These Unsolved Mysteries Are So Dark, People Are Still Thinking About Them Years Later
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BuzzFeed
Over the years, we've asked[2] the BuzzFeed Community[3] to tell us about an unsolved mystery[4] they just couldn't stop thinking about many times. There were so many comments and responses that we decided to gather the most prominent ones.
Here are the terrifying stories people shared:
Warning: Disturbing content ahead, including stories involving murder and extreme violence. Advertisement Advertisement
1.The Yogurt Shop Murders
"It is Austin's most famous unsolved murder -- four teenage girls were murdered for NO reason."
The Yogurt Shop Murders[6] took place in Austin, Texas, on December 6, 1991, when four teenage girls were found bound, shot, and killed in a burning "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt!" shop.
The case shocked the community and led to multiple wrongful convictions later overturned due to coerced confessions and mismatched DNA evidence. Despite decades of investigation and advances in forensic testing, the crime remains unsolved and is considered one of Austin's most infamous cold cases. Advertisement
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2.The disappearance/murder of Molly Bish
Getty Images
"It was all over the local news at the time, and it hit me pretty hard. Her body was found a couple of years after she disappeared, but her killer remains unknown."
Molly Bish[8] was a 16-year-old lifeguard who vanished from her post at Comins Pond in Warren, Massachusetts on June 27, 2000. According to investigators, Molly was gone just after 10:00 a.m., but wasn't reported missing until almost two hours later, and police didn't speak with her mother until after 1 p.m.
According to Molly's mother, "The crime scene was almost completely destroyed, and it has had devastating consequences to this day.
We have had little DNA to work with and little information." Advertisement Advertisement
Bish's remains were found in 2003, a few miles from the pond, in the woods.
NBC 10 Boston[9] reported in June 2023, "The search for Bish's killer has led investigators to convicted rapist Frank Sumner, who died in 2016, but more [DNA] testing needs to be done."
In June 2025[10], her family hosted a vigil marking 25 years since her disappearance, emphasizing that the investigation is still active and ongoing.
3.The sketchy disappearance of Kierra Coles
"Pregnant postal worker from Chicago missing since 2018.
She withdrew money from an ATM and then disappeared. General consensus is that she was killed, but no body was ever recovered." Advertisement
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Kierra Coles was 26 years old and roughly three months pregnant when she went missing on Oct.
2, 2018. Her last known movements on that day were captured on CCTV camera, which the Chicago police released in 2022.
According to ABC News[12], "The surveillance video showed a man -- who is considered a person of interest -- arriving at Coles's home, and later Coles and the man were seen driving away in Coles's car. At about 10:43 p.m. that night, Coles was spotted on surveillance video making ATM withdrawals -- the last known images of her, according to police.
Later that night, Coles's car was parked in another part of the city, police said.
The person of interest was seen getting out of the passenger side, but nobody got out of the driver's side, according to police. Advertisement Advertisement
The next day, the person of interest was seen parking Coles's car near her home and going inside, police said.
He then left Coles's home and drove away in his car.
When the person of interest was interviewed, police said he gave varying accounts of the last time he saw Coles."
4.The mysterious death of Mitrice Richardson
Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
"The Mitrice Richardson case is terrifying. She was showing signs of a mental health episode, was released from jail after midnight without her wallet, phone, or any way to get home, and her remains were found by park rangers 2.5 miles from the sheriff's station almost a year later.
A cause of death was never determined; her family suspects foul play, but the sheriff's department insists there's no evidence." Advertisement Advertisement
Richardson[14] was a 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton grad who went missing on Sept.
17, 2019. Richardson was last seen allegedly leaving a sheriff's station in Malibu. (Earlier, she had been detained by sheriff's deputies after a restaurant manager[15] made a citizen's arrest complaint.) Eleven months went by before her body was inadvertently found by park rangers in August 2010[16] in Malibu Canyon.
5.The upsetting disappearance of Jaquilla Scales
"I live near Wichita, Kansas, and there was a little 5-year-old Black girl named Jaquilla Scales who went missing just before 9/11 happened. Sadly, the events of 9/11 overshadowed her disappearance, and her fate has never been known."
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According to KWCH[18], "Jaquilla was 4 years old when she was last seen in her bed at around 12:30 a.m. on Sept.
5, 2001. She was discovered missing at 3:00 a.m. at her home in the 1600 block of N.
Volutsia. Six days after she disappeared, the 9/11 attacks occurred." An age progression photo[19] was released by Kansas Bureau of Investigation in 2022.
6.The murders of Kevin Ives and Don Henry
NBC
"It happened in 1987 in Alexander, Arkansas. They were two boys I attended high school with.
They were murdered and then placed on a railroad track where they were run over by a freight train. The sheriff did a HORRIBLE job at the crime scene, and the case is still unsolved." Advertisement
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According to Arkansas Online[21], "Early on the morning of Aug.
23, 1987, a Union Pacific crew spotted the bodies of Kevin Ives and Henry wrapped in a tarp on the tracks. Unable to stop in time, the train ran them over, finally coming to a complete stop in Benton where Union Pacific employees reported the incident to the police. The teenagers had stayed out late hunting the night before.
Though a gun was found near the bodies, investigators initially ruled the incident as a suicide or related to drug use; later reviews of autopsies revealed they had been murdered, their bodies placed on the track near or shortly after their deaths.
In 1988, Richard Garrett, an attorney for the victims' families, appeared on Unsolved Mysteries to discuss the murders.
During an interview with the host, Garrett said he believed the two boys 'saw something they shouldn't have seen and it had to do with drugs.' Kevin Ives' and Henry's deaths were ruled homicides in March 1990. Advertisement Advertisement
No arrests were ever made."
7.The strange disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit
Star Tribune via Getty Images
"Jodi was a news reporter who overslept for work.
Her colleague calls and wakes her and she says she will be there shortly. Jodi rushes through her morning routine and rushes to her car. She is ambushed by her car and abducted.
Left behind at the scene is a variety of her personal items and a bent car key."
Huisentruit was a news anchor in Mason City, Iowa who disappeared on June 27, 1995 on the way to work. There were apparently signs of a struggle[23] outside of her apartment, so it was presumed she was abducted. Although there were thousands of tips and interviews conducted, Huisentruit was not found and declared legally dead in 2001[24].
8.The confusing disappearance of Alexis Patterson
"She's been missing from Milwaukee since 2002.
She was 7 years old and dropped off at school by her stepfather but never made it into the building. Some people speculated that her mother and/or stepfather were somehow involved, but there was never enough evidence to arrest either of them. They insisted that they had nothing to do with her disappearance.
It's probably ridiculous, but I will always watch my kids actually walk into the building when I drop them off at school before I drive away."
According to USA Today[26], "The morning Alexis disappeared, she and her mother, Ayanna Patterson, argued over cupcakes. Alexis had planned to bring the treats to school, but she hadn't done her homework, so her mother didn't let her.
LaRon Bourgeois, Ayanna's husband, and Alexis's stepfather, told police he and his son walked Alexis to the corner between their home and the school and left her with a crossing guard, who -- according to the records -- was a fifth grader.
The reports include differing witness accounts. Some said they saw Alexis on the school grounds that morning.
Others said she had never arrived.
Two weeks after Alexis went missing, FBI behavioral analysts concluded she was most likely the victim of an 'emotion-based' homicide at the hands of her mother. Also possible, but less likely, they said, was that she had been the victim of a neighbor. The analysts noted numerous 'discrepancies' in Patterson's and Bourgeois's statements to law enforcement, friends, and the media.
The two leading theories both conclude that Alexis is likely dead, but her remains have never been found.
No one has ever confessed to taking her, let alone killing her. And there is little physical evidence to support either theory."
9.The horrifying murder of Missy Bevers
"She was teaching an early morning yoga class at a church, and her killer, who remains unknown, was caught walking around on camera in SWAT gear before murdering her.
Very disturbing!"
According to CBS News[28], "Her suspected assailant was also seen on surveillance video walking the hallways of the church early that morning, using a hammer to break windows, while wearing a helmet and tactical gear. Bevers' wounds were 'consistent with tools the suspect was carrying throughout the building,' documents said. The mother of three died of multiple puncture wounds to her head and her chest."
Related: 13 Absurdly Random, Weird, And Interesting Facts That I Refuse To Believe Are True But Somehow Actually Are[29]
10.The notorious murder of JonBenet Ramsey[30]
Helen H. Richardson / Denver Post via Getty Images
"We are about the same age and I remember being so confused as to why my parents were following her story so much on 20/20 and Dateline[31]. Then when I watched stuff about her as an adult there's just too much stuff that went wrong and so much stuff that didn't make any sense."
JonBenet Ramsey was a 6-year-old girl who was killed in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado on Dec.
25 or 26, 1996. Her death[33] was attributed to a skull fracture from a blow to the head and strangulation by a garrote that was found around her neck. The case became a media circus, largely in part because Ramsey was a child beauty pageant contestant and it received constant coverage from around the world.
It is still considered a cold case[34].
11.The depressing murder of 4-year-old Gregory Villemin
Thierry Orban / Sygma via Getty Images
"Within the span of four hours, he was abducted from his front yard, and his body was found near a local river. There's a Netflix documentary called Who Killed Little Gregory? about it. It is both heartbreaking and incredibly frustrating because he was just 4 years old, and his murder is still unsolved."
According to BBC News[36], "Hours before the boy was discovered, his hands and feet tied, his uncle said he had received a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped him.
The following day, the child's parents received a letter that said: 'Your son is dead, I have been avenged.'
The next month, a cousin of the boy's father, Bernard Laroche, was arrested when his sister-in-law, Muriel Bolle, testified against him. He was released in 1985 when she retracted her statement, but shot dead by Jean-Marie Villemin, the boy's father, weeks later.
The father went to jail for Laroche's murder for several years. The boy's mother, Christine Villemin, was also jailed for her son's murder but later cleared.
Both were later given compensation by the state for miscarriage of justice.
The case was reopened first in 2000 and then again in 2008 in an attempt to identify the DNA on the letters. Three separate traces of DNA were found but not identified."
12.The chilling disappearance of Trevor Deely
"The video surveillance of him being followed by a figure in black is terrifying. He was never seen again.
If someone did hurt/kill him, I hope justice is served."
Trevor Deely[38], a 22-year-old IT worker in Dublin, disappeared in the early hours of December 8, 2000, after leaving his work Christmas party. CCTV last captured him walking along a road around 4 a.m. in heavy rain, and he was never seen again. Despite major investigations, searches, and media appeals -- including footage of a suspicious man thought to be following him -- no trace has been found..
13.The extremely violent Nanjing University mutilation case
Charles O.
Cecil / Via Alamy
"Diao Aiqing[39] was a 19-year-old Chinese university student last seen alive in 1996. Her body was boiled and chopped up into pieces. Body parts were found in multiple trash bags, located all over the university campus.
There's been almost no progress and no solid suspects in the case. They put together all the body parts they could find to complete her body. Still haunts me to this day."--Anonymous
14.The mystifying disappearance of Asha Degree
"Why did she leave the house in the middle of the night?
Was she meeting someone? Was it someone the family knew? So many questions..."
Nine-year-old Degree was living in Shelby, North Carolina, when she went missing on Feb.
14, 2000. She left her home early that morning with her backpack, sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.[41], and walked along a nearby highway where several motorists reportedly saw her. Apparently, one person even went back to check on her and said she'd disappeared into the woods.
Despite years of searching, finding her backpack[42] was the only major clue until recent developments tied a local family to the case through DNA evidence and text messages.
However, no arrests have been made and Asha remains missing.
15.The shocking murder of Lindsay Buziak
"Her murder is a case that keeps me up at night. It's a very eerie story. Crime Junkie podcast covers her story, and there is an ID Discovery doc, too."
Lindsay Buziak was a 24-year-old real estate agent in the Victoria, Canada area who was stabbed to death on Feb.
2, 2008, while showing a property to an unnamed couple.
According to CTV News[44], "Investigators believe the couple arranged the meeting using a prepaid cellphone that was later determined to be registered to a fake name in Metro Vancouver." Lindsay's boyfriend at the time, Jason Zailo, was questioned by police; however, no charges have ever been made against him. The case remains unsolved.
16.The strange disappearance of Emma Fillipoff
"She was a Canadian woman who disappeared on Nov.
28, 2012. She was last seen outside the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia when she was 26 years old."
Shortly before her disappearance, Fillipoff had been living at a shelter in Victoria. According to CTV News[46], "Acquaintances who would see Emma around were noticing that she seemed to be acting paranoid, lost, confused, and not like herself." While outside the Empress Hotel, "Two officers came and spoke to Emma and assessed her for about 45 minutes and deemed her okay to walk away.
They didn't have any reason to hold her under the mental healthcare act." It was the last time she was seen.
17.The violent murder of Ebby Steppach
"She disappeared in 2015, and her car was found a couple of days later in a park with her belongings in it -- keys in the ignition, battery dead, and out of gas. Police believed she ran away and 'searched' the park where her car was found. Nothing happened (except a lot of police failure) for three years until the case was given to a different detective (who actually came out of retirement to work on this case).
He decided to go back and research the park her car was found in, and they found her body in a drainpipe less than 200 yards from her car (the opening to the pipe where her body was put into the drain was less than 100 feet from where her car was). The case is still unsolved, and there are so many other things about it; please look it up!"
Ebby Steppach was an 18-year-old high school student who disappeared under strange circumstances in Little Rock, Arkansas in October 2015. As mentioned above, her body was found nearly three years later, not far from where her car had initially been found.
According to Ebby's family, as revealed in a 2022[48] Dr. Phil[49] episode[50], the Little Rock Police Department allegedly claims that Ebby died by suicide, which her family disagrees with. On the same program, Ebby's boyfriend revealed that he believes Ebby had been involved in a "terrible accident" with some of her friends.
18.The suspicious disappearance of 3-year-old William Tyrrell
William Tyrrell vanished in 2014[52] while playing at his foster grandmother's home in Kendall, NSW, Australia.
Despite a massive search and a £1 million reward, he has never been found. Police now suspect he may have died in an accident at the foster home, though his foster mother, who has never been charged, denies involvement.As of 2025, the case remains unsolved, but a coronial inquest[53] is nearing its conclusion. New claims from a podcast[54] suggest convicted child offender Frank Abbott confessed to knowing where William is buried, prompting calls for a reinvestigation.
19.The upsetting disappearance of Billy Smolinski
"He's been missing since 2004.
His story was actually featured on Disappeared."
Billy Smolinski disappeared from Waterbury, Connecticut, on Aug.
24, 2004. His home on Holly Street was the last place he was ever seen, and he left behind his truck, keys, wallet, and dog Harley. However, the search was apparently "hampered" by a lack of coordination between police agencies, and according to NBC News[56], Billy's family said they were "victimized [...] by a system that didn't allow them to participate in the search."
As a result, Billy's parents lobbied Congress for "Billy's Law" for over a decade, which finally passed in 2022. (www.nbcconnecticut.com)
20, 1966
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(www.fbi.gov)