While all mysteries may have true scientific explanations and sensible reasons, finding reasonable proof and solving some truly bizarre cases is extremely tough.
Several unusual happenings have occurred around the world that remain a mystery to this day.
1. Jeanette DePalma, a 16 year old Springfield Township resident in Union County, New Jersey, vanished on August 7, 1972. Her body was discovered six weeks later, on September 19. Some witnesses claimed that the location where her body was discovered had hallmarks of occult sacrifice and black magic.
On the afternoon of August 7, 1972, Jeanette DePalma left her home in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey to visit a friend. When she failed to show up at her friend’s house or return home, a report was made with the Springfield Police Department.
Her body was discovered six weeks later, when a dog brought the bones of her forearm to its owner. While the authorities have rejected most witnesses’ reports that her body was discovered at a location associated with occult and Satanic activities, there has been a lot of conjecture about her death.
According to several witnesses, her body was discovered encircled by a pentagram and several wooden crosses, indicating a ritual sacrifice.
Locals have nicknamed the cliff where her body was discovered the “Devil’s Teeth.”. [Sources: 1, 2, 3]
2. Jane Nartare Beaumont, Arnna Kathleen Beaumont, and Grant Ellis Beaumont were three siblings who went missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia, on January 26, 1966. Since then, it has been suspected that they were all kidnapped and possibly murdered, although no conclusive proof or facts have ever been discovered in this case.
This occurred at a time when leaving children unattended was not considered dangerous.
The father of the three children entrusted the eldest with the task of looking after the younger two and left them near their home on Glenelg Beach. When they didn’t return home by the deadline, their parents became concerned and filed a report.
Several leads were gained after their disappearance, the most notable of which was that numerous witnesses remembered seeing these children with a tall middle-aged man on the day of their disappearance.
This disappearance was a watershed moment in Australian history because it sparked a dramatic upheaval in parenting and lifestyle, with most parents convinced themselves that leaving their children unaccompanied in public is dangerous. [Sources: 1, 2, 3]
3. Andrew Gosden, a 14 year old from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was disappeared on 14th of September, 2007. He was last spotted on CCTV footage exiting King’s Cross Station after withdrawing 200 GBP from his bank account on the day he disappeared. Later it was found that he had purchased a one-way train ticket to London.
Andrew Gosden was a brilliant kid at his school who kept to himself most of the time, according to reports.
He was believed to have showed slightly unusual behavior on the day he went missing, since he awoke late and was upset.
He then broke from his typical pattern and walked to a nearby garage cash machine, where he withdrew nearly all of the money in his bank account, totaling 200 GBP.
He then returned home, washed his school clothes, and changed into casual clothing, a black t-shirt with the metal band Slipknot, and black trousers.
He then booked a one way ticket to London at the Doncaster train station. At 9:35 a.m., he boarded the train alone to King’s Cross Station in London.
He appeared alright and was overly interested in his video game console, according to a train rider who sat next to him. At 11:20 a.m., the train arrived at King’s Cross Station.
Surveillance cameras caught him leave the train station’s main entrance at 11:25 a.m., which also proved to be his last sighting.
To this day, he has not been discovered, and his parents have not replaced the locks on their home in case he returns. [Sources: 1, 2, 3]
4. The Zodiac Killer is a well-known cultural criminal icon who is known for murdering a large number of people and sending coded letters to newspapers threatening to kill more people if they did not publish the letters. Although multiple times suspected, a complete match has never been made due to a lack of evidence.
On December 20, 1968, the Zodiac Killer is thought to have began his murdering spree when he murdered a couple on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, California.
He subsequently attempted to murder another couple in Vallejo, approximately four miles from the Lake Herman murder site, on July 4, 1969, at midnight in Vallejo’s Blue Rock Springs Park.
Michael Mageau, one of the victims, was able to escape the attack. On July 5, 1969, at 12:40 a.m., a man claimed to be the killer and called the Vallejo Police Department.
He also claimed to have murdered the two other victims on Lake Herman Road six months prior.
The killer allegedly sent three letters to the Vallejo Times-Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Francisco Examiner on August 1, 1969, requesting that they be published. He would eventually attempt to murder three more individuals, one of whom would survive.
On September 27, 1969, he attacked a couple near Lake Berryessa, and on October 11, 1969, he killed a cab driver in Presidio Heights.
The Zodiac Killer has been blamed for a number of additional attacks and deaths, but none have been proven.
Several individuals were interrogated but never charged, including Arthur Leigh Allen, who was widely suspected of being the Zodiac. [Sources:1, 2, 3]
5. On 3 May 2007, Madeleine Beth McCann, a three year old girl, suddenly disappeared from her bed at a resort in Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal. She was in Portugal on a holiday with her parents, a bunch of friends, and family. Despite multiple investigations, she has never been discovered.
Madeleine McCann’s parents placed her in a ground-floor apartment room with her twin siblings to sleep. The parents and their friends were dining 55 meters from the room in a tapas restaurant.
Madeleine’s mother Kate discovered she was missing at 10 p.m.
This case would eventually become one of the most well publicized cases in history. Several investigations were launched, including one based on a DNA error that falsely implicated Madeleine’s parents of being the perpetrators.
Furthermore, someone reported seeing a man holding a toddler on the same day. Jane Tanner, a friend of Kate’s, reported one sighting.
An Irish couple spotted the other, who was widely believed to be the real criminal.
Martin and Mary Smith witnessed a man carrying a three or four year old girl around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, which became known as the “Smith sighting.”
However, due to a lack of proper evidence, the case has never been solved. [Sources: 1, 2, 3]