r/RealHorrorExperience

Sally Contarino arrived in Las Vegas on June 13th, 2026. She was an experienced solo traveler that regularly visited California and Nevada.

On June 20th, she told a friend in Australia that she planned to hike on Lone Mountain, outside of Las Vegas. She checked out of her hostel and asked the front desk to watch her luggage. She then traveled to the outskirts of Las Vegas, where she was last seen on surveillance at a grocery store (image on right) purchasing water and protein bars.

After this, it’s believed she started walking several miles down the road toward the mountain.

It’s unknown exactly what happened to her after this. She missed her flight home to Australia that was booked for either the 20th or 21st, and no one has heard from her since.

Lone Mountain is 19 miles from the grocery store where Sally was last spotted. It’s unknown if she planned to walk the whole way there (her family says she loved very long walks), or if she may have hitchhiked or planned to meet up with someone. Scent dogs did pick up on her scent on one of the trails at the mountain, indicating that she made it there at some point during her trip.

Both ground searches and drone searches have been done, neither have found any trace of Sally. Her sisters fear she may have met foul play. Police haven’t indicated if they believe she got lost hiking, or if she may have met foul play.

https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/australian-tourist-missing-in-las-vegas-for-over-a-month-as-sister-fears-foul-play/

[Video in link below]

On 10 May 2023, a man collapses in the street in Amsterdam. He is taken a hospital, where it becomes clear that he has suffered a brain haemorrhage or stroke. After receiving the necessary medical care, doctors determine that the man has been left with aphasia, a condition that in this case makes communication extremely difficult. He is unable to provide any information about his identity or address.

The Amsterdam-West detective unit therefore launches an investigation in an attempt to establish his identity. Not because they are required to do so, but simply because they want to help. The man has meanwhile been transferred to a care facility in Amsterdam Southeast. Although police officers pursue every possible avenue to find out more, they seem to keep reaching a dead end. Professionals closely involved with Lucky have by now begun referring to him as lacking the capacity to make decisions for himself.

But where do they go from here?

Fortunately, Team Cold Case becomes involved. The Amsterdam-West detectives are unable to make any further progress and need to focus on criminal cases. Ruud and Nel—now retired and working as volunteers with the Cold Case Team—are assigned the case. Rather than conducting a criminal investigation, they begin a social investigation. One possibility they consider is that there may be worried family members who know nothing about what has happened to him and, because they are not known to authorities, cannot be informed.

Buddhist Temple and Waterlooplein

Ruud and Nel soon try to map out who Lucky has been in contact with and what his social circles look like. They discover that he is a member of a Buddhist community based on Middenweg in Amsterdam. Members there tell them that the unidentified man is known by the nickname “Lucky.” Through other sources, Ruud and Nel discover that Lucky occasionally has a drink at Soep en Zo on Waterlooplein. To their surprise, however, he is known there as “Chris the Canadian.”

American? Canadian?

Once again, there is no clear answer as to the “real” identity of the nameless man. An additional challenge is that Lucky’s roots probably do not lie in the Netherlands. People around him believe that he may be from the United States or Canada. After all, he always spoke English, with an accent that sounded as though it came from one of those countries. Hence the nicknames used by people around him. To this day, Lucky still uses words such as “nonsense” and “definitely” to confirm or deny something. Unfortunately, he is unable to communicate much beyond that.

Everyone has the right to know who he is

Nel: “I simply cannot believe that nobody knows who this man really is. Isn’t it strange that you could perhaps live under the radar in the Netherlands for twenty years?”

Ruud: “Every person has the right to an identity, and that includes this man.”

Do you know who Lucky is? If so, please contact the police.

https://www.politie.nl/nieuws/2026/augustus/17/een-heel-leven-maar-geen-naam-wie-herkent-deze-man.html

12 years after his disappearance, the story of 17-year-old Guram Dadianidze has resurfaced, sparking widespread outrage and raising critical questions.
In June 2014, Guram traveled from the Temka neighborhood to Mleta, Georgia, for the Lomisoba festival alongside 15 neighbors. Due to the rugged mountain terrain, they left their minibus in the village of Mleta and hiked up to the shrine on foot. According to the participants, they began their descent at around 2:00 AM. Official reports state that during the walk down, Guram sat on a stone to rest, just 300 to 500 meters away from their vehicle. He allegedly asked the others to go ahead, saying he would catch up. When a neighbor returned to check on him just minutes later, Guram was completely gone. He had no phone, leaving no digital trace, and police found no initial signs of violence. For years, the investigation remained stalled —until a newly surfaced video went viral, throwing the case back into the spotlight. In the video, Guram's mother recognizes what she firmly believes is her son's voice pleading: "(name) don't leave me, please. "1
While authorities claim to have questioned everyone involved, there are glaring contradictions and inconsistencies throughout the witness statements and interrogation records. The timeline surrounding the trip's planning, the exact moments leading up to his disappearance, and the actual circumstances of that night remain deeply suspect. It is clear that members of that group know more than they are letting on. Guram's mother has waited 12 years for answers, and bringing public awareness to this case is essential to demanding the truth. For more detailed information watch the YouTube reports featuring Guram Dadianidze's mother, or send me a direct message

I want to share a missing person case from Georgia that has been unsolved for 12 years.

The case is about Guram Dadianidze, usually called Gurika.

He was 17 years old when he disappeared in June 2014 during the Lomisoba religious festival near Mleta, Georgia.

His mother has been looking for him ever since.

There have been many theories over the years, but no one has found Guram and nobody has been publicly proven responsible for his disappearance.

Recently the case became active again.

Police searched the area again, old witness statements started being discussed, an old video appeared, witnesses gave new interviews, and then Guram’s Facebook account suddenly became active after many years.

There are also several strange details in the original story that still do not have clear answers.

I want to put everything I have found in one place.

I am not accusing anyone mentioned here of a crime.

Some of the people in this post were with Guram that night or are connected to the case as witnesses. There is no public evidence proving that any of them harmed him.

I am also attaching screenshots and photos. Where something comes only from a screenshot or from information that has not been publicly confirmed by police, I will say so clearly.

1. The trip to Lomisoba

According to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, 16 people from the same neighborhood in Tbilisi travelled to the Lomisoba festival on June 10, 2014.

They travelled in a minibus.

Because the road toward the shrine was difficult, they left the minibus in Mleta and continued on foot.

The official police statement says they stayed at the shrine for a short time and started walking back at around 2 AM.

There is also information discussed around the case that the group reached Lower Mleta at around 10 PM and spent only a short time near the shrine.

One version describes that time as about 20 minutes.

However, the public police statement does not give an exact number of minutes, so I am not treating the 20 minute figure as an officially confirmed fact.

There are also slightly different numbers in older reports about how many people were together.

Police now say 16 people travelled from the neighborhood.

Some older reporting talks about a smaller group of around 14 young people and an adult.

A very early report talks about six people being together near the time Guram disappeared.

This may simply mean different reports were talking about different parts of the same larger group.

2. What police say happened to Guram

The current official police version is very specific.

Police say Guram was walking down with a relative.

Two other people, described as a father and his child, were also nearby.

At some point Guram stopped to rest and sat on a rock.

According to police, the relative and the father and child saw this happen.

There were only about 300 to 500 meters left before reaching the minibus.

Police say Guram told the others to keep walking and said he would catch up.

The three people continued.

After walking a short distance, Guram still had not appeared.

Because it was dark, one of the neighbors went back with a flashlight.

When he returned to the place where Guram had been sitting, Guram was gone.

Police say Guram did not have his mobile phone with him.

Because of that, his friends could not call him and investigators could not later use his phone to track where he went.

Police also say witnesses reported that Guram had no fight or conflict with anyone during the trip or at the shrine.

They say many pilgrims were moving through the area and no signs of violence were found where witnesses say Guram was last seen.

3. Early reports from 2014 were not this clear

This is one of the parts of the case that I find most confusing.

On June 13, 2014, only a few days after Guram disappeared, a local official told Georgian media that relatives said six people had come down together as far as the main road.

According to that report, Guram disappeared after they reached the road.

Then another report appeared on June 14.

The same official said police had questioned people who had been with Guram and their stories were different.

Some reportedly said they stopped seeing Guram near the school in Lower Mleta.

Others reportedly mentioned the area near a church.

At that time the official said it was unclear exactly where Guram disappeared.

This was not years later.

These reports came only a few days after Guram went missing.

Today the official version describes a very specific rock, three people who saw Guram there, and a distance of only 300 to 500 meters from the vehicle.

There may be a normal explanation.

Different people could have been talking about the last place where they personally saw Guram.

Early information may also have been passed badly between police, local officials and journalists.

But I think the difference is still important.

4. What Ani Gelashvili says happened

Ani Gelashvili was part of the group.

She gave a long interview in 2026.

Ani says that shortly before Guram disappeared, he was walking with a friend known by the nickname Tini.

According to Ani, Guram told Tini to go ahead and said he would catch up.

Tini returned to the others.

Ani says the group thought Guram may have wanted privacy because he needed to use the toilet.

She says about five minutes later her father, Kakha Gelashvili, decided to go back and look for Guram.

According to Ani, her father came back about five minutes later.

He asked whether Guram had reached the group.

He had not.

Ani says they became worried and began searching.

She says police and rescue workers were told very quickly.

According to her, rescue and police vehicles were already only a few meters from their minibus because a large number of officers and rescuers were in the area for Lomisoba.

She says this is why they went directly to them instead of calling emergency services.

If this timeline is correct, Guram disappeared in a very small period of time.

5. Did the group stay in Mleta or return to Tbilisi?

Ani strongly denies the claim that the group simply left Guram and returned to Tbilisi.

She says they immediately started looking for him.

According to her, police, rescuers and local people joined the search.

She says Guram’s aunt and uncle later arrived in Mleta.

Ani says the younger people only left after Guram’s uncle told them to go home.

She says her father Kakha, her mother, police, rescuers and local people stayed there.

She has also said that the group was covered in mud because they had been searching.

Guram’s mother, Sopho Bibilashvili, tells a different story.

She has publicly said that according to what she was told, the group returned to Tbilisi without Guram and asked Guram’s aunt whether Guram had somehow arrived home.

She also questions whether the story about Guram sitting on the rock is true at all.

So there is a direct difference here.

Ani says they stayed in Mleta and searched until Guram’s relatives arrived.

Guram’s mother says she was told the group returned to Tbilisi without him.

The public does not have every original 2014 police interview, so we cannot compare every person’s first statement word for word.

6. The family says one person later changed their story

In 2026, Guram’s family said that one person who had been with the group later admitted that their first statement had not been true.

This claim was reported by Georgian television.

However, the full interview record has not been published publicly.

We do not know from public records exactly who the person was, what the original statement said, or exactly what was later changed.

Because of that, I think this needs to be described as an important claim from Guram’s family, not a proven public fact.

The family has also raised the possibility that some kind of accident happened while Guram was with the group and that the full story was never told.

Again, this is a theory raised by the family.

Nobody has been publicly proven guilty.

7. The strange phone question

Police say Guram did not have his phone with him when he disappeared.

Ani Gelashvili says the same.

But there are other strange details about the phone.

Ani says Guram had told his mother that his SIM card was damaged or was not working.

According to Ani, it later turned out that the SIM card was actually fine.

Ani also says the group decided to go to Lomisoba on the same day.

But she says she later heard that Guram had already told his mother about the trip one day earlier.

Ani said this confused her because, according to her, the group itself had not planned the trip the previous day.

There is also a photo connected to the trip that has caused questions because Guram appears to be holding a phone.

If his own phone was not with him, the obvious question is whose phone it was.

I have not seen a public answer to that question.

8. How many photos exist from the trip?

Another strange point concerns photographs.

Only a very small number of photographs from the trip have surfaced.

I currently have two photos that are said to be from the trip, and I will attach them.

There is also a claim around the case that witnesses have denied having more photographs.

I want to be careful with this point.

I have not found a public police statement confirming that only two photos exist in total.

So I am not saying that as a proven fact.

But considering this was a group trip to a large religious festival, the small number of known photographs is still something I think is worth asking about.

9. Questions about the original investigation

There is also disagreement about what kind of investigation existed in the first years after Guram disappeared.

A report from June 2014 said rescue workers were already searching.

A rescue official reportedly believed a criminal investigation had been opened.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs told the same news outlet that a criminal case had not yet been opened at that point.

In 2026, lawyer Tariel Kakabadze joined Guram’s family.

He says the case material he received contained an investigation registration document dated 2017.

He has also said that interview records he saw in the criminal case material began in 2017.

He has questioned why important phones were apparently not collected and checked shortly after Guram disappeared.

Police reject the claim that nothing happened between 2014 and 2017.

The Ministry says a missing person search case was opened in 2014 and search work was carried out.

So this may partly be a difference between a missing person search file and a formal criminal investigation.

Still, it is an important part of the case.

10. Another question about the early investigation

There is another serious point that has been raised in material around the case.

The claim is that a person said to have been involved in the earlier investigation later denied being involved in Guram’s case, and that former colleagues reportedly could not clearly confirm that person’s role there.

I do not want to name this person because I have not found enough reliable public documentation to independently confirm this claim.

I am also not presenting it as a proven fact.

But if this information is correct, official staff records, case assignment records and signatures on the original documents should be able to answer the question.

11. The landslide theory

For years one major theory was that Guram may have fallen somewhere and later been covered by a landslide.

His mother repeatedly asked authorities to properly search a specific area.

In August 2026, police returned to Mleta.

Around 50 officers and specialists were involved.

They used special equipment, scanners and heavy machinery.

A well was also checked.

Nothing connected to Guram was found.

After the work was completed, Guram’s mother and the family lawyer said the landslide theory had been ruled out for the specific area they had wanted searched.

This does not mean there was definitely no landslide anywhere in the area in 2014.

It also does not prove that Guram could not have had an accident somewhere else.

It means the specific location that the family wanted searched did not produce Guram’s remains.

12. The occupied territory theory

The Lomisa area is close to territory occupied by Russia.

Because of that, one theory over the years has been that Guram may somehow have crossed the occupation line.

There has been no public confirmation from eyewitnesses or occupation forces that Guram crossed the line.

So this remains a theory, not established fact.

13. The monastery theory

Ani Gelashvili has said she personally believes Guram may still be alive.

She has also talked about the possibility that he went to a monastery.

According to Ani, there had previously been talk that Guram wanted to go to a monastery.

She says her father and Guram’s father contacted the Georgian Orthodox Church after Guram disappeared and asked for help.

Nothing was found.

In 2026 Ani again publicly asked monasteries to contact the family or police if Guram had ever stayed with them.

There is no public proof that Guram entered a monastery.

There have also been public comments from other people connected to the case who believe he may still be alive.

This is unusual, but belief that he is alive is not proof that he is alive.

14. Guram’s aunt

Guram’s aunt, Nino Dadianidze, has also spoken publicly about the case and has expressed the belief that Guram may still be alive.

Lawyer Tariel Kakabadze publicly said he wanted to speak with her because he had questions.

At one point he said she had refused to meet him.

He also said some things she had said did not fit other evidence as he understood it.

Later reporting said she decided to speak publicly.

This shows that even among people close to Guram there are different views about what may have happened.

It does not prove that anyone is hiding anything.

15. The Turkey rumor

Another rumor online tried to connect Guram’s disappearance to a young man who died in Turkey.

Guram’s mother publicly rejected this.

She said that death had nothing to do with Guram’s disappearance.

She has also explained that Guram had spent time in Turkey with her before he disappeared.

That seems to be one reason the Turkey theory became popular online.

But his mother says the two cases are not connected.

16. The old video

In 2026 an old video filmed during Lomisoba in 2014 began spreading online.

Lawyer Tariel Kakabadze said that near the end of the video he hears a distressed male voice that sounds like:

“Kakha, do not leave me, please.”

Guram’s mother says she believes the voice is her son.

Ani Gelashvili strongly disagrees.

She says she is sure it is not Guram.

The video has been sent for professional examination.

Police found and interviewed the person who recorded the video.

According to the lawyer, the person who filmed it did not know Guram and was not part of Guram’s group.

Police say the video was recorded on June 11, 2014 at around 3 PM.

The people who were with Guram say he disappeared at around 4 AM.

That is around an eleven hour difference.

This is important.

If the voice is not Guram, the video may have nothing to do with his disappearance.

If experts prove the voice really is Guram, then the timeline would need serious explanation.

As of the time I am writing this, I have not found a publicly released final result of the voice examination.

17. Police questioned people again in 2026

The Ministry of Internal Affairs says the case is still active.

In August 2026, police said more than 20 people had been questioned again during the previous month.

Police say they have not found evidence of a revenge motive.

They also say they found no confirmed signs of violence where witnesses say Guram was last seen.

Police have asked people not to spread false or unconfirmed information.

18. Fake messages started appearing online

The digital part of the case became very strange in August 2026.

Before Guram’s real old Facebook account made its strange post, fake accounts were already spreading messages connected to Guram.

On August 18, lawyer Tariel Kakabadze said fake accounts were posting things such as:

“Mom, I am alive.”

He said he believed the purpose was to mislead the family and move attention toward false directions.

This timing is important because it means some fake account activity was already happening before the biggest Facebook event later that evening.

19. Guram’s real Facebook account became active

On August 18, 2026 at 21:54, Guram’s old Facebook account suddenly published a post.

The text was:

“Арцыд рæстæг”

Georgian media described this as Ossetian and translated it approximately as:

“The time has come.”

Media reports say the previous visible post on Guram’s account was from 2013.

Guram disappeared in 2014.

At this point there is no public proof that Guram himself made the new post.

Someone else may have gained access to his account.

20. A message sent to the account was read

After the post appeared, Guram’s cousin sent a private message to the account.

Later the cousin posted a screenshot showing that the message had been marked as read.

The cousin asked who was using the account and what was happening.

This suggests someone had access to the account.

It does not prove that person was Guram.

21. Guram’s mother’s reaction

Guram’s mother publicly reacted to the post.

She asked what “the time has come” meant.

She later said several strange messages had appeared around the case.

These included messages similar to “Mom, I am alive”, Russian language messages and then the Ossetian post.

She said she believed somebody was playing with the case.

Her point was simple.

If Guram was really alive and wanted to contact her, he knew how to reach his own mother directly.

She said the Facebook situation had been reported to investigators.

22. The suspicious account using the name “Kaxa Gelashvili”

Around the same time, another Facebook account appeared using the name “Kaxa Gelashvili”.

This is very important:

There is no public proof that the real Kakha Gelashvili created or controlled this account.

Someone may have used his name.

According to Georgian media, the suspicious account reportedly had only one Facebook friend.

That friend was Gurika Dadianidze.

The account also used information connected to Guram.

The name “guriko96” appeared in its contact information.

A public post on the account was written in Russian:

“Если я приду”

which means:

“If I come.”

The account also appeared under posts connected to Guram.

Under one video posted by Guram’s mother, the account reportedly wrote:

“Mom, I am alive.”

The account later stopped appearing in Facebook search.

Again, none of this proves that the real Kakha Gelashvili controlled it.

It could even mean somebody was deliberately using his name to point attention toward him.

23. The heart reaction

One screenshot I am attaching appears to show the suspicious “Kaxa Gelashvili” account giving a heart reaction to the new post on Guram’s real Facebook account.

The post is the one containing:

“Арцыд рæстæг”

I have the screenshot.

I do not have a public police statement confirming who controlled the account.

So I am showing the screenshot as part of the timeline, not as proof against the real Kakha Gelashvili.

24. Another strange Ossetian message

Another screenshot appears to show the same suspicious account posting:

“ма йæ кæн”

I do not want to guess what this means.

I would really like someone who speaks Ossetian to explain the exact translation and how a native speaker would understand it.

Again, this screenshot should not be treated as officially authenticated evidence unless investigators confirm it.

25. The Viber account

Another screenshot shown in a circulating video appears to show a Viber profile with wording similar to:

“Арцыд растаг”

The screen also appears to say:

“Last seen yesterday at 21:54.”

That time is interesting because Guram’s real Facebook post appeared at 21:54.

However, a screenshot by itself does not prove that the Viber account was controlled by the same person who used the suspicious Facebook account or Guram’s real account.

That connection would need technical confirmation.

26. The accounts later disappeared

The suspicious Kakha named Facebook account later stopped appearing in Facebook search.

People following the case have also reported that other pages later became unavailable.

It is important not to jump to conclusions here.

A missing profile can mean several different things.

The owner may have deleted it.

It may have been deactivated.

Facebook may have removed or locked it.

The username may have changed.

Without information from Meta, we cannot know which happened.

27. The lawyer says he knows the IP information behind one message

On August 19, Tariel Kakabadze said he had information about the IP address and the country connected to the person behind the message:

“Mom, I am alive.”

He did not publicly name the country.

He said revealing it could interfere with the investigation.

There is a very important difference here.

This does not automatically mean that investigators have identified the person who entered Guram’s real old Facebook account at 21:54.

The lawyer was speaking about the “Mom, I am alive” message.

Whether that account and Guram’s real Facebook account were controlled by the same person has not been publicly proven.

28. Why the digital evidence matters

There are several separate questions now.

Who accessed Guram’s real Facebook account?

Who created the suspicious account using Kakha Gelashvili’s name?

Who wrote “Mom, I am alive”?

Who controlled the Viber account shown in the screenshot?

Were any of those accounts connected through the same phone, computer, IP address, email address, phone number or recovery information?

If investigators find a technical link between them, that could be very important.

If they do not, some of this activity may simply be trolling or an attempt to confuse the family and the public.

29. The biggest questions I still have

Why did the first reports in 2014 describe different places where Guram was last seen?

Why did one early report say six people reached the main road together?

Who exactly were the three people who police now say saw Guram sitting on the rock?

Is Tini the relative mentioned in the official police version?

Exactly how much time passed between Tini leaving Guram and Kakha going back to search?

How long was Kakha away from the group?

Why does Ani say the group stayed in Mleta while Guram’s mother says she was told they returned to Tbilisi?

Did somebody really admit that their first statement was false?

If so, what exactly changed?

Why did Guram not have his phone?

Whose phone appears in the photograph where Guram seems to be holding one?

Why did he reportedly say his SIM card was damaged?

How did Guram apparently know about the trip one day earlier if the rest of the group supposedly planned it on the same day?

Why are so few photographs from the trip known?

Are there more photographs or videos that have never been made public?

What exactly happened in the investigation between 2014 and 2017?

Who was officially assigned to the case during those years?

Whose voice is heard in the old video?

If it is Guram’s voice, how can the 3 PM recording fit a disappearance that witnesses place at 4 AM?

Who entered Guram’s real Facebook account in 2026?

Who created the suspicious Kakha named account?

Why did that account use “guriko96”?

Why did it react to Guram’s post?

What exactly does “ма йæ кæн” mean?

Is the Viber screenshot authentic?

If it is authentic, why does its 21:54 time match the time of Guram’s Facebook post?

What country was connected to the IP mentioned by the lawyer?

Were the fake account and Guram’s real account operated by the same person?

And most importantly:

Are these new online events actually connected to what happened to Guram in 2014, or is somebody using a 12 year old missing person case to confuse and hurt the family?

30. What I am asking Reddit

I am not asking anyone to find private phone numbers, home addresses, IP addresses or personal information.

Please do not contact, threaten or harass Guram’s family, witnesses, Kakha Gelashvili, Ani Gelashvili or anyone else mentioned here.

I am not asking Reddit to decide who is guilty.

I am interested in the timeline and in public information that may help people understand the case.

I would especially like to hear from people who understand missing person cases, digital forensics, Facebook security, OSINT and the Ossetian language.

Can an Ossetian speaker explain the exact meaning and normal use of:

“Арцыд рæстæг”

and

“ма йæ кæн”

What information could Meta still have about a Facebook login made in August 2026?

Can investigators determine whether two accounts were used from the same device even if one account has been deleted or deactivated?

Can Meta still preserve useful login information after an account disappears?

Does anyone see a contradiction in the public timeline that I have missed?

This is still an active missing person case.

Nobody mentioned in this post should be treated as guilty unless there is real evidence.

Sources

Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs statement reported by Publika

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty report on the police timeline and search

InterPressNews report from June 13, 2014

InterPressNews report from June 14, 2014

Netgazeti report on the Facebook post

TV Pirveli interview with Ani Gelashvili

TV Pirveli report about the family’s claim that a statement changed

Netgazeti report from the early search in 2014

Tabula report on the suspicious Facebook account

Tabula report on the renewed search

Primetime report on the read Facebook message

Primetime report on the lawyer’s IP statement

Palitra Video report about fake “Mom, I am alive” messages

Palitra Video report on the old video and voice examination

TV Pirveli report about the person who recorded the old video

Fortuna report on the Turkey rumor

Ambebi report on Guram’s aunt and the lawyer’s questions

In the 1950s Bell Aerosystems began making the Bell Rocketbelt jetpack for the US military, showing it off to JFK in 1962. The military was unimpressed with the results. The Jetpack could only fly for half a minute, so development was cancelled. Instead, the Bell Rocketbelt got used for stunt shows and movies.

Fast forward to the 1980s, Texas insurance salesman Bradley Barker begins working for jetpack stuntman Bill Suitors' crew who perform stunts with the Rocketbelt for audiences. In the early 1990s, Bradley went solo to create his own jetpack. In 1992, he founded the American Rocketbelt Corporation with Doug Malewicki, Joe Wright, and Thomas "Larry" Stanley. Doug deserves credit for helping build the Rocketbelt, but he won't be relevant in the crimes that follow. Joe provided the workspace to build the jetpack, and Larry funded the project. The Rocketbelt 2000 was a success and could fly for a record 40 seconds. Still mostly useless, but Bradley is only interested in the money from stunt shows and movie appearances.

Shortly after its completion, the trio of Joe, Larry and Bradley fell out over money and the rights to the jetpack. It's hard to objectively research this story because these people hate each other and they may be all fabricating the story to some degree. Larry and his lawyer Michael Von Blon claim Bradley was falsifying prices of the jetpack material and pocketing the extra cash. When Larry confronted Bradley a fight broke out and Bradley beat Larry over the head with a hammer and both were charged with assault. Larry took Bradley to court over the fake prices, believing he was entitled to the Rocketbelt. Joe didn't care about the jetpack and just wanted to collect his cut of the money and leave. Unfortunately, he never got it. On July 16th, 1998, Joe Wright was found murdered in his Houston home, beaten to death with a hammer, 11 days before the trial over rights to the Rocketbelt. Police questioned both Bradley and Larry about his death. Bradley was released after a 3-day investigation found no evidence. Joe Wright's murder remains unsolved to this day.

Later that summer, the judge ruled in favor of Larry, demanding Bradley give him the Rocketbelt and pay more than 10 million dollars. Bradley instead took the Rocketbelt and went on the run. Larry was determined to recover that jetpack through any means necessary. Larry Stanley recruits the help of stuntman Christopher James Wentzel, who worked with Bradley in the past, to lure him into a trap. Christopher offers Bradley a fake job in Hollywood he had to drive to. When Bradley arrived at Christopher's house, he was attacked by 3 men with guns, gagged, and stuffed into a wooden scuba diving box. Larry is among the attackers, demanding Bradley tell them where the Rocketbelt is and sign a contract giving up the rights. Bradley refuses to, believing that if he tells them where it is, they would kill him right afterwards. For 8 days, Bradley is kept hostage until finally the group leaves him alone in the house. Bradley escaped and ran to the nearest police station.

In 2002, Larry Stanley and Christopher James Wentzel were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and extortion. Christopher takes a plea deal and is sentenced to 7 years in prison. Larry Stanley is serving a life sentence. So what happened to the Rocketbelt 2000, the jetpack that people kidnapped and potentially murdered each other for. Bradley is the last person to ever see it and he's said in interviews he's never telling anyone.

sources:

Missing Rocket Belt Inspired Greed, Envy--Possibly Even Murder - Los Angeles Times

Man Gets Life Term in Kidnapping - Los Angeles Times

Rocketbelt 2000 Drama Part 1

https://www.houstonpress.com/news/blasted-6567513/

https://www.deseret.com/1999/7/28/19457763/rocket-belt-still-missing-but-feud-lives-on/

Around noon on August 8, 1985, eight badly decomposed body parts floated to the surface off Hac Sa Beach on Coloane. There were four right feet, two left feet, and two hands.

They had likely been in the water for more than two days. Beachgoers immediately called the Maritime Police.

At first, police thought the remains might have come from people who had entered Macau illegally and then been attacked by sharks.

But the cuts were far too clean for that. The fingers on the severed hands had also been crushed, likely to make the fingerprints unreadable.

Two days later, a stray dog was spotted at A Po Ioeng Beach with a woman’s left hand in its mouth.

Three days after that, police found another woman’s hand. Beachgoers also came across a right heel.

By then, eleven body parts had been found in just five days. The four right feet alone meant there were at least four victims.

Police formed a special investigation team and brought in forensic experts from mainland China to examine the remains.

But even with their help, they couldn’t identify the victims or figure out exactly what had happened. Eventually, the investigation stalled.

In April 1986, Macau’s Judiciary Police and the Interpol office in Guangzhou received letters from Cheng Lam’s younger brother.

His message was essentially this:

“My brother, Cheng Lam, suddenly disappeared from Macau in early August of last year. After that, a man named Wong took over his restaurant, the Eight Immortals, and his properties. Human body parts were recently found at Hac Sa Beach, and I’m afraid my brother and his family may have been killed. Please help me find them.”

The letter made police realize Cheng Lam was not the only one missing.

In total, ten people close to him had disappeared.

Cheng Lam was in his fifties at the time. His wife, Shum Wai Yee, was 42.

All five of their children were missing too: Cheng Po King, 18, Cheng Po Hung, 12, Cheng Po Man, 10, Cheng Po Wah, 9, and Cheng Koon Tak, 7.

Shum’s mother, Chan Lai Yung, was 70. Her aunt, Chan Lai Chun, was 60 and known as “Ninth Aunt.” Both women were missing too.

Cheng Lam’s cousin, Cheng Pak Leung, was also missing. He was 61 and worked as a cook at the restaurant.

The Eight Immortals restaurant had been open since the 1960s.

Cheng Lam had started out as a street vendor selling Cantonese roast and barbecued meats. Later, a poultry dealer lent him enough money to open his own restaurant.

People in the neighborhood described Cheng Lam as honest and well liked.

His wife, Shum Wai Yee, was viewed very differently. She was said to be obsessed with mahjong, often went to casinos, and cared a lot about money.

Because of that, she was not as well liked in the neighborhood.

A poultry supplier later told police that Cheng had ordered chickens and ducks as usual on the afternoon of August 4, 1985.

When the order was delivered, everything at the restaurant still seemed normal.

But by the next morning, a sign had appeared outside:

“Closed for three days.”

The supplier then went to Cheng Lam’s apartment. An unknown man answered the door and claimed the whole family had gone to Zhuhai.

Chan Lai Chun the ninth Aunt also disappeared on August 5.

A neighbor later told police that a man around 30 years old had come to pick her up early that morning. He told Chan Lai Chun that Cheng Lam’s youngest son (her grand nephew) had a fever and needed her help.

The two got into a taxi together.

Chan Lai Chun was never seen again.

Police now believed the family’s trail ended sometime between August 4 and 5.

After receiving the letter, police examined the body parts again. This time, they found a fingerprint that looked very similar to Aunt Chan Lai Chun’s.

But it was not a definite match.

From that point on, Wong Chi Hang a friend of Cheng Lam’s became the main focus of the investigation.

After the family disappeared, Wong Chi Hang began running the Eight Immortals. He replaced the entire staff, rented out Cheng Lam’s apartment, and kept the rent money for himself.

Wong lived in another apartment with his adult son.

Even the car his son drove had belonged to Cheng Lam.

On September 28, 1986, Wong left the restaurant in a hurry and appeared to be trying to flee to mainland China. But police stopped him and took him to the station for questioning.

At first, Wong claimed he was only taking his wife and daughter to mainland China. He said he had bought Cheng Lam’s properties and paid for them with money he had made through smuggling.

Later, Wong changed his story.

This time, he said Cheng Lam owed him 600,000 in gambling debts and had handed over everything he owned. He then claimed the family had left Macau for good.

But police found no evidence that Cheng Lam or anyone in his family had left Macau.

Instead, investigators found several of the family’s personal documents inside Wong’s safe. These included the key to Cheng Lam’s safe deposit box, his travel document for mainland China, and birth certificates and copies of four of the children’s student ID cards.

As police looked into Wong’s background, they discovered that his real name was Chan Tsz Leung. He was already wanted for another crime.

On November 5, 1973, Chan went to see a man named Lee Wo at the Fook Cheong Building in Hong Kong. He asked Lee for HK$10,000.

When Lee refused, Chan tied up Lee, his wife, and his older sister, then attacked them with a knife. He drowned Lee in the bathtub and tried to start a fire using the gas stove.

The two women managed to escape in time.

After that, Chan fled to mainland China. He hid with a man named Lai, who had once worked for his family.

While staying there, he fell in love with Lai’s daughter. The two later entered Macau illegally together.

To make himself harder to identify, Chan cut off part of his left index finger and burned his fingertips.

When the Eight Immortals case became public in 1986, Lee Wo’s family recognized Wong as the same man who had attacked them years earlier.

None of this proved that Wong was responsible for the disappearance of the ten people.

But it did show that he was living under a false name and that this was not the first time he had gone on the run after a violent crime.

On October 2, 1986, Wong was charged and held in custody while awaiting trial.

But Wong would never stand trial.

On October 6, Wong reportedly told another inmate what had happened at the restaurant.

According to Wong, he had known Cheng Lam and his wife for years. They often gambled together, usually playing mahjong or Five Card Stud, which is also known as “Sha Hai” in Cantonese.

One night in 1984, Wong said he played Five Card Stud with Cheng Lam, Shum Wai Yee, and the restaurant’s cook. Chan Lai Chun watched them play.

Wong claimed he started the night with only 2,000 patacas and ended up winning nearly 180,000 patacas from Cheng Lam.

Cheng then promised to pay the debt within one year. If he didn’t, Wong would get the restaurant.

But the agreement was never put in writing.

Over the next year, Wong Chi Hang said he repeatedly asked for the money but did not receive a single pataca.

On the evening of August 4, 1985, he went back to the restaurant after closing.

By then, he was apparently so sure the restaurant would soon belong to him that he had already hired a new cook and several staff members. They were supposed to start working on August 8.

But Cheng Lam refused to pay him or hand over the restaurant.

Wong reportedly offered to accept 20,000 to 30,000 patacas up front and let Cheng pay the rest later.

According to Wong Chi Hang , Cheng Lam replied:

“Why the fuck should I pay you anything? You don’t even have an IOU.”

That was when the argument turned violent.

Wong grabbed a beer bottle from the table and smashed the bottom off it.

Then he grabbed Koon Tak, who was only seven years old, and held the broken bottle to his throat.

He ordered everyone to stay quiet.

Nine people were inside the restaurant that night.

Wong reportedly forced them to tie and gag one another with pieces of cloth. Eventually, only Shum Wai Yee and her son were still untied.

Wong ordered Shum Wai Yee to tie the boy up too.

Instead, Shum screamed and tried to pull her son into her arms. Wong cut her neck with the broken bottle, killing her.

After that, he reportedly killed everyone else in the restaurant: the other four children, Cheng Lam himself, Cheng Lam’s cousin, who worked as the restaurant’s cook, and Shum Wai Yee’s mother.

Some were killed with the broken bottle. Others were strangled.

Koon Tak was the last one.

Just before he was killed, the boy reportedly shouted:

“Auntie Lai Chun is going to call the police and have you arrested!”

Because of what Koon Tak had shouted, Wong reportedly went to Chan Lai Chun’s apartment next.

He told her Koon Tak had a fever and needed her help.

He used that story to bring her back to the restaurant, where he killed her too.

According to the other inmate, Wong Chi Hang also claimed it took him about eight hours to dismember the bodies.

He said he double bagged the remains in black trash bags and threw them away in dumpsters over time.

But there were clear holes in his story.

Chan Lai Chun’s neighbor said she had been picked up by a man around 30 years old, not by Wong, who was close to 50.

The story also did not explain why some body parts were found in the sea if Wong had thrown all of the remains into dumpsters.

And if Wong had an accomplice, police never found out who it was.

To this day, many people believe the possible accomplice may have been Wong’s son, who was in his mid twenties at the time.

But that is only speculation.

On October 4, Wong had already attempted suicide once in prison, but survived.

In early December, he received several visits from his partner, Ms. Lai, and his adult son, Ah Yuen. During his final meeting with Lai, they were reportedly both crying loudly.

In the early morning hours of December 4, Wong reopened the wound from his earlier attempt.

At around 8 a.m., guards came to deliver breakfast and found him dead.

Wong’s death ended any chance of putting him on trial or finding out whether his story was true. He was never convicted for the disappearance of the Cheng family.

The bodies of the ten missing people were never found either.

But the inmate did not tell this story until after Wong’s death.

By then, Wong could no longer be questioned, and there was no way to confirm that he had actually said any of it.

So this is not a proven account of what happened.

It is based entirely on what the inmate later claimed Wong had told him.

Of the eleven body parts recovered, only one had fingerprints that looked similar to auntie Chan Lai Chun’s. But none of the remains were ever identified for certain.

Because no one knew what had happened to them, gruesome rumors soon began to spread.

Some newspapers claimed Wong had placed the body parts in black trash bags and thrown them away.

Later, an even more disturbing story began to spread.

People claimed he had used the victims’ flesh to make char siu bao, then sold the buns to unsuspecting customers after taking over the restaurant.

No evidence was ever found to support that claim.

The theory became widely known after the release of the 1993 film The Untold Story, which heavily fictionalized the case.

To this day, no one knows for sure what actually happened that night, whether Wong acted alone, or what happened to the ten missing people.

The Eight Immortals Restaurant Massacre remains one of the most disturbing and mysterious cases in Macau’s history.

Megan Robinson is a 27-year-old woman from Moore, Oklahoma, who was found to have produced more than 800 images of CSAM of her own two children who were 3 and 4 at the time (one of her children also has a disability) from October 2024 to September 2025, and exchanged the images for money and used that money to buy kratom along with other drugs. She later pleaded guilty for her crimes and was recently sentenced to the statutory maximum of 30 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

This is a thread for all conversation regarding Week 3 onwards of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-online-reactions-b3032806.html

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On August 12th, 2026 the Philadelphia police issued an update in the disappearances of 22 year old Gabriella Amarando and 27 year old Maribel Fresses both of whom went missing in September 2012 and February 2018 from Philadelphia. Authorities announced their disappearances are now be treated as a death investigation following 95 different search warrant carried out on a home since June 19th.

On June 19th near 6th and Market street the investigation began after a US Park Ranker overheard an argument between a man and a woman after the woman screamed that the man was going to hurt her. The ranger pulled over a black BMW driven by a 44 year old man named Eugene Horsch. Horsch was with a woman and he was found to have two illegal handguns with filed off serial numbers, knives, a cattle prod, handcuffs, and drugs in his vehicle.

When interviewed the woman’s ID belonged to a 3rd missing woman, 35 year old Blair Tonzelli who went missing in August of 2022 from Philadelphia. At the time of her disappearance she was associating with a man named “Raymond" who lived in the neighborhood of Olney and sold marijuana.

The house where Horsch lived is located in Philadelphia on West Chew Avenue and has ties to fourth missing woman Amy McHale the ex-wife of Horsch’s late father, Raymond a convicted drug dealer and violent film/book producer who used woman from Kensington in his films. Raymond passed away in 2025 but his wife McHale was last seen at the home in June 2016 before she was reported missing to authorities.

During the search investigators found evidence describe as "real dark" which were images and videos of both Amarando and Fresses alive in the home before later videos showed them deceased according to investigators. Horsch is currently being held in jail and was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, another count of possession of an unlawfully produced document and authentication feature.

Federal agents have begun searching pipes under the home to try and find the bodies of any of the missing women while Horsch is being held in jail on no bail as the investigation continues. In addition to the videos authorities which ranges from 600,000 images, 70,000 videos, and over 10,000 pages of writings. As of now authorities have confirmed they are only 5-7% of the way through the images, videos, and manuscripts as of Wednesday’s press conference.

In addition to they announced they had also found 20 containers of unknown substances in the home/pipes which were sent to Chicago for analysis. They also discovered more evidence including a suspicious stockpile of chemicals in bottles, a 55 gallon drum attached to waterlines, five urns believed to be cremated remains, hidden compartments, illegal guns, several fake ID’s including federal agent badges, 120 pieces of ballistic evidence, a marijuana growing operation worth thousands of dollars, and a handwritten letter with references to Ted Bundy. This was discovered over the course of as of now 95 different search warrants executed on the home.

Investigators notified both families and are continuing to investigate for further remains or evidence at the home. They have also announced that the FBI, DEA, New Jersey State Police, and Philadelphia Police are using sniffer dogs in a joint investigation of the property to try and find further evidence and have already dug up the front yard. They have also asked those with information on/or who knew Eugene Horsch and his father or the house itself to contact police with their information.

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/olney-chew-avenue-eugene-horsch-house/

https://www.phillyvoice.com/police-two-dead-women-olney-home-under-federal-investigation/

https://www.fox29.com/news/eugene-horsch-police-provide-update-ongoing-drugs-weapons-case.amp

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/olney-mystery-house-philadelphia-wednesday-update/4447027/?amp=1

https://nypost.com/2026/08/13/us-news/dark-and-graphic-videos-found-at-philly-house-of-horrors-shows-2-missing-women-dead-cops/

https://www.fox29.com/news/eugene-horsch-police-provide-update-ongoing-drugs-weapons-case.amp

https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/missing-person-namus-mp100937

https://charleyproject.org/case/amy-teresa-mchale

https://charleyproject.org/case/blair-tonzelli

Cheng Ping-wo was 37 and had been with the Hong Kong Police Force for years. He had once worked as a plainclothes officer, but later worked in the kitchen of the Police Tactical Unit in Fanling.

He lived in apartment 510 on the fifth floor of Block B with his 35-year-old wife, Lee Fung-ming, and their two young children. The Kwai Chung Married Police Quarters housed police officers and their families.

Around noon on April 7, 1987, Cheng’s supervisor reportedly became concerned after he failed to return to work following two days off. Officers were sent to his apartment to check on him.

When they arrived, something about the front door immediately seemed strange. The outer metal gate was locked, but the wooden door behind it was slightly open.

No one answered when the officers called out or rang the doorbell. There was also a strong smell of decomposition coming from inside.

Through the narrow opening, they could see a motionless body lying on a bed.

After opening the metal gate, police entered the small apartment. Inside, they found the entire family dead: Cheng Ping-wo, his wife Lee Fung-ming, and their two children, 11-year-old Cheng Yuen-man and 5-year-old Cheng Tsz-kit.

All four had been attacked with knives. Their bodies had likely been there, undiscovered inside the apartment, for around three days.

Cheng was found on the couple’s bed, lying on his back with his legs hanging over the edge. He had injuries to his face, arms, back, and legs, and his throat had been cut.

An autopsy found more than ten wounds, including injuries to his face, hands, thigh, back, and neck. The neck wound was fatal, and his head had been covered with a blanket.

Right next to the bed was a bunk bed where the two children were found, one in the top bunk and the other in the bottom.

5 year old Cheng Tsz-kit had been stabbed five times in the chest, back, arm, and neck. His sister, Cheng Yuen-man, had eight stab wounds across her body.

Lee wasn’t found with the rest of the family. Her body was lying face down on the kitchen floor.

She had around ten stab wounds, mostly to her head, neck, and upper body. Out of the entire family, she had clearly been attacked the most violently.

The wounds to her neck were particularly horrific. Her spine had been severed at the neck, and her head was almost completely cut off, with only tissue at the back of her neck still keeping it attached to her body.

Because of that, her head was left twisted backward in an unnatural position against her back. None of the victims had been tied up or restrained.

But while investigators were going through the apartment, they came across something really disturbing.

When the medical examiner touched Cheng’s body on the bed, he reportedly got an electric shock.

They turned off the power to the apartment, and the current disappeared. But when they switched the power back on, it was there again.

A closer look at the bed revealed a wire and transformer connected to the metal frame, allowing the bed to be electrified. Cheng’s body also showed signs of electric shock.

It was one of the strangest details in the case and later became a key part of the prosecution’s theory.

The couple living directly below the family later said they were woken up around 2 a.m. one night in early April by heavy noises from upstairs.

It sounded like furniture being moved. After about a minute, the woman downstairs faintly heard a female voice repeatedly saying in Cantonese:

“No! Don’t!”

Then came the sound of running water and something heavy hitting the floor near the kitchen.

After that, everything went quiet.

Two days later, the neighbor noticed a bad smell on her balcony but assumed it was a dead animal. Only after the bodies were found did she realize what she may have heard.

This suggested the family was likely killed in the early hours of April 4, around three days before they were found.

On a table, investigators found a note written with a brush. A hammer had been placed on top of it to weigh it down and keep it in place.

The Cantonese message roughly translated to:

“Cheng Kwok-ming borrowed money from a loan shark and didn’t pay it back. For that, we’ll take your life. The Loan Shark King guarantees the killing.”

The original Cantonese wording was unusual, but one detail stood out: the writer called him Cheng Kwok-ming, not Cheng Ping-wo.

Kwok-ming was reportedly an older or more private name, possibly a nickname, that only people who had known Cheng for years would have been familiar with.

At first, the loan-shark theory didn’t seem that far-fetched. The family had struggled with money before and had apparently borrowed from high-interest lenders.

What’s less clear is where most of the debt came from. Some people described Cheng as a heavy gambler, while others blamed Lee for putting the family under serious financial pressure.

It’s also possible that both of them had contributed to the situation.
But there were a few things that didn’t quite fit the loan-shark theory.

Cheng still had money in his bank account and had reportedly won several thousand Hong Kong dollars at the horse races shortly before his death. Creditors also hadn’t been seen around his apartment in a while.

Nothing valuable was missing, and there were no signs of a robbery or anyone searching the place for money.

Investigators started to think the note had been planted to send them in the wrong direction.

As the loan-shark theory started to look less likely, police began looking more closely at Cheng and Lee’s private lives.

They had been married since 1976, but by the time of the murders, their relationship was reportedly in bad shape. Lee had even stopped living at home full-time and gone back to work.

Around then, she met Lai Sun-loi, a man about ten years younger than her, possibly through her restaurant or nightclub work or people she knew through it.

Lai was from Huiyang in Guangdong and had reportedly entered Hong Kong illegally in 1979. He later worked in nightclubs, construction, and building cleaning.

He and Lee eventually began an affair. One witness said Lai had even introduced her as his “wife.” They reportedly traveled to mainland China together, and Lee often stayed at his place in a makeshift housing area on Tsing Yi.

Cheng knew about the affair. A former coworker later said Cheng had asked him to look into Lai and come along when he went to confront him.

According to that account, Lai told Cheng that Lee was the one pursuing him and that Cheng needed to stop his wife from coming to see him.

Whether Lai really meant that or was just trying to get himself out of trouble is impossible to know. Either way, he and Lee kept seeing each other.

Immigration records showed that Lai had left Hong Kong for mainland China on April 7, the same day the bodies were found.

Lai was detained when he returned through the Lo Wu border crossing on April 18 and taken in for questioning. He said he had only gone to visit family and for the traditional tomb-sweeping festival, but apparently didn’t say much else.

Police still didn’t have enough to charge him, so he was released and told to check in regularly. On May 1, he was reportedly told they no longer considered him a suspect.

In reality, they were still watching him.

Several coworkers gave police another important clue.

A woman who arranged cleaning jobs said she saw Lai at work on April 2 with no visible injuries. When he showed up again on April 4, though, there was blood on his pants and a wound on his thigh.

Lai claimed he had cut himself on a piece of metal two days earlier, but that didn’t line up with her account.

After work, he asked a coworker when the border to mainland China closed and soon after left for Shenzhen.

Prosecutors later argued that the wound may have come from Lee stabbing him in the thigh during the attack.

The loan-shark note ended up becoming one of the strongest pieces of evidence against Lai.

A forensic expert said the writing sample and the note from the apartment used the same kind of paper and matching ink, and the brush strokes were very similar too.

After months of investigation, he was arrested in October 1987 and charged with all four murders.

Lai denied killing the family throughout the case.

But the prosecution’s version of what happened was incredibly disturbing.

According to prosecutors, Lee and Lai had planned to kill Cheng and make it look like loan sharks were responsible.

On April 3, while Cheng was out with the children, Lee allegedly helped Lai wire the bed to a transformer, so Cheng would be shocked when he touched or sat on it.

Later that night, after the children had gone to bed, Lee went out again with Cheng.

While they were gone, Lai allegedly used a key to enter the apartment, switched on the electrical setup, and hid near the balcony.

Cheng and Lee came home shortly after midnight. He apparently had a habit of sitting at the foot of the bed to take off his shoes. That night, when he did, the electric shock knocked him down.

Lai then came out of hiding.

Before killing Cheng, prosecutors believed Lai and Lee went over their cover story: Lee would tell police that two men had come over Cheng’s debts, sent her away, and disappeared before she returned and found him dead.

Lai then allegedly stabbed Cheng. The wounds on his hands suggest he may still have been conscious enough to try to defend himself.

Afterward, as Lai started removing the wires from the bed, he suddenly heard Cheng’s five-year-old son say:

“Mom.”

One account says the boy may have only been talking in his sleep, but Lai apparently thought he had woken up and seen him.

Afraid he could identify him, Lai killed the five-year-old in the bottom bunk.

He then turned to the older daughter. Lee reportedly tried to stop him and begged him not to kill her, but Cheng Yuen-man was also stabbed multiple times and died.

After both children had been attacked, prosecutors believed Lee went into the kitchen.

When Lai followed her, Lee struck him in the thigh with a blade. He then attacked her, and she collapsed in the kitchen, possibly causing the heavy thud the downstairs neighbor heard that night.

Prosecutors believed Lai then used other knives from the kitchen to add more wounds to the victims, apparently to make it look like several attackers had been involved.

He later washed up, bandaged his injured leg, changed clothes, and left. The running water heard by the neighbor may have been him cleaning off blood.

Lai’s trial began at the Hong Kong High Court in April 1988 and ended on May 30.

Prosecutors said Cheng and the two children were deliberately killed. Lee’s death was treated differently because they believed she died during a sudden struggle after trying to protect her children.

Lai denied any involvement, but the jury found him guilty of three counts of murder.

For Lee’s death, he was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder.

The sources don’t fully explain why Lee’s death was treated as manslaughter. The jury likely saw Cheng’s murder as planned, the children’s deaths as deliberate, and Lee’s as the result of a sudden struggle in the kitchen.

Lai was formally sentenced to death for the three murders and reportedly received another 10 years for Lee’s manslaughter.

His appeal was rejected in December 1988.

In 1990, Lai’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison. Later reports only say he remained incarcerated, and I couldn’t find any reliable source on what happened to him after that.

So claims that he died, was released, or is still held at a specific prison should be taken with caution.

After the murders, ghost stories quickly started spreading through the police quarters.

Some residents claimed they had seen the figures of the four victims in the fifth-floor hallway, while others reported cold drafts, strange noises, or the feeling of being watched.

The Kwai Chung Police Quarters murders became one of the most notorious cases in Hong Kong’s criminal history, and decades later, the details are still deeply unsettling.

On August 12th, 2026 Niagara Falls Police announced they had identified skeletal human remains found in a house in November of 2023 as Brenda Marie Leblanc who had been missing since sometime in the mid 1990’s according to investigators. The property since the late 1970s until 2018 was used as a multi-unit rental residence.

The case dates back to November 8th, 2023 when human remains were discovered during a demolition of a home at 7081 Stanley Avenue in Niagara Falls, Canada. Investigators reported that the woman was dead from a homicide and that they had possibly been buried as early as the mid 1990’s. According to investigators the remains underwent a forensic and anthropological examination both of which were unsuccessful.

In 2025 authorities submitted DNA from the remains to Othram in Woodlands Texas. The scientists at Othram were able to pull DNA from the human remains which led to a forensic genetic genealogy search took on by the Toronto Police Service, which generated new leads.

An eventual identification was made to Brenda Marie Leblanc a woman in her 30’s who lived in both Niagara Falls and St. Catharines during the 1990s, and was originally from New Brunswick. Investigators have been unable to connect Leblanc to the property she was found on in 2023. Authorities have asked those with information about Leblanc’s murder to contact them.

Sources:

https://cbs6albany.com/news/nation-world/who-killed-brenda-human-remains-found-during-home-demolition-launching-murder-probe-niagara-falls-brenda-marie-leblanc-investigative-genetic-genealogy-forensic-evidence-dna-analysis-vacant-house-true-crime

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/brenda-marie-leblanc-9.7304971

https://people.com/missing-woman-s-remains-found-in-demolished-home-id-d-12058559

https://fox17.com/news/nation-world/who-killed-brenda-human-remains-found-during-home-demolition-launching-murder-probe-niagara-falls-brenda-marie-leblanc-investigative-genetic-genealogy-forensic-evidence-dna-analysis-vacant-house-true-crime

https://dnasolves.com/articles/niagara-falls-brenda-marie-leblanc-homicide/

James Clifford Carson and Susan Barnes, both Americans, met at a party during a time when they were both using drugs and interested in the occult, mysticism, and various esoteric practices. Susan told James that they had been lovers in a past life and assured him that God had revealed a new name to him. James abandoned his former identity to become Michael Bear Carson, while Susan became Suzan Bear, and they eventually married.

At some point, they began to believe that God had entrusted them with the mission of identifying and eliminating witches who controlled humanity. Suzan became the central figure of these beliefs, considered the prophet and leader of the small sect that would become known as the California Witch Killers, since their crimes were committed in that state.

In March 1981, they identified their first "witch": Karen Barnes, a young actress who lived in the same building. Karen became a disciple of the Carsons, but after a fit of jealousy, Suzan claimed that Karen was a witch who wanted to steal her energy. The Carsons invited her to dinner and ended her life. In April 1982, Michael murdered Clark Stephens, a coworker with whom he had had several arguments. He knocked him unconscious, took him to a wooded area, shot him multiple times, and buried his body.

Finally, on January 12, 1983, while the Carsons were hitchhiking, Jon Hellyar offered them a ride in his truck. During the ride, Suzan claimed that Jon was the embodiment of a powerful witch, and Michael murdered him with a firearm. The Carsons fled in the victim's vehicle until they crashed and were arrested. Today, they are serving life sentences, with a minimum of 75 years in prison.

Video about the brutal story of the witch killers cult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HCRJY02a84