The Sunset Screams of Jacob’s Ferry, 1978

Three times in August 1978, patrolman Diaz clocked a scream echoing down the Hudson at exactly 8:15 p.m., just as the sun slid behind the skyline of Jacob’s Ferry. Not a summer night passed without it-the same shriek, too loud for one throat, tearing through the air while the river glowed orange. Apartments went up and down looking for a fight, a fire, anything, but every window was empty and the marina deserted. From West New York or Hoboken, not a sound-like the noise was sealed to Jacob’s Ferry alone. Then, sixty-one days in, Diaz finally walked the docks at sunset and saw fresh footprints in the soaked planks, leading out and stopping right where the river swallows the light.