Story by Asha Prihar of Spotlight PA

This story first appeared in PA Local, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA taking a fresh, positive look at the incredible people, beautiful places, and delicious food of Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here .

PHILADELPHIA — Dozens of people listened intently as tour guide Sarah Hamill stood in front of a plot at Laurel Hill East Cemetery, recounting the story of one of the men buried there — and his out-of-the-ordinary death.

“Poor Charles Vansant ,” as Hamill described him, was a 25-year-old stockbroker with a fiancée who met his sad fate at the Jersey Shore in the summer of 1916. The Philadelphian bled to death on the beach after a shark bit off part of his leg as he swam in the ocean. He was the first victim in a string of attacks that s

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