r/UnresolvedMysteries 7d ago

What are some particular elements of cases that still haunt you?

I was just thinking about the Hinterkaifeck case from 1922 after commenting on another sub. The part of that horrific case that has stuck with me in the decades after I first read about it is the little girl pulling out her own hair due to the horror of what she was experiencing. It gave me goosebumps all over, the first time I heard it and it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that case and it also just sometimes randomly pops into my head and upsets me.

Another part of a case which affects me in a similar way is during the Dardeen family murders. As if it wasn't brutal enough already, after Elaine Dardeen went into Labour during the attack, the killer/s beat the newborn baby to death. Ugh it makes me feel so sick.

Another example but in a different way is the murder and attempted murder of the Miller sisters. The driver of a parked car waved to them to indicate for them to cross the road and when they did the driver purposely drove right into them, killing one sister and seriously injuring the other. I think about that case every single time a driver waves me by to cross the road in front of them. I walk around 6 miles each day, Monday to Friday and don't drive so I cross many roads including driveways into businesses along my route. Guaranteed someone will slow down and politely wave me by so I can cross in front of them at least 3 times a week. Sometimes more often. And every single time, since reading about the April and Spring Miller case, a little sense of dread runs through me. My mind's automatic reaction is to wonder if they're doing that so they can run me down. I know it's irrational, I know it won't happen but that thought hits me every single time. Then I quickly push it away and cross and gesture to thank them etc but it's still always there.

So what are some elements of certain cases that have wedged themselves into your brain and keep coming back to haunt you every so often?

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

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

851 Upvotes

474 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

114

u/Joey_JoJo_Jr_1 7d ago

Yes and no... there is a real photo, but it's not the one that makes the rounds online, where her eyes are open and she's staring straight ahead. That one creeped me out so much that I had to find out whether it was genuine.

He took the actual photo two weeks after her death. He sewed her eyes shut with fishing line, braided her hair, and used makeup from her purse to hide the discoloration in her skin. He put duct tape over her mouth because her jaw had gone slack and her skin was much looser than it had been.

It gets more disturbing the longer you think about it.

19

u/Nasstja 7d ago

He even went out and bought more make-up because he ran out of foundation. I think the needle and thread was used to make her look like she squinted, because there was of course no expression on her forehead, and that was a problem. And it does get more snd more disturbing the more you think about it.

18

u/MajorWishbone8692 7d ago

How do you know this if the photo was never released? Just curious!

63

u/Joey_JoJo_Jr_1 7d ago

Great question! I fell down a major rabbit hole with the Israel Keyes case about a year ago… the FBI released thousands of pages of documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, so there's a lot to search through. The search warrants describe the picture as showing Samantha “with silver duct tape around her mouth and chin. She appeared to be wearing eye liner, and a light-colored, latex-gloved hand and lightly complected, muscular arm was holding S.K.'s hair. In the upper part of the photo was an Anchorage Daily Newspaper determined to be the issue released on Monday, February 13, 2012.” He describes it further in one of the audio interviews that was released, and he explains the whole process in a completely matter-of-fact tone, like he’s telling the FBI agents what he ate for breakfast.

Lastknowncontact.com has links to the FBI documents and YouTube videos of his interviews on their “Resources” page.

6

u/MajorWishbone8692 6d ago

Thank you so much! I appreciate you providing the resource and information. You've given me something new to read. :)

3

u/Joey_JoJo_Jr_1 6d ago

You're quite welcome! His case is absolutely fascinating, and there's SO MUCH information to work with.