As consumers, we’re kind of obsessed with everything related to true crime. A 2024 report found that 83% of Americans aged 13+ watch or listen to True Crime through any medium. Podcasts especially are especially popular: they’re the third most popular genre behind just comedy and society & culture.
We here at Bored Panda, too, love to play sleuths from time to time. Getting lost in an unsolved mystery case can be similar to solving a big puzzle. So, here we have for you some of the most bizarre True Crime cases in history. We warn you, though: some of them might give you some serious heebie-jeebies.
#1
Bermuda triangle. As a kid, that phenomenon was everywhere. TV, Sun Classic Films (just dated myself (IYKYK), magazines. Now it’s as if no ships or planes disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.
What gives? Was all the hype fake. Was that real? I need to know!
Image credits: CommonTaytor
#2
Roopkund lake. A small lake up in some mountains in India with a lot of human skeletons in it. Not only that, but the skeletons seems to have come from at least two different incidents hundreds of years apart.
Image credits: BeardedAxiom
#3
The U.S.S. Cyclops. A coal ship. Disappeared with 306 men. The largest U.S. Navy loss of life that didn’t involve combat.
Image credits: Catlenfell
People’s fascination with true crime isn’t something new. Ever since the moveable type was invented in the 1400s, stories of crime and unsolved cases fascinated people’s imaginations. More than five centuries ago, in the 1600s and 1700s, these stories would circulate through pamphlets in taverns, on street corners, and in town squares.
The National Library of Medicine holds many of these pamphlets, mostly where the victims or the perpetrators were doctors. One such case involves Dr. George Parkman in Boston. After failing to pay him back, a chemistry professor, John W. Webster decided to take Parkman’s life. A janitor found Webster dismembering Parkman’s body parts in his lab. The court found Webster guilty and sentenced him to hang.
#4
What ever happened to that missing Malaysian flight? It just took a couple of crazy turns and then completely disappeared from the radar.
Image credits: reddit.com
#5
The wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige has not been seen in 11 years. The church insists that she’s just too busy to make public appearances, but former member Leah Remini has filed a missing person report for her. Some say she’s straight up dead.
Image credits: Nosey_Canus
#6
Whether or not we’re alone in the universe. I think everyone is onboard with knowing for sure that we’re not, but there’s still no public proof.
Image credits: drinkslinger1974
In Victorian England, pamphlets called “penny dreadfuls” became increasingly popular. They weren’t about true crime, though: they were more precedents of the modern gothic tales and horror films of today. Historians say they were popular because of their price (they did, in fact, only cost a penny), as one penny dreadful cost one-twelfth of a Charles Dickens novel.
But even the penny dreadful caused controversy back in its day. Because its readers were mostly children as time went by, moral panic began to set in. After a few unfortunate cases, people began to blame them for increased crime and violence from the working class. “The great unwashed had been taught how to read, the argument went, but not what to read,” BBC’s Hephzibah Anderson writes.
#7
The case of the Pollock twins is one of the most intriguing instances of possible reincarnation. After the tragic deaths of their older sisters Joanna and Jacqueline, the twins, Gillian and Jennifer, began exhibiting strange behaviors and memories that seemed to mirror their deceased siblings. They recognized toys that once belonged to their sisters, made eerie statements about the accident, and even displayed matching birthmarks. Their close bond, shared interests, and phobias aligned closely with the lives of their older sisters. This unusual case has fascinated researchers and remains one of the most well-documented reincarnation stories to date.
Image credits: psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk
#8
The boy in the box. A deceased little boy, found beaten, recently shaved of his hair and abandoned in the box for a bassinet that he was way too old for. The photos and reconstructions of him released to the public in the desperate hope of identifying him are haunting.
Image credits: erinkjean
#9
The Mary Celeste. The merchant ship found abandoned and adrift in 1872. The crew’s belongings had not been disturbed. There were ample provisions for the sail. The cargo was not disturbed. However, the life boat was gone. The crew just… disappeared.
Image credits: heyrainyday
Why are people so fascinated by true crime stories? In a 2022 survey, most respondents said they watched it out of curiosity. Others also find it entertaining or like it because of its mystery aspect. Only 7% of all the respondents claimed they watch it in preparation for a potential crime situation.
#10
Roanoke Colony, early Virginia. Somewhere between 110 and 120 people disappeared without a trace between 1585 and 1590. It’s been suggested that they left and joined with the Croatian tribe on their island, but no proof of any of the many theories has ever been found.
Image credits: SilverDragonDreams
#11
Flight 19 was the designation of a group of five General Motors TBF Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on December 5, 1945
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#12
On March 13, 1997 thousands of Arizona residents witnessed a large unidentified flying objects moving across the night sky. High profile witnesses to the phoenix lights include actor Kurt Russell who was flying a plane and reported the object to the FAA, and the governor of Arizona, Fife Symington.
Image credits: DragonfruitOdd1989
Yet when we talk about why women like true crime shows, podcasts, and documentaries so much, the numbers are a bit different. In fact, women are 2.5 times more likely to consume true crime content to prepare for unsafe situations. In some cases, it probably works, as one in three respondents who have been victims of a crime said watching the content helped them react better to the situation.
#13
What Pope Leo said to Attila the Hun. Attila was taking over the world and made it to Rome and the Vatican. Leo rode out alone and spoke to Attila and convinced Attila to not destroy Rome and the Vatican. What was said, only the archives of the Vatican has any idea.
Image credits: Xikkiwikk
#14
The Bronze Age collapse. Where’d they all go? All my homies 🙁
Image credits: thesemasksaretight
#15
The Monster with 21 Faces
In the 1980s, over a period of 17 months, Japan was held in the grip of terror by just such a powerful criminal force. The case would turn the country on its head, push police to their limits, dispel the notion that Japan was a completely safe place, and 30 years later remains just as unsolved and mysterious as it has ever been. This is the story of the notorious Monster with 21 Faces, an organization led by an enigmatic figure which proved to be just as untouchable and elusive as any super villain, which led the police on an unprecedented manhunt and whirlwind investigation for a crime they would never get to the bottom of, and which has gone on to become one of the most puzzling unsolved crimes in Japanese history.
Image credits: justhereforthelul
Some psychologists say that we’re so fascinated with true crime because it gives us an adrenaline rush when we know we’re safe. “Whether it’s good or bad, we need something that creates an element of excitement,” lecturer of psychology Dean Fido told Better Help. “When we mix this desire with insight and solving a puzzle, it can give us a short, sharp shock of adrenaline, but in a relatively safe environment.”
#16
On the afternoon of 17 December 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt entered the surf at Cheviot Beach in Victoria. He was never seen again.
Despite an exhaustive search, no body or other evidence was found. In their place rose allegations, rumours and conspiracy theories that continue to this day.
Image credits: nfsa.gov.au
#17
Las Vegas music crowd shooter you can’t go anywhere in Vegas without seeing a camera yet not one picture ever came out.
Image credits: reddit.com
#18
Where is Tera Smith? She disappeared from her Northern California hometown when she was a teenager in the late 1990s. I lived in Redding and was just a couple years younger than Tera at the time of her disappearance, so her disappearance has always stuck with me.
Image credits: CombatBetty
Others say that true crime as a genre presents an ethical dilemma. In some cases, true crime stories violate the privacy of the victims of their families. Such was the case with the 2022 TV series Monster – Jeffrey Dahmer, where the families didn’t even know the production was taking place. One victim’s mother even told The Guardian: “I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there.”
#19
On the evening of March 31, 1922, six people from a small farmstead in Bavaria, located around 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Munich, were found deceased under mysterious circumstances. The victims included Andreas Gruber (63), his wife Cäzilia Gruber (72), their widowed daughter Viktoria Gabriel (35), Viktoria’s two children, Cazilia (7) and Josef (2), and their maid, Maria Baumgartner (44). They had all been fatally struck with a mattock. Strangely, the person or people responsible seemed to remain at the house for several days afterward, eating food, caring for the animals, and even starting fires in the fireplace. The case remains one of the most perplexing and unsettling unsolved crimes in German history.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#20
The Oak Island mystery refers to a collection of tales and myths surrounding a hidden treasure and strange artifacts discovered on or around Oak Island in Nova Scotia. As of 2024, the primary treasure remains undiscovered.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#21
Hundreds of hackers have tried to solve the Cicada 3301 mystery to no avail
Image credits: omnitions
People on this side of the argument say that producers, directors, film studios, and even Internet media creators sensationalize family tragedies for their personal gain. In some cases, the public reacts to these criminal cases in weird ways too. Like when social media users urged the Hillsborough County judge to reduce the sentence for Cameron Herrin because he’s “too cute to go to jail.”
#22
The teen couple Mitchel Weiser and Bonnie Bickwit. 50 years missing, Disappeared after going to a Rock concert in 1973. The only theory that makes sense what happened to them is that they hitchhiked with the wrong person
Image credits: AerialAce96
#23
In late January 1921, the crew of the schooner Carroll A. Deering vanished off the North Carolina coast. The ship was spotted on January 31, still in good condition, before running aground on Diamond Shoals. When the Coast Guard boarded, they found the sails set, food prepared but untouched, and everything seemingly in order. However, the lifeboats were missing, and the twelve crew members had disappeared. Theories ranged from pirate attacks to Russian spies, and even the Bermuda Triangle. Despite widespread speculation, the true fate of the crew remains unknown.
Image credits: blogs.loc.gov
#24
The Dyatlov Pass incident occurred in the Ural Mountains between February 1 and 2, 1959, when nine experienced Soviet hikers tragically died under mysterious circumstances. The group, led by Igor Dyatlov, had set up camp on the eastern slopes of Kholat Syakhl in the Soviet Union. During the night, something prompted them to tear open their tent and flee into the harsh, freezing conditions, despite not being properly dressed for the extreme cold and snowfall.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
There have been other instances when people on TikTok or Twitter falsely accuse innocent people. The passing of four students in Moscow, Idaho became an example of this when TikTok sleuths identified Jack Showalter as ‘hoodie guy’ and insisted he was guilty. Although a completely different man was later found guilty and charged with the crime, Showalter’s family condemned the threats and harassment they received from internet sleuths.
#25
In 1977 we received a radio signal from outer space that lasted about 72 seconds. To this day, we still do not know where it originated from.
Image credits: RainyDayBreeze
#26
Asha Degree. Girl leaves her house in the middle of the night during a storm and disappeared. The only problem is that she was terrified of thunder and lightning and had no motive for leaving because her home life was fine. Then her clothes and backpack were found a year later in an abandoned construction site.
Image credits: reddit.com
#27
The West Memphis Three case. All of the Satanic Panic mess obscured so much that will probably go unanswered now. A bloody man covered in mud stumbled into a Bojangles the night those little boys went missing. Cops barely investigated that incident and lost the blood evidence they did collect regarding it. WHAT was going on with John Mark Byers and Terry Hobbs, two dads of two of those kids, both turning up with evidence and acting at different points like they may have been involved?
Image credits: erinkjean
Can true crime content, then, be ethical at all? Some believe it can. The creators of the podcast L.A. Not So Confidential, psychologists in the criminal field Dr. Scott and Dr. Shiloh say it’s important to have some experts weighing in. “I think it certainly lends to a good crime documentary to have some experts in there who aren’t affiliated with the case,” Dr. Shiloh explained to Vice.
“It keeps it from being [told] just through one lens of the experience of the people who are touched by it. It’s someone that can pull back a little bit and give you some research behind what the reality is.”
#28
As someone from Chicago who loves /r/UnresolvedMysteries I would say the Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion, and I don’t think we will ever find out who was behind it.
It’s been over 30 years and we still have no idea who was behind that incredibly bizarre hijack. There was a thread a while ago of someone that thought they had figured it out that seemed very possible, but it was updated and they were ruled out as suspects.
Image credits: -eDgAR-
#29
3 lighthouse workers with impeccable mustaches traveled to a remote island on December 7th, 1900 for a lighthouse shift that should have lasted for two weeks. When a boat arrived to pick them up, they were gone. No trace of the bodies, and the lighthouse was strangely locked. Not only was the setting normal (meal ready to be served), but there was no fire in the fireplace, and the clock stopped. One of the men kept a log in a diary, and he said that the seas were rough one day, but when monitored, it was actually calm. No one knows what happened to them.
Edit: The mustaches have nothing to do with the story at all. I just really liked them.
Image credits: unhealthyshoe
#30
The identity of and what happened to D.B Cooper. A man on a plane called himself D.B Cooper and claimed to have a bomb in use suitcase. He took the flight crew hostage and when he got the money he asked for he had the flight crew start flying again. Eventually he jumped out of the plane with a couple of parachutes and the money. No one knows where he went or if he even survived.
Image credits: RaccoonKing1234
What do you think about true crime, Pandas? And what about some of the biggest unsolved mysteries in our history, like The Bermuda Triangle and or the Phoenix Lights? Share your favorites in the comments! And if you want to see some more unsettling stories, head over here and here!
#31
Ball lightning is accepted as a real phenomenon, but is largely a mystery.
I first became fascinated with “ball lighting” as a kid after my grandpa freaked out when a ball of light came in through our back door and followed him to the living room then disappeared. He told that story again and again until he passed. I was a big fan of the Little House on the Prairie series at the time and his description sounded similar to what I read.
A few years later, my mom was taking a meteorology class and that reignited my interest in the weather, especially lightning. I loved having her teach me all the stuff she was learning and we’d watch her required documentaries together.
Fast forward to middle school when we finally got a computer, and my interest flared back up. That was about the first time I ran into the concept of ball lightning and it reminded me of when I was a kid. My mom confirmed my memory of my grandpa’s story and even how eager I was to read him the passages from the book.
I check in time to time to see what new breakthroughs have been made in the area, but it’s still really sparse even today.
Image credits: ineedanewaccountpls
#32
I vote for the Zodiac Killer. He left multiple cryptic messages, some of which never got decoded, but they never identified him. There’s much debate as to what happened to him, and even how extensive the scope of his killings. I believe the FBI still has a reward on information leading to his arrest, but nobody has heard anything in decades.
Image credits: Vega3gx
#33
The Codex Gigas. Supposedly the Devil’s bible. It’s been mysteriously saved multiple times from burning buildings. For example it was chucked out of burning building from the 4 floor or something, but the catch is that a single person can’t carry it. It weighs several hundred pounds and no one was in the building. Nobody knows where it’s been originated. Also, it’s reported that there’s evidence in the hand writing and ink that the entire book was written within a very short period of time, (like a week or something) but the book is huge, should’ve taken years to write. Really interesting stuff.
Edit: Also as someone mentioned according to analysis, it seams as though the entire book was written by one monk.
Image credits: IllRaindrop
#34
El Fausto.
Disappeared THREE TIMES during a trip that should have only taken hours and was missing for months. People talked to the crew when it reappeared before it vanished again. And when it was found for the last time, the crew was dead, one practically mummified. He kept a journal that didn’t make much sense either. Amazing to read.
Image credits: TheFerryman47
#35
The Isdal Woman refers to an unidentified woman found deceased in Isdalen (“The Ice Valley”) in Bergen, Norway, on November 29, 1970.
While authorities at the time concluded that the death was likely self-inflicted, the unusual circumstances of the case sparked continued speculation and investigation over the years. Even after more than fifty years, it remains one of Norway’s most perplexing unsolved cases.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#36
So it’s this Australian family who owned a Berry farm. Somehow Mr and Mrs Tromp and their three grown kids developed the belief that they weren’t safe and they needed to flee their farm without cell phones or anything traceable (credit cards, etc). It sounds like the oldest son wasn’t sold on whatever it was that led them to flee. He brought his phone, but eventually it got tossed from the car. He ended up bailing first and taking a train home. From there the rest of the family slowly separated and suffered various degrees of emotional breaks. The two girls stole a car. Somehow they got separated and one made it home, but the other was found on the floor in the backseat of some guys car in a catatonic state. (he spotted her after he started down the road). Eventually the parents were found wandering around aimlessly. Fortunately they were all ok physically but wtf happened? Was someone actually after them? Were they delusional? As far as I know the family hasn’t released any updates.
Image credits: Hysterymystery
#37
Tri-state Crematory. A devastating case of a man called back from his college football career to take over his father’s business when the father fell ill. Over time people started noticing… bodies… and body parts. On the grounds. Just hanging around. When someone finally took the reports seriously they found that he’d been piling bodies up randomly all over the property, often when it would’ve been much easier to cremate them instead of hauling them around to where they were dumped. The guy gave families canisters of cement dust instead of ashes. The mystery on this one is… why. The guy never gave up the answer to what happened there and will only insist that there are no answers. His lawyer theorized he had mercury poisoning from cremating amalgam fillings, but that doesn’t really explain why you would dump a body instead of cremating it when the latter takes less effort.
Image credits: erinkjean
#38
The Voynich Manuscript. Nobody knows if it’s legit or just an elaborate joke.
Image credits: SpicyPirate13
#39
Here’s one I learned about recently: in 2000, a mummy was found around Pakistan with an inscription on the sarcophagus claiming her to be the unknown daughter of the Persian king Xerxes, Rhodugune. It caused a big hubbub, since it was the first apparent Persian mummy. It was fascinating because it had been mummified in traditional Egyptian fashion, complete with all the organs extracted including the brain, and I even recall something about golden resin being found inside the body.
But deeper examinations revealed a lot of smaller details that didn’t add up. One archaeologist remembered being contacted by a middleman about a mummy that resembled the photos, and when he’d had a piece of the sarcophagus carbon dated he found it was only 250 years old. The inscription also used a Greek form of the name instead of Persian, the bandages dated to the wrong period, and the stone pad was found to be five years old. And a lot of other experts noticed that the heart had been removed, which Egyptians absolutely did NOT do.
They quickly decided she wasn’t a Persian princess.But here’s the freaky part: further examination on the “mummy” revealed her to be a woman between 21-25 who died around 1996 from some sort of blunt impact, like being hit by a car.
There have been a trail of suspects from it, since it was found in possession of some Pakistani and Irani dealers who were trying to sell it on the black market. But no one knows the victim’s identity, and we probably never will.
Image credits: cannibalisticapple
#40
Astronomer here! In my field, the Wow! signal is probably the most famous unexplained mystery. It was basically detected in 1977 by a telescope that was just pointed overhead, and looked very similar to what a SETI signal is expected to look like. It was first noted the next morning by an astronomer (who wrote “Wow!” in the log margins) and was never seen again despite extensive follow up over the years.
There have been various suggestions on what the Wow! signal was (but no, it probably wasn’t comets). Personally, based on my experience with man made interference (RFI) in radio astronomy (I wrote a paper on distinguishing a real transient signal from that stuff), it was most likely RFI from a satellite or similar. But until we see another signal like it, we just don’t know for sure, and that’s very fun to think about!
Image credits: Andromeda321
#41
Who created Piltdown Man? In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, researchers became obsessed with finding the “missing link” between humans and apes. In 1912, archaeologist Charles Dawson finds a skull that seems to have an exact mix of human and ape features, right there in England. Its legitimacy was questioned from the start, but many English scientists wanted it so badly for it to be real that they ignored that evidence for a long time. It wasn’t fully exposed as a fake until 41 years later. But who created the fake? Charles Dawson is the obvious suspect, but many believe that other people were in on it, or that someone else did it on their own. Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock) is my favorite of the suspects, though I rather doubt that he did it, ha ha. Still, I want it to be true!
Image credits: PartyPorpoise
#42
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Heist (1990)
Image credits: reddit.com
#43
On June 8, 1987, eighteen year old Michael Adams returned home after leaving work at a local grocery store in Abilene, Texas. He was last seen by his sister at around 11:30PM, when she saw him standing next to a car that was idling outside of their home, he was leaning into the car, talking to the occupants. The next morning, he was discovered missing and his bed didn’t appear to be slept in. He was never heard from again. His wallet was in his room, and his car was parked strangely in the driveway. Several of his friends were questioned and were given polygraphs; all passed and were cleared as suspects. His disappearance remains unsolved.
Image credits: unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com
#44
On June 7, 1992, the Springfield, Missouri Police Department was notified of the disappearance of three women from a residence in central Springfield.
The parents of Stacy McCall, one of the missing women, contacted the police department in reference to their daughter’s disappearance from the home of Sherrill Levitt and Suzanne Streeter, the other two missing women. Upon officers’ arrival, the house bore no signs of a struggle, but rather the appearance of the missing women being abducted. All personal property was left behind including purses, money, clothing, cars, keys, cigarettes, and the family dog.
Image credits: springfieldmo.gov
#45
The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. A German immigrant claimed he discovered the mine in the 19th century. Many have searched for it and have lost their lives. There is supposedly a curse associated with it. It’s never been found again.
Image credits: trashytvjunkee
#46
Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person, who at the age of 3, disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007. The Daily Telegraph described her disappearance as “the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history”. Madeleine’s whereabouts remain unknown, although German prosecutors believe she is dead.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#47
TIL during World War II, the town of Pascagoula, Mississippi, was gripped by fear over a mysterious figure known as the “Phantom Barber.” Residents reported that an intruder would sneak into their homes at night and cut locks of hair from their heads while they slept.
Image credits: reddit.com
#48
In Australia 2008, an olive grove of 400 trees was stripped of every single olive OVERNIGHT by hand. The owner (who lives on the grove btw) says it usually would take a team of 6 a full 3 days to harvest the grove. He heard nothing overnight – no machinery – and found not a single olive on a tree nor the ground the next day. None! I can’t imagine the size of a team of silent thieves picking and hauling 4 tonnes of olives in a single night!!
The owner says he knows of 5 other similar raids in the area cumulating in 7.5 tonnes being heisted at a value of $10,000.
The numbers here are just confounding – the number of people it would take to do the work, not get caught and for such a comparative measly payoff?!!
Image credits: jeremysomers
#49
The Miracle of the Sun, also known as the Miracle of Fatima, refers to a series of miraculous events that took place on October 13, 1917, in Fatima, Portugal. A large crowd had gathered after three shepherd children, Lucia Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto, prophesied that the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Fatima) would appear and perform miracles. Witnesses reported seeing unusual solar phenomena, such as the Sun “dancing,” moving toward the Earth, or emitting vibrant, multicolored light. These extraordinary events reportedly lasted for around ten minutes and were widely covered in the media.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#50
The Kongka La Pass in Ladakh This region lies in the disputed border of India and China, and is truly the most inaccessible places in the world. In 1962, the armies of both the countries were engaged in a severe conflict. After this, both China and India entered into an agreement according to which none will be allowed to patrol the region, but can keep an eye on it from a distance. After this, a popular belief floated that the Kongka La Pass in Ladakh is a hideous base of UFOs. The area has forever remained a no man’s land due to its territorial limits and is the reason why the UFOs have chosen it as their operational base.
Reportedly, many have seen these UFOs and both the Indian and Chinese Governments are aware of these developments. In 2006, Google Maps too baffled the world with some images that looked liked military facilities, but till date the whole issue remains mysterious and unexplainable.
Image credits: reddit.com
#51
We still have no definitive proof of who this Socrates guy is.
On one hand, he’s mentioned constantly by philosophers from his time, often used as an example character, and several works are attributed to his name. On the other hand, we have countless legal records and censuses that confirm the existence of Aristotle and Plato but NONE that link back to Socrates.
He’s either a very prolific philosopher, or an in-joke that classical philosophers would reference when they didn’t know who to attribute quotes to.
Image credits: SleeplessShitposter
#52
The Dancing Plague of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg in July 1518. Around 400 people took to dancing for days without rest and, over the period of about one month, some of those affected collapsed or even died of heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion.
Historical documents, including “physician notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and even notes issued by the Strasbourg city council” are clear that the victims danced. It is not known why these people danced, some even to their deaths.
Image credits: Ashtarr
#53
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. I find the story of Kaspar Hauser, an anonymous teenager found wandering the streets of Nuremberg in in the early 19th century, fascinating. He appeared out of nowhere with no family, friends or anyone who could confirm his identity. He claimed to have been kept in almost total isolation for his whole life up until that point. His linguistic skills were severely limited, consistent with someone who had grown up with very little human contact. Rumours began to circulate that he was actually a German prince who had been swapped at birth with a dead baby to prevent his succession to the throne by scheming relatives. Rather than k**l him, they locked him up in complete isolation and left there to be forgotten, until somehow he was freed or managed to escape. He attracted several wealthy sponsors over the course of his short life, but none were successful at solving the mystery of his origins. He died under suspicious circumstances (stabbed by an unknown assailant) 5 years after being found. Of course he may have just been a deranged fantasist or attention seeker – who knows!
Image credits: HunchyTheHuncher
#54
My favourite is the David Lytton in Manchester, UK. It took a long time to identify the man, even with photographs shared around. They found that the British man travelled to London from Pakistan and the same day walked into a pub in Manchester asking for directions to the ‘top of the mountain’. He was warned against it as it would be night time in the dead of winter by the time he gets there.
He had nothing on him except train tickets and £130. His body was found the next day, lying down fully clothed with some medication in his pocket, which wasn’t a dangerous medication from what I remember.
Image credits: reddit.com
#55
The Devil’s Footprints.
Hoof shaped footprints in the snow in south England that went for up to 100 miles.
The footprints went over houses, haystacks, rivers and even rooftops instead of going around them.
It appears on Thursday night last, there was a very heavy snowfall in the neighbourhood of Exeter and the South of Devon. On the following morning the inhabitants of the above towns were surprised at discovering the footmarks of some strange and mysterious animal endowed with the power of ubiquity, as the footprints were to be seen in all kinds of unaccountable places – on the tops of houses and narrow walls, in gardens and court-yards, enclosed by high walls and pailings, as well in open fields
Image credits: tuento
#56
Houska Castle creeps me out.
Basically this Bohemian fortress was constructed on top of an ancient Slavo-Germanic pagan ritual site which was a very deep hole. Nothing too weird about that except for the way the castle was built.
For one, its built in a useless position and served no strategic purpose so it was not desirable for medieval lords of Bohemia or any invaders to control.
Then people realized that the castle was actually inverted! The fortifications were on the inside (arrow slits, turrets, thick fortress walls slanting into the castle etc…) it’s as if they were trying to keep something inside. There’s a legend that a Bohemian king lowered a prisoner into the hole that the castle was built on and he began screaming so they pulled him back up and he had aged 60 years and died.
Then during WW2 the Nazis did actually occupy the castle for a time but they reported some strange sounds and when allied forces stormed the castle the Nazis were dead or abandoned the place.
For sure there’s some folklore involved with the place but the fact that the castle was built clearly to keep something inside opposed to out and even the Nazis had issues with it, it definitely makes it seem like some ancient horror lies within that hole…
TL;DR Houska castle was built on top of an ancient pagan hole with fortifications inside not outside as if to keep something in not out. Nazis tried occupying the castle but ended up dead or abandoned it.
Image credits: Binch101
#57
I gotta go with the first ever unsolved mystery that really made me think. Mystery of the Somerton Man. In the 1948 a guy was found dead on a beach in Adelaide, Australia. He was never identified and months after finding his body they found a fake pocket in his pants. It was torn from a copy of the book Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam (I googled that) and had a phrase on it which said “Tamam Shud” which means ended or finished in Persian. They found the book that it came from but the owner denied ever knowing the guy. There was an encrypted message in the book that they found and it still hasn’t been cracked. Apparently there’s been a development recently that might identify him as H.C. Reynolds but it’s not 100% certain. It’s super interesting
Edit: thank you to u/Young_old-soul who has informed me that tamam shod actually means it’s over instead of finished or ended
Image credits: ssarah_ggrace
#58
Sea people. An entire civilization who destroyed a couple of empires and very little is known about them. It’s still not even known if it was on specific group. There’s theories, but nothing really confirmed. Who they were, where they came from, their motivations, daily life, religion, etc. Just an entire group of people who brought down the lives of thousands, destroyed established, seasoned societies and armies, and we know very little facts about them. They are literally considered a possible huge figure in the late Bronze Age collapse and there’s just nothing known for sure.
EDIT: I meant there isn’t a lot we know for sure. Lots of theories and speculation using a lot of random puzzle pieces, but not much definitive conclusions. Don’t know too much about it so I’m inspired to look more now
Image credits: swaggysalamander
#59
The Synapse bankruptcy case. Over 95 million dollars went missing from people’s bank accounts and nobody knows where it went.
Image credits: reddit.com
#60
Ray Gricar. Centre County DA who refused to indict Sandusky. Police found Gricar’s car with cell phone inside. Later on his laptop & hard drive, which had been removed, were found in the nearby Susquehanna river. No trace of Ray has ever been found.
Image credits: PHNobel1954
#61
The “Taos Hum” is a mysterious low-frequency humming noise that has been reported in the town of Taos, New Mexico, and in other locations around the world. The origin of the noise is unknown and has been the subject of much speculation.
Image credits: RaptureAusculation
#62
The Lead Masks Case centers around the mysterious deaths of two Brazilian electronics technicians, Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel Jose Viana, who were last seen by their families on August 17, 1966. Their bodies were found on August 20, 1966, but the cause of death remains unknown to this day.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#63
The Babushka Lady is an unidentified woman present during the 1963 assassination of JFK, who appeared to be taking photos as other witnesses took cover. Her identity, along with her photos, remain unknown.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#64
The legend of the Green Children of Woolpit tells of two children with green skin who appeared in the village of Woolpit, England, in the 12th century. The brother and sister spoke an unknown language and only ate raw broad beans. After adapting to local food, they lost their green color, but the boy became sick and died around the time of their baptism. The girl later explained in English that they came from a land where the sun never shone and everything was green, which she called Saint Martin’s Land.
Image credits: en.wikipedia.or
#65
The Baltic Sea anomaly is an object seen in a sonar image captured by Peter Lindberg, Dennis Aberg, and their Swedish OceanX team while treasure hunting in the northern Baltic Sea in June 2011. The sonar revealed an unusual structure with features that seemed unnatural, leading to speculation in tabloids that it could be a sunken UFO.
Image credits: en.wikipedia.org
#66
The “s*****e” of Ellen Greenberg. 27 stab wounds in different areas of the body. Edit: 20 stab wounds, 27 was her age at the time of death. Thanks for correcting u/cmart4165
Image credits: Snakeasauras
#67
The Overtoun Bridge.
It’s a bridge in Scotland where dogs always unexplainably jump off. It’s very strange and nobody knows for certain why they do this. Dogs who survived reportedly walked back up and jumped off again. They even had to put up a warning sign to keep your dog on a leash and to watch them. A lot of theories say maybe it’s because of certain scents or animals down below, but most people have disagreed with this theory. It’s fuckin weird.
edit: In reality, I’ve done more research thanks to some comments, and it seems like people have romanticized this to make it creepier than it actually is. I don’t know exactly what to believe since there’s so much misinformation out there, but I’ll just believe the articles who’ve done the most research for now. They say it was most likely not hundreds of dogs, because they can’t find reports of that many jumping off like the “legend” says. It was only around 6. So it’s likely that I was misinformed like so many other people were and it’s not actually a huge phenomenon lol. But it’s still sad and a bit weird that 6 dogs jumped off.
Image credits: reddit.com
#68
A strange but not creepy mystery: The disappearance and reappearance of Lawrence Joseph Bader: he was a cookware salesman from Akron, Ohio who went missing in 1957. He went fishing, a storm hit, and his boat was found the next day with some damage. He was in debt and in trouble with the IRS and his wife was about to have their third child.
Four days later, John “Fritz” Johnson appeared in a bar in Omaha, Nebraska (spoiler: it’s Larry Bader). “Fritz” was known for his wild personality, he attracted local attention for sitting atop a flag pole for 30 days to raise money for polio, he became a radio announcer and a TV sports director. He drove around in a hearse with a bar and became a minor celebrity in Omaha… by no means was avoiding attention. In 1964, a cancerous tumor was found behind his left eye and it had to be removed.
In 1965, Fritz was in Chicago for a tournament and an acquaintance from Akron recognized him (despite the eyepatch) and confronted him, and then brought Bader’s niece to take a look. She agreed it was her uncle and confronted him about it as well. Fritz denied it but found it humorous. Fritz’s fingerprints were then matched to Larry Bader’s military records and it was confirmed.
Fritz Johnson always maintained he had no memory of his former life as Larry Bader. Psychiatrists examined him and believed he was telling the truth even though he had financial reasons to assume a new identity and the concept of someone forgetting their past and entirely constructing a different one with false memories is hard to fathom. It is also considered a possibility that the eye tumor had something to do with it. He ultimately died in 1966 from the eye tumor and it was never determined conclusively whether he was lying or not.
I am fascinated by this case especially because he had an entire change in personality, an entire life backstory as Fritz, and he made no effort to live a low profile to avoid discovery…. I found this case while looking through the Wikipedia category of people who have faked their own deaths (though it’s debatable if this guy should even be on there…), all of which are great stories
Image credits: moon-dweller
#69
The Oakville Blob.
In 1994, there was a rainstorm in Oakville, WA–only the “raindrops” were a strange clear substance that had the consistency of Jello. Lots of people experienced flu-like symptoms after coming into contact with it, and peoples’ dogs and cats all over the city were dying.
When a local hospital ran a lab test on the substance after one of the patients suggested it, it was found that whatever this mysterious “rain” was, it had human white blood cells in it. Some time after that, a sample was also sent to the Washington State Health Laboratory, where it was being researched by epidemiologist Mike McDowell. After he determined that it was man-made and speculated that it was some sort of matrix for transporting viruses/bacteria, the samples suddenly went missing from the containment facility and his supervisor told him not to ask any questions. There are no known samples of the stuff anywhere today, despite being sent to several different facilities by various Oakville residents.
So yeah, I’d personally say that this was clearly some sort of bio-weapon test run, but by whom? I’d like to give the US Government the benefit of the doubt here and assume it wasn’t us testing something like that on our own citizens, but if it wasn’t, why would it have been covered up like that? And you’d think an event like this would be a lot less obscure. Also, even if it being a bio-weapon seems super obvious, how the heck did whoever dispersed it manage to make it rain over an entire city for several days??
Image credits: Xaldyn
#70
Perhaps not the absolute strangest, but in March of 2020, the Windows market share for the long discontinued Windows XP skyrocketed by about 10% in China. This spike in Windows XP use for just one month is for unknown reasons. Some people think the Chinese government could have been looking for security flaws in the operating system to take advantage of, after all, lots of sensitive government equipment still runs on Windows XP.
Image credits: ArielMJD
#71
The disappearance of Maura Murray. Disappeared after crashing her car into a snow bank in the middle of the night in the Kancamagus region of NH. Some witnesses saw the crash and even spoke to her, but by the time the police arrived minutes later, she was gone, her personal effects strewn around the car and a rag stuffed in the tailpipe. K9s were used to track her scent but it ended a few yards away from where she crashed. It’s presumed that’s where she was picked up or abducted by someone. Later that year a man approached her parents and claimed his brother had kidnapped and k****d her, but it was never proven.
Image credits: MrMcSwifty
#72
Are we alone in the universe?
Image credits: Rylof
#73
I’d like to know what happened to Andrew Gosden.
A 14 year old boy left home in Yorkshire one morning in 2007 dressed in his school uniform, and then withdrew all his money from his bank account. He went back home after his parents had gone to work and changed out of his uniform, then went to the train station and bought a one way ticket to London (about two hours away by train). There is CCTV footage of him leaving King’s Cross station, but that’s the last time he was seen.
He didn’t tell his parents he was planning to go to London, and it’s never been established why he went there. I’d love to find out he’s actually ok, or even if not for his parents to finally find out what happened to him.
Image credits: kank84
#74
Brian Shaffer’s disappearance. He was in a bar and afterwards disappeared. Surveillance photos never show him exiting, but a search never found him. I don’t remember the in depth details though.
Image credits: Narrow-Palpitation22 (not the actual photo)
#75
As a native of the Portland Oregon metro area, it’s really sad that Kyron Horman’s disappearance is still unsolved. He will be 21 this year. Disappeared at 7.
Image credits: Brett Sayles (not the actual photo)
#76
Carlene Tengelsen. In 1972 she disappeared after stopping by Westgate Mall here in Macon, Georgia. Carlene’s mom got a phone call from her youngest daughter, who was at a day camp. She called because Carlene hadn’t picked her up. Mr. Tengelsen found the car later that night. It was parked across the street from the mall at a doughnut shop. At the time, the police didn’t take her disappearance seriously, and assumed she ran away. Years later the police department issued a formal apology and admitted they dropped the ball. When Carlene’s parents moved away a year later, they asked a neighbor if they could keep a phone with Tengelsen’s telephone number at their house in case she ever called. Carlene never called.
Image credits: RainbowsandCoffee966
#77
Rachel was visiting her parents’ home in Georgetown, Texas, in early 2002. She was on winter vacation from her school at San Diego Mesa College in San Diego, California. She was last seen by her family in the early morning hours on January 10, 2002, when her mother left for work. It is believed Rachel departed her family’s residence at approximately 9:30 a.m. for her daily four-mile run. Rachel was last seen approximately 200 yards away from her residence walking towards her residence.
Image credits: fbi.gov
#78
The disappearance of Patti Krieger. Not very well known outside of Washington state. Hiking with her fiance’s family when on the way down she allegedly went down the wrong trail and didn’t hear them yelling at her and no one followed her, they just assumed the trails would meet back up, but she was never seen again. The search dogs were able to follow her scent down the the parking lot, but never found her, they did find her Rottweiler that was with her weeks later severely emaciated. Her fiance’s family was seen driving her car after the disapearance. Her family has said they think her fiance is to blame but no charges have ever been filed against anyone.
Image credits: WesternMost3019
#79
The disappearance of Genette Tate is a missing person case in which a 13-year-old girl disappeared while delivering newspapers in Aylesbeare, Devon, England, on 19 August 1978. Despite extensive searches, Tate’s body has not been found and the cause of her disappearance remains unknown.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#80
Gloria Cecilia Ramirez (January 11, 1963 – February 19, 1994) was an American woman who became known as the “Toxic Lady” after several hospital staff members fell ill due to exposure to her body and blood. Ramirez had been admitted to the emergency room in the advanced stages of cervical cancer. While she was being treated, three hospital workers fainted, and others reported symptoms like shortness of breath and muscle spasms. Five workers required medical attention, with one needing to stay in intensive care for two weeks. Ramirez passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital due to complications from her cancer.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#81
From 1817 to 1821, a man named John Bell and his family were harassed by a mysterious and invisible spirit now known as the Bell Witch. According to the legend, the witch had the ability to speak, shapeshift, and be in multiple places at once.
Image credits: tnmuseum.or
#82
The young woman passed away under mysterious circumstances two months after marrying Edward Shue. Her death was initially thought to be from natural causes until her spirit appeared in a dream to her mother, Mary, revealing that her husband was responsible for her passing. Mary Heaster claimed her daughter appeared at her bedside (wearing the dress she died in) on four occasions, explaining how Edward had come home from work as a blacksmith and, in a fit of anger, caused her neck to be broken. An examination of the exhumed body confirmed the details from the vision. Edward Shue was convicted and sentenced to the state penitentiary at Moundsville, where he passed away eight years later.
Image credits: wvencyclopedia.org
#83
The Marfa lights, or Marfa ghost lights, are frequently seen near Marfa, Texas. They are commonly viewed from a designated area promoted by the local community to attract tourists. Studies conducted between 2000 and 2008 suggest that the lights are caused by automobile headlights being distorted by the warm desert air.
Image credits: en.wikipedia.org
#84
In a village in Sweden called Rojdn there’s a cross-shaped “hole” in the ground that won’t go away. Over many years people tried to digg it out, fill it up, etc. but it comes back. Nothing grows there, and if you plan something in it it dies.
Image credits: trebroder
#85
That might be related to the Scientologist break ins. When they were working on getting their tax free status for their organization they needed to get Intel and leverage against the government. So they simply ordered a few members to walk right into the FBI headquarters as if they were agents, they took what they wanted, and then left.
Image credits: mbattagl
#86
This is my favorite weird and barely known one:
Back in 2013 an unknown group assaulted a power substation in California. By all appearances it was pretty sophisticated: scouted firing positions, all casings wiped of prints, they targeted transformers so they’d take time to overheat before triggering any alarms, also knew exactly when the police would arrive.
No suspect or motive to this day, they also cut some fiber optic cables in a vault nearby. Conspiracy types think it was a dry run by Russia or possibly China to see how effective an attack like that might be.
Image credits: ohshawty
#87
The Sodder children; their house burned down in the middle of the night. Several of the kids were presumed dead, but their bodies were never found in the debris and it never burned hot enough to cremate them. It started to look extremely suspicious and the parents until their deaths believed that they had been taken for some reason. Many years down the line they did receive a photo and cryptic note from someone claiming to be their son but it was never authenticated.
Image credits: erinkjean
#88
What happened to Brian Shaffer
This happened in my home town. This med student went to a bar with friends and then fully disappeared off the face of the earth.
Edit: The podcast True Crime Garage has an incredible series on this case. The hosts are both from Columbus and around Brian’s age. They talk through the whole case in depth and they also have a few guests that they talk with as well.
Image credits: seasquidley
#89
THE CIRCLEVILLE LETTERS In 1976, residents of the small city south of Columbus Ohio began receiving handwritten sinister and graphic letters. Each letter included secret and dark details about their personal lives. One resident received a ton of letters, accusing her of various unsavory acts. The author warned the resident that he had been keeping an eye on her home, as well as her comings and goings. The resident was horrified and tried to keep the letters a secret until her husband began receiving them. The attacks on the family continued, with large posters appearing around town spreading rumors about their 12 year old child. One day in 1977, the husband left the house after receiving a call from who he thought was writing the letters. A few minutes later, the husband was found dead at the end of the street dead behind the wheel. The sheriff had ruled it a homicide when he realized that a single shot had been fired before the accident, but there was no evidence that the husband was shot at the site. The sheriff found the husband was twice the legal limit and ruled it a drunk driving accident. The letters began once again, this time accusing the sheriff of covering up the true nature of the death. The letters also accused the sheriff of mishandling an investigation into the county coroner who had been accused of other grotesque acts. The harrassment continued, this time with signs along the road and in 1983, the original resident who had been accused of having an affair pulled over to remove a sign. During the effort to remove the sign, she discovered a box was attached and inside of it was a small pistol. The gun was part of a booby trap designed to fire when the sign was removed. Paul Freshour was arrested and given 25 years…but one small problem. The letter writing continued even after Freshour was put in jail. In a new batch of letters, the author had promised to dig up the grave of a deceased baby and mail the bones to the police in the case of another potential affair turned m****r. Hundreds of residents continued to receive personal letters until 1994 when everything stopped.
Image credits: GeneralMadAnthony
#90
The Beale Ciphers. Basically, a rich cowboy created ciphers which have the location of his buried riches, worth millions today. One cipher was cracked, but the other two remain a mystery. There is debate on whether the ciphers are real, but the first cipher seems to not be made of random characters which would indicate the story being truthful. Many cryptographers have spent years trying to break them.
Image credits: reddit.com
#91
The Chicago Tylenol Murders
It gripped the nation suddenly in the 1980s. Police were driving around with loudspeakers telling people to throw out their Tylenol. Seven people died And AFAIK thyy never even came up with a suspect.
Image credits: reddit.com
#92
I’m a little late, but I scrolled this whole thread (and got into some discussions) to see if this one was already posted, and after double-checking I don’t think it was. This one is a double whammy: Who k****d Ricky McCormick, and what do the encrypted notes found in his pocket mean? Ricky McCormick was an illiterate man who was found dead in a field in St. Charles County, Missouri on June 30, 1999; how he got there is another mystery, as he did not know how to drive and public transportation did not go to that area. At the time of the discovery of his body his death was not considered a homicide, but twelve years later the FBI reclassified the case as a homicide and issued an appeal asking for help decrypting the notes found in his pocket. While his parents claim he did not know how to write anything but his own name and could not have written in code (though they did say he would write “nonsense he called writing”), other members of his family said he had been writing encrypted notes since he was a young child. Who k****d him, and what do the notes say?
Image credits: reddit.com
#93
The Yuba County Five were a group of young men from Yuba County, California, United States, each with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions, who were reported missing after attending a college basketball game at California State University, Chico (also known as Chico State), on the night of February 24, 1978. Four of them – Bill Sterling, 29; Jack Huett, 24; Ted Weiher, 32; and Jack Madruga, 30 – were later found dead; the fifth, Gary Mathias, 25, has never been found.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#94
On August 20, 2010, Ben McDaniel (born April 15, 1980), of Memphis, Tennessee, United States, was reported missing after employees in the dive shop at Vortex Spring, north of Ponce de Leon, Florida, noticed that his pickup truck had remained in the shop’s parking lot for the previous two days. McDaniel, who had been diving regularly at the spring while living in his parents’ nearby beach house, had last been seen by two of those employees on the evening of August 18, on a dive entering a cave 58 feet (18 m) below the water’s surface.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
#95
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth with a faint image of a man’s front and back, believed by some to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ. The image resembles traditional depictions of Jesus after his crucifixion and has been revered, especially by Catholics. Discovered in 1898 through a photographic negative, the image appears more distinct in black and white than in its natural sepia color. It is also linked to the Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
Image credits: en.wikipedia.org
#96
The “Smiley Face Theory,” which alleges that from 1990–2010, 45 young men found dead in bodies of water across the Midwest did not accidentally drown but were rather victims of a serial k****r. The only known connection is grafiti depicting a “smiley face” found near at least a dozen bodies.
Image credits: Fun-Maintenance9422
#97
Have they definitely figured out what causes crop circles? There was a documentary in which they made a round one but they are so complex and nobody takes credit
Image credits: Micro-Naut
#98
An unknown group of people broke into an FBI building, and no one has found out who they are. But the best part of the story is, they did it by leaving a sticky note that said “Do not lock the door tonight” and it worked.
Image credits: WhaddaFucc
#99
I told this one before but…
Rico Harris. He was a massive 6’9″ former Harlem Globetrotter basketball player who had drug issues earlier in his life, but had made a full recovery and was getting his life back on track. He was driving along California’s Interstate I-5, from his home in Southern California to Seattle, to live with his girlfriend. He was somewhere just north of Sacramento, exhausted, and told his girlfriend over the phone that he wanted to check out the mountains. All calls stopped since then.
His car was found a couple days later by a patrolman near a rest stop in the mountains. A massive search was launched. No signs of him. The strangest part? A driver later reported seeing a massive 6’9″ individual wandering down the highway, just a mile from where the car was found – a week later. A search was re-launched, massive size 17 footprints were found in the ground that were not there before, they were getting very close, and then… Nothing. No trace, no body, nothing.
Where did Rico go the first time he disappeared? Where was he for an entire week? And where did he disappear to again? The fact that someone could disappear twice, is what makes this so damn mystifying to me.
Image credits: WhyYouYelling
#100
Brianna Alexandra Maitland (born October 8, 1986; disappeared March 19, 2004) is an American missing person who disappeared at the age of 17 after leaving her job at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vermont. Her car was discovered the following day, backed into the side of an abandoned house about a mile (1.6 km) away from her workplace. Maitland has not been seen or heard from since. Due to a confluence of circumstances, several days passed before Maitland’s friends and family reported her missing.
Image credits: wikipedia.org
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