Legend Says a Man Boards this Illinois Bus then Disappears

Riding a bus can be an interesting experience even on a normal day. There is a legend in Illinois about a man who boards a bus and then disappears.

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The Disappearing Man of Southern Illinois is a story that's almost as hard to track as the alleged ghost itself. I've seen this shared by Only In Your State and Best Things Illinois. Here's the short version of this long-told tale:

A man boards a bus in the Little Egypt part of Illinois. Once the bus crosses a bridge, he disappears. Poof. No more man on the bus. It's said that he was a man who was killed at that bus stop years ago. Right...

This is almost the perfect urban legend. It's so vague and non-specific there's almost no way to prove it wrong. The problem for someone like me is it's also extremely hard if not impossible to corroborate. "Little Egypt" is a reference to southern Illinois.

I decided to start sleuthing this story by searching for "man killed at southern Illinois bus stop". That brings up nothing but Chicago bus stop deaths which are sadly way too common.

My classification of this one? BOGUS. I enjoy urban legends and stories as much as the next person, but this one is too vague to even brush up against a tiny bit of truth. Now, back to that Homey the Clown research.