The Journal

These are my field notes from the Candle Face investigation, dated as the events happened, beginning in October 2023. They track the Lost Souls, the Fugitives and Isabel. The newest entries appear first. To follow the case in order, go to the last page, read from the bottom up, and work back one page at a time. If you catch something I missed, tell me.

The Journal

Candle Face over a document with a candle in the background.

Candle Face Chronicles: Where the Investigation Stands

The Journal returns to candleface.com with a full update on the investigation’s status. Forty-five Lost Souls, thirty-one Fugitives, Isabel at the center. The case file...

Arthur Mills
Isabel, before she was Candle Face, stands alone in a shadowy black-and-white portrait with her head lowered in quiet sadness.

Returning to Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona

This entry returns to Isabel: The Forgotten Daughter of La Llorona after months focused on Lady Bird Lake and the wider investigation. Isabel is a...

Arthur Mills
Silhouette of a drowning person’s hand reaching above the water, symbolizing the mysterious deaths at Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas.

Is La Llorona’s Daughter the Lady Bird Lake Serial Killer?

This entry reviews decades of drownings at Lady Bird Lake, from the first high-profile tragedy in 1964 to the cluster of recent cases that fueled...

Arthur Mills
White feather quill resting in a glass inkwell atop a stack of aged, worn parchment pages against a dramatic black background.

Isabel: The Candle Face Book That Could Save or Doom Us

This entry marks the day I finished piecing together Isabel from Mr. Smoe’s scraps: eleven books, each eight pages long, with eight notes per page...

Arthur Mills
Torn piece of aged parchment bearing the name “ISABEL” in bold black letters, set against a dark, textured brown background.

The Infinite Manuscript: Mr. Smoe's Shifting Story of Isabel

This entry describes the discovery of scraps hidden among Mr. Smoe's papers, each marked with a code that revealed an endless, shifting manuscript. The notes...

Arthur Mills
Torn piece of aged parchment bearing the name “ISABEL” in bold black letters, set against a dark, textured brown background.

Candle Face's True Identity: La Llorona's Forgotten Daughter

This entry marks a turning point in the investigation. After more than a year of hearing from the Lost Souls, their voices have gone silent,...

Arthur Mills
Portrait of young Isabel from Candle Face Chronicles, smiling girl with long dark hair and a patterned Aztec dress.

Candle Face, Mr. Smoe, and the Children of Isabel

This entry explores new evidence linking Candle Face to Isabel, possibly La Llorona’s forgotten daughter. After Mr. Smoe’s death, I found connections suggesting he may...

Arthur Mills
Three worn storage boxes sit on a wooden floor in a dark room; the center box is open and glowing brightly from within.

Candle Face's Twisted Game: The Box Marked "ISABEL"

This entry recounts my visit to Mr. Smoe’s house after his death, where his brother asked me to look through the boxes he left behind....

Arthur Mills