Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Human drama does grow (or shrink) proportionally to the amount of humans in a place, but, counterintuitively, a big city insulates you from most of it. You can be just a face in the crowd in a metropolis, but in towns and villages, you can’t help but know everyone around you.
Someone asked “People who grew up in a small town, what is that incident everyone knows about, but no one talks about?” and netizens shared their stories. Be warned, these can get pretty dark. So read through, upvote the most interesting ones and be sure to add your own in the comments section below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Back in in the 80s. Had two married couples who played cards together every week. Suddenly both couples got divorced, then remarried the other's partner. They kept playing cards every week.
Source - knew their kids.
RELATED:
#2
The high school history teacher who exposed himself in the park and was arrested. Was “on leave“ for six months and then came back and taught like nothing happened.
For senior slideshow, students put up a picture of him and played the Police song “Don’t stand so close to me.“
#3
There was a very large mentally disabled man who would spend all day every day sitting on the steps in front of a store. I asked about him once as a kid and my father told me he was waiting for his mother to be done. She ran the store. I was surprised because they looked very similar in age. Turns out the woman was impregnated by her father when she was 12. It was one of those things we weren't supposed to talk about. Just pretend it's all normal.
#4
Fatal hunting accident with a school kid in a village with a pop of ~ 5000.
A dad and his son took the boat out to hunt birds with a two round rifle. Dad sitting in the back, kid in front. Dad fires the first shoot and just before firing the second round the kid jumps up to see if the bird got hit. Hit right in the back of the head. Was instant. Couldnt stop thinking about what the father experienced while rowing back for awhile. This was before cellphones as well.
I was his classmate, not close but we hang out sometimes. a skater kid with punk hair. The school and community came together and held talks with us kids so that was a light during that time. Now its decades ago, so I dont think it counts as a common story, but I dont live there anymore so cant say.
#5
There was a secret gay population in our small town. The dentist had a secret apartment near his office. His wife and my mother were great friends. Not a word was spoken about it
Colleen Glim 2 weeks ago
Sad. It’s nobody else’s business who somebody loves. And love is love. It doesn’t affect you in any way. So kindly f**k off
#6
There was a girl and her beau who went for a night on the town, they were seen arguing with a man at the end of the night. The next morning the guy was found dead from gunshots in one location, the girl was found a couple days later in another location. No one was ever arrested and the main suspect was her married chief of Police ex. 40 years later, they dug the fella up to try and run some tests as part of a cold-case investigation, when they opened his casket, his head had been removed and replaced with someone else's head.
We in the town don't talk about it much, but that show The Dead Files did an episode about it.
#7
A guy [unalived] his son for the insurance money. Put a truck up on a jack and then dropped it on his kid and went to a party while he died. After that happened it came out that he had [unalived] his wife for insurance money out in California. He boarded up some windows "to do work on the house", locked her in the bathroom, and set fire to the house.
Just a boring person 2 weeks ago
Was he ever arrested! This so call husband/father is a greedy psycho from heII!
#8
The High School health teacher kept getting students pregnant. All brushed under the rug.
Just a boring person 2 weeks ago (edited)
Disgusting, hope the judge would sentence him to have his baIIs removed!
#9
10 year old boy gets out of the house and runs to a neighbor for help. Him and his siblings were being severely neglected and a***ed. Four children were rescued, the house was in squalor. Garbage and feces everywhere. The kids were emaciated.
Upon further police investigation, three dead infants were found in the house as well. One, still attached to the placenta, was found stuffed in a backpack. The other two were skeletons and still had diapers and clothes on. The family's pet dog was found dead as well, presumably from starvation.
Blackstone house of horrors for anyone who wants to know more, it's a really sad case. Apparently the mother was trying to hide the children from her boyfriend that did not want anymore kids. They tore the house down, but I drive by the lot frequently and always feel sad for those babies.
#10
Minor teen girl had a much older adult boyfriend and he convinced her to [unalive] her whole family. It was big news when it happened and now it’s just a quirky history fact
#11
This took place in Wayne, Nebraska in the 80’s. After graduating, two football jocks beat the suspected gay kid and broke both of his legs. They run banks there now. Everyone knows they did it. They were never arrested.
Just a boring person 2 weeks ago
Really?! it's always those who are cool or muscular or whatsoever that always get the break free out of jail card.
Bernd Herbert 2 weeks ago
Especially in the US. When competition and sports are more important than anything else this s**t happens and will continue to happen.
Load More Replies...
Rinso The Red 2 weeks ago
In the West, this goes all the way back to the Greeks and Romans. They believed attractive people were blessed by the gods, so different rules applied. There was even a woman that got out of a blasphemy charge by baring her breasts.
Seadog 2 weeks ago
Yeah. I went to school with the sons and daughters of all the local doctors, lawyers, big business tycoons etc. They got away with everything in school while rest of us got the book thrown at us for every little thing. I began working retail a the age of 7, had my own business at 16 so getting up to go to work after graduating was just another day in the life. Those rich kids that thought they were so special because of mommy and daddy's money got a real slap in face from life when they had to get a job and actually work for a living. I see those people today and I just smile.
#12
A chiropractor from the next town over used to dress like Elvis. He [unalived] a 15 year old girl from our town in 1978 and burned down a barn with her body in it. Everyone knows he did it. For 10 years after, He used to sit outside the city pool and watch the teenage girls in their swimsuits. Nobody said s**t to him. Her murder is a cold case that got very little attention in our small town.
#13
My high school ROTC teacher who was a senior master sergeant in the Air Force, well loved by everyone, and one of the best teachers (so we thought) got caught sleeping with an underage student. Nothing happened outside of him just not being allowed back to teach. No charges against him, nada. He was extremely wealthy, even for a teacher, because of his family’s generational wealth so everyone knows he paid it off. The girl never showed back up to school either and apparently moved away
#14
There was a thrift shop that opened and closed very suddenly, maybe open 6 months, that we found out was a police sting operation to catch d**g dealers. A police officer was caught/identified as a major dealer, he was the former D.A.R.E. officer that came to the school, and is now the Chief of police. I think they even said he was selling old seized d***s.
#15
Guy shot his wife in his neighbors driveway then shot himself while teenage granddaughter (I was only a year older than her) was on 911 call. News played that call on tv and I was so pissed and sad for her. Grandma was a nice lady. Grandpa had some psychiatric issues and I didn’t really know him.
#16
Pleasant Grove, Utah, April 13, 2014: Darren West began cleaning out the garage at the home he once shared with his wife, Megan Huntsman. Nothing could have prepared him for what he would uncover.
Inside a small, white box, wrapped in plastic, was the tiny, decaying body of an infant.
West immediately called the police. They searched the home and found six more dead infants, all in boxes, stashed away in the garage.
After questioning, Huntsman admitted to k*****g the infants between 1996 and 2006 (one was stillborn, as confirmed at autopsy). She was heavily addicted to m**h and alcohol at the time, and said she [unalived] them because she couldn’t afford to raise them. Apparently bearing, birthing, and [unaliving] multiple children was easier than using birth control.
This shut our childhood town down! Cops quit from the trauma, the extended family was a mess. And the cherry on top was she gave birth to 3 girls she kept. The infant deaths were woven between the daughters she kept. So gnarly but no one talks about it anymore. It became the town shame.
#17
Nobody in blue ridge Georgia talks about how many people go missing up here never to be seen again. We’re right next to the cohutta wilderness, a massive plot of federal land that is very wild and undeveloped. It is creepy camping up there…
m6nbtfpx7q 2 weeks ago
Nobody talks about it so much I can’t even find a number (admittedly based on a very limited search, but you’d think it would be easy to find). Is this some sort of Deliverance situation?
#18
The person that almost [unalived] his grandchild with an axe while being in an alcohol-induced delirium. When this failed (the grandchild hid behind a wardrobe and he couldn't get him out), he opened all the valves on the stove, poisoning himself to death as a result. His grandchild escaped and survived
#19
Our local physical therapist was committing insurance fraud. Things like billing patients for multiple visits, but they only come once per week. Well the police got involved and interviewed him. He stopped paying his employees and just vanished. Turns out he fled to his house in FL and [unalived] his entire family and the dog. Very shocking for our small town in CT. He’s serving life in prison in FL now.
Google “Todt Family Murders” for the full story. Stephanie Harlowe covered it well on her YouTube channel.
#20
The m****r. This man [unalived] his wife. Threw her out of the second floor window. Put her body in the family van. Took his kids to daycare. Told the daycare his wife was missing. Went to the car wash. Washed the blood out of the van. Dumped the body. Then called the cops and said wife was missing.
#21
There was a cop who was babysitting his girlfriend’s baby and shook it to death when it wouldn’t stop crying.
There were a couple of best friends who were kind of rivals and one “accidentally” shot the other one while showing him his gun.
#22
I was born in a town that had a story of a dude climbing up into the water tower and drowning to commit [self-harm]. He was up there for quite some time until the townsfolk complained about the water. By the time they located him it was partially decomposed and bones. The joke is we got good water it has a lot of body in it 💀 Thankfully I was born a few years after it happened. Hopefully it was cleaned out by then.
#23
A guy who is married has also had several girlfriends on the side that have all ended up dead of mysterious causes. House fires, staged s*****es etc. He is always the primary beneficiary of their assets when they die. Three women have died this way now. He hasn’t been arrested and people just sort of accept it? It’s very f*****g odd.
#24
Teacher grooms and r**es teenager at high-school, gets caught by off duty cop who is suspicious a young woman who is obviously not his wife or daughter is going into teachers house(cop and teacher were neighbors)
Guy gets tried, goes to jail. Girl gets huge settlement from school district (like 3.5 million dollars, thereabouts.)
Teacher gets out of jail.
Teacher now lives in nice lakeside house, with aforementioned student he groomed, courtesy of the payout of his former employer.
What a fantastically happy ending.
#25
LOL I came here ready and willing to share my story of insurance fraud about that one house that was "FOR SALE" for nearly two decades before it mysteriously caught fire... but I see that's really small potatoes compared to everyone else.
Debby Keir 2 weeks ago
Used to work at a heavy engineering plant that was riverside and owned an island in the river on which there was a very old builkding which had been used as a prison in the Napoleonic wars. The building, being so old, was 'listed' (can't knock down, can't really change) Owners wanted to expand, and that island was the ideal place. Applied for planning but not granted, but oops 3 months later, the old prison burnt down.
#26
My junior high school science teacher (from over 25 years ago) was involved with a student in my mother's class (20 years earlier, while this girl was still very much underage), then married her, before he came out as gay and split from her. (Edit: I just remembered that he came out after getting caught with a guy on a backroad. I don't remember if this was by his wife or by someone else, but that was how it ended up coming out. As I recall, the guy he was caught with would go on to be his partner from then on.) He was still a teacher until he retired sometime in the mid 00s. Everyone knew about it. My mother said the other girls were jealous because they all thought he was cute and nice.
If I remember correctly, he wasn't the only teacher of that era at my school who married a student, either.
And while I was still there (I found out this, later) there was a young, married teacher who was having s*x with a student in the school. He's still a teacher, as they were never caught.
Scott Rackley 2 weeks ago
We had a female French teacher bang a 19 year old senior (held back one year in 8th grade) who was on the baseball team. Nothing came of it.
#27
A local woman had enough of her husbands a**se and was going to leave him for California. He picked up his two kids early 7 and 9 and had them wait for her. Shot both kids in front of her, then shot her, called 911 and told them what he did and commited [self-harm] on the phone. Lady was a big part of the shriners and eastern star and husband was a mason. Sweetest lady and the best kids. Super smart. Always found her husband a jerk. Never wanted to be at the hospital w her when she was sick (had a autoimmune thing).
#28
A kid in my grade was the son of the circuit court judge. Throughout the duration of my high school years, there were several [self-harm cases] in this small town amongst the student population. Enough to really be atypical of such a small community. Then they mysteriously stopped, and in the last 30 years, there haven't been any.
Rumor is that the judge's kid was a mur****r and knew he could get away with pretty much anything. Details were always sketchy. I'm glad I was on his good side.
Earthquake903 2 weeks ago
If he was doing it, I doubt he just stopped. He just got better at hiding it.
#29
The elderly couple s*****e pact where the husband d***s and asphyxiates his wife while watching sunset in the local State Park, but loses his nerve when its his turn to go. Is pulled over by a Park Ranger for erratic driving, going back home 5 miles away, wife still in buckled in the front seat...
Rachel Pelz 2 weeks ago
OK, s*****e is better than calling it s3lfharm, but d***s? Reading this threat is like a crossword puzzle
#30
A former coworker of mine spiraled out of control after the restaurant closed. Became a h****n manufacturer and was on FBI most wanted list. Anyway so one day him and like 2 guys went around a broke into over 15 houses stealing money and guns until he broke into a house and there was a 16 year old girl and they kidnapped her and held her hostage. Police from all three surrounding towns, sheriffs, highway patrol, and SWAT engaged in a multi hour standoff and a brief exchange of gunfire. I don’t remember how they ended up getting him. It was a huge news story for months then it slowly got quiet. Nobody talks about it but everyone remembers it
Poll Question
How do you feel about reading stories like 'The Incident' from small towns?
Very interested
Somewhat interested
Not interested
It depends on the story
What do you think ?
Jaymi Leigh 2 weeks ago
In my parent’s home town of the Pas, Manitoba, a young Indigenous girl was kidnapped, brutally raped and m******d by a group of h**h school boys. My dad was friends with one of them. The whole town knew they did it but they never got caught until 16 years later. One cop in town never gave up and kept harassing the boys until one of them confessed. There is a book and a movie about it, it’s called Conspiracy of Silence. So sad.
Caryn C Crespo 2 weeks ago
"a group of h**h school boys". oh, but r***d is ok. bored panda, do better, and start by getting rid of this stupid censoring
Gwyn 2 weeks ago
Seriously Bored Panda? Can we just use the real words already? Everyone knows what it means. Stop using these stupid filler words.
Jaymi Leigh 2 weeks ago
There was a man in my hometown that k****d his family, cut them up, and hid them under the floor and in the walls of his house. His name was Robert Raymond Cook, he was the last man to be hung in Canada.
TheElementalGod️️ (He/him) 2 weeks ago
BP, STOP CENSORING THIS STUFF. It's disrespectful to the victims and their families, it makes this confusing as h**l, and it serves no real purpose.
TheElementalGod️️ (He/him) 2 weeks ago
BP censored my comment too. For those (like me) who can't decipher this stuff, it's H E L L
Nice Beast Ludo 2 weeks ago
There's a mountain im VA where every single person living there got some form of cancer
Lame Llama 2 weeks ago
I didn't realised that this is what they meant when they said that USA is the land of opportunities.
Robert Beveridge 2 weeks ago
Not exactly swept under the rug, but my daughter grew up in Bay Village, OH, home of the Sam Sheppard m****r case.
Hidalgo 2 weeks ago
In the US we always hear about violent crime in the big cities. In truth though, the violent crime rate in towns and small cities is much higher per the fbi. In fact you’re a lot safer in North Philadelphia than in places like Anderson, SC or Decatur, AL. And don’t get me started on corruption
Caffeine72 2 weeks ago
My painting professor in college was from small-town Indiana and told us one day that the sheriff in her county was a known serial rapist that everyone just stayed quiet about. That's why she moved to Los Angeles.
Jaymi Leigh 2 weeks ago
In my parent’s home town of the Pas, Manitoba, a young Indigenous girl was kidnapped, brutally raped and m******d by a group of h**h school boys. My dad was friends with one of them. The whole town knew they did it but they never got caught until 16 years later. One cop in town never gave up and kept harassing the boys until one of them confessed. There is a book and a movie about it, it’s called Conspiracy of Silence. So sad.
Caryn C Crespo 2 weeks ago
"a group of h**h school boys". oh, but r***d is ok. bored panda, do better, and start by getting rid of this stupid censoring
Gwyn 2 weeks ago
Seriously Bored Panda? Can we just use the real words already? Everyone knows what it means. Stop using these stupid filler words.
Jaymi Leigh 2 weeks ago
There was a man in my hometown that k****d his family, cut them up, and hid them under the floor and in the walls of his house. His name was Robert Raymond Cook, he was the last man to be hung in Canada.
TheElementalGod️️ (He/him) 2 weeks ago
BP, STOP CENSORING THIS STUFF. It's disrespectful to the victims and their families, it makes this confusing as h**l, and it serves no real purpose.
TheElementalGod️️ (He/him) 2 weeks ago
BP censored my comment too. For those (like me) who can't decipher this stuff, it's H E L L
Nice Beast Ludo 2 weeks ago
There's a mountain im VA where every single person living there got some form of cancer
Lame Llama 2 weeks ago
I didn't realised that this is what they meant when they said that USA is the land of opportunities.
Robert Beveridge 2 weeks ago
Not exactly swept under the rug, but my daughter grew up in Bay Village, OH, home of the Sam Sheppard m****r case.
Hidalgo 2 weeks ago
In the US we always hear about violent crime in the big cities. In truth though, the violent crime rate in towns and small cities is much higher per the fbi. In fact you’re a lot safer in North Philadelphia than in places like Anderson, SC or Decatur, AL. And don’t get me started on corruption
Caffeine72 2 weeks ago
My painting professor in college was from small-town Indiana and told us one day that the sheriff in her county was a known serial rapist that everyone just stayed quiet about. That's why she moved to Los Angeles.
You May Like 45 Disturbing Photos That Look Normal Until You Find Out What’s Really Going On “Now Unrecognizable”: 30 People Share What Happened To The Prettiest Girl From Their HS “He’s Blind Now”: 30 Times People Played With Fire And Got Burned
Eglė Bliabaitė
Mantas Kačerauskas
Gabija Palšytė
Related on Bored Panda
