A ghost town went viral on TikTok — but don’t try to visit, Missouri sheriff warns
After a TikTok video featuring an abandoned resort in Missouri garnered millions of views, authorities are warning visitors to stay out.
TikTok user @carriejernigan1 posted the video on March 26, sharing the tale of the “ghost town” near Branson.
“Have you ever seen a subdivision full of abandoned mansions?” a voice asks. “Every time we go to Branson, we drive by the ghost town known as Indian Ridge Resort.”
In the video, several abandoned multi-level homes are seen perched in the clearing, many with broken windows and debris in their yards.
Since it was posted, the video has been viewed more than 15 million times — and local authorities say visitors have flocked to the site.
“A recent Tik-Tok video went viral about the Indian Ridge development that went bankrupt,” Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader wrote Monday in a Facebook post. “This has caused this location off of 76 Highway to become a tourist attraction.”
Rader, who said there was a “constant flow of people” traipsing into the development over the weekend, warned visitors they could be cited for trespassing since the development is private property.
“Our deputies are very busy handling calls for service and really do not want to write people tickets for trespassing,” Rader wrote. “Please do not enter the property. Please do not trespass on the property.”
The $1.6 billion Indian Ridge Resort project began construction in 2006.
Located on Table Rock Lake, the 900-acre development was slated to have an indoor water park, a 390-room resort hotel, a golf course, a marina, condos, vacation homes and other luxury amenities, KY3 reported.
The project fell apart during the 2008 recession.
Some of the buildings were demolished while others sit empty and unfinished, per KTVI.
In 2015, four people pleaded guilty in connection to a real estate fraud scheme involving the Indian Ridge Resort, according to the outlet.
The property has since found new owners and plans to develop the area are in the works, KTVI reported.
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