51 Times People Reconnected With An Old Friend And Were Horrified By What They Found

I knew a girl in high school who was pretty cool. We went on a class trip and spent a lot of time hanging out, then later I went to a few punk shows with her.

7 or 8 years later, I was back in town visiting. I stopped at a gas station to fill up, and this emaciated, dirty creature stepped out of the shadows and asked me if I had any spare change. It was her. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days and had track marks all up and down her arms. She didn't recognize me. I gave her the few bills I had in my pocket and left. Kind of haunts me to this day.

edit (4 months later): She actually messaged me on FB recently. Looks like she kicked her habit and is doing well today!

A few years back, I met up with an old friend to find out that he only wanted to hang out so he could pitch a pyramid scheme to me.

Not a very long time between losing contact and meeting him, but this guy that was a huge d**k and a tool in my sophomore year of high school dropped out because of d**g use, a broken home, and really a large combination of issues.

My freshman year of college, I discovered that he was a janitor in my dorm building, and regularly cleaned the bathroom that I used. It seemed, however, that he had really changed for the better. He looked much better, and he was really polite and adult-like when I talked to him. He said that he had a daughter with this girl, and that he was married.

His job wasn't really the best, but I hope that his life has turned out well since.

Yes, I had a friend in high school that was as normal as can be. Met him at our high school reunion and within 5 minutes of chatting he starts spewing these nonsense goverment conspiracy theories regarding 9/11 and the Boston Bombing. He even pulled out a dollar bill an tried showing hidden messages. Dude turned into a loon.

I found out that an individual whom I played sports with (many times giving me rides to practice and games) was running a near multiple year long internet scam.

They posed as a parent whose child had cancer, using pictures they stole from other people and their children around the internet. The scam ended up gaining scores of supporters and went so far as selling personalized wristbands with the "child's" (remember the child is not real) name on it. They are now under investigation for possible money laundering (however it is not proven that they did or did not). This scam was so large that there are multiple large news groups that picked up and reported the story (which is how I found out).

My mind is still blown from my discovery.

I found a childhood friend that I hadn't seen for 25 years or so on Facebook. Turns out, he's a huge racist now.

On a related note, a guy I knew from the Army 20 Years ago that was a racist skinhead is now one of the most tolerant people I know.

Two years after we broke up, an ex contacted me out of the blue and we decided to hang out. While dating we'd talked a lot about dropping out of high school and getting our GEDs so we could go to college early--I never did either one, and he decided it'd be a good plan to drop out but never get his GED. He was playing the Yu-Gi-Oh card game pretty much full-time (this was a while ago) and living off of his mom. He was living in this apartment full of garbage with a friend, his girlfriend, and her baby. I ran for the hills.

My best friend in high school went away to the army after graduation. We lost touch after a few years. I found her on Facebook recently only to discover that she is now IN LOVE with God, hates gay rights with a passion, and is on her third marriage. We had a couple catch up conversations over Facebook chat. A few weeks later I posted a story about the supreme court decision on DOMA and she sent me a HUGE rant about how disappointed and disgusted she was in me and how God will surely strike me down for my support of gay marriage.

There was this dude I hung out with in high school. Me, him and another dude were inseperable for one summer, hanging out almost every day. I ran into him again years later, mid twenties maybe. at a bus/train terminal and said 'Hey, dude, what's up?' He spent the next fourty five minutes while I waited for my bus chainsmoking cigarettes and telling me about his troubles. How his ex girlfriend had taken out a restraining order. About how she kept calling him regardless. About how he kept losing jobs, and none of his friends wanted to talk to him. About how he the government was tapping into his thoughts, listening in on his phone calls, and calling him themselves some nights, just to berate him over the phone.

It was surreal, as the slow realization dawned on me over that time that he'd gone absolutely, entirely insane. The more I talked to him, the more comfortable he apparently felt, because the more stuff he admitted. About the voices and what they told him. No one else I knew had any idea about what happened to him except that the only time they saw him any more was wandering the area smoking cigarettes and talking to himself.

Best I can figure, he hit that 19-21 age group that Schizophrenia can suddenly emerge, and it emerged with a vengence. And because of out country's mental health system, because he was just a normal middle class suburban shchmuck without a rich daddy, because like the vast majority of americans these days he had no safety net at all...all he could do was try desperately to medicate with nicotine and alchohol and wander like some kind of terrified and half mad street-ghost that people who should have been helping hid behind bus stop shelters to avoid.

My husband ran into an old friend and invited him over to hang out. It had been about 5 years since he had seen him. The old friend shows up with the sketchiest ho-bag you can imagine, missing teeth, sores, the whole nasty set. The chick makes a bee line for my bathroom and spends like 45 minutes in there before bolting to my patio and puking over my balcony. I had had enough so I kicked them out, as they were leaving they looked around my apartment and said "You have really nice things we will be back." When I went into my bathroom I found an orange cap from a syringe on the floor.

TL;DR If it has been 5+ years since you have seen someone do not invite them to your place.

When I was living out of the country, a friend of mine who I had already not seen for years was hit by a car, back in the US of A. When I got back 10 months later, he had just gotten out of PT and physically was doing very well. So we start talking,reminiscing on the old times, talking about what we had done since we last saw each other. Turns out that in the years we spent apart he became a massive racist, card carrying member of (one of) the US N**i party and a Knight of (one of the many) Klans.

My girl friend all through high school left me after about a five year stint for a d**g dealing idiot. During high school she was the captain of the cheer leading team and an avid church goer. About 6 months ago she created a Facebook account and sent me a friend request and an IM. I had heard she was bad off but had no idea. During the IM she asked how I was doing and I told her that I was raising a family and working on my M.S. while working full time for a local college. When I asked her how she was doing I got no reply. I later sent her cousin that I am friends with a message to ask her what was up. She told me that she has 4 different kids from 4 different dudes in which she has custody of none and is a [s*x worker] and [an addict]. I wished a lot of bad things on her but never this much.

This greaser girl who always came out to shows in my city. She was gorgeous, skinny, did her hair and make up very rockabilly, great personality, every guy was in love with her, she was the center of attention in many circles. People just wanted to be around her because she was just a fun person. I stopped being in the music scene and haven't spoken to her for 8 years.

Well I was delivering to one of my customers and someone approached me...this weird fat homeless person. "Drey? is that you?" And I got freaked out because I had no idea who this chick was...I was scared. Like she was one of those ghosts who no one can see but me... "It's me Natalie..." And instantly my heart broke. She tells me she sleeps behind her parents a garage, spends all day at a library, in front of a 7 eleven, or the park. She isn't allowed inside her house. After we caught up and believe me...this chick was out of her mind because she would bring up random things that never happen, she asked for "a few dollars" and I gave it to her. She walked away. And I was in shock...still am.

I saw an old friend of mine from elementary school begging outside an supermarket. We sat down and had a coffee. I knew he got into d***s quite early but we lost contact years before that. He told me that the doctors gave him a year tops due to problems with the heart and liver. And junkies don't get new organs. He seemed very sad but somehow as if he had accepted that he screwed up and would not get a second chance. I heard from my mother earlier that he had a child. His parents live next to mine and apparently gave up on him but supported the child and the mother. He said that even though he will d*e soon something from him will stay behind: his daughter. When we said goodbye he wished me luck and I could tell that he envied me for having a live to go back to. I did not know what to say...

Once I hit middle school it was pretty much the same group of people I ran around with for the rest of my school years. Had one guy named Bobby that was part of our group. Partied with him, crashed at his house, he crashed at mine. Were great friends. We all grow up go our separate ways into the military, I went Army, he went Navy. Couple years after he gets out he decided his life's goal is to become a serial killer. They finally caught him. They were only able to convict him on 5, but we all know there is more.. What's worse is when he was finally caught, his mom was helping him cover it up.. Oh and she worked as a dispatcher for the local sheriffs department......

After going away to college and coming back to my hometown, I was horrified to find out that my best friend turned into a Neo N**i/K*K guy. This is the same guy that I would have dinner at his house mom and dad loved me and even his nephew. He had gone to the extreme by getting N**i tattoos and even wearing racist shirts. He still was very nice to me and invited me over where he was proudly displaying his Rebel Flag, tats, N**i symbols.
It was hard for me to think this was my friend who would pick me up everyday for school and drop me off. By the way I'm a black female. I still somewhat talk to his sister and parents.

I went to school with this kid. Lets call him Phil.

I was never too close with the guy, as we were in different majors at our arts school. Had a few core classes with him. We would talk from time to time. Seemed like the normal nerd type. One of the anime enthusiasts that would show up early to play hacky-sack with the guy who wore a cape and the girl with a cat ear head band. Generally a nice guy.

Ran into him grabbing some food about a year after graduation. We were both there alone so I asked him to sit and eat with me to be nice. He accepted. We spent the next thirty minutes catching up. He started acting very strange towards the end of the conversation, as if there was something he wanted to tell me but couldn't. We parted ways.

2 days later I see his face on the news. He had went home that night, and stabbed his Mother, Father, And Sister to Death.

TL;DR Saw a kid from high school I hadn't seen since, killed his family later the same night.

Yes. I had two best friends when I was very young (1st and 2nd grade) that both moved away the same year and I have always wanted to try looking them up. I only remembered the last name of one (the boy, I forgot the girls last name) and a few years ago on a whim I put it in the search bar of Facebook. Like 12 entries down I found him and apparently in the dozen or so years since we were friends his life took a pretty down hill turn. His mom and dad had kicked him out, he didn't have a job, he was too mentally unstable to hold a job but not "crazy enough" for disability and his 40 something girlfriend had just left him. I was stupid enough to give him my number on FB and about an hour into this phone call he tells me he should move in with me and it would be great "just like old times!" I made an excuse to get off the phone and dodged all of his calls for the next week. I feel terrible that I basically rejected him but I just did NOT need that in my life at the time.

My best friend from when I was 9 got hooked on pills and never learned to spell.
We used to stuff our bras together :/.

I recently caught up with my best friend from five years prior. He was an internet-only friend whom (despite having close real life friends) I considered to be my "best friend".

Long story short, we just kind of drifted apart. We were in high school at the time and when each of us got jobs and moved on with our own lives our communication kind of fell away. Now, a few years later, we've started to talk a bit more.

In a recent conversation, I discovered that he had become a racist, wildly conservative, conspiracy theorist. He went on to inform me that he runs a newsletter (which was filled with crazy conspiracies) and then asked me to acquaint myself with a very popular conspiracy theorist's forum. All of this directly opposite the person I used to know. It struck me as a very drastic personality change and got me thinking you guys probably have some interesting stories.