20 Missing Persons Cases That Don't Add Up
Not every mystery gets a Scooby-Doo ending.
Published 9 months ago in Creepy
While we'd like to think that the world of crime fighting is a lot like Scooby-Doo, defined by comically oversized sandwiches, meddling kids, and a solid explanation for every caper the Mystery Inc. gang encounters, the same isn't always true of reality. Case in point? The countless missing persons cases have remained unsolved after weeks, months, and sometimes, even several decades.
From what, exactly happened to a missing news anchor to a suspicious fire that allegedly left several children dead, here are 20 missing persons cases that most definitely do not add up.
1
“Marion Barter here in Australia Borded a plane overseas in 1997, changed her name beforehand (didn't tell family) Apparently came back to Australia for a few days (according to passenger records) and completely disappeared It's an ongoing investigation at the moment, there is a podcast about it called ‘The Lady Vanishes’ featuring her daughter So tragically fascinating.”3
“She crashed her car in 2004 and completely disappeared after begging a bystander to not call the police claiming she called AAA (she never did). As they were in a dead zone, the guy left and when he got reception he called the police but when the police arrived at the scene she, her phone, credit and debit cards were missing but her car was locked. She hasn’t been seen since and her phone and cards haven’t been used since.”4
“He went missing from his home in Madison, Wisconsin November 2004 along with his dog, Gnosis. His friends and Mother became worried after not hearing from him for weeks. His friends broke into his house to find it cold, dark, halfway unpacked, his dogs food bowl full and a record player playing eerie music throughout the house. There was also a check from his Grandmother on a desk. His dog, Gnosis would later be found at a neighbor's house miles always. He was unharmed, but skittish. This was cause for alarm since Amos took Gnosis with him everywhere. The police did not take Amos's case seriously and stopped looking for him after three days of searching. He had friends who were involved in the local drug trade. Amos might have been selling marijuana. Foul play is suspected in his case ranging from his friends to a police cover up. The police have been absolute s—t at handling his case. I might have some details off. It's been a while since I've looked at his case, but it is so much weirder than what I posted.”5
“She was 70 years old and worked as a fire lookout in Alberta, Canada, and disappeared from her post on August 26, 2008, and they still don’t really know what happened to her. In the early morning of August 26, 2006, a fellow fire lookout was sent to check on her after she failed to call in a routine report. Her cabin and tower were accessible by road, and the coworker immediately noticed that her truck was still in the drive. She was reported missing at about 9 am that morning. Upon entering the cabin, there was a pot on the stove that had boiled dry, and her bedding (2 pillows with blue pillowcases, burgundy bedsheet, Navajo patterned duvet) and her gold watch were missing. There was also blood on the steps of the cabin. Her disappearance launched one of the ground search in Alberta’s history, and they found nothing. Forensic evidence ruled out an animal attack, death by accident, or a medical episode that caused her to wander off. They have concluded that she met with foul play, but that’s it. They never found her, and the case quickly went cold.”6
“She went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind. Several passing motorists saw her; when one turned around at a point 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from her home and began to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into a wooded area. In the morning, her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. No one has seen her since.”9
“15 year old Rebecca Reusch disappeared in Berlin, Germany, from her sisters house right before leaving for school in 2019. She was alone with her sisters husband, who was a suspect for some time. He was seen driving on a highway towards Poland the morning of her disappearance and couldn't explain why (used drugs as an explanation). Some of Rebecca's belongings are missing, as well as the belt of a bathrobe and a blanket. Dogs found traces of Rebecca such as hair and such in the BILs car. Even though her family caught up in contradictions, so far, investigators couldn't prove anything yet. Her sisters and parents don't believe the BIL did anything and still think Rebecca is alive somewhere. No one has seen her since.”10
“He was driving to his parents house (3hrs) after an argument with his girlfriend, apparently due to his alcohol and video game addiction and abuse of prescription medication. Part way through the drive he pulled off the highway and just sat there … from 9am to 3pm. A roadside assistance guy checked on him twice and said he seemed fine/coherent and Bryce told him he would be carrying on back to his parents shortly. Some time later his car was found only a few miles away, driven off the embankment, and he was nowhere to be found.”12
“For me, it's a local one Jason (JJ) Jolkowski. Disappeared on his way to his former high school to get a ride to work in 2001. Never arrived at the school or work. For years his parents rented a bus bench around the anniversary of his disappearance asking for anyone who may has seen anything to please come forward. He's still missing and no one knows what happened.”13
“Marshall Iwassa. Good guy. Came back to the hometown to visit his family and friends, everything by all accounts was good. Left to take the two hour drive to where he was living and never made it. Instead it was recorded he spent the entire night trying to get into his storage unit and then nothing. A week or maybe more.. his truck was found 12 hours away on a back road in the middle of the woods burnt to a crisp with belongings thrown about everywhere. no sign of Marshal and from what I remember the family was adamant that some of the things inside the truck, burnt or not, were missing, things they knew he had. The truck was even missing parts. It's been 4 years and there's never been answers. It makes me sad and fearful of long travels. From what I know of him he was a fantastic friend; I hope they get closure one day.”15
“The whole family (parents and four kids) goes missing over night in 2011. Employers, school and family receive weird letters informing of their absence or departure (one of them saying they are going into a witness protection program). Two weeks later they found the corpses of the mother , the kids and the dog hidden behind the house. They investigate and retrace the father’s whereabouts in south of France. He was last seen leaving a hotel a few days before. The region was thoroughly searched but he was never to be found.”17
“Susan Powell, went missing from her home in. West valley, Utah on December 6, 2009 she is presumably dead. Her husband Josh was the main suspect and just a real piece of work. No one knows what really happened to her. Sadly in 2012 Josh murdered their kids and committed suicide after Susan’s parents gained custody of the kids.18
“Very recently a 2 year old French little dude left his grandparents yard for a walk around the village. He was seen by a couple of villagers who did nothing. And that was it. They searched the area for weeks, civilians and cops, they completely blocked off the village, no one could go in or out. Never found any evidence of foul play or a clue that he could have been eaten by a wild animal. It's been a couple of months now and still nothing.”20
“Terrance Williams disappeared in 2004. He's the subject of a fascinating podcast called "The Last Ride." The short version is that he was taken into custody in Naples, FL after being pulled over in the early hours for traffic violations. He was never seen again. The deputy that pulled him over tried to conceal the traffic stop even from his own organization, but staff opening a local business saw the whole thing. When the sheriff's department finally looked into it, they discovered the deputy was involved in a similar disappearance of a man named Felipe Santos in 2003. To this day the deputy claims no knowledge of Williams's whereabouts, despite being caught out in a series of lies.”