Free Republic

Authorities in California have ruled out a freak lightning strike and cyanide exposure as possible causes of death of a British Snapchat engineer and his family, but more than six weeks later they appear to be no closer to finding out what killed the young parents, their baby daughter and pet dog on a remote hiking trail. Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said in an emailed statement on Thursday that many toxicology reports have been completed as part of the ongoing investigation into the August 17 deaths of Jonathan Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, daughter Muji and their family dog,...

Brian Laundrie, the tight-lipped boyfriend of missing Long Island native Gabby Petito, is now missing himself, and hasn’t been seen for days. Laundrie’s lawyer said his client’s whereabouts are unknown, and said the FBI is now looking for both Gabby and Brian, Florida police told The Post. “His family has reported that they have not seen Brian as of Tuesday,” Josh Taylor, a public information officer for the North Port Police said.

UPDATE: Authorities are investigating a four-victim homicide in western Wisconsin. The Dunn County Sheriff's Office confirmed Monday night that four people were found dead in an abandoned black SUV that was driven into a standing cornfield in the town of Sheridan. The victims were initially found after officials received a 911 call reporting a death at 2:18 p.m. on Sunday. According to the sheriff's office, the victims don't appear to have any connection to the area. The sheriff's office said a second dark-colored SUV may have been traveling with the black SUV and may be related to the incident.

Tucked away in the northwest corner of Missouri is a small, dusty town 46 miles north of St. Joseph with a decades-old secret. This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore. And despite there being dozens of witnesses, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with McElroy’s murder. In short: no one saw anything. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. He was known as the town bully, but they may be...

A Stanford professor explains the importance of why “Murder at Full Moon” should be on bookshelves.Long before he became one of America's most-well known novelists, Monterey County icon John Steinbeck wrote three books that were never published. Two of them he destroyed, but the other has remained in the archives, relatively unknown, until recently. The unpublished novel is titled Murder at Full Moon. It’s a murder mystery involving werewolves. “I was really surprised to discover that it wasn't some unfinished draft or some sort of just just wacky experiment. It was a complete novel,” said Stanford profession Gavin Jones....

Richmond County, NY reports 1,903 new deaths today.

Let the armchair theories begin… Cars and water: they don’t mix well, especially when there’s a high quantity of H2O. Perhaps that’s why so many people, including us, find it fascinating when an old car is found submerged in a body of water. There’s an inherent mystery around how the vehicle ended up there and why. That’s certainly the case with two cars accidentally discovered by a fisherman in Raleigh, North Carolina. The unnamed fisherman was in his boat on Lake Wheeler on a Sunday, likely enjoying the nice weather and hoping to catch something worthy of telling a tale...

Disclaimer: I have not read the Daphne du Maurier novel this is based on. My first encounter with the enchanting Rachel Weisz was playing at the age of 29 the spunky, and intelligent Miss Evelyn Carnahan from the 1999 movie “The Mummy”. At the age of 47, when she starred in this adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel, she is still a stunning and alluring woman. One can easily see a younger man falling for her. What is very interesting about this adaptation is how earthy it is. Phillip Ambrose definitely does not have the manners of a member...

George Bush Funeral Envelope Reactions.

People were baffled. They reported what they felt and saw on social media. People from the Keys to Palm Beach County reported the shake. (Snip) It’s likely it was not something on earth, but in the stratosphere. According to Zach Covey, the meteorologist at the Sun Sentinel’s news partner WPEC-Ch. 12, it was the sonic boom of a military aircraft breaking the sound barrier offshore.

At least one person has died and more than 200 others have been hospitalized due to a mystery illness in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, according to reports. The unidentified illness was detected late Saturday in Eluru, an ancient city famous for its hand-woven products, where patients have experienced symptoms ranging from nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness, according to doctors. A 45-year-old man hospitalized with symptoms similar to epilepsy who also suffered from nausea died Sunday evening, the Press Trust of India news agency reported

With most every recent COVID-19 outbreak in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo reminded Thursday, there has always been some commonality among the patients — such as sharing the same workspace or attending the same house party or religious service. But after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Queens’ Ozone Park, up to this point, state officials aren’t sure what caused the increase.

Over the past few weeks, various species of migratory birds are dying in “unprecedented” numbers of unknown causes. And this growing number of birds in southern New Mexico that have mysteriously died have wildlife experts scratching their heads. “It is terribly frightening,” Desmond said. “We’ve never seen anything like this. … We’re losing probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of migratory birds.“ In August, large numbers of birds were found dead at White Sands Missile Range and at the White Sands National Monument in what was thought to be an isolated incident, Desmond said. After that, however, came reports...

Ghislaine Maxwell may be the last person alive who knows the answers to one of the decade’s great mysteries: how did Jeffrey Epstein amass his fortune and where is it now? For one of the theories is that Maxwell’s father Robert bankrolled him. When Epstein died a year ago, his visible assets added up to an extraordinary £467 million. But that was ‘only the tip of the iceberg’, according to the head of a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund who I first met at Epstein’s mansion in New York. The question this financier could not answer was how Epstein, who he had...

Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's were legendary among the community of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery readers—and now they're gone. Venerable Minneapolis science fiction and fantasy bookstore Uncle Hugo’s and its sister store in the same building, Uncle Edgar’s, which specialized in mysteries, were both burned to ruins last Friday night by rioters. The store took its name from two major awards in the genre fields, science fiction’s Hugo awards, and mysteries Edgar’s. Independent bookstores are a threatened American institution, and Uncle Hugo’s was considered a flagship operation. Owner Don Blyly was noted for his ability to adapt to modern...

Investigators still don't have access to the area where the fire beganOne year ago today, the world watched in horror as a fire swept through Paris’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, sending its spire crumbling to the ground, caving in its ceiling, and setting alight its historic interior. And now, with the country on lockdown, restoration efforts on the Gothic building have been put on hold, forcing a team of 100 engineers, scientists, architects, and archeologists to cease their tireless work on the damaged structure. The target date for completing the complex and delicate restoration has always been 2024, in time...

The sheriff's office in rural Amador County, California, which originally labeled the death by a single gunshot of DHS Obama-era whistleblower Philip Haney last week as "self inflicted," has now backed away from that assertion. A follow-up press release from the office of the sheriff — coroner on Monday had this to say: On February 22, the Amador County Sheriff's Office released initial details regarding Philip Haney being found deceased in our jurisdiction. ... Unfortunately, there was misinformation being immediately put out that we have determined Mr. Haney's death to be a suicide. This is not the case. We are...

The strange flying objects have been spotted near F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, which houses enough nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles to wipe out several cities. For weeks, mysterious unidentified flying objects over the Eastern Plains region of Colorado have vexed residents, law enforcement, the military, and state and federal officials. Those who see them say they appear in the night sky, often several at a time, their locations marked by the light they emit. Audibly buzzing, they hover and maneuver in precise formations. The mystery of their origin has gripped Colorado, where news of a sighting makes near-daily...

Oreo's cookie conundrum has been solved! The classic sandwich cookie company announced back in September that it was releasing a mystery flavor of its beloved snacks, and left fans to figure out what the new additions to the Oreo line tasted like. Plus, one lucky guesser would win $50,000! Well, now the truth can be told: that sweet cinnamon taste was of ... churro flavor!

This post was published on 3rd August 2019 The Sodder Family Mystery Posted By: Douglas MacGowan Douglas MacGowan lives on the San Francisco peninsula with his wife, a dog, and far too many cats. He has published eight books in the genre of historic true crime. You can check out his book on the mysterious disappearance of the Sodder children case here. There was nothing extraordinary about Christmas Eve, 1945, for the Sodder household in Fayetteville, West Virginia. The tree was decorated and presents for the nine Sodder siblings were waiting for the following day. Still too excited to sleep,...