Woodson Lateral

"Mary Smith" - Reported by Robbie Moreland-Adams

One legend that has endured to become "gospel" for many residents of Central Arkansas involves a woman hitchhiker. The drama unfolds on Woodson Lateral Road, a rural stretch near the small Pulaski County community of Woodson. As the story goes, two students from a local university are returning home from spring break. Just past 6 p.m. on a dark, foggy Wednesday, they drive south on U.S. 65-167. As they drive through a heavy rain and fog, they see a beautiful woman in a white dress standing on the roadside, holding a newspaper over her head with one hand and signaling for a ride with the other. 

They stop the car, she approaches, jumps in the back seat and thanks them for stopping. As they talk, she tells them her name, Mary Smith, and where she lives. Concerned that she is cold, one of the men hands her his jacket as they continue toward her street. She tells them to stop at the next corner with a stop light, she gets out near a large house and thanks them again. 

They drive away and, as they approach the highway, realize they've left without the jacket and return to the home. They knock on the door, an elderly woman answers and they explain to her they've given Mary a ride and returned for the jacket. Disturbed, the woman explains that her daughter, Mary, was killed in a car accident. As they express disbelief, she gives them the date of Mary's death and the name of the cemetery where she is buried. They are still skeptical, but return to the car, where they find the newspaper on the backseat. After discovering that the date on the paper is the same date as Mary's death, they go to the gravesite. There, neatly folded on the grave is the young man's jacket.