Documentary shows like Unsolved Mysteries are deeply disturbing to watch. Yet, these unresolved cases have an unexplainable allure that draws people in.
Is the killer still out there? Were there many more undiscovered bodies tossed in a ditch somewhere in the desert? Or was the death of an individual purely accidental?
Equally compelling are the investigators who explore every possible theory to track down a criminal.
These cases continue to prompt intrigue because we all have an innate desire to have closure.
"What's the creepiest unsolved mystery you know?"
Multiple bodies were found and not a single killer was identified.
Family Murder
"Dardeen Family Murders. Husband, pregnant wife and young son. Wife and son bludgeoned in their bed the mother gave birth where the perpetrator(s) then bludgeoned the newborn. They found the husband shot execution style outside. No fingerprints or DNA found at the scene it was completely clean."
Beach Graveyard
"In the area I grew up, there was someone killing sand dunes and burying them in the sand dunes by the beach. They would sporadically show up. To my knowledge, the person was never found."
"Cleveland Torso Murderer"
"Back in the 1930s, there was a serial killer called the Cleveland Torso Murderer who would cut off people's limbs, heads, and genitals, then leave the torsos behind for the police to find them. Not only did they never figure out who the killer was, but they also never figured out who most of the victims were."
Bodies On The Road
"The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders in 1972-73. I grew up in the area but didn't hear anything about it until a couple years ago. Seven girls and women were murdered and dumped along rural roads in Sonoma County. The case is often overshadowed by the Golden State Killer and Zodiac Killer. Who murdered these girls in sleepy Sonoma County remains a mystery to this day."
The following Redditors discussed cases involving missing people and unknown causes of death.
Missing Bride
"Mary Shotwell Little has always kept me up at night."
"Went missing after shopping at Lenox Mall in Atlanta in 1965. She was a newlywed so she was called the Missing Bride. She was reported missing by coworkers the next morning but her car was no longer in the Lenox parking lot. Her husband was out of town and when he returned and went to Lenox to look for her, her car was now there. The car had her groceries, blood spots, and a folded pair of women's underwear on the console. Lots of weird details in this case like the car being returned in daylight, her credit card being used and her being spotted in NC under duress and with two men. Her body has never been found and the case is still unsolved."
The Dad That Stayed Home
"I forgot the names, but a family was going on a vacation to a sports game, but the dad stayed home because he wanted to record it, and his TV didn't have an auto-record function, meaning he had to be there to hit record."
"The family gets home and the dad is missing. The game is recorded on the TV, meaning he had to have been there when it aired. The fridge had two turkey sandwiches freshly made."
"Someone driving down the highway near their house spotted a body on the side of the road. They turned around to find it, but it was gone."
Last Seen Arguing
"Local bar, missing man from a few years ago. Nowhere to be found. He was drunk and had gotten into an argument at the bar. Walked to an Arby's at some point. His glasses were found on the ground, but no trace of him otherwise."
These bodies were found in small spaces.
The Missing Kid
"Probably that one kid that went out and disappeared but was found mangled up in a chimney a decade later by his parents."
Stuck
"Last year i worked for DEMA (Danish Emergency Management Agency), we were called out to a case of a man losing contact to his partner who was inside a chimney at a Danish art project. He was supposed to uninstall some lights, but when his partner radioed him, there was radio silence. His partner was controlling the mobile crane used to lower him inside, which was the only way up there. When we arrived the man had been inside the chimney/cylinder for about 2-3 hours. There was drones installed with heat reading cameras in the air trying to see if he was alive, and when we got the picture his body was still warm. Since we had no way of getting up there we had called for another mobile crane with which we could get to the top. My partner and our sergeant went up, and when they pulled out the man, he was already dead. We couldn't figure out how it happened, but when we got the report back it said he died from his injuries. But there was no major bruising on his body!"
"I still don't know how he died till this day."
There were no deaths in the following cases but still caused intense fear.
Repeat Break-In
"About 1.5 years ago I was broken into. They stole essentially all my life savings which was in precious medals, along with a bunch of other misc personal belongings. The police never found them. 3 days later, I see my door is broken in again and thieves came back and put a couple things back, including a gold ounce coin with a note attached that my dad had written to me when I was an infant, telling me he loved me. Less creepy just strange; criminals with a conscience."
Almost Abducted
"Whenever I was a small kid I was almost kidnapped when my mom had a seizure at the grocery store some man had grabbed me saying that he was my uncle but luckily a family friend happened to be there too and the dude ran off before police got there I was only around 5-7 at the time so I came very close to being kidnapped I have very little memory of that moment tho I only remember riding in the ambulance."
Mystery Scar
"How did I get this scar and dent in my skull. It must have been a major event with lots of bleeding, but my parents know nothing of it."
It's one thing to be haunted by the unsettling cases presented on television, but it's another to learn of one through a friend or have firsthand knowledge.
And in the digital age, where our every move is being monitored through our digital devices or surveillance cameras capturing our movements, you would think more cases of foul play would quickly reveal the murderous culprit.
But with lawbreakers always managing to stay a step ahead and adapting to technology, it's not that easy to close a case.
As with many complicated cases spanning years, we still have to trust and rely on the fact that time will eventually bring malefactors to justice.
Moviegoers online shared their thoughts when Redditor Snoo_19146 asked:
"What’s the first sign that a movie is going to be bad?"
Pandering to the audience with lame humor is such a turn-off.
This Speaks Volumes
"Characters think they are funny because they speak loudly."
– drod3333
Soph-moronic Humor
"Also references to farts or weed. (Not jokes: references.)"
'Hey guys who wants to smoke some weeeeed?'
"Pause for laughter"
– Beingabummer
Premature Review
"It's advertised as one of the best movies of the year."
"And it's late January."
– M-Test24
The Poster Says It All
"There’s someone shrugging whimsically on the poster. 🤷"
– findlestick
Trailers alone can be a red flag.
Cliff's Notes Version
"When the trailer already tells you the entire movie."
– JAR_Melethril
"I've scratched titles off my watch list because I feel I've already seen the important parts of the film through the trailer, why bother?"
– butter00pecan
Recycling One-Liners
"If there are multiple trailers for a comedy movie, but they use the same joke in all of them."
– jelecel865
"And then you sit in the movie or on netflix and you're like. Oh, the joke from the trailer, I think that's where the movie starts to get funny, but it just transitions into the serious end arc and then is over."
– candybomberz
Familiar Jokes From Deadpool
"Something that always bugged me was the first Deadpool movie and it’s trailers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie, but here you have a character wearing a mask, played by an actor known for comedy in a movie that probably had a ton of jokes and multiple takes left on the cutting room floor."
"They could have EASILY dubbed different jokes into the trailer and used the final ones in the movie for an extra surprise. But nope, trailer jokes -> movie jokes. Kind of a bummer."
– LegendaryOutlaw
Some movies are destined for failure.
If It Ain't Broke
"It’s a remake of something that didn’t suck."
– Diesel07012012
"I hate that there’s so many remakes of decent/good movies. Feels like it’s just a safe money-grab. It would be cool if movies that didn’t do so hot, get reworked into good movie remakes, but I guess that’s too much of a risk for studios to bother with."
– AnEpicHibiscus
A Very Telling Intro
"An exposition in which one character explains everything that's going on to another character that should already know what is going on."
– rohawe8491
Familiar Setup
'Stacy sweetie, you know I haven’t been the same since your brother disappeared 4 years ago at the creek, & then we moved here to get away from the bad memories but it didn’t change anything & now you’re moving to college & I’ve been finding it hard to accept, & I’m struggling to hold down my job at the diner & that new guy I’m seeing is acting really shady & disappears for days, & completely unrelated to all that there’s mysterious murders happening since he arrived in town. You know all this Stacy..'
"whilst unpacking the shopping in the first scene."
– bluerain80
We Need A Reset
"Doctor: what we have here is a case of transcranial temporal reinforcement. If the patient is not restored to his original nacency the Einstein Bozeman condensate will reseed throughout the multiverse and congeal with unfortold consequences!"
"Other doctor: in English please!"
"Doctor: we need to send him back in time so his brain can restart the universe."
– ActorMonkey
Multiple Cooks
"Not always the case but when there are more than 3 writers a movie tends to lack vision. It can also occur due to rewrites. Not A Bomb Podcast reviews movies that bombed financially or critically and this is a subject often discussed if anyone is interested."
– earball1996
Maybe it's all about the journey.
Trailers do have to entice you with the best parts of a film promising audiences they'll be in for a good time.
However, movies just have to deliver on that promise by not revealing all the best bits in the trailer.
One movie I thought was going to be a succession of cheap one-liners with nothing but action was Disney's animated film Big Hero 6. The trailer was never appealing to me.
But after reading many positive reviews, I decided to give it a chance and I'm so glad I did.
It ended up being a very intelligent, emotionally mature film dealing with grief and an internal struggle about doing the right thing. While those are common tropes, it was all the more impactful watching animated characters dealing with serious themes and issues.
The bottom line is don't be quick to dismiss every movie based on its trailer.
You might be pleasantly surprised.
"Meat lovers would you date a vegan or vegetarian, and vice versa, why/ why not?"
To Each Their Own
"If they don’t force me to go on the same diet as them I would date them."- Daisyline27
Not Remotely An Issue
"Date?"
"I married one."
"I still eat meat but enjoy cooking meals we both can eat."- davidfavel
"I've (36 M[ale]) been vegetarian since I was 18."
"My wife (37 F[emale]) is a meat eater in a way that only a south east Asian can be."
"She enthusiastically eats everything."
"We have been together for over a decade and have two children, there have been zero problems."- ndraiay
Date one?"
"Hell I married one, and we're still together more than 30 years later."- LJ_Wanderer
"Yeah."
"I have. Wasn’t much of an issue."- iAmPresidentNixonAMA
shocked my big fat greek wedding GIFGiphyWilling To Expand Their Palette
"Sure."
"I do a day or two here and there veg anyway, maybe they can show me some new foods or recipes."- Drew-
"Yea I love me some meat. But the vegan and vegetarian options are good."- mrsnowplow
As Long As There's Respect
"As a vegetarian I would and have dated meat lovers, as long as they don’t make a ton of jokes about slipping meat into my food without me noticing (which has happened) or get super preachy about why i should be eating meat/ why being vegetarian isn’t actually better for the environment (which has also happened)."
"For the record, I never push my beliefs onto anyone I’m dating or expect them to change their diet for me."-FigCompetitive5599
"I don’t see why not, assuming they wouldn’t try to change my diet or something."- MahouShounenKerenKun
"Vegan here for 6 years now."
"I’ve only ever been with meat eaters."
"I would do it again too lol."
"As long as you both aren’t trying to change each other it shouldn’t matter."
"As for eating out/ cooking, people who care for one another are willing to make a few compromises or tweaks to their meals if needed."
"Meaning we can both get something different to eat out, we take turns choosing restaurants ( Not picky I’ll eat anything as long as it falls under my dietary restrictions as for my partners in the past they were always willing to try something new ) and if we’re cooking or if they are we just make some tweaks to make my meal vegan or we’ll both eat vegan."
"My past partners haven’t had any complaints for what it’s worth lol."
"As long as you both have mutual respect for one another you can make it work!."- Lazuli111_
Episode 16 Vegan GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyLogical, I Guess?
"If this were the apocalypse and food was scarce, sure I'd probably go my separate way (after trading my partner to scavengers for meat) but in today's normal world where we can both readily buy what we want, who gives a f*ck."- AdmiralBarackAdama
Easy Ways To Work Around It
"Vegetarian married to a meat eater."
'We normally eat veg at home, just because neither of know how to cook meat."- VeeRook
Easy For Meat Eaters, Less So For Vegetarians And Vegans
"I feel like a vegan would have a way harder time tolerating a SO who eats meat considering their typical moral/ethical stances on the livestock industry."- C-Kwentz-0
Vegan Veganism GIFGiphyIt's All About Compromise
"I love meat and am happily married to a vegetarian."
"One of our kids loves meat, the other two don’t eat it."
"Sure, we’ve had to compromise at times, but that’s what a relationship is all about."- jalexgray4
One's taste in food is very personal, and no one should ever convince you to change it, particularly if your taste in food stems from even bigger beliefs.
That being said, sometimes love can be strong enough to make you overlook the steaks you'd rather not have in your freezer, or settle for buffalo cauliflower at a Super Bowl party.
"Detectives of Reddit, what was the strangest case you’ve ever investigated?"
Did NO One Notice Earlier?!?!
"All right, detective now but this happened when I was on patrol several years ago."
"Got a call to check the welfare of a guy whose neighbor hadn't seen him in a couple years."
"Why it took so long to report."
"But it was out in a rural area."
"Anyway, we roll up and the windows are black with mould and flies."
"Car is parked in the garage."
"No signs of forced entry."
"Breach the door and find said guy wrapped up in a phone cord beside a toppled chair in his dining room."
"He was mummified/melting into the carpet."
"Barely recognizable as a human aside from his shape and clothes."
"The smell of him mingled with the inches of stagnant water in his basement from burst pipes and all the dead flies and mould."
"I'll never forget it."
"We also found two bags of groceries neatly packed on the floor in his kitchen."
"House was very tidy as well."
"No witnesses."
"Estranged from his family."
"Clearly had a cat but we never found its remains."
"Medical record indicated he had a heart condition."
"My theory is he was having a heart attack and tried to call 911 but never got to make the call."
"Perhaps the creepiest part?'
"His mailbox was overflowing with past due bills and cancelled utility notices."
"The last one was a couple months old."
'And it STILL too someone that long to call."- Scorface
Truly Disgusting Breach of Protocol
"An internal affairs case at a prison I used to work at."
"Though I wasn't with the Internal Affairs Bureau or the State's Investigator's Office, holy sh*t this was a fiasco."
"In the segregation unit of the prison, there was a very eccentric sergeant who worked out constantly and liked to sit in front of cells and talk to the inmates about life for hours on end."
"He routinely went to the gym with one of the nurses who gave inmates their nightly medications."
"One evening, one of the inmates is escorted out for his insulin shot."
"The inmate makes an offhand comment to the nurse, 'you going to Gold's Gym in Anytown after work?'"
"The escorting officer reports it, as personal information of that nature is a security risk."
"The sergeant is instantly put into speculation and the nurse reports that they are gym partners."
"There are anonymous reports that he is having unscheduled, personal conversations with inmates in the cell house."
"People will not go near him."
"'F*ck no, you wanna tell the child predators what school my kids go to while you're at it?'"
"A few weeks later, there's an allegation that the nurse was having an affair with the exact inmate who made the gym comment."
"But so far unfounded, so they ensure that none of the three people are in the same part of the prison while they investigate further."
"They need to rule out that this also isn't some form of retaliation on the sergeant's behalf."
"During the investigation, an oddity is discovered."
'The inmate lived several hours away, but was receiving Western Union money orders to his account from a relatively close gas station."
"They acquire surveillance footage."
"Sure enough, it's the nurse."
"She's been putting money on the inmate's books for several months under a false identity."
"During the routine pill line for general population, the nurse will be locked in a small, secure room with a pass-through for medications."
"It was revealed that she would hide in the corner and masturbate and expose herself when he came to the door."
'He intentionally violated prison directives to be sent to segregation because she told him of an upcoming change in the nursing rotation."
"They set the sergeant up as a red herring."
"She eventually resigned, and I'm unsure what legal action was taken."
"The inmate was moved to a different facility."- marvelousteat
Old School Computer Crimes
"I was not the detective, but I assisted as the person who knew the most about technology."
"Back in the 1990s when RAM sticks were about $50-75 per MB, somebody broke/snuck into a computer lab, opened up a dozen computers, and replaced each computer's 4 4MB RAM sticks with 4 1MB sticks."
"Nobody noticed."
"The time frame for the crime was 'sometime between September 1st and January 10th'."
"No video, no door key-cards, No suspects."- hymie0
season 10 gun GIFGiphyCreepy, And Sloppy, Cover Up
"Not a detective but something did happen in my apartment society."
"It's a gated society with 5 buildings, and one morning there was a huge crowd in front of one of the buildings."
"Turns out that a woman had jumped from the fifth floor into the elevator lobby area around 3 in the morning or so."
"One of my friends dad was first on the scene as he said that he heard a loud boom sound around that time and went to check it out."
"Here's where things get shady."
"The woman was living with her husband and MIL, and when people went to ask the MIL whether she could confirm that it was her son's wife she looked over the edge of the fifth floor at the body below and said, 'Oh yes, that's her'."
"In a completely neutral tone."
"Local PD got suspicious and checked the lobby cameras for any clues."
"It turned out that the husband had tried to strangle her (rope marks on the neck), and then took her to the NINTH floor and dropped her."
"The piece-de-resistance?"
"The camera showed her slippers dropping a whole 5 minutes after her body hit the ground."
"The husband threw her off and skipped town, and a background check revealed that this was his second marriage and there were rumors that he and his mother burned his first wife alive."
"For a solid month or so, I had to escort residents to their homes because people in that building were terrified of what could happen."- Ultraleo1
Leave It To The Professionals
"Not a detective but I contacted my detective to run the incident by him.'
"I was a Field Training Officer training a new Deputy for my department."
"We received a call about a lady who was stranded at a gas station (essentially a check well being call)."
"My trainee and I responded to the gas station and made contact with the lady."
"She stated she was staying at a hotel nearby and did not need any assistance."
"My trainee spoke with her more and she mentioned the government was after her and kind of went off into a weird conversation that didn’t make a whole lot of since."
"On her car she had a bunch of missing posters/flyers of a man that went 'missing' from California the state."
"I asked about the missing man and she told me it was her husband and he went missing years ago and she was 'on a mission to find him'.”
"She mentioned she found body parts in her home in California and my trainee asked if that had been investigated, which she stated it had been by a local department."
"Out of curiosity I asked her what kind of body parts she found in her home and she stated human toes."
"That sparked my interest and I asked her where are they now."
"The woman looks me in the eye and states 'they are in my purse would you like to see them?'”
"In complete shock I tell her of course and I’m thinking to myself there is no way this woman has human body parts in her purse."
"Surely enough we walked over to her car, she reaches in and grabs a medicine bottle filled with formaldehyde."
"Inside the bottle of formaldehyde are 3 human toes (big toe, and two smaller toes)."
" I asked her where she got the toes and she said she found them in her house In California."
"She advised she had no idea who’s toes they were."
"It should be noted the bottle of formaldehyde had medical tape around the cap indicating it was sealed."
"Long story short I made contact with my investigator and we determined it was not illegal to possess human toes in the way she had them."
"Of course I’m thinking she murdered her ex and cut his toes off and kept them for some reason."
"I decided to look into it further and it was determined the 'missing' ex left her for another woman and he was fine."
"The woman’s sister stated the woman took a bunch of meds for many different issues and eventually quit taking them (hence the abnormal behavior.)"
"I never did figure out who’s toes they were and eventually sent her on her way."
"We determined they were likely removed by a medical professional in a hospital and someone decided to keep them."- DarrellTheRipper
Old Lady Reaction GIFGiphyThe Endless Problem Of Cyber Scams
"I work as forensic expert in the field of computer science for a few years."
'There were many strange cases I investigated during my career, for example:"
"A woman lost about 50 000 euros with internet scammer.'
"She was chatting with a man who was impersonating USA soldier and told her he's in love with her and need to get 1000 euro to arrive to her."
'She sent him money so he continued scamming and promised he would buy a house for them to live together so she send another 50 000 euro to him and then he disappeared."
"She was shocked and reported it to police."
'They took her phone and PC to investigate further.'
"Few years ago police took around 20 Macbooks from a small company to investigate for frauding and fake invoices.'
"Unfortunately they only took monitors since they thought every stationary Mac is iMac."
"When they returned few days later to that company there wasn't any PC's left so the investigation was discontinued."- pureavo
Small Town Shenanigans
'Not really a case but my grandad was the first and only one armed detective in our small town, in England."
"One day a bull got loose in a neighboring village and he was called to go and shoot it."
"As he went to the gun safe the ammo was there but no gun to be found."
"When he enquired as to it’s whereabouts, It turned out the police force had lent it to the amateur dramatics society that night for a play."
"How times have changed."- Low-Wrangler929
the office gun GIFGiphyDetectives will be tasked with all kinds of cases.
Some of which will haunt their memories forever.
Others that will always come in handy when they need a laugh.
Redditor KnownNormie wanted to hear about the times when people went looking for a job, and then went running away because of a few hints that things maybe a little "off the rails," while in the interview process, so they asked:
"What’s the biggest red flag during an employment interview?"
I was once in an interview and the manager cried due to the understaffing.
I didn't even leave a tissue as I ran away.
May the Odds...
"30 people in the lobby, 'Some of you will be lucky enough to be chosen.'"
gobigred3562
Hunger Games Student GIFGiphyLet's Talk
"An employee offered to walk me out of the building after my interview and took the opportunity to basically warn me (in not so many words) about what the job really entailed. He was super-friendly and diplomatic, just like he was making small-talk, shooting the sh*t with me, then 'did they mention you’d get to do X?'"
"'Because if you’ve got your heart set on that, you might be disappointed with the reality of the role,' that kinda thing. Especially when he heard I was fresh out of college and would have had to move country for the job."
"Basically the job ad was complete BS, and he was making sure I knew. I will be forever grateful to people like him."
ididitforcheese
Evaluations
"When I mentioned a company's dismal Glassdoor evaluations, they became so enraged that they ended the interview. Well. I suppose I escaped that danger."
Even_Beginndsasws
"On the other hand -- I've had some good luck bringing up a company's positive Glassdoor and Indeed reviews when the scores are considerably higher than expected. It's exceptionally rare for companies to post above a 4.0 without serious vote manipulation."
"And I've run across some companies with 4.8/5 and higher. Asking how the company managed to end up with such a high employee satisfaction score gets them talking about what people like about working there, and you can easily tell if they're bullshi**ing you."
Chastain86
History Lessons
"Not being clear about why the position opened."
Earth-Rat
"Sometimes it really is a liability to discuss. I knew a guy that was fired for embezzling, in the aftermath the company really couldn't discuss it. It is very annoying to be silent on something, but it is necessary from time to time."
snowgorilla13
I conduct job interviews as part of my job. This is something that I cannot reveal to prospects due to confidentiality; two of the last three people I hired were hired to replace others who had been fired."
BobBelcher2021
Hey Lisa
"Being a nanny you get some bizarre ones. It’s not HR or a business owner. It’s Lisa the 27-year-old first-time mother. Who hasn’t done anything in her life. The biggest red flag was probably when she asked if I’d be interested in inducing lactation to nurse her baby."
Onlyfansnanny
Home Video Baby GIF by Apple TV+GiphyI don't know how anyone likes to babysit.
Kids are stressful to care for. Then you add parents. Oof.
TMI... thank you
"My recent interview with what I thought would be a dream job went like this:"
"'You know you're the 6th person we've tried to make this position work for and we're starting to think it's us.'"
Seedinthethorns
Seth Meyers Lol GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphyDownhill
"Group interviews are a giant red flag. I remember being recruited for a 'sales job' selling textbooks door to door and having to go to whatever state they sent you to in the summer. At first, they had 20 of us meet in a local Mexican restaurant and then when I had my one on one in college hall or somewhere, it went downhill."
JuniorsEyes90
Where's the Fun?
"The office has a break room with games, pool table, etc, that looks like no one has touched it in months."
WorriedlyFretful
"Funny thing is I work for a small family own company, we have a Ping pong table but it's because the family is obsessed with it. like they play each other at lunch or will stay after work to play a round. it's all in good fun and you better believe most days at 5pm sharp there is a mad dash to get the hell out of there by everyone."
glucoseintolerant
I See You
"I've posted on this before, but one I don't see mentioned a lot is the eyes of the interviewers. I'm not talking about do they seem shifty or whatever, I mean, do the people you're talking to seem chill and well-rested? Or are their eyes bloodshot, dark circles under them, and they seem exhausted?"
"It's harder to tell in a Zoom interview, but you can look for it once you start to notice it. I've said no to companies based on this alone. If everyone in a company looks tired, it's because they are stressed out and/or working extra hours all the time."
"Big red flag."
jseego
Not even a DVD?
"In 2017 I interviewed to teach at a small community college. It was a day-long affair and they showed me a video on the history of the school. The video was on VHS. Did I say it was in 2017?"
discostud1515
Animated GIFGiphyWhen interviewing for a job... always follow your gut.
If it says run... RUN!!