People Are Sharing Unsolved Mysteries That Shook Them To Their Core, And Yeah, You're Not Sleeping Tonight
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We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about an unsolved mystery they just can't stop thinking about. Here are the mysteries they shared that will haunt you for days, months, and years to come...
Warning: Graphic content ahead, viewer discretion advised.
1.The death of Elisa Lam
"She was only a few months older than me so it was unnerving hearing someone my age died but the yow is still a mystery. There's no way she died by suicide, I believe she was murdered."
What happened:
Lam was a 21-year-old Canadian student whose body was inexplicably found inside a water tank on top of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles after other guests complained about flooding and water pressure issues. Lam, who had been staying at the hotel, was reported missing 19 days earlier and was last seen on a surveillance tape inside an elevator in the hotel.
2.The death of Mitrice Richardson
"The Mitrice Richardson case is terrifying. She was showing signs of a mental health episode, was released from jail after midnight without her wallet, phone, or any way to get home, and her remains were found by park rangers 2.5 miles from the sheriff's station almost a year later. A cause of death was never determined; her family suspects foul play, but the sheriff's department insists there's no evidence."
What happened:
Richardson was a 24-year-old recent Cal State Fullerton grad who went missing on Sept. 17, 2019. Richardson was last seen allegedly leaving a sheriff's station in Malibu. (Earlier, she had been detained by sheriff's deputies after a restaurant manager made a citizen's arrest complaint.) Eleven months went by before her body was inadvertently found by park rangers in August 2010 in Malibu Canyon.
3.The disappearance of Cherrie Mahan
"She was the first person ever to ever be featured on those 'Have you seen me?' fliers. She went to the same school district as me. She got off the bus and was never seen again. In high school, some of my teachers who also grew up there would reveal they had been friends with her and still wondered what happened. Someone in the area has got to know something and I honestly just want someone to finally speak up because the family deserves closure."
What happened:
Eight-year-old Mahan was living in rural Pennsylvania when she disappeared after getting off a school bus not far from her home on Feb. 22, 1985. Although a suspect vehicle was sighted and many leads pursued, Mahan was never found and declared legally dead in November 1998.
4.The disappearance of Michelle Pulsifer
"Three-year-old Michelle disappeared, her mom and stepdad abruptly moved across the country a few days later, and they repeatedly changed their story. Michelle was never seen again — alive or dead."
What happened:
Pulsifer disappeared in July 1969. In 2004, Pulsifer's mother, Donna, and her boyfriend, Michael, were arrested and charged with the young girl's murder. Michael claimed they found Michelle dead in her bedroom and buried her thereafter. However, Michelle's remains were never found. Michael died in 2005 before he could testify in the case and Donna was released after a mistrial and lack of evidence.
5.The disappearance of Michael Negrete
"He was up until 4 a.m. playing video games in his dorm with a friend, left his dorm room to go congratulate him once the game ended, and was last seen going back to his room. When his roommates woke up around 9 that morning, he was gone and his keys, wallet, shoes, and clothes were still in his room. The only lead the police have is multiple students allegedly seeing an unknown man on the floor of his dorm room the night he disappeared. But that man has never been identified and this sighting can’t be confirmed. He didn’t have a car on campus, and had no history of depression or drug and/or alcohol abuse. His disappearance was later categorized as a homicide but there have just been no leads since."
What happened:
Eighteen-year-old UCLA student Michael Negete disappeared early in the morning on Dec. 10, 1999. Although it was initially categorized as a missing persons case, according to police, it eventually turned into a homicide investigation. He has not been found.
6.The Phillip Island murder mystery
"Who killed Beth Barnard? Where is Vivienne Cameron? Is she dead, too? What really happened that night? What is Fergus Cameron not telling us? I have so many questions and will probably never find out, but I've never been more perplexed about an unsolved crime."
What happened:
In September 1986, 23-year-old Beth Barnard was found brutally murdered on Phillip Island in Australia — her body was found with an "A" carved into her chest. Beth was allegedly having an affair with a man named Fergus Cameron. Not long after, Fergus's wife Vivienne disappeared and has not been seen since.
7.The lead masks case
"It’s rather unknown, but essentially two men were found facedown in the woods by a little boy flying a kite. They were dressed in suits, raincoats, and had glasses made of lead, and there were no signs of trauma. They also had water bottles, two wet towels, and carried a rather cryptic note. The note read, '16:30 be at the specified location. 18:30 ingest capsules, after the effect protect metals await signal mask.' There was no cause of death ruled. To this day, no one knows what they were doing or how they died. Theories range from foul play to UFOs."
What happened:
Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana were Brazilian electronic technicians whose bodies were found on Aug. 20, 1966 in Rio de Janeiro. They had apparently been planning something secret and told their families just a few days earlier that they were going to buy electronic materials for work. However, after their bodies were discovered, no cause of death was determined by authorities, as there were no clear injuries, no toxic substances found, and their internal organs were too badly decomposed by the time the autopsy happened.
8.The death of Katherine Korzilius
"She was walking home after picking up the mail from a local mailbox and then was found dead. Her parents (Nancy and Paul) had been driving home one way, whilst Katherine was walking home the other.
The first theory was that Katherine was struck by a hit-and-run driver, but that was ruled out by the Medical Examiner. Several people have had their own theories as to what happened. Some say that it was one of the neighbors, others say it was a child molester, and others have said that it was a deranged Bon Jovi fan (Paul was Jon Bon Jovi's manager at the time) who was looking for a ransom.
There has never been any conclusive proof of what happened on that day and perhaps there never will be. Jon wrote a song as a tribute to Katherine on his 1997 solo album Destination Anywhere called "August 7, 4:15."
What happened:
Katherine Korzilius was a 6-year-old girl living in Elder Circle, Texas when she was found dead on Aug. 7, 1996, just minutes from her home. In fact, she had only been missing for 15 minutes between the time she was last seen and when she was found lying on the street. According to the medical examiner, the injuries she sustained could have been the "result of either jumping from a moving vehicle, being thrown from a moving vehicle, or falling from a moving vehicle." However, her cause of death remains a mystery.
9.The Isdal woman case
"I am a true crime buff and the case I will never shake is the Isdal Woman. An unidentified woman was found in a remote park in Norway in 1970. She’d gone to great lengths to conceal her identity and there are a ton of theories as to who she was and why she was killed — military spy, art thief, woman with a stalker. I think about this one all the time. My all-time favorite podcast, 'Death in Ice Valley,' details the case beautifully."
What happened:
"The Isdal woman" is a made-up name that was assigned to an unidentified woman whose burned body was discovered in a remote part of Norway's Isdalen valley on Nov. 29, 1970. Although many clues were found by authorities, her identity and mysterious death remain unsolved.
10.The disappearance of Kirsa Jensen
"She disappeared in Napier, New Zealand in 1983 — before I was born. However, when I was a teen I read the book her mum wrote and the case has fascinated me since."
What happened:
Fourteen-year-old Jensen was living in Napier, New Zealand when she disappeared on Sept. 2, 1983 while riding her horse. Although her horse was found tethered near the Tutaekuri River, no trace of Jensen was found. The case remains open.
11.The disappearance of DeOrr Kunz
"A little boy from Idaho. Went missing on a family camping trip…so mom and dad say. Some swear he was never there, some think he’s buried up there somewhere. The image of this sweet boy’s face is burned into my memory and I pray he gets justice someday."
What happened:
DeOrr Kunz was just 2 years old when he disappeared on July 10, 2015 while visiting a campground with his parents, Jessica Mitchell and Vernal DeOrr Kunz. Although several private investigators have worked on the case, no solid evidence as to what may have happened has been found. Mitchell and Kunz were named suspects in January 2016 but were never arrested or charged.
12.The disappearance of Brandon Swanson
"If I remember correctly he went out at night and his car broke down in the middle of nowhere so he called his dad to come and find him. Eventually, during the call he yelled out, 'Oh shit!' and that was the last time anyone ever heard from him."
What happened:
Swanson was a 19-year-old college student in Marshall, Minnesota last seen leaving a friend’s house on May 14, 2008. After apparently driving into a ditch, he called his parents to pick him up. However, even after talking to him several times on the way, they were never able to find him. His car was later found abandoned in a ditch with the car doors open and keys missing, roughly 25 miles from where he had said he was.
13.The disappearance of Brian Shaffer
"How can a person disappear from a bar without being caught on surveillance footage? He was caught on CCTV entering the bar, but never exiting it. The police combed through the footage and accounted for everyone except him, and there were no other exits to the bar. He went in and never came out."
What happened:
Medical student Brian Shaffer was last seen in Ohio, on CCTV, going up an escalator to a popular campus bar. But the video never showed him leaving. Foul play has still not been ruled out.
14.The killing of JonBenét Ramsey
"We are about the same age and I remember being so confused as to why my parents were following her story so much on 20/20 and Dateline. Then when I watched stuff about her as an adult there's just too much stuff that went wrong and so much stuff that didn't make any sense."
What happened:
JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old girl who was killed in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado on Dec. 25 or 26, 1996. Her death was attributed to a skull fracture from a blow to the head and strangulation by a garrote that was found around her neck. The case became a media circus, largely in part because Ramsey was a child beauty pageant contestant and it received constant coverage from around the world. It is still considered a cold case.
15.The disappearance of Jennifer Kesse
"Jennifer appears to have left her apartment with clothes out and a messy bathroom, and just is never seen again. Her car turns up a few days later in another apartment complex and security footage reveals a man walking away from it, but 2006 security footage was not great, and the suspect's face is covered in every single shot. And what makes the whole case even more heartbreaking is that her family and friends jumped on the case and are still actively trying to solve it.
What happened:
Kesse, 24, was living in Orlando, Florida when she went missing on Jan. 23, 2006. She was last seen leaving work around 6 p.m. and then spoke to her father on the drive home. She also talked on the phone with her boyfriend later. Kesse did not arrive at work the next day. The family is still getting leads today.
16.The disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit
"Jodi was a news reporter who overslept for work. Her colleague calls and wakes her and she says she will be there shortly. Jodi rushes through her morning routine and rushes to her car. She is ambushed by her car and abducted. Left behind at the scene is a variety of her personal items and a bent car key."
What happened:
Huisentruit was a news anchor in Mason City, Iowa who disappeared on June 27, 1995 on the way to work. There were apparently signs of a struggle outside of her apartment, so it was presumed she was abducted. Although there were thousands of tips and interviews conducted, Huisentruit was not found and declared legally dead in 2001.
17.D.B. Cooper
"Happened in the state I grew up in, and it’s just wild. They have found some of the money, but the guy was never definitively identified."
What happened:
D.B. Cooper is the pseudonym of an unidentified man who hijacked a plane on Nov. 24, 1971. After the hijacker demanded four parachutes and $200,000, the flight landed in Seattle. There, the flight's passengers were exchanged for the ransom money and parachutes. The flight then took off again and headed for Mexico City. But somewhere between Seattle and Reno, the hijacker jumped out of the plane with a parachute and the money. The hijacker has not been found to this day. However, there are many theories about who he was. (Side note: The highjacker bought his plane ticket under the name "Dan Cooper," and after a misunderstanding, people/the media thought it was "D.B. Cooper" and the wrong fake name has stuck ever since.)
18.The disappearance of Asha Degree
"Why did she leave the house in the middle of the night? Was she meeting someone? Was it someone the family knew? So many questions..."
What happened:
Nine-year-old Degree was living in Shelby, North Carolina when she went missing on Feb. 14, 2000. She left her home early that morning, sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., and walked along a nearby highway where several motorists reportedly saw her. Apparently, one person went back to check on her and said she'd disappeared into the woods. There is still a $45,000 award being offered for any information that may lead to finding her.
19.Finally, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
"I watched a documentary and they have SO many tools that they should have found it. SO much evidence and information about the whereabouts of the plane yet they still can’t find it! They only found I think like three pieces of the plane that were confirmed to be part of that flight."
What happened:
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport with 239 people on board. The flight was lost on air traffic control radar but picked up by military radar, hundreds of miles off course from the planned flight path. The flight never arrived at its destination. Although various pieces of plane debris have been found in the years since, most of it is unconfirmed to have actually belonged to MH370.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
