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Detectives Describe The Strangest Cases They've Ever Investigated

silhouette of a man with hat standing near concrete building in daytime
Craig Whitehead on Unsplash

From Sherlock Holmes to Olivia Benson, detectives have continued to hold a special place in the zeitgeist of popular culture.

And with the increased popularity of true crime documentaries and podcasts, many real-life detectives have become as or more popular than those from the world of literature, film and television.

Of course, real-life detectives rarely, if ever, handle cases of the magnitude of those we read about in our favorite mystery novels, or watch in our favorite films and TV shows.

And those whose cases become the source of a true crime documentary and podcast are among the rare variety interesting enough to merit that distinction.

Or are they?

Indeed, all detectives seem to find themself assigned to a case that, though it might not be a good source of inspiration for a novel or tv show, will certainly hold a special place in their memories.


Redditor VillainBrine1 was eager to heart about the most bizarre and unusual cases detectives have ever investigated, leading them to ask:
"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 GIFGiphy

Creepy, 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 GIFGiphy

The 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 GIFGiphy

Detectives 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.

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.