Which Real Life Mystery Do You Find Most Fascinating?

[LifeIsBrutal]

Mine is D. B. Cooper. He hijacked a beong 727, stole $1.25 million in today's money, and parachuted down to earth with it. His identity is unknown and it's unknown if he survived the plunge to earth.

@ChicChicChicChiclana

I live quite locally to York and know many people who knew Claudia Lawrence. My eldest son lived in the same road when she disappeared and police searched his house at the time, but it was a desultory search, IIRC. Local talk is that the police have a fair idea of who could be responsible but not enough evidence. They are either waiting for more evidence to surface, or a confession, I suspect.

Sorry to keep banging on about it, but I’ve been doing more reading on the Panama case and I’m convinced they were not wandering around the jungle during those eight days between photos. Kris’ hair is clean and dry, and while a bit mussed definitely doesn’t look like someone who’s been lost in a jungle for many days. The backpacks and contents were all clean and dry and in immaculate condition, including an iPhone - I’ve had iPhones stop working because of the tiniest bit of water damage, so that seems unlikely. And the woman who found the backpack said it wasn’t there the day before. The iPhone still had battery power, when the iPhone 5 was notorious for poor battery life and even if it’d been switched off the battery still would have drained.

They you have things like the tour guide having a key to the girls’ bedroom, and he and Eileen (who worked at the language school) spending time in their bedroom after they went missing. He could easily have brought their camera with him and deleted the missing photo then. The tour guide allegedly has a bad history of sexually harassing and threatening young female tourists. And there’s the photo of the girls swimming in with three young men, taken in the same location.

Then there’s the dog the host family claims was with them, who they claim arrived home alone (this is what sparked them to call the authorities). But the dog doesn’t appear in any of their pictures and none of the people who saw them remember a dog. The girls were huge animal lovers and took a million photos. They loved taking Instagram-style pics. But they didn’t take one photo of a gorgeous dog with those stunning backdrops? Didn’t accidentally get even a bit of the dog in the background of the photos they took of each other?

I believe they probably spent those 8 days staying somewhere else, possibly at the tour guide’s son’s farm, possibly with the young guys. This may have been voluntary or not. Possibly they got scared of something/someone and tried to call 911, and someone they’d met offered them shelter and they later found themselves unable to leave. There could even be two separate third parties, perhaps colluding, perhaps not. I don’t see how there can not be third party involvement.

@HavartitoMeetYou

I agree that there must be third party involvement. One of the interesting things about the pictures is that on day one, April 1st, they are normal tourist pictures. Then they just stop. For eight days. That is not credible, given how prolific the girls were about documenting their trip. I agree about the dog, it is very odd there are no pictures of him if he accompanied them on the walk. Why would that story be invented? Something happened to make them call 911 on April 1st and then try repeatedly and unsuccessfully to call 911 on April 2nd. I also don't believe that the picture of Kris' head was taken by the girls. That picture is very disturbing. It is disturbing because of what it doesn't show.

The iPhone still had battery power, when the iPhone 5 was notorious for poor battery life and even if it’d been switched off the battery still would have drained

Totally agree about that! They barely last 24 hours!

Yes. And so many other mysterious deaths or disappearances linked to the case or to the area: the taxi driver who took them to the trail was found dead in a pool of shallow water. Two of the local lads they befriended and went swimming with died within a year. An American tourist was strangled on a beach 35 miles away.

The biggest thing for me was learning that in 2017 a German tourist was kidnapped by three local men and held captive in one of the many empty shacks in the area, and was raped by them over the course of three days. There was a big search identical to that of the one for the Dutch girls, and her captors even took part in the search! She only escaped because she managed to cut one with a broken bottle, and they were arrested. If she hadn’t managed to fight back it’s very easy to imagine they could have disposed of her body in the jungle and people would have dismissed it as an accident.

I agree the back of head photo was taken by a third party. And she may not have been alive at the time.

The biggest thing for me was learning that in 2017 a German tourist was kidnapped by three local men and held captive in one of the many empty shacks in the area, and was raped by them over the course of three days. There was a big search identical to that of the one for the Dutch girls, and her captors even took part in the search! She only escaped because she managed to cut one with a broken bottle, and they were arrested. If she hadn’t managed to fight back it’s very easy to imagine they could have disposed of her body in the jungle and people would have dismissed it as an accident

I didn't know that. Grim.

I agree the back of head photo was taken by a third party. And she may not have been alive at the time

Sadly, that is my conclusion. It's an awful case, I remember that Lisanne had previously never travelled further than Southern Germany. I think they were in a dangerous environment and they didn't realise that until it was too late. I also think that there maybe a motive to protect tourism which might explain some aspects of the investigation.

@Awwlookatmybabyspider
BHUAP hijacking. Landed 06:51 DG/BIOT. Patent no: US 8,671,381 B1.

Disappearance of Kyron Horman. Though it's pretty obvious the stepmother did it but there's not enough evidence.

Damien Nettles

The unmentionable one. The cadaver dogs' findings were interesting.

Claudia Lawrence. I think the police know who did it and they have all been arrested but released as there is no body and none of them would crack under interview.

Suzy Lamplugh

Panama - is the back of the head picture the picture of the whole hair? Can't see anything else? Been googling and not sure.

I don’t believe there’s a third party involved at all with the Panama girls, I’ve always thought the same. I can’t understand why anyone thinks there’s something weird involved.

But how do you explain the thousand and one very weird elements to the case? All the other strange deaths and murders that occurred around it?

Fascinating thread.

I can’t believe that I don’t remember hearing much about the Panama case in the press. Was it very widely reported here? If so I’m wondering how it passed me by. It’s so tragic. I feel sick reading about it. How can anyone think it’s not weird?! Completely bizarre and that’s just on the very basic facts I’ve read in the last half hour.

How can anyone think it’s not weird?!

Because people love a good mystery, embellish known facts slightly enough to be plausible, gloss over bits that don't fit their own narrative, read people's theories and re-report them as facts, don't bother to check things out proper for themselves... etc, etc.

The fact is that the most simple explanation is usually the truth... but far less exciting.

I'm one of those who do love a good mystery though!

I'm with MilkTwoSugarsThanks.

See also my posts on 'people falling into water'.

Human nature loves a mystery. And half understood or half-heard facts, or deliberate misleading by others can often build something that is straightforward (although often with what look like 'bizarre facts' to outsiders, very much like women returning to abusive partners looks bizarre from the outside but makes sense to the woman) into a Baffling Case.

I think it's been said on here already but it's now thought very likely that Suzy Lamplugh was murdered by John Cannan.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/suzy-lamplugh-murder-bristol-cannan-3051571.amp

Amy Bradley for me, the young woman who disappeared off a cruise ship.

Haven't RTFT yet but has anyone mentioned the documentary 'There's something wrong with Aunt Diane' - it was aired again last night - about the wife, mother and aunt who drove the wrong way down a motorway drunk and high (according to autopsy carried our twice) crashing and killing 8 people including herself, her daughter and nieces.

The family, despite the evidence refuse to believe she was drunk and high. They repeatedly deny it publicly. Is the stigma of being an addict of whatever kind that bad that they have gone into complete denial or what? It's baffling the whole thing, tragic and baffling.

Re: Panamá case initially after reading that link up thread (huge link) I believed it to be the tour guide. Then after a bit more reading I thought more likely to be an accident one injured and one seeking help but getting lost and panicked then both exposed to the elements no supplies died.
But given the posts about a girl being taken to a cabin attacked and released days later that makes more sense.
Given they tried to call for help the first day and straight to police. If they were lost and it were still light wouldn’t the first call be to the lady they were staying with to send some locals to find them? It was still early light they’d only been out few hours something must have scared them to calm emergency help at that time I think.

Agree about Amy Bradley case so interesting- her poor family though what they’ve been through during and after.

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Can I ask what people find baffling or mysterious about the Taconic State Parkway crash? The driver was drunk and high, people do crazy things when they're in that state. The fact that the family are in denial about it doesn't make it mysterious. Tragic, but not mysterious.

There’s very good evidence that Kyron Herman’s stepmother had nothing to do with it.

I'd really like to know who killed Carl Bridgewater

There was a very good case made against someone in Private Eye a year or two ago. Buggered if I can remember the name though. Keith or Kenneth maybe?

Bert Spencer. It’s on the wiki page for the case.

I don’t believe there’s a third party involved at all with the Panama girls, I’ve always thought the same. I can’t understand why anyone thinks there’s something weird involved

@Gluestick80

A) First call to 911 made on April 1st at 16.39
B) Repeated, unsuccessful calls to 911 on April 2nd
C)April 3rd search begins. There is no sign of them.
D) Eight days after they disappeared, mysterious night time photos, one showing the back of Kris' head
E) A broken pelvis and broken foot inside a boot are eventually found 14 hours walk into jungle from where they were when the first emergency call was made on April 1st.

What made them phone 911 on April 1st and April 2nd? Why are there no pictures for eight days? No attempt to document what was happening to them? They had two mobile phones and a camera with a video function. They had documented their trip every day. Until the pictures suddenly stopped on April 1st. If one was injured, why didn't the other go for help? How were the only remains found fourteen hours walk from their original position if they had an accident on April 1st? If they didn't have an accident, why did they try repeatedly to call 911 on April 1st and April 2nd?