A nearly two-mile walk through downtown Kansas City is turning decades-old unsolved murders into a Halloween-season sensation, leading tourists past hotel rooms and office towers where real killings happened alongside tales of the paranormal. Tickets for the True Crime and Ghost Tour have been selling out fast for Halloween weekend, as crowds line up to hear both documented police history and ghost stories tied to the same locations.
The tour, which operates year-round, covers a nearly two-mile trek through downtown Kansas City, according to KCTV5. Guides carry a ghost meter that reportedly flashed red at several stops along the route, adding an eerie flourish to stories pulled from actual case files. The tour is run by Sherrie Ortiz, who owns Just One Day Travel Tours in Kansas City and pivoted to true crime tours after years of running traditional sightseeing trips and researching documentaries and cold cases, the station reports.
Stops include the Muehlebach Hotel, where the tour recounts housekeepers who vanished decades ago, and Hotel Phillips, where guides tell visitors about a woman murdered in Room 1513 by her gangster lover. The route also passes the Power & Light Building, where attorney Richard Armitage was beaten to death in May 2000 inside a 13th-floor office, according to The Kansas City Star. A Jackson County judge later threw out the murder conviction of Richard Buchli in that case after prosecutors withheld part of a surveillance recording and other evidence, the paper reported.
A 1935 Hotel Room Mystery That Still Has No Answer
Perhaps the tour's most haunting stop is the historic Hotel President, where 19-year-old Artemus Ogletree checked into Room 1046 under the alias Roland T. Owen on January 2, 1935, and was found fatally wounded two days later, according to A&E. Authorities ruled his death a homicide, but no one has ever been charged, and the case remains open nine decades later. Kansas City Magazine published a feature revisiting newly revealed police files in the case in 2021, in hopes that someone might finally solve it, as reported by the New York Daily News.
Ortiz told KCTV5 that ghost stories and true crime often overlap simply because the locations are tied to real crimes, and that social factors along with public fascination with researching killers have helped the true-crime genre grow. She added that the tour can teach visitors Kansas City history even if they remain skeptical of the paranormal elements woven throughout.
Why Fifth-Generation Kansas Citians Keep Coming Back
Kimberly Beer, a fifth-generation Kansas Citian, told the station that watching multiple ghost meters light up at once was fun and interesting, but said the deeper draw is the connection to her own family's past and to the city itself. Beer said she enjoys learning how police investigate and solve crimes that are as old as 70 or 100 years, and noted that crimes from the 1880s have been solved, which she said shows that remembering victims and learning their stories may help close other cold cases.
The local tour fits into a broader wave of true-crime walking tours nationally. In Manhattan, a mafia-themed walk starts at John's of 12th Street and stops at the site where Lucky Luciano shot Umberto Valenti, led by retired detective Dennis O'Leary, who conducts the tour in a light, friendly tone while showing guests his official NYPD badge, according to the Washington Post.
Dark Tourism's Growing Price Tag
The appetite for this kind of dark tourism carries real market weight, though estimates vary depending on scope. KCTV5 cited Grand View Research figures valuing the dark-tourism market at $32 billion nationally and projecting growth to $39 billion by 2030, led by the United States. Grand View Research's own press release, however, frames its $38.64 billion 2030 projection as a global figure, growing at a 2.9 percent compound annual rate from 2024 to 2030, and notes that online travel agencies, social media and travel blogs have become essential tools for discovering and sharing these experiences, with many sites now adding interactive exhibits, guided tours and educational programs.
Back in Kansas City, the tour's Just One Day Travel Tours route begins at Hotel Kansas City at 1228 Baltimore Ave., and the operator describes the experience as blending documented history with chilling legends covering infamous crimes, mob activity, tragic accidents, Prohibition-era gangsters, disappearances and reported ghost sightings. The company notes the tour includes adult content and is not recommended for younger children, and advises visitors to bring water, dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Interested visitors can find ticket information at justonedaytraveltours.com.
