Dyaltov Pass incident III



Related reports

12-year-old Yury Kuntsevich, who later became the head of the Yekaterinburg-based Dyatlov Foundation (see below), attended five of the hikers' funerals. He recalled that their skin had a "deep brown tan".

Another group of hikers (about 50 kilometres south of the incident) reported that they saw strange orange spheres in the night sky to the north on the night of the incident.[2] Similar spheres were observed in Ivdel and adjacent areas continually during the period from February to March 1959, by various independent witnesses (including the meteorology service and the military).[2]
Aftermath

In 1967, Sverdlovsk writer and journalist Yuri Yarovoi (Russian: Юрий Яровой) published the novel Of the Highest Degree of Complexity,[5] inspired by the incident. Yarovoi had been involved in the search for Dyatlov's group and at the inquest as an official photographer during both the search and the initial stage of the investigation, and so had insight into the events. The book was written during the Soviet era when details of the accident were kept secret and Yarovoi avoided revealing anything beyond the official position and well-known facts. The book romanticized the accident and had a much more optimistic end than the real events – only the group leader was found deceased. Yarovoi's colleagues say that he had alternative versions of the novel, but both were declined because of censorship. Since Yarovoi's death in 1980, all his archives, including photos, diaries and manuscripts, have been lost.

Anatoly Gushchin (Russian: Анатолий Гущин) summarized his research in the book The Price of State Secrets Is Nine Lives (Цена гостайны – девять жизней).[4] Some researchers criticized the novel due to its concentration on the speculative theory of a Soviet secret weapon experiment, but its publication led to public discussion, stimulated by interest in the paranormal. Indeed, many of those who had remained silent for thirty years reported new facts about the accident. One of them was the former police officer, Lev Ivanov (Лев Иванов), who led the official inquest in 1959. In 1990, he published an article which included his admission that the investigation team had no rational explanation for the accident. He also stated that, after his team reported that they had seen flying spheres, he then received direct orders from high-ranking regional officials to dismiss this claim.[6]

In 2000, a regional television company produced the documentary film The Mystery of Dyatlov Pass (Тайна перевала Дятлова). With the help of the film crew, a Yekaterinburg writer, Anna Matveyeva (Russian: Анна Матвеева), published a fiction/documentary novella of the same name.[7] A large part of the book includes broad quotations from the official case, diaries of victims, interviews with searchers and other documentaries collected by the film-makers. The narrative line of the book details the everyday life and thoughts of a modern woman (an alter ego of the author herself) who attempts to resolve the case.

Despite its fictional narrative, Matveyeva's book remains the largest source of documentary materials ever made available to the public regarding the incident. In addition, the pages of the case files and other documentaries (in photocopies and transcripts) are gradually being published on a web forum for enthusiastic researchers.[8]

A Dyatlov Foundation was founded[year needed] in Yekaterinburg, with the help of Ural State Technical University, led by Yuri Kuntsevitch (Юрий Кунцевич). The foundation's stated aim is to convince current Russian officials to reopen the investigation of the case and to maintain the Dyatlov Museum to preserve the memory of the dead hikers.

Explanations
Avalanche Edit
The theory that an avalanche caused the hikers' deaths, while initially popular, has since been questioned. Reviewing the sensationalist "Yeti" hypothesis (see below), American skeptic author Benjamin Radford suggests as more plausible;

"that the group woke up in a panic (...) and cut their way out the tent either because an avalanche had covered the entrance to their tent or because they were scared that an avalanche was imminent (...) (better to have a potentially repairable slit in a tent than risk being buried alive in it under tons of snow). They were poorly clothed because they had been sleeping, and ran to the safety of the nearby woods where trees would help slow oncoming snow. In the darkness of night they got separated into two or three groups; one group made a fire (hence the burned hands) while the others tried to return to the tent to recover their clothing, since the danger had apparently passed. But it was too cold, and they all froze to death before they could locate their tent in the darkness. At some point some of the clothes may have been recovered or swapped from the dead, but at any rate the group of four whose bodies were most severely damaged were caught in an avalanche and buried under 4 metres (13 ft) of snow (more than enough to account for the 'compelling natural force' the medical examiner described). Dubinina's tongue was likely removed by scavengers and ordinary predation."[9]

Evidence contradicting the avalanche theory includes:[10][11]

The location of the incident did not have any obvious signs of an avalanche having taken place. An avalanche would have left certain patterns and debris distributed over a wide area. The bodies found within ten days of the event were covered with a very shallow layer of snow and, had there been an avalanche of sufficient strength to sweep away the second party, these bodies would have been swept away as well; this would have caused more serious and different injuries in the process and would have damaged the tree line.
Over a hundred expeditions to the region were held since the incident, and none of them ever reported conditions that might create an avalanche. A study of the area using up-to-date terrain-related physics revealed that the location was entirely unlikely for such an avalanche to have occurred. The "dangerous conditions" found in another nearby area (which had significantly steeper slopes and cornices) were observed in April and May when the snowfalls of winter were melting. During February, when the incident occurred, there were no such conditions.
An analysis of the terrain, the slope and the incline indicates that even if there could have been a very specific avalanche that circumvents the other criticisms, its trajectory would have bypassed the tent. It had collapsed laterally but not horizontally.
Dyatlov was an experienced skier and the much older Alexander Zolotaryov was studying for his Masters Certificate in ski instruction and mountain hiking. Neither of these two men would have been likely to camp anywhere in the path of a potential avalanche.
Infrasound Edit
Another hypothesis popularized by Donnie Eichar's 2013 book Dead Mountain is that wind going around Holatchahl Mountain created a Kármán vortex street, which can produce infrasound capable of inducing panic attacks in humans.[12][13] According to Eichar's theory, the infrasound generated by the wind as it passed over the top of the Holatchahl mountain was responsible for causing physical discomfort and mental distress in the hikers.[12] Eichar claims that, because of their panic, the hikers were driven to leave the tent by whatever means necessary, and fled down the slope. By the time they were further down the hill, they would have been out of the infrasound's path and would have regained their composure, but in the darkness would be unable to return to their shelter. [12] However, this theory does not explain the existence of the chest and brain injuries.

Military tests Edit
Some people believe it was a military accident which was then covered up; there are records of parachute mines being tested by the Russian military in the area around the time the hikers were there.[citation needed] Parachute mines detonate a meter or two before they hit the ground and produce similar damage to those experienced by the hikers, heavy internal damage with very little external trauma. There were also glowing orbs reported in the sky in that general vicinity, possibly caused by such ordnance. This theory uses animals to account for the missing parts of Dubinina.[14] People believe the bodies were moved; photos of the tent show that it was apparently erected incorrectly, something that these experienced hikers are unlikely to have done.[15]

This theory, in particular when speculating on radiological weapons, is partly based on the findings of radioactivity on some of the clothing as well as the bodies being described by relatives as having orange skin and grey hair. However, radioactive dispersal would have affected all of the hikers and equipment instead of just some of it, and the skin and hair discolouration can be explained by a natural process of mummification after three months of exposure to the cold and winds. Furthermore, the initial suppression of files regarding the group's disappearance by Soviet authorities is sometimes mentioned as evidence of a cover-up, but the concealment of information regarding domestic incidents was standard procedure in the USSR and therefore far from peculiar. And by the late 1980s, all Dyatlov files had been released in some manner.[16]

Paradoxical undressing Edit
iScience Times posited that the hikers' deaths were caused by hypothermia, which can induce a behavior known as paradoxical undressing in which hypothermic subjects remove their clothes in response to perceived feelings of burning warmth.[17] That six out of nine hikers died of hypothermia is undisputed. However, others in the group appear to have acquired additional clothing (from those who had already died) which suggests tht they were of a sound mind enough to try to add layers. However, there is no explanation for how this behavior could happen to all nine hikers, at the same time.

Cryptozoological encounter Edit
The 2014 Discovery Channel special Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives explored the cryptozoology theory that the Dyatlov group was killed by a Menk or Russian Yeti. The show begins with the premise that the skiers' injuries were such that only a creature with superhuman strength could have caused them."[18] The episode concluded with there being no evidence for their claims.[19]

Other Edit
Donnie Eichar, who investigated and made a documentary about the incident, evaluated several other theories that are deemed unlikely or have been discredited:[16]

They were attacked by Mansi or other local tribesmen.
The local tribesmen were known to be peaceful and there was no track evidence of anyone approaching the tent.
They were attacked and chased by animal wildlife.
There were no animal tracks and the group would not have abandoned the relative security of the tent.
High winds blew one member away, and the others attempted to rescue the person.
A large experienced group would not have behaved like that, and winds strong enough to blow away people with such force would have also blown away the tent.
An argument, possibly related to a romantic encounter that left some of them only partially clothed, led to a violent dispute.
About this, Eichar states that it is "highly implausible. By all indications, the group was largely harmonious and sexual tension was confined to platonic flirtation and crushes. There were no drugs present and the only alcohol was a small flask of medicinal alcohol, found intact at the scene. The group had even sworn off cigarettes for the expedition." Furthermore, a fight could not have left the massive injuries that one body had suffered.

Keddie murders

The Keddie Murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple homicide that occurred in Keddie, California. The murders took place in cabin 28, during the late evening of April 11, 1981, or early the following morning.[1] The victims were Glenna Sue Sharp (née Davis), known as Sue (age 36), her son John (age 15), and his friend, Dana Wingate (age 17).[2] At some time after the crime was discovered, Sue's daughter, Tina (age 12), was reported missing. Her skull and several other bones were recovered in 1984 in Camp Eighteen, California, which is in Butte County.[3]

The murders Edit

Glenna "Sue" Sharp, 36, and her five children had been renting the cabin since November 1980.[4] At approximately 7:45 AM on the morning of April 12, Sheila Sharp, upon returning from the sleepover next door, discovered the tied-up bodies of Sue, John and Dana in the home's living room.[5][6] Plumas County Sheriff's deputies later determined Tina Sharp was missing from the location.[7] The murders have been commented upon for their particular viciousness.

After approximately 4,000 man-hours spent on the case,[8] it grew cold but, in 1984, the cranium portion of a skull was recovered near Feather Falls in neighboring Butte County, a distance of roughly 63 miles (2 hours 12 minutes) from Keddie.[8] Butte County Sheriff's Office released both the original and back-up copy of the audio recording of the 'anonymous call' to an undisclosed member of law enforcement.[7]

As of May 2017, no arrests have been made in connection with the Keddie murders,[5] although two suspects who had criminal records,[6] now deceased, have been proposed.[8][7][4] In 2004, Cabin 28 was demolished.[9]

On March 24, 2016, a hammer matching the description of a hammer suspect Martin Smartt said he lost shortly before the murders was taken into evidence by Plumas County Special Investigator Mike Gamberg.[7] Sheriff Hagwood stated, "the location it was found... It would have been intentionally put there. It would not have been accidentally misplaced."

The Dyatlov Pass Incident is pretty fascinating. Thanks for the read!

Whatever you do do not watch the film they made about it.

is it bad?

Chuck Morgan I

Chuck Morgan 43, was a successful businessman who was the president of his own escrow agency. He was also a potential witness in a state land fraud case involving a known crime boss. On March 22, 1977, he left his Tucson, Arizona home to drive two of his daughters to school. After dropping them off, he vanished. Three days later, he arrived back at his home. According to his wife, Ruth, he was missing a shoe, had a plastic handcuff around one ankle, and had his hands tied together with a plastic zip tie. He could not speak, but with a pen and paper, he wrote down that he had been kidnapped and tortured. He also wrote that a hallucinogenic drug had been painted on his throat. He claimed that this drug would drive him insane or kill him if he ingested it. He asked Ruth to move his car, because he did not want "them" to know that he had returned home. However, he would not say who "they" were. He also told her not to call the police because a hit would be put out on the lives of them and their family members.
For one week, Ruth nursed Chuck back to help by feeding him with an eye dropper. Before his voice returned, he began to allude to a secret identity. He claimed that he had worked as an agent for the federal government and he fought against organized crime. He also claimed that "they" had taken his treasury identification.
After his kidnapping, Chuck became justifiably paranoid. He began wearing a bulletproof vest. He also started driving his daughters to and from school. He informed the school that nobody else should be allowed to pick them up. Two months after his initial disappearance, Chuck vanished again. Shortly before his second disappearance, he told his father that if anything were to happen to him, there was a letter he had written that would tell them who was responsible. The letter was never found, however.
Nine days later, an unidentified woman called Ruth and said: "Chuck is alright, Ecclesiastics 12: 1-8". This is a reference to a Bible passage, which reads, in part:
Men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road. Remember him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Two days later, Chuck was found shot to death in the desert despite the fact he was found wearing a bulletproof vest. He had been shot once in the back of the head with a bullet from his .357 Magnum, which was lying beside him. In his car, police found a note that had directions to the crime scene written in his handwriting. A pair of sunglasses was also found that did not belong to him.
Strangely, Chuck had clipped a $2 bill inside his underwear. Written on the bill were seven Spanish names from the letters A to G. Also, Ecclesiastics 12 was written, with the verses 1 through 8 marked by arrows drawn on the bill's serial number. This was the same reference that the female caller had made to Ruth. On the back of the bill, the signers of the Declaration of Independence were numbered 1 through 7. Also, a crude map was drawn, which show several roads between Tucson and the Mexican border. The towns Robles Junction and Sasabe were marked; these towns are apparently known for smuggling.
Two days after Chuck's death, an anonymous woman spoke to an officer for the Pima County Sheriff's Department on the telephone. She claimed that he was supposed to meet her at a local motel shortly before he died. She claimed that her nickname was "Green Eyes" and that she was the same woman that had called Ruth several days earlier. She also claimed that at the motel, Chuck showed her a briefcase containing several thousand dollars in cash. He said that the money would buy him out of a gang contract that had been put on his life.
Surprisingly, despite the bizarre evidence, authorities ruled that Morgan committed suicide. His family and a reporter named Don Deveraux believe he was murdered. Some investigators also suspect that his death was not a suicide.

Three weeks after his death, two men claiming to be FBI agents arrived at the Morgan home. They told Ruth that they had to look through the house. They tore the house apart and searched for quite awhile. It is unknown if they ever found anything or if they were even FBI agents. When Deveraux contacted the FBI, they claimed that they had never even heard of Chuck Morgan.

There are several rumors surrounding this case, including that Chuck was killed because he was involved with illegal activity or was doing secret work for the government. His death seems just as unexplained as the events leading to it.

Suspects: Although Chuck claimed that he was working against organized crime, some believe that he was actually involved with it. During the 1970s, Tucson, along with other cities in Arizona, became a place that the mafia moved to, due to its warm climate and controversial criminal justice system. Led by former New York Don Joseph Bonanno, more than five-hundred racketeers moved to Tucson during the 1970s. Their influence led to several gangland-style killings in the area, one of the more famous being the murder of investigative reporter Don Bolles.
What made Arizona most attractive to crime syndicates was a unique state law that allowed them to buy land through numbered blind trust accounts. This would allow them to remain anonymous and successfully launder money. Chuck did real estate escrow work for at least one Mafia family. They may have used him to do escrow work for purchases of gold bullion and platinum; this was a more convenient way for them to launder money. Starting in 1973, it appeared that he was doing several million dollars of escrow work in bullion and platinum. In reality, there was no bullion or platinum. Instead, the money was moved through several escrow accounts and "legitimized".

Chuck Morgan II


On one occasion, Chuck mentioned to Ruth that money laundering was occurring in Tucson; however, he claimed that he was not involved in it. He also stated that the less she and the children knew about his activities, the better it would be for them.

It is theorized that Chuck Morgan was killed by members of organized crime in the Tucson area. It is possible that the Mafia family that he worked for had him killed because he knew too much. One theory is that organized crime bosses put the word out that they wanted Chuck dead. A hit-man then told Chuck, so he came up with the money in order to buy the hit-man off. However, when the two met in the desert, the hit-man killed him anyway and took the money. This theory has not been confirmed.

Extra Notes: This case originally aired on the February 7, 1990 episode.
Results: Unresolved. After the case aired, Unsolved Mysteries received several calls relating to Chuck's death. Don Deveraux investigated several leads that came up as a result of the program. He learned that Chuck was heavily involved in money laundering activities through his Tucson escrow company. From 1973 to his death in 1977, he was also involved in large gold and platinum transactions. He apparently received a large amount of money from these activities, and some of this money allegedly came from Southeast Asia. Deveraux discovered that Chuck kept duplicate records of the illicit transactions. Deveruax now believes that Chuck was killed because he still had these records.
Three months after the broadcast, Doug Johnston was found shot to death in his car outside of his Phoenix office. Interestingly, he worked across the street from Deveraux's office, and drove an almost identical car. Deveraux now believes that he was supposed to be killed instead of Doug.
A year after Doug's murder, Deveraux was contacted by a writer from D.C. named Danny Casolaro. He agreed to share with him the information that he had uncovered about Chuck's illegal gold transactions. However, Danny died suspiciously before he received the information. All three cases remain unsolved. Sadly, Chuck's widow, Ruth Morgan, died in 2006.

Oh lawd, complete lack of charisma. Give him credit for somewhat of an effort to make it good though.

Jonathan Luna I

Jonathan P. Luna (October 21, 1965 – December 4, 2003) was a Baltimore-based Assistant United States Attorney who was stabbed 36 times with his own penknife and found drowned in a creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Personal background Edit

Luna grew up in the projects in the South Bronx near Yankee Stadium. He was of African-American and Filipino ancestry. He was a graduate of Fordham University and the law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He worked at Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC in 1993–1994 and the Federal Trade Commission in 1994–1997. He worked as a prosecutor in Brooklyn before moving to Baltimore. He was married to an obstetrician and had two children. He was 38 years old when he died.

The night he died: December 3–4, 2003 Edit

At 11:38 pm on the night he died, Luna left the Baltimore courthouse and went northeast on I-95. He used his E-ZPass on I-95 into Delaware but not on the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpikes. After three toll interchanges, he switched to buying toll tickets. At 12:57 am, $200 was withdrawn from Luna's bank account from the ATM at the JFK Plaza service center near Newark, Delaware. At 02:47 am he crossed the Delaware River toll bridge to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and at 03:20 am his debit card bought gas at the Sunoco King of Prussia service plaza.

At 04:04 am his car exited the turnpike at the Reading-Lancaster interchange. The toll ticket had a spot of his blood on it suggesting that he was already injured. His car was parked at the back of the Sensenig & Weaver Well Drilling company at 1439 Dry Tavern Road, Denver, Pennsylvania (Brecknock Township) before it was later driven into the creek.

At 05:00 am the first employee of Sensenig & Weaver arrived, and half an hour later at 05:30 am the car was noticed, with its lights off and the front end into the stream. Blood was smeared over the driver's door and the front left of the car. Luna was face down in the stream under the car engine. He was wearing a suit and a black overcoat with his court ID around his neck. A pool of blood was found on the rear seat floor. Although stabbed 36 times with his own penknife around the chest and neck plus a head injury, the death was due to drowning.

Jonathan Luna II

No suspects or motive for murder were determined. The federal authorities (FBI) lean toward calling it a suicide and came to the conclusion he was alone from the time he left his office until his body was found,[1] but the local Lancaster County authorities, including two successive coroners, ruled it a homicide. Additional evidence collected during the investigation captured a second blood type and a partial print, as well as some grainy footage from near the time of the gas station purchase made with Luna's credit card at the Sunoco service plaza.[2] The investigation remains ongoing. There is an unclaimed federal reward of $100,000 for information leading to a conviction.

Suicide theory Edit

It was initially reported that Luna did not have the expected substantial defense wounds on his hands and that many of the wounds are shallow which are called "hesitation" wounds in a suicide victim. These claims were rebuffed by the coroners' office, which stated that his hands had been "shredded" and that he experienced significant slashing to the throat and scrotum.[3] Some suggested motives for suicide were that Luna was to take a polygraph test concerning $36,000 which disappeared from a bank robbery case that he had prosecuted. Luna had a charge card which his wife, Angela, did not know about.[4] His name was on an Internet dating site and he had a $25,000 credit card debt.[4] There is also an accidental suicide theory that Luna was fabricating a kidnapping and attack and that he went too far.

Homicide theory Edit

The Lancaster County coroner's office, who performed the autopsy, has stated in unambiguous terms that they rule Luna's death as a homicide due to the nature and type of the wounds.[5] Luna left his glasses, which he needed to drive, and his cell phone on his desk. He had called defense attorneys earlier in the night saying he would fax over documents that night but they never arrived. The pool of blood in the back seat would suggest Luna was in back and someone else was driving.

Inquest Edit

In early February 2007, a private investigator and an attorney, both hired by Luna's family, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in order to force the Lancaster County coroner to conduct an inquest into Luna's death, after an earlier request was declined.

Crazy chit. I think some of these people are just major real life trolls. The zodiac for sure and prolly bundy. Im not a psychologist tho who the fuack knows lol

I think fkn bundy was possessed by the for real devil lmfao

Nice thread bruh

Thank you very much.

William Cantelo I

William Cantelo (born 1839) was a 19th-century British inventor. Credited with developing an early machine gun, he disappeared from his home in Southampton in the 1880s. While trying to find Cantelo, his two sons saw a photograph of American born inventor Hiram Maxim, creator of the Maxim gun; his superficial similarity to their father led them to believe that he had re-emerged under a new name.

Cantelo was born in 1839 at Newport on the Isle of Wight. He was an engineer who, in the 1870s, owned a shop on French Street in Southampton and a yard in Northam, employing up to 40 people. He was also the landlord of the Old Tower Inn at the end of Bargate Street which derived its name from the Arundel Tower against which it was built. Beneath the pub was a tunnel where Cantelo spent much of his time, turning it into an underground workshop.

Cantelo was married with three children – a daughter and two sons. He was a keen musician and the bandmaster of the old 2nd Hampshires.

Invention

The development of new, rapid-firing guns was becoming a hotly contested area for inventors. The military of countries across the world were looking to secure the most powerful weapons, and there was great potential for an inventor to secure a highly profitable government contract. Machine guns were first used during the American Civil War, and the Gatling gun, Nordenfelt gun, and Gardner gun had all started gaining popularity.[1] Cantelo wanted his own stake in the revolution.

Cantelo used the tunnel underneath the Old Tower Inn for his experiments and was later joined by his two sons, both engineers themselves. Locals reported hearing noises coming from the vicinity, but the family kept their work a closely guarded secret. In the early 1880s Cantelo announced the gun's completion to his family.


Disappearance

Accounts differ regarding the nature of Cantelo's disappearance. Some reports say that he went for an extended holiday as a reward for his hard work. or might have gone off to sell his finished invention. It is also claimed that a large sum of Cantelo's money had been transferred out of his bank account after his disappearance.

Cantelo's family tried to find William, but with no real success. They employed a private investigator, who traced him to America but could not find out anything more.

William Cantelo II

Subsequent rumours and speculations

An American inventor, Hiram Maxim, had moved to London and perfected a rapid-fire machine gun. Cantelo's two sons happened across a photograph of Maxim, whose similarity to their father led them to believe that he was still alive and had assumed a new identity. Descriptions of the gun sounded similar to the one they had worked on.[1] The sons tried to challenge Maxim, but he wanted nothing to do with them. He sold the Maxim gun to the British government.[1][3]

The name "Maxim", the family claimed, was evidence that Cantelo had assumed this new identity. Fond of maxims, Cantelo often carried a book of such phrases in his pocket. Two witnesses also claim that Cantelo referred to his invention as "my maxim gun".[1] The family's belief that Cantelo re-emerged under a new identity is inconsistent with accounts of Maxim's early life. Born in 1840, Maxim became a carriage maker's apprentice at the age of 14. He developed an interest in inventions and obtained 271 patents, the first of which came in 1866.[4]

An episode of Punt PI, a BBC Radio 4 series, covered the Cantelo story with Steve Punt investigating Cantelo's disappearance. He discovered that Maxim had complained about a man who was impersonating him in America. He also showed a photograph of Cantelo next to his machine gun to the Royal Armouries, who stated that the weapon appeared to be the same as the Maxim gun. A facial expert who compared the images of Cantelo and Maxim highlighted that there were visible differences between the two men. Punt cast doubt on the idea that Cantelo and Maxim were the same person but noted the coincidences.

Oh lawd the inventor of the machine gun went missing? They knew it would be a trillion dollar industry lol.

I cant even imagine poverty armies back then having no idea about machine guns only knowing about poverty single shot rifles and then in battle they hear one ripping thru hundreds of shots at them lol.

Danny Casolaro

Danny Casolaro was a freelance journalist who was 44-years-old when he died under suspicious circumstances in 1991. Casolaro was found dead in a West Virginia Sheraton Hotel bathtub by a member of the hotel’s cleaning staff, his wrists having been slashed numerous times. Due to the presence of an alleged suicide note, most were quick to believe Casolaro had died at his own hand. But the mystery was not that simple.

The reports from the scene were somewhat sinister, as there was no trauma to Casolaro’s body that would indicate any sort of struggle. Also present in the bathroom was a corked bottle of red wine, a broken wine glass, an empty can of beer, a paper hotel glass coaster, and two white trash bags. When they lifted the body out, they found a single-edge razor blade at the bottom of the bloody bathwater. It seemed as though Casolaro could have simply been bathing when he was ambushed.

Things got darker when Casolaro’s brother came forward, recalling a conversation the two had shared a few weeks prior, in which Casolaro warned “If anything happens to me, don’t believe it’s an accident.” Other friends and family members confirmed that Casolaro had spoken of threats on his life in the months before his demise. Casolaro’s journalistic interest in his last months centered heavily on what he called the “Octopus,” a network of individuals and institutions that he believed had secretly masterminded a series of scandals. It is believed he was in West Virginia to meet with a member of this cabal when he met his demise.

Nobody has ever been charged with the murder of Casolaro, and the members of “The Octopus” have never been exposed…if the organization exists at all.

Note: from now on with title I'll put category of either Unsolved or Insane true crime.

CAT: Insane true crime
North Hollywood Shootout I

The North Hollywood shootout, sometimes also called the Battle of North Hollywood, was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers and members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Both perpetrators were killed, twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.

North Hollywood shootout

Location North Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
34°11′29″N 118°23′46″W
Date February 28, 1997
9:17 a.m. – 10:01 a.m. (UTC-8)
Target A branch of Bank of America.
Attack type
Bank robbery, shootout
Weapons Two Norinco Type 56 S
Norinco Type 56 S-1
HK91
Bushmaster XM-15 E2S Dissipator
Beretta 92
Deaths 2
Non-fatal injuries
20[1]
Perpetrators Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr.
Decebal Stefan Emilian Mătăsăreanu

At 9:17 am, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu entered and robbed the North Hollywood Bank of America branch. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were confronted by LAPD officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. The two robbers attempted to flee the scene, Phillips on foot and Mătăsăreanu in their getaway vehicle, while continuing to engage the officers. The shootout continued onto a residential street adjacent to the bank until Phillips was mortally wounded, including a self-inflicted gunshot wound; Mătăsăreanu was killed by officers three blocks away. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu are believed to have robbed at least two other banks using virtually similar methods by taking control of the entire bank and firing illegally modified automatic weapons chambered with intermediate cartridges for control and entry past 'bullet-proof' security doors, and are possible suspects in two armored vehicle robberies.[2]

Standard issue sidearms carried by most local patrol officers at the time were 9 mm pistols or .38 Special revolvers; some patrol cars were also equipped with a 12-gauge shotgun. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu carried illegally modified fully automatic Norinco Type 56 S-1s (an AK-47 variant), a Bushmaster XM15 Dissipator, and a HK-91 rifle with high capacity drum magazines as well as a Beretta 92FS pistol. The bank robbers wore heavy plate mostly homemade body armor which successfully protected them from handgun rounds and shotgun pellets fired by the responding officers. A police SWAT team eventually arrived bearing sufficient firepower, and they commandeered an armored truck to evacuate the wounded. Several officers also appropriated AR-15 and other semi-automatic rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the need for patrol officers to upgrade their firepower in preparation for similar situations in the future.[3] An officer was heard on the LAPD police frequency approximately 10-15 minutes into the shootout, warning other officers that they should "not stop [the getaway vehicle], they've got automatic weapons, there's nothing we have that can stop them."[4]

Due to the large number of injuries, rounds fired, weapons used, and overall length of the shootout, it is regarded as one of the longest and bloodiest events in American police history.[5] Both men had fired approximately 1,100 rounds, while approximately 650 rounds were fired by police.[6] Another estimate is that a total of nearly 2,000 rounds were fired

North Hollywood shootout II

Background

Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. (born September 20, 1970) and Decebal Stefan Emilian "Emil" Mătăsăreanu (born July 19, 1966 in Romania) first met at the Gold's Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, California in 1989. They had a mutual interest in weightlifting, bodybuilding and firearms.[7] Before meeting, Phillips was a habitual offender, responsible for multiple real estate scams and counts of shoplifting. Mătăsăreanu was a qualified electrical engineer and ran a relatively unsuccessful computer repair business.[8]

On July 20, 1993 the pair robbed an armored car outside a branch of FirstBank in Littleton, Colorado.[9]

On October 29, 1993, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were arrested in Glendale, northeast of Los Angeles, California, for speeding.[10] A subsequent search of their vehicle—after Phillips surrendered with a concealed weapon—found two semi-automatic rifles, two handguns, more than 1,600 rounds of 7.62×39mm rifle ammunition, 1,200 rounds of 9×19mm Parabellum and .45 ACP handgun ammunition, radio scanners, smoke bombs, improvised explosive devices, body armor vests, and three different California license plates.[11] Initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery,[12] both served one hundred days in jail and were placed on three years' probation.[13] After their release, most of their seized property was returned to them, except for the confiscated firearms and explosives.[14]

On June 14, 1995, the pair ambushed a Brinks armored car in Winnetka, killing one guard, Herman Cook, and seriously wounding another.[15] In May 1996, they robbed two branches of Bank of America in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, CA, stealing approximately US$1.5 million.[16] Phillips and Mătăsăreanu were dubbed the "High Incident Bandits" by investigators due to the weaponry they had used in three robberies prior to their attempt in North Hollywood.

Events of February 28

On the morning of February 28, 1997, after months of preparation, including extensive reconnoitering of their intended target—the Bank of America branch located at 6600 Laurel Canyon Boulevard—Phillips and Mătăsăreanu armed themselves with a semi automatic HK-91 and several illegally converted weapons: two Norinco Type 56 S rifles, a fully automatic Norinco Type 56 S-1, a fully automatic Bushmaster (M16) XM15 Dissipator.[18] Additionally they had approximately 3,300 rounds of ammunition in box and drum magazines in the trunk of their vehicle.

They filled a jam jar with gasoline and placed it in the back seat with the intention of setting the car and weapons on fire to destroy evidence after the robbery. Phillips wore roughly 40 pounds (18 kg) of equipment, including a Type IIIA bulletproof vest and groin guard; a load bearing vest and multiple military canteen pouches for ammunition storage; and several pieces of homemade body armor created from spare vests, covering his shins, thighs, and forearms.[19] Mătăsăreanu wore only a Type IIIA bulletproof vest, but included a metal trauma plate to protect vital organs. Additionally, both robbers had sewn watch faces onto the back of their gloves to check their timing inside the bank.[20] Before entering, they took the barbiturate phenobarbital, prescribed to Mătăsăreanu as a sedative, to calm their nerves.[21]

Robbery Edit
Phillips and Mătăsăreanu, driving a white 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity, arrived at the Bank of America branch office at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood around 9:17 am, and set their watch alarms for eight minutes, the police response time they had estimated. To come up with this timeframe, Phillips had used a radio scanner to monitor police transmissions prior to the robbery.[21] As the two were walking in, they were spotted by two LAPD officers, Loren Farrell and Martin Perello, who were driving down Laurel Canyon in a patrol car. Officer Perello issued a call on the radio, "15-A-43, requesting assistance, we have a possible 211 in progress at the Bank of America." 211 is the code for robbery.

As they entered the bank, each armed with a Norinco Type 56 S-1 rifle, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu forced a customer leaving the ATM lobby near the entrance into the bank and onto the floor. A security guard inside saw the scuffle and the heavily armed robbers and radioed his partner in the parking lot to call the police; the call was not received. Phillips shouted "This is a ****ing hold up!"[23] before he and Mătăsăreanu opened fire into the ceiling in an attempt to scare the approximately thirty bank staff and customers[6] and to discourage resistance.[24] Phillips shot open the bulletproof door (it was designed to resist only low-velocity rounds) and gained access to the tellers and vault. The robbers forced assistant manager John Villigrana to open the vault. Villigrana obliged and began to fill the robbers' money bag. However, due to a change in the bank's delivery schedule, the vault contained significantly less than the $750,000 the gunmen had expected. Phillips, enraged at this development, argued with Villigrana and demanded more. In an apparent show of frustration, Phillips then fired a full drum magazine of 75 rounds into the bank's safe, destroying much of the remaining money. Phillips then attempted to open the bank's ATM, but due to a change in policies the branch manager no longer had access to the money inside. Before leaving, the robbers locked the hostages in the bank vault. In the end, the two left with $303,305 and three dye packs which later went off, ruining the money they stole.

North Hollywood Shootout III

Outside, the first-responding officers heard gunfire from the bank and made another radio call for additional units before taking cover behind their patrol car, weapons trained on the bank doors. While the robbers were still inside, more patrol and detective units arrived and took strategic positions at all four corners of the bank, effectively surrounding it. At approximately 9:24 am, Phillips exited through the north doorway and after spotting a police cruiser 200 feet away, opened fire for several minutes, wounding seven officers and three civilians. He also fired at an LAPD-owned helicopter, surveying above, forcing it to retreat to a safer distance. He briefly retreated inside, then reemerged through the north doorway, while Mătăsăreanu exited through the south.[25]

Phillips and Mătăsăreanu began to engage the officers, firing sporadic bursts into the patrol cars that had been positioned on Laurel Canyon in front of the bank.[18] Officers, armed with standard Beretta 92F, Beretta 92FS 9mm pistols, Smith & Wesson Model 15 .38 caliber revolvers, and a 12-gauge Ithaca Model 37 pump-action shotgun, immediately returned fire. The officers' weaponry could not penetrate the body armor worn by Phillips and Mătăsăreanu, and most of the LAPD officers' service pistols had insufficient range and poor accuracy at long distances.[17] Additionally, the officers were pinned down by the heavy spray of gunfire coming from the robbers, making it difficult to attempt a headshot. Several officers acquired five AR-15s from a nearby gun store to combat the robbers.

SWAT arrives Edit
After LAPD radio operators received the second "officer down" call from police at the shootout, a tactical alert was issued. The SWAT team arrived 18 minutes after the shooting had begun. They were armed with AR-15s, and wore running shoes and shorts under their body armor, as they had been on an exercise run when they received the call. Upon arrival, they commandeered a nearby armored truck, which was used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the scene.[17]


Scale map of the area around the bank ($), final locations of Phillips (P) and Mătăsăreanu (M).
Streets-
A: Laurel Canyon Boulevard - B: Agnes Avenue - C: Ben Avenue - D: Gentry Avenue - E: Radford Avenue - F: Morella Avenue
1: Archwood Street - 2: Lemay Street - 3: Kittridge Street
Deaths of the gunmen Edit

An HK-91 rifle
While still in the parking lot, Mătăsăreanu was shot twice in the right buttock and the left forearm, forcing him to abandon his duffel bag of money, enter the get-away vehicle, and start the engine. Phillips retrieved the HK-91 from the open trunk and continued firing upon officers, while walking alongside the sedan, using it for cover. As Phillips approached the passenger's side of the get-away vehicle, he was hit in the shoulder while the rifle was struck in the receiver and magazine by bullets fired from police, rendering it partially ineffective. After firing a few more shots with one arm, Phillips discarded the HK-91, and retrieved the Norinco Type 56 before exiting the parking lot and retreating onto the street while Mătăsăreanu drove down the road.[17]

At 9:52 am, Phillips turned east on Archwood Street and took cover behind a parked semi-truck where he continued to fire at the police until his rifle jammed.[26] Unable to clear the jam, he dropped the rifle and drew a Beretta 92FS pistol, which he began firing. He was then shot in the right hand, causing him to drop the pistol. After retrieving it, he placed the muzzle under his chin and fired; he was simultaneously shot by a bullet that severed his spine. Officers across the street continued to shoot Phillips' body several times while he was on the ground. After the firing had stopped, officers in the area surrounded Phillips, cuffed him, and removed his ski mask.

Mătăsăreanu's vehicle was rendered inoperable after two of its tires were shot out and the windshield covered in bullet holes.[17] At 9:56 am, he attempted to carjack a yellow 1963 Jeep Gladiator on Archwood by shooting at the driver who fled on foot, three blocks east of where Phillips died. He quickly transferred all of his weapons and ammunition from the getaway car, but was unable to operate the Jeep due to him being unfamiliar with the stick-shift vehicle.[27][28] As KCBS and KCAL helicopters hovered overhead, a patrol car driven by SWAT officers quickly arrived and stopped on the opposite side of the truck to where the Chevrolet was stopped. Mătăsăreanu left the truck, took cover behind the original getaway car, and engaged them for two-and-a-half minutes of almost uninterrupted gunfire. Mătăsăreanu's chest armor deflected a double tap from one of the SWAT officers, which briefly winded him before he continued firing. At least one SWAT officer fired his AR-15 below the cars and wounded Mătăsăreanu in his unprotected lower legs; he was soon unable to continue and put his hands up to show surrender.[17]

Seconds after his defeat, officers rushed him to pin him down. As he was being cuffed, SWAT officers asked for his name, to which he replied "Pete". When asked if there were any more suspects, he reportedly retorted "**** you! Shoot me in the head!".[29] The police radioed for an ambulance, but Mătăsăreanu, loudly swearing profusely and still goading the police to shoot him, died before the ambulance and EMTs were allowed to reach the scene almost seventy minutes later. Later reports showed that Mătăsăreanu was shot over 20 times in the legs and died from trauma due to excessive blood loss coming from two gunshot wounds in his left thigh.[30]

Most of the incident, including the death of Phillips and surrender of Mătăsăreanu, was broadcast live by news helicopters, which hovered over the scene and televised the action as events unfolded.[18] Over 300 law enforcement officers from various forces had responded to the citywide TAC alert.[31] By the time the shooting had stopped, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu had fired about 1,100 rounds, approximately a round every two seconds.

North Hollywood Shootout IV

An inventory of the weapons used:

An AR-15 converted to fire automatically with two 100-round Beta Magazines
A semi automatic HK-91 rifle with several 30-round magazines[32]
A Beretta 92FS Inox with several magazines
Three different civilian-model AK-47 style rifles converted to fire in fully automatic mode with several 75 to 100-round drum magazines, as well as 30-round box magazines.
It was speculated during news reports that Phillips had legally purchased two of the AK-47s and then illegally converted them to full automatic. However, as Phillips was a convicted felon it was not possible for him to legally purchase firearms.[17][33][34]

The two well-armored men had fired approximately 1,100 rounds, while approximately 650 rounds were fired by police.[6] Following their training, the responding patrol officers directed their fire at the "center of mass," or torsos, of Mătăsăreanu and Phillips. However, aramid body armor worn by Phillips and Mătăsăreanu covered all of their vitals (except their heads) while providing more bullet resistance than standard-issue police Kevlar vests, enabling them to absorb pistol bullets and shotgun pellets, while Mătăsăreanu's chest armor, thanks to a metal trauma plate, even successfully withstood a hit from a SWAT officer's AR-15. The service pistols carried by the first responding officers had insufficient range and relatively poor accuracy, and additionally they were pinned down by the robbers' high rate of fire, making it difficult to attempt a headshot. Each robber was shot and penetrated by at least ten bullets, yet both were able to continue shooting.

The ineffectiveness of the standard police patrol pistols and shotguns in penetrating the robbers' body armor led to a trend in the United States toward arming selected police patrol officers, not just SWAT teams, with heavier firepower such as semi-automatic 5.56 mm AR-15 type rifles. SWAT teams, whose close quarters battle weaponry usually consisted of submachine guns that fired pistol cartridges such as the Heckler & Koch MP5, began supplementing them with AR-15-rifles and carbines.[17] Seven months after the incident, the Department of Defense gave 600 surplus M16s to the LAPD, which were issued to each patrol sergeant;[35][36] LAPD patrol vehicles now carry AR-15s as standard issue, with bullet-resistant Kevlar plating in their doors as well.[37] Also as a result of this incident LAPD authorized its officers to carry .45 ACP caliber semiautomatic pistols as duty sidearms, specifically the Smith & Wesson Models 4506 and 4566. Prior to 1997, only LAPD SWAT officers were authorized to carry .45 ACP caliber pistols, specifically the Model 1911A1 .45 ACP semiautomatic pistol.[38]

The LAPD did not allow Mătăsăreanu to receive medical attention, stating that ambulance personnel were following standard procedure in hostile situations by refusing to enter "the hot zone," as Mătăsăreanu was still considered to be dangerous,[17] and because there were still reports and/or the belief that there was a third gunman still loose. Some reports indicate that he was lying on the ground with no weapons for approximately an hour before ambulances arrived, and was groaning in pain and pleading for help.[39] A lawsuit on behalf of Mătăsăreanu's children was filed against members of the LAPD, claiming that Mătăsăreanu's civil rights had been violated and that he was allowed to bleed to death.[40] The lawsuit was tried in United States District Court in February and March 2000, and ended in a mistrial with a hung jury.[41] The suit was later dropped when Mătăsăreanu's family agreed to dismiss the action with a waiver of malicious prosecution.[42]

The year following the shootout, 19 officers of the LAPD received the departmental Medal of Valor for their actions,[43] and met President Bill Clinton.[44] In 2003, a film about the incident was produced, entitled 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out. In 2004, the Los Angeles Police Historical Society Museum in Highland Park opened an exhibit featuring two life-size mannequins of Phillips and Mătăsăreanu fitted with the armor and clothing they wore and the weaponry they used.[45] Also on display at the museum is the robber's getaway car and Officer Martin Whitfield's LAPD squad car.

lol yeah no kidding things were a lot different back then lol

A girl died in 1933 by a homicidal murderer. He buried her in the ground when she was still alive. The murdered chanted, "Toma sota balcu" as he buried her. Now that you have read the chant, you will meet this little girl. In the middle of the night she will be on your ceiling. She will suffocate you like she was suffocated. If you post this, she will not bother you. Your kindness will be rewarded.

ded

CAT: creepy unsolved
Blair Adams

On a gray July morning in 1996, strangers found a dead man beaten and half-naked in a parking lot in Knoxville, Tennessee. Scattered around his body was German, Canadian, and U.S. currency totaling nearly $4,000. The contents of the man’s wallet identified him as 31-year-old Blair Adams of Surrey, British Columbia. Lieutenant Jim Jones was the Chief of Detectives for the Knox County Sheriff’s Department at the time Blair’s body was discovered:

“Every aspect of this case is mysterious… there’s no explanation for it.”
No one knows why Blair Adams left his home in British Columbia or how he ended up in Knoxville, Tennessee. Could he have been running away from a killer, or just running away from himself?

Before his mysterious death, Blair was a foreman with a construction company in Surrey, British Columbia. Those who knew him say he liked his work and did it well. However, in the summer of 1996, Blair’s cheery demeanor began to change. According to his mother, Sandra Edwards, Blair began having wild mood swings:

“Something was obviously very much the matter. He hadn’t been sleeping well. Something was wrong. I asked him numerous times what was wrong. And he said, I don’t think I should tell you about ‘it.’ And to this day I don’t know what ‘it’ is.”
Blair’s strange behavior came to a head on Friday, July 5, 1996. He withdrew his savings and emptied his safe deposit box of more than $6,000 in cash and thousands more in jewelry, gold, and platinum. It was the first stop on his dead-end run to Tennessee.


Hotel security camera
The next stop was the Canadian-American border. On Sunday, Blair tried to enter the United States. But as an unmarried young man carrying a large amount of cash, Blair fit the profile of a drug trafficker. He was refused entry. The next day Blair showed up at his job. But he wasn’t there to work. He asked his boss for his check and quit.

Blair’s erratic behavior continued. That afternoon, he spent $1,600 on a round trip airline ticket to Frankfurt, Germany. His flight would leave the following day, but just hours after buying the ticket, Blair was again desperate to get into the United States. He showed up at a friend’s house in a panic, terrified that someone was trying to kill him. But his friend was unable to take him over the border.

Then on Tuesday, instead of leaving for Germany, Blair turned in his tickets, rented a car, and headed back to the border. This time, he managed to slip through. He ended up in Seattle, where, according to Lieutenant Jones, he bought a one-way ticket to Washington D.C.:

“He paid about $770 for a one-way ticket when he could’ve purchased a round-trip ticket for approximately $350 or $400. So it would’ve been half the price for… a round-trip ticket as he paid for a one-way ticket. It just seemed very unusual.”
Blair arrived in D.C. early Wednesday morning and headed to Knoxville, more than 500 miles southwest. Perry Moyers, a detective for the Knox County Sheriff’s Department, was one of the many perplexed investigators working on the case:

“I mean why go to D.C. to turn around and come back to Knoxville? He had no reason to be in east Tennessee. He had no reason to be in Knoxville. He knew no one in east Tennessee or the eastern United States.”

Mysterious clues were left at the crime scene
Blair was first seen at a gas station in Knoxville around 5:30 that afternoon. He complained to the gas station attendant that his car wouldn’t start. The attendant told him he had the wrong keys. However, the rental car company was already closed for the day. Blair was stranded in Knoxville until the morning. Luckily, he was able to hitch a ride to a nearby hotel.

Ticca Hartsfield, an employee at the hotel, remembered Blair vividly:

“The best way to describe him would be paranoid. He just was very nervous, agitated, expecting someone to come in on him even though there wasn’t anybody there. I don’t know who he was looking for, but he was waiting for somebody to walk in for him.”
The hotel’s security camera showed that in the space of an hour, Blair went in and out of the lobby five times before finally paying for the room.

After checking in, Blair pocketed the key to his room. But instead of going to his room, he marched out the front door and never came back. It was 7:37 PM, the last time Blair Adams was known to be alive.

Twelve hours later, Blair’s body was found in a parking lot about a half mile from his hotel. He was naked from the waist down.

Lieutenant Jones recalled the gruesome scene:

“His pants were removed in a way not like someone would take their own pants off, but in a way that someone else would remove your pants from you. His socks were turned inside out. His shoes were off and his shirt was ripped open.”
Scattered around Blair’s body was $4,000 in American, Canadian, and German currency. A small pack held another $2,000 worth of gold and jewelry.

According to the autopsy report, Blair had sustained many cuts and abrasions. Police believed some of the wounds came from fending off an attack. Blair was ultimately killed by a violent blow that ruptured his stomach.

Although Blair thought his life was in danger, authorities believed the threat was imaginary, and that Blair’s journey was an escape from his own delusions. Either way, Blair Adams wound up dead, just as he had feared.

CAT: creepy unsolved
Disappearance of Rebecca Coriam

Rebecca Coriam (born 11 March 1987) is a British crewmember who disappeared from the cruise ship Disney Wonder off the Pacific coast of Mexico on the morning of 22 March 2011. She was last seen in the crew lounge, where a security camera recorded her during a phone conversation that appeared to be causing her some emotional difficulty. Her disappearance was the first such incident in the history of Disney Cruise Line.[1]

Rebecca Coriam
Rebecca Coriam.jpg
Born 11 March 1987
Chester, England
Disappeared 21 March 2011 (aged 24)
Status Missing for 6 years, 5 months and 21 days
Nationality British
Occupation Cruise ship crew
Parent(s) Mike and Annmaria Coriam
The case remains under investigation, and her whereabouts since the phone conversation have not been established. Her parents have been critical of Disney's handling of the investigation, believing the company knows more than it claims to and has been more interested in avoiding unfavourable publicity than cooperating with investigators. In early 2013, they indicated they would sue Disney in an American court;[2] two years later they settled out of court.[3]

The Coriams have been joined by British government officials, who have instituted policies allowing for more comprehensive investigations of such incidents in the future, and advocates for the relatives of many other crew and passengers who have been reported missing from cruise ships over the last decade. There are claims the company has more extensive evidence than it has so far admitted, and have been accused of instigating a cover-up.

Rebecca was born on 11 March 1987 in Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester, England. She lived in Chester with her parents, sister Rachael and two foster brothers.[4] She graduated from Chester Catholic High School. In her youth, she also worked at the Chester Zoo, where other relatives had worked. A memorial bench to her grandparents Kevin and Dolores is on the zoo grounds.[5]

She joined the British Army cadets in her teens and attended Plymouth University at Exeter, where she studied sports science. Later she got a Staff Volunteer position within the cadets and participated in some outdoor events. She took additional studies in youth studies at Liverpool Hope University and then spent four months teaching sports at Camp America in Maine.[5]

In June 2010

Dissapearence of Rebecca Coraim II

Disappearance Edit
Coriam returned to the Wonder and her duties as a youth worker. She maintained contact with her family via ******** and Skype. Six weeks later, on 21 March 2011, the day the ship pulled out of Los Angeles, she sent what would be her last message to her parents via ********, saying she would call the next day.

At 9 am Pacific Daylight Time that morning on the Wonder, off the coast of Mexico bound for Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, Rebecca had missed the start of her shift. She was not in her room or anywhere else on the ship, and did not respond to pages over the ship's public address system. A review of security camera footage found one appearance of her, timestamped 5:45 am[1] An early, unverified account, purportedly from another crew member, claimed she had gone overboard at 3 am, nearly three hours earlier.[7]

In the video, Rebecca is talking on one of the ship's internal phones in a crew area. She appears distraught. A young man walks up to her and appears to ask if everything is all right. Her mouth can clearly be read to be saying "Yeah, fine", after which she hangs up. She then walks away, pushing her hair back and putting her hands in her back pockets, mannerisms her parents say were common for her. The sequence is the last known sighting of her.

Investigations Edit
The crew searched the ship but found no sign of her. Ships of the U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican Navy[8] searched the international waters[1] through which the Wonder had been sailing during the hours in which Coriam could have gone overboard, if that was what had occurred. They, too, found nothing.

Since the Wonder is registered in the Bahamas, a detective from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) flew to the ship to begin a formal investigation once it had returned to Los Angeles, three days after the disappearance. He was reported to have undertaken "several days of onboard investigations".[8]

Mike and Annmaria Coriam, Rebecca's parents, were flown out from England to meet the ship when it returned. They met the Bahamian detective and said he told them he had spent only one day on board investigating before flying back home. The detective also told them that he had interviewed only a few crew members, and none of the passengers. The Coriams claimed Disney kept them in a car with blacked-out windows and brought them on board via a little-used side entrance after all the passengers had disembarked. The Wonder's captain gave his condolences and expressed his theory that Rebecca had been washed overboard by a wave while at the crew pool, a theory the Coriams doubted due to the high walls around it.[9] After that, they were taken to a meeting with Disney executives and the woman Rebecca had been speaking to on the phone.[1]

They were both tired and suffering from jet lag, and therefore did not ask many questions. Mike Coriam believed they would have another chance to do so later, but they never did. Afterwards, they were taken to Rebecca's room and presented with her belongings.[1]

On the day before the first anniversary of her disappearance, her father received an email from a woman who claimed she had seen Rebecca with a dark-haired man on the street in Venice the previous August. The woman said she was "85% sure" it was Rebecca, and seeing the family's website had roused her memory. "It was just an email but it seemed legitimate," said her uncle. "It was very upsetting for everyone to think she could be out there somewhere after all this time." He wondered how she could have got there without her passport, which had been among the belongings her parents had recovered from her quarters.

Guardian article

In October 2011, journalist Jon Ronson took the Wonder along the same route and made discreet inquiries while aboard. With the Coriams' blessing, he wrote about it in The Guardian. Several crew members, none of whom wanted their names used, who had been on the ship at the time of Rebecca's disappearance, spoke to him. They suggested that more was known about her fate than Disney or the Bahamanian police had publicly admitted.[1]

Many were circumspect. "It didn't happen," a bartender told Ronson. "You know that's the answer I have to give." After touring the areas of the ship open to passengers, he decided that Coriam had probably slipped and fallen while jogging on the Deck 4 jogging track. The railings there were low enough for that accident to happen, and she regularly kept herself in shape that way. However, the track was well covered by disguised security cameras.[1]

The fore section of the cruise ship seen in the other photos. There is a small pool in the middle, surrounded by white decks and walls
The Disney Wonder's crew pool, from where many crewmembers claimed Rebecca went overboard
He shared this theory with a deck worker, who told him he was mistaken. Coriam had, according to him, actually gone overboard from the crew pool on Deck 5. "I was on the ship that day." the man said. "Everyone knows". He cited a flip flop found in the area as proof. After the reporter returned, "Melissa", a woman whom the Coriams had told to contact him, told him that the day after the disappearance, flowers were placed on the wall near the pool, apparently by the company.[9] "It really stirred things up," the woman recalled. "Why [we]re they putting them there? Nothing was clear."[1]

When he took a look at the crew pool, visible from the fore of Deck 10, he doubted these claims. Around the railings on the pool is a steel wall high enough to completely block any view (another crewmember had told him it was a popular place to go when not working as their cabins were very small and it was a place crewmembers could be themselves, away from guests). There were conspicuously mounted security cameras as well. Although he allowed that they could have been placed since the incident, Ronson did not see how anyone could have jumped or fallen from there.[1]

But all crewmembers who spoke with him insisted that Coriam had gone overboard from the crew pool. "Disney knows exactly what happened", one said. "Everything here is taped. There's CCTV everywhere. Disney has the tape." Near the end of a voyage, another crewmember who sought him out explained in further detail that even though the walls around the pool are high, the seas were rough at the time and she could have been tossed off the ship, especially if the deck and walls were slippery. He said a friend of his had had to get someone inside in similar conditions, and the offence of being outside on the pool deck in such conditions was serious enough that Disney sent that person home from the cruise.

Dissapearence of Rebecca Coraim III

Theories Edit
Since Coriam was not found on the ship despite a thorough search, investigators concluded that she went overboard, possibly as a result of a rogue wave. The Coriams and their lawyer say they never received a copy of the final report as they were promised by the Bahamanian police; British detectives who did receive it have refused repeated Freedom of Information Act requests for a copy on the grounds that it contains restricted personal information.

A crew member told Ronson that the call was taped. Several others believed it was with a romantic partner. "She was in a relationship, and there were problems, and it was upsetting her," "Melissa" told Ronson. "It was a very, very intense relationship. It was great and then it was awful ... I can't think of any other reason why she'd have been upset and wandering around by herself at 6 am" However, she says Coriam was on the phone not with the partner but a mutual friend.[1] On the anniversary of Rebecca's disappearance, her parents told the Liverpool Echo that they heard the names of a young woman and older man on the ship mentioned as possibly being involved in a love triangle with her, and called for them to come forward. They also disclosed that they had heard Disney had sent some additional footage to the FBI for enhancement, but could not say what that footage might contain.[9]

They recall her personality as constantly cheerful and upbeat, traits that got her the Disney job in the first place. When her parents visited her quarters after the disappearance, they found passes she had obtained for them and her sister to visit Disneyland Paris, a gift trip she was apparently planning to surprise them with on her next break at home. These plans, as well as her continuing ******** exchanges with her mother, argue against a suicide theory.[1]

"Melissa", who had last seen Coriam at 11 pm the previous night, told Ronson that she believed that Rebecca went out to the crew pool, one of her favourite places on the ship, to be alone and relax for a while. While there, she might have climbed up and sat on the wall, and then fallen. "Bex was a bit of a risk taker," she said.[1]

However, "Melissa" was dismissive of the suggestion that the slippers allegedly found near the pool, which were included among the belongings returned to Coriam's parents, had been hers. "Mike and Ann showed them to me," she told Ronson. "They were too big. They weren't her style. They were pink and flowery and Hawaiian. I'd never seen her wear them. Why didn't Disney come to me or her girlfriend and say, 'Can you identify these as Bex's?'"[1]

While the Coriams later claimed the flip flops were too small, they were unable to find anyone on the ship who had seen her wearing them and learned that no forensics had been done on them.[9] In 2016, private investigators working for the family said that they had conclusively established that the footwear did not belong to the couple's daughter. Not only were they not in a style she would wear, they noted, the flip-flops had another crewmember's name and cabin number written on them. The Coriams said this led them to strongly doubt Disney's claim that they had been found in the pool area, as well as its theory that Rebecca was swept or fell overboard from there.[12]

It was also noted that in the video of the phone call, Rebecca's clothes appear very large; her friends and fellow crew have speculated that they may have been someone else's.[3]

Labour MP Chris Matheson, who has represented the Chester constituency since the 2015 election, believes Rebecca Coriam was a crime victim, possibly murdered or sexually assaulted. "The more you look into this the more it smells rotten; the more it smells like a crime has taken place", he told the Echo the year of his election. He claims to have a copy of the original police report with "compelling" evidence to that effect.[13] John Anderson, a private investigator who has worked with both the Coriams and Matheson, says records show the seas around the Wonder were normal that night, casting doubt on Disney's "rogue wave" claim. He also says that any wave capable of taking her off the ship would have caused visible damage to it as well.[3]

Baron John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair and now a life peer in the House of Lords, has also taken an interest in the case. He believes Rebecca was thrown overboard rather than falling.[3] He has also called for laws that would allow British authorities to investigate their own citizens' deaths on cruise ships in international waters.

Criticism of investigation Edit
Ronson reported that at the time his article was published, the Coriams had received no further updates from Disney or the RBPF on the progress of the investigation. "[W]henever we call anyone, all they say is, 'The investigation is ongoing,'" Mike Coriam said. "We've tried emailing, telling them how we feel, how it's getting harder ... But nothing. Just, 'It's ongoing.'" The Bahaman police officer assigned to the case never returned Ronson's calls.

The Coriams have been joined in their criticism of the investigation by British government officials, Rebecca's friends among the crew, and advocates for victims of other incidents on cruise ships and their families. The latter, especially, note that 170 passengers and crew have disappeared from cruise ships since 2000, many without being seriously investigated or widely reported. All critics contend that Disney, like other cruise operators, is more interested in avoiding adverse publicity related to these incidents than anything else.[1]

In November, Stephen Mosley, the MP for the City of Chester, the Coriams' constituency, brought the case up in the House of Commons. "The investigation into Rebecca's disappearance was appalling," he told Mike Penning, the Minister for Shipping.[14]

"[T]he Bahamian authorities made virtually no attempt at investigating Rebecca's disappearance," he continued, saying the RBPF was "internationally recognised as almost toothless[1] ... Very few people know that when they board a cruise ship that they are so poorly protected."[14] Countries such as the Bahamas, often criticized for the lax standards of such "flag of convenience" ship registrations, did not have the investigative capabilities to deal with such incidents.[1]

Penning responded by announcing that the Marine Accident Investigation Branch would investigate all deaths or disappearances of British citizens from vessels anywhere in the world, paralleling similar legislation signed by U.S. President Barack Obama that gives the Federal Bureau of Investigation that authority in the event of the death or disappearance of any American citizen. The Government would also work through the International Maritime Organization to increase international cooperation on such investigations.[14] Penning, too, was critical of Disney, saying the company was "more interested in getting the ship back to sea than in investigating the case of the missing member of their crew".[15]

"In other corporations, police get involved," said Kendall Carver, an Arizona resident who founded the lobbying group International Cruise Victims after his own daughter's 2004 disappearance from the Celebrity Mercury. "On cruise ships they have, quote, security officers, but they work for the cruise lines. They aren't going to do anything when the lines get sued."[1] Miami lawyer Jim Walker, publisher of the blog Cruise Law News, which is highly critical of the industry, concurs. "The Coriam family does not deserve Mickey Mouse games," he commented in Ronson's article.[16] Walker later represented the Coriams in a suit against Disney in American courts; they settled with the company in 2015 for an undisclosed sum and an agreement not to discuss the case publicly.[3]

Carver and Walker[16] both believe Disney has more evidence than it has shown, particularly security footage of the area by the pool, and is covering up knowledge of what happened out of fear of adverse publicity. "If there's a video that shows your daughter going overboard," Carver told Ronson, "that's the end of the story. There's no way someone can go off a ship and it not be recorded."[1] Melissa told Ronson it was implausible that there was no footage since the pool is close to a number of other important offices, such as human resources and the payroll department, where money and sensitive documents were kept. She believed any coverup by Disney may have been as much about protecting themselves from charges of negligence, since the pool is just below the ship's bridge and would thus be the portion of the ship where a fall would most likely be seen by someone in a position to start a rescue.[16] "If it was 6 am and they were doing their job and watching the front, someone must have seen her go over," she told Ronson. "Or if they didn't, they're covering up why they didn't."[1]

Disney told Ronson that they are deferring to the RBPF. "[They have told] us the investigation is still ongoing. They have not shared a timeline with us, either." Their spokesperson refused to comment on specifics about whether a tape of the phone call or additional security-camera video exists. "[W]e wish we knew what happened as much as anyone ... Rebecca's disappearance has been difficult and heartbreaking for everyone."