One of the scariest things that can happen to someone you know is for them to go missing. One minute, they’re in your life. The next—they’re gone. Sometimes, without the faintest trace. And you don’t know whether they’re okay or badly hurt. The brutal reality is that huge numbers of people disappear every single day.
User u/cbebr sparked an enthralling discussion on r/AskReddit when they asked everyone to share their stories about the people who went missing in their lives. We’ve collected some of their most hard-hitting posts. Scroll down to read them. But be warned, some of these stories are utterly terrifying.
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Girl from my middle school class. This was when we were all older, in college. I heard about it through the grapevine from other folks, and there were news stories about it, too, far as memory serves. I’ll call her Jen.
Jen had been clubbing with friends. I don’t remember exactly why she left the club alone—there was some reason—but, drunk and disoriented, she ended up wandering down the road alone in the middle of the night. She was missing for a couple of days, but it was worse when they found her. Dismembered, body parts shoved into trash bags, in a dumpster.
A famous conservative talk show host did a hit piece about it. Saying the way she was dressed, she deserved it. This will probably allow people to find her, but it was Bill O’Reilly back in the days of his radio show. I don’t think I’ve ever truly, viscerally hated anyone like I hate that man.
I knew Jen because she was the first person to invite me to her birthday party after I transferred into her school. I was a weird, dorky kid with no friends and she included me. I had so much fun that day, it’s one of my happiest memories. And she gave that to me. Boils my blood to this day, what happened to her, the media spin around it. She deserved so much better. Rest in peace, Jen.
The way this person remembers them is a massive tribute to their life
Load More Replies...This is the quote from O'Reilly: “She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at 2 in the morning.” Just another conservative $hitbag talking out of their a*s, broadcasting how they really feel about women.
This is unfortunately a common story. College girls who have been drinking are often a target of evil people.
This whole "the way she was dressed means that she deserved it" bulls@@t is so tired and offensive. There are so many things wrong with that. As Tempest has already said, she sounds like a lovely person.
Yellow Bellied O'Reilly. If the same happened to him, nobody would step forward as a witness, not even with a seven digit reward on offer.
My best friend vanished on her way to her early morning work shift several years ago. Her van was found abandoned in a field, and she never was found despite the massive search response, snd the fact her family were all cops. There’s also been some rumors about her stepmother interfering with evidence, but aside from that, it’s been radio silent. The FBI was involved, last I heard.
Three days after she vanished, I had a dream about her. She said goodbye to me and told me that she loved me, and since then, I’ve known in my heart she’s dead.
I miss you, Sara.
My SIL had a best friend go missing for 3 months before they found the body in a trash bag in the woods behind the missing girls house.
I had a friend go missing at 17 years old. She took a walk with her dog and her dog made it home but she vanished seemingly without a trace. There was a massive search for weeks, her picture made it to national news channels with video of her parents crying and begging for information.
The dark truth was that her parents were quiverful fundamental Christians in the worst way and she was the oldest daughter. She couldn't live as a parentified slave anymore so she ran away. Her father was always extremely controlling and I don't fault her at all for vanishing in the way she did. She got caught awhile later because she logged on to Facebook at a public library.
As far as I know, she got emancipated and as she brought so much "public shame" to her parents, I expect they didn't want her back. I never saw her again and I hope she's out there living her best life.
Why didnt she just move out and found a place for rent to live on her own?
According to data collected by the World Population Review, globally, kidnapping is the most common reason for missing person reports. Most often, the victims are children under six. Very often, the perpetrators are the kids’ parents who don’t have custody. In many cases, the child is recovered safely.
Due to the size of the United States population, as well as the systems in place to report disappearances, the country has the highest number of missing person reports on the planet. In the US, 2.3k children are reported missing every single day.
My cousin (who I barely knew) disappeared along with his car, leaving behind a large blood stain in his apartment. Right from the start his roommates were suspects but several years passed and his body was still missing. The case was featured on unsolved mysteries or America's most wanted or one of those and a tip came in giving the location of his car in a nearby river. His body was found in the trunk, and the roommates confessed and went to prison.
I saw this one on Nightline or one of those shows. It's a crazy story. The roommates tried to make it look like he was involved in a cult.
Many missing persons cases were re-opened in america during the droughts due to bodies being found in dried-up rivers.
Her name was Scarlet Jean Russo. She went missing in 1986 in Jacksonville, Florida. She was a sex worker and my best friend. Her car was found with the interior bloody. There wasn't much of an investigation. Girls like her... you know the excuses. She has never been found to my knowledge.
She deserved so much better. That kind of treatment by law enforcement is inexcusable.
I remember many, many years ago, reading about a police officer who, in his spare time, began disguising himself as a homeless man and going to the poor and half-abandoned areas of town, getting to know the homeless people and the prostitutes. Several prostitutes had been found murdered and nobody seemed to care. So he investigated on his own. He eventually became friends with a lot of the people who lived in the area, and discovered that a serial killer was preying on homeless people and prostitutes BECAUSE the police didn't seem to care enough to investigate.
First I hate the way S.W. get shamed. Whats the saying, "Its the oldest profession around"? To each their own, as long as they arent hurting anybody is my opinion. But what really chaps my rear is how police, politicians, people in power or authority, treat them as non people. They are people. They are someones daughter, sister, mother, son, brother, father. I dont understand why people look down on anyone else.
Poor woman, she deserved better. Her work may have been classed as high risk but so is being a police officer. Wouldn't there be an outcry if police deaths went uninvestigated because they put themselves in that situation??
Nobody looked hard because pigs hate women as much as the criminals do. Especially sex workers. Plus, pigs are sometimes the murderers.
I will never understand the hypocrisy of the US - either you cherish human life, or not. You cannot say abortion is evil and the death of a sex worker is... well deserved. Or stuff like that.
How the actual fück do you dare to even say she was working "to get high"? OP doesn't say that their friend was a sex worker in order to score drügs or get high. Nor do most women go into sex work "to get high". They do it because they have few other legitimate ways to make money, as they might be uneducated or not have the employment opportunities they need.
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When I was a kid a friend of mine was kidnapped by his dad. The mom got custody and the dad just showed up one day and took him. It was devastating for everyone, especially the mom and brother (yeah idk why he only took one kid). After about 5 years of police investigations and the mom having to change her legal name and go into hiding, they finally found him and got him back home. He was safe, but he was really quiet for a few years after he got back. I have no idea what happened during that time. What I do know is that he seems incredibly well adjusted now and last I heard he's happily married.
....why is this so similar to what happened to me? the only difference is that i was taken for 2 weeks, not 5 years, and my brother was not born yet. everything else is me. kinda scared now lol
It is sadly a common story when a divorce or breakup is not amicable and there are children involved :( I hope you are doing okay!
Load More Replies...That happened to a neighbor of mine. Her niece (15?) was babysitting when the ex showed up. He shoved his way inside and took one of the boys (the oldest, maybe the other wasn't his son). They never did track them down. It was maybe a year later when the younger boy was playing outside and was hit & killed by a garbage truck. The Mom k*lled herself shortly after. It was so sad. I didn't know her well, but she seemed like a really nice person.
Aside from kidnapping (whether due to personal motives, for ransom, human trafficking, or due to political reasons), other reasons why someone might go missing include forced disappearance, going missing in action, voluntary disappearance, and involuntary disappearance.
Forced disappearance is when criminals or corrupt government agents abduct you. Those who go missing in action are usually either in the military or disappear during civil unrest. Voluntary disappearance means that someone chooses to run away, whether to escape a bad situation at home, to get away from their overwhelming debts, or to hide from either law enforcement or criminals.
Meanwhile, involuntary disappearance usually means that someone may go missing due to their poor mental health or when they suffer an accident alone and away from home.
My best friend.
She was abandoned by her mother when we were in middle school, then her previously absent father reappeared and suddenly took her away. Nobody was able to get into contact or find their location. Basically disappeared into thin ait.
We reunited when we were 21. My friend had been in an abusive situation for many years. When she escaped, she had to lay low until she was sure she was safe and wouldn't be found. Only then could she reach out to me. .
I M glad she had you to think on and kew you were thinking and praying for her! And when she reached out she reached out to you! What a deep and abiding love there is between excellent friends!
A family friend went to a Metallica concert, during intermission she went out to have a cigarette and the venue wouldn’t let her back in. There’s footage of her walking through the parking lot and then she wasn’t seen again. The ended up finding her body a year or so later, and through DNA, connected it to another r*pe/murder. Because of that DNA they found the guy who did it. It was awful. Morgan was her name and she was beautiful and talented and had her whole life ahead of her.
This happened in Charlottesville, VA. I was at that show. They did a lot to find her and her killer. Metallica was even offering a reward for any information. So sad what happened to her.
RIP Morgan Dana Harrington (July 24, 1989 – October 17, 2009) Morgan_Har...d7de46.jpg
I know this case! These are the UVA murders in Charlottesville, VA. Very sad.
A neighbor's son vanished while jogging in our neighborhood. He was an avid runner and it was unlike him to not come back on time. Days turned into a frantic search involving the entire community. Unfortunately, his body was found in a nearby river. An investigation revealed he had been struck by a hit-and-run driver and his body was dumped to hide the crime. The perpetrator was eventually caught, but it was a devastating loss for his family.
I used to work in a municipal court. The cost of hitting someone and causing a death is a few thousand dollars, not including any other charges/lawsuits. While I was working there, we had an old man hit and kill a motorcyclist by accident. The man's retirement was essentially gone, alongside his ability to drive (he had trouble with insurance after this). It was a terrible situation. It doesn't excuse hit/run or hiding the body, but I would assume dodging such repercussions would be the reason, and they thought they could.
Load More Replies...Maybe not the worst type of crime out there. But someone who is involved in a hit and run is soulless. How can you hit someone in your car and not stop to render aid is beyond me.
It is almost the worst crime out there, yes. Not only you ran away and didnt help, but you also hide the body and throw in the frickin river
Load More Replies...In the US, over 521.7k people were reported missing in 2021. More than 93.7k of them were still actively missing at the start of 2022.
On the other side of the globe in India, more than 2.1k people go missing every day. This amounts to around 88 women, children, and men missing every hour.
In the United Kingdom, around 180k people disappear every year. However, the real number is thought to be significantly higher, as 353k missing person files are opened every year. 80% of these cases in the UK involve missing children. Most are found within 24 hours of the report being filed.
My coworker, her sister and her niece went missing from a campground in the mountains for 12 days. They had left their campsite to go for a short day hike and got lost somewhere along the way. Both my coworker and her sister were found dead of exposure. Miraculously, her neice survived. Everyone at work was devastated. She was an incredibly kind and wonderful nurse.
Can someone explain to me what dying of exposure means? I've heard the term before and it's always confused me a bit.
It means you are exposed to the elements such as very cold nights or whatever you don't have to cover your bases. A lot of people die of hypothermia, 12 days could be starvation or something associated with a health issue that compromises you. A couple, their baby and their dog when hiking in the woods in summer and succumbed to heat exhaustion. Basically not having the 10 essentials on you at all times, and even then, things can go wrong fast. (break an ankle, loose your compass, animal interaction, etc)
Load More Replies...May I ask what exposure means in this case? I only know exposure in the sense of radioactivity, which doesn’t make sense here, and my dictionary isn’t of help, either.
It means exposure to the elements. Cold, heat, dryness, rain, anything that will sap a human being's strength and energy if they don't have access to shelter, etc. It happens often while camping or hiking when people are unprepared. People can die of hypothermia even when it is not snowing or "freezing cold", for example.
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My stepsister went missing about a year after my stepdad married my mom. We had just moved into our new house a couple states away from where I grew up and I didn’t know anybody. My stepsister was three years older and helped me make friends at school.
We lived about a mile from school and walked there and back a couple days a week when my mom had to go to work early.
One day I walked back home from school alone because my stepsister had basketball practice. There had been some robberies in the area so my mom had us carry pepper spray with us, and I remember feeling weird that day.
I got home fine, and a few hours later, we hadn’t heard from my stepsister, so my stepdad called the basketball coach to see if practice went late (we didn’t have phones).
The coach said my stepsister had left the school a couple hours before.
A few months later, after a lot of searching, her body was found in the woods near the school. There was pepper spray residue all over her skin.
They never caught the person who did it, but she was killed with the rock the police found near her body.
Just to imagine there are all these f*****g predators out there just living life like nbd inbetween kidnapping and murdering people. Disgusting!
I swear I saw this case on one of those true crime shows, the details are very familiar
My mom was in the same Girl Scout troop as Amber Hagerman, the girl in which amber alert is named after. They spent the 4 days it took to find her putting up posters and searching nonstop, where she was eventually found in a ditch. Unfortunately, her abductor was never found.
That poor helpless child was yanked, screaming, off her bike in front of her grandmother's house. Now many children's safety classes teach kids to tightly hang on to their bike if somebody approaches them, and not to let go. Very difficult to drag a kid and a bicycle. Hopefully buys the child time for someone to hear their screams and intervene. May Amber rest in peace and may her family have some comfort knowing that this horrific tragedy changed our world to help better safeguard other children.
When I was a kid (and still am, as I am a minor) I still/do get "checked out" by older men, and have had them stare at my genitals
Load More Replies...Used to work with a woman whose son, like Amber Hagerman, was stolen while riding his bicycle. They found the bike, but they never found the boy. A couple of years ago, a serial child rapist confessed to several murders, and included this boy in his list of victims. Every year on the anniversary of his disappearance, my coworker would call in sick for a couple of days. I cannot imagine the horror that woman suffers. Her son, had he lived, would be in his late 40s now.
The one that haunts me is the boy and girl whos picture was found in a parking lot. Both kids were bound and gagged, in some truck or van. They came from different states and had no connection. Creepy.
Load More Replies...With posts like this I really don't know how to react. Hitting the up arrow feels as though I am in favour, hitting the down arrow feels like I don't care. This is just awful almost to the point of being unbelievable.
Well said Keith. It's what I felt, but couldn't find the right words
Load More Replies...Horrific tragedy for this family- amazing legacy for this precious victim, May she rest in peace.
A friend from high school. She was skiing and got separated from her party during the day. Sadly she was found deceased in a tree well. She died at 19.
I still think of her often. She was such a bright light and had an amazing future.
What is a tree well? I'm sure my imagination and reality is not matching in this case
The snow around a tree where skiers and snowboarders can fall in and get stuck and/or buried. Watch this: https://youtu.be/m5ME9Swo0_8?si=hN4d52UbvqDp93VG
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My brother. He was 52 years old. He left his house one night and never came back. His car was found abandoned in the woods about a week later. That was four years ago. There have been terrible rumors about what happened to him, but nothing more.
When men showed this kind of behavior they usually committed suicide.
Exactly. They want privacy and/or for the family to not find their body. Please reach out for help if you’re struggling, guys!
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I went to the same elementary school as Michael Dunahee. He was kidnapped off the playground and still not found to this day. I remember after it happened every parent showed up to walk the entire school of kids home. I also remember running ahead of the pack for whatever reason and all the parents were screaming at me to get back. They were terrified.
I grew up in the same city and I think as an adult somehow it's more terrifying knowing how easily it happened. His mom was playing a ball game and he wanted to play nearby, she agreed and never saw her little boy again.
I was just little when he disappeared and I've never forgotten his name. That and the reena virk murder have always really stuck with me. What happened to her is one of the saddest things I think I've ever heard. To this day I kind of wish someone had just murdered Kelly ellard. F*****g awful human being with zero remorse.
Me too. Kelly has a new name and family, Reena will never have that.
Load More Replies...He may very well have been snatched to sell to some rich people that wanted a child and were willing to pay..
A friend of mine’s sister went missing in the early 80s. We always suspected she was a victim of Gary Ridgeway the Green River Killer. We found out a couple of years ago that she is in fact on his list of suspected victims.
I knew someone who's mom was almost one of his victims. He was talking to her at a bar and tried getting her to go with him but she said no and had a security guard walk her to her car. He ended up taking one of her coworkers instead. She had really bad survivors guilt after she found out what happened and who he was.
My neighbor worked with him. After he was caught he had said he would put bodies under a tarp in his truck until he could dispose of them. My neighbor said he drove his truck in a few times with the tarp over his truck bed. My neighbor said he was a normal guy at work. He had the chills when he found out what was under the tarp.
presumably not if she's on his list of suspected victims.
Load More Replies...The pigs did NOTHING for years because they hated the victims as much as Ridgway did - young women, some sex workers, some d**g users. But even those that weren't, the pigs DGAF about their lives or catching him.
My cousin ran away when he was 16 years old (1976). He learn how to get a new identity by watching a “60 minutes” (US) episode.
I did searches from time to time during the early days of the internet. Way before Google. One day, his name popped up.
I called the number but the person did not know who or what I was talking about. I mentioned that I was his cousin and left my name & phone number.
A couple of days later, he called me. Good conversation. With my cousin permission, I reached out to his brother & dad. They all had hours long conversations and we all had a nice family reunion.
My cousin had an interesting life and passed away last year.
Picking up a few clues on a TV.Show on how to change your identity doesn't really cover everything
Load More Replies...From OP on Reddit: "Just typical family dynamics at the time. He was an adventurous 16 year old. I should have mentioned that he started using his true identity after 20 years. That was why I was able to get in contact with him. He wanted to get in contact with his family but he did not know if they would want that. In the end, it worked out."
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My aunt went for a solo hike in 2001 while on holiday. She was never seen again and her body was never found. After 7 years she was declared legally dead. It devastated my grandpa and my dad until they died.
Solo wilderness activities, where you are not on a daily or hourly traveled trail is not brave, it is a stupid activity, and animals are almost never the reason for death. Intoxication, injury from falling, and unexpected or unprepared for weather is the #1 reason in Alaska, and I've got lots of stories of people who are found days later mere yards from the safe paths.
Agreed! Julian Sands, an experienced mountaineer and one of my favorite independent actors, went for a solo hike around Mt. Baldy, got caught by bad weather, and searchers had to wait for spring to look for his body (which they finally found in June 2024).
Load More Replies...If this happened in the US, there is a correlation between reported missing peoples last location in the wilderness and underground cave systems. Always hike with a friend.
You should always hike unfamiliar places with someone else, or at the very least, register with local rangers or the equivalent. You can't always anticipate when weather conditions will suddenly change or the terrain changes.
She’s now a ride share driver for UFOs 🛸 (better than the most likely alternative explanation!)
A family friend went for a hike on Thanksgiving day years ago. He was an experienced outdoorsman and wanted to get a quick hike in before dinner. An unexpected snowstorm rolled in that day and he became disoriented in the storm. He called 911 for help and was instructed to stay put for them to send search and rescue to try to find him. When they went out on the trail, he was nowhere to be found. The storm was so bad they suspended search efforts. They looked some after it ended but didn’t find him anywhere. The next spring, search and rescue was training cadaver dogs in a steep canyon and came across human remains which ended up being my friend. He had taken a tremendous fall from a cliff and perished.
At least you know what happen to him. A lot of these post, people really don't know what happened to their friend or relatives.
It does say he is an "experienced outdoorsman", so he likely knew of a snowstorm, but must've had a reason for not choosing to go. He did call 911, so clearly he wasn't trying to just get caught in a snowstorm and die the way he did. RIP OP's outdoorsy friend 😔💔❤️🩹
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A girl I knew in high school went missing in 2021 while we were in our 30s. The last known location of her was waist deep in a spring that is known to have alligators. She was in the background of random people’s video and they handed it over to the police during the search. She still hasn’t been found.
My great-grandfather disappeared when his youngest child (my grandfather) was a toddler. Records were finally found, decades later, showing he had moved across the county, changed his name, remarried, and had additional kids.
As bad as it sounds, if I were the wife I'm not sure if I would not prefer him to be dead.
Load More Replies...Huh, that sounds like my great grandad. He tried killing my great grandma, my grandpa, and his siblings in a house fire. Luckily they all got out and lived. He moved to a different state and illegally got married and had more kids. The only reason my family knows, is because one of his kids reached out after he passed away. They had found papers with my Great grandma's info on it. I actually had someone message me on Ancestry that was a part of that family line not to long ago.
Yep, discovered this very thing in my own family tree. G-g-g-grandfather got into a fight with another man, knocked him cold. Thinking he'd killed him, he rode off on a horse, leaving his wife and 12 kids to fend for themselves. They thought he'd died or something. Many decades later, my g-grandmother received a letter from a woman in the next state who claimed to be a cousin. Comparing notes, they determined that this other woman's grandfather and my g-grandmother's granddad were one and the same man. Oddly enough, he kept the same name.
My brother's middle school teacher. He just didn't show up to school one day, which was very unusual. The school scrambled to find a substitute for him, because they had no notice. We had a whole-school meeting like two days later when he was officially missing where they told us all about it. He left the house that morning as usual, according to his wife later said. He was never seen again. Many search parties were organized, and people looked for months, but they never found him. He is still officially missing today.
When I first started working as a teacher in America, there was a story told in the teachers' lounge about a teacher who one day just calmly put down her chalk, left the classroom, left the school, walked several miles to a local Wal-Mart, got in the cab of a truck in the parking lot and told the somewhat startled driver "Get me the hell out of here." She left behind a husband and children. They didn't hear from her for 4 months.
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Guy I went to school with and kind of grew up around (his mom is one of my mom’s best friends), went missing in 2010 on his way home. Police and search parties searched everywhere looking for him and his truck. He had to pass over a bridge to get to his house, so it should be noted that the lakes were searched by divers and dragging the lake as well. 4 years later (2014) the water levels were very low and someone called in saying they saw a tire sticking out of the surface of the water near the bridge he would have had to cross to get home. It was him and his truck.
At least the family got some closure after 4 long, excruciating years.
Up until about a couple of years ago, never even heard of a car being pulled out of the water. I always thought that if a car crashed into the water, people would notice. It would be noticeable. But with the extreme drought and improvements of diving equipment and amateur online investigators, there have been dozens of cars pulled out of dried up lakes and rivers. People missing for 20, 30, 40 or more years found in their car in the water. Tragic, stupid, messy and sad.
Not all necessarily stupid. All it takes is to slide on slick road and go over.
Load More Replies...Girl at my rural high school had been out partying, her mom assumed she had come home and got off to school the next morning and didn't start missing her until after school. People searched and didn't find anything, it was a few days before someone spotted her truck had gone off the road on the way to her house and into a ditch. Must be very hard to know your teenage daughter died alone in a ditch after trying to drive home drunk from a party
There are many videos on YouTube about divers that volunteer to search for missing cars.
Family we went camping with a lot, the dad went missing for weeks.
Turns out he'd run off with his secretary. His male secretary. This was in the 80s, so it was a huge scandal for a small town. I don't think he ever came back to the town again, and I'm not even sure if his kids have any contact with him. It kind of makes me sad to think maybe he was gay the whole time and felt like he just couldn't. It's a pity he had to wreck his whole family's life to get away.
It was the 80s, pretty sure he didn't have a choice
Load More Replies...Maybe he was gay? No, dude. That's not how it works. He was definitely gay, he just may have not been ready to admit it.
NO he didn't have wreck his whole family's life!!!! He's a terrible and selfish man! He's chose that outcome
F that "wrecked his family" hate speech. If it's the 1980s, then he was gay in the 1970s when LGBTQIA people could still be murdered with impunity. Blame society for violently forcing queer people into lives they never wanted, not those escaping societal violence.
There was no hate speech, you're just looking for something to be angry at. Gay people can be a$$holes too. I had an uncle who I loved very much, who was gay. He married a woman and they had a child. He lived that life until he just couldn't anymore, but at least he divorced his wife first, and kept in contact with his son. You don't abandon your kids, I don't care who you are.
Load More Replies...Imagine abandoning your wife and children so that you can fulfill sexual desires.
When my cousin and her husband (and kids) went on a vacation to Curaçao (around 35C that time of year) a few years ago. The area is covered in thick jungle, and it was made clear to everyone who went there that you ***needed*** (or was required) to stay on the paths. He decided to go for an evening stroll while the rest stayed at their cabin. Took a one liter bottle of water and his phone with him (nearly no reception as soon as you walked into the bush), some gum and went off path anyway (because he probably got curious.) Search and rescue were busy doing their searches (along with volunteers) around a large area, and he was found five days after he went missing about two kilometers from where he went off path. He died from a heat induced heart attack, but was probably already completely unconscious before that happened due to dehydration. He was 47.
Why are all your comments so sad but you sound so happy
Load More Replies...A college student from my community went way off trail during a solo hike. Found a few days later with a broken neck, and it was determined she fell from a spot where the ground gave out. Always stay on the trail.
There is one story in particular I always think of when considering going off the path, her name was Geraldine Largay .Absolutely heartbreaking.
My cousin was kidnapped on her way to school. It was over 20 years ago and she’s not been found.
There was an incredibly haunting episode of the Australian tv series You Can't Ask That about family of missing persons. They said exactly that, not knowing was the worst part. There were one or two who were eventually found (dead) and they still agreed, though said it was an entirely different pain once you did find out they were dead.
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My sibling ran away in the middle of the night summer before our senior year of high school. Woke up and saw they were gone, called the police and filed a report. Found out they had been picked up by one of their (adult) internet friends they met on discord, and then flown across the country to live with their other adult internet friends. Was a total of 6 months before we could get them out of there (went absolutely radio silent for the last 4 months), and they ended up missing the entirety of senior year. Fortunately they're doing well now.
It's likely many awful things *did* happen, but maybe we're all better off not thinking about it.
Load More Replies...A girl I was in nursery, primary and secondary school with went missing at 14. She was severely depressed and horribly bullied (my school was horrible) and at the time we all feared the worst. Found out later that she’d been groomed online and he arranged for her to run away and be with him. He was in his mid/late fifties, and eventually she was found and brought home. But she never came back to school :( I cannot imagine what she went through, and how traumatic it was. But what makes it worse is that she was drawn to the abuser because of bullies at school. It might not be the only reason, but I’m convinced if she wasn’t so badly treated by bullies she wouldn’t have been as vulnerable. The only positive thing to come out of it was that our school started taking bullying and online safety a lot more seriously as a result.
It is quite often the case that people targeted by grooming are marginalised and have very low self esteem and few friends, because that's what the groomer can use to get their side. It's such a sad side of our children's lives now.
Load More Replies...Not necessarily. It can mean more than one, or it could just be a gender-neutral way of referring to one person. In this case I would say it's one person, as OP mentions 'my sibling'.
Load More Replies...Probably, they get a lot of their inspiration from real stories.
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My friend went missing right after Christmas 2017 in FL and is still missing.
He called me the week prior and sounded panicky. I was super busy at work and told him I'd call him back when I got home in an hour. Well, I got busy with kids, dinner and the normal family stuff and totally forgot to call him back. To this day I feel like he was calling for help and I let him down.
High chance he didn't think he was panicky at the time of the call, just looking back on it after the disappearance.
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A friend and coworker, we went to a bar after work. Toward the end of the night, he met up with a cousin and left for a party with them. He didn't show up for work the next day, then the next. Police showed up at work asking questions, as his girlfriend had reported him missing. Investigation revealed that he was last seen leaving the party after a small fight. His cellphone was found in a garbage truck that had been emptying dumpsters. His body was found a month and a half later in the river. It was ruled an accidental drowning. So many questions and not many answers...
Miss you Bug.
If the cellphone was in a dumpster, it probably wasn't an accident.
That's what I thought. They're always quick to call it a suicide or accident.
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My friend in college. We were athletes on the track team together. Her car was found crashed into a snow bank the next state over. That was 20 years ago and to this day I think I see her in random places on public transit etc… I still can’t accept that she’s most likely dead.
If you crash your car in a rural area or get lost, always stay with it, much easier to see a car than a little human
My brother died in an accident. I saw his body. He's been gone since 1997. But I still can't accept he's dead and I see random glimpses of "him" when I'm out and about. Of course it's not him.
My stepbrother died 2 years ago and his mum was the one who found him. She's had very similar episodes as well as dreams where he is still alive. It's eating up her live. I want to send you my heartfelt wishes that things get easier, because I know how hard it can be. Two of my brothers died before I was 23, but because they had lifelong disabilities, I think it was easier to come to terms with them being gone, because we were always anticipating it.
Load More Replies...Definitely talking about Maura Murray. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Maura_Murray
Considering the heartbreaking impact that a missing pet or person can have on their loved ones, there's an element of relief when they are eventually found, as emphasized in the article about the remarkable return of a lost Border Collie.
The lesson on the significance of microchipping your beloved animals is especially poignant here, as many missing cases in humans could benefit from technological tracking methods.
My uncle drove my cousins all the way across the country to "visit" my grandma, but then just up and left - without his children - a couple days after arriving and then disappeared for several years. Come to find out, he had moved to the Phillipines and started a brand new family over there with his brand new Filipina wife. He still won't talk to any of us, including his own children, even though we've tried contacting him several times throughout the years after he showed back up on Facebook... Douchebag.
When I was 3 months old my mom told my dad she was going shopping and didn’t come back. While she had never disappeared before she did have substance abuse problems. She showed up almost 3 years later pregnant. My dad took her in until she had my brother. She left again and we didn’t hear from her again for many years. She eventually died of a d**g overdose.
My brother-in-law snuck onto an airplane when he was 12 years old and flew across the United States. He also left a note for his family stating he ran away to California. 2 weeks later, they received a call from him stating he wanted to come home.
My old mechanic told me once when he was 14, he randomly hitchhiked across the country, from the east coast to California. He called his parents when he got there. Stayed with an uncle for a while, then eventually came home. It was probably in the 70's when he did this.
Two classmates of mine disappeared (separately, and years apart) while hiking. They were both very accomplished solo hikers who ended up slipping down ravines and dying of exposure before they could be found. It is a senseless tragedy. Be careful out there, hiking friends. .
There was a woman who hiked a big mountain solo years back, who disappeared. During that search, people explained that at the top of a mountain, it can get harder to see the trail, because it gets rocky, less vegetation, easy to get disoriented. There was an extensive search undertaken, but she was never found. Hikers getting lost is actually pretty common. They now make GPS devices that pinpoint where you are if lost, so that it is easier to find you!
Around July of 2022, an old high school classmate of mine went missing. She was a mother of 2 boys, one of them with special needs. The last known contact she had with anyone was when she told a friend of hers she was going to the store, but she never returned. The police were informed, and a missing persons report was filed. Her phone and wallet were found at her home. A boyfriend she was dating was questioned and released without any indication of foul play. She's never been seen or heard from since.
She might have run off. While it doesn't excuse her actions, taking care of a special needs child is very difficult, and it could have simply become too much for her.
My cousin was in a horrible car accident and the hospital miscommunicated with the police and his name was given incorrectly. He was missing for a week.
My friend and neighbor Nancy. One day she just disappeared. She had her nephew living with her and he was interrogated and found to be innocent, I found out through her sister that she was missing. I was worried because she was diabetic, she weighed about 98 pounds, tiny thing. This was in 2007, as far as I know she hasn't been found. All the links to her news stories are dead links now. Idk if it's the law or what, but my apartment complex kept her apartment waiting for her if she was to return for 4 months. I think about her from time to time.
My great aunt went missing at Point Reyes beach in 2010, likely due to a wave. Her dogs were found nearby with one in her car and the other tied to a bush. It’s possible she did all of that on purpose, because it’s very weird. No remains have been officially found, and it really broke my grandmas heart.
A guy from my high school disappeared while hiking. His body wasn’t found until almost ten years later.
imagine going on a fun lil hike and finding a dead body… i’d never be the same again
I found a dead body while doing work at a reserve. It was preserved in the snow, must have been hidden and frozen for months.
Load More Replies...A guy in my town disappeared into thin air one day. We looked for him everywhere, the authorities were involved and he was later found 500kms from home, wandering aimlessly in a psychotic stupor. Poor guy had too much on his shoulders, he's home now and he's fine, but I haven't seen him since.
Guy in my town went missing. Older gentleman, his family said he took off walking with a gun. They found him just under a year later by some railroad tracks with a self inflicted gun shot wound. The family suffered that whole time.
At least leave a note for those you leave behind: don't make them suffer more than they already will.
They likely don't think anyone would care. It's suicide not gone fishin
Load More Replies...A friend of my mother's went on a camping trip alone with her (male) best friend. They were both retirees, both married to other people, so when they didn't come back people thought they may have eloped. A few other people had gone missing in the area though, so a homeless guy called "the button man" was questioned. Turns out he hadn't done anything, he was just a harmless bushie, and another man was arrested for their murder.
A guy I worked with went missing. Presumed drowned, but they never found a body. Did find his boat and fishing gear, but never a sign of him.
A friend went missing one night in June 2016 after a night out. He had an argument with his SO and wandered off on foot. Days went by, and there was no info. Find out, he'd somehow been hit by a car, and died. He didn't have his wallet on him so it took a bit for them to identify his body. No one understood how his significant other wasn't with him, or what led up to him walking off in what I think was a drunken state. .
Friend of a friend in high school ran away one summer. (I want to say between 10th and 11th grade.) Hitchhiked to the west coast. Parents hired a private investigator, he eventually came home. He had to change schools and was on lock down for quite awhile after that. Last time I saw him was later on in high school when his 30 year old cousin bought us beer.
Some of these stories were heartbreaking. I feel so bad for the families of the people that died and feel sad knowing how scared the people who died were before they perished. It's sad to think someones life can end just like that. You go on living,doing the things you love and suddenly you're dead.
My stepmom went missing in February. She was bipolar and had been having a very rough time with her mental health, so when I got the call she was missing, I knew I'd never see her alive again. Sure enough, 5 days later she was found dead in her car in a random parking lot. She had shot herself. Rest in peace, Karen.
Before she went missing, she had starved her dog to within a week of its death. She had physically, verbally, financially and emotionally abused her partner, including starvation, deliberate sleep deprivation, no access to shower or bath, withholding access to toilet. The emotional abuse was the worst. On behalf of her partner I got a restraining order on her and she vanished, with her dog, last seen letting her partner's tyres down. No doubt she's found another partner to abuse. Not everyone who goes missing is an angel.
True, like not every dead person deserves to be honored.
Load More Replies...Two of my (Illinois) HS classmates went missing in the late 90s. They were dating and the authorities assumed they'd run off together. Found their bodies in Florida 3-4 weeks later. I'll never forget how bizarre it was to see their faces on the nightly news.
My daughter's friend Nefataree Bartell. During their teen years she practically lived at our house and called me Mom. She was 7 months pregnant with her third. She was walking her dog towards a canyon just outside of Missoula. A woman picked her up and gave her a ride to a cabin. She dropped her at the end of the road and left. It was February 21st and obviously cold. The woman had a bad feeling and called the Sheriff's Department. They did nothing. Her dog was found in the canyon 8 days later in perfect health like he'd been taken care of. Neffy was found May 6th by Fish and Wildlife Services. Neffy was Indigenous and sadly her story ends there. No coroner's report or answers. You can Google the few stories that did air.
My father went missing for a weekend. He got up early on saturday like he always did and I assumed he would go grocery shopping like he usually does. But this time he didn't return. A few months prior, he wanted to hang himself in the woods because he found out my mother had an affair with her boss. He wouldn't answer his phone. We thought, this time he did it. 2 days later, he just walks in the door and was like "I wanted to test if you would feel bad if I disappeared and killed myself. I was at my sister's for the weekend." This was one of the worst things he did, but not the only thing. The following years, sometimes I wished he wouldn't have returned...
Before me or my sister and brother were born, my mom was best friends with a woman named Joan. I guess my mom, dad, and my older sister (she was just a baby) went camping with them for a week. A few years later, a little girl went missing and Joan’s husband became a suspect after he burnt his truck to the ground. He went to prison and claimed he was innocent, but he was also a suspect in another abduction. Really scary.
Someone I know from school back in 2011 went missing in 2013 in Vegas. His remains were found but they could not identify him until a couple years ago. The s****y police and our (now) Governor have been gaslighting his mom saying he left on his own accord. There is evidence of his SO at the time having something to do with it, but nothing has been done. She continuously changes her story, he and her mom both lied about seeing him at a mall, after his remains were found, and a lot of other stuff that never added up. He has a son that he absolutely adored and would have done anything for so he wouldn't have just left.
Girl I went to high school with disappeared her first semester at college, in Virginia USA. They found her body about two months later, behind a barn, after enough pressure on the last person to see her alive (left with him from a bar) to make him confess and show them the "resting place". He's In jail for life. Her name was Taylor Beahl (not sure on spelling, pronounced 'Beel') for anyone wanting to google
Some of these stories were heartbreaking. I feel so bad for the families of the people that died and feel sad knowing how scared the people who died were before they perished. It's sad to think someones life can end just like that. You go on living,doing the things you love and suddenly you're dead.
My stepmom went missing in February. She was bipolar and had been having a very rough time with her mental health, so when I got the call she was missing, I knew I'd never see her alive again. Sure enough, 5 days later she was found dead in her car in a random parking lot. She had shot herself. Rest in peace, Karen.
Before she went missing, she had starved her dog to within a week of its death. She had physically, verbally, financially and emotionally abused her partner, including starvation, deliberate sleep deprivation, no access to shower or bath, withholding access to toilet. The emotional abuse was the worst. On behalf of her partner I got a restraining order on her and she vanished, with her dog, last seen letting her partner's tyres down. No doubt she's found another partner to abuse. Not everyone who goes missing is an angel.
True, like not every dead person deserves to be honored.
Load More Replies...Two of my (Illinois) HS classmates went missing in the late 90s. They were dating and the authorities assumed they'd run off together. Found their bodies in Florida 3-4 weeks later. I'll never forget how bizarre it was to see their faces on the nightly news.
My daughter's friend Nefataree Bartell. During their teen years she practically lived at our house and called me Mom. She was 7 months pregnant with her third. She was walking her dog towards a canyon just outside of Missoula. A woman picked her up and gave her a ride to a cabin. She dropped her at the end of the road and left. It was February 21st and obviously cold. The woman had a bad feeling and called the Sheriff's Department. They did nothing. Her dog was found in the canyon 8 days later in perfect health like he'd been taken care of. Neffy was found May 6th by Fish and Wildlife Services. Neffy was Indigenous and sadly her story ends there. No coroner's report or answers. You can Google the few stories that did air.
My father went missing for a weekend. He got up early on saturday like he always did and I assumed he would go grocery shopping like he usually does. But this time he didn't return. A few months prior, he wanted to hang himself in the woods because he found out my mother had an affair with her boss. He wouldn't answer his phone. We thought, this time he did it. 2 days later, he just walks in the door and was like "I wanted to test if you would feel bad if I disappeared and killed myself. I was at my sister's for the weekend." This was one of the worst things he did, but not the only thing. The following years, sometimes I wished he wouldn't have returned...
Before me or my sister and brother were born, my mom was best friends with a woman named Joan. I guess my mom, dad, and my older sister (she was just a baby) went camping with them for a week. A few years later, a little girl went missing and Joan’s husband became a suspect after he burnt his truck to the ground. He went to prison and claimed he was innocent, but he was also a suspect in another abduction. Really scary.
Someone I know from school back in 2011 went missing in 2013 in Vegas. His remains were found but they could not identify him until a couple years ago. The s****y police and our (now) Governor have been gaslighting his mom saying he left on his own accord. There is evidence of his SO at the time having something to do with it, but nothing has been done. She continuously changes her story, he and her mom both lied about seeing him at a mall, after his remains were found, and a lot of other stuff that never added up. He has a son that he absolutely adored and would have done anything for so he wouldn't have just left.
Girl I went to high school with disappeared her first semester at college, in Virginia USA. They found her body about two months later, behind a barn, after enough pressure on the last person to see her alive (left with him from a bar) to make him confess and show them the "resting place". He's In jail for life. Her name was Taylor Beahl (not sure on spelling, pronounced 'Beel') for anyone wanting to google
