Some murders don’t get solved as easy as people might like, and the real life murder that inspired Twin Peaks, that of Hazel Irene Drew, was one such murder that no one has been able to solve in over a hundred years now. Drew was nineteen in the year she was killed, 1908, and was walking out in a remote area when she was last seen by two men that greeted her and were then on their way. Not too long after that she was found floating in Teal’s Pond, the back of her head crushed in and her body bloated beyond identification. The only way anyone knew it was her was thanks to the gold fillings in her teeth and the clothes she was wearing at the time.
This murder has gone unsolved ever since, and for one very good reason among many. The science wasn’t there to be used to apprehend the killer at that time, otherwise it might have been deduced just who ended her life, which could have led to why. What is obvious however is that she was the basis for the beginning of the show Twin Peaks which was co-created by Mark Frost, who used the same type of scenario in order to get the ball rolling on the show. The show used the body of Laura Palmer much in the same way the press used Hazel, divining what they would in order to find out just who committed the murder and why. Unfortunately Hazel’s murder remains unsolved to this day as none are alive that could successfully corroborate this story with anyone else. It has however served as great inspiration for the show since Foster grew up hearing of Drew from his grandmother and envisioned the woman’s spirit haunting the woods around the pond.
Sometimes real life gives way to fantasy very easily and gives a leg up in the process of deciding just what will be noteworthy and what needs to be left behind. The story of Laura Palmer almost paralleled that of Hazel Drew since in both cases it wasn’t known who committed the act, and many people were looked at for the murder initially. Also, both stories delved a little deeper into the lives of their subjects and found that there were hidden aspects of the women that no one had known about due to their secretive natures. On the outside they both appeared to be rational, reasonable women. But on the inside, where no one could see, they were quite secretive and had clandestine meetings and hidden mysteries that few if any ever really knew about. That alone would make for a great story whether it was true or not as it would add a lot of intrigue to an otherwise confusing case.
In some ways it’s kind of sad to know that a young woman never got justice for her murder and that her family might have had reason to question just how honest of a person she was. But being just as honest, it did make for one good story.
