Mary Monko’s Tragic Decapitation Inside Pantlind Hotel in Grand Rapids
Every once in a while you stumble across some Michigan history that isn't so pretty and actually leaves you with chills. One such story popped up on my timeline I wanted to share with you about a woman named Mary Monko who was tragically decapitated by an elevator in the early 1900's in the, at the time, new Pantlind Hotel in Grand Rapids, now known as the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. A newspaper clipping from the Clare Sentinel depicts the events which led to the tragic event.
Mary Monko was decapitated by an elevator in the new Pantlind Hotel at Grand Rapids Monday night. Mary and Josephine Kreuko, servants in the hotel, were going to their rooms when Josephine attempted to take the governor from the hands of the [Black] operator. Mary started to get off just as the car started downward, she was caught between an iron gate and the floor of the tenth landing.
Out of A Horror Movie
In what appears to be out of a horror movie, the location of the original elevator is locked behind a steel gate, as one current employee pointed out:
I work at Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the original elevator in the Hotel Pantlind side is behind the cage. It’s completely sealed off and no one is allowed to use it. This is the elevator the ghost story about the servant girl who got decapitated in comes from. I found a correlating newspaper article confirming the ghost story is actually true. I’ve attached the article clipping to the post. I’ll put the link to it in the comments.
Another commenter pointed out the shafts may actually be in another location nearby where the photo was taken, saying the elevator shafts are actually about 10 feet behind where they'd be standing and to the left. 2 of the 3 elevators go the the basement and that is their original placement.