5 Mysterious Unsolved Cases Part 3
#1 - The Tromp Family
On August 29th, 2016, an Australian family of five decided to go on a technology-free,
off-the-grid road trip, convinced that they were being pursued and needed to escape their
home.
For reasons unknown, married couple Mark and Jacoba Tromp were convinced that someone was
out to rob and kill them, and believed that they had to flee their redcurrant farm.
They took with them their three adult children, aged 22, 25 & 29 and drove away in their grey
Peugeot station wagon.
They left their passports, credit cards and cellphones behind, and when they discovered
that their son, Mitchell, had brought a phone along on the trip, they made him throw it
out of the window, as they were convinced it was being used as a tracking device.
Each member of the family, over the course of six days, was found one by one.
Mitchell was first to leave the group, after travelling all night with his family, at around
7am the next morning, he left the car as he was not convinced by the paranoid theories
of the rest.
Later that day the two daughters of the group, Riana and Ella, also left their parents and
stole a car and drove to the town of Goulburn, where they reported their parents
as missing.
The 2 sisters then decided to part ways, as Ella wanted to go home and feed her horses,
and Riana did not.
Police found Ella once she arrived back at the family home.
Shortly after, Mitchell also arrived back at the home.
Riana was the last of the children to be discovered.
She was mysteriously found in a catatonic state in the back of a strangers vehicle.
She did not know who or where she was.
The next day, Jacoba, the mother of the family, was found aimlessly wandering in the town
of Yass, 217 miles away from her last known location.
It is unclear how she arrived there, and at which point she left her husband.
Jacoba was found in a delusional, agitated and confused state.
She and daughter Riana were both taken into psychiatric care.
As public interest grew, Mitchell and Ella were both interviewed on live TV, where they
attempted to explain what had happened to their family and spoke about their missing
father.
(Play Video) Can you shine any light on, or perhaps explain
why he may not want to be found?
Because he's.. scared that people are after him.
He's not in a good state of mind.
How did you start off on this trip? it's quite a confusing story.
It is very confusing, I still feel confused.
I think our state of minds wasn't in the best place, yeah.
It's hard to explain, there's no one reason, it's bizarre.
On the sixth day of the ordeal, Mark Tromp was finally found near Wangaratta airport,
after seemingly travelling over 900 miles in total and was taken to the local police
station.
He didn't appear to appreciate the media attention and offered the middle finger to photographers
and reporters.
Investigators can find no reason why the family felt the need to flee from their home.
No drugs were involved, and no previous history of mental illness has been discovered.
Theories ranging from chemical poisoning, to stress in the family, to toxins in the
water or even just a hoax have been put forward.
Some are also speculating that the bizarre incident could be a rare case of folie a plusieurs,
which in English is translated as 'the madness of many'.
This disorder can be responsible for close-knit families sharing a heightened delusion of
paranoia or fear.
Although, this is only speculation, and the real reason for their actions and their apparent
need to escape, is yet to be discovered.
#2 - Steven Koecher
On December 13th 2009, 30 year-old Steven Koecher went missing from Henderson, Nevada.
A clean-cut, well-respected, churchgoing man, Steven decided to take an unexplainable road
trip from his home state of Utah to his final destination of Nevada.
Steven's car was found in a dead end cul-de-sac and he was shortly reported missing.
Surveillance footage shows him parking his car, leaving it there and walking out of the
frame.
In this footage, he is alone and appears to be walking as if he has a destination in mind.
When his car was discovered, some of his belongings were still inside, including Christmas presents
which he had purchased a few days prior as well as blankets and pillows.
Items missing from the car, included Stevens cell phone, wallet, passport and driving licence.
For two days after his disappearance, his cell phone signal was picked up by a signal
tower several miles from his car.
It is unknown why Steven was making cell phone calls near this tower, where exactly he was,
and if it was indeed Steven making these calls.
His family are unsure why he left Utah, with no apparent cause for disappearance other
than some financial concerns.
Some have speculated that Steven may have gone to Nevada to look for a job or to hand
out flyers to advertise a window-washing business.
Steven is a devout Mormon and due to his religious beliefs, does not drink alcohol or take any
drugs.
Su icide is not suspected, and no sign of foul play has ever been discovered.
The case remains open and is still unsolved.
#3 - Andrew Gosden
14 year-old Andrew Gosden went missing on September 14th 2007 and was last seen by his
parents leaving home early for school.
The teenager, who was described as a 'Maths genius' by his teachers, was very intelligent
and was into the goth scene.
On the morning of his disappearance, instead of going to school, Andrew returned to his
home in Doncaster, England, knowing that his parents had left for work.
He then changed out of his uniform, emptied his savings account of its 200 pound contents
and bought a one-way ticket to London.
Andrew, when offered, refused to buy a round-trip ticket, despite it costing only 50 pence more.
This refusal would seem to imply that the 14 year old never planned on returning.
An eyewitness on the train reported that Andrew was playing on his PSP console for the duration
of the journey.
Strangely, however, investigators later discovered that he did not take his PSP charger with
him on the trip.
This CCTV footage shows Andrew as he walked into London kings cross station at around
11:20am, over 150 miles from his home town.. and is the last time he was seen alive.
Andrew's family have no idea of his potential motive for travelling to London.
There have been no subsequent sightings of him and all search efforts have led to no
results, with TV, radio and internet campaigns also proving futile.
His parents have since added money to his bank account in the hopes of detecting him,
but this money has never been used or withdrawn.
Many believe that Andrew may have travelled to London to make a fresh start.
However, 100 pounds was found untouched in his bedroom which weakens that theory.
Some have pointed out that when freezing the security camera footage, a reflection of a
man can be seen in the glass, who appears to be looking directly in Andrews direction.
Was this person someone the schoolboy had planned on meeting?
Perhaps most strangely of all, a few years after the teen went missing, a visitor to
a police station claimed to have information on the case.
But because the station was closed, this man was asked to return the following day.
However, he never did.
The search for Andrew, continues.
#4 - Brandon Lawson
On August 9th 2013, 26 year-old Brandon Lawson went missing from his car on Highway 277,
near Bronte, Texas.
After getting into an argument with his girlfriend, Brandon left his home just before midnight
before calling his brother a short while later to report that he had run out of gas.
When his brother arrived at the stated location, Brandon was no longer in his car.
The vehicle had no damage, and his phone and keys were gone.
In addition to calling his brother, Brandon had also contacted 911.
In the mysterious and unclear phone call, Brandon breathlessly and fearfully asked the
police to 'please hurry' and seemed to utter the words, 'we're not talking to
them'.
From this exchange, it is pretty safe to say Brandon was with someone else, but it is impossible
to know who and what the statement meant.
What is clear, however, is that he sounds very desperate and incredibly scared.
Although Brandons 911 phone call is very hard
to understand, repeated listens seem to imply that some unidentified people were trying
to take him into the woods, though this speculation cannot be confirmed.
After arriving at the abandoned vehicle, Brandons brothers girlfriend decided to give him a
call and was told by Brandon that he was ten minutes up the road and mentioned that he
was bleeding.
This was the last time they ever heard from him.
Brandon's family and friends are unable to guess what happened that night, and all speculation
has been fruitless.
The 29 year old has four children and a girlfriend, and no apparent motive to run away.
No trace of Brandon has since been found.
#5 - Peter Bergmann
From June 12th to June 16th, 2009, a mysterious elderly man with a heavy Germanic accent,
visited the coastal town of Sligo in Ireland, where he spent his final days.
The man checked himself into the Sligo City Hotel under the name Peter Bergmann and paid
for his stay in cash.
On June 16th, The body of this enigmatic man was found on a beach under very mysterious
circumstances.
Investigators looked at all available CCTV footage, in an attempt to work out what had
happened to him.
They noticed that when Bergmann left the hotel each morning, he was carrying a disposable
plastic bag.
He would then return later each day seemingly without this bag.
It is believed that he was gradually and carefully disposing of his personal belongings, though
no evidence has ever been found.
On the second morning of his stay, the man visited the local post office where he purchased
8 postage stamps and airmail stickers.
presumably, this means that he sent out several letters in he post, most likely to friends
and family, but this is only speculation.
The CCTV footage assembled from the case shows a great deal of the man's comings and goings
inside the hotel and around the town.
However, no footage exists of the moments in which he disposed of the contents of his
purple bag.
Investigators believe that by meticulously and intentionally avoiding cameras during
these key moments, the man was attempting to hide his actions and decrease the chances
of his disposed belongings ever being found.
It is unknown why this man seemed so intent on permanently hiding his identity, though
it is clear that this was very important to him.
The real mystery began when investigators uncovered that the name Peter Bergmann was
an alias, as there is no record of anyone in the same age bracket or description possessing
this name anywhere.
On his final day in Sligo, the man checked out of the hotel with his purple plastic bag
and two more black bags.
He then walked to the bus station where he is spotted on CCTV carrying only 2 bags.
The man goes inside the coffee shop, and can be seen in the footage, pulling out a piece
of paper and reading it tearing it up.
He then took a bus to the beach of Rosses Point.
Many witnesses saw him and reported that he was pacing up and down the beach and seemed
to be behaving strangely.
It is at this beach, that his body was later found.
Bizarrely, the mysterious man had removed all labels from his clothing and had no wallet,
money or any forms of identification on his person.
An autopsy was performed, and determined that there were no signs of foul play and no signs
of saltwater drowning.
Further examination showed that the man had extensive prostate cancer and numerous bone
tumours.
But despite his bad health, the toxicology report showed that there were no drugs (including
painkillers) in his system, which meant he would've been in significant amount of pain.
The most accepted theory is that the man travelled to Ireland and decided to take his own
life, However, Despite further investigations, police are completely unable to discover who
this man was, how he died and the reasons for his mysterious actions.
Thanks for watching!