Searching for a missing loved one is one of the singular most terrifying experiences in life. You pray that every second they are gone that they're not suffering. And never mind the trauma one suffers when they are a person missing due to nefarious circumstances. Often times what starts as a missing persons situation quickly ends peacefully, sometimes kids wonder off and adults take time away without letting anyone know or without thinking. But better to have a return alive story than not.
Redditor u/airherman wanted to hear the details from those who came home by asking.... Redditors who have gone/were declared missing, what is your story?Being 8....
I was eight and on vacation. Decided to go for a walk without telling anyone. Played all afternoon an the beach. Came at night.
Oooo boy was everyone mad. I was having tons of fun. I made a sand fortress and watched it fight with the coming tide.
I did not get lost. I have always been good with my bearings.
"sore feet"
As a paramedic we once attended a call for a male with "sore feet".
Attended a lay-by by the side of a road to a perfectly polite chap, who did have some very nasty blisters. He'd been to a family funeral, got a bit upset and had gone for a walk to clear his head, then just kept walking. For four days.
Turns out he was from the same area as where I grew up (about 250 miles away) and we reminisced about the country side and some of the good pubs etc. He admitted that maybe he was a bit depressed and probably needed some help, unfortunately all we could offer was a trip to hospital, but we did what we could.
Later that shift I'm perusing Facebook and see an old school friend has shared a missing person appeal. It's our walking patient!I rang the police and told them where our chap was, and they were very pleased.
For the love of candy....
Reminds me of my cousin, suddenly he disappeared and everyone was frantically looking for him, then he comes back a couple of hours later, turns out he went to the convenience store without telling anyone, bought food and candy, then stayed behind the house to eat so that no one can see him and he doesn't have to share.
Not my Money!
I forget how old I was but I was probably around 10. My friend and I started raking leaves for cash around our suburban neighborhood. We kept going house to house asking anyone who had a tree in their yard if they wanted them raked for $5.
We eventually went to so many houses we got ourselves lost within the criss cross streets of the neighborhood since we really never left our block of houses beforehand. Then the sun set and we found ourselves lost trying to recognize street names or anything familiar in the dark with only street lights lighting the way.
Eventually as were wandering lost we hear cop sirens and lights blare and pull over and ask for our names. We got picked up and taken back to our houses. It felt like a long drive to us 10 year olds but in reality it was like 4 blocks lol
Boy did we get the biggest scolding ever and our parents took our hard earned money.
How Sweet....
I was on vacation for 3 weeks. In the 2nd week my Boss called me and asked if everything is ok because the police called them and told them that I was declared missing. My neighbor called the police because he didn't hear me for over a week and was worried about me... was kind of a good feeling.
Playing Chicken...
This!!!
I was around the same age when my family went to the Philippines to visit family. My parents were out seeing the sights, and I was at my Aunt's apartment.
Down the street was my cousin's house and I texted her and asked if she wanted to hang out. So I left without asking and we went all over town. Keep in mind she was like 2-3 years older than I was.
So we end up at another cousins house (no blood relation), and we're playing Chicken Little on the playstation. My parents get in touch with my aunt and they've been trying to track me down because they thought I had gotten kidnapped.
Freedom....
i left the abusive household i grew up in, leaving a note clearly stating my intentions to never return. an hour or two later i received a call from the police stating that i'd been declared missing. i explained to them my circumstances and they wished me well. since i was of age, i was free. it'll be three years soon.
EDIT : holy guacamole, there's so many of you! i woke up this morning to a whole lot of love and i'm so thankful for each and every one of you beautiful people. i was going to try and answer everyone individually but i'm starting to realize that it's a bit of a momentous task so i want to thank youse all collectively for the awards, and for sharing your own stories. i'm proud of those of you who took the necessary steps to secure your freedom and happiness. i know that it can get lonely in this big old world of ours, so if anybody needs a friend to chitchat with, my inbox is open. and seriously, thank youse all again. my heart is fuzzy and warm today.
You're It!
The story of how I went "missing" is also one of my first memories. When I was 5, I went on holiday with my family to Scotland. We were in the middle of nowhere surrounding by nothing but land dominated by trees.
There wasn't much to do, so my sister and I played hide and seek. I thought it would be a great idea to hide right next to the front door of the cottage we were staying in, inside of a giant bush.
I watched my sister look for me for about 5 minutes, until she clearly gave up and went inside. However I never give up on anything, and decided to stay until I was found.
After a short period, 15 minutes or so... more people started playing the game. I now watched my parents sprint around in front of me, while I silently giggled in the bush thinking "I'm so good at this game".
More and more people started to play, other holiday-goers in cottages nearby, park rangers and police. I stayed in that bush for hours and hours until it got dark, having the time of my life.
My sister was only 7, so she didn't help look for me and just sat by the doorstep. As it got darker outside, my yellow jacket got brighter and after a whole day of searching for me in the nearby woods, my sister realized I was stood right next to her.
Best game of hide and seek ever.
A Bad Day...
The day the Boston Marathon got bombed, the cell network crashed because of so many people trying to find loved ones. Now, I was a student in Boston at the time, and I was also a volunteer EMT. So I got called into service and only had time to call my father before the network crashed. My dad called my mom and sister, but not my friends or any of my extended family.
Hours later when the networks stabilized, I had voicemails and texts from all up and down the east coast: "where are you are you ok??" "Are you part of the EMT response??" "What's going on??" Aunts, uncles, my boyfriend... And I'm just like "listen, everyone, I'm out RESPONDING TO A TERRORIST ATTACK, can y'all talk to each other??"
Taboo
My cousin was kidnapped when he was very young maybe 4/5 my aunt was living in Belgium at the time, he was kidnapped and thrown in a car, witnessed by many people, police were called, my poor aunt was frantic, he was left at the side of a road about 8 hours later, but to this day they never found out who took him, were they took him to, and what happened to him while he was gone. It's a taboo subject that I could never bring up to my aunt.
At 15....
I ran away from home due to my alcoholic step mom. My dad would always file a missing person report and cops would eventually find me and bring me home. At 15 I was homeless for 6 months and selling acid for food and a place to stay. Was still better than dealing with my step mom. She drank herself to death and I found peace.
Welcome Home....
My aunty was missing for 15 years.
She stopped answering calls, moved house and changed her number. I grew from age 3 to 18. I had 2 younger siblings she didn't know existed.
One afternoon i answer the phone at my parents house. My mum had never changed our phone number. I've already moved out but am visiting my dog. My family are away for the day. It's this aunt.
I recognizes her voice from her reading me bedtime stories, she sounds so similar to my mum.
I'm naturally freaking out about keeping her on the line, getting contact information, where she lives now etc.
Long story short it's been 9 years. She is medicated for her schizophrenia and happy to be back in the family.
Getting Help
I went to rehab. I don't know why I didn't think to tell anyone, but I was a drug addict so my brain was mush. My (now ex) boyfriend was the only person who knew. About a week in, I got called into the main office at the rehab and was told that my mother got a hold of them freaking out and telling them that I had been missing for a month (she was exaggerating), but they legally weren't allowed to tell her that I was there, so I had to call her to explain the situation.
When I got out, I had messages from tons of people asking if I was alive and found out even my old job was contacted lol. I found out that my best friend and my brother messaged my (ex) bf, and he ignored them and never told me that they contacted him. If he had, I would've told him to tell them where I was and the whole thing could've been avoided. I felt really bad about the whole situation because it stressed a lot of people out.
150 Miles Away....
I took my three children and did a flit to get away from their father who had attempted to kill me in front of them. I drove around 150 miles away.
We were given a room in a woman's refuge in a coastal town. While the processing papers went through the children asked to go to the beach. Even though it was November and cold they were happily making sandcastles when I noticed a photographer. He kept directing the camera towards us, but casually tracked away when I looked up.
I was worried that the photos could give away our location, so went to speak to him, but I couldn't catch up so left it. I found out later that I had been reported as missing and a danger to the children by their father. We did not stay in the refuge long as I never felt completely safe there after that.
Bloodletting....
About 6 years ago, I hit a really nasty bottom in my addiction (alcohol). I decided to end it and broke contact with everyone as I drank myself to death. When my family found the room I was staying in, it was covered in blood (I was throwing up blood) and the police suspected that I had killed myself and gone somewhere to die. In the meantime, in some state, I had crawled into the road covered in blood and was taken to the ICU for a week until they put the pieces together and notified my family. Fun times...
(Note: 5 years+ sober and a lot better now).
the cub
When I was young, probably about 6 I think, my family went on vacation to Yosemite.
We stayed in a small cabin at a campground. I met another kid who was a bit older than me, and we went exploring. Apparently we went a bit too far, and eventually ran into a bear cub. We just stood and stared at each other for a few minutes and went our separate ways. When I got back to the cabin, I found out that park rangers had been out looking for me because my parents had no idea where I was. For some reason they didn't think my bear story was as cool as I did.
I was a teen and 'runaway' from home and was 'missing' for a few weeks. Left my small town due to small town crap going on and was basically road tripping with a friend. I never lived at my mom's house again. The small town crap included small town criminal crap so when I reappeared I went to juvie for a while and when I got out I got on a plane and went to live permanently with my uncle. My mom and I had kind of a rough time for a while but we're fine now.
The Beach Buffet
My favorite story is from when my cousin was 4 and we we're on the beach with our whole family. At one moment he just disappeared, we searched for him for hours and called the police. Turns out he went to a random hotel that was 2min away from the beach to POOP, met a bunch of kids in the hotel and played with them and everyone just thought he was a guest there... He even had dinner because the buffet had just been served. We almost sent a diving team to see if he drowned.
Get out of the car...
When I was 5 my mom left my cousin (6) and I in the car to run into gas station. This was back in the 80s I should add. My mom's car had those backseats that folded down from inside the car. So I had a great idea to scare my mom so my cousin and I climbed in the back and closed the seats. It was about 10 mins later and no mom so we popped out with smiles and saw a cop car and mom my crying. I was never allowed to stay in the car alone again after that.
Underneath Us....
My cousin went missing. Called the cops, gave a statement and suddenly he appears. Everyone was very happy but still confused. Turns out he fell asleep under the sofa.
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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