https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/english/safe_society/wanted/seijo.html

I am from near the area, it bothers me that it has not been solved.

To me, the only lead we have is DNA technology advance and legislation advance in japan, like golden state killer in USA. However, japanese legislation still disallow IGG DNA technology to be used (i.e using the killer DNA to track the relatives, using AI or whatever to reconstruct the face)

Recently in japan, a unsolved case in Nagoya (murder, 1999) was solved in 2025 due to advance of DNA technology.

Ive listened to countless Japanese news and report about this case, there are no leads even 26 years after.

The family is still alive and giving out flyers.

If you aren’t interested in the Nolan Wells case then this novel definitely isn’t for you. This is a pretty deep dive .

For outsiders looking in ,

If you want to see what systemic judicial corruption and institutionalized subtle racism looks like , this case represents it perfectly. It’s not because his 3 supposed besties were white either. There is a lot more nuance and complexity that is being drowned out by a combination of boating and rip current “experts” , those that are unwilling or incapable of acknowledging the inconsistencies presented so far in the case, and those that don’t “do” politics therefore , are completely oblivious to the corruption in their own community until they personally suffer from it .

I’m going to cover the corruption first . Hopefully by the end you should be able to identify the racism .

Im not a “Sleuth”, and I wouldn’t even consider myself a true crime junkie, but I have opinions, this is my community for a little while longer , and I have time today .

I’m not going to pretend I’m surprised by the general public response and I don’t think anyone from either side is.

I am however , disgusted by the amount of people criticizing and demonizing a family that is doing everything in their power to find out exactly what happened to their son . The lack of empathy and compassion for the family that lost a child is appalling .

For the record , I don’t think Nolan was murdered in “cold blood”. I don’t think it was a premeditated scenario . There are a lot of plausible explanations to how certain things have unfolded but there are also a lot of questionable things that happened that cannot be brushed aside or explained by “dumb teens , chasing tail, alcohol and rip currents” .

We know underage drinking and possibly drugs were involved. It’s the south , it’s the weekend, if it wasn’t a sandbar it would be an obscure field . It’s an acceptable part of society until tragedy strikes . I am neither shaming nor condoning the underage alcohol consumption .

That being said , I think whatever happens to Nolan initially was an accident but it is being covered up to protect either Warren and/or other adults. I’m kinda leaning towards other adults but not releasing the other boys from accountability or responsibility .

You don’t intend to kill someone when you drive drunk but you are still guilty of manslaughter/homicide and deserve to face consequences.

Regardless of how close the boys were, Nolan was “other” when it came down to it. Even if he never recognized it, even if he did indeed consider them besties . This is why I say that .

1) Why did his friends deactivate social media and lawyer up before Nolan’s body was even found ? I don’t give AF if people start accusing me of racism , that’s a bullshit excuse. If I have nothing to hide , then let people comb through my social media . Let them see the documented memories of my best friend and I. Let them see me support my best friends family, and grieve the person I used to hang out with daily just a few years ago .

2) In Warrens interview , pay attention to the way he speaks about Nolan . I believe it’s unintentional but it shows more than you realize
-“Nolan was always with us”
-“My buddies and Nolan “ .
- “ Nolan always tagged along out there with Us”
-He had never been to Nolan’s nor met his mother.
-All very clinical but vague, all very rehearsed . No specific touching memory , But he was like a brother?
- not emotionless per say but not the level of emotion I’d expect from someone who just lost a best friend/ brother .

Nolan is always separated . I believe they were friends sure , but I think the best friend narrative is being pushed for the same rational that Ashlee Cole claimed to know and have gone to school with Nolan’s mom . Close family friends would never harm Nolan right?

3) Why did Nolan’s family have to wait until 5 am for his coach to pick them up and take them out on the water to start searching for their son ? We all know the story of Warrens boat and the bilge pump .. but per Warrens interview , there were 2 other boats in their party ( with over 30 people between them).
And when Warren and Co realized at 11pm that Nolan did not make it back , why were they not making plans to head back out before Nolan’s family even had to ask ?
I mean they were all so close right ?
I can understand each assuming he was on the other(s) boat , but once I realized we all collectively left the homie I’d definitely be looking for a way to make it right and hopefully be able to laugh about it the next day .
Instead, Warren and Co called the coast guard, checked the “we helped box”, shut down their social media and hired lawyers . Then battened down the hatches to weather the storm.

** For the record** Conditions ARE hazardous at night that is why overnight campers are forced to stay and have to check in with the forest ranger , so they would have had no other option but to wait to go back to horn island in the morning either way.
Same reason coach picked mom and dad up at 5 am instead of immediately **

On the topic of boats , If the GPS data for Warren’s boat was published , why not the other 2? Per Warren they all arrived and left together .

Those of us who are capable of discernment and rational thinking initially questioned the fairness based on Ocean Spring’s well documented history of judicial corruption not solely because of explicit racism as mainstream media is portraying .
The tiny town of Ocean Springs has had 2 different cases that reached national news within the last 3 years alone ( Wyatt and Wells) .
-Both cases revolved around the corruption of the chancery court system and school board in Wyatt’s case.
-There have been numerous instances of first amendment retaliation and public records obstruction associated with the chancery court system specifically. All of these examples can be found on google and all are recent, with multiple cases through 2023-2026.
What is a Chancery Court and why does it matter ? In Mississippi, Chancery Court judges hold massive, unilateral power over domestic, estate, and equity law. Because they operate without juries, single judges make sweeping rulings on everything from the secrecy of public records to who holds the legal right to sue.
-Judge Ashlee Cole serves on the Chancery court and is Warrens stepmother.
-She blatantly violated Article 6 of the Mississippi constitution and code of judicial conduct . She published a highly detailed timeline and “facts” of what happened to social media .This matters because it shapes the public opinion more than other narratives based on her position alone . She knew better .
-Judge Neil Harris is notorious for closing court rooms to the public , sealing records and using strict gag orders to keep high profile controversies hidden from public view . Guess who got assigned the petition Nolan’s mother filed on July 20th?
Why does this matter ? Nolan's mother, Christine Wells Wonsley, filed a petition in the Jackson County Chancery Court on July 20, 2026. The filing explicitly sought to open an estate consisting "solely of claims for damages resulting from the circumstances surrounding his death" to clear the legal pathway for a wrongful death lawsuit.

This becomes Important when we consider the alcohol consumption .

Let’s assume that the prevailing law enforcement theory is correct and the autopsy comes back as “accidental drowning related to alcohol intoxication .
-Drugs seem unlikely for Nolan at least, considering he had D1 tryouts the following Monday .

The family of a minor who died in an alcohol related incident would generally qualify to file a wrongful death lawsuit . The adult would be held accountable under social host liability and the lawyer would have to prove illegal provision , proximate cause, and measurable damages .
Mississippi explicitly allows an 18,19, or 20 year old to posses and consume light beer or light wine only if an adult is present and consents . Hard liquor is never exempt . This makes “illegal provision” a little tricky to prove but I think negligent is a key here

In some photos the they are drinking either beer or seltzers I believe . Later the photos were noted to be altered with beverages appearing to be edited out . If it was legal for them to drink with an adult present , why edit it out ? Warren admitted driving there and back . Did he drink , I mean based on the few pictures floating around he had a few beers.Who were the other drivers ?

Who bought the alcohol?

I would now like you to think back to Judges Coles initial post made on July 7th. After trying to create a falsely positive relationship with Nolan’s Mom , she then tries to victimize herself and her family ( to justify deactivating her FB) the first line of her fact based timeline was “ Neither myself or my husband were on horn island at any point in July 4th” she goes on to provide the timeline based on her stepsons word which was ultimately verified by GPS. No mention of other boats which were part of their original party .
No mention of who arrived back with Warren or when Warren officially arrived home .
No mention of drinking .
No mention of the call tho the coast guard . No mention of joining search parties .
No shared memories of Nolan,
Just enough elicit sympathy and to plant the seed to exonerate her , her husband, and Warren to the public . Which is interesting .

Despite the vagueness she still provided timeline details on an open case which is a violation of amendment 6 .

On July 9th she decides that they will no longer be speaking to the media . Tried to elicit sympathy about death threats again and then lets the public know she is willing to communicate with Nolan’s family . If that was my son’s best friend , and I was certain nothing sinister had transpired , his mom would know everything before either lawyer. Mom to Fucking Mom . According to Warren, Nolan was at your house regularly for years . Ate at your table , slept in your home .. any yet you close yourself off , involve lawyers before his body was found , Force her and her legal team to come to you on your terms .

Her most recent post , made last night(21 Jul) after her son interview part one dropped . “ Right is Right , wrong is wrong “ For someone who was so terrified of death threats she sure doesn’t know how to shut the fuck up on social media

I know this is long winded , but details matter .

Judge Ashlee’s actions aren’t supportive , nor indicative of shared grief or loss. They are performative showmanship and forced cooperation .Her actions/manner of speaking prior to the updated post on 21 Jul are indicative of someone who has something to hide . Very much “ hit dogs holler “

But notice the change of tone on the 21st.. almost cocky .

Nolan’s mom filed the petition on the 20th granting her the ability to file a wrongful death suit . Judge Neil Harris is assigned .

The community narrative against Nolan’s mom filing the suit is very much negative , dismissive and completely lacking in empathy or compassion . They are labeled as greedy , disgusting and accused of exploiting their son’s death for financial gain .
They are consistently demeaned for not accepting their son simply drowned , despite the independent autopsy being undetermined and the initial autopsy still pending toxicology. I mean how fucking dare they have the audacity at I right ? They were told to shut up and color and the didn’t fucking do it

I’m kind hoping the corruption and who I assume bought the alcohol is blatantly obvious at this point , but just incase it isn’t let me spell it out for you .

Either Ashlee or her husband purchased alcohol for the boys . They all stayed at Warren’s house the night before , coolers with ice were loaded onto the boats at his house , the entire party of 30 all left from his house . Warrens parents probably genuinely weren’t at horn island, witnesses would have seen them . I think she highlighted their absence that to establish plausible deniability IRT the drinking . Notice how the alcohol is never directly addressed by the judge despite being a main topic of conversation .. There is quite a large crowd in the local community that attribute Nolan’s death solely as a tragic result of his decision to drink and inability to comprehend rip currents on horn island as if he did not also grow up in ocean springs or frequent the island as often as his more “knowledgeable” counterparts ….

Yet the other boys choosing to drink is never acknowledged ( interesting )

She cannot use it against Nolan to hi-light her son’s innocence and risk the topic shining a brighter light towards her because then at some point that question will be answered and she does not want that to happen in the public eye . Because then the next question will be , who drove back? and I don’t just mean the boat taking on water . According to Warren , there were 15 people on one of the boats at one point.

Hence the reason there were “so many phones , they didn’t know Nolan’s was still there”

The tow was ultimately cancelled . Therefore there is nobody to definitively place who was on the boat(s). Or the level of possible intoxication

Ashlee or her husband purchased alcohol for the boys , they were not present to supervise , they had a legal duty of care . Their son drove drunk at some point even if everyone is glossing over that . If anything happened to Nolan while he drove the boat , accidental or not , he is ultimately responsible

Maybe Nolan fell off the boat , maybe because there were so many people . Maybe he hit his head on the swimmers platform area and ended up dazed and swept into the current ? Maybe it was more sinister and there was an altercation that got out of hand . Obviously speculating and there a lot if details we will not know until the investigation concludes but lack of evidence is not clear of guilt anymore than existence of evidence of automatically guilty

Why was so much time spent in the bayou after the fact before leaving . Sure one could easily explain it away by testing after repairs … it’s convenient

Back to the courts to tie it all together :

Ashlee has continuously shaped the narrative to force this to a civil suit and into the chancery court where she has control , can seal records and implement gag orders .Especially as she continues to undermine and cast doubt on Nolan’s parents and plant them as money /drama seekers .

I don’t care how you feel about Crump or Al Sharpton. They are the only chance this family may get justice . Forcing the independent autopsy was the most critical aspect of this case , because it forces transparency and hi lights the current lack of if . It forces answers to the ME’s questions . More importantly , it forces it to go to the grand jury . It forces accountability even if it was just a tragic accident related to alcohol consumption .

Captain Michael O’Mara’s death was ruled a suicide—but his family believes he was murdered. What do you think happened?

On May 30, 1988, Cook County Sheriff’s Police Captain Michael O’Mara was found dead on the lawn near a private service area at the Cook County Courthouse. He had been shot once in the forehead.

O’Mara was a highly respected officer, an FBI Academy graduate, and was known for leading raids against organized crime in Illinois during the 1960s. By 1988, he had been transferred to a records position and was preparing for retirement.

Shortly before his body was discovered, a patrol officer noticed O’Mara’s unmarked police car parked at a gas pump with the nozzle still inside the tank. O’Mara was found nearby, slumped over a rock. His gun was lying near his right hand, and one round had been fired. His flashlight was also found near the scene.

His wallet, money, briefcase, and vehicle were undisturbed, and investigators reported no obvious signs of robbery or a struggle.

Two weeks later, the coroner ruled O’Mara’s death a suicide. His family and friends strongly disagreed.

His wife, Barbara, said that before leaving home, O’Mara asked everyone what flavor of yogurt they wanted and borrowed the last few dollars in her wallet so he could pick it up on his way back. She questioned why he would make those plans if he did not intend to return.

The family hired forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio to review the case. DiMaio argued that the overall circumstances did not resemble a typical suicide. O’Mara reportedly had no known financial, personal, or serious medical problems.

DiMaio believed O’Mara may have begun fueling his car, noticed something in the nearby field, retrieved his gun and flashlight, and walked over to investigate before being shot.

He also pointed to the gunshot wound. According to DiMaio, the muzzle appeared to have been approximately two to four inches from O’Mara’s forehead rather than pressed directly against it. He believed that detail was inconsistent with suicide.

Police offered another explanation: O’Mara had taught homicide and suicide investigations and may have intentionally held the gun away from his head to make his death appear suspicious.

Do you think the physical evidence supports suicide, homicide, or possibly an accidental shooting? And what evidence would you want reexamined if the case were reopened?

Unfortunately, his wife Barbara died in 2022 without getting justice for her husband. Derek Levasseur (name may be butchered) just did a great youtube video on this case and it’s fascinating to me. They quickly ruled it suicide and Barbara would have been ineligible for life insurance and other payouts so because of that (and wanting justice for her husband) hired Dr. DiMaio to review the case and he argued this was not a suicide and instead a homicide. She filed suit and eventually won the payout. Incredibly, the police department came out and fought this…insisting it was a suicide. In my opinion he was killed by another cop but could have been someone he previously arrested. Crazy that this story hasn’t received much traction.

This article takes a deep dive into this case: https://ipsn.org/who-killed-mike-omara/

So, at this moment in time, we don't know what happened to Nolan Wells yet. However, you'd think that the armchair detectives were right there to witness his demise, the way they are INSISTING that out of hundreds of people on the island, he just happened to be the only one who drowned, and completely dismissing any other theory that doesn't fall within their narrative. Here's the truth.

WE DON"T KNOW IF THERE WAS FOUL PLAY YET.

WE DON'T KNOW IF HE JUST ACCIDENTALLY DROWNED YET.

What we do know, is that Nolan's "friends" side of the story has plenty of holes that OBJECTIVELY make very little sense.

-If Nolan's "friends" were such good friends, and what they're saying about him taking a different boat is true, why didn't they at the very least, check in with him to find out how he was getting back to the mainland? Who was giving him a ride? That's what a friend would do, right? Am I crazy for thinking that? And if they knew they were leaving him on the island, and didn't even know who he was coming back with, why did they depart with Nolan's ONLY means of communication? Dont bore me with "DERP there's no service on the island". NOLAN'S FRIEND WARREN STATED HIMSELF THAT WHILE SERVICE ISN'T THE BEST, PHONES ARE USABLE. ALSO, NOLAN STILL NEEDED HIS PHONE FOR WHEN HE GOT BACK TO THE MAINLAND TO CONTACT PEOPLE FOR RIDES AND LET PEOPLE KNOW HE WAS BACK. The friends wouldnt have considered this? They felt fine leaving with Nolan's phone, but no Nolan?

- NOLAN"S FRIENDS STORY AND KATIE'S STORY ARE COMPLETELY CONTRADICTORY. Nolan's "friends" said Nolan chose to stay on the island and get a ride with someone else, but they somehow didn't know who. Yet the girl who he stayed to talk to has CONSISTENTLY stated that Nolan informed her that he was riding back with the same friends he came with. Nolan DID NOT both tell the girl he was going back with his friends, and then tell the friends he was going with someone else. BOTH CANNOT BE TRUE.

If Nolan had other friends with a boat there, why didn't he just ride with them initially? How did the friends not know who these other friends were, if they were such good friends?

Whose story is more believable? The friends? Or Katie? Which party has more incentive to lie? Nolan's friends, who hid the fact that they still had his phone from Nolan's loved ones, until Nolan's mother surprised them with a tracking app visit? Or a random girl who Nolan wanted to talk to?

-If you're a high school student and your "friend" goes missing on a remote island, and you have their most important possession (phone), wouldn't you go to your friends parents house as soon as you got back, and give them the phone? Or at the very least, give the phone to law enforcement, and go to your friends parents house and offer to help with the search investigation?

Or would you hide the fact that you had his phone, and only give it up when his parents randomly show up at your door and inform you that a tracking device installed on the phone led them to your house?

Yes, I'd do the former also, if said person was my good friend. You know what else I'd do? Talk to my friends parents when they showed up to my house, and offer as much info as I could to them.

You know who didn't do that? Nolan's "friends". Nolan's father stated in a press conference that when he arrived at the friends house where Nolan parked that day, the friends were extremely evasive, and made it clear that they weren't comfortable talking with him, and once they gave Nolan's keys to his Dad (which they told him they couldnt find btw), they hid in the house and left the Dad standing on the driveway until the police arrived.

Sound sketchy? That's because for any rational person who knows how friends act with each other when one is in distress, it IS sketchy, to say the very least.

-In the Officer Tatum interview just released with Warren (Nolan's best friend and brother, according to Warren), Warren states that him and his friends communicated with Katie the next day asking what happened. According to Warren, Nolan had been with Katie all day and the 2 of them were hanging out near their other friend's boat. When the boat started having issues, Warren's friend was yelling at Nolan to "get the f**** on the boat" so they can leave. Nolan said no, that he was staying on the island with Katie and would find a different ride back, and then the friend left. Then Warren goes on to state that Katie then stated that Nolan left her immediately after Warren and his friend left......

So, according to Warren, Nolan tells his friends that he's going to stay with Katie, and then as soon as the friends' boat leaves, Nolan immediately leaves Katie, and never goes back to her again that day?

I want you to think about that statement.

The police REALLY need to find out which story is the truth, Katie, or Nolan's friends.

Bob Cyphers, who wrote a book on the I-70 Killer and has covered the case for years, gave a big update here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIk7Xi514IA&t=1982s (Beginning around 51:05).

Cyphers says police brought a good suspect in for questioning during the spring. He said "Charge me or I'm out of here," then left.

Cyphers said they're keeping a close look on the suspect and "camping out." He added the cops think "this is their man."

Louis Le Prince is widely considered to have built a motion-picture camera years before Edison. He filmed his own family walking through a garden in 1888, in what's generally considered the earliest surviving motion picture.

In 1890, he boarded a train in France to show the world what he'd built. He never arrived in Paris. Six foot four, hard to miss, and not one passenger ever remembered seeing him.

Most people jump straight to Edison. And honestly, the timing is why the theory survives. Edison filed his own camera patent weeks after Louis vanished. But there's zero evidence tying him to anything that happened in France.

As far as the record goes, the last person to see Louis alive was his own brother. Every detail about that goodbye comes from him and nobody else.

Louis's son Adolphe spent years trying to get his father recognized as the real inventor. He finally won part of that fight in court in 1898. Three years later, he was found dead near the family's cottage, a gun beside him. Officially, it was ruled a suicide. His mother never believed it.

The earliest surviving motion picture is just Adolphe as a teenager, walking in circles around his grandparents in a garden. Not twenty-nine yet. Not dead yet. Just walking.

There was a post over 3 years ago on r/truecrime where someone shared a possibility of this john doe being Robert Fisher. However the main thing that stood out was the shoe size being different.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrime/s/XZPK3UpVir

The body was found in Florida, and Fisher is known to have ties in Florida according to his FBI Wanted profile.

In October 1996, a woman checked into Seattle’s Hotel Vintage Park using the name Mary A. Anderson. She claimed to be from New York, paid over $350 in cash for a two-night stay, and gave a false address and phone number. She spent the entire time alone in Room 214 with a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and never contacted hotel staff.
When she failed to check out, employees entered the room and found her dead on the bed. She had died by suicide after drinking cyanide mixed with Metamucil. She was carefully groomed, wearing makeup, with an open Bible resting on her chest. Beside her was a handwritten note that read: “I have decided to end my life. No one is responsible for my death… I have no relations. You can use my body as you choose.”
Investigators initially believed identifying her would be easy. Instead, every lead failed. Her fingerprints matched no records, her dental records produced nothing, the New York address was fake, and searches through the FBI, Interpol, Canadian authorities, and missing-person databases all came back empty. More than 200 tips were investigated over the years, but none led to her true identity.
The autopsy revealed she was likely between 35 and 45 years old, had undergone breast surgery, had never given birth, and appeared to have planned her death with remarkable care. Investigators even tried tracing the cyanide and her clothing, but every avenue ended in a dead end.
Nearly 30 years later, no one knows who “Mary Anderson” really was. She was buried as Jane Doe in an unmarked grave in Seattle, making her one of America’s most enduring unidentified-person cases.

In 2021, King County Medical Examiner's Office has partnered with Othram to use advanced DNA testing and forensic genealogy to establish an identification of, or to find the closest living relatives to the unknown woman. Funds to support the case are being raised on the DNASolves Crowdfunding platform. The case is also logged in NamUs as UP12916.

The neighbor noticed the mail first.

Lorenz Schlittenbauer had been watching the Gruber farm for days. No smoke from the chimney. No movement in the yard. Four days after he'd last seen anyone there, he walked over with two other men to check.

Six bodies. The family, their new maid on her first day of work, a two-year-old in his cot. All killed with a mattock, a farming tool shaped like a pickaxe, sometime during the night of March 31, 1922.

Before it happened, Andreas Gruber had already found strange footprints in the snow leading toward the farm, with none leading back out. He'd heard unexplained noises from the attic more than once. A newspaper nobody in the house subscribed to turned up on the step. He told his neighbors about all of it. He never called the police.

What nobody expected was what came after.

The killer didn't run. Investigators believe he stayed for days. The livestock got fed. Food went missing from the kitchen. Someone tore a page off the wall calendar the next morning, the same way the family always did it, like the day was just starting like any other.

Whoever this was wasn't panicking. He was living there.

Over a hundred people were questioned. Neighbors, relatives, a man once engaged to the eldest daughter. Every lead went cold. A hundred and three years later, the mattock is still the only thing anyone's sure of.

Which detail sticks with you most the footprints, the attic noises, or the killer staying behind? And if you had to pick a theory, which one actually holds up for you?

technically not an unsolved case, but many still consider it to be. I also don’t know much, so here’s links to some articles -

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article258176483.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/dixie-mafia-murder-durham-north-carolina.html

https://thewilkesrecord.com/50-year-durham-family-murder-mystery-solved-p3716-149.htm

https://www.wsav.com/news/local-news/georgia-news/50-year-old-triple-murder-boone-augusta-north-carolina-durham/

https://www.hcpress.com/announcements/local-historian-releases-long-awaited-chronicle-of-the-durham-family-murders.html

https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/dixie-mafia-murders-of-durham-family-in-north-carolina-solved

a youtube video -

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0gmAbj0G_Q0

and a book (only a dollar if you have kindle membership, otherwise pretty expensive) -

https://www.amazon.com/CONVOLUTED-Durham-Family-Triple-Homicide/dp/B0DDLK8GTY

on the topic.

what I do know is that the murder took place on February 3rd, 1972, in Boone, North Carolina. (i’ve gone down this rabbit hole because my father was eight at the time) The victims were married couple Bryce Durham, (male, 51) Virginia Durham, (Female, 44) and their son, Bobby Joe Durham (Male, 18). They were found bound and face down or kneeling into an overflowing bathtub. Forensics revealed Virginia died purely by manual strangulation, while Bobby and Brice were both brutally beat, strangled, and ultimately died drowning in their own bathtub. I also know this was a jaw dropping shock to a small town like Boone. People who previously slept with their doors unlocked began locking them, and the town was shook, riddled with fear. There was also a call. Virginia called her son in law, Troy and her daughter Ginny, saying three men were outside badly beating Bryce and Bobby. She became more frantic when they made their way inside, and the phone cut off. Police later discovered the core had been ripped out of the wall. Troy and Ginny desperately tried to make their way only four miles to Ginnys parents (and Troy’s parents in law) house. After their car wouldn’t start due to an ongoing snowstorm generating over 40mph winds, they requested a ride from Cecil Smith, a neighbor. Actually, my dad got rather quiet when I asked if he knew Cecil from the town. He said yes and quickly changed the subject, pretending not to hear any further questions. Another Reddit thread on this case, where I got Cecil’s name from, described (her?) as an “odd character” (according to this persons grandmother) even consistently Telling people that she met Lee Harvey Oswald just hours before the JFK assassination and even riding in his car for directions. whether this is true or not I have no idea, but my dad described it as “crazy” and “ridiculous“ before changing the suspect, so I’m assuming Cecil was kinda a nut job. (Idk if she or he) Troy and Ginny finally make it to their parents house, only to find them dead, bound and face down in the bathtub. Police struggled for years for any sort of lead on the case, and after 50+ years of it being a cold case, they decided on the Dixie Mafia. The sole surviving suspect of four, the getaway driver, said they were actually paid to take out the entire family, but did not know, or would not reveal, who paid them, my dad on the other hand, basically said all the Dixie Mafia stuff is bullshit.

other info / leads / contradictions -

the house was found ransacked, with a massive duffel bag of cash left untouched

a rental car from Bryce’s company was left running with the headlights on parked in front of the house

All identified suspects were white, and Ginny, Virginia Durhams daughter, reported her describing the men using a racial slur. (I don’t know which)

Billy Sunday Birt was the groups leader, died in prison in 2017 before the case was solved

Bobby Gene Gaddis and Charles David Reed were the other two convicted, though they also died before the case was solved.

okay, i will let the article(s) and book speak the rest, but if you have any information, any leads or anything you find interesting or odd, a helpful article you found, or completely different (or not so different) theory than the one the police landed on, please please please add!

On October 8th, 1976, in a soy bean field six miles north of Otterbein, Indiana, the Skoog family were harvesting their crops when they ran into a cardboard box that smelled terrible. Opening it up, they found an elderly woman tied up with rope and plastic wrap, shot in the back of the head, wearing a green pantsuit containing a broken perfume bottle. She had been dead for about ten days and there is evidence that the box was dropped by helicopter (though some detectives disagree with this).

She would remain unidentified until the case was reopened in 2019, when laborious genetic testing finally uncovered her origins in 2026 as the orphan of Croatian immigrants to Ohio in 1905. As an adult she moved to Chicago where she simply vanished. It's uncertain if a murder investigation will be opened because her killer(s) are probably dead by now. (But we would really, really like to know who killed her.)

Edit: whoops, got the states where she disappeared and where she was found mixed up: she vanished in Illinois and was found in Indiana.

Stumbled upon this by complete chance and it doesn’t have much traction yet. Rebecca Coriam is still missing, since March 2011.

I learned about the case a couple of weeks ago and found it so unsettling that I couldn’t stop thinking and reading about it.

For those unfamiliar with the case:

On February 24, 1978, five young men from Yuba City, California, attended a college basketball game before disappearing on their drive home. Their car was later found abandoned on a remote mountain road, about 70 miles (110 km) from the route they should have taken. Over the following months, four of the five men were found dead from exposure or its effects, while the 5th (Gary Mathias) was never found. Why the group drove deep into the mountains, abandoned a functional car, and ended up where they did remains one of the most puzzling mysteries in the United States.

Based on evidence and testimonies, I’ve built a narrative that helped me find logic in such a puzzling case, and I’m only sharing this because it might help other people who are unsettled about it as well. Maybe others have come to similar narratives already.

A few points that stand out before getting into the narrative:

- Jack Madruga reportedly knew the route home well. He had driven it several times for previous basketball games and other activities. Driving over 70 miles in the opposite direction without realizing it seems difficult to reconcile with that.

- Gary Mathias had military experience and reportedly knew there were Forest Service cabins in the area. If anyone in the group was likely to know of a possible refuge, it was him.

- The Ford Montego wasn’t heavily immobilized. Later reports suggested it could probably have been easily pushed by the group. Combined with the rolled-down windows, it feels more like the group intentionally abandoned the car in a rush than simply gave up on it.

My reconstruction is this:

Post-game, around 10 pm, after leaving the convenience store, the group is on their way home, excited about the basketball tournament the next morning.

Somewhere along the road, they encounter someone who frightens them. Whether it was the local criminal Gary reportedly had previous problems with, a group of bullies, or someone else, I don’t know. The important part isn’t who (too many different leads here) — The important point of this reconstruction is that the group truly believed they were in danger.

They take the road to Oroville while trying to get away. Once fear takes over, nobody is paying attention to navigation anymore. They just keep putting distance between themselves and whatever scared (and probably followed) them.

Eventually, they reach the snowy mountain road. Gary tells the group he knows cabins nearby where they can hide until morning. At this point, turning around may no longer feel safe. If they’re convinced someone is following them, continuing forward may actually seem like the better option.

At a certain moment, when the car got stuck, they also realized that it was leaving tracks that could lead to the group, but on foot, they could disappear into the woods until reaching the cabins.

Unfortunately, due to stress, panic, and night disorientation, they underestimated the distances. It’s dark, freezing, and everyone is dressed for a basketball game, not a night in the mountains. As they walk, hypothermia begins to criple and affect judgment.

At some point, one member becomes too weak to continue. Another stays with him. Now we have Bill and Madruga behind trying together to stay alive, while the others press on, planning to return with help. Only James, Ted, and Gary eventually reach the Forest Service trailer.

The following day, Gary leaves to find help. Given his military background and better physical condition, this would be the logical decision. He wears Ted’s shoes, which were more appropriate for the weather. However, severe snow, exhaustion, and the terrain ultimately claim his life before he can return. His remains are never found.

James and Ted, unable to survive on their own for much longer, eventually die from exposure.

Important note: Gary had military experience, no intellectual disability, and was generally regarded as the most capable member of the group. For that reason, I personally find it difficult to believe he would have survived for weeks in the trailer without making use of the available food and heating resources. That scenario seems more plausible if Gary had already left in search of help, while Ted and James stayed together in the cabin.

Of course, this reconstruction is speculation, but this reconstruction doesn’t require an elaborate murder conspiracy or dozens of unrelated coincidences. It only requires a single triggering event—a confrontation that frightened the group enough to flee—which then led to a series of increasingly bad decisions amplified by darkness, snow, and hypothermia.

To me, that explains the 70+ miles detour, the decision to abandon the car, the trek toward the trailer, Gary’s apparent presence there, and his eventual disappearance better than the idea that five excited young men simply became hopelessly lost on a familiar route.

Any thoughts?

In short: Jeannie Wagner was a young woman whose mother Patsy always seemed troubled, and after Patsy died by suicide, Jeannie discovered that her biological father was not the man who raised her, but rather a young serviceman her mother had met in her teenage years.

I loved this story. The fact that Duncan's wife Suzanne was the one who ultimately got them in touch was very heartwarming. Given that Duncan was asleep at the time of the episode's airing, Suzanne could have very easily hid the truth from him, but she heard Jeannie's description of Duncan via her mother's diary as the kindest man in the world, and Suzanne instantly thought, "That's my Duncan." It was ultimately because of Suzanne that Jeannie and Duncan were reunited and were able to know each other as father and daughter, and Duncan was able to have a relationship with his only grandsons. Sadly, Duncan passed away at what would be considered today as the relatively young age of 68, meaning he and Jeannie only had about 7 years together. Even more tragically, Jeannie's son and Duncan's grandson passed away in 2022 just shy of his 42nd birthday. https://www.smithfamilycares.com/obituaries/joshua-wagner

I can't help but wonder what happened to Joshua, but regardless, I'm glad that Duncan and Jeannie and the rest of their family were able to enjoy some time together.

I am creating this thread as my family want answers. In 2006 someone related to me supposedly committed "suicide" as investigators say, but many believe something else happened. Please somebody look into this and get answers to the family, it has been a cold case since 2006. https://ohiomysteries.com/ohio%20mysteries/1987-the-consolidated-road-murders

At 7:06 PM, October 21st, 1978, a 20-year-old pilot named Frederick Valentich radioed air traffic control over Bass Strait, Australia, asking if there was any known traffic near him.

There wasn't supposed to be. He said he could see one anyway, close enough to make out bright lights and a metallic surface. It seemed to be playing some kind of game with him, he said. Then it started circling. Then his engine began running rough.

Asked to identify what he was looking at, he gave the answer that's outlived him for almost fifty years now: "It's not an aircraft."

Seventeen seconds of unexplained sound followed. Then the radio went silent. No wreckage or body was ever found. Years later, an engine cowl flap washed ashore, but it was never conclusively linked to Valentich's aircraft.

The case remains officially unexplained. What do you think Frederick Valentich actually saw?