I think the real star of the past decade is True Crime.
With podcasting finally becoming huge, and Netflix documentaries being bingeable at the
click of a button, there is a whole new audience for the mysterious and the morbid.
Whether it’s Making of a Murderer, or Serial, or even the more recent Tiger King, there
is all sorts of content catering to people who want to try their hand at solving a mystery.
Granted, a lot of media made for this purpose is put together extremely well, and sort of
gently persuades the audience into drawing their own conclusions.
But for every mega-hit true crime docu-series, there are a hundred mysterious crimes that
go un-televised. The internet is full of communities that analyze
and puzzle over these very unexplainable instances. Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the
scariest channel on YouTube: Top5ScaryVideos. I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and
today we’re going to be counting down the Top 5 Scary People Who Disappeared.
Some of these folks were never found, some were discovered later on.
If you’re particularly interested in this kind of stuff, check out The Charley Project
if you have time. It’s an online database that profiles all
sorts of cold cases featuring missing people. Before we get started on the list, make sure
to give this video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more unknown endings.
Outrageous, let’s get started. NUMBER FIVE: ROBERT “BOBBY” DUNBAR
Over one hundred years ago, police investigations were a little less sophisticated.
DNA tests didn’t exist, and a lot of crimes were “solved” without a whole lot of proof.
What’s interesting about the Bobby Dunbar case is that modern forensic techniques were
used almost a century after the fact to unveil some new and shocking information.
Back in 1912, little Bobby wandered off from his family and was never seen again.
There are many theories as to what fate might have befallen the little lad.
Some believe he fell from a railroad trestle into some water and drowned.
Others seem to think that he was abducted by a strange man sighted in the area around
that time. It’s likely that we’ll never know for
sure. Now, back in the day, something very odd happened.
Authorities found a little boy accompanying an older gentleman, and thought they had found
Bobby Dunbar. They arrested a handyman in Mississippi, who
was with a child matching Bobby’s description. This man stated that the boy was a travel
companion given to him by his servant Julia. The story did not convince the police, and
he was brought in on kidnapping. Even after he was arrested, the man maintained
his innocence, which actually makes a lot of sense.
See, this kid had no problem stepping into Bobby’s life.
He took his name, and his family, and lived a relatively normal childhood from there on
out. Even as an adult, he claimed that he was indeed
Bobby Dunbar, and even recounted memories from the kidnapping.
However, this was disproven many years later. One of the “new” Bobby’s grandchildren
decided to look into the situation, and got some DNA testing done in the early 2000’s.
It was announced that the tests proved that the child found with the handyman so many
years ago was not Bobby Dunbar. So nobody really knows what happened to the
original Bobby, nor does anyone know the true identity of the boy who took his place.
Holy smokes. NUMBER FOUR: SKYLAR NEESE
A little more modern, and very tragic, the tale of Skylar Neese is every parent’s nightmare.
Skylar was an upstanding student, worked a part-time job, and had aspirations to become
a lawyer. Her disappearance didn’t line up with any
of this. Skylar disappeared from her home in West Virginia
in July 2012. The surveillance system at the apartment complex
her family lived in captured her sneaking out through her bedroom window.
She then hopped into a car with two of her friends.
Nobody saw Skylar again until six months later, in January.
Her remains were found by the side of the road.
During the time in between, authorities assumed that she had run away, and as such didn’t
activate AMBER alert. Her family was desperate to get her home,
convinced that she would never run away, and was searching on their own.
They even enlisted the very same friends that she drove off with to hand out missing person
flyers. The thing is, before her death, Skylar had
recently gotten into an argument with these two friends, and was reluctant to go with
them. Eventually, they convinced her to come along
and smoke with them like they usually would. Once they made it to their regular spot, just
across the state border, Skylar’s friends claimed they forgot their lighter.
Skylar offered to go get hers from the car, and as soon as she turned they pounced on
her. Using kitchen knives they had hidden on them,
her two friends stabbed Skylar over fifty times until she died.
They had attempted to bury her body using a shovel they brought, but found the ground
to be too rocky, and opted to cover her body with sticks and rocks instead.
After cleaning up and ditching their bloody clothes, the two friends headed home.
Their motive for the crime? They didn’t want to be friends with Skylar
anymore. There are definitely better ways of going
about that. They did eventually get caught, and now both
of them are in prison. NUMBER THREE: BRANDON LAWSON
This case is particularly well-documented online, with all sorts of people trying their
hand at deciphering the last known phone call Brandon made.
Brandon Lawson was a young man with substance abuse problems.
He worked long hours at a hard job, and had a felony warrant out on him.
However, he also had a loving fiance, and three children, with a fourth from a previous
partner. Lots of conflicting emotions here, for sure.
One night, after a long shift, Brandon came home and got in an argument with his fiancee.
After not coming home the night before, she was worried he had relapsed and started doing
meth again. This sent Brandon into a panic, and he ran
off into the night. He hopped into his car, claiming that he was
going to stay at his dad’s; a three mile drive from home.
During his ride, he ran out of gas, parked his truck on the side of the road, and called
his brother asking for help. By the time his brother made it to his location,
Brandon was gone, the truck was abandoned, and the police were on site.
Somebody had seen the haphazardly parked vehicle and called it in.
Nobody could find any signs of struggle near the vehicle, so they were confused as to where
he went. Later on, it was discovered that Brandon had
called 911 and claimed that he was being chased and feared for his life.
Some say it was meth-induced paranoia, others think he was actually being pursued.
That was the last contact Brandon had with anyone, and he hasn’t been seen since.
Many major investigations and searches were done, but none of them turned up anything.
There are a few different theories as to what happened to Brandon.
Some say he was murdered; he might have hit someone while driving and had them chase him
down. If you listen to his final 911 call, there
is what sounds like a second voice that comes through.
Another theory is that he ran away and faked his death.
He did have a felony warrant, after all, and was supposedly doing drugs at the time.
Speaking of drugs, the third theory is that he was paranoid and having a psychotic break,
symptoms regularly associated with meth use. None of these theories have enough proof to
come to a guaranteed conclusion, and neither Brandon nor his remains have ever been found.
NUMBER TWO: THE SODDER CHILDREN Five children mysteriously disappeared on
the same night, all following some very strange happenings.
On Christmas Eve, the ten Sodder children were basking in the glow of their new toys.
Five of them decided they wanted to stay up and play with them, and their parents gave
this request the nod. Mom + dad went to bed, and soon after some
weirdness began. The phone rang, and the voice on the other
end asked the mother for a person she had never heard of.
When she said she didn’t know what they were talking about, they laughed and hung
up. She was awakened again later by a sound on
the roof. Her husband gathered the five children who
hadn’t stayed up, and it was then that they realized that all of the lights were on, the
shades were drawn, and all doors were unlocked. When everyone got outside, they saw that the
house was on fire. The dad rushed to get the other children from
their rooms on the second floor, but his ladder was mysteriously absent.
Officials say that the five kids died in the fire, but the parents never stopped believing
that they made it out somehow. At some point, a picture was mailed to them
that purportedly portrayed one of their sons, now as a full-grown adult.
No other evidence has surfaced. NUMBER ONE: EVELYN HARTLEY
This one literally seems like something out of a horror movie: a teenage babysitter is
kidnapped, and pools of her blood are found nearby.
Yikes. Sometimes reality is indeed scarier than fiction.
Evelyn Hartley was hired to babysit a 20 month old baby while the parents were out at the
town’s famous Homecoming Game. Most of the town was going, but Evelyn had
to study, so she decided that she would read while the baby slept.
Her parents told her to call at 8:30 to check in, but she never did.
Evelyn’s father got worried, and went over to the house to check up on her.
He found the house completely locked up, save for a basement window, and no Evelyn.
There were pry marks on some windows, and a stepladder was moved, pointing to repeated
attempts to enter. Inside, there were signs of a struggle, and
sneaker marks on the floor. After a desperate search, plenty of evidence
was found, but Evelyn never was. Two days later a local man came forward and
said he might have seen something. On his way to the Homecoming game he sighted
a car speeding westward, with two men and a girl inside.
At the time he just assumed they were heading to the game as well, and didn’t think much
of it as Evelyn’s disappearance was undiscovered at the time.
Lots more evidence was found in the coming days, like bloody garments and sneaker prints
outside of town, but nothing conclusive. Truly a horror movie made real.
OUTRO What did you think of the list?
Gonna look both ways before leaving the house now?
How many of these had you already heard of? Is there a disappearing person that haunts
you to this day? Make sure you let me know down in the comments!
Speaking of comments, let’s take a look at some of your more jazzy ones from the TOP
5 SCARY SIRENHEAD SIGHTINGS: Dark Rose 15 says “Honestly, if that thing
was real I would not want to run into it.” I’d say most people share that opinion…
although… Midnight mare says “I want to hug siren
head” You and Dark Rose 15 should have a spirited
argument about siren head pros and cons. Dirt bikes for life says “Siren head would
dominate the NBA” 2021 first draft pick. The lad can dunk like
no other. Needs a little work on his midrange shot, but otherwise a total powerhouse.
Charlotte Bruce says “I am so scared sarcasm btw”
I’m really glad you cleared that up. I don’t know what I would have believed had you not
put the sarcasm tag on. Aireal Guidance says “Siren head was my
pet but he got out, I haven;t seen him until now. How’d he get across the world so fast?”
The lad has a wicked stride. And that’s all the time we have for today!
Before I paint my way into a corner in a room with bad ventilation, make sure to give this
video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more vanishing individuals.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.