One moment they're there. The next, they've vanished. Hundreds of thousands of people go missing in the United States every year. Sometimes, it's a case of the person deliberately disappearing but other times, there's something a lot more sinister at play.
Take Nancy Guthrie, for example. The mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie is believed to have been snatched from her bed in the middle of the night. Months later, her whereabouts are still unknown, and no arrests have yet been made. The mystery proves that none of us are ever 100% safe, even in our own homes. Someone asked, "What missing person case in America feels like a straight-up internet horror story?" and many of the responses read like the stuff nightmares are made of.
Bored Panda has put together a list of some of the most bone-chilling ones. There's the story of the woman who got abducted from a payphone booth while on a call with her fiancé, the 9-year-old girl who walked out of her house at 3am during a thunderstorm, and plenty of others that might have you sleeping with one eye open.
#21
Nolan Wells. Literally unfolding in Mississippi right now. Black teen boy goes missing on trip with all white friends. They all returned without him, have his phone, and claim they didn't know anything. After a day they said he stayed behind (without his phone) because he met up with some other friends, including a girl he liked. One of the boy's mom is a judge who somehow is allowed to review and weigh on on this ongoing investigation. His body still hasnt been found.
Almost no mainstream media coverage. The amount of people who have pointed out that if a white boy went missing on a trip with all black kids...the story would be so different and it would be everywhere.
EDIT: Thankfully, his body has recently been found, but his "friends" stories still don't add up.
Almost no mainstream media coverage. The amount of people who have pointed out that if a white boy went missing on a trip with all black kids...the story would be so different and it would be everywhere.
EDIT: Thankfully, his body has recently been found, but his "friends" stories still don't add up.
10points
#22
Michael Negrete. Living in a dorm at UCLA on a music scholarship. On December 10, he had attended a party with friends on the floor he lived on, and had subsequently returned to his room. He then played an online video game with a friend in another room. At 4 AM, the game finished, and he left his room to congratulate the other player. He was last seen by the friend returning to his own room, and was never seen again. When Negrete's roommate woke up at 9 AM, Negrete was gone, but his clothing, shoes, wallet, keys and musical instruments were still there.
He was my husbands friend in high school. I don’t understand how someone disappears completely from an extremely full college dorm never to be seen again. I really hope his family gets answers one day. I think about it all the time.
He was my husbands friend in high school. I don’t understand how someone disappears completely from an extremely full college dorm never to be seen again. I really hope his family gets answers one day. I think about it all the time.
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10points
#23
Not a single disappearance, but the Starlight tour m*rders in rural Canada come to mind. The police would pick up indigenous people, many of them drunk, and would drive them out into the middle of nowhere in Canadian winter. It only became reported on when one of the people survived and walked back to their reservation. The reporting about it came out on.... 9/11/2001. As you can imagine, it was buried by bigger news stories pretty swiftly.
We may not have proof of similar practices in the US (that i'm aware of anyway), but the amount of missing Native American men and women suggests that something nefarious is still going on to this day.
We may not have proof of similar practices in the US (that i'm aware of anyway), but the amount of missing Native American men and women suggests that something nefarious is still going on to this day.
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9points
#24
Kenny Veach
Avid hiker who, reportedly, found a cave shaped exactly like the letter “M” in Nevada. Tried approaching it, but his entire body started shaking violently making him retreat. He tried multiple times to go and find the exact cave again and again. Eventually one day he just never came back.
Avid hiker who, reportedly, found a cave shaped exactly like the letter “M” in Nevada. Tried approaching it, but his entire body started shaking violently making him retreat. He tried multiple times to go and find the exact cave again and again. Eventually one day he just never came back.
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8points
#25
This was a Cracked article and I can't remember his name, but a guy was on his phone at night after his car broke down, saying to whoever's on the other end of the line that he's cutting through the desert and walking towards the lights of a city. The call goes d**d, and although they find his car broken down along the side of the road, it's in the remote desert and there shouldn't be any "lights of a city" to walk towards.
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8points
#26
Susan Cox Powell.
While she has never been found, this case ended up turning into a horror story. Her husband was the main suspect, and he ended up taking himself and their kids out in a gnarly m****r s*****e. His father also had a bunch of sketchiness involved with this case also.
While she has never been found, this case ended up turning into a horror story. Her husband was the main suspect, and he ended up taking himself and their kids out in a gnarly m****r s*****e. His father also had a bunch of sketchiness involved with this case also.
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8points
#27
Erica Baker from Dayton, OH. On February 7, 1999, Erica's father dropped her off at her mother, Misty Baker's, house at approximately 3:00pm. Around 3:30pm, Erica had asked her grandmother, Pam Schmidt, if she could take her Shih Tzu out for a walk.
At first, she was uncertain, but eventually let her go. A long time had passed and she hadn't returned. At around 4:30pm, her dog was found alone dragging its leash, but Erica was nowhere to be found, and she has not been seen or heard from since. Her fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
They are pretty sure that she was hit by a van with some d*****d out people in it. They supposedly took her and buried her but can't remember where. They've tried many times to find her grave.
The main suspect confessed to hitting her. He had two people with him, they were high. One of the people with him was uncooperative with the police and later died from a d**g o******e. The police were pretty sure she had told her attorney about it, but her attorney claimed client/attorney privileges. She even refused to testify after her client had passed. She still refuses to this day to tell what her d**d client might have known about where the girl is buried.
In 2011, Erica Baker's grandmother, Pam Schmidt, picked up the only man ever convicted in the girl's disappearance, Christian Gabriel, from the Mercer County Jail in Ohio. Schmidt did this hoping to persuade him, as a grandparent, to reveal where Erica's body was hidden. Christian Gabriel served six years in prison for tampering with evidence and gross a***e of a corpse but never led police to her remains.
Christian Gabriel was found guilty on one count of gross a***e of a corpse and one count of tampering with evidence.
In the search for Erica's body, Gabriel took investigators to Eastwood Lake, Huffman MetroPark and finally to Caesar Creek State Park. In July 2004, he told Kettering Police that he and three others were in a van when they struck Erica in the street. The other three buried her at Huffman MetroPark.
Four months later, his story changed. He was in the van with just one other person, Jan Franks, and they buried the body in a different location.
Three months later, his story changed again. This time he said he did not own a van at the time of her disappearance. Erica's body has never been found.
At first, she was uncertain, but eventually let her go. A long time had passed and she hadn't returned. At around 4:30pm, her dog was found alone dragging its leash, but Erica was nowhere to be found, and she has not been seen or heard from since. Her fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
They are pretty sure that she was hit by a van with some d*****d out people in it. They supposedly took her and buried her but can't remember where. They've tried many times to find her grave.
The main suspect confessed to hitting her. He had two people with him, they were high. One of the people with him was uncooperative with the police and later died from a d**g o******e. The police were pretty sure she had told her attorney about it, but her attorney claimed client/attorney privileges. She even refused to testify after her client had passed. She still refuses to this day to tell what her d**d client might have known about where the girl is buried.
In 2011, Erica Baker's grandmother, Pam Schmidt, picked up the only man ever convicted in the girl's disappearance, Christian Gabriel, from the Mercer County Jail in Ohio. Schmidt did this hoping to persuade him, as a grandparent, to reveal where Erica's body was hidden. Christian Gabriel served six years in prison for tampering with evidence and gross a***e of a corpse but never led police to her remains.
Christian Gabriel was found guilty on one count of gross a***e of a corpse and one count of tampering with evidence.
In the search for Erica's body, Gabriel took investigators to Eastwood Lake, Huffman MetroPark and finally to Caesar Creek State Park. In July 2004, he told Kettering Police that he and three others were in a van when they struck Erica in the street. The other three buried her at Huffman MetroPark.
Four months later, his story changed. He was in the van with just one other person, Jan Franks, and they buried the body in a different location.
Three months later, his story changed again. This time he said he did not own a van at the time of her disappearance. Erica's body has never been found.
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8points
#28
Stacy Peterson. Fourth Wife of Drew Peterson (Illinois police officer). Drew’s third wife, Kathleen, was m******d in 2003, presumed to have died by accidental drowning in a bathtub a few months after their divorce, eventually Drew was found guilty of Kathleen’s m****r in 2012. For Stacy Peterson, she went missing in 2007 with zero leads or ideas where she went. So sad to be a fourth wife and second presumably k****d by the same man.
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8points
#30
For me, it's the disappearance of Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers. Paul owned a moving company where Lorenzo was his employee, and his daughter Sarah joined them on a job but they were never seen again. Paul was actually supposed to be off that day but the night before a different employee asked for it off so he could assist with planning a funeral. So whatever happened to them must have been a spur of the moment thing.
Based on the evidence found in the moving van Paul & Sarah are likely deceased, but there was no sign of what happened to Lorenzo. There's a significant amount of circumstantial evidence pointing at Paul's fiancée and her family; she was pregnant and Paul was not 100% sure the child was his, her sister was dating Lorenzo but he was trying to reconcile with his wife, and the fiancée's brother tried to get money out of Paul's estate as well. But some people think Lorenzo k****d Paul & Sarah and has been on the run since. It's just so strange for 3 people to go missing, and so tragic since it seems like they most likely met with foul play.
Based on the evidence found in the moving van Paul & Sarah are likely deceased, but there was no sign of what happened to Lorenzo. There's a significant amount of circumstantial evidence pointing at Paul's fiancée and her family; she was pregnant and Paul was not 100% sure the child was his, her sister was dating Lorenzo but he was trying to reconcile with his wife, and the fiancée's brother tried to get money out of Paul's estate as well. But some people think Lorenzo k****d Paul & Sarah and has been on the run since. It's just so strange for 3 people to go missing, and so tragic since it seems like they most likely met with foul play.
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7points
#31
Brandon Swanson. May 14, 2008, he was a 19 year old who drove his car into a ditch late at night after being at a party. He got out and called his parents and they started driving to his location. But they couldn't quite find him or his car. Still on the phone, he suddenly yelled. "Oh, s**t!" and went silent. He's never been seen or heard from since.
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7points
#32
Daniel Robinson from Buckeye Arizona. The incompetent police work, his weird behavior, and the staged crash scene just don't add up. I feel bad for his father. He's looking really hard for his son but he still doesn't have any answers.
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6points
#33
Disappearance of Lauren Spierer.
20-year-old Indiana University student vanished after a night out with friends in Indiana. Surveillance footage and witness accounts traced her movements during the early morning hours, but she was never seen again.
Personally I think the group she was with did something to her, or she accident OD and they freaked out.
20-year-old Indiana University student vanished after a night out with friends in Indiana. Surveillance footage and witness accounts traced her movements during the early morning hours, but she was never seen again.
Personally I think the group she was with did something to her, or she accident OD and they freaked out.
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6points
#34
Samantha Koenig.
A man kidnapped her from an ice cream shop or diner that she worked at very late at night when she was working alone, s*xually ab*sed her, and m******d her the very next day. Weeks later, he returned to the shed where he had hidden her body, staged her corpse by sewing her eyes open, took a "proof of life" photo next to a recent newspaper, and used it to successfully demand 30k ransom from her family before fleeing.
I watch a lot of true crime so nothing shocks me anymore but that one had my jaw on the floor. The photo is so chilling.
A man kidnapped her from an ice cream shop or diner that she worked at very late at night when she was working alone, s*xually ab*sed her, and m******d her the very next day. Weeks later, he returned to the shed where he had hidden her body, staged her corpse by sewing her eyes open, took a "proof of life" photo next to a recent newspaper, and used it to successfully demand 30k ransom from her family before fleeing.
I watch a lot of true crime so nothing shocks me anymore but that one had my jaw on the floor. The photo is so chilling.
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6points
#35
Almost guarantee there will be a movie about the Nancy Guthrie case. It’s got all the elements - famous daughter, scrutiny of possible family involvement, ransom requests, TMZ involvement, corruption of the Sherrifs Office, and the fact that it hasn’t been solved yet makes me feel like that may be the tip of the iceberg.
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6points
#36
I think about dane elkins, who went missing near me, all the time. junior olympian + engineering student; i feel that he must have been under so much pressure that he developed psychosis during covid :(.
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5points
#37
Amy Mihaljevic, a 10 year old girl from Ohio, who went missing in 1989 after heading to a store after school one day. After talking with her friends, investigators found out that a man had been calling her house claiming to be her mother's friend who wanted help in buying her mom a present for a recent promotion she got at work. IIRC she and her friends rode their bikes to a strip mall and the friends saw her walk over to meet a man but they have little to no description of him.
She was later found in a field with a really odd, obviously home made blanket and/or curtain.
The weirder part in all this is other kids had said, both before and after Amy was abducted, that they also received phone calls from a man claiming to be a family friend and that he would either have information that only the family would know or would know a decent amount about the family that the kids would assume he did actually know their family.
They've never been able to locate origin of the calls or the man who did it though.
She was later found in a field with a really odd, obviously home made blanket and/or curtain.
The weirder part in all this is other kids had said, both before and after Amy was abducted, that they also received phone calls from a man claiming to be a family friend and that he would either have information that only the family would know or would know a decent amount about the family that the kids would assume he did actually know their family.
They've never been able to locate origin of the calls or the man who did it though.
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5points
#38
Canada, but Lilly and Jack Sullivan. I'm from Nova Scotia and it's something that we all collectively carry daily even after a year. It just makes no sense.
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5points
#39
Diamond and Tionda Bradley.
Vanished from their apartment in Chicago 25? years ago.
Suspicion fell on mom's boyfriend, but he has never been arrested.
Vanished from their apartment in Chicago 25? years ago.
Suspicion fell on mom's boyfriend, but he has never been arrested.
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5points
#40
The Maura Murray case. She crashes her car on a dark rural road and disappears with no trace despite years of online sleuthing and creepy theories.
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5points
