Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

What’s the scariest unsolved mystery you know?

1000 replies

Mimmy352 · 02/09/2023 18:17

Whether it’s personal or well known, which unsolved case makes your brain sound like dial up?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
57
SerafinasGoose · 03/09/2023 20:36

The mystery of why some people were so utterly convinced of the innocence of Louise Woodward (despite the televising of her trial so all the evidence was transparent), and why the same pattern is apparently being repeated with Lucy Letby.

The equally baffling concept of why the (completely innocent) Lindy Chamberlain and Joanne Lees were hung, drawn and quartered in the press, and all-but accused of murder.

The location of Peter Falconio's body.

The mystery of precisely how and why the Defoe (Amityville) family were murdered. We know by whom, and that's about all.

Disappearances of Richey Edwards, Claudia Lawrence and Suzy Lamplugh. And any and every missing child.

Exactly what happened to Michelle Bettles and Natalie Pearman, thought to have been possible victims of Steve Wright.

Of how many women Wright really did kill.

The truth of what happened to Caylee Anthony. I was working on a summer project at the time and watched the trial in its entirety, excepting around the last 2 days of the defence.

On the basis of the prosecution's case I believe (unlike the majority of the US populace) the jury reached the correct verdict. The Judge rather unprofessionally implied on TV that the jury were too stupid to join the dots between various connecting pieces of evidence (a job the prosecution should have helped them with in their summing up, rather than focusing on the emotive stuff). But the whole picture of circumstantial evidence didn't seem to me to reach the very high bar of beyond reasonable doubt, especially in a capital murder case. I'd have found with the jury.

That's not to say I think Anthony was necessarily innocent, but nor was there sufficient compelling evidence to prove her guilt.

Was the (very twisted) Flowers in the Attic novel sequence biographical, or was it just a clever marketing ploy? Who was/is Virginia/VA Andrews, and why is more than one author apparently writing under that name?

DisquietintheRanks · 03/09/2023 20:38

@Gymmum82 it was a toy car not a digger and the traces of blood on it were not a match to Ben's dna. And it was found approx 750m from where Ben was staying which is a fair way for such a small child.

I agree its a credible theory but it's a long way from proven.

Autieangel · 03/09/2023 20:40

DisquietintheRanks · 03/09/2023 20:38

@Gymmum82 it was a toy car not a digger and the traces of blood on it were not a match to Ben's dna. And it was found approx 750m from where Ben was staying which is a fair way for such a small child.

I agree its a credible theory but it's a long way from proven.

True but he was missing for (I think) over an hour before anyone realised he had gone.

MightySprout · 03/09/2023 20:42

RhannionKPSS · 03/09/2023 17:31

There is an interesting book I’m reading at the moment called The Real Life Murder Clubs which is about ordinary people helping to solve true crimes. Often it’s the ordinary people, not the police , who join the dots & find the answers.

Thanks for the recommendation, this looks interesting and is on kindle unlimited at the moment 👍

Tatslookawful · 03/09/2023 20:43

cantstaymadatyou · 03/09/2023 10:54

There are a bunch of conspiracy theories about this. One was that she was trying to expose paedos at the BBC. She also fronted a Kosovo appeal and some people believe she was killed for political reasons. I think she was killed due to her work on Crimewatch. Pissed off the wrong criminal gang or something. Her murder was very much like an execution.

Too clumsy for a hit, they left the bullet case at scene/gun used.

LylaLee · 03/09/2023 20:47

freetheunicorn1 · 03/09/2023 19:19

@LylaLee there is a ridiculous conspiracy theory that they don't have any kids and the kids you see in photos are hired actors... 😜

Ffs

I'm sure there are plenty of kids who look like them, plus with red hair, plus who look mixed race.

SecretVictoria · 03/09/2023 20:48

@SerafinasGoose IIRC, the Joanne Lees thing was due to the clothes she was wearing at a press conference a couple of days later. A t shirt with the slogan ‘Cheeky Monkey’, was quite popular at the time, Paul Franks was the designer I think?

widowtocricket · 03/09/2023 20:49

I don’t know all of these.

The ones I would like answers to in my lifetime are

what happened to

Madeline McCann
Claudia Lawrence
Jonbenet Ramsey

Thelonelygiraffe · 03/09/2023 20:58

NoHunsHereHun · 02/09/2023 20:00

The Putney Bridge jogger. He didn’t kill this woman, but what else has he done - before, and since? There’s a theory about him being an off duty police officer apparently and the investigation closed in 2018. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44639208

Exactly. What has he done but not been caught on cctv? Fucking psychopath.

ThePix · 03/09/2023 20:59

Claudia Lawrence
Madeline Mccan

and in my childhood
Janette Tate.. found her bike with wheels spinning and never ever found.

i do ponder on all of these plus probably more

Pootle40 · 03/09/2023 20:59

SerafinasGoose · 03/09/2023 20:36

The mystery of why some people were so utterly convinced of the innocence of Louise Woodward (despite the televising of her trial so all the evidence was transparent), and why the same pattern is apparently being repeated with Lucy Letby.

The equally baffling concept of why the (completely innocent) Lindy Chamberlain and Joanne Lees were hung, drawn and quartered in the press, and all-but accused of murder.

The location of Peter Falconio's body.

The mystery of precisely how and why the Defoe (Amityville) family were murdered. We know by whom, and that's about all.

Disappearances of Richey Edwards, Claudia Lawrence and Suzy Lamplugh. And any and every missing child.

Exactly what happened to Michelle Bettles and Natalie Pearman, thought to have been possible victims of Steve Wright.

Of how many women Wright really did kill.

The truth of what happened to Caylee Anthony. I was working on a summer project at the time and watched the trial in its entirety, excepting around the last 2 days of the defence.

On the basis of the prosecution's case I believe (unlike the majority of the US populace) the jury reached the correct verdict. The Judge rather unprofessionally implied on TV that the jury were too stupid to join the dots between various connecting pieces of evidence (a job the prosecution should have helped them with in their summing up, rather than focusing on the emotive stuff). But the whole picture of circumstantial evidence didn't seem to me to reach the very high bar of beyond reasonable doubt, especially in a capital murder case. I'd have found with the jury.

That's not to say I think Anthony was necessarily innocent, but nor was there sufficient compelling evidence to prove her guilt.

Was the (very twisted) Flowers in the Attic novel sequence biographical, or was it just a clever marketing ploy? Who was/is Virginia/VA Andrews, and why is more than one author apparently writing under that name?

Edited

The Amityville one is odd - particularly as nobody in the house seemed to have woken up while the family were killed one by one. Didn't they rule out a silencer - if so even weirder!

MoreCraicPlease · 03/09/2023 21:00

@Beachdays44 interesting update on Annie McCarrick’s disappearance which I didn’t know.
The gardai screwed up so many cases (e.g. Sophie Toscan de Plantier) that when I saw one of Ireland’s leading Garda investigator had written a “reveal all” book, I was agog. I didn’t buy it as it would infuriate me. (The role of former state pathologists is another story).

Xtraincome · 03/09/2023 21:00

The White House Farm murders. I know the son/brother went down for it but I find it so haunting. The execution of a whole family plus 2 small children gives me the absolute shivers.

Definitely MM and Andrew Gosden.

Hawkins0009 · 03/09/2023 21:07

parallel universes, time travel, interdimensional portals, human cloning are the mysteries for me at the moment

Mikimoto · 03/09/2023 21:15

Xtraincome · 03/09/2023 21:00

The White House Farm murders. I know the son/brother went down for it but I find it so haunting. The execution of a whole family plus 2 small children gives me the absolute shivers.

Definitely MM and Andrew Gosden.

Andrew Gosden is the one I just feel might might might turn up one day.

Buzzardbird · 03/09/2023 21:16

CassiniG · 02/09/2023 22:04

More interesting than scary -

Who put Bella down the Wych Elm?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhoputtBelladownntheWychh_Elm%3F

Knew this one would pop up

TravellingSpoon · 03/09/2023 21:17

A while ago I fell down the rabbot hole on a case where a US woman had gone to a work conference, and her body was found in a completely different state, wearing different clothes that her husband said was not what she usually would have worn. For the life of me I cant remember her name to look it up and see if it was ever solved.

Allthatwegotisthispalebluedot · 03/09/2023 21:22

TravellingSpoon · 03/09/2023 21:17

A while ago I fell down the rabbot hole on a case where a US woman had gone to a work conference, and her body was found in a completely different state, wearing different clothes that her husband said was not what she usually would have worn. For the life of me I cant remember her name to look it up and see if it was ever solved.

Judy Smith?

CountessWindyBottom · 03/09/2023 21:23

MoreCraicPlease · 03/09/2023 21:00

@Beachdays44 interesting update on Annie McCarrick’s disappearance which I didn’t know.
The gardai screwed up so many cases (e.g. Sophie Toscan de Plantier) that when I saw one of Ireland’s leading Garda investigator had written a “reveal all” book, I was agog. I didn’t buy it as it would infuriate me. (The role of former state pathologists is another story).

Have a google on the Annie McCarrick case. She had been assaulted a few days prior to her disappearance and the main suspects are two brothers from Sandymount (one of whom was romantically involved with AMC) but no longer live in the area. The Enniskerry/Johnnie Fox's leads were red herrings.

I think little Madeline McCann is one that baffles everyone although I think their most recent suspect is the most plausible lead they've ever had. Any missing child cases must be absolutely horrendous for the parents. There was a famous case in Ireland in the 1970's of a little girl called Mary Boyle. Now that is a veritable rabbit hole re local politics/paedophile rings (of which Lord Mountbatten, who was subsequently killed, was allegedly involved https://villagemagazine.ie/boiling-over/)

I've always found the Claudia Lawrence case deeply disturbing. I remember reading that when her personal/love life was subject to media scrutiny it had a significant impact on the public's will to help which is just terrible.

There is a very sad case from the West of Ireland in the 1980s where a devoted mother, Barbara Walsh, disappeared from her home during the night. It receives little coverage https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/people-in-community-can-unlock-36-year-mystery-of-missing-woman-gardai-say-1.4600445

Boiling Over - Village Magazine

This March marked the 40th anniversary of Mary Boyle’s disappearance. Ever since she vanished on St. Patrick’s weekend in 1977, a veil of secrecy has shrouded the case of the Donegal schoolgirl who is Ireland’s longest and youngest missing person. Ther...

https://villagemagazine.ie/boiling-over

PinkPondQueen · 03/09/2023 21:24

Yes it's quite the rabbit hole and the more you read the more you have to doubt his conviction. This book 'The Clydach Murders: A Miscarriage of Justice' is an absolute must read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clydach-Murders-John-Morris/dp/1781725292

VeloVixen · 03/09/2023 21:24

All the UFO stuff kicking off atm with the Congress hearings, the tictac ufo, now the Pentagon have set up a new reporting website. Really seems like something odd is happening and we are being drip fed information.

Riverlee · 03/09/2023 21:25

idontwanttoplayanymore · 03/09/2023 19:52

Yes that’s it, his bike was found leaning up against the river wall. It was 20 years ago this year.

If his parents are reading this, I hope they take comfort that’s he’s not been forgotten.

Actually, that goes for all the names listed on this thread.

HavfrueDenizKisi · 03/09/2023 21:26

DisquietintheRanks · 03/09/2023 20:07

@Andthereyougo no trace of Ben Needham has ever been found. What you are describing is an unsubstantiated theory.

Actually that's not true either.

South Yorkshire police stated they found blood on a shoe they believe belonged to Ben and a forensic scientist concurred there was evidence of human decomposition supporting the theory he was killed (accidentally?) and buried in the vicinity of the house.

Though as they haven't found a body I understand why his mother can't believe this version of events. That doesn't mean that isn't the most plausible theory.

ohsuzannah · 03/09/2023 21:27

Gareth Williams MI6
Found in a zipped up suitcase in a bath.
That was a very odd and inconclusive case.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 03/09/2023 21:29

HavfrueDenizKisi · 03/09/2023 21:26

Actually that's not true either.

South Yorkshire police stated they found blood on a shoe they believe belonged to Ben and a forensic scientist concurred there was evidence of human decomposition supporting the theory he was killed (accidentally?) and buried in the vicinity of the house.

Though as they haven't found a body I understand why his mother can't believe this version of events. That doesn't mean that isn't the most plausible theory.

They confirmed shortly after the find though that the blood wasn’t a match for Ben.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-46400497.amp

Ben Needham

Blood on toy car 'not Ben Needham's' - BBC News

Relatives hoped the toy would shed light what happened to the missing toddler, last seen in 1991.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-46400497.amp

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is not accepting new messages.