Some things in life just don’t make sense. You try to figure them out, but no matter how much time passes, the answers never come. It’s frustrating, but also the kind of thing that makes for truly gripping stories.
That’s exactly what happened when Reddit users whodunit72 and richterbg asked people to share personal mysteries they’ve never solved. The replies were full of bizarre coincidences, unexplained disappearances, and moments that seem to defy all logic. Scroll down to read them all and see if you’d have done any better at cracking the case.
#1
I have one that was solved, but only after about 35 years.
Family friend's brother has a wife, three kids. Goes to work one day, and doesn't come home. Wife files a missing person's report, but no one can find him. This is in the 70s. Eventually the wife thinks something bad must have happened, maybe he is dead. Has him actually declared dead, moves on with life.
Around 2005, the guy's father dies. Out of nowhere, the missing guy shows up back in town. He ended up having moved to florida to be in a gay relationship and didn't want to admit it to anyone. He wanted money from his dad's will. But since his dad thought he was dead he didn't get anything. He tried to fight it but didn't get anything. Honestly I dont pity him, it sucks he felt he had to hide his sexuality, and I understand it, but his kids and wife thought he was dead and mourned him and such and that is a massively s****y thing to do.
Family friend's brother has a wife, three kids. Goes to work one day, and doesn't come home. Wife files a missing person's report, but no one can find him. This is in the 70s. Eventually the wife thinks something bad must have happened, maybe he is dead. Has him actually declared dead, moves on with life.
Around 2005, the guy's father dies. Out of nowhere, the missing guy shows up back in town. He ended up having moved to florida to be in a gay relationship and didn't want to admit it to anyone. He wanted money from his dad's will. But since his dad thought he was dead he didn't get anything. He tried to fight it but didn't get anything. Honestly I dont pity him, it sucks he felt he had to hide his sexuality, and I understand it, but his kids and wife thought he was dead and mourned him and such and that is a massively s****y thing to do.
64points
#2
When I was in elementary school a nice family moved in down the street from us. 3 kids all within the age range of my sisters and myself. Their Mom Dorris was so kind and patient, she let us have fun with arts n crafts and make messes and run around and be kids. Their father Dave was soft spoken but funny, he took us camping and was a good person in general. Their one daughter Nicole, my age (well a year older I think) was my best friend we ran all over the neighborhood together and grew up together.
One day they told me their family was moving. Their mom was an RN in our towns hospital and their father a professor. They didn't say why they were moving just that they were moving. I thought they meant...we are moving soon/next month/end of the year. I was over playing at their house the day we were told they were moving. The house was normal, all the furniture still out, nothing packed, no boxes, no signs of packing, toys everywhere etc....
The next day I went to visit my Aunt and Uncle and when I got home that evening I went over to see my friend Nicole, but no one answered the door. The cars were gone, the doors were locked. I peeked in the window and the whole house was empty. Within 2 days of telling me they were moving and their house being a normal lived in house with 3 kids (so full of stuff) it had been completely emptied.
I asked my Mom what she knew and she said that Dorris had told her they were moving to Alaska for Dave's work. But Dave was a history professor, I can't imagine why in the middle of the summer they had to pack everything up within one day to move.
Their house sold quick (it was in a good family neighborhood) and the new family had much younger kids and kinda kept to themselves. Not mean, but not the same as having Dorris, Dave, Nicole and her brother and sister on the street.
I remember asking my Mom if I could send Nicole a letter ( early 90s) my Mom said Dorris had said she would call so us kids could keep in touch, but kind caring loving Dorris never called.
Fast forward years into the future and enter facebook/myspace social media....I've searched high and low for any of those kids (I get not everyone uses that stuff but at least 1 of them statistically could/should) and not a single clue to them ever even existing. Their last name was not completely unique but it wasn't 'Jones' or anything, so I should be able to at least get something from searching for them. But nothing.
Another kid that grew up on our block that also played with the kids in that family said that his mom had told him that Dorris had said they were moving to Florida and a girl that was friends with the youngest said that she had heard they were moving to Canada.
I will never know where they went or why, but I hope they had lovely lives and I hope Dorris and Dave know how much I remember and cherish the memories they took the time to make with us kids.
One day they told me their family was moving. Their mom was an RN in our towns hospital and their father a professor. They didn't say why they were moving just that they were moving. I thought they meant...we are moving soon/next month/end of the year. I was over playing at their house the day we were told they were moving. The house was normal, all the furniture still out, nothing packed, no boxes, no signs of packing, toys everywhere etc....
The next day I went to visit my Aunt and Uncle and when I got home that evening I went over to see my friend Nicole, but no one answered the door. The cars were gone, the doors were locked. I peeked in the window and the whole house was empty. Within 2 days of telling me they were moving and their house being a normal lived in house with 3 kids (so full of stuff) it had been completely emptied.
I asked my Mom what she knew and she said that Dorris had told her they were moving to Alaska for Dave's work. But Dave was a history professor, I can't imagine why in the middle of the summer they had to pack everything up within one day to move.
Their house sold quick (it was in a good family neighborhood) and the new family had much younger kids and kinda kept to themselves. Not mean, but not the same as having Dorris, Dave, Nicole and her brother and sister on the street.
I remember asking my Mom if I could send Nicole a letter ( early 90s) my Mom said Dorris had said she would call so us kids could keep in touch, but kind caring loving Dorris never called.
Fast forward years into the future and enter facebook/myspace social media....I've searched high and low for any of those kids (I get not everyone uses that stuff but at least 1 of them statistically could/should) and not a single clue to them ever even existing. Their last name was not completely unique but it wasn't 'Jones' or anything, so I should be able to at least get something from searching for them. But nothing.
Another kid that grew up on our block that also played with the kids in that family said that his mom had told him that Dorris had said they were moving to Florida and a girl that was friends with the youngest said that she had heard they were moving to Canada.
I will never know where they went or why, but I hope they had lovely lives and I hope Dorris and Dave know how much I remember and cherish the memories they took the time to make with us kids.
52points
#3
When I was 2 my mother disappeared. She had just moved to VA with me & my younger brother. My older brother was living with grandparents in PA, where my dad was in jail.
She left me and my brother with her sister one night. Her BIL and a friend of his gave her a ride up to a bar, because she was going to be looking for bartending jobs that evening. My mom was 24 at the time, & had just moved to VA 2 months before.
She never came home. She just, disappeared. In between stops at bars. My brother and I were eventually placed into foster care. The next year some hunters/ hikers in the woods across town found some human remains. They were just bones by that point. But my mother was able to be identified from dental records. Cause of death was blunt force trauma and GSW.
A couple years later my younger brother and I were adopted by two amazing parents. It was a closed adoption, but they never kept the truth from me. But I didn’t get to talk to or see anyone from my birth family again until after my younger brother turned 18. Got to learn a lot more about my family after that.
However, my mother’s m*rder from 1985 has never been solved. It was “reopened” again about 8 years ago, but I still haven’t heard about any new developments.
She left me and my brother with her sister one night. Her BIL and a friend of his gave her a ride up to a bar, because she was going to be looking for bartending jobs that evening. My mom was 24 at the time, & had just moved to VA 2 months before.
She never came home. She just, disappeared. In between stops at bars. My brother and I were eventually placed into foster care. The next year some hunters/ hikers in the woods across town found some human remains. They were just bones by that point. But my mother was able to be identified from dental records. Cause of death was blunt force trauma and GSW.
A couple years later my younger brother and I were adopted by two amazing parents. It was a closed adoption, but they never kept the truth from me. But I didn’t get to talk to or see anyone from my birth family again until after my younger brother turned 18. Got to learn a lot more about my family after that.
However, my mother’s m*rder from 1985 has never been solved. It was “reopened” again about 8 years ago, but I still haven’t heard about any new developments.
41points
#4
My Mother told my sister and I that we have an older brother she put up for adoption probably 1968. My Grandmother is the only one that knows the details of the adoption. She now suffers from Alzheimers and would never share any information.
Big Bro, if you’re out there and alive. I hope you know I think about you and wish I knew you.
Big Bro, if you’re out there and alive. I hope you know I think about you and wish I knew you.
40points
#5
Back in college, I dropped my wallet on the road of the departures terminal when dropping my sister off at the airport. I didn't realize until I got home and started tearing the house apart looking for it.
Right when I was about to give up, I got a call on my cell phone from a shuttle driver who saw it on the concrete and picked it up. He found my college ID, and as luck would have it, his sister worked for the school's admissions department and was able to get my cell phone number from the student directory. Not only that, by pure coincidence, he would be in my neighborhood the next morning and could drop it off. Amazing!
The next morning I was woken up by a sharp knock on my door. I groggily answered it and sure enough there was a man in a shuttle driver's uniform holding out my wallet. He wordlessly handed it to me, I stammered out a thank you and before I could offer him a reward or anything, he spun around and left.
However, once the warm fuzzies of meeting such a good samaratin faded, I realized something.
At the time I lived with seven other people. The front door was always kept locked. Not one of my roommates saw or heard anything, and certainly no one let in a strange man at 8 in the morning.
The door the driver knocked on was my bedroom door.
Right when I was about to give up, I got a call on my cell phone from a shuttle driver who saw it on the concrete and picked it up. He found my college ID, and as luck would have it, his sister worked for the school's admissions department and was able to get my cell phone number from the student directory. Not only that, by pure coincidence, he would be in my neighborhood the next morning and could drop it off. Amazing!
The next morning I was woken up by a sharp knock on my door. I groggily answered it and sure enough there was a man in a shuttle driver's uniform holding out my wallet. He wordlessly handed it to me, I stammered out a thank you and before I could offer him a reward or anything, he spun around and left.
However, once the warm fuzzies of meeting such a good samaratin faded, I realized something.
At the time I lived with seven other people. The front door was always kept locked. Not one of my roommates saw or heard anything, and certainly no one let in a strange man at 8 in the morning.
The door the driver knocked on was my bedroom door.
38points
#6
When I was in 5th grade, a new girl came to our school. She had a ton of brothers and sisters.
She invited us to her house for sleepovers a few times and there was a main house plus 2 other houses on the properties. She said her dad's other families lived there.
Me being 8/9 years old, I just thought that meant her dad's cousins or something.
I also noticed they had a book that said "Jesus Christ and the latter day saints". They looked like Bibles and had Jesus in the name, so I just figured they were regular Christians. Again, I was young and in Oklahoma, so I didn't know about other religions.
When we transitioned from elementary to Jr high, we noticed our friend wasn't around much. Then she just stopped coming to school.
We asked one of her siblings in a younger grade where she is, and he told us she moved to Utah. We were like why didn't everyone else move with her. The kid looked kinda sketched out and said she had to go help with another family then he ran away from us.
Now that I'm older, I realize she most likely was sent to Utah to be a child bride. This was the early 90s when Warren Jeff's was in his hayday.
I occasionally search her name on social media, but nothing pops up.
She invited us to her house for sleepovers a few times and there was a main house plus 2 other houses on the properties. She said her dad's other families lived there.
Me being 8/9 years old, I just thought that meant her dad's cousins or something.
I also noticed they had a book that said "Jesus Christ and the latter day saints". They looked like Bibles and had Jesus in the name, so I just figured they were regular Christians. Again, I was young and in Oklahoma, so I didn't know about other religions.
When we transitioned from elementary to Jr high, we noticed our friend wasn't around much. Then she just stopped coming to school.
We asked one of her siblings in a younger grade where she is, and he told us she moved to Utah. We were like why didn't everyone else move with her. The kid looked kinda sketched out and said she had to go help with another family then he ran away from us.
Now that I'm older, I realize she most likely was sent to Utah to be a child bride. This was the early 90s when Warren Jeff's was in his hayday.
I occasionally search her name on social media, but nothing pops up.
37points
#7
I had a friend when I was in the second or third grade that whenever I think back seems like a dream. My mother remembers him, and I remember certain events, but everything else, I can't remember. His father would routinely take us to his work - I remember that his dad worked at a warehouse of some sort that had a refrigerated section and I was warned not to touch the metal rollers because my fingers would get stuck. I remember this warehouse had stairs on the outside that my friend and I would jump off of. While writing this comment, I suddenly remembered the name of the company - however, the closest location is roughly 60 miles away. However, using Google Maps, I did a road view and it does look vaguely familiar, but I can't be certain as I cannot "go" into the location and look around.
I remember his brother teaching me a "joke" that I still use to this day.
But the biggest mystery is that I have a very vivid memory of his family taking me on a road trip one time that I was spending the night. It was at night, and I fell asleep. I woke up when they drove into a lot and I remember seeing a giant arch like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. We spent some time looking at it, and then went to a gas station for snacks and drove back home - I fell asleep again and woke up at their house. The drive from where I live to St. Louis is roughly 15 hours. I don't recall anything else about the trip. There doesn't appear to be any similar monuments anywhere near my location.
One day, my friend didn't show up to school and that was the last time I saw him. Every once in a while I will think back and ask, "What the heck was that?".
I remember his brother teaching me a "joke" that I still use to this day.
But the biggest mystery is that I have a very vivid memory of his family taking me on a road trip one time that I was spending the night. It was at night, and I fell asleep. I woke up when they drove into a lot and I remember seeing a giant arch like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. We spent some time looking at it, and then went to a gas station for snacks and drove back home - I fell asleep again and woke up at their house. The drive from where I live to St. Louis is roughly 15 hours. I don't recall anything else about the trip. There doesn't appear to be any similar monuments anywhere near my location.
One day, my friend didn't show up to school and that was the last time I saw him. Every once in a while I will think back and ask, "What the heck was that?".
33points
#8
My brother "committed s*****e" back in 2015. I don't believe that he actually had anything to do with his death.
He and the lady he was talking to at the time were about an hour and a half away from home visiting some friends. It got to be pretty late and my brother wanted to stay there and spend the night. The girl who he was with kept insisting they left and went home. He finally caved and they left for home. Once they got back, I guess they got into a small argument. He decided to leave and clear his head while she stayed at the house. The house is a very old 4 room square house. You can see the backyard from every room since it's so small.
So the lady decides to go to sleep even though my brother has not come back yet. She woke up around 7am the next morning. Apparently she noticed my brother still wasn't home and didn't think much of it. Then she went outside and found him hanging in the tree behind the house and calls 911. It's ruled a s*****e right away and everyone on the scene chalked it up to that.
So here is where things get a little wonky. My brother's keys were found in the door of his car. He was an avid car guy like myself and would never leave keys in the door of the car. The tree that he was found in was covered in black soot due to the house having a coal burning furnace. Yet my brother's clothes were clean, as were his hands. There wasn't an object my brother could have used to get up into the tree without climbing it. I think there's a few other things that I'm forgetting, but that's the main gist of it all.
Unfortunately I'm not sure what can be done if anything at this point.
He and the lady he was talking to at the time were about an hour and a half away from home visiting some friends. It got to be pretty late and my brother wanted to stay there and spend the night. The girl who he was with kept insisting they left and went home. He finally caved and they left for home. Once they got back, I guess they got into a small argument. He decided to leave and clear his head while she stayed at the house. The house is a very old 4 room square house. You can see the backyard from every room since it's so small.
So the lady decides to go to sleep even though my brother has not come back yet. She woke up around 7am the next morning. Apparently she noticed my brother still wasn't home and didn't think much of it. Then she went outside and found him hanging in the tree behind the house and calls 911. It's ruled a s*****e right away and everyone on the scene chalked it up to that.
So here is where things get a little wonky. My brother's keys were found in the door of his car. He was an avid car guy like myself and would never leave keys in the door of the car. The tree that he was found in was covered in black soot due to the house having a coal burning furnace. Yet my brother's clothes were clean, as were his hands. There wasn't an object my brother could have used to get up into the tree without climbing it. I think there's a few other things that I'm forgetting, but that's the main gist of it all.
Unfortunately I'm not sure what can be done if anything at this point.
32points
#9
Back in 2001-02 I was internet friends with a kid named Zach. He was in high school and lived in or around Lancaster California. He went to private school. I wish I remembered more about his life but I know he loved to play the bass guitar. Anyways, Zach was having a hard time in high school. I was an adult but I had just lost my 16 year old brother to s*****e. This kid confessed he was planning to k**l himself and for weeks/months I made him promise me each night to check in with me online so I knew he was okay. I went to his high school graduation a couple of years later. It was a great experience. I lost touch with him after that but I think about him from time to time. I would love to find him to tell him he helped me as much as I hope I helped him.
32points
#10
One day, when I was about 16, I came home from school and saw a red solo cup outside my parents front door. I went to go pick it up thinking it was garbage, but it was filled with water and there were 3 little goldfish inside. I brought the fish in and kept them in a tank until they died. One lived a few years. I have no idea where they came from, or how they ended up in a red solo cup on my porch.
32points
#11
My sister's boyfriend was m******d when he was 19 (she was 18, I was 15). My city has a massive violent crime problem, and because he was a young black man, his death was hardly a blip in the news. He wasn't involved in crime or d***s or any of that. No arrest was made and I doubt much of an investigation ever took place. RIP Lawrence Lee aka Juice.
27points
#12
I have a sister who disappeared in the 90s along with her husband. Just gone. Her social hasn't been used since her disappearance. There was a lot of speculation and suspicion surrounding her mother in law who live on a secluded ranch. Especially when she decided to lay down a concrete slab in a random place for no reason. Every few years, an investigator, last time the Texas Rangers, will reopen the cold case, but interest wanes quickly and no progress is ever made. Side note..when the Ranger started poking around, the woman sold her ranch and moved away. Still nothing came of it.
26points
#13
Twenty years ago my family and I were holidaying in a small seaside town in England. While we were away, a thief or thieves broke into our home, opened our digestive biscuits and crumbled them all over the floor in different rooms before pouring vinegar everywhere. The only thing that was stolen throughout the entire house were the AV cables that connected my PS1 to the TV. Not the PS1, not the games, not any other 'valuable' things. Just the AV cables.
Since I have too many questions regarding this, it will always remain my personal mystery.
Since I have too many questions regarding this, it will always remain my personal mystery.
25points
#14
I had a childhood friend. We were both about five years old.
She was somehow related to my grandmother on my Dads side and we would play sometimes when she would visit.
She stopped coming to visit. I never knew to ask why. And I never heard of her again, even tho she was clearly somehow a family member that I should have occasionally heard about.
A few years later, I saw a picture professionally taken of her and I posing side by side. Like a JC Penney picture.
I didn’t ever remember doing it. Taking that photo. I would remember. It would have been an event and trip to the mall. I would have remembered.
But I stared at that picture and could not at recall being a part of it.
It all makes me feel like I have a lost set of memories. Perhaps from some trauma.
She was somehow related to my grandmother on my Dads side and we would play sometimes when she would visit.
She stopped coming to visit. I never knew to ask why. And I never heard of her again, even tho she was clearly somehow a family member that I should have occasionally heard about.
A few years later, I saw a picture professionally taken of her and I posing side by side. Like a JC Penney picture.
I didn’t ever remember doing it. Taking that photo. I would remember. It would have been an event and trip to the mall. I would have remembered.
But I stared at that picture and could not at recall being a part of it.
It all makes me feel like I have a lost set of memories. Perhaps from some trauma.
25points
#15
When I was 18/19 I worked at a popular cafe in a big west coast city. The cafe had been without a general manager for a few months. Finally we had someone start the position. He seemed like an alright guy and everyone got along with him fine. There was no major friction and he didn't complain about his working conditions or anything. One day he left to drop off the bank deposit and said he would be back. He never returned.
We thought he would be back the next day but he never showed. We let corporate know. It probably seems obvious what happened-- he took the deposit and ran. Except the bank deposit was made. One of the shift managers drove by his house and no one was there. She didn't see his car and no one answered the door. I can't recall if she peeked in the windows or not but I got the sense that it wasn't as if he was hiding. He was just gone.
I've always wondered what happened to that guy. I hope his leaving was voluntary and he was/is safe.
We thought he would be back the next day but he never showed. We let corporate know. It probably seems obvious what happened-- he took the deposit and ran. Except the bank deposit was made. One of the shift managers drove by his house and no one was there. She didn't see his car and no one answered the door. I can't recall if she peeked in the windows or not but I got the sense that it wasn't as if he was hiding. He was just gone.
I've always wondered what happened to that guy. I hope his leaving was voluntary and he was/is safe.
24points
#16
I had my car broken into 3 consecutive weekends. First time they broke one window and stole all of my stereo equipment. The 2nd time they broke 2 windows and attempted to steal the car itself(had to replace the ignition switch they destroyed). 3rd time they only broke one window, but left a much worse radio than the one I owned on the front seat. Cars being broken into happens all of the time, but who does it 3 times and leaves a replacement radio the 3rd time?
24points
#17
About 3 years ago I lost my sense of smell. It happened over the course of a week. First, everything smelled different than how it used to smell and then, nothing. I went to several doctors and had a battery of tests done. Scopes up my nose, MRI, etc. the final diagnosis was “sometimes people just lose their sense of smell”. I’d like to know WTF really happened.
22points
#18
My grand uncle who is missing, presumed dead. This happened in rural Korea 70+ years ago. My grand mother's older brother got in an argument with my great grand father. GU (grand uncle) would have been around 30 years old. He stormed out of the house he lived in with great grand parents (still common in Korea to live with parents in adulthood). Everyone assumed that he went to cool off and possibly went to another relative's house (also common because 50+ members of our family all lived in the same little town). The next day his parents asked around and he was not seen by anyone. After 3 days of looking, police got involved, a town hall meeting was called, the entire town tried looking. Nothing. The family looked everywhere. Went to all the big cities. Hospitals etc.
Even as of today, no one has heard from him. Even if GU was alive somewhere, he would be dead by now due to old age at least. I think he met an untimely death when he stormed off. He was super close to his family and filial piety in Korea means that he would have made contact at some point. For sure when my great grand parents died. The family took out huge notices of death in every major newspaper hoping that GU would read it and come back. Nothing.
Even as of today, no one has heard from him. Even if GU was alive somewhere, he would be dead by now due to old age at least. I think he met an untimely death when he stormed off. He was super close to his family and filial piety in Korea means that he would have made contact at some point. For sure when my great grand parents died. The family took out huge notices of death in every major newspaper hoping that GU would read it and come back. Nothing.
21points
#19
Growing up we had a relative we would visit every Christmas. She was an old lady, very short and very strange. But she didn't look or speak like everyone else in the family. I asked who she was once and was told the story:
My great grandfather was enlisted in the armed forces and went abroad to fight in WWI. When he returned home to his family he had an infant girl with him. He instructed his family to never, ever ask questions about who she was or why he brought her; but to treat her as family. Eventually my great grandfather passed away and the mystery remained, even to her.
My great grandfather was enlisted in the armed forces and went abroad to fight in WWI. When he returned home to his family he had an infant girl with him. He instructed his family to never, ever ask questions about who she was or why he brought her; but to treat her as family. Eventually my great grandfather passed away and the mystery remained, even to her.
21points
#20
So many people on here have so many great stories, so just makes mine seems so much stupider. I'm sure I have more, but this is the one that comes to mind that still stumps me for no reason to this day.
Several years ago I was in my house making a quesadilla in a frying pan, pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. I finished up, and walked outside to get the mail from the mailbox. I came back inside and I found that my quesadilla and the plate were missing. I asked all of my family, and one of my friends who was with me at the time if any of them took my quesadilla. All of them swear on God, and on their mothers dead Graves that they never took my quesadilla.
I chalked it up too no one wanting to fess up, so I counted all the plates in the house, and figured when that person eventually decided to return the plate, then I would know someone definitely had stolen my precious quesadilla.
The plate never showed up.
To this day, the plate and the quesadilla are still missing.
Everyone still remains absolutely convinced that no one took my quesadilla.
I still want it.
Several years ago I was in my house making a quesadilla in a frying pan, pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. I finished up, and walked outside to get the mail from the mailbox. I came back inside and I found that my quesadilla and the plate were missing. I asked all of my family, and one of my friends who was with me at the time if any of them took my quesadilla. All of them swear on God, and on their mothers dead Graves that they never took my quesadilla.
I chalked it up too no one wanting to fess up, so I counted all the plates in the house, and figured when that person eventually decided to return the plate, then I would know someone definitely had stolen my precious quesadilla.
The plate never showed up.
To this day, the plate and the quesadilla are still missing.
Everyone still remains absolutely convinced that no one took my quesadilla.
I still want it.
20points