THE STORY
Reported Haunting
“Wild Man of the Loxahatchee,” nickname of Vince “Trapper” Nelson, is the identity of the ghost said to roam this state park.
“Wild Man of the Loxahatchee,” nickname of Vince “Trapper” Nelson, is the identity of the ghost said to roam this state park. Trapper moved to this area in 1929, trapping and selling furs for a living, earning his nickname by his often-strange antics like swinging out over the river on a rope to startle the heck out of tour boat parties. He was known to be a loner, and when the Wild Man was found with a gunshot wound to the head in 1968, folks ruled it a suicide. But local legend has it that the Wild Man’s ghost returns and converses with witnesses, telling them he was actually murdered by his brother. The ghost also has been known to warn people against going toward nearby Native American burial grounds, as well as to ask women for dates and pat them on the rear end. Trapper’s land was purchased by the state an turned into Jonathon Dickinson State Park shortly after his death.