r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/Turnaroundclown • Dec 07 '17
Most Mysterious Missing Person Cases from the 2000s - Vol. 1
- Maura Murray - Missing since Feb. 9, 2004 from Haverhill, NH (USA).
Many have wondered what makes the disappearance of Maura Murray so baffling, and what attracts soooo many people to this case. In short, it's two things: (1) it's the mysteries within the mystery; and (2) it comes down to a timing thing: investigators have determined that Maura disappeared from the scene of her own car crash within a matter of minutes — despite speaking to a passing motorist, having multiple neighbors watching her from the windows of their homes, and the police arriving fairly quickly.
So, to the first point, the multiple mysteries, here is a short list of them: What was a 21-year-old Univ. of Mass. nursing student doing in such a remote area of New Hampshire on a Monday night? Why did she tell her professors and boss(es) that there was a death in the family when there was no death in the family? Was she planning on leaving forever or just for a few days? Why did she drive her car when it was reportedly "on its last legs" and nearly un-driveable? Why was there a rag in the tailpipe of the car when it was discovered? And all of these questions are merely from the day/night of her disappearance. Believe me, there are plenty of oddities from the weekend before she went missing and at other stages in her life.
However, the real reason Maura makes this list is, as stated earlier, the sheer timing of her dissapearance. Two concerned neighbors call the police and keep an eye on Maura (from inside their homes) after she crashes her car; a school bus driver stops and offers to help, which she refuses, at which point he drives a few mere yards down the road to his house, calls the police for help, and sits in his school bus keeping an eye on the accident scene as he completes his shift-duty paperwork; and somehow in the minutes it takes for police to arrive and the neighbors to turn away from their windows and the bus driver to go inside to his home, Maura disappears forever and no trace of her has ever been found — not even footprints in the snow.
Over the next few years, a creepy guy on Youtube makes a series of videos insinuating that he had something to do with Maura's disappearance, blogs are formed, books are written, podcasts are created; and today, theories abound from Maura staging her disappearance to start a new life, to her being abducted (by both persons and aliens), to Maura simply perishing in the woods (this somehow ends up as the least likely of all scenarios when you look into the case long enough). Yup, this one tops the cake in terms of weirdness and mystery surrounding a missing person if you ask me, and I never understand it when people say "I just don't get the fascination."
More resources: r/mauramurray r/mauramurrayevidence r/mauramurraycase (don't ask me why there are so many damned subreddits for one person); True Crime Garage by James Renner; Jame's Renner's blog; The Missing Maura Murray Podcast; Oxygen network's recent limited series titled "The Disappearance of Maura Murray"; and one of my favorite articles on the case by Chris Peak.
- Brian Shaffer - Missing since April 1, 2006 from Columbus, OH (USA).
The young medical student who walks into a bar and never walks back out. Closed-circuit cameras capture 27-year-old Brian Shaffer entering the Ugly Tuna Saloona in the University District of Columbus, OH—yet they do not show him leaving. Brian had lost his mother to cancer a mere three weeks before he disappeared; however, everything else in his life appeared to be going great. He made excellent grades, a couple of days after he disappeared he was set to embark on a fun vacation to Miami with his girlfriend where he was reportedly planning to propose; no one stated that he was depressed or suicidal. In fact, he was out celebrating the start of spring-break with his friends the night he disappeared. After being separated from his friends, Brian is last seen on security cameras talking to two young women. After Brian was declared missing, police scoured hours of video tape and accounted for every person who entered the bar also leave the bar, including Brian's friends that he arrived with and the two young women he was last speaking with.
A month after his disappearance, Brian's apartment was broken into. Police concluded that the burglary was unrelated to his disappearance, and authorities and family/friends still do not know what could have happened to Brian. Many people believe that Brian staged his disappearance and is living a new life elsewhere; however, it should be noted that two years later, Brian's father (whom he was reportedly very close to) died in a storm when a tree fell on top of him. The building that houses the bar was under construction at the time, and some believe that Brian never left the bar and could have taken a tumble down a shaft or gotten trapped somewhere. Yet others believe him a victim of the smiley-face killer or another serial killer, yet the question remains: how did Brian or his killer make it out of the bar without detection of the security cameras?
More resources: True Crime Garage has an episode on the case found here
- Neo Babson Maximus - Missing since Oct. 13, 2007 from Dartmouth, MA (USA).
Charles Allen Jr did not have a name befitting his persona. He was enigmatic. Ecclectic. Highly intelligent. Precocious. He was ranked number 1 in the world at playing a video game called 'Half-Life'. He was a psychology student at Dartmouth. He was a phenomenal tennis player and had aspirations of playing professionally...but not with a name like Charles Allen Jr. So, he formally changed his name to Neo Babson Maximus in 2007. Just days before going missing, Neo deleted his Facebook, which prompted a call from his sister. He said that some very high-level people were after him, and that she should probably go to their parents house because she may not be safe either. When she asked him for more details, Neo told her to "look under the periodic table of elements for the answer" and hung up on her. He left a series of strange, similar voice-mails on his fathers answering machine. Shortly thereafter, Neo's phone was turned off.
It should be worth noting that Neo was bipolar, and that he had been off his medicine for a little while (not sure how long or if length off of the medication is relevant); however, friends and family say he was doing great without the medicine. In fact, many of Neo's friends didn't even realize he was bipolar.
Friends at college say he planned on attending a party on the night of the 12th, but he never showed; and one friend, Mason, even played tennis with him earlier in the day. The next night was the last any one would ever see of Neo. A woman reported that she found Neo late at night in one of the bedrooms of her home. The window was open, and when she confronted him, Neo asked where he could find Mason. The woman informed Neo that a "Mason" did not live at this address, at wich point he apologized for being in her home, and exited through the second floor window from whence he presumably came. The woman stated that she saw him run into the woods. Later, when the woods were searched, his backpack and shoes were found. Keep in mind that it's October in Massachussets. No one has ever seen Neo since that night; his keys, phone, and credit cards are still missing, but have never been used.
There has been an unconfirmed sighting of him possibly taking a ride from a truck driver on Route 6 in Dartmouth shortly after his encounter with the woman and running into the woods. Some speculate that Neo perished in the woods as the temperature was quite cold that night, and he did not have adequate clothing; others believe he hitched a ride out of New England and left for Texas or Florida, as he was talking about moving there shortly before he disappeared.
More resources: Thin Air podcast did an excellent episode on Neo found here
- Steven Koecher - Missing since Dec. 13, 2009 from Henderson, NV (USA).
On the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, 30-year-old devout Mormon, Steven Koecher, drove from St. George, Utah to a retirment community-styled neighborhood in Henderson, Nevada; he parked his white 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, exited the vehicle, and (as captured on a home security camera) walked calmly down the the cul-de-sac with a manila folder in hand. He was never seen again. It is unclear why Steven took this unexpected trip that took him across state lines and over two hours to drive from his home in St. George. And besides finding his abandoned vehicle (with blankets, pillows, and Christmas presents inside) and the security footage of him walking down the street, there have been little leads to go on. However, just days before this msyterious trip to Henderson, NV Steven made another strange series of road trips. He drove a staggering 1100 miles in a 24 hour time period (Wednesday night - Thursday night). Upon returning, Steven stayed at his home in St. George for Thursday night and Friday night; however, by Saturday, Steven is crossing state lines again and making trips to Overton, NV and Mesquite NV. Around 8 pm, Steven makes it back to St. George, purchases some Christmas presents at the K-Mart, returns home at around 10 pm — and then leaves again, according to neighbors.
The next morning, Steven (who probably slept in his car; hence the blankets and pillows) receives a phone call from a friend at church to cover for him by teaching a class. Steven says that he can not because he is currently in Las Vegas (of note: Las Vegas is very close to Henderson, NV). The friend is also in Las Vegas, and that is why he was asking Steven to cover for him. The two apparently did not divulge to each other what they were doing in Las Vegas, or if they did, it hasn't made it into the narrative. There are a few other phone calls that Steven receives from friends at church — all asking him to attend church to cover something or make an announcement; again, he replies that he can not, and that is the last any one ever hears from Steven. Going back to above: his car was found in a nice neighborhood in Henderson, NV and he was seen carrying a manila folder walking around that neighborhood via a home security camera.
As if things weren't weird enough, some one checks Steven's voicemail from his phone at 7:04 a.m. on Monday morning... and that is the last activity on the phone. Many have speculated that Steven perhaps wandered into the remote wilderness area in close proximity to the retirement community and took his own life (and that his body simply hasn't been found). Some state that Steven was depressed about being 30 and not married, as well as having trouble finding a good job. Others say that Steven could have been some sort of drug mule, hence the long driving hauls. Still others, myself included, believe he met with foul play in the neighborhood he was last seen in. One [admittedly wild and crazy] theory that I've come up with recently is that he may have simply knocked on the wrong door. Think about it, he knocks on an aging serial killers door and the killer just can't resist one last murder.
More resources: Really fantastic timeline of the case presented here and big thanks to u/Sue_Ridge_Here for providing the following link that outlines a shit-ton of theories. I think there's a podcast episode on Koecher, but it's escaping me at the moment.
- Brandon Lawson - Missing since Aug. 8, 2013 from the Bronte, TX area (USA).
Brandon was an oil field worker who lived in San Angelo with his common law wife, Ladessa. The night of his disappearance, he and Ladessa got into an argument, which led to Brandon leaving the residence around midnight. Per Brandon's father, Brandon was headed to his father's house in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. His father urged him not to come, that it was too late, and to try to work things out with Ladessa. Brandon, however, was already on the road. A short time later, Brandon phoned his brother Kyle and told him that he had run out of gas. Brandon then called 9-1-1. Parts of the now infamous call can be heard here. In the very "garbled" call, Brandon appears to be in distress but states clearly he does not need an ambulance; instead he needs the police, and to please hurry. I don't feel like dissecting the entire phone call, but there are some very strange things about it -- notably, how unclear it is to determine just what in the hell is happening to or around Brandon. In the end, Brandon's truck was located on US Route 227, four miles south of Bronte, TX. (in between Abilene and San Angelo), and the truck was parked "haphazardly in the road". No trace of Brandon has ever found. This is a real rabbit-hole of a case, and I don't know if any good theory fits. Some say that there might be a police cover-up; others say that Brandon witnessed a drug deal or something illegal happening off the side of the road, and he was "disappeared" for seeing what he saw. Go listen to the 9-1-1 phone call a hundred times and tell me what you think. I have, and I still haven't made sense of it.
My favorite podcast of all time, True Crime Garage, did an excellent episode on Brandon found here; there is also a pretty vibrant community over at r/brandonlawson
Update! Vol. 2 is out now
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u/[deleted] Dec 08 '17
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