# 2 Hours of Unsolved Cold Cases You Need To Know | True Crime Compilation | 186

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 3 Mar 2026, 1 h 48 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO7642597310.mp3

Join me for a true crime marathon, and don't forget to hit that follow but and turn on notifications. Episode 186 of the true crime podcast btw. 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡History Video Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/7km5pLWpYWEj1mrPpEfRUr?si=0FHYnZf-Qs2FY1GyLevfig ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472 unsolved mysteries, true crime, cold cases, unsolved mysteries, missing persons, murder investigation, forensic evidence, serial killers, crime scene analysis, dark history, criminal psychology, real life horror, police investigations, DNA breakthroughs, forensic genealogy, crime documentaries, criminal profiling, mysterious disappearances, solved cases, justice system, law enforcement stories, cold case files, creepy mysteries, true crime storytelling, crime reconstruction, chilling cases, investigative reporting, modern forensics, victim advocacy, unidentified remains, crime scene forensics, disturbing cases, true crime analysis, hidden clues, infamous crimes, real crime stories, forensic evidence

## Transcript

[0:01] In 1990, a routine fishing trip turned into a chilling maritime
[0:05] mystery. The small boat Casey Nicole
[0:08] vanished at sea, leaving one man clinging to a raft and three
[0:12] others missing. What followed was a desperate
[0:16] survival tale and a series of bizarre phone calls that
[0:19] continue to haunt the case. On April 12th, 1994, commercial
[0:25] fishermen set sail from the docks of Richmond Hill, GA on a
[0:28] week long expedition aboard the KC Nicole.
[0:32] The 34 foot snapper boat had just come out of five weeks in
[0:35] dry dock for maintenance and was presumed to be in good shape.
[0:40] The crew consisted of 23 year old Captain Billy Joe Nesmith,
[0:44] his brother Nathan, 32, their nephew Keith Wilkes 18 and
[0:51] friend Franklin Brantley, 23. Their plan was to motor about 90
[0:56] miles out to a fishing spot near Tiger's Ledge off the South
[0:59] Carolina coast hoping for a big catch.
[1:03] For the first day the trip was uneventful, but in the pre dawn
[1:07] hours of April 13th, as the Casey Nicole cruised in
[1:11] darkness, Nathan noticed the boat was struggling against the
[1:14] waves. Nathan woke Billy Joe, the
[1:19] captain, and they discovered the vessel was taking on water.
[1:23] About a foot of it had flooded the engine room.
[1:26] The electric bilge pumps refused to work so the men woke the
[1:29] others and formed a bucket brigade to bail out the rising
[1:32] seawater. Nathan got off a mayday call on
[1:36] the radio but no help answered in time.
[1:40] Within minutes, the engine died and the lights went out as
[1:43] seawater shorted the boat's power.
[1:47] With the Casey Nicole slowly sinking and no rescue insight,
[1:52] the crew had no choice but to abandon ship.
[1:56] The four men piled into the boat's small inflatable life
[1:59] raft. To their dismay, the raft was
[2:02] rotted and leaky, and it even had a gaping hole that caused it
[2:06] to deflate. By dawn, their feet were in the
[2:10] cold Atlantic as the raft sank beneath them.
[2:14] Fortunately, one of the boat's large hatch covers, lined with
[2:18] foam, broke loose and floated by.
[2:22] The crew grabbed onto this makeshift flotation device.
[2:26] Even with the Hatch cover, however, it was barely enough to
[2:30] keep them all above water. Space and buoyancy were limited.
[2:36] One crew member was immobilized by severe leg cramps and another
[2:40] didn't know how to swim, so they had to remain clinging on top of
[2:43] the Hatch cover. Nathan, the largest of the group
[2:47] at about £250, found that if he tried to pull himself fully onto
[2:52] the debris, it would sink under their combined weight.
[2:56] Realizing the raft couldn't support four people, Nathan made
[3:00] a fateful decision. He told the others he would try
[3:03] to swim back to the partially submerged Casey Nicole and get
[3:07] help or supplies. The others shouted for him not
[3:11] to go. Standard survival wisdom is to
[3:13] stay together, but Nathan felt he had no other option.
[3:18] Nathan struck out alone across the waves, determined to reach
[3:22] the capsized boats hull visible a few miles away.
[3:26] After an arduous swim that took most of the day, he finally
[3:30] reached the Casey Nicole's overturned hull by nightfall.
[3:35] Exhausted, he hoisted himself on to the slippery stern and clung
[3:39] there through the night. By morning, his three crewmates
[3:43] and their hatch cover raft were nowhere.
[3:45] Insight As the sun rose on Nathan's second day adrift, a
[3:51] huge freighter appeared on the horizon, not far from where he
[3:54] had last seen the others. From his vantage point, Nathan
[3:58] watched the freighter slow and make an odd series of stops near
[4:02] that area. He even saw puffs of smoke from
[4:05] the ship's engines, as if it was hauling something aboard.
[4:10] He dared to hope the cargo ship might be rescuing his stranded
[4:13] brother and friends. A few hours later, the freighter
[4:18] continued on its way and disappeared, leaving Nathan
[4:21] alone once more. With only that hopeful
[4:24] possibility, Nathan survived 2 more days on the open ocean.
[4:30] In a stroke of luck, a large Styrofoam line bait box popped
[4:34] up to the surface. Nathan climbed into this
[4:38] improvised lifeboat and floated, praying for rescue.
[4:41] He battled thirst, hunger and delirium, at times imagining he
[4:46] heard voices on the wind calling his name.
[4:49] Finally, after four days lost at sea, Nathan was spotted and
[4:54] picked up by a passing boat about 20 miles off the Georgia
[4:57] coast. He was sunburned and barely
[5:00] conscious, but alive. The Casey Nicole's wreck was
[5:05] found later that day, capsized and empty.
[5:08] He was literally hours away from disaster.
[5:11] Of his three crew mates, however, there was no trace.
[5:15] Despite an intensive search by the Coast Guard covering
[5:18] thousands of square miles, Billy Joe, Keith and Franklin were
[5:23] never found. In the months after the sinking,
[5:27] the families of the missing men refused to give up hope.
[5:31] Then, about six months later, in October 1990, they received a
[5:36] bizarre sign. On the same day, both the
[5:40] Naismith family and boat owner Doug Tyson got mysterious phone
[5:44] calls from a man speaking Spanish.
[5:47] The caller knew their unlisted numbers and would only say the
[5:51] family's name and phone number in broken English, as if
[5:54] confirming he had the right person.
[5:57] He didn't ask for anything or explain himself.
[6:01] Over the next few months, more cryptic calls came, a total of
[6:05] five to the Nesmiths and three to the Tysons.
[6:09] In the final call on March 6th, 1991, the stranger briefly spoke
[6:15] in English to deliver 1 haunting message.
[6:18] He said he was quote bringing them home.
[6:21] Then the line cut off. After that, the call stopped
[6:25] forever with no explanation. These unexplained calls fueled
[6:32] the family's belief that the three missing fishermen might
[6:35] still be alive somewhere. The Nesmiths theorized that the
[6:40] freighter Nathan saw did indeed rescue Billy Joe, Keith, and
[6:43] Franklin, only to take them captive for reasons unknown.
[6:48] Perhaps the crew of that ship intended to ransom them or
[6:52] otherwise keep them hidden, and one sympathetic crew member
[6:55] risked calling with clues. The Spanish speaking caller and
[6:59] talk of bringing them home led to speculation that the men
[7:03] could have been taken to a foreign country like Cuba.
[7:07] The families pursued leads in Latin America for years, but no
[7:10] concrete evidence ever surfaced. To this day, the fate of the
[7:16] Casey Nicole's crew remains unsolved.
[7:20] In the absence of hard evidence, a number of theories have
[7:24] circulated. The simplest explanation is that
[7:27] the three men succumbed to the elements at sea and that
[7:30] Nathan's account of the freighter was either mistaken or
[7:34] a hallucination born of exhaustion.
[7:37] In fact, Nathan admitted to hallucinating due to a
[7:40] combination of lack of sleep and water, as well as the extreme
[7:44] stress of the situation. Indeed, authorities leaned
[7:48] toward the conclusion that the men were lost at sea in 1990.
[7:53] However, the complete lack of debris or bodies, despite the
[7:57] massive search, leaves room for doubt.
[8:02] Others find the freighter scenario compelling.
[8:05] Some suspect the crew might have been picked up by a ship
[8:07] involved in illicit activity. The mysterious phone calls
[8:11] support the idea of the men being held in a Spanish speaking
[8:15] region or by Spanish speaking captors.
[8:19] Boosters of this theory claim that the calls ending after the
[8:22] bringing them home message suggests the caller may have
[8:25] been discovered and silenced. The authorities even questioned
[8:29] Nathan's story, given that he was the only survivor, though
[8:34] they quickly ruled him out as a suspect and his narrative has
[8:37] stayed consistent. Notably, if this case sounds
[8:41] familiar, the story of the Casey Nicole was featured on an
[8:45] episode of Unsolved Mysteries that originally aired in 1992.
[8:51] Despite the 10s of millions of eyes this brought to the tragedy
[8:54] and the odd phone calls, no new leads emerged from this effort.
[9:02] For Karen and Michael Laspizza, the morning of August 30th, 2013
[9:08] began with a knock at the door and devastating news.
[9:12] Instead of welcoming their 19 year old son Bryce home from
[9:16] college, they faced a California Highway Patrol officer who
[9:20] informed them that Bryce's SUV had been found crashed.
[9:25] It was near Castaic Lake with his phone, laptop and wallet
[9:28] inside, but there was no sign of Bryce himself.
[9:33] Bryce was a sophomore at Sierra College in Northern California.
[9:37] In the two weeks before his disappearance, those close to
[9:41] him noticed alarming changes in his behavior.
[9:44] Normally outgoing and friendly, he became withdrawn, erratic and
[9:49] depressed. Bryce's roommate, Sean Dixon,
[9:53] observed that Bryce had started drinking heavily and taking the
[9:57] stimulant medication Vivance without a prescription.
[10:00] He even gave away some of his prized possessions, including
[10:04] his Xbox console and a pair of sentimental diamond earrings.
[10:09] These uncharacteristic actions set off massive alarm bells
[10:12] among his friends and family. On August 27th, 2013, Bryce's
[10:19] behavior took another strange turn.
[10:22] He abruptly broke up with his longtime girlfriend Kim Sly,
[10:26] telling her she would be better off without him.
[10:29] That same day, he sent an emotional text to Sean, thanking
[10:33] him for being a great friend and implying that Sean had saved his
[10:37] soul. This dramatic farewell like
[10:40] message was entirely out of character and left his friends
[10:44] concerned. Despite these red flags, Bryce
[10:48] insisted he was fine and planned to drive home to his parents.
[10:53] On the night of August 28th, he visited Kim at her apartment in
[10:57] Chico one last time. Kim grew so worried about
[11:01] Bryce's state that she took away his car keys to stop him from
[11:05] driving. Bryce called his mother for
[11:09] help. Karen offered to fly up to
[11:11] Northern California the next day if Bryce needed support.
[11:15] He told her not to worry and said he had quote a lot to talk
[11:19] about with her, but that he would do it later and not over
[11:22] the phone. Relieved that Bryce seemed calm,
[11:26] Karen then instructed Kim to return Bryce's keys, a decision
[11:30] that would prove fateful. Around 11:30 PM, Bryce left
[11:35] Kim's apartment and began the long drive South toward his
[11:38] family's home in Laguna Niguel. By the morning of August 29th,
[11:44] Bryce had barely made any progress toward home.
[11:47] At 11:00 that morning, his parents learned that he had used
[11:51] their roadside assistance service after running out of gas
[11:54] near a town called Buttonwillow. This was roughly halfway between
[11:58] Chico and Laguna Niguel. A mechanic named Christian
[12:02] delivered fuel to Bryce's stranded Toyota Highlander.
[12:06] Before he got the assistance call, he had noticed that Bryce
[12:09] had been sitting in the same spot for several hours without
[12:12] moving on. Even then, Bryce didn't arrive
[12:17] as expected. As evening fell with no sign of
[12:20] their son, the family filed a missing person report.
[12:25] Police tracked Bryce's cell phone signal and discovered he
[12:28] was still in the Buttonwillow area.
[12:30] Late that night, officers found Bryce in his car by the
[12:34] roadside, not far from where he had gotten gas.
[12:38] He was awake and showed no signs of intoxication.
[12:41] When asked why he was still there, Bryce said he was just
[12:45] taking some time after some heavy personal events.
[12:49] Since he seemed fine and was doing nothing illegal, the
[12:52] officers let him go after he promised to head straight home
[12:55] and call his parents. Around 10 that evening, Bryce
[12:59] finally resumed his journey S on Interstate 5.
[13:05] A few hours later, in the early morning darkness of August 30th,
[13:09] Bryce made one final phone call AT2O8.
[13:12] He spoke to his mom and said he was too tired to continue
[13:15] driving and would pull off to sleep in his car for a while.
[13:19] That was the last time anyone heard from him.
[13:22] Surveillance footage later showed that instead of stopping
[13:25] to rest, Bryce's SUV exited I5 near Castaic Lake at around
[13:30] 2:15. Another camera sighting around
[13:34] 4:30 suggested he was still in that area more than two hours
[13:37] later. What happened over the next
[13:40] couple of hours remains unknown. Sometime before dawn, California
[13:45] Highway Patrol officers found Bryce's Toyota Highlander
[13:49] crashed down a 15 foot embankment off an Access Rd. by
[13:53] the lake. The SUV was on its side with a
[13:56] shattered back window. Inside the wreck, officers found
[13:59] Bryce's phone, laptop, wallet and clothes, but no Bryce.
[14:05] There was no blood or any sign of injury at the scene.
[14:09] It appeared Bryce had escaped the crash unharmed and then
[14:12] disappeared into the night. The discovery of Bryce's
[14:17] abandoned car prompted an extensive search around Castaic
[14:20] Lake. Divers scoured the lake but
[14:23] found no trace of him on land. Bloodhounds picked up Bryce's
[14:28] scent and followed it from the crash site to a truck stop on
[14:31] the other side of the dam where the trail abruptly ended.
[14:36] This suggested that Bryce left the area on foot and possibly
[14:39] caught a ride from that truck stop, essentially vanishing
[14:43] without a trace. Days later, on September 4th,
[14:48] firefighters responding to a brush fire near Castaic Lake
[14:52] discovered a burned body close to where Bryce's vehicle had
[14:55] been found, raising fears that it was him.
[14:59] However, the coroner confirmed that the body belonged to an
[15:03] unrelated individual and not to Bryce.
[15:07] Despite exhaustive searches by authorities and volunteers, to
[15:11] this day, no sign of Bryce Las Pisa has ever been found.
[15:16] Over the years, numerous theories have been proposed to
[15:19] explain Bryce's baffling disappearance.
[15:22] One possibility is that Bryce intended to end himself.
[15:26] His erratic behavior, sudden breakup, and cryptic goodbyes
[15:31] could indicate this intent. Yet the complete lack of a body
[15:35] makes this theory inconclusive, especially since he was on foot.
[15:39] And there's also the matter of the Bloodhound evidence.
[15:45] Another theory is that Bryce survived the crash but suffered
[15:49] a head injury or psychological break that left him disoriented.
[15:55] In that state, he might have wandered away and succumbed to
[15:58] the elements or gotten lost. Still, if he had stayed nearby,
[16:04] search teams likely would have found him.
[16:07] The fact that bloodhounds tracked his scent to a truck
[16:10] stop suggests an alternate scenario.
[16:13] Bryce may have intentionally walked away to start a new life.
[16:17] If he caught a ride from that truck stop, he could be
[16:20] anywhere, potentially living under a different identity.
[16:25] His decision to leave behind his phone and wallet might indicate
[16:28] he didn't want to be tracked, or it could simply mean he wasn't
[16:32] thinking clearly. Personally, though, I have to
[16:36] speculate that he may have met with foul play at that truck
[16:39] stop. He may have gotten in the wrong
[16:42] truck and met up with a driver who had some pretty serious ill
[16:46] intentions. But The thing is, this
[16:48] hypothesis doesn't require the initial driver who picked him up
[16:52] to have been a bad guy. That driver could have simply
[16:55] taken him to a different truck stop far away where he may have
[16:58] run into trouble. This is made doubly more
[17:02] difficult because he could have run into numerous Good Samaritan
[17:06] drivers in multiple states before running into a predator.
[17:12] More than a decade has passed since Bryce vanished and his
[17:15] fate is still a complete mystery given the lack of evidence.
[17:19] As it currently stands, his parents continue to hold on to
[17:23] hope that Bryce may still be out there somewhere.
[17:30] It was a festive December night in 1986 and the crew of a
[17:33] British ship packed the lively bars of Gibraltar while on shore
[17:37] leave. Among them was 18 year old Simon
[17:40] Parks, a radio operator from Bristol.
[17:44] By the next morning, Simon had vanished without a trace and
[17:47] never returned to his ship. His mysterious disappearance
[17:51] that night sparked A decades long international search for
[17:54] answers. Parks was serving aboard the
[17:59] aircraft carrier Illustrious, which docked in Gibraltar on
[18:02] December 12th, 1986. They visited the Horseshoe Bar
[18:06] on Main Street and around midnight Parks told friends he
[18:10] was going to get some food before heading back.
[18:13] One witness later claimed to have seen someone matching
[18:16] Parks's description at another pub not long after appearing
[18:20] unsteady on his feet. Beyond that possible sighting,
[18:24] there were no further clues and he never returned to the ship.
[18:29] When Illustrious sailed home without him a few days later, a
[18:32] massive search by military and local police had failed to find
[18:36] any trace of the missing sailor. Authorities initially treated
[18:40] Simon's disappearance as a possible AWOL case rather than a
[18:44] presumed death. However, evidence soon showed
[18:48] Simon hadn't planned to vanish. He left all his personal
[18:52] belongings behind on the ship, including his passport and
[18:56] Christmas gifts he had bought. He had told his family he'd be
[19:00] home for the holidays and even arranged for his parents to
[19:03] greet Illustrious when it returned to port.
[19:07] These facts made it clear his disappearance was not voluntary.
[19:11] Despite A-250 man search around the area where he was last seen,
[19:16] no clues turned up. With no leads to follow, the
[19:20] trail grew cold as weeks turned into years.
[19:24] For over 15 years, Simon Parks's fate remained a mystery.
[19:29] Then, in 2001, a disturbing lead emerged.
[19:34] Former Royal Navy Petty Officer Alan Grimson was convicted of
[19:37] slaying two young men. Investigators noted in eerie
[19:42] detail both of Grimson's known victims had been killed on
[19:46] December 12th, the same date that Simon had vanished.
[19:50] Grimson had served on Illustrious and was in Gibraltar
[19:53] with Parks back in 1986. This coincidence elevated him to
[19:58] a prime suspect in Simon's case. Some authorities even speculated
[20:03] that given Grimson's December 12th pattern, he might have had
[20:08] other unidentified victims. Reports later surfaced that
[20:12] witnesses placed Grimson and Parks together on the night of
[20:15] the disappearance, intensifying suspicions.
[20:21] With Grimson in mind as a suspect, British authorities
[20:24] renewed the search for Simon in the early 2000s.
[20:28] In 2003, Hampshire police investigators travelled to
[20:32] Gibraltar and conducted fresh searches for any trace of parks.
[20:37] Forensic teams with cadaver dogs scoured multiple sites, even
[20:42] checking sewers for hidden remains.
[20:45] Despite this extensive effort, nothing was found to shed light
[20:49] on Simon's fate. This flurry of intense interest
[20:52] in the case rapidly cooled in light of the lack of any
[20:55] additional findings. In late 2019, a former ship made
[21:02] of parks provided information suggesting Simon's body might be
[21:05] in Trafalgar Cemetery. This is a graveyard in central
[21:09] Gibraltar, not far from the pub where he was last seen.
[21:14] Police spent a week excavating the cemetery grounds in search
[21:17] of evidence. They did uncover some bone
[21:20] fragments in an unusual spot, but after forensic analysis
[21:25] these proved to be non human remains.
[21:28] Once again the trail went cold. Further searches were conducted
[21:33] in the following years. In 2020, authorities explored
[21:37] additional sites in Gibraltar based on ongoing inquiries but
[21:42] found nothing of significance. Then in August 2023, acting on
[21:47] another tip, police excavated part of a parking lot for four
[21:52] days. Teams dug up concrete and even
[21:55] inspected old water tanks beneath the site.
[21:59] As with previous efforts, this operation ended in
[22:02] disappointment. No trace of Simon was found.
[22:06] With that, investigators were left without answers yet again.
[22:13] Through all these twists and turns, Simon Parks's family has
[22:16] endured a long wait for answers. In late 2025, nearly 40 years
[22:21] after Simon vanished, police officially announced that they
[22:25] had exhausted all reasonable lines of inquiry.
[22:28] As of now, the case has been effectively closed unless new
[22:32] information comes to light. There's a silent high end hotel
[22:40] room in the heart of Bangkok where the only movement is the
[22:43] slow rotation of a ceiling fan. A world famous martial arts icon
[22:48] and actor is found in the dark shadows of a closet.
[22:52] He's bound in a way that defies simple explanation and shatters
[22:56] the peaceful persona he spent a lifetime cultivating.
[23:00] David Carradine's departure from this world on June 4th, 2009 was
[23:05] a morbid puzzle that pitted international forensic experts
[23:09] against local police. He was 72 years old and
[23:12] experiencing a major career resurgence when he was
[23:15] discovered by a cleaner that fateful day.
[23:19] David Carradine was the cornerstone of a massive
[23:22] Hollywood acting dynasty. The eldest son of the legendary
[23:26] John Carradine, his path was almost predestined, though he
[23:30] fought to establish his own identity, even changing his name
[23:34] from John Carradine Junior to David.
[23:38] While he appeared in over 200 roles, he was forever cemented
[23:42] in the public consciousness as Kwai Chang Kane from the series
[23:46] Kung Fu. Ironically, he had no martial
[23:50] arts experience when he started that role, yet he became a
[23:53] global symbol of Eastern wisdom and disciplined strength later
[23:58] in life. Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill
[24:01] series gave him a second act as a formidable villain, proving
[24:05] his talent hadn't faded with age.
[24:08] And personally, this is where I know him from.
[24:12] Having never seen anything from any of the iterations of the
[24:15] Kung Fu series, the actor arrived in Thailand in late May
[24:21] 2009 to work on a sports film titled Stretch.
[24:25] By all accounts, he was in high spirits, frequently serenading
[24:29] guests and staff on the hotel's grand piano in the days leading
[24:33] up to his death. He'd even made a reservation for
[24:37] a group dinner on the very night he'd eventually be found.
[24:41] However, when he didn't show up for a meal with the film crew on
[24:44] Wednesday, concern began to mount.
[24:49] The following morning, a maid entered Suite 352 and found him
[24:53] in a sitting position inside a closet.
[24:55] He was naked, wearing a black wig and a gag, with ropes tied
[25:00] around his neck and other body parts.
[25:03] His hands were tied above his head, fastened to the clothing
[25:07] rack. Initial reports from the Thai
[25:09] authorities suggested he'd made a conscious choice to end his
[25:12] own life. This theory was quickly
[25:15] challenged by his family and manager, who insisted he was far
[25:19] too happy and professionally satisfied to take such an
[25:22] action. Further, many publicly
[25:25] questioned why he would have chosen to present himself that
[25:28] way if he knew what he was going to do and that he was going to
[25:32] be found. There was no note and the room
[25:36] showed no signs of a struggle or a break in hallway.
[25:40] Security cameras confirmed that no one else had entered his
[25:43] suite after he returned on Wednesday night, which only deep
[25:47] in the mystery of how such a complex scene came to be.
[25:52] Because of the conflicting accounts, the family hired famed
[25:55] forensic pathologist Doctor Michael Batten to conduct a
[25:59] second autopsy once the body reached Los Angeles.
[26:03] Batten's findings were pivotal. He identified the cause of death
[26:07] as asphyxiation or an inability to breathe, but he specifically
[26:13] dismissed the possibility of a self-inflicted end.
[26:17] He noted that the nature of the ligatures around the body made
[26:21] it extremely unlikely that this was an intentional act.
[26:26] Instead, the evidence pointed toward a tragic accident.
[26:31] The physical mechanics of the event suggested that the
[26:34] pressure on the respiratory system wasn't applied by a
[26:37] traditional drop, but through a gradual restriction of oxygen.
[26:42] Thai forensic experts, including the country's top criminalist,
[26:47] suggested that the scene was consistent with a dangerous form
[26:50] of activity. This practice involves
[26:53] temporarily cutting off oxygen, a gamble that can quickly turn
[26:57] fatal if the practitioner loses consciousness and can't release
[27:01] the pressure. The complex system of ropes
[27:05] found on his body, including those from the hotel curtains,
[27:09] pointed toward a practiced but ultimately disastrous ritual.
[27:15] Despite the forensic leanings toward an accident, several more
[27:19] sinister theories emerged. The family's attorney, Mark
[27:23] Geragos, publicly speculated that his client might have been
[27:27] slain by a secret society. This theory claimed that his
[27:32] deep interest in investigating and disclosing the activities of
[27:35] secret martial arts organizations had put him in the
[27:39] crosshairs of dangerous groups. Supporters of this idea noted
[27:43] that his hands were tied in a way that seemed difficult for a
[27:47] 72 year old man to manage alone. However, investigators countered
[27:52] that there were no signs of another person's presence in the
[27:55] room, nor was there any evidence of a shadowy network of martial
[27:59] artists. Another, more grounded theory
[28:04] suggested that while he wasn't targeted by assassins, he might
[28:09] not have been alone during the act.
[28:12] Some argued that a companion might have been present to
[28:14] assist with the restraints, but panicked when he stopped
[28:17] breathing and fled the hotel to avoid a scandal.
[28:21] However, official reports from the Royal Thai Police maintained
[28:25] that the room was secure and that the actor was the only one
[28:29] involved. Adding weight to the accidental
[28:34] theory were the statements from his former wives.
[28:37] His fourth wife, Marina Anderson, had stated years
[28:40] before in divorce documents that he practiced potentially deadly
[28:44] behaviors. Another ex-wife, GAIL Jensen,
[28:48] mentioned his fascination with ropes, though she described it
[28:52] more as a form of intense meditation.
[28:55] These insights into his private world provided A context that
[28:58] the public hadn't seen, suggesting that the scene in
[29:02] Bangkok was the tragic final iteration of a lifelong secret.
[29:08] The family sought FBI assistance because they were dissatisfied
[29:11] with the transparency of the Thai investigation and the
[29:15] leaking of sensitive crime scene photos to local tabloids.
[29:19] While the FBI observed the process, they didn't have the
[29:23] jurisdiction to take over the case.
[29:26] The Thai authorities eventually closed the case as an accidental
[29:29] death of finding that Doctor Baden's independent autopsy
[29:34] supported in terms of the medical cause.
[29:40] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here with a quick reminder to like
[29:43] and share this video if you're enjoying it and to hit the
[29:47] notification bell. Also, don't forget to check out
[29:50] the Patreon or the YouTube membership to take your support
[29:54] for my channel to the next level.
[30:00] Imagine standing on a dusty platform in Pretoria during June
[30:03] 1900 while the distant thud of British artillery rattles your
[30:07] teeth and coal smoke from a locomotive chokes the air.
[30:11] You watch as frantic officials heave heavy wooden crates into a
[30:15] baggage car, knowing it's the last chance to save the
[30:18] lifeblood of a dying nation from the greatest empire on earth.
[30:23] Those boxes were reportedly filled with gold bars, raw
[30:27] bullion and thousands of coins. As that train pulled away into
[30:32] the sunset, it carried a secret that would spark a century of
[30:36] obsession and high stakes detective work across the globe.
[30:41] To understand why this legend refuses to die, we've got to
[30:45] look at the ground beneath the boar's feet.
[30:48] In 1886, everything changed for the South African Republic when
[30:53] gold was found at Langlot. This massive discovery turned a
[30:57] struggling farming community into the world's gold capital
[31:00] almost overnight, attracting thousands of desperate seekers.
[31:06] This wealth brought thousands of foreigners called the Ootlanders
[31:10] by the Afrikaners, who the Boers saw as a threat to their
[31:13] sovereignty and traditional agrarian lifestyle.
[31:17] The British Empire needed gold to back its global currency,
[31:21] leading to tensions that exploded into the Second Boer
[31:24] War in 1899. President Paul Kruger
[31:30] established a national mint in 1892 that eventually processed a
[31:35] vast quantity of the entire world's gold.
[31:39] As the clouds of conflict gathered, the government took
[31:42] several preventative measures by banning gold exports and
[31:45] commandeering coins from private banks to build a substantial war
[31:49] chest. By May 1900, British forces were
[31:54] at the gates of Pretoria and the situation became dire for the
[31:58] republic's leadership. Kruger left the capital by train
[32:03] on May 29th, but the Gold stayed behind for a final, frantic
[32:07] evacuation. On June 4th, just hours before
[32:12] the city fell to the advancing troops, Attorney General Yan
[32:15] Smuts arrived at the Mint to empty the vaults.
[32:20] It's hard to overstate how chaotic those final hours were
[32:23] for the Republic's leaders and the bank officials involved.
[32:27] Witnesses described seeing wagons filled with wooden boxes
[32:30] being rushed from the mint to the train station, while British
[32:34] cannons echoed nearby. Smuts met with the head of the
[32:38] mint, Jules Perrin, and the National Bank manager to ensure
[32:43] every bit of gold was weighed and recorded before it was sent
[32:46] away. That last train steamed out that
[32:49] afternoon on the Dellagoa Bay Railway, which was the only line
[32:53] still under bore control when the British occupied Pretoria
[32:58] the next day. Lord Alfred Milner's audit found
[33:01] over £1.5 million missing from the National Treasury.
[33:06] To put this in context, in present day value this was over
[33:10] $100 billion worth of gold. That missing wealth is the
[33:16] foundation of the legend of the Kruger millions fueling
[33:19] countless expeditions into the wilderness.
[33:23] The British were convinced the boars had hidden a massive stash
[33:26] in the rugged interior of the country to fund future
[33:29] resistance. As the conflict shifted into a
[33:33] brutal guerrilla phase, the bore commandos desperately needed
[33:36] money for supplies and international weapons purchases.
[33:41] The most popular theory is that the treasure was buried in the
[33:44] Low Veld, specifically near the Blyde River Canyon.
[33:49] The legend says a select group of soldiers buried the gold in a
[33:52] secret location but didn't survive the conflict to reveal
[33:56] the spot. One dark account comes from a
[33:59] man named John Holtzhausen, who made a startling confession in
[34:03] 19 O 5. While in prison, he claimed he
[34:06] was hired to bury gold and diamonds worth £2,000,000.
[34:10] During the retreat, he told a story of stumbling across a
[34:14] skeleton with gold bars, which led to a betrayal in the Bush.
[34:20] Holtzhausen's companion, Philip Schwartz, allegedly slew his
[34:24] partners to keep the location a secret for himself.
[34:28] Schwartz was eventually executed for another crime, taking the
[34:32] treasure's location to his grave and ending the official search.
[34:38] While the buried treasure stories get the headlines,
[34:41] there's a more grounded theory that the millions were moved to
[34:44] Europe by Villem Lydes. Lydes was Kruger's diplomat and
[34:50] managed the Republic's financial assets in several European
[34:53] courts. In May 1900, a ship left for the
[34:58] Netherlands carrying over 13,000 lbs of gold from southern
[35:03] Africa. While this is far from the £1.5
[35:06] million that were missing from the Treasury, it suggests an
[35:10] organized movement of this gold wealth out of the nation.
[35:15] Some scholars have proposed that this was just one of many such
[35:18] ships that transferred gold to Europe upon arrival.
[35:22] According to the theory, the Boer gold was transferred to
[35:26] Switzerland, where the wealth was subsequently plundered by
[35:30] government officials. This version suggests the money
[35:33] wasn't lost to the earth, but laundered through the emerging
[35:37] global financial system for personal gain.
[35:42] The mystery took a wild turn in 2021 when a collection of over
[35:46] 900 gold coins was found in a Swiss vault.
[35:49] These coins were produced between 1893 and 1900 and were
[35:54] stored in the Netherlands before being moved to Switzerland
[35:57] sometime in the 1930's. The South African Mint
[36:01] eventually bought the collection at auction and brought the coins
[36:05] home to sell to local collectors.
[36:08] While these coins haven't been officially tied to the Kruger
[36:11] Millions mystery, it lines up with the theory that the gold
[36:14] was brought to Europe and hidden away.
[36:18] In the end, it remains unclear whether there's truly a missing
[36:22] horde of gold somewhere in South Africa or hidden in a Swiss
[36:25] vault, or whether the majority of the wealth was used to fund
[36:28] the war. On a cold December afternoon in
[36:36] 1990, two 23 year old Steven Clark walked into a public
[36:41] washroom by the seaside and was never seen again.
[36:46] The quaint coastal village of Marsk by the sea in northern
[36:49] England would become the center of a decades long mystery after
[36:53] Stephen vanished without a trace.
[36:56] What began as a routine holiday walk with his mother turned into
[37:00] one of the UK's most perplexing missing person cases.
[37:05] Over 30 years later, Stephen's fate remains unknown, leaving
[37:09] his family and an entire community desperate for answers.
[37:16] Stephen Clark was born in 1969 and grew up in a loving family
[37:20] alongside his parents, Doris and Charles, and a younger sister,
[37:24] Victoria. As a child, he survived a
[37:27] terrible accident where he was struck by a vehicle, an event
[37:31] that left him with serious injuries to his left arm and
[37:33] leg. The damage was permanent.
[37:37] Stephens left arm was largely unusable, and he walked with a
[37:41] pronounced limp for the rest of his life.
[37:44] Despite the challenges stemming from his childhood injuries,
[37:48] Steven was determined to build an independent life in his late
[37:52] teens. His family had spent several
[37:54] years in South Africa before returning to England in 1990,
[37:59] eventually settling in Marsk by the Sea.
[38:04] Eager to improve his prospects, he enrolled in a training
[38:07] program with an organization supporting people with
[38:10] disabilities and developing job skills.
[38:14] During this time, Stephen also began dating a young woman he
[38:17] met through the program. He grew close enough to be
[38:20] invited to her home to meet her parents, a sign that the
[38:24] relationship was becoming meaningful.
[38:27] By the winter of 1992, it seemed that Stephen was on the verge of
[38:32] big things in both his personal and professional life.
[38:37] As Christmas came and went that year, none of his loved ones
[38:40] could have imagined that Stephen's promising life was
[38:43] about to take a tragic turn. The incident occurred on Monday,
[38:49] December 28th, 1992, just after Christmas.
[38:54] Stephen and his mother Doris decided to take an afternoon
[38:57] walk along the beach from their village of Marsk to the nearby
[39:02] town of Saltburn by the sea. The seaside promenade was a
[39:06] familiar spot and an easy outing for the 23 year old and his mom.
[39:12] At approximately 3:00 that afternoon, as they strolled near
[39:16] Saltburn's pier, Stephen told his mother he needed to use the
[39:19] washroom. He headed for the public toilet
[39:23] while Doris went into the adjacent ladies facilities.
[39:25] At the same time. That brief moment a mother and
[39:29] son entering separate bathrooms would be the last time Doris
[39:33] ever saw her son. Steven had vanished in a matter
[39:37] of minutes in a busy area with no witnesses whatsoever.
[39:44] Alarmed and confused, Doris searched the immediate area but
[39:47] found no sign of Steven. It was as if he had evaporated
[39:51] into thin air. When he failed to turn up,
[39:54] Stevens family contacted police to report him missing.
[39:58] The initial search for Stephen focused on the coastline and
[40:01] town where he was last seen. Given the proximity to the sea,
[40:06] there was concern he might have had an accident, perhaps fallen
[40:10] from the nearby pier or cliffs, or been caught by the tide.
[40:16] However, extensive searches of the shoreline and surrounding
[40:19] area turned up nothing. No clothing, no clues, and most
[40:25] importantly, no body was ever found.
[40:28] Stephen seemed to have disappeared without a trace,
[40:32] leaving behind countless unanswered questions.
[40:37] Adding to the mystery, it was later noted that Stephen had
[40:40] left some personal items back home that day, including his
[40:44] wallet, watch, and glasses. These are items he would almost
[40:48] certainly need if he planned on going anywhere for long.
[40:53] These possessions, sitting untouched in his bedroom,
[40:56] suggested that he fully expected to return home shortly, a return
[41:00] that never happened for years. The last confirmed sighting of
[41:05] Steven remained that fateful moment at the Saltburn public
[41:08] toilets. His family was left in limbo and
[41:11] Doris and Charles insisted their son was happy and had no reason
[41:16] to run away. The idea that he might have done
[41:19] something or simply left to start a new life didn't square
[41:23] with his personality or circumstances.
[41:27] Steven had been looking forward to things like a potential job
[41:30] opportunity and his budding romance making a voluntary
[41:34] disappearance seem improbable. Still, without any evidence of
[41:39] foul play, police initially treated the case as a missing
[41:42] person inquiry. The trail in Saltburn went cold
[41:47] and as the 1990s progressed, Stevens case languished with no
[41:51] breakthroughs. Then, in 2020, this long dormant
[41:58] case was suddenly thrust back into the spotlight.
[42:02] The cold case unit took a fresh look at the file and uncovered
[42:06] new information that raised disturbing possibilities.
[42:10] In particular, detectives revealed that a potential
[42:13] witness had come forward with a significant new sighting.
[42:17] A woman reported seeing a man she believed to be Steven near
[42:21] the Clark family's home in Marsk on the very day he went missing.
[42:27] She recalled this as being sometime between 3:00 and 4:00
[42:30] that afternoon on December 28th, 1992.
[42:36] And yeah, that's quite a memory on her, recalling the exact time
[42:40] and date she saw someone almost 30 years ago.
[42:43] I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but to
[42:47] spoil what happens next, this is going to be part of the basis
[42:51] for charging the parents, but I'll come to that.
[42:56] If accurate, this sighting meant that Stephen did make it back
[42:59] from Saltburn that afternoon. This would contradict the long
[43:02] held assumption that whatever happened to him occurred at the
[43:05] seaside toilets. Police stated that they found
[43:09] the report credible and now believe Stephen was alive and in
[43:12] the vicinity of his home during that hour on the day he
[43:15] vanished. This revelation shifted the
[43:18] focus of the investigation dramatically and hinted that the
[43:22] original timeline of events might be incomplete.
[43:27] Even more startling was an old clue resurrected from the past.
[43:31] Back in 1999, seven years after Stephen disappeared, an
[43:36] anonymous letter had been mailed to the local police station.
[43:40] The unsigned letter claimed that Stephen Clark was dead and even
[43:44] named a specific person responsible for his death.
[43:48] At the time, officers had logged the letter and discussed its
[43:52] contents with Stevens family, but with no corroborating
[43:56] evidence, the lead went nowhere and faded into obscurity.
[44:01] Now, with the case reopened, detectives made a public appeal
[44:05] in 2020 for the mystery letter writer to come forward.
[44:10] In a surprising turn, the author of the letter did come forward
[44:13] after that appeal and spoke with police as part of the
[44:16] investigation. Authorities haven't disclosed
[44:21] what was learned, but the letter's emergence was one of
[44:24] several factors that convinced investigators something criminal
[44:28] might have happened to Steven. By late 2020, the cold case
[44:32] review had gathered enough evidence and suspicion for the
[44:35] authorities to take drastic action.
[44:38] Citing the total absence of any proof of life for nearly 30
[44:41] years, detectives formally declared that Steven was likely
[44:45] slain. But then things took a very
[44:48] dramatic and unexpected turn. In September 2020, in a
[44:53] bombshell development that made national headlines in the UK,
[44:57] Stevens elderly parents Doris and Charles Clark were arrested
[45:01] for the crime. The notion that his own mother
[45:05] and father, now in their late 70s, could be implicated in
[45:09] Stevens fate shocked those who knew the close knit family.
[45:15] Police spent days searching the Clark home, digging up sections
[45:19] of the yard and combing through decades old belongings for any
[45:22] hidden evidence. The investigation into Stevens
[45:25] relationships and last known activities took on new urgency
[45:30] as detectives tried to determine if there had been foul play from
[45:33] within the household. After months of scrutiny,
[45:36] however, the case against Doris and Charles didn't materialize.
[45:42] In early 2021, the Crown Prosecution Service announced no
[45:46] charges would be filed due to insufficient evidence.
[45:50] The clerks were fully cleared and released, and ultimately, it
[45:53] remains unclear why the authorities figured that this
[45:56] would be an appropriate charge in the circumstances.
[46:01] Both parents vehemently maintained their innocence
[46:04] throughout, calling the ordeal horrendous and professing that
[46:08] they had no idea what happened to Stephen.
[46:11] In fact, in the wake of their arrest, the couple took the
[46:15] unusual step of inviting a television documentary crew into
[46:19] their lives. They hoped that this would both
[46:22] clear their names and also raise the profile of their son's case.
[46:28] They may have also been hoping to put some serious pressure on
[46:31] the authorities to actually crack the case, given the
[46:35] spectacle that was created with the arrest.
[46:38] However, by the end of 2021, the active investigation wound down
[46:43] again, with no arrests, no answers and a cloud of suspicion
[46:47] dispelled but not fully understood.
[46:53] Over the years, Stephen Clark's case has spawned many theories,
[46:57] each troubling in its own way and none supported by definitive
[47:01] evidence. One early theory was that Steven
[47:04] might have suffered an accident by the sea, such as slipping on
[47:08] ice or being swept away by waves near the pier.
[47:12] However, an extensive search never found any trace of him
[47:15] along the coast, and the geography of the region isn't
[47:19] particularly treacherous. Another possibility raised was
[47:25] that Steven chose to disappear intentionally, perhaps to start
[47:29] a new life. Yet those close to him argue
[47:33] this is out of character and Steven left behind his essential
[47:37] belongings and also was looking forward to upcoming
[47:40] opportunities. This makes it hard to believe he
[47:43] would simply walk away forever, especially since he seems to
[47:47] have been so excited about his new girlfriend and the potential
[47:50] future with her. There's also the grim scenario
[47:55] of a random attacker or abduction.
[47:58] No witnesses have ever come forward to suggest an attack in
[48:01] that busy area, and Steven, at six feet 3 inches, isn't the
[48:06] sort of person predators generally choose to target.
[48:10] Even though he had a visible physical disability due to the
[48:13] accident, he would have still been able to give a hell of a
[48:15] fight. The most persistent theory, and
[48:21] the one pursued by police in 2020, is that foul play by
[48:25] someone close to Steven led to his disappearance.
[48:28] Investigators scrutinize Stephen's inner circle,
[48:31] including family, because statistically, a person is often
[48:36] harmed by someone they know. The anonymous letter from 1999
[48:41] had explicitly pointed to an unnamed individual's
[48:44] involvement, implying that Stephen was slain and the truth
[48:49] covered up. Ultimately, however, at present
[48:54] all we can say is that his parents have been investigated
[48:56] thoroughly and cleared. As of today, the disappearance
[49:04] of Stephen Clark remains an agonizing unsolved mystery.
[49:08] It's now been more than three decades since that December day
[49:12] and Stevens 53rd birthday has come and gone with no answers.
[49:17] His story continues to haunt the community of Marsque by the Sea,
[49:20] where by all accounts he was a familiar and well liked figure.
[49:24] His parents, against all hope, have publicly stated that they
[49:28] continue to hope that one day he'll simply just walk through
[49:31] the door once again. On a cold December afternoon in
[49:38] 1985, shoppers at a Kmart in Spanaway, WA found a distressed
[49:44] 2 year old girl wandering alone in the parking lot.
[49:47] She was shivering in only a T-shirt and diaper and her
[49:50] parents were nowhere insight. When police gently asked the
[49:55] toddler where her mother was, the only clue she gave was a
[49:58] haunting reply that her mommy was quote in the trees.
[50:03] The crimes of 1985, later dubbed the Tube Sock Killings, remain a
[50:08] chilling mystery to this day. The mystery began months earlier
[50:14] in the summer of 1985, with a weekend camping trip that ended
[50:18] in tragedy On August 10th, 1980. Five 42 year old Ruth Cooper and
[50:24] her boyfriend, 27 year old Stephen Harkins, left Tacoma for
[50:29] a quiet camping getaway. They went to Tule Lake in the
[50:33] foothills near Mineral, WA expecting a routine weekend
[50:37] trip. When they failed to return to
[50:40] work the following Monday, their families grew concerned and
[50:44] reported them missing. Four days later, on August 14th,
[50:49] hikers in a remote wooded area came upon a disturbing scene.
[50:54] Stephen Harkins was found shot to death, still zipped in his
[50:58] sleeping bag as if ambushed while he slept nearby.
[51:02] The couple's dog was also found shot.
[51:06] There was no sign of Ruth, leading searchers to conclude
[51:09] she had also fallen victim to whoever committed these sick
[51:12] acts. Two months passed with no
[51:15] answers. Then on October 26th, 1985, a
[51:21] human skull was discovered about a mile and 1/2 from the
[51:24] campsite. Dental records confirmed it
[51:28] belonged to Ruth Cooper, and two days later her skeletal remains
[51:32] were found about 50 feet from that spot.
[51:35] In a grim detail that became central to the case's infamy, a
[51:39] white tube sock was tied around Ruth's neck.
[51:42] The autopsy determined she had most likely been cut down by a
[51:46] gunshot wound to the abdomen. This baffling clue, the tube
[51:50] sock offered no immediate explanation, but it set the
[51:54] Cooper Harkins case apart instantly. 2 months later, on
[51:59] December 12th, 1985, another couple ventured into the woods
[52:04] near Tacoma. That morning, 36 year old Mike
[52:08] Reamer, his 21 year old girlfriend Diana Robertson, and
[52:13] their two year old daughter Crystal drove out to chop down a
[52:16] Christmas tree. Later that day, little Crystal
[52:19] was found wandering alone outside of Kmart in Spanaway.
[52:23] She was placed in temporary care until her grandmother recognized
[52:27] her after seeing a news report a few days later.
[52:30] Once reunited with family, Crystal repeated her ominous
[52:34] line about her mother being in the trees, but being only two
[52:38] years old, she couldn't say anything more.
[52:42] Authorities launched a massive search of the woods where Mike
[52:45] and Diana had gone, but no trace of the couple or their red
[52:48] pickup truck was found. For over 2 months, Crystal's
[52:53] parents fate remained an unsolved mystery.
[52:57] Then on February 18th, 1986, a motorist on a remote logging
[53:02] road near Mineral spotted Mike's abandoned pickup truck partly
[53:06] buried in snow. Nearby, lying in the woods was
[53:10] the body of Diana Robertson. The autopsy showed that she had
[53:14] been stabbed, and around her neck there was yet another tube
[53:17] sock, just like with Ruth Cooper.
[53:21] Inside the truck, police found blood on the seat and a Manila
[53:25] envelope on the dashboard with a handwritten message reading I
[53:29] Love You Diana. But Mike Reamer had vanished,
[53:33] and even after the snow melted, no sign of him could be found.
[53:39] With the discovery of Diana's body, detectives realized the
[53:43] earlier campsite killings were likely connected.
[53:46] In both cases, a female victim was found with a white tube sock
[53:50] tied around her neck in the same unusual way.
[53:54] Investigators believe the predator brought these socks to
[53:57] the scenes since they didn't belong to the victims.
[54:01] The crimes took place in remote forest locations and targeted
[54:05] outdoorsy couples, suggesting a single perpetrator with a
[54:09] frightening modus operandi. However, linking the cases by
[54:14] this clue did not reveal the serial killer's identity.
[54:19] The isolated wilderness crime scenes yielded few other clues,
[54:24] and in 1985, forensic tools like DNA profiling weren't yet
[54:29] available to assist. Police initially pursued 2
[54:34] theories. Either an unknown serial killer
[54:37] was stalking young couples in the Washington woods, or Mike
[54:41] Reamer himself was behind the attacks.
[54:44] Under the latter theory, they believed that the first set of
[54:47] slayings may have been a smokescreen or a dry run for the
[54:51] attack on his girlfriend. With Mike missing, he naturally
[54:55] became the prime suspect, and disturbingly, he had a history
[54:59] of violence towards Diana. The cryptic note in the truck
[55:03] also raised suspicion as a possible farewell message if
[55:07] Mike had killed her and fled, though it could have been left
[55:10] by someone else to mislead investigators.
[55:13] They also found it suspicious that the sick puppy who
[55:16] committed these terrible acts spared Crystal.
[55:20] Police felt they had enough evidence against Mike, but since
[55:23] he was missing, they could not determine if he was even alive
[55:27] to face charges. Police and volunteers combed the
[55:31] woods and rivers for any sign of Mike for weeks, but no trace of
[55:36] him turned up. With no body and no new leads,
[55:40] the investigation eventually stalled.
[55:43] In the end, no other suspect emerged, and the predator
[55:47] remained at large. Mike's family vigorously denied
[55:51] that he could have been involved, stating that he wasn't
[55:55] a violent guy. Despite all the evidence to the
[55:58] contrary. Years passed and the tube sock
[56:03] killings case stayed unsolved. In 1989, it was featured on
[56:08] Unsolved Mysteries, bringing national attention, but no
[56:11] breakthroughs followed. A major development finally came
[56:15] in 2011, when a hiker stumbled upon a partial human skull about
[56:21] a mile from where Diana's body had been found.
[56:24] Dental records identified it as Mike Reamers.
[56:28] This grim discovery confirmed Mike had died in the woods as
[56:31] well, but it didn't reveal whether he was a victim or the
[56:35] culprit. His partial skull showed no
[56:38] bullet wound, and authorities couldn't determine how he died
[56:41] or when. Unfortunately, this did little
[56:45] to prove whether he was the perpetrator or yet another
[56:48] victim of an unknown serial offender.
[56:51] Cold case detectives later revisited the case with modern
[56:54] forensics attempting to see if Mike was responsible.
[56:58] Unfortunately, these results were never released to the
[57:00] public and the case remains officially open.
[57:04] To me, these two factors suggest that Mike likely wasn't
[57:07] responsible, though the genetic evidence could have been too
[57:11] degraded to take a meaningful sample at the time.
[57:14] Unfortunately, as of now, it appears that the sick predator
[57:18] responsible for these four acts may still walk amongst us.
[57:25] In March 2003, surveyors found a young woman skeleton in a wooded
[57:29] Creek bed near a highway by Knoxville's airport in Alcoa,
[57:33] TN. To this day, no one knows her
[57:36] name. All that remained were bones and
[57:39] a few pieces of clothing, including a tank top with a
[57:42] haunting message that she didn't need a great deal of love, only
[57:46] a steady supply of it. Investigators simply called her
[57:50] the Blunt County Jane Doe, beginning a cold case mystery
[57:53] that has haunted the area for over 20 years.
[57:58] Police recovered dozens of bones in the vicinity, but some
[58:01] remained hidden until a second search in late 2006 found
[58:06] additional fragments that likely had been washed away by the
[58:09] Creek. Based on forensic analysis, the
[58:13] woman had been dead for anywhere from 8 months to four years
[58:17] before the discovery. While an accident or other
[58:20] explanation was briefly considered, investigators
[58:23] strongly suspected foul play from the start.
[58:28] The Jane Doe was an African American female, probably in her
[58:31] late teens or early 20s, standing roughly 5 feet 4 inches
[58:36] to 5 feet 10 inches tall in the state the remains were found.
[58:41] Details like her weight were impossible to determine, though
[58:45] from the state of her bones it was clear she was neither
[58:47] underweight nor obese. However, her hair and teeth
[58:51] offered distinctive clues. For instance, small black
[58:55] synthetic braids at the scene indicated she wore hair
[58:58] extensions. Most strikingly, her upper teeth
[59:02] had an unusual pattern. 2 left front teeth were missing long
[59:06] before she died, and the remaining front teeth jutted
[59:09] outward nearly horizontally. Her lower jaw was never
[59:13] recovered, but such a pronounced overbite might have been
[59:17] memorable to anyone who met her. Among the items recovered were
[59:21] her clothes. The white tank top with its bold
[59:25] slogan about a steady supply of love and a blue fleece hoodie
[59:29] were found near her remains. There was also a piece of a
[59:33] waistband and, crucially, some fabric resembling medical
[59:37] scrubs. This hinted that she may have
[59:41] worked in healthcare. Investigators even traced
[59:44] certain garments to retail outlets in the Chicago area,
[59:48] specifically the suburb of Oak Lawn, IL.
[59:52] This raised the possibility that the young woman wasn't from
[59:54] Tennessee at all, but from further north.
[59:59] One early hypothesis was that this Jane Doe fell victim to a
[1:00:03] transient serial predator passing through.
[1:00:06] Detectives considered that a long haul trucker might have
[1:00:08] picked up a vulnerable young woman, perhaps a hitchhiker or
[1:00:12] runaway, and eliminated her, leaving the body far from her
[1:00:17] home. The location of the remains near
[1:00:21] a major highway in the airport seemed to support this idea, as
[1:00:25] did the clues pointing to Illinois ties.
[1:00:29] If she was from out of state, it would explain why no local
[1:00:32] missing person reports ever matched her description.
[1:00:36] Despite this theory, tangible leads were scarce.
[1:00:40] No identification was found with the body, and there were no
[1:00:44] obvious signs of trauma to point investigators in a clear
[1:00:47] direction. Essentially, they had an unknown
[1:00:51] victim and no suspect, along with no actual confirmation that
[1:00:57] a crime had occurred. In fact, 1 alternative theory,
[1:01:02] which is purely speculative but that has been floated by
[1:01:06] investigators, is that she may have perished from an overdose.
[1:01:11] This could fit with the narrative that she was from
[1:01:13] Illinois, and she may have gotten in the vehicle with a
[1:01:17] trucker, used drugs, and then overdosed.
[1:01:22] Rather than seeking to help her, the driver may have decided to
[1:01:25] dump off her body to cover up what happened.
[1:01:31] Determined to give her back her name, investigators entered the
[1:01:34] Jane Doe's information into national databases and compared
[1:01:38] her DNA and dental records. Over time, they narrowed down a
[1:01:43] pool of dozens of missing young women who fit her general
[1:01:46] profile. But one by one, those leads were
[1:01:50] eliminated. In recent years, the
[1:01:54] investigation embraced forensic genealogy as a way to solve the
[1:01:58] mystery. This process identified distant
[1:02:02] cousins and ancestral lines that the Jane Doe shared DNA with,
[1:02:06] and by 2025, this offered some geographic regions.
[1:02:10] They believe she had familial ties to the Carolinas, Virginia,
[1:02:14] and New York, though interestingly, no connections
[1:02:18] were found to either Tennessee or Illinois.
[1:02:22] As of now, this young woman is still known only as a Jane Doe,
[1:02:26] but authorities are optimistic that recent breakthroughs will
[1:02:29] indeed give her back her identity at last.
[1:02:32] Once her identity is restored, the police may be able to
[1:02:36] retrace the months and weeks leading up to her death and 0 in
[1:02:40] on a suspect. On a crisp December morning in
[1:02:47] 1935, Hollywood awoke to a shocking mystery.
[1:02:52] Thelma Todd, a beloved comedic actress and cafe owner, was
[1:02:56] found dead in her car inside a garage high on a Pacific
[1:02:59] Palisades hillside. And while this cafe portion may
[1:03:03] not seem important right now, keep it in mind because one of
[1:03:07] the theories surrounding her revolves around that small
[1:03:10] business. At just 29, Todd was at the
[1:03:14] height of her career, which made her sudden demise all the more
[1:03:18] shocking. The star was still dressed in a
[1:03:21] silk evening gown, with her mink coat and diamond jewels slumped
[1:03:25] over the steering wheel of her convertible.
[1:03:28] At first glance, it looked like she had simply fallen asleep in
[1:03:31] the car and succumbed to carbon monoxide fumes, but the
[1:03:35] circumstances were anything but ordinary.
[1:03:39] The garage belonged to Todd's business partner in the cafe,
[1:03:42] director Roland West, and rumors quickly spread that there was
[1:03:46] more to this tragedy than an accidental poisoning.
[1:03:50] However, West and Todd were partners in more than just the
[1:03:54] business sense, and despite him being married, they were known
[1:03:58] to be lovers as well. Thelma Todd's body was
[1:04:03] discovered on Monday, December 16th, 1935 by her personal maid
[1:04:08] who went to fetch the car that morning.
[1:04:11] Police and a doctor were summoned and the initial autopsy
[1:04:14] confirmed Todd died from carbon monoxide inhalation sometime
[1:04:19] during the previous day. Investigators noted there were
[1:04:23] no signs of robbery or violence at the scene, and her purse,
[1:04:26] jewelry, and mink coat were untouched.
[1:04:29] Nevertheless, detectives were immediately suspicious.
[1:04:33] Just weeks earlier, Todd had reported receiving anonymous
[1:04:37] extortion notes threatening her with death if she didn't pay
[1:04:40] $10,000. In fact, 2 suspects were
[1:04:44] arrested in New York in connection with those threats,
[1:04:47] showing that there was a real danger around Todd.
[1:04:52] To piece together what led to Todd's demise, investigators
[1:04:55] reconstructed her final hours. On Saturday night, December
[1:05:00] 14th, 1935, Thelma attended a lively party at the Trocadero
[1:05:05] nightclub in Hollywood, thrown in her honor by actress Ida
[1:05:09] Lupino. She was seen mingling and having
[1:05:12] a good time until a confrontation with her
[1:05:15] ex-husband, Pat Di Chico, dampened her mood.
[1:05:19] Di Chico, a movie producer known for a violent temper and mob
[1:05:23] connections, had shown up with another date, provoking an
[1:05:27] argument with Thelma in front of other guests.
[1:05:32] In the early hours of Sunday, December 15th, her chauffeur
[1:05:35] drove her home to the coast. Thelma was dropped off near the
[1:05:39] steep staircase leading up to her hillside residence sometime
[1:05:42] around 4 that morning. She was slightly intoxicated and
[1:05:46] facing a 270 step climb. Unbeknownst to her, Roland W had
[1:05:52] locked the doors at 2:00 AM that night, annoyed that she was out
[1:05:56] so late. 1 Theory holds that when Thelma found herself locked
[1:06:00] out that morning, she sought refuge in her car parked in
[1:06:04] West's garage just up the hill. Chilled by the Pacific night
[1:06:09] air, she may have turned on the engine to stay warm, succumbing
[1:06:14] to carbon monoxide as she fell asleep behind the wheel.
[1:06:18] This scenario explained the lack of struggle and the fact that
[1:06:21] her ignition was still on when she was found.
[1:06:26] Several strange clues emerge that cast doubt on the simple
[1:06:29] accident theory. 1 friend swore Thelma phoned her on Sunday
[1:06:33] afternoon, and West's estranged wife even claimed she saw Todd
[1:06:37] driving with a male companion that day.
[1:06:41] These astonishing accounts, if they were accurate, cast
[1:06:44] significant doubt on the official timeline.
[1:06:48] Physical evidence also raised eyebrows.
[1:06:51] Thelma's mother noted that her daughter had physical health
[1:06:54] problems, mainly with her heart. She claimed that her daughter
[1:06:58] would never have climbed hundreds of stairs in the cold
[1:07:01] while wearing an elegant gown and high heels, especially while
[1:07:05] drunk. Indeed, investigators found no
[1:07:09] scuff marks or damage on Thelma's shoes to indicate such
[1:07:13] an arduous hike. Personally, I think this is
[1:07:17] perhaps the most bizarre piece of evidence, since climbing up
[1:07:20] stairs in the dark while intoxicated often leads to feet
[1:07:24] accidentally hitting the stairs. I imagine this would be doubly
[1:07:28] true if trying to do so in a formal dress and high heels, but
[1:07:32] I've got to admit I've got no personal experience with that.
[1:07:37] More alarmingly, the autopsy uncovered signs of trauma, a
[1:07:41] broken nose and telltale bruising around her throat.
[1:07:45] These were injuries not consistent with a relatively
[1:07:47] peaceful death by carbon monoxide poisoning.
[1:07:51] These hints of foul play only intensified suspicions that
[1:07:56] someone had staged the scene to cover up something much more
[1:07:59] sinister. By December 18th, the Los
[1:08:02] Angeles County grand jury was convened to investigate Todd's
[1:08:06] death. Amid intense media coverage, The
[1:08:09] sensational hearing featured everyone from West and his wife
[1:08:13] to the maid and chauffeur, each offering conflicting
[1:08:16] testimonies. In the end, after weeks of
[1:08:19] headlines, the grand jury could not reach a clear conclusion.
[1:08:24] They declared there was insufficient evidence to charge
[1:08:27] anyone and officially determined her demise was likely simply an
[1:08:31] accident. Over the years, suspicion has
[1:08:35] fallen on a few key figures in Thelma Todd's life, and Roland
[1:08:39] W, her lover and business partner, was a prime suspect
[1:08:43] from the start. Known for being controlling and
[1:08:46] jealous, W admitted to police that he locked Thelma out that
[1:08:50] night to quote UN quote, teach her a lesson.
[1:08:55] Decades later, rumors circulated that W allegedly made a deathbed
[1:09:00] confession to a friend claiming he accidentally caused Thelma's
[1:09:04] death. W was never charged, but the
[1:09:08] scandal effectively ended his film directing career and
[1:09:11] tarnished his legacy. Pat Di Chico, her ex-husband,
[1:09:16] also drew scrutiny. He had allegedly been physically
[1:09:20] violent towards Thelma during their marriage and had well
[1:09:22] documented anger issues. However, nothing concrete ever
[1:09:27] linked to Chico to Thelma's demise, and there was no
[1:09:31] particular motive except for potential jealousy.
[1:09:36] Perhaps the most chilling theory involved Lucky Luciano.
[1:09:40] The infamous gangster had been acquainted with Thelma through
[1:09:43] her ex-husband and had even dated her for a time.
[1:09:47] Luciano reportedly wanted to use Thelma's Seaside Cafe as a
[1:09:51] gambling den, a proposal she firmly rejected.
[1:09:55] In the weeks before her death, Thelma confided that she'd been
[1:09:59] threatened by underworld figures, and some suspected
[1:10:02] Luciano ordered a hit when he didn't get his way.
[1:10:06] Indeed, the extortion letters demanding money under threat of
[1:10:09] death hinted at mob involvement. Though the Luciano theory
[1:10:13] remains unproven and he was never formally implicated, his
[1:10:17] name continues to loom large in the legend of the case.
[1:10:22] In the immediate aftermath, Roland W tried to keep their
[1:10:26] cafe open, even greeting morbid sightseers who came to gawk at
[1:10:30] the place where his famous partner died, but the business
[1:10:34] quickly lost its appeal and closed within months.
[1:10:38] Unable to escape the dark shadow of the tragedy, W retreated from
[1:10:43] public life and never made another movie, a fact which some
[1:10:46] believe indicates that he was involved.
[1:10:51] Personally, I strongly prefer the Roland W theory over the
[1:10:54] accidental death theory or any connection to the mob or the
[1:10:57] ex-husband. The injuries strongly indicate
[1:11:01] that there was foul play involved, almost certainly
[1:11:04] ruling out the idea that she did it herself or had an accident
[1:11:08] while intoxicated. I also find it unlikely that a
[1:11:12] mobster of the level of influence of Lucky Luciano would
[1:11:16] have risked attracting the heat associated with putting a hit on
[1:11:19] Thelma. After all, he was managing a
[1:11:22] vast criminal enterprise at the time, and her refusal to allow a
[1:11:26] gambling den in her cafe seems like a comparatively minor
[1:11:30] slight. Di Chico's a more likely
[1:11:34] candidate, and it's always possible that he slew her out of
[1:11:37] jealousy. However, the idea that her
[1:11:40] current partner at her time of death, who was known to be
[1:11:43] extremely controlling, was involved seems much more likely
[1:11:48] to me. West even went so far as to lock
[1:11:51] her out on the night in question, which, if the official
[1:11:54] timeline is to be believed, is how she ended up in the garage
[1:11:57] to begin with. In the end though, we will never
[1:12:01] know for certain and Thelma Todd's case will always be an
[1:12:04] unsolved mystery from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
[1:12:11] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here with a quick reminder to like
[1:12:14] and share this video if you're enjoying it and to hit the
[1:12:17] notification bell. Also, don't forget to check out
[1:12:20] the Patreon or the YouTube membership to take your support
[1:12:24] for my channel to the next level.
[1:12:29] November 22nd, 1963 Donned like any other Friday morning in the
[1:12:35] coastal town of Oxnard, CA. As telephone operators managed
[1:12:39] the routine flurry of calls, nothing seemed out of the
[1:12:43] ordinary until just after 10:00 AM.
[1:12:46] One call broke the calm and turned into a chilling footnote
[1:12:50] of history. While President John F Kennedy
[1:12:53] waved to cheering crowds in Dallas that day, thousands of
[1:12:57] miles away, an Oxnard operator found herself connected with a
[1:13:01] bizarre individual. There was absolutely no greeting
[1:13:05] from the caller, only faint static and then a whispering
[1:13:09] voice. The operator and a colleague
[1:13:12] listened in astonishment as an unknown woman on the line softly
[1:13:16] warned that the president was about to be slain.
[1:13:20] It sounded unbelievable, perhaps just a cruel prank or the
[1:13:25] ramblings of a disturbed mind. But within minutes it came true.
[1:13:31] Barely 15 minutes after that hushed warning, news broke that
[1:13:35] President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.
[1:13:39] Shortly after 10:00 AM Pacific Time, the call reached the
[1:13:42] General Telephone Company's Oxnard switchboard.
[1:13:46] The operator heard only static at 1st and, concerned someone
[1:13:50] might be in distress, brought in a fellow operator to listen.
[1:13:55] They then caught the faint voice of a woman whispering a dire
[1:13:58] prophecy President Kennedy would die at 10:10 that morning.
[1:14:04] Startled, the operators noted that 10/10 was only minutes
[1:14:08] away. When that time passed without
[1:14:11] incident, the voice returned and calmly updated the prediction,
[1:14:15] now saying the president would die at 10:30.
[1:14:18] By about 10:25 AM Pacific Time, the perplexed operators decided
[1:14:23] the caller was likely just an unhinged individual.
[1:14:27] They disconnected the line, completely unaware of what was
[1:14:30] about to happen in Texas. In Dallas, it was about 12:25 PM
[1:14:37] President Kennedy's motorcade was making its way through
[1:14:40] downtown. 5 minutes later, at 12:30, shots rang out in Dealey
[1:14:46] Plaza. This fulfilled the caller's
[1:14:48] final, ominous prediction to the minute.
[1:14:53] The anonymous woman's message was not only timely but also
[1:14:56] bizarre, and she made claims about the government going up in
[1:15:00] flames. Her whispers came in a rhythmic,
[1:15:03] rapid cadence, as if she were reciting from a script or
[1:15:06] manifesto. The content was so outlandish
[1:15:10] that the operators truly believe the woman was mentally unstable.
[1:15:14] Curiously, for one moment during the call, the woman even slipped
[1:15:18] out of character when an operator offered help.
[1:15:21] The unknown woman responded in a normal voice that she was just
[1:15:25] using the phone as normal, then promptly went back to her
[1:15:28] frantic whispering. As soon as the tragedy involving
[1:15:33] President Kennedy became known, the telephone operators and
[1:15:36] their supervisors reported the strange call to authorities.
[1:15:40] Once the Oxnard exchange manager contacted the local police, the
[1:15:44] FBI was notified within hours of the shooting.
[1:15:48] The Bureau took the tip seriously and an FBI report
[1:15:52] marked urgent was filed by 5 that very day detailing the
[1:15:56] operators chilling account. Agents were dispatched to
[1:16:00] interview the two operators and every detail of the call was
[1:16:03] dutifully documented. Tracking down the mystery
[1:16:07] caller, however, proved impossible.
[1:16:11] The Oxnard telephone exchange served about 10,000 households,
[1:16:15] and most of the lines were shared between multiple people.
[1:16:19] Investigators could only narrow it down to the general Oxnard
[1:16:22] Camarillo area near Los Angeles. Notably, the state mental
[1:16:27] hospital was located in Camarillo, a fact that led some
[1:16:31] to suspect the caller might have been a patient there.
[1:16:34] The incident was logged in the Warren Commission's files as an
[1:16:37] intriguing side note, but it remained an unsolved curiosity.
[1:16:42] To this day, the identity and motive of the anonymous
[1:16:45] whispering woman remain unknown. As with any uncanny detail of
[1:16:51] the event, the Oxnard call has fueled all manner of
[1:16:55] speculation. Conspiracy buffs view it as
[1:16:59] possible evidence of a wider plot suggesting that the caller
[1:17:03] had advanced knowledge. They've proposed she was perhaps
[1:17:06] a conspirator with cold feet or someone on the fringes who
[1:17:10] caught wind of the plan. They point to the fact that the
[1:17:13] woman's revised prediction was exactly correct, a precision
[1:17:17] hard to chalk up to coincidence. Most officials at the time
[1:17:22] concluded the Oxnard call was probably just an eerie
[1:17:25] coincidence. The operator certainly believed
[1:17:28] the woman was mentally disturbed, not any kind of
[1:17:31] insider with real information. Experts have noted that all
[1:17:36] presidents receive innumerable threats or warnings every day,
[1:17:40] though the revised prediction being at the exact correct time
[1:17:44] is of course uncanny. Whether one sees it as evidence
[1:17:49] of a conspiracy or simply a bizarre coincidence, the Oxnard
[1:17:53] phone call remains one of the most puzzling unsolved footnotes
[1:17:56] in the entire Kennedy saga. On a summer day in Tudor
[1:18:04] England, a person might feel a slight chill and a faint pain
[1:18:07] behind the eyes. By nightfall they could be
[1:18:11] drenched in sweat and fighting for their life.
[1:18:14] In 1528, a French ambassador in London remarked that it was the
[1:18:19] easiest disease in the world to die from.
[1:18:22] Mild aches in the head and chest could suddenly turn fatal as a
[1:18:27] drenching fever swept over the victim.
[1:18:30] This swift and deadly illness was the notorious English
[1:18:33] sweating sickness, a mysterious epidemic that struck fear into
[1:18:38] rich and poor alike. The first outbreak of sweating
[1:18:42] sickness erupted in 1485, just as Henry Tudor seized the
[1:18:47] English throne and a terrifying contagion swept through London.
[1:18:51] Contemporary reports claim that roughly 15,000 Londoners, nearly
[1:18:56] 1/3 of the city's population, perished in six weeks.
[1:19:01] The disease was so feared that the new king postponed his
[1:19:05] coronation to avoid infection. Then, as abruptly as it
[1:19:09] appeared, the outbreak vanished completely by the autumn of
[1:19:13] 1485. Over the next few decades, the
[1:19:17] sweat returned in sporadic waves in 15 O2.
[1:19:22] The illness may have even taken the life of Prince Arthur, the
[1:19:26] eldest son of Henry the 7th. Another outbreak hit in 15 O 7,
[1:19:32] followed by a much larger epidemic in 1517.
[1:19:36] Each time the illness raged for only a few weeks before fading
[1:19:40] away again. This pattern of sudden, short
[1:19:43] lived epidemics made the sweating sickness stand out from
[1:19:47] other pestilences of the era, which typically lingered for
[1:19:51] months or years. The most devastating wave struck
[1:19:54] in 1528, spreading terror across England and even reaching into
[1:19:59] parts of continental Europe. The epidemic of 1528 began in
[1:20:06] London in late spring, then rapidly swept across England,
[1:20:10] sparing only the far north and even cross the sea.
[1:20:14] In London. The death toll climbed so
[1:20:16] quickly that King Henry the Eighth fled his capital in a
[1:20:19] panic. Henry the Eighth, often
[1:20:22] remembered as a bold monarch, was in fact a notorious
[1:20:25] hypochondriac. When he learned that the dreaded
[1:20:28] disease was back, he broke up the Royal Court and fled to the
[1:20:32] countryside, moving between safe houses.
[1:20:36] Courtiers with means also fled, while the poor had no choice but
[1:20:40] to remain crowded in the disease ridden city.
[1:20:43] Even the King's inner circle wasn't spared.
[1:20:47] Anne Boleyn fell I'll with the sweat while sheltering at her
[1:20:50] family's castle in Kent. Despite Henry's professions of
[1:20:56] love, he kept his distance and instead dispatched his
[1:21:00] physician, along with a heartfelt letter to care for
[1:21:03] Anne. Fortunately, she survived her
[1:21:07] bout of sickness. Many others at court were less
[1:21:10] lucky. Thomas Cromwell lost his wife
[1:21:13] and two daughters in the 1528 outbreak, and the Duke of
[1:21:17] Suffolk lost two young sons to the disease.
[1:21:21] Even the powerful Cardinal Wolsey was infected, though he
[1:21:24] managed to recover from England. The 1528 epidemic leapt to
[1:21:32] mainland Europe. Merchants or travellers carried
[1:21:35] the disease to the port of Hamburg, where it arrived by
[1:21:39] July 1529. From there, the sickness spread
[1:21:43] across other parts of Germany and into Scandinavia, causing
[1:21:47] brief but lethal outbreaks in cities from Cologne to
[1:21:51] Stockholm. Strangely, it never penetrated
[1:21:55] France or Italy at all, despite frequent travel by German
[1:21:59] merchants and nobles to those regions.
[1:22:02] By the end of 1529, the sweat had entirely vanished from
[1:22:07] Europe as suddenly as it had appeared, and it never returned
[1:22:10] to the Continent. What made the English sweat so
[1:22:15] frightening was the speed of its course.
[1:22:18] A prominent physician of the time, John Caius, who treated
[1:22:22] victims during the final 1551 outbreak, recorded that the
[1:22:27] sickness typically began suddenly.
[1:22:30] Victims first had the chills and then experienced violent
[1:22:33] shivering, dizziness, headache and intense pains in the neck
[1:22:38] and limbs. Within mere hours, this cold
[1:22:42] stage gave way to a raging fever and drenching perspiration.
[1:22:48] Patients became feverishly hot, delirious and desperately
[1:22:52] thirsty as their hearts pounded. Many felt an overwhelming urge
[1:22:57] to sleep, which Caius warned was often a fatal omen.
[1:23:01] If a sufferer succumbed to that drowsiness, they might never
[1:23:04] wake up. Astonishingly, a full cycle of
[1:23:08] the illness could run its course in a single day.
[1:23:12] People were either dead or recovering within about 24 hours
[1:23:16] of the first symptoms. Unlike diseases such as bubonic
[1:23:21] plague, the sweating sickness produced no telltale swellings
[1:23:25] or sores on the body. Its signature feature was the
[1:23:29] extensive clammy sweat, accompanied by a feeling of
[1:23:32] suffocation and chest pain. The illness struck most often in
[1:23:37] the warmer months of summer and early autumn, and it could recur
[1:23:40] in the same person, so surviving one attack didn't grant
[1:23:44] immunity. Some individuals, such as
[1:23:47] Cardinal Wolsey, endured multiple bouts over the years
[1:23:51] and lived to tell of it. But in many areas the death rate
[1:23:55] was ghastly. Reports from the time claimed
[1:23:58] mortality as high as 30% to 50% of those who caught the sweat.
[1:24:05] With no understanding of the cause and no effective
[1:24:07] treatment, tutor physicians and patients were left helpless
[1:24:11] against this aggressive affliction.
[1:24:15] The question of what the sweating sickness was has
[1:24:18] puzzled physicians, scientists and historians for centuries.
[1:24:23] Even in the 1500s, people recognized it wasn't like the
[1:24:27] epidemics they knew. Lacking any germ theory tutor,
[1:24:31] doctors blamed bad air or poisonous mists for the illness.
[1:24:36] Modern researchers have combed through historical records to
[1:24:39] propose possible culprits, but no single explanation perfectly
[1:24:43] fits all the facts. One theory is that the sweat was
[1:24:47] triggered by a hantavirus infection, a type of virus
[1:24:51] carried by rodents. Hantaviruses can cause severe
[1:24:55] acute illnesses and have sparked deadly outbreaks in other times
[1:24:59] and places, which makes this an intriguing possibility.
[1:25:04] Another hypothesis is that the disease was a form of inhaled
[1:25:08] anthrax poisoning, perhaps from handling contaminated wool,
[1:25:13] which can cause sudden fever and sweating if breathed in.
[1:25:17] Some have even speculated about a mosquito borne virus similar
[1:25:21] to dengue fever. None of these theories is
[1:25:25] completely satisfying. Anthrax and hantavirus
[1:25:28] infections today don't usually spread rapidly from person to
[1:25:32] person, yet tutor accounts imply that the sweat could sweep
[1:25:36] through households and towns with frightening speed.
[1:25:40] Another clue comes from a later illness known as Picardy sweat,
[1:25:44] which broke out in France a few centuries after the English
[1:25:47] sweat disappeared. Investigators in the 19th
[1:25:51] century noted that French farm workers who slept close to the
[1:25:55] ground were often victims, hinting that rodents and their
[1:25:58] fleas might have been involved. Yet the Picardy sweat came with
[1:26:03] a skin rash, a detail never mentioned.
[1:26:06] Despite the numerous English accounts from English writers,
[1:26:11] the legacy of the sweating sickness is one of fear and
[1:26:14] mystery. In its time, it appeared without
[1:26:17] warning, killed swiftly, and then vanished completely.
[1:26:21] It altered royal decisions, haunted a generation, and left
[1:26:26] behind an enduring medical enigma. 5 centuries later, the
[1:26:31] English sweating sickness remains a sobering reminder of
[1:26:34] how an epidemic can blaze through humanity and then
[1:26:38] disappear, leaving only terrified recollections.
[1:26:45] In the spring of 1997, police in Mons, Belgium made a nightmarish
[1:26:49] discovery. A cluster of garbage bags filled
[1:26:52] with severed human limbs dumped along a quiet Rd.
[1:26:56] This gruesome find was only the beginning.
[1:27:00] Over the next few weeks, more bags of body parts appeared
[1:27:03] around the city, deliberately placed where they would be
[1:27:07] easily found. It quickly became clear that a
[1:27:10] serial predator was at work, one whom the press would soon
[1:27:14] nickname the Butcher of Mons. Between early 1996 and the
[1:27:21] summer of 1997, five women vanished in and around Mons
[1:27:25] without anyone connecting their cases.
[1:27:28] Their disappearances only made sense after the killer began
[1:27:32] revealing his disturbing handiwork in March 1997.
[1:27:38] On March 22nd of that year, 9 trash bags stuffed with
[1:27:41] dismembered human remains were discovered beneath A secluded
[1:27:45] St. Shockingly, the bags contained
[1:27:49] body parts from three different victims, A deliberate mixing
[1:27:53] that made identification difficult.
[1:27:56] The very next day, a tenth bag turned up on the same St. in an
[1:28:01] area that had already been searched, almost as if the
[1:28:05] killer was watching and taunting the investigators.
[1:28:09] In the following weeks, more grotesque packages appeared at
[1:28:12] various dump sites around Mons, including along local rivers and
[1:28:16] quiet back roads. In total, around a dozen garbage
[1:28:21] bags containing the remains of all 5 missing women were
[1:28:24] ultimately recovered across the area.
[1:28:29] Each location seemed chosen for effect.
[1:28:32] Many sites had ominous or symbolic names.
[1:28:35] For example, one bag was left on Shaman de Longitude or the Path
[1:28:40] of Worry. Others were placed near the
[1:28:42] River Haine, French for Hatred. It was as if the killer was
[1:28:47] playing a twisted game, placing body parts in places that
[1:28:51] literally signified fear and dread.
[1:28:54] Investigators also noted that the perp often left the bags in
[1:28:58] plain sight and seemed to delight in dumping more bags
[1:29:02] right after the police searched the area.
[1:29:05] This suggested that he viewed himself as playing a high stakes
[1:29:08] cat and mouse game with the authorities.
[1:29:11] It also suggested that he was near the scene watching the cops
[1:29:14] work, and may even have had the bags on his person.
[1:29:17] At the time, all 5 known victims were local women from the Mons
[1:29:23] area, and each had struggled with personal difficulties while
[1:29:26] frequenting the city's train station district.
[1:29:30] The first was Carmelina Russo, 42, who disappeared on January
[1:29:35] 4th, 1996. A few weeks later, her severed
[1:29:40] pelvis was found floating in the Shelt River over the French
[1:29:43] border, a discovery not initially linked to a broader
[1:29:47] pattern. In July 1996, Martine Bone, a 43
[1:29:53] year old escort from France, went missing.
[1:29:56] That same month, her torso was pulled out of the Hain River
[1:30:00] near Mons. The Grizzly series truly came to
[1:30:03] light after Jacqueline Leclerc, 33, vanished just before
[1:30:08] Christmas 1996. She was a mother of four who had
[1:30:12] fallen on very hard times. On March 22nd, 1997, a police
[1:30:18] officer found trash bags containing Jacqueline's arms and
[1:30:21] legs. Soon after, more remains
[1:30:24] surfaced that were later identified as Natalie Godart,
[1:30:28] only 21, who had disappeared in early 1997.
[1:30:33] The final known victim was Begonia Valencia, 37, who went
[1:30:38] missing in mid 1997. Her skull was eventually
[1:30:42] discovered in a village on the outskirts of Mons.
[1:30:47] Belgian authorities launched a special task force in 1997 to
[1:30:51] hunt the butcher. Due to an odd bureaucratic
[1:30:54] decision, and despite the arguably transnational nature of
[1:30:58] the attacks, the government refused to make the case a
[1:31:01] national priority. This meant that the special task
[1:31:05] force was chronically underfunded and at times only
[1:31:08] had a handful of officers working part time on the case.
[1:31:13] They were denied all assistance from federal authorities and
[1:31:16] investigators and despite working around the clock,
[1:31:19] couldn't meaningfully process the thousands of tips they
[1:31:22] received. Ironically, the local police had
[1:31:25] to seek help from the FB is profilers since their own
[1:31:29] national police force wouldn't provide one.
[1:31:32] These American investigators were more than happy to fill the
[1:31:35] gaps where Belgian national officials had failed.
[1:31:39] The profile that emerged was of a calculating offender who could
[1:31:43] charm vulnerable women, likely had a job with flexible hours
[1:31:47] and a private space to carry out the crimes.
[1:31:51] He may have been known as a well paying, well groomed, respectful
[1:31:54] customer amongst these women. Notably, the humiliation
[1:31:59] associated with having local police going to America to beg
[1:32:03] for help when the national police force wouldn't lift a
[1:32:07] finger led to significant outrage.
[1:32:11] Personally, I have to question whether the national police
[1:32:14] would have deemed this a local matter if the predator hadn't
[1:32:17] been targeting women on the outskirts of society.
[1:32:21] This national outrage wood forest the Belgian government to
[1:32:24] reverse course and rightly treat the case as an issue of national
[1:32:28] interest with all the resources that entailed.
[1:32:32] Regardless of the profile, and despite exhaustive legwork, the
[1:32:36] investigation hit one dead end after another.
[1:32:41] Over the years, multiple suspects were interrogated, but
[1:32:44] none could be conclusively tied to the slayings.
[1:32:48] One local man in Mons raised suspicions when police learned
[1:32:51] he had allegedly bragged about eliminating local escorts.
[1:32:56] A search of his home revealed an unnaturally pristine cellar and
[1:33:00] disturbingly digital photos of one of the dump site locations
[1:33:04] on his computer. Yet even this eerie evidence
[1:33:08] wasn't enough for an arrest, and no solid forensic evidence tied
[1:33:12] him to the crimes. Investigators remain divided on
[1:33:16] whether this was a mentally unwell person who wanted to
[1:33:20] insert himself into the investigation or whether he was
[1:33:24] the one actually responsible. For reasons you're about to see,
[1:33:28] though, despite how guilty this guy looks, there's one very
[1:33:32] significant reason to believe he was just a sicko who wanted the
[1:33:36] attention. The most infamous suspect was an
[1:33:40] international 1 Esmile Tulia, a Montenegrin man with a history
[1:33:45] of violence. In 2007, acting on a tip,
[1:33:50] authorities arrested Tulia in Montenegro on suspicion that he
[1:33:54] might be the butcher. Disturbingly, he had butchered
[1:33:57] his wife in New York City in 1990 and was on the run for that
[1:34:01] crime. During his period on the run, he
[1:34:04] had lived in Mons at some point in the 90s, though given his
[1:34:08] fugitive status, pinning down his exact location was difficult
[1:34:14] given the lack of any solid evidence.
[1:34:16] Montenegro refused to extradite him, though he would spend the
[1:34:19] rest of the short remainder of his life in prison for slaying
[1:34:22] his wife. Thulia died in a Montenegrin
[1:34:25] prison in 2012, maintaining that he had never done anything to
[1:34:29] the women in Belgium. Disturbingly, he is also
[1:34:33] suspected of slaying two women in Albania, suggesting a much
[1:34:37] wider pattern of predatory offenses.
[1:34:42] Decades later, the Butcher of Mons case remains one of
[1:34:45] Belgium's most chilling unsolved mysteries.
[1:34:49] The passage of time hasn't erased the community's memory of
[1:34:52] these crimes, and families of the victims still hope for
[1:34:55] answers. In 2022, Belgian officials
[1:34:59] affirmed that the investigation remains active, albeit with only
[1:35:03] a small team on the file. Disturbingly, Belgian law
[1:35:07] imposes a 30 year statute of limitations even on crimes as
[1:35:11] severe as this, which I find to be highly questionable for
[1:35:15] violent offenses. If the butcher isn't charged by
[1:35:18] 2027, the window is expected to permanently shut on the ability
[1:35:23] to bring this predator to justice, assuming he didn't die
[1:35:27] in a Balkan jail in 2012. In late March of 2024, a routine
[1:35:34] morning drive turned into a chilling mystery.
[1:35:38] Christina Ace, a 61 year old nurse from Vancouver, WA, left
[1:35:43] her home before dawn to head to work, something she'd done
[1:35:47] faithfully for 15 years. But this time she never arrived,
[1:35:51] and instead her colleagues received an unusual message that
[1:35:55] she would be late by the next day.
[1:35:57] Her SUV was found abandoned with a strange residue on the seats.
[1:36:02] Christina herself had vanished without a trace, and what
[1:36:06] happened to her continues to remain an unresolved mystery.
[1:36:11] Born in Argentina in 1962, Christina moved to the United
[1:36:16] States in the mid 2000s to build a new life.
[1:36:20] Back in Argentina, she had worked as a biochemist, and
[1:36:23] after immigrating, she earned a bachelor's in nursing followed
[1:36:27] by a doctorate in medical science.
[1:36:30] This impressive background LED her to a career in elder care.
[1:36:34] By 2024, Christina was the nursing director at the Rose
[1:36:38] Lynn Care Center in West Linn, OR where she had worked for
[1:36:42] about 15 years. Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 began
[1:36:50] like any other work day for Christina.
[1:36:52] She was last seen by her husband around 6:30 AM that morning as
[1:36:57] she left their Vancouver home to drive to work across the
[1:37:00] Columbia River in Oregon. Typically, Christina started
[1:37:04] work around 7:30 AM, but that morning her Co workers received
[1:37:09] a brief text. It was from her phone and it was
[1:37:13] sent at about 6:30 AM, indicating she would arrive
[1:37:17] around 8:30 instead. No explanation was given for
[1:37:21] this one hour delay, which struck her colleagues as
[1:37:24] unusual. In fact, 2 Co workers later
[1:37:28] remarked that it was odd Christina only messaged one Co
[1:37:31] worker instead of their usual group chat, almost as if she
[1:37:35] didn't want to alert everyone. Still, the message suggested
[1:37:39] Christina was on her way, just running late.
[1:37:44] However, Christina never showed up at the care facility that
[1:37:47] day. By mid morning, concern was
[1:37:50] mounting, especially since this was a woman who never missed
[1:37:53] work without prior notice in 15 years.
[1:37:56] Her Co workers tried to reach her, but calls went straight to
[1:37:59] voicemail. By early afternoon, the Rose
[1:38:02] Lynn Care Center's executive director phoned Christina's
[1:38:05] husband, Honorable Diaz, to ask if she was OK.
[1:38:11] It turns out he was just as shocked to hear she hadn't
[1:38:14] arrived at work, and for good reason.
[1:38:17] He had watched her leave for her normal shift and had no idea she
[1:38:21] planned on coming in late. Alarmed by her unexplained
[1:38:25] absence, both Annabel and Christina's Co workers
[1:38:28] independently contacted the police that same day to report
[1:38:31] her missing. A search for the missing nurse
[1:38:34] was now under way just hours after she was last seen.
[1:38:41] Initial searches found no sign of Christina herself, but a
[1:38:45] series of unsettling clues soon surfaced.
[1:38:49] The day after she vanished on March 27th, investigators
[1:38:53] discovered Christina's vehicle, a dark grey 2013 Toyota Rav 4,
[1:38:59] parked on a roadside about a mile from her apartment in
[1:39:02] Vancouver. The SUV was unoccupied and
[1:39:05] appeared as if someone had left it in haste.
[1:39:08] Tellingly, the rear view mirror was skewed and more
[1:39:12] disturbingly, a white residue coated several surfaces inside
[1:39:16] the car. It looked as if someone might
[1:39:18] have wiped down the interior with bleach or another cleaner,
[1:39:22] an ominous sign that suggested evidence could have been
[1:39:25] deliberately scrubbed. Literally.
[1:39:30] Police seized the vehicle for forensic analysis, considering
[1:39:34] the unusual state of the car a major red flag.
[1:39:38] The fact that the car had reappeared near her home,
[1:39:41] seemingly cleaned, raised many questions.
[1:39:45] Had Christina driven off and then returned on her own?
[1:39:49] Or had someone else driven her car back to her neighborhood
[1:39:52] after harming her? Investigators noted that whoever
[1:39:56] brought the SUV back must have known where Christina lived or
[1:39:59] found her address, hinting at a possible personal connection.
[1:40:05] Meanwhile, detectives delved into Christina's cell phone
[1:40:08] records, which revealed A puzzling journey on the morning
[1:40:11] of March 26th. Data from her phone showed that
[1:40:15] after leaving home at 6:34 AM, she drove S from Vancouver into
[1:40:20] Portland via Interstate 2O5. At 6:47 AM, her phone took the
[1:40:27] Foster Rd. exit into a residential area of Southeast
[1:40:30] Portland. Instead of continuing toward her
[1:40:33] workplace, the phone stayed in the vicinity of a neighborhood
[1:40:37] near Glenwood Park for over 3 hours that morning.
[1:40:41] During that period, roughly 648 to 10 AM, the phone signals
[1:40:46] suggested movement between the park and one or more houses
[1:40:49] nearby. At 10 AM, the device pinged near
[1:40:53] the intersection of Flavel Street and 92nd Ave. a spot
[1:40:57] adjacent to that same park. And then it went dark, either
[1:41:01] powered off or disabled. After a full forensic review of
[1:41:07] the phone and all records, the authorities determined it was
[1:41:11] never turned on again. The area around Glenwood Park is
[1:41:17] a residential zone and it has a reputation for higher crime
[1:41:20] related activities. The phone data suggested this
[1:41:24] was not a one time occurrence either.
[1:41:26] Investigators discovered that on at least two prior occasions in
[1:41:30] the weeks before her disappearance, Christina had
[1:41:33] travelled to that same Southeast Portland vicinity.
[1:41:37] Each time, she left home around 6:30 AM and sent a text to her
[1:41:42] boss about 20 minutes later, roughly when she would be
[1:41:45] reaching the Foster Rd. exit. According to police analysis, it
[1:41:50] appeared Christina had some secret errand or meeting in that
[1:41:54] neighborhood that she hadn't shared with her husband or
[1:41:57] employer. These revelations deepen the
[1:42:01] mystery, and police were increasingly convinced that foul
[1:42:05] play was involved. The Vancouver Police Department
[1:42:08] publicly stated that Christina's disappearance was suspicious.
[1:42:13] They enlisted help from multiple agencies, including Portland and
[1:42:17] Westland police and even the FBI.
[1:42:20] Based on the evidence, detectives said there was
[1:42:22] probable cause to believe Christina's fate was linked to a
[1:42:25] serious crime or an imminently dangerous situation.
[1:42:31] With concrete evidence scarce, numerous theories have emerged
[1:42:35] about what might have happened to Christina Ace.
[1:42:38] One line of speculation centers on the secret visits to the
[1:42:41] Southeast Portland neighborhood. Some who know Christina find it
[1:42:46] hard to believe she would lie about her whereabouts unless she
[1:42:49] had a compelling personal reason.
[1:42:52] It's been speculated that she may have sparked up a hidden
[1:42:55] romance in the area. If so, it's possible she
[1:42:59] arranged A brief meet up that morning and something went
[1:43:02] terribly wrong. An acquaintance or romantic
[1:43:06] partner might have harmed her and then driven her car back to
[1:43:09] Vancouver to cover their tracks. The careful cleaning of the
[1:43:13] car's interior supports the idea that an offender tried to
[1:43:17] destroy evidence. This theory is chilling,
[1:43:21] suggesting Christina fell victim to foul play at the hands of
[1:43:24] someone she trusted. Another theory points to a more
[1:43:29] random crime. The area where her phone last
[1:43:32] pinged near Glenwood Park is known for some homeless
[1:43:36] encampments and criminal activity.
[1:43:39] It's conceivable that Christina could have been carjacked or
[1:43:41] abducted by a stranger after taking that detour.
[1:43:46] Perhaps she stopped for someone in distress or was lured into
[1:43:50] that area and then attacked. In such a scenario, the
[1:43:55] perpetrator might have driven her car back to her neighborhood
[1:43:58] to delay raising alarm. Under this scenario, they may
[1:44:02] have learned her address from her license or registration.
[1:44:07] However, this seems less likely to some random criminals,
[1:44:11] typically abandoned stolen cars or strip them for parts, not
[1:44:15] return them cleaned. The level of effort to wipe down
[1:44:19] the vehicle and place it near her home suggests a more
[1:44:22] calculated approach, which a stranger would be less motivated
[1:44:26] to do. However, without knowing why
[1:44:29] Christina went to that neighborhood, a chance encounter
[1:44:32] gone wrong seems much less likely.
[1:44:35] It's not a great neighborhood, and absolutely nobody knew why
[1:44:38] she would be there to begin with.
[1:44:43] Naturally, investigators also look close to home.
[1:44:46] Statistically, a spouse or family member is often involved
[1:44:50] when someone disappears. However, by all accounts,
[1:44:53] Christina's husband and relatives have fully cooperated
[1:44:56] with the investigation. There were no known marital
[1:44:59] problems reported publicly, and Annabelle was genuinely shocked
[1:45:04] and upset when he learned she was missing.
[1:45:07] Police have not named him or any family as suspects, and the
[1:45:11] focus seems to be elsewhere. The fact that Christina was
[1:45:15] apparently hiding something from both her husband and boss
[1:45:18] suggests that the key to this mystery might lie in that secret
[1:45:22] part of her routine. While investigators and loved
[1:45:27] ones have leaned heavily toward foul play, one possibility worth
[1:45:31] examining is that Christina may have voluntarily left her life
[1:45:35] behind. To many, this seems improbable.
[1:45:39] She was deeply committed to her nursing career, adored by her
[1:45:43] colleagues, and described as reliable to a fault.
[1:45:47] Yet the details of her disappearance raise questions
[1:45:50] that leave the door open for this theory.
[1:45:53] The most striking clue is the repeated detours Christina made
[1:45:57] in the weeks before she vanished.
[1:46:00] That secrecy hints at the potential for dissatisfaction at
[1:46:03] home or in her professional life.
[1:46:05] Choosing to start fresh elsewhere, especially for
[1:46:08] someone with her professional background and international
[1:46:11] ties, isn't beyond imagination. Another possibility
[1:46:17] investigators have quietly considered is that Christina may
[1:46:20] have been battling a private addiction.
[1:46:23] And yeah, I'm going to confess here that when I was researching
[1:46:25] this case, this was the first thing that popped into my mind.
[1:46:31] To those who knew her, Christina seemed the picture of stability,
[1:46:35] A devoted nurse, a reliable Co worker and a compassionate
[1:46:40] leader. Yet her unexplained detours into
[1:46:44] a Southeast Portland neighborhood raised the question
[1:46:47] of whether she was seeking something she didn't want others
[1:46:50] to know about. Addictions can remain hidden
[1:46:53] even from close family, especially when someone is
[1:46:56] highly functional in other aspects of life.
[1:47:00] If Christina had developed a dependency, she may have
[1:47:03] concealed it to protect her professional reputation in
[1:47:06] marriage. This could explain the secrecy,
[1:47:09] the unusual morning trips, and even why she kept those visits
[1:47:13] private. While unproven, the possibility
[1:47:17] of a secret addiction lingers as one of the darker theories in
[1:47:21] her case. If this theory is true, it could
[1:47:27] be that she overdosed and her body was dumped separately from
[1:47:30] her vehicle. If so, she may be a Jane Doe, or
[1:47:34] perhaps she's never yet been located.
[1:47:38] For now, what actually happened to Christina remains an unsolved
[1:47:41] mystery. Her family and friends remain
[1:47:44] extremely active in the search for Christina and this case is
[1:47:47] still being actively investigated by the authorities.

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