Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502200050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A somber Peggy Childers stood in federal court in November and listened as U.S. Magistrate Glen Conrad scolded her for illegally living in a tent on federal land.
It was the third time in three years that Childers, a tough but soft-spoken homeless woman who's lived in the Jefferson National Forest on and off for five years, had been bumped from federal land.
After the judge's stern warning not to return to the forest, Childers - a former congressional candidate in Georgia known only because her campaign was backed by Hustler magazine Publisher Larry Flynt - was escorted to the Roanoke Rescue Mission by a probation officer.
Within a week, she was back in the woods.
On Thanksgiving, Childers strapped on her backpack and set out to find somewhere else to live. She left to escape what she believes is a government conspiracy to keep her homeless and cloak her true identity. A former medical secretary, Childers says she is really Margaret Ann Windsor, an heir to the British throne.
Childers' nomadic life has continued since she left the Rescue Mission in November. She says that she worked briefly at two jobs and spent her nights under a variety of roofs, including the one that's most familiar to her - the tent she carries on her back.
To escape the cold weather, Childers returned to the Rescue Mission last week. She stopped by the newspaper on Thursday and talked about how she has lived since her last court date.
After leaving the Rescue Mission in November, Childers went back to camping. She didn't immediately return to the Appalachian Trail's Fullhardt Knob shelter, where in the past few years her permanent campsite had become a familiar sight to hikers.
Instead, she camped near the Peaks of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Scott Sutton, an avid hiker, was driving down the parkway in early December when he passed Childers walking along the roadway.
"It was pouring down sleet and rain," Sutton recalled. "A real nasty day."
Sutton, who had talked with Childers several times at Fullhardt Knob, recognized her and turned the car around. Sutton and his girlfriend, Jennifer Kelly, took Childers to their Vinton home, fed her a hot meal and dried her clothes.
"I just really felt sorry for her," he said.
Childers stayed at the couple's house for about four days.
"We were just trying to give her an opportunity," Sutton said. "She's very safe to be around, she's just confused about a lot of things."
Around the middle of December, Childers hopped on a bus to Charlottesville, where she ended up at a Salvation Army shelter. Childers said she worked a few days at a temporary telephone sales job.
She was back in Roanoke around the first of the year.
After a visit to the Virginia Employment Commission office in Charlottesville, Childers landed a job as a live-in helper for Louise Smith, an elderly Roanoke woman recovering from surgery.
Reached at her home Thursday, Smith said that her business relationship with Childers lasted only about three weeks.
Smith said she became frightened of Childers after hearing tales of a government conspiracy.
"Peggy can be the nicest person one minute ..." Smith said, her voice trailing off. "Really, I got afraid of her. She really needs help and I hope she gets it."
Smith was surprised to learn that some of the outlandish stories Childers told about her past were true.
In 1983, Childers was living in Marietta, Ga., when she became one of 19 candidates to succeed Rep. Larry McDonald, a Democrat who was killed aboard a South Korean airliner shot down over the Soviet Union.
Her independent campaign received 359 votes, but it didn't go unnoticed, thanks to Flynt, who wrote a Hustler editorial praising Childers and donated at least $1,000 to her run for office.
A charming woman, Childers gets edgy only when her sanity is mentioned. She refuses to believe that she needs help and has repeatedly refused to submit to a psychological evaluation.
After leaving Smith's home, Childers said, she had enough money to live for several weeks at two motels in the area.
Eventually, Childers went back to the woods. This time, she returned to Fullhardt Knob.
Childers said she stayed there for a few nights until she discovered an abandoned house near Williamson Road. The temperature still was too cold for Childers, even inside the empty house, and she returned to the Rescue Mission.
"It's hell out there," Childers said in her soft voice. "I nearly froze to death."
by CNB