tone & Language

MrBallen’s narration is immersive, empathetic, and suspenseful. He employs vivid imagery, emotional immediacy, and frequent asides to guide listeners through the psychological and dramatic stakes of Carrie’s ordeal—always framing the story with both historical context and haunting resonance.

Conclusion

“You Can't Leave That Way” is a masterclass in narrative true crime storytelling. MrBallen takes the listener beyond a simple whodunit, highlighting the cruelty of misunderstood mental illness treatment, the perils of turn-of-the-century forensics, and the gut-wrenching uncertainty left with the living. Carrie Selvage’s story remains both a cautionary tale and a meditation on autonomy, memory, and the lost voices history leaves behind.