73 Unsettling True Stories That Belong In A Horror Movie Or Netflix Documentary

On August 15, 2011, a 6-year-old girl was walking home through a southwest Albuquerque mobile-home park when Phillip Garcia grabbed her, covered her mouth and forced her into his van. Nearby resident Antonio Díaz Chacón saw what was happening, jumped into his pickup truck and immediately went after them while his wife helped contact police.

Garcia tried to lose Chacón as the chase continued through Albuquerque, but Chacón refused to stop following. Several miles later, Garcia crashed the van into a light pole and fled on foot. Chacón ran to the damaged van, found the little girl inside and brought her back to her family. Police later recovered packing tape and a tie-down strap near the crash site, while additional tools and strapping were found inside the van.

Garcia was later captured and prosecuted. In June 2013, he was convicted, and that September a judge sentenced him to 19 years in prison. Chacón’s split-second decision to follow the van was credited by Albuquerque police with preventing the abduction from becoming something far worse.

On January 9, 1993, 22-year-old Katrina Brownlee returned to the Medford, Long Island home she had shared with her fiancé, correction officer Alex Irvin, to collect belongings. Brownlee was five months pregnant when Irvin opened fire with his service revolver.

The attack continued for roughly 90 minutes. Investigators documented spent shell casings, projectiles, bullet holes and speedloaders at the scene. Brownlee was hit 10 times and found bleeding on the bathroom floor after a family friend unexpectedly arrived at the house.

Brownlee survived multiple surgeries, although several bullets remained in her body. Years later, she joined the NYPD, worked undercover and ultimately became a detective, spending two decades in law enforcement before retiring in 2021.

In May 2012, 22-year-old Latonya Bowman went to a drive-in movie with her former boyfriend, Jamal Rogers, while pregnant with his child. After returning to Rogers’ home in Warren, Michigan, Antonio Mathis grabbed Latonya at g*npoint. She was restrained with duct tape and forced into her own vehicle. Prosecutors established that Rogers and Mathis had discussed a plan to k**l her after Rogers learned about the pregnancy.

Latonya was driven to a vacant area in Detroit, doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. As she rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the flames, she was s**t in the shoulder. Latonya then remained still and pretended to be d**d until her attackers left. Once they were gone, she managed to get back into her vehicle and drive away to seek help.

Latonya survived and gave birth to a baby boy just days after the attack. A jury later convicted Rogers and Mathis of charges including a*****t with intent to m****r and conspiracy to commit first-degree m****r. Both received life sentences with the possibility of parole.

On December 4, 1972, 7-year-old Steven Stayner was abducted while walking home from school in Merced, California. His kidnapper, Kenneth Parnell, raised Steven under a false name and kept him away from his family for more than seven years.

In February 1980, Parnell abducted another young boy, 5-year-old Timothy White. Realizing another child faced the same fate, Steven secretly led Timothy away from their captor and walked with him to a police station, revealing both of their true identities.

Steven was reunited with his family after more than seven years in captivity. Kenneth Parnell was convicted of kidnapping, and Steven’s courageous decision to rescue Timothy White became one of the most remarkable child survival stories in American criminal history.

On January 24, 2012, 20-year-old Melissa Dohme met her former boyfriend Robert Burton outside her home in Clearwater, Florida. He had repeatedly contacted her asking for one final hug after their breakup. During the meeting, Burton attacked Melissa and st**bed her 32 times before leaving her in the street believing she was d**d.

Melissa suffered devastating injuries and massive blood loss. She was airlifted to a hospital, where she underwent emergency treatment and ultimately survived. Burton later pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree m****r and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

One of the first responders who helped save Melissa that night was firefighter-paramedic Cameron Hill. The two reconnected after her recovery, eventually began dating, and in 2015 Cameron proposed to Melissa on the field at a Tampa Bay Rays game. She said yes, turning one of the darkest nights of her life into the beginning of an extraordinary second chapter.

In May 2025, Kell Morris and his wife, Jo Roop, were hiking near Alaska’s Godwin Glacier when Morris fell down an embankment during a rockslide. A roughly 700-pound boulder came down with him and pinned him face-down in the freezing creek below.

Unable to move the boulder, Roop positioned herself in the water and helped keep her husband’s head above the surface. She eventually found enough cell service to call for help, while Morris remained trapped for roughly three hours and began drifting in and out of consciousness.

Rescuers were flown into the remote area after a nearby sled-dog tour company offered the use of its helicopter. Seven men and inflatable lifting bags were eventually used to raise the boulder and free Morris. Despite the ordeal, he survived with relatively minor injuries and was released from the hospital after two nights.

In 1988, the body of a little girl was found in Ware County, Georgia, after someone discovered a discarded television console containing a suitcase filled with concrete. Inside that suitcase were the remains of a 5-year-old child. For decades, investigators did not know her name, and she became known as Christmas Doe and later Ware County Jane Doe.

Years later, forensic genealogy finally identified her as Kenyatta “KeKe” Odom. Investigators said Kenyatta had been k****d in 1988, and prosecutors later accused her mother, Evelyn Odom, and her mother’s boyfriend at the time, Ulyster Sanders, of m**dering her and hiding her body in one of the most disturbing concealment cases imaginable.

The case hit hard because of how insane the image is. A child hidden in a suitcase, the suitcase encased in concrete, and the whole thing stuffed inside a TV cabinet for nearly four decades. In 2025, Evelyn Odom was convicted in connection with Kenyatta’s m****r.

In October 1994, 32-year-old Shirley Duguay disappeared on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Her abandoned car was found with blood inside, and months later her body was discovered in a shallow grave. Near the remains, investigators recovered a leather jacket stained with Shirley’s blood and containing several white cat hairs.

Detectives remembered that Shirley’s estranged partner, Douglas Beamish, lived in a home with a white cat named Snowball. Scientists developed a way to compare DNA from the hairs on the jacket with Snowball’s DNA, something that had never before been used as evidence in a criminal trial. The testing strongly linked the hairs to Snowball.

Beamish was convicted of second-degree m****r in 1996. The case became a landmark in forensic science because a household pet provided one of the most important links between the suspect and the evidence, opening the door for animal DNA to be used in later criminal investigations.

On October 11, 2012, 62-year-old Jose Melena was working an early morning shift at the Bumble Bee Foods tuna processing plant in Santa Fe Springs, California. His job involved loading massive industrial pressure cookers used to sterilize canned tuna. That morning, Jose entered a 35-foot-long cylindrical oven, likely to retrieve a chain used to move the heavy carts of tuna through the machine.

When Jose’s supervisor noticed he was missing, he asked another employee to finish loading the oven while he searched for him. The coworker had no idea Jose was still inside. Workers pushed approximately 12,000 pounds of canned tuna into the enormous machine, sealed its heavy metal doors and activated the pressurized steam. The temperature climbed toward 270 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, employees searched the factory and parking lot, unaware that Jose was trapped inside the operating cooker.

After roughly two hours, workers finally shut down the machine and discovered Jose’s body inside. He had d**d from thermal burns. Investigators found that the factory lacked adequate safety procedures to prevent workers from being trapped inside the ovens. In 2017, Bumble Bee Foods pleaded guilty to a workplace safety violation following a $6 million settlement that included equipment upgrades and compensation for Jose’s family. California investigators also released actual photographs of the enormous oven and its interior, documenting the machinery where Jose lost his life.

In December 1989, 25-year-old Debra Milke allowed her roommate, James Styers, to take her 4-year-old son Christopher to a shopping mall in Arizona to see Santa Claus. Christopher never made it there. Styers and Roger Scott instead took the boy into the desert, where he was m******d. Investigators soon accused Debra of arranging her son’s d***h.

The case against Debra centered on Phoenix detective Armando Saldate’s claim that she confessed during an interrogation. The alleged confession was not recorded and no one else witnessed it. Debra denied ever confessing. She was convicted in 1990, sentenced to d***h and ultimately spent more than two decades on Arizona’s d***h row.

In 2013, a federal appeals court overturned Debra’s conviction after finding that prosecutors had withheld evidence concerning Saldate’s history of misconduct, including instances involving false statements and violations of suspects’ rights. Debra was released that year, and in 2015 the m****r charges against her were formally dismissed, ending a case that had kept her incarcerated for roughly 25 years.

In 1987, 14-year-old Ahad Israfil suffered a devastating g*n sh*t wound to the head while working in Dayton, Ohio. The injury destroyed extensive brain tissue, including most of his right cerebral hemisphere, and severely damaged that side of his skull. After an approximately five-hour operation, doctors were stunned when Ahad regained consciousness and attempted to speak.

Ahad survived and gradually recovered many of his abilities despite the enormous loss of brain tissue. Reconstructive surgeon James Apesos later created a silicone implant to fill the missing portion of his skull, allowing his scalp to be reconstructed over it. Ahad continued using a wheelchair but retained his ability to communicate and reason.

His recovery went far beyond simply surviving. Ahad eventually attended college and earned a degree, while also appearing publicly to tell his extraordinary story. He lived until 2019, when he d**d at age 47. His mother later recalled a photograph she kept of Ahad smiling even though one side of his head was visibly missing.

In 2019, 30-year-old Kathleen Jo Henry was m******d in Anchorage, Alaska. The case broke open in an extraordinary way when a woman who had taken Brian Steven Smith’s phone from his truck discovered disturbing photos and videos showing the k*****g and brought the evidence to police.

Investigators identified Kathleen from the footage and recovered her body near railroad tracks. While Smith was being questioned, he also admitted k*****g another Alaska Native woman, Veronica Abouchuk, about a year earlier. Police said the evidence on the device, along with Smith’s confession, ultimately connected him to both m**ders.

In February 2024, Smith was convicted on 14 counts, including two counts of first-degree m****r, a*****t, evidence tampering and misconduct involving a corpse. In July 2024, a judge sentenced him to 226 years in prison.

In October 2015, 27-year-old Sasha Samsudean returned to her apartment building in downtown Orlando after a night out. Two women had helped her get home because she was intoxicated, but she did not have her access key or phone with her. Surveillance cameras captured security guard Stephen Duxbury interacting with her as she tried to get inside.

Sasha eventually entered the building behind another resident. Prosecutors later showed surveillance footage of Duxbury walking through the hallways with her and accused him of entering her apartment, attacking her and k*****g her. Investigators also found his fingerprints inside the apartment and DNA evidence on Sasha.

In 2017, a jury convicted Duxbury of first-degree m****r, attempted s****l battery and burglary. He was sentenced to life in prison. The case is especially chilling because the person whose job was supposed to help keep residents safe became the man convicted of k*****g her.

Robert Hansen lived in Anchorage, Alaska, where he owned a bakery and outwardly appeared to be a quiet husband and father. Behind that ordinary life, investigators later determined he had been abducting women for years and taking some of them to isolated areas outside the city.

Hansen was an experienced pilot and hunter. Authorities said he transported victims into remote wilderness areas and, in multiple cases, released and hunted them. His crimes remained hidden for years until 17-year-old Cindy Paulson escaped in 1983 and gave police information that eventually led them back to Hansen.

A search connected to Hansen uncovered jewelry belonging to victims and a marked map tied to remote burial sites. Hansen ultimately confessed to k*****g 17 women and was sentenced to life plus hundreds of additional years in prison. He d**d in custody in 2014.

Robert DuBoise was just 18 years old when he was arrested in Tampa, Florida, in 1983 for the m****r of 19-year-old Barbara Grams. His case relied heavily on supposed bite-mark evidence and testimony from a jailhouse informant. He was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to d***h, despite the jury recommending life imprisonment.

DuBoise spent three years on d***h row before his d***h sentence was overturned and replaced with life imprisonment. Decades later, experts concluded that the supposed bite-mark evidence used against him was scientifically unsupported and that the injury wasn’t even a human bite mark.

In 2020, biological evidence previously believed to have been destroyed was discovered and tested. The DNA excluded DuBoise and instead pointed investigators toward another individual. He walked out of prison at 55 after nearly 37 years behind bars and was officially exonerated weeks later.

On May 29, 2005, 27-year-old Jennifer Holliday was traveling near Lufkin, Texas, with her 18-year-old cousin Ana Franklin when Eric Parnell began following them. Parnell fired into their vehicle, badly injuring Jennifer, then sh*t and k****d Ana before abducting Jennifer and taking her to an isolated area.

Despite severe injuries and blood loss, Jennifer realized she might be able to manipulate her captor. She began acting as though another man had attacked her and Parnell had actually rescued her. She thanked him for saving her, convinced him she trusted him, and eventually persuaded him to let her call 911 for medical help.

Jennifer maintained the story even while speaking with the dispatcher, telling 911 that the man beside her had rescued her. Eventually, she convinced Parnell himself to speak on the phone and provide directions to his isolated home. As Jennifer walked toward the arriving ambulance, a SWAT team moved through the surrounding woods and arrested Parnell. He later received two life sentences.

In September 1966, 39-year-old DiAnne Keidel disappeared from her home in Phoenix, Arizona. Her husband, Gene Keidel, reported her missing and told the children that their mother was gone, but their youngest daughter Lori carried a disturbing childhood memory that she did not fully understand at the time.

Decades later, Lori told investigators that when she was about five years old, she remembered seeing her father attack DiAnne and later seeing him digging in the backyard while her mother lay nearby. In 1993, police searched the former family property and recovered human remains from the area Lori had described. They were identified as DiAnne.

Gene Keidel was eventually convicted of first-degree m****r in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison. The case became especially haunting because a fragment of memory held by a small child for nearly three decades ultimately led investigators back to the exact place where her mother had been hidden.

On February 23, 2020, Sarah Boone and her boyfriend, 42-year-old Jorge Torres Jr., were drinking at their Winter Park, Florida home when Boone later said they began playing hide-and-seek. At some point, Jorge climbed into a suitcase and Boone zipped it shut.

Boone claimed she eventually went upstairs and fell asleep, believing Jorge could get himself out. But videos recovered from her phone showed Jorge pleading to be released and saying he could not breathe while Boone refused to open the suitcase. He was found d**d inside the following morning.

A jury convicted Boone of second-degree m****r in October 2024 after deliberating for about 90 minutes. In December, she was sentenced to life in prison. What began as an alleged game of hide-and-seek ended with Jorge suffocating inside the suitcase.

In February 1996, 14-year-old Tanya Kach disappeared from McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Before she vanished, she had been groomed by Thomas Hose, a school security guard who was decades older than her. To the outside world, Tanya was just another missing teenager.

Instead, she had been taken to Hose’s home, where she was kept hidden from the world for nearly 10 years. She spent much of that time isolated inside the house, cut off from friends, family, and any normal life, while Hose controlled nearly everything around her.

In 2006, Tanya finally escaped and asked a neighbor for help, ending one of the most disturbing captivity cases in Pennsylvania. Hose was later convicted and sent to prison. Tanya has since spoken publicly about surviving the a***e and rebuilding her life.

In January 1993, 23-year-old Bonnie Haim vanished from her Jacksonville, Florida home. Her husband, Michael Haim, told police she had left after an argument and never came back, but investigators quickly became suspicious because Bonnie left behind her purse, her car, and her young son.

The case went cold for years. Then in 2014, Bonnie’s son Aaron, now grown, was doing excavation work at the same house after buying the property. While digging in the backyard, he uncovered human remains buried on the land.

The remains were identified as Bonnie’s, and the discovery reopened the entire case. Prosecutors later said Michael had k****d Bonnie and hidden her body behind the house, and he was eventually convicted of her m****r. The case became infamous because the victim’s own son ended up finding her remains decades later.

On December 2, 2001, three woodcutters collecting firewood in a remote forest near Lia, Georgia, discovered two metal objects giving off intense heat. There was little or no snow immediately around them, despite the winter conditions. The men had no reason to suspect the objects were dangerous and decided to use them as makeshift heaters while spending the night in the forest.

The cylinders were actually unshielded strontium-90 radioactive sources from abandoned Soviet-era radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Within several hours of being near them, the men developed nausea, headaches, dizziness and vomiting. Over the following weeks, severe radiation injuries began developing where their bodies had been closest to the sources.

All three were eventually hospitalized with radiation injuries. Two required lengthy specialized treatment abroad, and one remained seriously ill for more than two years before d***g on May 13, 2004, 893 days after the exposure. Recovery crews later had to approach the abandoned sources under tightly controlled conditions because of the radiation levels.

In February 2002, Forrest “Butch” Bowyer and his 12-year-old son, Brett, were at their home in Phenix City, Alabama, when Michael David Carruth and Jimmy Lee Brooks Jr. arrived posing as narcotics officers. Using fake documents, the men gained access to the house, restrained the father and son and demanded money.

The attackers eventually drove Butch and Brett to a rural construction site. There, Butch’s throat was cut and Brett was sh*t. The father and son were placed together in a shallow grave and covered with dirt. Brett d**d, but Butch remained alive beneath the ground.

After his attackers left, Butch managed to dig himself out of the grave despite his injuries. He crawled to a nearby highway and found help, then gave investigators information that helped identify the men responsible. Both attackers were convicted for the crimes.

On October 31, 2019, 26-year-old Kristen Trickle d**d from a g*n sh*t wound while lying in bed at her home in Hays, Kansas. Her husband, Colby Trickle, called 911 and said Kristen had done it herself while he was sleeping beside her.

Investigators remained suspicious and discovered that Colby had researched the amount of Kristen’s military spouse life insurance shortly before her d***h. He eventually collected more than $120,000 from two life insurance policies. Investigators said that only two days after receiving one of the payouts, he spent $1,942 on a life-size doll.

Colby was charged with Kristen’s m****r in 2021 and convicted in September 2023 of first-degree premeditated m****r and interfering with law enforcement. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years. In September 2026, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed his convictions.

In 1992, a 23-year-old patient accused Saskatchewan physician John Schneeberger of drugging and s******y a**aulting her during an appointment. Evidence was collected, but when Schneeberger voluntarily provided blood for DNA testing, his sample did not match. A second test also failed to match, creating the appearance that the patient had identified the wrong man.

The explanation was eventually revealed to be extraordinary. Schneeberger had surgically implanted a roughly 15-centimeter plastic Penrose drain beneath the skin of his arm and filled it with another man’s blood mixed with anticoagulants. When technicians inserted the needle, he maneuvered things so they drew blood from the hidden tube instead of from his own bloodstream.

The deception finally collapsed after investigators obtained additional DNA samples that could not be manipulated the same way. Schneeberger was convicted of s****l a*****t, administering a noxious substance and obstruction of justice, and received a six-year prison sentence. His case became notorious because he used his own medical knowledge to physically alter his arm and fool forensic DNA testing multiple times.

On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old nursing director Sherri Rasmussen was found beaten and shot three times inside the Van Nuys home she shared with her new husband, John Ruetten. Investigators initially believed she had interrupted burglars, and the case went cold. Sherri’s father repeatedly urged police to investigate Stephanie Lazarus, an LAPD officer who had previously been involved with Ruetten, but Lazarus was not seriously pursued.

Among the evidence preserved from Sherri’s body was a saliva sample collected from a bite mark on her arm. Years later, DNA testing revealed something that contradicted the original burglary theory: the person who left the saliva was a woman. When investigators finally focused on Lazarus, undercover officers followed her and recovered a discarded drinking cup and straw. The DNA matched the evidence from Sherri’s bite mark.

Lazarus was arrested in 2009, by which point she had spent decades with the LAPD and become a detective. In 2012, a jury convicted her of Sherri’s m****r, more than 26 years after the k*****g. She was sentenced to 27 years to life.

In 2009, Dalia Dippolito was recorded discussing a plan to have her husband Michael k****d. She later met with a man she believed was a hired k**ler, but he was actually an undercover Boynton Beach police officer.

Police then created an elaborate fake crime scene outside the couple’s Florida home. When Dalia arrived, officers told her that Michael had been k****d and cameras captured her emotional reaction. She was later taken to the police station, where investigators revealed that Michael was alive and that the supposed hitman was an officer.

Dippolito was eventually convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree m****r after multiple trials and appeals. The case became especially notorious because so much of the investigation was captured on video, including the undercover meetings, the staged crime scene and the moment police revealed the truth.

On March 4, 2022, 40-year-old Aaron Henderson was working as a contracted traffic-control spotter at the North Central Landfill in Polk County, Florida. His job involved working on the ground and directing incoming and outgoing dump trucks. Near the end of the workday, Henderson went inside a portable toilet near the heavy-equipment staging area.

At around 5:10 p.m., another contract worker began driving a bulldozer up an embankment to park it for the night. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the bulldozer’s front blade was raised approximately three to four feet, obstructing the operator’s view directly ahead. After reaching level ground and beginning a turn, the operator heard a loud crumbling sound and realized he had driven over the portable toilet, unaware that it was there or that Henderson was inside.

The operator immediately got out and discovered Henderson unresponsive inside. Polk County Fire Rescue pronounced him d**d at the scene. Authorities described the d***h as a tragic industrial accident, and the medical examiner ruled it accidental. Henderson was a father of three who, according to his family, had started working at the landfill only a few weeks earlier.

On November 9, 1971, John List m******d his wife, Helen, his mother, Alma, and his three children inside their mansion in Westfield, New Jersey. He arranged the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags in the home’s ballroom, leaving his mother’s body upstairs. Before disappearing, List canceled deliveries, lowered the thermostat, and left religious music playing through the house. He also wrote a lengthy confession explaining his actions. The bodies remained undiscovered for nearly a month, until police entered the mansion on December 7.

List had carefully planned his disappearance. He traveled across the country, assumed the identity Robert P. Clark, and eventually settled into an entirely new life. He found work as an accountant, joined a church, and even remarried in 1985. His new wife had no idea that the quiet man she married was wanted for m**dering five members of his previous family. Despite an enormous manhunt, List managed to avoid capture for nearly 18 years.

In 1989, the television program America’s Most Wanted featured the unsolved m**ders and displayed an extraordinary piece of evidence: a realistic clay bust created by forensic sculptor Frank Bender. Using old photographs, Bender had predicted what List might look like nearly two decades after vanishing. The resemblance was astonishing. A former neighbor recognized the man she had known as Robert Clark, leading investigators to his location. On June 1, 1989, List was arrested in Virginia. He was convicted of five m**ders in 1990 and sentenced to five consecutive life terms. The clay sculpture became one of the most remarkable examples of forensic artistry helping solve a criminal case.

On November 15, 2004, 52-year-old Peter Porco was attacked with an axe while sleeping in his home in Delmar, New York. Despite suffering catastrophic head injuries, investigators determined he briefly regained consciousness after the attack.

In those final moments, Porco reportedly got out of bed, walked downstairs, packed his lunch, loaded the dishwasher, attempted to shave, and tried to leave for work before collapsing. Medical experts testified that these actions were possible because parts of the brain responsible for routine motor functions can continue working despite devastating injuries.

Investigators identified Peter’s son, Christopher Porco, as the attacker. He was convicted of m**dering his father and attempting to m****r his mother, Joan Porco, in 2006 and was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. The case remains one of the most astonishing examples of automatic human behavior ever documented following a fatal attack.

In December 2024, Mary Gingles discovered a backpack hidden in the garage of her Tamarac, Florida home that she said had been left by her estranged husband, Nathan Gingles. Inside were items including duct tape, plastic wrap, gloves and apparent restraints. She also reported finding a note referencing methods including an air embolism, medication o******e and waterboarding.

Mary repeatedly warned authorities that she believed Nathan intended to k**l her. She had domestic violence injunctions against him and documented alleged break-ins, a tracker placed on her vehicle and interference with her security cameras. Just ten days before her d***h, Mary wrote in a court filing that she believed the backpack contained items he would need to m****r her.

On February 16, 2025, Nathan allegedly k****d Mary, her father David Ponzer, and neighbor Andrew Ferrin, whose home Mary had run into while trying to escape. Prosecutors have charged Nathan with the k**lings, and he has pleaded not guilty. An internal investigation into law enforcement’s handling of Mary’s earlier reports ultimately resulted in eight Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies being fired.

Shortly after midnight on January 1, 2021, Morgan Metzer awoke at her Canton, Georgia home to a masked intruder dressed in black. He attacked her, restrained her wrists with zip ties and disguised his voice with a low, Batman-like sound before leaving her bound on the back porch.

Roughly 40 minutes later, Morgan heard someone approaching and feared her attacker had returned. Instead, she recognized the voice of her recently divorced ex-husband, Rodney “Rod” Metzer, who appeared to have discovered her and called 911. Investigators soon determined that Morgan’s supposed rescuer was actually the masked attacker.

Evidence piled up quickly. Investigators found matching zip ties in Rod’s apartment and surveillance footage showing him purchasing them at Lowe’s about 36 hours before the attack. Rod ultimately pleaded guilty to 14 charges and was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 45 years of probation.

In October 1985, 17-year-old Michele “Missy” Avila was found d**d in a creek in California’s Angeles National Forest. Investigators initially had no clear suspect. Two young women who had known Missy for years, Karen Severson and Laura Doyle, publicly acted devastated by her d***h and attended her funeral.

Karen became especially close to Missy’s grieving mother, Irene. She brought flowers to Missy’s grave, talked about finding whoever was responsible and eventually moved into the Avila family’s home to comfort them. Laura also sent Irene a sympathy card. Neither woman told the family that they themselves had participated in Missy’s m****r.

Nearly three years later, witness Eva Chirumbolo finally came forward. Karen and Laura were arrested, and in 1990 both were convicted of second-degree m****r. They received sentences of 15 years to life. The horrifying truth meant that while Irene had been mourning her daughter, one of the people responsible had been living under her roof and presenting herself as another grieving friend.

In November 1986, 39-year-old flight attendant Helle Crafts disappeared from her Newtown, Connecticut home. Her husband, Richard Crafts, gave conflicting explanations for where she had gone. Investigators later learned that around the time Helle vanished, Richard had purchased a freezer and rented a large wood chipper.

A snowplow driver remembered seeing a rental truck and wood chipper near Lake Zoar during a snowstorm. Investigators searched the area and recovered human tissue, bone fragments, a painted fingernail, thousands of strands of blond hair and a dental crown. The crown was positively matched to Helle’s dental records. A chainsaw recovered from the water was also traced back to Richard.

Prosecutors concluded Richard k****d Helle, froze her remains, dismembered them and used the wood chipper to dispose of them near the water. Although virtually no body remained, the forensic evidence was enough. After an earlier mistrial, Richard was convicted of Helle’s m****r in 1989 and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Sony Millbrook, a 28-year-old mother of five, was reported missing in Memphis in January 2010 after she failed to pick up her children from school. Her family told police she had been staying at the Budget Inn, where employees said her belongings remained inside her locked room after she stopped paying for it.

For weeks, nobody discovered what had happened to her. The motel eventually rented the room approximately five more times and employees cleaned it repeatedly. In March, after complaints about a foul odor, investigators searched the room and discovered Sony’s body concealed inside the metal bed frame beneath the mattress.

Sony’s boyfriend, LaKeith Moody, was eventually convicted of m**dering her. Prosecutors said he k****d Sony during an argument and concealed her body beneath the bed. The discovery also raised serious questions about the initial missing-person investigation and how a motel room containing a body could repeatedly be cleaned and rented to unsuspecting guests.

On April 27, 2006, 17-year-old Ashley Reeves disappeared near Belleville, Illinois. Investigators eventually questioned 26-year-old Samson Shelton, a high-school teacher who had previously taught at a school Ashley attended. Shelton admitted attacking Ashley during an encounter, breaking her neck and carrying her into a wooded area where he left her believing she was d**d.

Ashley remained in the woods for more than 30 hours with devastating injuries and covered in insect bites. Shelton eventually accompanied investigators to the area. Searchers entered believing they were looking for a body, but when they finally located Ashley in the darkness, investigator Steve Johnson noticed her take a breath. She was rushed to a hospital and survived.

While Ashley had been lying injured in the woods, Shelton was recorded line dancing at a local country music club. He later pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree m****r and received a 20-year prison sentence. Ashley endured extensive rehabilitation and had to relearn basic functions including swallowing, talking and moving parts of her body.

On December 17, 1968, 20-year-old Emory University student Barbara Mackle was kidnapped from a motel room in Decatur, Georgia, while recovering from the flu. Gary Steven Krist had posed as a police officer to gain entry, accompanied by Ruth Eisemann-Schier, who was disguised as a man. After restraining Barbara’s mother, the pair forced the young woman into a vehicle and drove her to a remote wooded area outside Atlanta. There, they placed her inside a specially constructed wooden and fiberglass box containing food, water, a light, and a battery-powered ventilation system. Before burying her, they photographed Barbara holding a sign reading “KIDNAPPED.”

The kidnappers lowered the box into a trench and covered it with dirt, leaving ventilation tubes reaching the surface. Barbara was trapped underground, unable to escape, while Krist and Eisemann-Schier demanded $500,000 from her wealthy father, Florida developer Robert Mackle. As the hours passed, she remained alone in the darkness, relying on the box’s air supply and electrical equipment to survive. Her father eventually paid the ransom, but the kidnappers initially provided no precise location. Investigators faced the terrifying possibility that Barbara might run out of air or water before they could find her.

On December 20, Krist contacted the FBI and provided vague directions to the burial site. Agents flooded the area and searched the woods until they located the concealed box. Using tire irons, sticks, and their bare hands, they dug through approximately 18 inches of dirt and opened the screwed-down lid. At 4:32 p.m., Barbara was lifted out alive after spending approximately 83 hours underground. Krist was arrested two days later in Florida, and Eisemann-Schier was captured in Oklahoma in March 1969. Both were convicted, and Barbara later wrote a book about her ordeal titled “83 Hours Till Dawn.” The original kidnapping photograph and rescue-site images remain chilling evidence of one of America’s most extraordinary survival cases.

On February 23, 2023, 41-year-old Rebecca “Becky” Bliefnick was found sh*t to d***h inside her home in Quincy, Illinois, after she failed to pick up her children from school. She and her estranged husband, Timothy Bliefnick, were separated and going through a divorce at the time.

Timothy had previously appeared with relatives on Family Feud in 2020. When host Steve Harvey asked contestants to name the biggest mistake they had made at their wedding, Timothy answered, “I do,” before quickly adding that he loved his wife. The clip resurfaced after Becky’s m****r and drew widespread attention to the case.

In May 2023, a jury convicted Timothy of first-degree m****r, home invasion and using a firearm in the k*****g. He was sentenced that August to life in prison. Timothy has continued to maintain that he did not k**l Becky.

On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 from her apartment in Chicago’s Grace Abbott Homes. She desperately tried to explain that people in a neighboring unit had removed their bathroom cabinet and were trying to enter through hers. The report was initially treated as a disturbance rather than the extraordinary home invasion Ruthie was attempting to describe.

The buildings contained plumbing access spaces behind bathroom medicine cabinets. By removing cabinets, intruders could exploit these spaces to enter neighboring apartments, and similar break-ins had already occurred. Neighbors soon reported screams and g*n sh*ts from Ruthie’s apartment. When authorities finally gained entry, Ruthie had been fatally sh*t and her apartment had been breached through the bathroom medicine cabinet.

Two men were eventually charged, but the case against them did not result in convictions and Ruthie’s m****r remains unresolved. Years later, the horrifying architectural detail became part of the mythology surrounding Candyman. The 1992 film was adapted from Clive Barker’s fiction, but reporting on Ruthie’s m****r helped inspire the movie’s famous concept of an attacker entering through the space behind a bathroom mirror.

In 2007, 15-year-old Carly Ryan from South Australia believed she was in a relationship with an 18-year-old musician named “Brandon” she had met online. But “Brandon” was not real. The identity had been created by 50-year-old Garry Francis Newman, who used fake online personas to groom Carly.

The deception became even stranger because Newman also posed as “Brandon’s” father or stepfather, making Carly believe she was communicating with an entire real family. After Carly rejected Newman, prosecutors said he used the fake boyfriend persona to lure her to Port Elliot, where he m******d her.

Newman was convicted of Carly’s m****r in 2010 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a 29-year non-parole period. The case remains especially disturbing because the boyfriend Carly believed she loved had never existed at all.

In April 2011, 31-year-old Tina Nash was brutally attacked by her boyfriend, Shane Jenkins, at their home in Cornwall, England. During the a*****t, Jenkins gouged out both of Tina’s eyes, leaving her permanently blind.

Despite suffering life-changing injuries, Tina survived the attack and later became an advocate for victims of domestic a***e. She has spoken publicly about her recovery, raising awareness of coercive control, domestic violence, and the long-term impact of a*****e relationships.

In 2012, Shane Jenkins pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of six years. Tina has since shared her story through interviews and documentaries, becoming a powerful voice for survivors of domestic violence.

In November 2004, retirees Tom and Jackie Hawks were preparing to sell their 55-foot yacht, Well Deserved, after spending years traveling aboard it. They wanted to move back onto land to be closer to their family and new grandchild when prospective buyer Skylar Deleon contacted them about purchasing the boat.

On November 15, the Hawks took Deleon and accomplices out from Newport Beach for a sea trial. Prosecutors said the couple were overpowered, handcuffed and forced to sign documents transferring ownership of the yacht before being bound to its heavy anchor and thrown alive into the Pacific Ocean. The yacht later returned to its berth, but Tom and Jackie never came back.

The disappearance quickly unraveled after relatives noticed suspicious paperwork and activity involving the Hawks’ finances and property. Deleon and several accomplices were eventually convicted for their roles in the m**ders. Despite extensive investigation, Tom and Jackie’s bodies have never been recovered.

In January 2016, 28-year-old Cory Breton and 31-year-old Iuliana Triscaru were abducted in Queensland, Australia. Prosecutors said they were tied up, brutally a***ulted and forced into a large metal toolbox.

The toolbox was loaded into the back of a ute and taken to Scrubby Creek. Authorities said the box was dumped into the water while both victims were still alive inside. Their bodies were found after the toolbox was recovered from the creek.

The case became infamous because of how unbelievably cruel the method was. Several people were eventually convicted over the m**ders, and the image at the center of the case is impossible to forget: a couple trapped inside a toolbox at the bottom of a creek.

On July 21, 2022, 32-year-old Klil Kimhi was attending a company pool party at a private villa in Karmei Yosef, Israel. Around 50 people were at the gathering, with several swimming in the backyard pool. Suddenly, the ground beneath the pool collapsed, opening a massive sinkhole approximately 43 feet deep. Water, inflatable pool toys and two swimmers were pulled toward the opening as horrified guests watched.

The terrifying collapse was captured on a guest’s phone. Within seconds, nearly all the water disappeared into the underground cavity. One 34-year-old man managed to climb out with minor injuries, but Klil was pulled beneath the surface and vanished underground. Emergency teams rushed to the property, where rescuers carefully entered the unstable cavity to search for him.

After approximately four hours, rescue workers finally located Klil’s body inside the underground passage. He was pronounced d**d at the scene. Investigators later discovered that the swimming pool had been constructed without the required permits over an area containing underground cavities. In 2024, the villa’s owner was charged with causing d***h by negligence. Photographs taken afterward showed an enormous hole torn through the bottom of the pool, with bright pink inflatable flamingos resting beside the opening.

In March 2023, Angela Craig, a 43-year-old mother of six from Aurora, Colorado, began suffering unexplained dizziness, headaches and other symptoms that repeatedly sent her to the hospital. Prosecutors later said her husband, dentist James Craig, had been poisoning drinks he prepared for her, including protein shakes.

While Angela was still sick, a suspicious package addressed to James arrived at his dental practice. He had previously told an office manager not to open his personal deliveries, but another employee opened it anyway. Inside was a container labeled potassium cyanide with a biohazard marking. After employees realized Angela’s symptoms could match cyanide poisoning, Craig’s business partner alerted hospital staff and police.

Angela d**d on March 18, 2023. At Craig’s 2025 trial, prosecutors said he had poisoned her over roughly 10 days before administering a fatal dose of cyanide while she was hospitalized. A jury convicted him of first-degree m****r on July 30, 2025, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In 2015, 61-year-old Mary Cerruti seemingly disappeared from her bungalow in Houston, Texas. Neighbors became concerned as her mail accumulated, her yard became overgrown and the normally private homeowner was nowhere to be found. She was eventually reported missing, but investigators could not determine where she had gone.

The house was later foreclosed on, renovated and sold. In March 2017, the new residents made a horrifying discovery while moving in: human bones were inside a narrow space within the home’s walls. A pair of red eyeglasses resembling the ones Mary wore was also discovered there.

The remains were ultimately identified as Mary. Investigators found no evidence that she had been m******d, and the evidence suggested she had somehow entered or fallen into the wall space and become trapped. Her disappearance had been a mystery for nearly two years while the answer was apparently hidden inside her own house.

On April 20, 2019, 21-year-old Angela Valle was inside her Brooklyn apartment with her friend Savannah Rivera when Angela’s boyfriend, Jerry Brown, attacked both women with an axe. Angela’s four-year-old daughter was also inside the apartment but was not physically harmed. Rivera, who was pregnant, was k****d.

Angela survived severe injuries including a fractured skull, broken ribs, collapsed lungs and multiple wounds. After Brown left, she managed to get out of the apartment and approached an Uber vehicle stopped nearby. The driver called 911, and Angela was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition.

Brown later surrendered to police and admitted attacking Rivera, according to prosecutors. In June 2024 he was convicted of second-degree m****r, second-degree attempted m****r and first-degree a*****t, and that August he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

On September 24, 2021, 19-year-old Miya Marcano disappeared from the Orlando apartment complex where she both lived and worked. She was supposed to fly to South Florida to visit family that evening but never made the flight. Investigators soon focused on Armando Caballero, a 27-year-old maintenance worker at the complex who had repeatedly expressed romantic interest in Miya and had been rejected.

Detectives discovered that Caballero had a maintenance-issued master key fob capable of opening residents’ apartments. Records showed that the key was used to enter Miya’s apartment at about 4:30 p.m., roughly half an hour before her work shift ended, without her permission or a legitimate maintenance reason.

Caballero was found d**d from an apparent s*****e three days after Miya disappeared. On October 2, search teams found Miya’s body in a wooded area near an apartment complex where Caballero had previously lived. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office identified him as the prime suspect, but he d**d before he could be charged or tried in her k*****g.

In September 1978, 15-year-old Mary Vincent accepted a ride while hitchhiking through California. The driver, Lawrence Singleton, a***ulted her before severing both of her forearms with a hatchet and leaving her for d**d in a remote ravine.

Despite her injuries, Mary climbed out of the ravine by pressing her arm stumps against the dirt to stop herself from falling. She then walked approximately three miles until she found help, surviving blood loss that doctors believed should have been fatal.

Singleton was convicted of attempted m****r but, because of California sentencing laws at the time, served only eight years in prison. Mary later testified against him, rebuilt her life with prosthetic arms, and became an artist, while Singleton was later convicted of an unrelated m****r in Florida.

On September 6, 2018, 26-year-old Botham Jean was sitting inside his Dallas apartment eating ice cream when off-duty police officer Amber Guyger entered. Guyger lived one floor below and said she mistakenly believed she had entered her own apartment after parking on the wrong level of the building’s garage.

Guyger testified that she believed Jean was an intruder and fired her service weapon, k*****g him inside his own home. Prosecutors argued that she had ignored multiple signs that she was on the wrong floor and in the wrong apartment. A jury rejected her claim of self-defense and found her guilty of m****r in October 2019.

Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison. On October 1, 2026, the Texas parole board approved her release after she had served about seven years, although an exact release date had not yet been announced.

In May 2011, 27-year-old Michelina Lewandowska was attacked at her home in Huddersfield, England, by her fiancé, Marcin Kasprzak, with the help of his friend Patryk Borys. Michelina was restrained, gagged and forced into a cardboard computer box before being placed in a car and driven into the countryside.

The men buried the sealed box beneath dirt in a wooded area and left Michelina underground. Trapped inside, she remembered the diamond engagement ring Kasprzak had given her. She used the ring to cut through the tape and restraints, then tore through the cardboard box and pushed her way through the dirt covering it.

Michelina emerged alive and reached a nearby road, where she was able to get help. Kasprzak and Borys were later convicted of attempted m****r. The engagement ring given to Michelina by the man who tried to k**l her had ultimately become the tool she used to escape.

Anthony Sowell lived on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, beside a sausage business. Neighbors repeatedly noticed an overwhelming odor in the area, with some believing it came from the nearby meat company or sewer system. The sausage company even replaced equipment and sewer components while trying to eliminate the smell.

In 2009, police went to Sowell’s home while investigating allegations against him and discovered human remains. Investigators eventually recovered 11 victims from inside the house and the surrounding property, including remains buried in the backyard.

The discovery horrified the neighborhood because the warning had seemingly been present for years. Residents had complained about the smell, but its location beside the sausage company provided an ordinary explanation for something far more disturbing happening next door. Sowell was later convicted of multiple m**ders and sentenced to d***h.

In September 1999, a 55-gallon drum was discovered in the crawl space of a house in Jericho, New York. When it was opened, investigators found the mummified remains of a woman who had apparently been hidden there for decades. She had d**d from blunt-force trauma and had been pregnant when she was k****d.

Detectives eventually identified the woman as Reyna Angélica Marroquín, who had disappeared around 1969. The house where the barrel was found had once belonged to Howard Elkins, an executive at the company where Reyna worked, and investigators identified him as the prime suspect in her m****r.

The barrel had remained hidden through years of ownership changes before anyone discovered what was inside. By the time investigators finally connected Reyna to the remains, roughly three decades had passed since she vanished, turning an ordinary old drum beneath a suburban home into the key piece of evidence in a long-hidden m****r.

On October 21, 2021, 28-year-old Ana Abulaban was inside her San Diego high-rise apartment with her friend Rayburn Cardenas Barron when her estranged husband, TikTok creator Ali Abulaban, arrived and sh*t them both. Ali had built an online following of nearly one million people under the name JinnKid, where he was known for comedy videos and impressions.

Prosecutors said Ana had recently asked Ali to leave the apartment. Before the k**lings, he secretly installed a listening app on their 5-year-old daughter’s iPad, allowing him to remotely hear conversations inside the home. After hearing Ana talking with another man through the device, prosecutors said Ali drove to the apartment and k****d Ana and Rayburn.

Ali admitted during his trial that he fired the s**ts but argued that he had acted in the heat of passion. In May 2024, a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree m****r. He was sentenced in September 2024 to spend the rest of his life in prison, with consecutive m****r sentences and additional firearm enhancements.

Raven Campbell disappeared from her apartment in Lomita, California in July 2009. Her family immediately found one detail troubling: Raven’s purse was still inside. Her sister later explained that Raven almost always kept the purse strapped against her chest. Despite the family’s concerns, years passed without Raven being found.

In 2015, Raven’s sister received an anonymous call claiming her body was hidden behind a closet wall in the downstairs apartment. Detectives eventually searched the residence with cadaver dogs, which alerted near the closet. Investigators removed a patched section of wall and discovered human remains inside. DNA confirmed they belonged to Raven, and an autopsy determined she had d**d from blunt force trauma to the head.

Raven’s former roommate, Randolph Garbutt, was arrested in 2016. He later pleaded no contest to voluntary mans***ghter and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2019. By the time Raven was discovered, another family had been living in the apartment, completely unaware that her remains were concealed behind the wall.

On April 19, 2023, 20-year-old Alexa Bartell was driving near Denver, Colorado, while talking to a friend on the phone when a 9-pound landscaping rock was thrown through her windshield. The rock struck Alexa, and her car left the road. Her friend later tracked her phone and found her unresponsive inside the vehicle.

Investigators learned that Joseph Koenig, Nicholas Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak had been driving around throwing rocks at passing vehicles that night. After Alexa’s car crashed, the group circled back, and Kwak took a photograph of the wreck. According to court documents, he said he believed one of the others would want the image as a “memento.”

Koenig was convicted in 2025 of first-degree m****r and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 60 years. Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to second-degree m****r and received 45 years in prison, while Kwak received 32 years after pleading guilty to a*****t-related charges.

In November 2016, 28-year-old doctor Angela Jay returned to her home in Port Macquarie, Australia, and was ambushed by her former boyfriend, Paul Lambert. Their relationship had lasted only a few months, but after Angela tried to end it, Lambert became increasingly controlling and threatening. Angela had gone to police and applied for a protective order before the attack.

Lambert hid inside Angela’s home and attacked her when she returned from work. She was s***bed 11 times and doused in petrol, but managed to escape before he could set her on fire. Despite her injuries, Angela reached a neighbor’s home, where she remained remarkably calm while helping them follow emergency instructions until paramedics arrived.

Lambert fled and was pursued by police. After a high-speed chase, officers confronted him near Bonville, where he lunged toward them with a knife after a Taser failed to stop him. Police s**t and k****d him. Angela survived and later became a prominent advocate against domestic violence.

On August 20, 2026, 34-year-old Christopher Boone Crimmins and 26-year-old Tyler Anthony L***h were working for a tree-trimming service in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Crimmins was operating a truck-mounted hydraulic grapple while L***h worked on the ground clearing branches.

According to the criminal complaint, the two noticed the sunlight casting shadows of L***h and the grapple onto the street. Crimmins began maneuvering the machine so the grapple’s shadow appeared to grab L***h’s shadow. While watching the shadows instead of the actual grapple and L***h, Crimmins closed the grapple on L***h’s head. L***h was pronounced d**d at the scene.

The following day, Crimmins was charged with one count of second-degree mans***ghter, with prosecutors alleging culpable negligence creating an unreasonable risk.

In October 2009, 39-year-old Dawn Viens disappeared from Lomita, California. Her husband, chef David Viens, told people she had simply left, but investigators quickly became suspicious when Dawn never contacted her family again and no clear trace of her turned up.

Years later, David gave a horrifying account of what happened inside their home. Prosecutors said he bound Dawn during an argument, and after she d**d, he tried to get rid of her body in one of the most disturbing ways imaginable. He later admitted he had cooked her body for days in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

Dawn’s body was never recovered, but David Viens was ultimately convicted in connection with her d***h. The case became infamous because of the sheer horror of the disposal method and the cold way he described it, turning a missing wife case into one of California’s most grotesque m****r stories.

On December 7, 2007, 37-year-old Alcides Moreno and his younger brother Edgar were preparing to wash windows on a Manhattan skyscraper when their suspended platform failed. Both men plunged from the building, falling nearly 500 feet. Edgar d**d, but when rescuers reached Alcides, they discovered he was somehow still alive.

Alcides suffered devastating injuries, including multiple broken limbs, a shattered vertebra, a collapsed lung, internal injuries and bleeding around his brain. His condition was so unstable that doctors performed his first operation without even moving him from the emergency room. He eventually underwent numerous additional surgeries and received roughly twice his body’s normal blood volume in transfusions.

Against extraordinary odds, Alcides recovered movement in all four limbs, regained his ability to speak and eventually walked again. Doctors believed remaining with the falling window-washing platform may have helped distribute some of the impact, although precisely how he survived could not be established. NewYork-Presbyterian’s president described surviving a 47-story fall as “virtually beyond belief.”

On February 27, 2021, 69-year-old Warren Barnes was k****d near a highway overpass in Grand Junction, Colorado. Warren was unhoused but well known around downtown, where he regularly sat reading books. His k**ler was 19-year-old Brian Cohee Jr., a stranger who later told investigators he had wanted to experience k*****g someone and believed an unhoused victim would be less likely to be missed.

Two days later, Brian’s mother was cleaning his bedroom when she discovered a heavy plastic bag inside a container in his closet. She became alarmed by what she saw and called for help. Police arrived at the house, and bodycam footage captured Brian calmly acknowledging that the human remains belonged to the recently missing Warren Barnes before admitting that he had m******d him.

Brian was charged with first-degree m****r and tampering offenses. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but prosecutors argued that his planning and attempts to conceal the crime demonstrated that he understood what he was doing. A jury convicted him in February 2023, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On May 26, 1990, 40-year-old Marlene Warren was having breakfast with her son at their home in Wellington, Florida, when an unexpected visitor pulled into the driveway. A person dressed in a colorful clown costume approached the front door carrying flowers and two balloons, including one that read “You’re the Greatest.” Thinking it was a harmless surprise, Marlene opened the door and accepted the gifts. Moments later, the clown pulled out a handg*n and sh*t her in the face. Her son witnessed the aftermath as the k**ler calmly returned to a white Chrysler convertible and drove away. Marlene d**d in the hospital two days later.

Investigators quickly focused on Sheila Keen, a woman who worked for Marlene’s husband, Michael Warren, at his car dealership. Witnesses claimed the two were having an affair, although both denied it. Detectives discovered that a woman resembling Sheila had purchased clown supplies shortly before the m****r, and the getaway car had been stolen from Michael’s dealership. Orange wig fibers were also recovered from the abandoned vehicle. Despite the suspicious evidence, prosecutors did not have enough to charge anyone. Then, in 2002, something extraordinary happened: Sheila married Michael Warren, the widower of the woman k****d by the clown.

The m****r remained unsolved until investigators reopened the case using newer forensic technology. In September 2017, police arrested Sheila Keen-Warren in Virginia, where she and Michael had been operating a restaurant. In April 2023, she pleaded guilty to second-degree m****r and received a 12-year prison sentence, although she continued to maintain her innocence. On November 2, 2024, Sheila was released from prison after receiving credit for time already served and good behavior. More than three decades after Marlene was m******d by someone disguised as a clown, the woman convicted of k*****g her was once again free.

In October 2023, 43-year-old Kristil Krug began receiving terrifying messages from someone claiming to be an ex-boyfriend she had dated more than 20 years earlier. The messages became increasingly threatening, with the sender claiming to watch her movements and even threatening her husband, Daniel. One particularly disturbing message included a photograph of Daniel getting out of his car at work, seemingly proving that the mysterious stalker was watching them both.

On December 14, 2023, Kristil was found m******d inside the garage of her Broomfield, Colorado home after dropping her children off at school. Investigators discovered that someone had disabled the home security system and covered the doorbell camera with blue masking tape. But the strangest evidence came from the threatening photograph. Digital forensic experts determined that Daniel had actually taken the picture himself using a phone’s selfie timer, then sent it to his wife while pretending to be her stalker.

Detectives eventually traced the threatening emails and burner phones back to Daniel, discovering that he had spent months manufacturing the stalking campaign to frighten his wife and manipulate their failing marriage. He had even scheduled text messages from Kristil’s phone to arrive after her d***h, making it appear she was still alive. On April 17, 2025, a jury convicted Daniel of first-degree m****r, stalking and criminal impersonation. The following day, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional nine and a half years.

In 1985, 25-year-old British mountaineer Joe Simpson and 21-year-old Simon Yates became the first climbers to ascend the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. Disaster struck during their descent when Simpson fell and severely shattered his right leg. Yates attempted to lower his injured partner thousands of feet down the mountain as worsening weather surrounded them.

Eventually Simpson was accidentally lowered over an ice cliff, leaving him hanging where Yates could neither pull him back up nor safely lower him farther. Yates was being dragged toward the edge himself and made the desperate decision to cut their rope. Simpson plunged roughly 100 feet before falling farther into a massive glacier crevasse. Yates later descended, saw the crevasse and believed there was no possibility his partner had survived.

Simpson was alive. Unable to climb back through the opening above him, he lowered himself deeper into the crevasse until he discovered another route onto the glacier. With his shattered leg, little food or water and nobody searching for him, Simpson spent roughly three and a half days crawling and dragging himself toward base camp. He finally arrived only hours before his companions were preparing to leave. Simpson later documented the ordeal in his bestselling memoir Touching the Void.

On December 21, 1992, 25-year-old teacher Christy Mirack failed to arrive at the Pennsylvania elementary school where she worked. A coworker went to her home and found her m******d inside. Investigators collected DNA from the crime scene, but no suspect could be identified and the case remained unsolved for decades.

In 2018, investigators used genetic genealogy to narrow the DNA profile to Raymond Rowe, a well-known local wedding DJ who performed under the name DJ Freez. Detectives secretly followed Rowe until he discarded a piece of chewing gum and a water bottle while working at an elementary school event. Testing showed that DNA from both items matched the DNA recovered from Christy’s m****r scene.

Rowe was arrested in June 2018. In January 2019, he admitted k*****g Christy and pleaded guilty to criminal homicide and other charges. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 60 to 120 years.

On December 19, 1979, 18-year-old high school senior Michelle Martinko went shopping at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Early the following morning, she was discovered inside her family’s car in the mall parking lot. Michelle had been s***bed repeatedly, but despite an enormous investigation, detectives could not identify her k**ler.

Investigators preserved Michelle’s clothing and evidence from inside the car. Years later, improved testing revealed something crucial: male DNA from blood on Michelle’s dress matched male DNA recovered from the gearshift. Detectives believed her attacker had cut himself during Michelle’s struggle, meaning he had unknowingly left investigators a genetic fingerprint at the crime scene.

Investigative genetic genealogy eventually led detectives to Jerry Lynn Burns. Police secretly obtained Burns’ DNA and matched it to the crime-scene profile. He was arrested on December 19, 2018, exactly 39 years after Michelle went shopping at the mall. Burns was later convicted of first-degree m****r and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In May 1999, 34-year-old Debbie Griggs disappeared from her home in Kent, England, while three months pregnant with her fourth child. Her husband, Andrew Griggs, claimed she had simply walked out after an argument, but investigators quickly doubted that story.

Years later, Andrew was convicted of Debbie’s m****r even though her body still had not been found. Then the case took an even darker turn. After his conviction, he told one of their sons where Debbie’s remains were hidden and tried to get him involved in a plan to make it look like she was still alive.

In 2022, police excavated the garden of Andrew’s former home in Dorset and found Debbie’s remains inside a barrel-shaped container buried beneath the concrete base of a shed. The case became even more disturbing because her k**ler not only hid her body for more than two decades, but later tried to manipulate his own son into digging her up.

On June 19, 2016, 27-year-old actor Anton Yelchin, best known for playing Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek films, was found d**d in the driveway of his Los Angeles home. Anton had apparently stepped out of his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee near the bottom of his steep driveway. While he was outside the vehicle, the SUV suddenly rolled backward, pinning him between its rear end and a brick mailbox pillar and metal security gate.

Anton was crushed so severely that the impact bent the heavy iron gate. Friends discovered his body after he failed to appear for a scheduled rehearsal. The Los Angeles County medical examiner determined that he d**d from blunt traumatic asphyxia, meaning the pressure of the vehicle against his body prevented him from breathing.

The tragedy became even more disturbing when investigators discovered that Anton’s Jeep model was among approximately 1.1 million vehicles recalled just two months earlier. Federal regulators had found that its electronic gear selector could confuse drivers into believing their vehicles were safely in park when they were not. Although the precise cause of Anton’s rollaway was never conclusively established, his parents filed a wrongful d***h lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler. The family reached a confidential settlement in 2018.

On February 4, 1974, 19-year-old newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkeley apartment by armed members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The group initially demanded that her wealthy family distribute millions of dollars worth of food in exchange for her release.

Instead, Hearst later announced that she had joined the group and adopted the name “Tania.” On April 15, just over two months after her kidnapping, surveillance cameras recorded her carrying a rifle during the SLA’s robbery of a Hibernia Bank in San Francisco.

The FBI captured Hearst in September 1975, 19 months after her abduction. She was convicted of bank robbery, but questions over coercion and her treatment while captive remained central to the case. President Jimmy Carter later commuted her sentence, and President Bill Clinton granted her a full pardon in 2001.

On March 29, 2019, 21-year-old Samantha Josephson left a bar in Columbia, South Carolina, and got into a black Chevrolet Impala she believed was the Uber she had ordered. The car was actually driven by Nathaniel Rowland, and prosecutors said Samantha became trapped in the back seat because the child safety locks were engaged.

Hours later, Samantha’s body was found about 65 miles away. Investigators recovered her blood inside Rowland’s car, along with her cellphone and other evidence. Prosecutors also said Rowland later tried to use Samantha’s debit card after the k*****g.

In July 2021, a jury found Rowland guilty of Samantha’s m****r after roughly an hour of deliberation. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case later became closely associated with rideshare safety campaigns urging passengers to verify a driver and vehicle before getting inside.

In June 2019, 23-year-old Mackenzie Lueck, a University of Utah student, disappeared after returning to Salt Lake City from a trip and meeting Ayoola Ajayi, a man she had connected with online. Phone records placed both of them at the same park during the early morning hours when they met.

Investigators searched Ajayi’s home and discovered burned material in his backyard, including tissue that matched Mackenzie’s DNA and charred personal belongings. Authorities said Ajayi had k****d her, burned and buried her body behind the house, then later dug up the remains and moved them to a shallow grave in Logan Canyon.

Ajayi pleaded guilty in October 2020 to aggravated m****r and desecration of a human body, admitting that he had planned Mackenzie’s k*****g. Later that month, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In September 1999, a homeowner in Jericho, New York opened a 55-gallon drum that had been sitting in the crawl space beneath his house. Inside were the remains of a pregnant woman. Investigators eventually identified her as 27-year-old Reyna Angélica Marroquín, an immigrant from El Salvador who had disappeared in 1969.

Evidence inside the drum led detectives to Howard Elkins, Reyna’s former employer and a previous owner of the house. Elkins had also been part owner of the plastics company where Reyna worked, and investigators discovered that Reyna and Elkins had been involved in a relationship. A plastic flower stem recovered from the drum provided another connection to the factory.

Investigators learned that Reyna had been pregnant when she d**d and sought Elkins’s DNA to determine whether he was the father. Elkins refused to provide a sample and d**d shortly after detectives questioned him. Investigators later obtained DNA that confirmed Elkins was the father of Reyna’s unborn child, making him the prime suspect in a m****r that had remained hidden for 30 years.

In June 1991, Charles Holden picked up a hitchhiker while driving in Delaware. After an argument between the two men, Charles left the stranger behind and eventually returned to the farmhouse where he lived with his mother, 72-year-old Dorothy Donovan. Later that night, Dorothy was found m******d inside the home.

Charles told investigators that he believed the hitchhiker had somehow located the secluded house after their encounter. Police struggled to believe the coincidence and initially scrutinized Charles, but blood evidence inside the farmhouse included a bloody fingerprint that did not belong to him. Investigators created a composite sketch from Charles’s description, but the case remained unsolved.

Years later, investigators revisited the evidence and ultimately identified Gilbert Cannon as Dorothy’s k**ler. The bizarre explanation Charles had given police from the beginning was essentially true: a stranger he had encountered on the road had managed to find the home he shared with his mother and k****d her.

On June 16, 2019, Indian magician Chanchal Lahiri, known professionally as “Jadugar Mandrake,” prepared to perform a dangerous escape stunt in the Hooghly River in Kolkata, India. Wearing a bright yellow and red costume, he allowed assistants to wrap his body in thick ropes and steel chains secured with multiple locks. His plan was to be lowered underwater, escape his restraints and emerge before a crowd of spectators. Photographers captured him smiling and preparing for the stunt.

Lahiri had successfully completed a similar underwater escape 21 years earlier. But this attempt would be different. Shortly before being lowered into the river, he told reporters that succeeding would be magic, but failing would be tragic. At approximately 12:30 p.m., a crane lowered him headfirst into the murky water. His family, assistants and spectators waited for him to resurface. Minutes passed, but he never returned. Witnesses reported seeing someone struggling in the river, prompting an emergency search.

Police divers searched the river throughout the following day. On June 17, Lahiri’s body was discovered approximately one kilometer downstream, reportedly still bound by his chains. Investigators examined whether insufficient safety precautions had contributed to his drowning. The photographs taken moments before the stunt became especially haunting, showing a man willingly allowing himself to be restrained for a performance that would ultimately cost him his life.