It wasn’t just one voicemail, it was a series of them. My ex boyfriend, you may have read about it in one of my previous answers but the short of it was that he was arrested while we were breaking up for terroristic threats against me and my kids. After he got out of jail on bond he started calling me from all kinds of different numbers. I stopped answering calls when I didn’t recognize the number. The voicemails he left were terrifying. Describing what he would do to me if he ever saw me again. Threats to my life and my kids lives if I dared to show up and testify against him in court. I was scared for our lives. I changed my phone number as soon as I could. Sadly, I couldn’t afford to move and one day he did try to make good on those threats. I am happy to say that he is serving life right now. Unfortunately, it took him actually k**ling a girl for that to happen. The DA (even with all the voicemail evidence against him) decided not to pursue charges in my case and he was just told to stay away from me. So a few years later I got a call from the DA where he lived wanting to know if I would be a witness to prove that he had done this before. When the defense attorney found out that I agreed to testify and what I would be saying, he talked my ex into pleading guilty. He has a history of this behavior, but he bullied all the others into dropping and recanting. I refused to do that.

Tiffany Perez Report

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First day on the job at the VA. My new job is to pay the medical bills for veterans who suddenly go to an Emergency Room. In some cases for some veterans, the law allows VA to pay the ER and the ambulance.

I sit down at my new desk. There are messages. The first one is an old man, weak and out of breath. The message is several weeks old. He says, slowly and perhaps in tears, “Please pay my ambulance bill. I can’t live like this. I swear I’ll never call an ambulance again. I ’d rather die. I guess I’ll just die.”

That changed my life. I spent the next three years fighting with supervisors, researching the law, finding mistakes on denied claims, and fixing the financial lives of veterans that my office had made mistakes on.

Never did find that old vet. Not knowing how the phones worked, I erased the message accidentally. I hope he called again, I was quite successful as a medical financial troubleshooter.

Mike Thinkman , Austin Distel / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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My mom's last voicemail, when I was 26, for sure. My phone had died in the evening and I was out of town. After I bought a replacement charger the next morning and listened to it, I erased it (as I usually did). I don't remember exactly what she said, but she said that I was the best thing that she had ever done in her life, and that she loved me.

She often left those kind of sappy messages after a few drinks when I didn't answer. Or if I did answer, she'd ramble on about how much she loved me, that she was proud of everything I did, etc. Little did I know I would never hear her voice again.

My mom took her own life that night, soon after the missed call, parked on a logging road near a lake we had always gone to swim and picnic. She was 49. They found an empty bottle of vodka and a gun she had purchased hours before she shot herself. Later I learned she had called me several times. She called her best friend. Neither of us picked up when she needed us most.

I feel a deep remorse and guilt about not answering, and then erasing that last voicemail. It will be 12 years since she died in a few days, and it still doesn't hurt any less than when I first learned what she did. Infact, it hurts more.

Nicole Padron , Adrienn / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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I have a message on my phone that I never deleted from my daughter who was accidentally k***ed by a bus just before the bus hit her. She just called to say hello. At first it made me sad and depressed to hear her voice after her death. Some people told me to delete it and move on, but I wanted to remember her voice after her death. In time, It did not make me sad to listen to it sometimes. Instead it made me feel happy. A voice has more realness than a picture. It made me feel like she was still alive.

Roosevelt Wallace , Taylor Grote / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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Hi Mom. Dad's dead. Love you. Bye.

That was the message my 14 year old son left on my machine. His father had overdosed some time in the night. My son woke up to him dead in his recliner.

I was 1000 miles away in Colorado. I threw some clothes in the truck and my husband and I took off for Houston. We drove all night non stop, headed for the worst part of Houston that I could remember. I didnt know where my son lived. My ex had hidden him from me for 10 years. We ended up 2 blocks from his apartment.

It was the beginning of a new life for my son. He grew and blossomed in Colorado. No one missed my abusive drug addicted ex.

Jeanne Caroline Yates , Peter Fazekas / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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“Hey guys, it's Heather. I'm running a bit late, but I should be there in a…..”

There was absolute silence in the room.

“Message received: September 3rd at 11:55 am.”

Not a word was spoken among the three of us listening to the message and none of us could muster anything useful to say afterwards other than a very weak, “save that message”.

It was September 5th. In less than 24 hours, we would be going to Heather's funeral. Her car had been t-boned by a large truck and she had been k**led instantly.

The police report showed that the accident had happened on the 3rd. Slightly before noon.

David Breaux , Ketut Subiyanto / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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I was at work and my daughter should of been at school and I didn't make it to my mobile in time, so I had to listen to a voicemail message from the school that said “your daughter isn't at school today, there's been an accident on the road, we hope she's okay, please call back! “

So you can imagine where my head went with that, my heart definitely skipped a beat, the colour drained out of my face and panic mode set in.

I was miles away from the school and didn't drive, my initial reaction was to get in a taxi quick and start a ground search.

So then, when I started to be able to breathe again, i rang my friends who had collected my daughter (our kids were best friends and we became close and they offered to drive four miles out of their way to pick her up and drop her off.)

Anyway, it was easily explainable and my heart stopped racing when they said “we were taking the kids to school and a tree fell down on the road so we had to turn back and the children are fine, I've taken the morning off to look after them and didn't want to disturb you at work incase you worried “

Phew massive relief.

But i seriously wish the school had explained that instead of leaving a vague message that scared the life out of me! Sheesh.

Emma S , MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Paraphrasing it: It's me, I can't believe you are leaving me here, I'll die here, come get me out of here. ( while sort of sobbing between words)

That was the second identical message left on my answering machine by my domestic violence attacker, who perhaps all of 24 hours prior had tried to k**l me by kneeling on my neck, with my face pushed into the carpet. Didn't matter to him there was an Emergency Order of Protection and No Contact against him.

He didn't think I had found out he was quite used to prison, as a convicted violent felon. Or that he had prior domestic violence victims. He didn't think i had found out he had legally changed his name to obscure his past. He thought wrong. He was so busy pretending he was a former Italian-American NYer who was Lucky Luciano's grandson that he was really scared crapless now that he was in a place with real NY thugs and gangsters, who would suss out his fake past in a heartbeat.

Carol La Rubia , Sofia Alejandra / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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One of my bfs that I was living with left one on my phone one tea time. He called me a dirty effing w**re and loads of other insults. I recognized the background noise and knew where he was. I walked into the bar in question. Pressed play on the voicemail put the phone on speaker and let the whole room listen. I didn't get another voicemail ever.

Lesley Harris , Alex Knight / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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I got home and checked my answering machine ( pre mobile phone days for me, anyway)). My best friend had left a disturbing message.

He said he'd just woken up from a nap and there was smoke everywhere. He sounded confused and suspected there was a bushfire in the area. He ended by saying he was going to get on the roof and see if he could see anything.

The message was left around 30 minutes earlier.

I'd heard on the radio on my way home that a bushfire had started in the “Hills” as they are locally known.

I immediately dropped everything and called his number. No answer. I prayed he wouldn't try and be a 'hero' and try save his home and would just get the hell out of there. I called again and again but still no answer.

I worried all afternoon and into the night. He didn't have a car and I didn't know what he was going to do. I kept calling but eventually the lines went dead, taken down by the fires. All I could do was wait.

Thankfully early the next morning there was a knock on my door and there he was, traumatized but miraculously unhurt. He had been seen by a neighbour wandering around and was given a lift. They made it out just in time.

The fire he escaped was the worst in the country's recorded history. 173 people lost their lives including 3 of my other friends. They named it the Black Saturday Bushfires. Sad.

Cin Gordon , Norbert Schnitzler / wikipedia (not the actual photo) Report

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It wasn’t left on voicemail as voicemail had not been invented. I was in 8th grade Algebra class The intercom phone beeped.

My teacher picked it up. I heard her say “ They are all dead?” She hung up and walked to her desk. She said, “Laura, you need to go to the office”

No one with me I headed to the office knowing they were all dead. All who ? How? “Why” It was January 25 and so cold. But I was colder. My teeth chattered. My lips turned blue. I was in shock.

As I turned in the office I saw my father. They were not all dead. I fainted.

I had moved 10 times by then. the only constant friends in my life were my cousin Lynne and my friend Paula in Ohio. Between moves my Dad would send us there until he got us situated.

My cousin and the whole family had died in a fire that AM. I have not accepted it and I’m 72. They were all dead. What a terrible message. Could it be worse ? Paula stood by my side. A month later the call came. Paula’s family were sledding and Paula’s sled hit something, turned, flew off a cliff and landed in a major highway. She and her sister were k**led by an 18 wheeler. Yes, they were, in fact, all dead.

Annabelle Lee , Feliphe Schiarolli / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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A man left a message on my voicemail claiming that I had stolen his wife years ago.
He threatened my life in the message. I called him back.
I tried explaining that I didn't know him or his wife but he kept calling me a liar and cursing at me.
He said he was coming to k**l me.
I waited outside all day. Nobody ever showed up.

Michael Lam , Arina Krasnikova / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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It was my dad telling to come bk home now.

I was 15 at the time and mum was not in the best place. She was struggling with alcohol abuse and she took an overdose in front of me.

I ran to my dad to help call the ambulance.

He sat there and said let her k**l herself then.

(my dad and my mum love each other so much, they couldn't live without each other and still together now 37 years in total. But that night my dad broke.)

So I ran….. out the house at 11pm at night not knowing what to do i ran. I was running so hard I didn't even hear my phone going off.

I stop about 2 miles away from home and looked at my phone and there was voicemail.

He said to come bk home now.

Eventually I got bk home and watched my mum leave in the ambulance.

It was the first of many attempts over the months.

I watched my dad cry for the first time in my life and it broke apart of my heart that night.

Tash Report

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I came home from vacation. That I really needed. Time away from my own prison. I checked my voicemail. I had been in grief hell for over a year at that point. I got a voicemail from my husband's ex. That I don't know, and she doesn't know me. I was grieving my six year old child. She had been Facebook stalking.

In that message she said “you two little birdies belong together” ( what's birdies supposed to mean) also “you are fat and ugly” OK… fine. Then “I am glad Xander died. He is better off dead, than with you” Woah. I have no idea where she lives, or why she would say such a thing. We don't even live in the same state. I wouldn't say that to anyone ever. Who says that? I have not gotten an opportunity to respond, it's been six years since that call. It was a complete gut punch.

Amanda Ferguson McCulloch , Tim Mossholder / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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I was on a night out with my best friend and felt off all night when usually I'm the first one on the dance floor. My phone was away in my coat for most of the night. I went out for a smoke and checked my phone, noticing I had a lot of missed calls from my aunt. She left a voice message saying she needed to speak urgently and I knew exactly what was wrong. My dad had passed away. I will never forget that night. I broke down completely and my friend had to help me hold it together. 5 months later I got a similar voice message not long after leaving the hospice my mother was in. I had the exact same feeling as the night my dad passed. I still haven't fully processed what happened.

Sam , Ahmed Aqtai / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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I got a voice mail from a surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital in England (a pediatric hospital).

“Hi Ms Turner, this is Dr Husain from Great Ormond Street. Just to let you know your son is out of theatre and in recovery. His brain surgery went well and he should be coming round soon if you want to make your way back to the hospital.”

I am not Ms Turner and I don’t have a son, or any children for that matter.

This voicemail was left to me over 6 years ago and I still hope that the little boy’s Mum made it to the hospital in time for him waking up.

Louise Towle , Oles kanebckuu / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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Truly sad story here:

When I married, my spouse came to live in my town. Unbeknownst to either of us, someone living here locally had her exact name. We purchased a house and she wanted a land line for security purposes, so it went in her name. Boom! The world had tracked down the missing JS the moment her name appeared in directories. First we got calls from the police at 2am demanding JS turn herself in. We had to call and explain our JS wasn’t their JS. We got billions of calls from bill collectors demanding payment. We got calls from the hospital saying JS bolted on hundreds of bills. We had to explain to all these people our JS wasn’t this scumbag.

Then, one Christmas, came the terrible call. A young child called wanting to talk to her mommie. Why wasn’t mommie coming home? Where was she? Couldn’t they spend Christmas together?

Such a dreadful person to have abandoned her children, leaving them to reach out to someone who happened to have her name.

Mel Newmin , hessam nabavi / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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‘Barry - its your Gran. I’ve fallen down and I can’t get up. I need help getting up.’

I picked up the message about 30 minutes after it was left, and immediately called the number back and spoke to Barry’s Gran’s daughter (Barry’s mum).

Turned out that the Postman’s first stop was Barry’s Gran’s street - and he had noticed that the milk was still sitting on the front doorstep - which was unusual. So he had a glance through the Letter Box, saw Barry’s Gran sitting on the floor, asked if she was alright (she was, just needed help getting up) and was given directions to get in via the key-safe.

Obviously postman didn’t help her up - but instead made her a cup of tea before nipping across the street to see if either of the Doctors that lived over the road were in (one was). She came over and checked out Barry’s Gran and determined that there were no broken bones and she and the Postman helped her to her feet and saw her into a comfortable chair.

Turned out that Barry’s Gran had dropped the paper on the floor and had bent down to pick it up, and lost her balance. She’s landed on her bottom and simply didn’t have any low tables or anything else to use to help balance herself as she got back onto her feet. She wasn’t calling Barry because she was in any danger. She just needed his arm to help her to get back on her feet.

It was still a pretty disturbing message to hear…

Jen Smith , Hassan OUAJBIR / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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An unknown number called me. I didnt pick up so it went to voicemail. When i checked my messages later there was a child crying on the other end. Then there was a thump which was probably the sound of the phone falling on the floor. Then the more distant sounds of a woman shouting, and repeated impact noises, each followed by the child screaming.

There was nothing I could do. The kids mom was beating the s**t out of him. After that i started recording all my calls.

Joseph William Gagin , Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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It wasn’t left on my voicemail, but it was a recorded message which somebody phoned me up and then played to me. In the mid 1980s, at the height of the Troubles, when I was secretary to the Defence Desk at The Daily Telegraph, I was phoned up and played a tape of a man with a strong Belfast accent, announcing that anthrax spores had been left at The Ministry of Defence.

Claire Jordan , Sam Loyd / unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

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One day my mother picked me up at school for some reason I can’t remember. When we got home, there was a message from Grandma on the machine (this was back in the days of a separate tape machine the phone plugged into).

”I hate these goddamn machines. Your father’s dead.” *click*

Melissa , 94-Nigel-Knightwalker / wikipedia (not the actual photo) Report

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It was from a woman I was dating occasionally. One of those accidental calls that happen. The background was of her berating her son. The language was awful and her attitude was terrible.

I suppose it was useful since I was able to end the dating at that point.

Peter Wilcox Report

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Not voicemail, but a message that I could not delete from my answering machine. This was 1993, when I lived in Tokyo, and I had an answering machine that had a cassette tape in it that held my message and incoming messages.

I had arranged for a group of us to climb Mt Fuji in April. We all had some winter climbing experience, and we knew what Fuji was like in April - covered in snow that could be icy. At the last minute a friend I’ll call D rang up and asked to be included in the group. The message went onto the tape, and I called him back so say he could come along.

We set off to climb Mt Fuji that day, from the usual starting point about halfway up, as far as you can go by car or bus. The snow was soft and a bit mushy as we set out, got firmer as we got higher, and then became firm and slightly icy. The cone on Fuji gets steeper as you go up, it is never that steep,, only about 25 to 30 degrees, but in the snow it is flat and smooth, with just some rocks sticking of the snow in places. We had always said “never fall off Fuji in the snow. If you can’t stop at once (with an iceaxe self-arrest) it is seriously bad news.”

About two-thirds of the way up, as it got slightly steeper, D fell off. Why, we still don’t know. He slid about a thousand feet in the snow, leaving a horrid pink trail. Yes, he was dead.

When I got back home, after dealing with the formalities with the police and at the morgue, I checked my answering machine and his message was still there. I tried to delete it, but for some reason it was on a section of tape that was reserved. Every time I checked the messages for about the next month, that message was still there. Finally the machine overwrote that section of tape, to my huge relief.

Rest in peace, D.

David Parry , RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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