Your favourite unsolved mystery?

Widdershins · 06-04-2017 12:51PM

topmanamillion wrote: »

Just because he`s mentally ill doesn't mean he isn't intelligent. A computer coder has deciphered some of the code so based on that I'm assuming its computer code which would account for the symmetry.

There is a fine line between genius and madness.

Stars and Stripes · 06-04-2017 01:06PM

The Mary Celeste merchant ship discovered deserted off the Azores Islands, on December 5, 1872. It was found in a seaworthy condition, under partial sail, and with her lifeboat missing. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier. No trance or bodies were found of the crew on it.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abandoned-ship-the-mary-celeste-174488104/

06-04-2017 01:42PM

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

No trance or bodies were found of the crew on it.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abandoned-ship-the-mary-celeste-174488104/

The trance thing can be explained by the fact that Paul Van Dyk and other DJs really only emerged in the mid 1990s.

As for the boat itself, the exploding barrels theory is a popular one, afair some of them were uncovered and here is a further development of that theory to explain why no sign of fire was found...

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/inthenews/itn060522

Paddy Cow · 06-04-2017 10:36PM

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

The Mary Celeste merchant ship discovered deserted off the Azores Islands, on December 5, 1872. It was found in a seaworthy condition, under partial sail, and with her lifeboat missing. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier. No trance or bodies were found of the crew on it.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abandoned-ship-the-mary-celeste-174488104/

That one has been explained. They thought the cargo could explode so they entered the lifeboat which they attacked to the main ship by a rope. There was a storm which presumably cut the lifeboat from the main ship. The people on the life boat were lost at sea. After ten days, no way would they find any wreckage or bodies.

fxotoole · 21-04-2017 03:58PM

Not sure if this one qualifies as "unsolved", or "inconclusive", but it certainly is interesting:

Army Sgt. 1st Class John Hartley Robertson was shot down in Vietnam in 1968. The US Army believe him to have perished in a helicopter crash. A 76 year old Vietnamese man going by the name Dang Tan Ngoc is now claiming to be Sgt Robertson. Some men who were trained by Sgt Robertson met Ngoc and instantly recognised him as Robertson. Robertson's sister even met the man and was convinced that he was her long lost brother.

However the US Embassy in Vietnam fingerprinted the man and could not confirm that this man's fingerprints matched those of Robertson. The Robertson family funded an independent DNA test, which also came back negative.

A documentary called Unclaimed was made on the subject by a Canadian director:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unclaimed

Steve012 · 21-04-2017 04:41PM

Stars and Stripes wrote: »

The Mary Celeste merchant ship discovered deserted off the Azores Islands, on December 5, 1872. It was found in a seaworthy condition, under partial sail, and with her lifeboat missing. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier. No trance or bodies were found of the crew on it.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abandoned-ship-the-mary-celeste-174488104/

A good one indeed, but I think they figured that one out a few years ago!

Larsso30 · 23-04-2017 10:32AM

The Jill Dando case is fascinating.

Barry George never did that murder I'm convinced of that, soft target for a conviction.

take everything · 23-04-2017 11:48AM

BigCon wrote: »

D.B. Cooper

Just read that now.
Fascinating story

diomed · 23-04-2017 01:53PM

The Story of Wild Darrell

There are many variations of his "romantic and terrible" story, and even literary revisions of it, in poems and novels (notably in Sir Walter Scott's poem Rokeby).

The main points of agreement are that a midwife was collected in the middle of the night, blindfolded, and taken -- by carriage or horseback -- to a mansion, where she attended the birth of a child.

After delivery, a man entered the bedchamber, and took up the infant and either dashed its head in, or threw it in the fire, despite the pleading of the mother.
The midwife was blindfolded again, paid, and threatened to keep her mouth shut, which she did for a while, and then her conscience got the better of her -- either the next day or a month later -- and she contacted the authorities, determining it had to be Littlecote where she had witnessed the crime.

After that there was a trial -- or at least an investigation -- but Wild Darrell was never convicted, either because he had a relative serving as judge, or because he bribed the judge, or because there was insufficient evidence, or because -- although never in the stories -- he was innocent.

In any case Darrell was never the same, and died soon after from a fall from a horse that may have been spooked by the ghost of a baby in flames; the site where this happened was known as "Wild Darrell's Leap," and his ghost was also among those that haunted the area in general and Littlecote, in particular.

A racehorse named Wild Dayrell won the Epsom Derby in 1855
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Wild_Dayrell_and_Earl_of_Craven.jpg

ligerdub · 23-04-2017 02:14PM

Larsso30 wrote:

Barry George never did that murder I'm convinced of that, soft target for a conviction.

In fairness as far as innocent patsys go he was a good target for prosecutors. There was a lot of convenient coincidental stuff to pin on him.

dark crystal · 23-04-2017 07:11PM

The murder of Jodine Serrin:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-carlsbad-police-seek-clues-in-valentines-day-2011feb13-story.html

I can't imagine how awful this must have been for her parents; to have not only inadevertantly witnessed the crime, but to have let the perpertrator slip through their fingers.

Very sad.

Parchment · 23-04-2017 07:48PM

dark crystal wrote: »

The murder of Jodine Serrin:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-carlsbad-police-seek-clues-in-valentines-day-2011feb13-story.html

I can't imagine how awful this must have been for her parents; to have not only inadevertantly witnessed the crime, but to have let the perpertrator slip through their fingers.

Very sad.

Wow - just read the article. That poor girl and her poor family - i cant even being to imagine what a nightmare the parents have been living since that day.

LordSutch · 23-04-2017 08:36PM

MH370.

armchaircoach · 24-04-2017 01:28PM

diomed wrote: »

The Story of Wild Darrell

There are many variations of his "romantic and terrible" story, and even literary revisions of it, in poems and novels (notably in Sir Walter Scott's poem Rokeby).

The main points of agreement are that a midwife was collected in the middle of the night, blindfolded, and taken -- by carriage or horseback -- to a mansion, where she attended the birth of a child.

After delivery, a man entered the bedchamber, and took up the infant and either dashed its head in, or threw it in the fire, despite the pleading of the mother.
The midwife was blindfolded again, paid, and threatened to keep her mouth shut, which she did for a while, and then her conscience got the better of her -- either the next day or a month later -- and she contacted the authorities, determining it had to be Littlecote where she had witnessed the crime.

After that there was a trial -- or at least an investigation -- but Wild Darrell was never convicted, either because he had a relative serving as judge, or because he bribed the judge, or because there was insufficient evidence, or because -- although never in the stories -- he was innocent.

In any case Darrell was never the same, and died soon after from a fall from a horse that may have been spooked by the ghost of a baby in flames; the site where this happened was known as "Wild Darrell's Leap," and his ghost was also among those that haunted the area in general and Littlecote, in particular.

A racehorse named Wild Dayrell won the Epsom Derby in 1855
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Wild_Dayrell_and_Earl_of_Craven.jpg

I'm sorry, so to get this straight, they took the effort to blind fold her for both the journey to and from the location, but committed the murder in full view of her before letting her go?

and also horses spook all the time, I think made up baby ghosts are relatively low on the list of causes for this.

this whole story reeks of bull.

cml387 · 24-04-2017 03:53PM

ligerdub wrote: »

In fairness as far as innocent patsys go he was a good target for prosecutors. There was a lot of convenient coincidental stuff to pin on him.

I seem to remember even The Daily Telegraph had doubts about his guilt.

ligerdub · 24-04-2017 04:37PM

cml387 wrote: »

I seem to remember even The Daily Telegraph had doubts about his guilt.

I don't have any doubts about his innocence but there were quite a few weird idiosyncrasies of the man.

The photography/weird stalking behaviour in parks, his interest in guns, his interest in Dando herself I understand, and his relative proximity to the crime at the time.

Like I say, we know he didn't do it, but the above fits nicely into the narrative of somebody to pin the crime to.

Poor Uncle Tom · 24-04-2017 05:30PM

armchaircoach wrote: »

this whole story reeks of bull.

As opposed to what? being literal truth? :rolleyes:

oneilla · 24-04-2017 07:35PM

armchaircoach wrote: »

I'm sorry, so to get this straight, they took the effort to blind fold her for both the journey to and from the location, but committed the murder in full view of her before letting her go?

and also horses spook all the time, I think made up baby ghosts are relatively low on the list of causes for this.

this whole story reeks of bull.

I did a bit of searching and the story is from the 16th century and seems to have originated by word of mouth - some articles/postings say he was convicted and some say the midwife took a piece of one of the curtains which was later matched to that guy's mansion. It could be total fiction or a partially factual story heavily embellished with more salacious elements.

LordSutch · 24-04-2017 08:06PM

The Irish Crown jewels.

Where are they, and who took them?

Larsso30 · 26-04-2017 10:30AM

unless anyone has followed the case it wont mean much, but i would love to know what was on those basement tapes the columbine killers made. never ever been released to public, not a snippet of them

AudreyHepburn · 26-04-2017 10:55AM

A few more that always intrigue me;

The Disappearance of Trevor Deely

The Kidnapping of Shergar and particularly where he is buried.

The MH370 Mystery

Trigger · 26-04-2017 11:20AM

Larsso30 wrote: »

unless anyone has followed the case it wont mean much, but i would love to know what was on those basement tapes the columbine killers made. never ever been released to public, not a snippet of them

There is plenty of transcripts around, A time magazine reporter was given access to the 5 tapes. 2 of the tapes were released but the judge decided that the other three would not be shown. Here's a few bits of interest

https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/columbine_basement_tapes_1.0.pdf

http://lostmediaarchive.wikia.com/wiki/The_Columbine_Killers%27_3_Unreleased_%22Basement_Tapes%22_(Recorded_in_1999)

SnakePlissken · 26-04-2017 11:25AM

The story of the Beaumont Children I always found hugely upsetting, for a parent to have one child abducted is heart breaking, but to have all 3 of your children taken is on another level of cruelty.

bangkok · 26-04-2017 07:24PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Frederick_Valentich

bear1 · 26-04-2017 08:00PM

I always found this story very interesting.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annecy_shootings

omega man · 26-04-2017 08:02PM

SnakePlissken wrote: »

The story of the Beaumont Children I always found hugely upsetting, for a parent to have one child abducted is heart breaking, but to have all 3 of your children taken is on another level of cruelty.

Has stayed in my thoughts ever since the first time I read about it many years ago.

3 young kids myself and can't imagine what the parents went through. They're very old now and will likely meet their death never knowing. Absolutely off the scale tragedy.

omega man · 26-04-2017 08:05PM

The thinking sideways podcast is worth a listen if you're into mysteries. They've covered all the famous ones and many lessor known ones too.

bangkok · 26-04-2017 08:15PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident

another one i remember from a while ago... actually scary reading it, knowing what was happening in their last moments or what it was that killed them

Trigger · 26-04-2017 08:17PM

bangkok wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Frederick_Valentich

I always found this interesting. Crazy that they presumed he spotted his reflection in the water while flying upside-down.

bear1 · 26-04-2017 08:18PM

bangkok wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident

another one i remember from a while ago... actually scary reading it, knowing what was happening in their last moments or what it was that killed them

Saw the movie about that.
Unreal

Your favourite unsolved mystery?

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