Tag: mysterious disappearances

The mystery of missing ‘French Madeleine McCann’: Estelle Mouzin disappeared aged nine on her way to school amid fears she was snatched by ‘Ogre of Ardennes’ killer… but her body has never been found

Over a span of more than 15 years, a series of killings of women and young girls haunted parts of France and Belgium, but perhaps none more than the murder of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin – France’s Madeline McCann.

Between 1987 and 2003, at least 11 people disappeared across the region, with several of the cases seeming – at least at first – to be unconnected.

The first woman disappeared in Auxerre, in December 1987. The second vanished 90 miles away in Vitry-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris, in 1988. 

Another woman went missing in Auxerre that same year, but then more vanished further north in Châlons-en-Champagne (1988) and Charleville-Mézières (1989. Then one in Saint-Servais in Belgium, then another in Rezé, over in the West of France.

After a flurry of eight disappearances from 1987 to 1990, there was a ten-year pause, but they restarted in 2000, in Charleville-Mézières again, then another in Sedan in 2001, and one more in Guermantes in 2003.

Of the places where the women went missing, only two appeared on the list more than once: Auxerre (three women) and Charleville-Mézières (two). When plotted on a map, the locations are spread across a vast area of 21,500 square miles.

It is easy to see, therefore, why authorities struggled to connect them to the culprit: dreaded serial killer Michel Fourniret, known as ‘the Beast of Ardennes’.

Finally arrested in 2003 in Belgium, Fourniret was convicted to life in prison in 2008 for the murder and rape or attempted rape of seven teenagers and young women, after he admitted to killing several women and girls.

Fourniret would go on to be convicted again after confessing to more killings, and he confessed to three more he was never convicted of – including 20-year-old British tutor Joanna Parrish, who was killed in Auxerre in 1990.

But of all of Fourniret’s horrific killings, one stood out in particular: That of nine-year-old Estelle, who went missing in 2003. The whereabouts of her body remain a mystery to this day, and is a secret that Fourniret took to his grave.

The youngest of Fourniret’s victims, Estelle’s disappearance has been likened to that of Madeleine McCann‘s, the three-year-old British girl who went missing in 2007.

As with McCann, who vanished in Portugal, Estelle disappeared without a trace, leaving investigators stumped while capturing the attention of the public and media.

The girl had been returning from school on January 9, 2003 in the commune of Guermantes, some 15 miles east from the centre of Paris.

The nine-year-old was last seen that winter’s day in front of a bakery, en route to the house belonging to her mother, Suzanne Mouzin.

Suzanne, who was in the middle of a divorce from Estelle’s father Eric, raised the alarm with the local police station at around 7pm that evening.

Little did she know, in going to the police she had lit the touch paper on an investigation that would span seventeen years, spark huge media coverage in France, and yet would never truly discover what had happened to her little girl.

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The baffling disappearance of the anthropologist Sam Dubal on Mt. Rainier

Dr. Sam Dubal, 33, left for Mt. Rainier National Park on Friday, October 9, 2020, for a solo hike and was supposed to return the next day. He was spotted that day on the Mother Mountain Loop trail near Lake Mowich in the Park. Sam was reported missing on October 12 after he didn’t return home.

He was well equipped for the overnight hike, with a tent, a sleeping bag, snow gear, rain gear, a cellphone, and a charger. Sam was also an experienced hiker under challenging conditions. After an extensive search, Sam was unable to be located.

Mt. Rainier is considered one of North America’s most dangerous mountains due to its high chance of volcanic eruption. Still, it has also had a heavy toll of hiking deaths, with many visitors dying on its icy slopes because of accidents, misadventures, foul play or reasons unknown.

As of November 2023, the only clue has been a water bottle found in October near the Loop trail. No other sign of Sam has been located despite many searches in the park. The nature of this disappearance is very puzzling, as he was experienced, and the Mother Mountain trail is not difficult nor dangerous.

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The puzzling disappearance of Jared Negrete from Mount San Gorgonio

12-year-old, Jared Michael Negrete (born September 11, 1978), was a Boy Scout who was on his first overnight backpacking trip. He was last seen on Friday, July 19, 1991, at about 6 pm, when he fell behind his fellow Scouts on a hike to the summit of 11,500-foot Mt. San Gorgonio in San Bernardino National Forest, Southern California.

An extensive search turned up only some candy wrappers and a camera with a haunting image of Jared on it. Thirty years later, despite the large search and follow-up hikes into the area by amateur investigators, no remains have been found.

Many are asking why would a Scout Leader leave Jared alone on his first trip, whilst he and the other scouts completed their hike?

San Gorgonio Mountain, also known locally as Mount San Gorgonio, or Old Greyback, is the highest peak in Southern California and the Transverse Ranges at 11,503 feet (3,506 m). It is in the San Bernardino Mountains, 27 miles (43 km) east of the city of San Bernardino. It lies within the San Gorgonio Wilderness, part of the Sand to Snow National Monument managed by the San Bernardino National Forest.

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Police searching for four missing teenagers on a camping trip in North Wales find the Silver Ford Fiesta they were travelling in as village is cordoned off and air ambulance lands nearby – as boy’s worried mother says she ‘didn’t know he was going camping’

Police searching for four missing teenagers who went on a camping trip in North Wales have found the silver Ford Fiesta the group were last seen travelling in and sealed off the area around it.

Sixth form students Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris  were last seen in the Porthmadog area of Gwynedd on Sunday morning.

The teenagers, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, were due home on Monday but none of them have made contact with friends and family or been active on WhatsApp. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the A4085 which runs through the village of Garreg was cordoned off following information from a member of the public. An air ambulance and forensics van are also on the scene. 

North Wales Police have not said whether the boys have been found or given an update on their condition, but are set to give a press conference later today. 

Locals reported that it had rained at the weekend, leading to rising river levels and ‘poor visibility’ in the mountainous area. One resident, Emyr Owen, told the BBC there had been ‘atrocious weather’ on Sunday, the day the boys went missing.

Crystal Owen, the mother of Harvey, a 17-year-old student at Shrewsbury College doing A-levels, said she was unaware her son had gone camping and thought he was staying at a friend’s grandfather’s house for the night. 

She said: ‘If I’d have known [where he was going] I wouldn’t have let him due to the winter weather conditions. They are all sensitive, intelligent lads and we are just hoping they parked up, got lost and are OK.’

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Headless corpse with no arms washes up on NYC beach – two weeks after missing Irish filmmaker, 44, was last seen on nearby stretch of sand

An investigation has been launched after a headless body was discovered on a beach in the Rockaways in New York City. 

The NYPD were on the scene at  Breezy Point Beach just after noon on Friday after reports of human torso came in to 911.

Officers with the 100th Precinct responded to the gruesome sight which saw a human torso with legs still attached but without arms, was found lying on the sand.

The discovery comes only weeks after a talented Irish film maker named Ross McDonnell disappeared from his New York home with his bike later being found at Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury – just three miles away from Breezy Point Beach. 

Emmy award winner McDonnell, 44, was last spotted late on the night of Saturday, November 4 at Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury, where his bicycle was found locked up three days later.

Earlier this month, friend Gene Gallerano, told The Irish Times that McDonnell appears to have been on the beach but ‘went out into the ocean’ before disappearing.

The identity of the body found on Friday will not be released until the family is notified. 

The NYPD has not revealed whether the body had washed up on shore or been dumped on the beach. 

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Police hunt for Washington couple who vanished in ‘suspicious’ circumstances after wife’s co-workers raise alarm when she didn’t show for work

Fears are growing for a popular chiropractor and her husband who disappeared suddenly from their Washington home at the weekend and have not been seen since.

Police arrived to carry out a welfare check at the Lacey home of Karen Koep and her husband Davido when she failed to turn up for work in the center of town on Monday.

The couple, who have two adult children, were not there, but their silver 2015 Toyota Yaris was found abandoned five miles away later that day at the Chehalis Western Trailhead in East Olympia, a popular starting point for hikers.

‘Deputies responded to the residence located in Lake Forest Development and found that the husband and wife were missing and the circumstance surrounding their disappearance is suspicious,’ said Thurston County Sheriff’s Office in a statement on Tuesday.

‘The couple’s vehicle was missing from the residence and was later located by law enforcement near 67th Avenue SE and Ranier Road SE.’

‘To ensure the integrity of the investigation we have not released many details.’

Local TV channel KING 5 Seattle reported that police initially arrested a suspect near the O’Reilly Autoparts store in the north-east of the city but he was later released without charge.

Davido is landlord to several properties in the area and police have been interrogating his tenants for clues to his disappearance.

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Former Scientologist Mitch Brisker lifts lid on church leader David Miscavige’s relationship with Tom Cruise, luxurious lifestyle and the woman who took wife Shelly’s place

David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, is a reclusive man with a penchant for designer clothes, a hunger for gifts, fast cars, and superbikes and a fondness for thumping music.

And, according to one of his closest lieutenants, he ‘exiled’ his wife Shelly seemingly without a second thought because he was ‘done with her.’

This is the picture of the enigmatic man painted by Mitch Brisker, 74, former Senior Director and Creative Executive of Scientology’s Golden Era Studios.

For 30 years Brisker was, by his own admission, Chief Architect of Scientology’s Propaganda and a trusted right-hand man to its leader, Miscavige, 63.

Once a member of the church’s upper echelons, he left the church just over a year ago after clashing with Miscavige and losing faith in what it stood for.

Now, he is speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com giving his unique insight into Miscavige, his personality, his ‘missing’ wife, his infamous friendship with Tom Cruise and the luxurious lifestyle of the man whom, he says, conducts himself like a ‘super celebrity.’

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Hiker Rich Moore, 71, missing for three months is found dead in Colorado with his white Jack Russell dog still alive next to his body

A 71-year-old hiker missing since August has been found dead in the Colorado mountains with his loyal dog, who miraculously survived two months in the wilderness, by his side. 

Rich Moore and his white Jack Russell, Finney, had set out for a hike on August 19 to Blackhead Peak, located in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. The missing man’s body was discovered by a local hunter on October 30 in the Lower Blanco drainage basin.

The hiking route to Blackhead’s 12,500-foot summit is approximately three miles with an elevation gain of 2,500 feet. The road to the peak is described as ‘rough, rocky, and steep, but the last stretch is an unmaintained ‘social trail, The Mercury News reported.

The day after Moore’s body was found, members from the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office and search and rescue were flown into the area to recover the victim. 

Moore’s loyal dog, who miraculously survived, was transported to a local veterinary hospital, and was later reunited with her family.

Moore’s cause of death has not been disclosed, but authorities said that foul play was not suspected, The Denzer Gazette reported.

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Suspect in Los Angeles Dismembered Torso Case Is Hollywood Scion, Whose Wife and In-Laws Remain Missing

The suspect in a Los Angeles case, where a dismembered torso was found in a dumpster, is reportedly a scion of a prominent Hollywood family whose wife and in-laws are missing.

Murder suspect Sam Haskell Jr., whose family is known for Christmas movies, was arrested after a homeless man found a headless body in a dumpster, according to a report by Fox News.

The Los Angeles Police Department said they responded to a dumpster at around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue in Encino, where they found a woman’s torso.

Police said the victim has not yet been identified, but that the woman’s body may belong to the murder suspect’s wife.

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Thelma “Polly” Melton: Vanished From the Great Smoky Mountains

Thelma Pauline “Polly” McAllister was born in Alabama on February 26th, 1923, to parents Fred and Luella. She was one of six children.

Those who knew Polly described her as friendly, intelligent, and generous. She loved the outdoors and was an avid hiker. She had previously worked as a teacher.

Twice divorced with no children, Polly married Robert “Bob” Melton, a man 20 years her senior, in 1975. The couple resided in Jacksonville, Florida, for most of the year, but spent each fall living in their Airstream trailer in North Carolina’s Deep Creek Campground, near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bob had two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Polly was a two-pack-a-day smoker on medication for nausea and high blood pressure when she went missing. Additionally, she was no longer permitted to drive alone, for undisclosed reasons.

While staying in North Carolina, Polly Melton was a frequent volunteer at the Bryson City Presbyterian Nutrition Center, where she served meals to elderly people. She reportedly never missed a day of working at the food bank.

For this reason, it was undeniably odd when Polly chose not to sign up to volunteer on September 25, 1981. However, she offered no explanation for this decision.

In another uncharacteristic move, she reportedly used the phone at the center the day before—the first time she’d ever done so in all of the years that she’d been volunteering there. To whom she made the call and what they spoke about is unknown.

Neither her friends nor family could remember speaking with her on the phone that day. No long-distance charges appeared on the bill, suggesting the call was local.

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