People Are Sharing The Creepiest Unsolved Mysteries That They Can't Stop Thinking About, So I Decided To Look Into The Details Of Each One
Recently, Reddit user u/Randumbweeb asked the people of r/AskReddit to share the creepiest unsolved mystery that keeps them up at night. After reading through some of these, I will definitely not be sleeping soundly for the next couple of days. Here are the most bone-chilling cases:
Warning: Disturbing and graphic content ahead.
1."The mysterious death of Elisa Lam in an LA hotel was extremely creepy, especially the video of her in the elevator. The fact that she ended up naked and dead in a water tank — only discovered after residents noticed a strange taste in their water...ugh."
Here's what we know: On Feb. 1, 2013, 21-year-old Elisa Lam was reported missing after failing to check out of her hotel room at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. All of her belongings were left in the hotel room. After law enforcement could not find any leads, the uncanny footage of Elisa inside the hotel's elevator was released to the public on Feb. 14, 2013. In the video, Elisa gets in and out of the elevator, peeking around the doors and making erratic hand gestures.
According to Esquire, "On February 19, 2013, twenty days after Lam was last seen, a hotel staffer was sent up to the roof of the hotel to check on the water tanks after several guest complaints about low pressure and murky water coming out of the taps. It was then when Lam's body was discovered, floating naked in one of the four large tanks that provided the hotel's water supply."
The case was closed in June 2013, and the cause of death was listed as accidental drowning. Elisa's bipolar disorder was also listed as a significant factor. Though the case is closed, the mystery surrounding how she ended up in the water tank on the roof remains.
2."The 2006 disappearance of Brian Shaffer. He was last seen on surveillance entering a bar but was not seen exiting it. It's possible that the cameras may have missed him, but there were no other exits out of the bar. Other surveillance in the area showed no trace of him, and there have been no traces of Brian since."
Here's what we know: Brian Shaffer, a 27-year-old medical student at Ohio State University, went drinking after class at an on-campus bar with one of his friends. There is camera footage of him entering the bar, but no footage of him exiting. The bar had only one other exit, but it was not for public use at the time and led to a construction site.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, "Brian Shaffer was 27 when he was last seen around 2 a.m. on April 1, 2006 inside the since-closed Ugly Tuna Saloona in the North High Street area. Shaffer was seen on cameras inside the bar shortly before 2 a.m. talking to two women, but then walked away. He is not seen on camera footage leaving the bar and he hasn't been seen since."
3."The Malaysia Airlines flight is pretty wild. I mean, an entire plane of people went missing, and there hasn't been anything conclusive. It boggles my mind to this day."
Here's what we know: A Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared from radar on March 8, 2014. The flight had 12 crew members and 227 passengers on board.
The Washington Post reported: "Soon afterward, at 1:21 a.m., as the plane was about to enter Vietnamese airspace, the aircraft's transponder stopped sending location data. Then the plane made an unscheduled sharp left turn, away from its planned flight path to Beijing and back toward the Malay Peninsula."
Despite an extensive search, the plane has never been found.
4."The disappearance of Lars Mittank. To summarize, he was on a trip and called his mother, claiming that people were trying to kill him. On the day he was supposed to fly back home, he was recorded sprinting out of the airport and into a nearby forest. He was never seen again."
Here's what we know: In 2014, 28-year-old Lars Mittank was on a trip with his friends in Bulgaria. After a physical altercation with one of his friends, Lars was forced to stay behind due to an injury to his eardrum, delaying his flight back to Germany.
The Mirror reported: "Lars made a terrifying, panicked phone call to his mum from his hotel room. He reportedly ordered her to cancel his bank cards and suggested he was being followed by people trying to kill him."
Once Lars was in the airport terminal, he became paranoid and fled as fast as he could out of the airport and into the forest, leaving all his belongings behind. There has been no trace of him since.
5."The Setagaya family murder in Tokyo. A man broke into a home and murdered a family of four. He stayed for several hours — ate their food, used their bathroom and computer, then finally left. There were very few leads despite the evidence. It's a very sad case."
Here's what we know: In the Setagaya neighborhood of Tokyo, the Miyazawa family was murdered in their home on Dec. 30, 2000. The family of four consisted of a married couple and their two children: an 8-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.
Also pegged as "the Goldilocks Murder," the case garnered much attention due to the bizarre actions of the unknown killer. According to BuzzFeed News, "After the murders, the killer raided the Miyazawas' kitchen. He ate four small containers of ice cream and drank several bottles of barley tea that he found there. He used the family's first-floor computer to surf the internet at 1:18 a.m., and some reports indicate he might even have taken a nap on their sofa."
Despite finding excessive evidence belonging to the killer, including shoe prints, fingerprints, and even blood, no arrest has been made.
6."JonBenét Ramsey. I think that family knows who really committed the murder, but we won't ever find out."
Here's what we know: JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old beauty queen reported missing from her home in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec. 26, 1996. A three-page handwritten ransom note was found in the house, but seven hours after the Ramsey parents reported their daughter missing, JonBenét was found in the basement of the house, strangled and with a broken skull.
ABC News said, "The unusual murder case drew nationwide attention as no one was ever arrested or charged in the case. For years, investigators tried to unravel what happened to the young girl and whether the murderer could have been a family member or an intruder."
7."I've always wondered about what happened to Sabrina Aisenberg. I lived near that area at the time, and the Baby Sabrina case was everywhere. I know many people who think the parents had something to do with her disappearance, but I don't know. I have so many questions: Who took her? Is she alive and living a regular life, not knowing she was kidnapped as a baby? How could someone just walk into their house in the middle of the night without making a sound?"
Here's what we know: In 1997, Marlene and Steve Aisenberg tucked their three children into bed in their home in Valrico, Florida: 8-year-old William, 4-year-old Monica, and 5-month-old Sabrina. The following day, Sabrina was nowhere to be found.
According to ABC News, "After getting William out of bed, Marlene said she noticed her garage door and the door from the house to the garage were both open. She then ran to Sabrina's room to find her missing."
After a large-scale search, law enforcement was unable to determine what happened to Sabrina.
8."Mr Cruel. Everything about that case makes me feel uneasy. The knowledge that he's still out there, and we have no idea what he looks like other than a terrifying police composite sketch...that case haunts me to this day."
Here's what we know: During the late '80s and early '90s, young girls in Melbourne, Australia, were brutally attacked and sexually assaulted by an unidentified man who went by the moniker "Mr Cruel."
The Sun reported: "The mask-clad killer tied up parents and siblings — and snatched girls as young as 11, who he held for up to 50 hours."
The identity of Mr Cruel remains a mystery, with no forensic evidence surfacing at the crime scenes. The only lead is the bone-chilling police composite sketch.
9."The Madeleine McCann disappearance. I was a student in the UK when it happened. The case was all over the news. I have kids now, and because of that case, I'm extremely vigilant in making sure all the windows and doors are closed and locked."
Here's what we know: In 2007, the McCann family — married couple Gerry and Kate, their 2-year-old twins, and their 3-year-old daughter, Madeleine — were on vacation in Portugal. On May 3, Gerry and Kate went to dinner with their friends and left the children behind in the nearby apartment. The adults used a rotation system to check in on the children, but when it was Kate's turn, she found Madeleine missing.
Police, hotel staff, airport staff, and border patrol searched for clues leading to Madeleine's whereabouts, to no avail. In August, 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, BBC reported that "investigating officers publicly acknowledge she may not be found alive."
10."The murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond. They occurred in early May 2014 in Putnam County, Georgia. Russell's decapitated body was found in his garage, but his head was missing. Just over a week later, Shirley's body was discovered floating in the nearby lake. The case is bizarre because they lived in an extremely wealthy neighborhood and a gated community. The murders were so incredibly violent and savage, and there's still no known motive to this day. Russell's head still hasn't been found."
Here's what we know: As mentioned, the killings of 88-year-old Russell Dermond and 87-year-old Shirley Dermond occurred in Putnam County, Georgia. Russell was last seen alive on May 1, 2014, while running errands in town. As seen in surveillance footage, he transferred money at the bank before stopping by a local Publix to pick up some groceries and a prescription for Shirley's upcoming cataract surgery. Later that evening, the couple chatted with their son on the phone before dinner.
On May 4, the couple missed a Kentucky Derby party they were expected to attend with their neighbors. On May 6, one concerned neighbor went to the couple's house to check on them. As Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told Inside Edition, the neighbor instead found their door unlocked and discovered Russell's decapitated body in the garage. Police noticed that his finger was severely wounded, and they found strands of Shirley's hair tangled in his blood. There was no sign of Shirley. Police instead found her purse and phone in the house, raising suspicion that she had been kidnapped.
Ten days later, two men fishing found Shirley's body in Lake Oconee, almost 5 miles from the couple's house. Her body had been weighted down by two cinder blocks. According to her autopsy, her cause of death was two or three deep wounds to the head caused by a blunt object.
Though Sills believes Russell was decapitated to hide evidence, police never found his head. Unfortunately, they also have never identified any suspects, witnesses, or — perhaps most significantly — motives in the case.
11."The Sodder mystery. Basically, the Sodder family's house burned down. Part of the family escaped, but five children didn't make it out. Turns out, there were no remains of the children found in the fire, and their location has never been discovered."
Here's what we know: George and Jennie Sodder had 10 children. On Christmas Eve in 1945, the family — sans one child who had joined the military — went to bed. Five of their children shared two bedrooms in the attic. Around 1 a.m., a fire began and consumed the house. George, Jenny, their youngest child, Sylvia, and three of their boys escaped outside. Their other five children in the attic bedrooms were trapped inside the burning home.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, "[George] raced back outside, hoping to reach them through the upstairs windows, but the ladder he always kept propped against the house was strangely missing. An idea struck: He would drive one of his two coal trucks up to the house and climb atop it to reach the windows. But even though they'd functioned perfectly the day before, neither would start now."
A brief search was done on Christmas Day, but no remains were found — not even bones. The Sodder family continued to believe that the five children were alive, but no evidence can confirm or deny it.
12."The Tylenol murders. In 1982, in Chicago, seven people, including a 12-year-old girl and three members of the same family, were poisoned with cyanide from tampered bottles of Tylenol. Almost immediately, the drug was pulled off the shelf. Fearing possible copycats, other medicinal products were also pulled. This case is why so many products have pull-off stickers, plastic wrap around the caps, and other measures to ensure that they haven't been tampered with."
Here's what we know: No one was charged for these seven murders. However, according to an NPR interview with Chicago Tribute reporter Stacy St. Claire, "Authorities believed they had a case against James Lewis, but they did not have direct physical evidence. They did have an extortion letter Lewis had written to Johnson & Johnson, the company that manufactures Tylenol, demanding a million dollars to make the killings stop. Lewis was convicted of attempted extortion and spent 13 years in prison."
Despite James's letter, authorities were unable to place him in Chicago, and there were no fingerprints that would connect him to the murders. James Lewis died July 10, 2023.
13."The murder of Robert Wone! How was he supposedly killed so quickly after arriving at his friend's place but was also so quickly cleaned up? Nothing makes any sense in that case."
Here's what we know: In August 2006, Robert Wone stayed the night at his friend Joseph Price's house so as not to disturb his wife by coming home in the middle of the night. Joseph lived with his partners, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward, as a polyamorous unit. That night, they allegedly found Robert dead in the guest bedroom. He had been fatally stabbed three times.
Victor called the police, and the paramedics arrived shortly after. Despite the stab wounds, police found no blood on Robert's torso, causing them to believe his body had been moved or cleaned. According to Newsweek, the three men in the house were also freshly showered and wearing bathrobes when police arrived.
Jospeh, Victor, and Dylan were eventually charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and tampering with evidence but were ultimately found not guilty in 2010. The judge explained that though she believed the three men knew who killed Robert, she was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that they were guilty of the charges.
When speaking to Newsweek, Jared P. Scott, director of the two-part Peacock documentary Who Killed Robert Wone?, said, "The idea that there are no defensive wounds [means] at some point, [Robert] didn't move. There's a theory about a paralytic agent. Why didn't he move? He didn't try to defend himself, he didn't have any signs of struggle, there [was] no blood. I don't know, nothing adds up."
14."The Zodiac Killer, tbh. I'm sure there's more I don't know about entirely, but the anonymity of not knowing — or ever knowing, really — is unsettling. The way he would send things to the police too...it's so scary yet so interesting to me."
Here's what we know: During the late '60s, a serial killer who called themself the Zodiac plagued San Francisco. The Zodiac killed five confirmed victims between December 1968 and October 1969 but claimed to have committed 37 murders.
On top of the brutal and seemingly random killings in the Bay Area, the Zodiac taunted law enforcement and news outlets by sending them encrypted letters and even calling in some of their crimes. According to Time, the killer went so far as to send "a piece of bloodied shirt to prove he was who he claimed to be." In 1974, the Zodiac Killer stopped sending letters.
In 2018 — after authorities identified Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. using DNA comparisons — police created a partial DNA profile using saliva traces from the stamp of a letter the Zodiac had sent. However, the partial profile can only be used to rule out suspects.
Investigations surrounding the Zodiac went on for years, but the killer has never been caught. The case remains open in San Francisco, Vallejo, and the counties of Napa and Solano.
15."I know little about unsolved mysteries, but the Susan Powell case is so sad."
Here's what we know: In 2009, Susan Powell went missing in West Valley, Utah. She was married to Josh Powell, with whom she shared two sons, Charlie and Braden. On the night Susan was reported missing, Josh said he was on a camping trip with the boys while Susan stayed home because she was tired. After investigating the house, police found no signs of disturbance or physical altercations.
As reported by ABC News, police found that Susan had left a handwritten will in her safe-deposit box. In it, she revealed how bad her marriage with Josh was and explicitly wrote, "If I die, it may not be an accident."
Despite being a person of interest, Josh was never arrested. However, on Feb. 5, 2012 — before he could take a judge-ordered polygraph test — Josh killed Charlie and Braden before he killed himself. Susan's body remains unfound.
16."I'd definitely have to say the Springfield Three case. Three young adult women disappeared without a trace and with no signs of a struggle. No one saw anything notable around the time, and no credible evidence has been presented since."
Here's what we know: On June 7, 1992, the Springfield Police Department in Missouri was notified of the disappearance of two friends — 18-year-old Stacy McCall and 19-year-old Suzanne "Suzie" Streeter — and Suzie's mother, 49-year-old Sherill Levitt. Stacy and Suzie had graduated from high school the day before and were last seen leaving a graduation party at 2:15 a.m. They originally intended to sleep over at their friend Jane Kirby's house and spend the next day at a water park together. However, the two found Jane's house too crowded and left to spend the night at Suzie's.
Jane and her boyfriend went to Suzie's house the following day after Suzie and Stacy failed to show up at the water park. They found the front door unlocked and no sign of Stacy, Suzie, or Sherill — though all three of their cars were parked outside. A few hours later, Stacy's mother, Janis McCall, searched the house after failing to get ahold of Stacy. She found Stacy's clothes from the previous night, all three women's purses, and Suzie and Sherill's cigarettes. Janis then called the police to report the three women missing.
According to the Springfield Police, officers found no signs of a struggle in the house "but rather the appearance of the missing women being abducted." Suzie and Sherill's dog was also still at the home. To this day, Stacy, Suzie, and Sherill have not been found and have since become known as "the Springfield Three."
17."Brandon Swanson's case always boggled my mind. The fact that he alerted his parents that he was lost and needed help — they were on the phone with him, heading toward him, only to hear his last moments. To know they were so close is so terrifying."
Here's what we know: In May 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson was driving home from a night out with friends when his car got stuck in a ditch. He called his parents to pick him up around 1 a.m. and told them he was somewhere around Lynd, Minnesota.
Brandon's parents remained on the phone with him as they drove to find him. About 47 minutes into their search, Brandon suddenly shouted, "Oh, shit." That was the last his parents heard of him. They continued to look for him until 6:30 a.m., at which point they contacted the police, who didn't start a search until 12:30 p.m.
Using phone records, the police learned that Brandon was actually near Porter, Minnesota, not Lynd, and found his car off the side of a field. According to Unilad, "There was no damage to the car or signs that Brandon was injured. However, the boy's body was never found. Sniffer dogs were used to try and track his path, but no remains were located."
18."The case of the Beaumont children haunts me. Three siblings went to the beach in 1966 and never came home. Nothing has ever been found."
Here's what we know: On Jan. 26, 1966, 9-year-old Jane, 7-year-old Arnna, and 4-year-old Grant Beaumont went to the beach to celebrate Australia Day. Their mother, Nancy, allowed them to go with the promise that they would return by 2 p.m., since the children had been to the beach alone in the past.
When they hadn't returned by 7:30 p.m., Nancy and Jim Beaumont called the police, and a search began. The investigation included hundreds of officers and even the assistance of a psychic. According to CNN, "Witnesses would later claim to have seen the children in the company of a man on the foreshore at Glenelg, a beach about 20 minutes from the city center."
Jim and Nancy continued living in their Adelaide home for many years, hoping their children would return. Today, the disappearance of the Beaumont children is one of Australia's most infamous cold cases.
19.Lastly: "The Yuba County Five. Nobody knows why they took that turn, got out of their car, or left the shack. Nobody knows; there are only theories. To me, the creepiest part is that Gary Mathias was never found."
Here's what we know: On Feb. 24, 1978, five men — Ted Weiher, Jackie Huett, Gary Mathias, Bill Sterling, and Jack Madruga — from Yuba City, California, drove home from a basketball game at California State University, Chico. They were between 24 and 32 years old. According to the Doe Network, each man had a mild mental disability or mental illness and lived with his family.
The Washington Post reported that the parents of each of the five men called the police after confirming that none of their sons had returned home from the game. On Feb. 28, authorities found Jack's car in a snowpack on a deserted mountain road about 70 miles from Chico State. The car was undamaged, but the keys were missing. When investigators hot-wired the car, the engine instantly started. They also found maps in the glove compartment and gas in the tank.
However, there were no traces of the men, and the snow made it difficult to search for them. It wasn't until June that a group of motorcyclists went to a trailer — at a campsite almost 20 miles from where the car was found — and discovered Ted's body frozen and tucked under eight sheets. The coroner estimated he lived for 8 to 13 weeks after the men went missing.
The next day, what was left of Jack and Bill was found on opposite sides of the road that led to the trailer, about 11 miles from the car. Animals had partially eaten Jack's remains, and only Bill's bones were found. Jackie's father discovered his son's backbone off the same road two days later, and an assistant sheriff discovered Jackie's skull the following day. Only Gary has never been found.
The United States Forest Service maintained the trailer. It had matches and plenty of books inside to burn, a propane tank to provide gas and heat, and a locker filled with enough dehydrated food to last a year. However, no fire had been built, and the propane tank was untouched. To this day, nobody knows why the men exited the car, attempted the trek to the trailer, or decided to stay out there.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
If you or anyone you know has information on a missing person case, call local law enforcement first. You can also contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (THE-LOST) or visit the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System site for regional case assistance.
