On February 6, 1965, a 30 year old man checked into room 636 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. Three days pass and everyday he was seen going in and out of his room several times accompanied by a tall blonde woman.

The following Monday, February 8, the afternoon maid on duty prepared to check the room to see if cleaning was needed. The "Do Not Disturb" sign meant absolutely nothing to her and she proceeded to open the door. She continued to slip into the room when suddenly she saw a man standing beside the bed. Under better inspection, the bed was soaked with blood. As she let out a scream, the man placed his index finger against his lips. Then he quickly collected all of the bloody "bundle" and ran out of the hotel.

Police arrive immediately after the maid calls. Searching the room, small footprints are found (posibly the victims), several cigar butts, one with the imprint of lipstick, and a suitcase containing a man's dress shirt, some cheese and several empty wine bottles. Closer investigation brings up several blonde hairs, as well as nylon hose and women's undergarments.

The officers question the maid, who described details of the bloody bundle that the man ran off with. Officers mentioned that the body of a thin woman, dissected and blood-drained could fit the dimensions of the "bundle" that the maid described.

The room was a bloody mess. The mattress and floor were covered with blood and the bathroom was literally coated in blood and small pieces of flesh from ceiling to floor. While no body was found, it was theorized that the body had been butchered in the bathroom, run through a meat grinder and disposed of down the commode.

Within days, the police tracked down the suspect just a few blocks away at the St. Anthony hotel. As police entered the suspect's room, a shot rang out from inside as the man took his own life. During the subsequent investigation, it was discovered that the suspected murderer, Walter Emerick, attempted to check into room 636 at the St. Anthony the day of the incident at the Gunter and had purchased a very large meat grinder the previous week at a downtown department store.

To this day, the case is still open. No body has ever been discovered and no female matching the description given to police has ever been reported missing. But since this bloody incident more than 35 years ago, members of the staff and hotel guests have reported strange happenings from time to time.

Ghostly images of a woman with her arms outstretched have appeared to maids. Sounds of hammering and grinding have been reported coming from room 636 although it was unoccupied. The image of a woman, unknown to the staff, mysteriously appeared in Christmas pictures.

The Gunter Hotel, a hotel rich in history, elegant and magnificent in it's design and haunted by the memory of a butchering in room 636.

Please note that at the time this crime occurred, there was a tremendous amount of construction going on in San Antonio. Green dye was found on Emerick's shoes, the type of dye used to color cement. It is theorized that he may have disposed of the body and/or body parts in still-wet cement at one of the downtown projects under construction.

This case still remains open. Ironically, without any substantial physical evidence of a murder, the only charge that would have been brought against Mr. Emerick would have been malicious mischief over $50 (the hotel spent over one-hundred dollars to clean up the mess he left in the room).