Creepy Photos with Disturbing Backstories

in this episode I'll be deep diving into a handful of disturbing incidents that have some equally chilling photos to go along with them including the case of a woman who vanished under mysterious circumstances a mystery at 21,000 ft and a real life Halloween nightmare that's easily one of the most depraved stories I've ever covered are you tired of being bombarded with Spam calls and texts I know I am just the other day I got a text claiming to be from my bank saying my account have been compromised turns out it was a scam I find experiences like that extremely frustrating to deal with and a lot of it's to do with big companies not keeping our data safe just last year the national public data was breached the incident compromised over 2. 9 billion records used for background checks including critical personal information such as full names addresses dates of birth phone numbers and most importantly Social Security numbers that's a lot of data just floating out there for people to find to protect myself I use Aura the sponsor of today's video Ora's data broker opt out features work to remove your personal information from sites that sell it to Identity thieves scammers and anyone who wants their hands on it and the less data of yours exposed online the less likely you'll get spam for added protection Aura alerts me if they find that my phone number or any of my other sensitive information's been compromised and they give me fast fraud alerts if anyone tries to use that data to access my credit or bank accounts or it does so much much more to keep me and my family safe too you get transaction monitoring a VPN antivirus a password manager parental controls and identity theft Insurance all in one app at one affordable price I'm not leaving myself vulnerable to data breaches and if you don't want to either you can go to aura. com laaz and try your first two weeks for free also linked in the description [Music] it was Halloween night 1984 and 31-year-old dorine berbert was cuddled up on the sofa at her 2792 guil drive home in San Jose watching a tame horror movie with her husband Charles and her daughter Dianna Dianna was almost 5 years old at that point and had been enjoying the magic of her first proper Halloween Charles had already taken her trick- or-treating around the neighborhood and darene had decorated the driveway with Jackal Lanter signaling to the local kids that their house was a safe bet to score some sweets despite being 8 months pregnant Duram was up and down half the evening answering the front door and handing out candy to the little nightmare creatures that came a knocking it truly was a happy Halloween like their daughter Dorene and Charles were also in High Spirits excited to be welcoming another child into the world and to be putting some personal losses behind them not only had daren's sister died in a house fire in 1980 but around that same time she had lost her first child from a previous marriage it had been a rough few years but finally there was a light at the end of the tunnel as the night wore on Charles told darene that he was running to the store to grab a bottle of wine and that he'd be back in about 15 minutes he set off out the front door leaving darene and Deana alone at the house shortly thereafter there came a loud banging on the front door it was approximately 9:00 p.

m. at that point a little too late for tri to treat us darene thought however being overtaken by the excitement of her first Halloween night di begged her mother to open the door so that she could see the other children's costumes darene slowly lifted herself off the couch and made her way through the hallway Diana sticking close to her side they unlocked the door together with a happy Halloween expecting to see a handful of little terorists dressed in bed sheets and Drcula masks but their smiles faded when they noticed the lone figure standing on their porch it wasn't a child but rather a fully grown man dressed in Boots work overalls and a rubber wolf mask with matching rubber gloves a look of realization flashed across daren's face and she sternly told the visitor to leave but from behind his wolf Mask The Man simply replied I'm going to kill you and revealed a machete that he had been hiding behind his back darene yelled for Deana to run and hide heart- rcing the youngster scrambled back into the living room squeezed herself behind the sofa and covered herself with a blanket she remained still as the sound of Screams and thuds from the hallway were replaced by an eerie silence peeking out from under her blanket she watched as the masked man made his way inside and passed the couch he searched the room or where someone else was home but thankfully didn't know daa if you say anything he shouted I'll come back and kill you too the M figer then fled the house and disappeared into the night several minutes later Charles returned from the store and found his wife darene lying in a pool of blood in the hallway and his daughter Dianna hiding behind the sofa he immediately called Emergency Services paramedics arrived quickly and though Dorene was still breathing the prognosis was Bleak her left hand had been severed and dropped by her attacker in the living room and she had gouges to the head and face that reached the brain but most disturbingly The Wolf Man had targeted her abdomen as one responder put it she had been Fayed open like a gutted deer and her unborn son was found placed under a stool with a jackal Lantern a top it as if the pumpkin was smiling over the baby officers arrived while Medics were working on darene and found Charles covered in Blood and Tears clutching tightly to his daughter when they tried to pry Diana from his arm arms he flew into a panic-stricken and uncontrollable State they placed him in a patrol car for his own safety but he proceeded to try and break free kicking and smashing his head against the window to get back to his family meanwhile other investigators found an object on the front porch a discarded cartoonish wolf mask with bulbous eyes and a wagging tongue dream would unfortunately succumbed to her wounds while on route to the hospital and Charles who was immediately considered the prime suspect was taken to the local police headquarters for questioning after all duren's murder had taken place in the brief window of time that he had left for the store and he had reportedly returned mere moments after the wolf man had fled the scene the timing was suspicious however after chatting with dorene's neighbors and loved ones it soon became clear that there was another potential suspect her bitter ex-husband William Michael Dennis known to most simply as Mike darene and Mike had been married in 1975 by 76 they had a son together Paul Mike who was typically a glum and Moody character doted over Paul and was determined to give him a better childhood than he had had however his focus on Paul reportedly led to his neglect of darene whom he kept at home isolated from her Social Circle their marriage and evitably broke down as a result and the couple agreed to separate although darene gained full custody of PA she was always civil towards Mike and welcomed him in for visits whenever he pleased hoping to win dur back Mike moved into a house six blocks away though he kept up a cheerful front inside Mike resed how happy Daren appeared after their divorce he had always been socially awkward and found it difficult to form relationships while she was busy reconnecting with old pows and going to events Mike's resentment only grew when Dar met and fell in love with Charles a successful well adjusted and happy go-lucky guy who ran his own business and who served as an amazing role model for young Paul when Tiana was born it became all too clear to Mike that darene had well and truly moved on but he still regularly went over to play with Paul and take him on outings fearful that he was being replaced by Charles however in 1980 tragedy struck when four-year-old Paul drowned in a pool behind darene and Charles's home while outside playing in the garden the boy had snuck out of vot for a few short minutes and in that time dug a hole in the barrier surrounding the pool though an unfortunate accident Mike blamed AR for the loss of their son wrongly believing that she had intentionally drowned pool so that he would stop visiting he even brought a wrongful death lawsuit against her but the Court ruled in her favor determining that she had taken precautions to wall off the pool and that the accident was just one of those unfortunate things though heartbroken darene and Charles went on as best they could putting on a brave face as as they raised the Anna determined that the incident shouldn't deprive her of a normal and happy upbringing meanwhile Mike stewed in his anger seeing his ex smile after all that had happened made his dark thoughts fester and when news reached him that she was now pregnant with another son those who knew him say he was consumed by Rage which brings us back to that fateful night in 1984 2 and 1/2 hours before the attack several residents of Gil Drve had noticed a man wearing a wolf mask staring at the Herbert residence from across the street holding a grocery bag with a heavy object inside those who had seen him suspected it could be Mike Dennis Diana also believed that she had heard her mother shout out the name Michael just before the Intruder butchered her detectives decided to pay Mike a visit at 12:20 a. m.

on November 1st they could hear the distinct sound of running water coming from inside and fearing that Mike May be trying to wash away evidence banged on the door several times eventually they had dispatch call his number that's where Mike answered the door in a calm and collected fashion wearing only a dressing gown officers couldn't help but notice a large fresh cut on his right hand he explained this away saying that he'd been pumpkin carving the news of his ex-wife's slaying barely registered on Mike's face and he casually invited the investigators inside to chat further Mike followed by one officer entered his bedroom to dig out his ID that same officer noticed how Mike's eyes kept doting towards the headboard of his bed and how he was slowly inching closer towards it suspicious the officer ordered Mike to freeze as he checked behind it there he found a holster containing a loaded Magnum Mike was promptly taken into custody Charles was eventually cleared of Suspicion when a clerk recalled seeing him at the store on the night of his wife's death video surveillance confirmed his presence there at the time of durene slaying but to build a case against their Prime Suspect Mike detectives needed more evidence investigators found a little black book in Mike's possession at the time of his arrest and contacted his acquaintances and romantic Partners one woman revealed that she had attended a Halloween party with Mike the previous year a party where he dressed as the big bad wolf this photo taken at that same house party shows Mike wearing the exact same mask as the one found at the crime scene further Searchers of Mike's home uncovered the clothes that he wore in the photo as well as packaging for an 18-in machete believed to be the murder weapon and two handmade lockable coffins in the basement which investigators believe he had prepared for darene and Charles alongside the ckets were two hand stitched body bags and two anchus forensic analysis confirmed that Mike's blood had been left at the scene while Dar was found found in his home and vehicle several witnesses came forward claiming to have seen Mike fleeing the scene but given that it was Halloween assumed he was covered in fake blood with a mountain of evidence against him Mike was charged with murder just days after the brutal crime Mike initially denied involvement but after prosecutors presented their evidence at trial he admitted he had taken daren's life but changed his plead and not guilty by reason of insanity his attorneys argued that the loss of his some Paul had driven him mad and seeing children trick-or-treating on Halloween had triggered him he admitted his original plan was to lock darine and Charles inside his handmade caskets weigh them down with the anchors and toss them into the ocean from his boat that way they'd know how Paul felt when he drowned in the end however he opted for the easier method of waiting for Charles to leave the house and striking during the 15-minute window that darim was most vulnerable he claimed he was unaware that darim was pregnant and that he never would have followed through with the slaying had he known but I mean look at these pictures of darene that were taken just before the incident come on dude in 1988 the jury rejected his Insanity defense and convicted Mike of first-degree murder for daren's death and second degree for the death of her unborn son he was originally given the death penalty but that sentence was commuted to life in prison in October 2024 Charles andiana have since stated that theyve forgiven Mike if only for their own piece of Mind however in Diana's words I can forgive but I can't forget and I do think he should get the death penalty I had to grow up without a mom and a brother speaking about darene de and Charles told the media when she smiled and laughed you couldn't help not loving her she was always giving Mount Aon kagwa standing at almost 23,000 ft it's the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most dangerous those who Brave this Argentinian Goliath occasionally stumble upon items that have remained nestled in the snow for months years and in some cases decades be that some discarded packaging old climbing equipment or even a body at least 153 people unknown to have perished while ascending akong gakar over the years among them number 26 JN Cooper and number 27 Janet Johnson both experienced Mountaineers who attempted to reach the summit 52 years ago unfortunately they'd never make it back alive even stranger lead investigators believe they may not have succumbed to the elements or an accidental fall but rather met their end at the hands of their fellow climbers it was January 1973 and a desperate band of mostly amateur climbers from the US had come together to conquer Mount akaka their leader a lawyer named Ki defo was the one to organized the Expedition and formed a team consisting of mazus climbing club members Jim Petroski Bill Eubank Arnold McMillan Bill zel and John Shelton the second to last member to join the team was John Cooper a highly intelligent NASA engineer who had help but men on the Moon last to sign up was Janet Johnson a quiet and reclusive School Librarian from Denver who was easily the most experienced climber in the group whereas most other members were described as weekend hikers Janet as scaled some of the highest peaks in the world and did so regularly their guide was to be Miguel Alfonso a local who had reached the summit five times and who really should have been allowed to lead the team but Ki was determined to have that honor the team reached base camp on January 21st and met with the manager Roberto buos he and Miguel quickly realized that they were dealing with an unprepared group of strangers who had no allegiance to one another and as one news Outlet put it an every man for him self attitude indeed a reporter covering the story of their climb decided to take a picture of each member before their attempt as in his words he didn't think they'd all be coming back as expected things started poorly with the members bickering amongst themselves about hiking speeds and targets still they all made it to Camp one navigating their way through icy stalagmites and rugged terrain but as the climb wore on the party became more more fragmented both figuratively and literally splitting off into two different groups three of them stayed behind at Camp one having become disoriented and irrational while the rest of the crew struggled on to establish Camp 2 at 18,000 ft and then Camp 3 at 20,000 that's where they sheltered for the night by breakfast one member Jim Petroski began showing signs of high altitude cerebral edema a swelling of the brain as such their guide Miguel escorted him back down the mountain now out in front were Janet and John along with police officer Bill Zeller and Dairy Farmer Arnold McMillan the four of them didn't know the mountain and barely knew each other but thankfully weather conditions look good for that day and so they soldiered on making it to 21,000 ft and reaching a sheet of ice called the Polish glacia but at that point sudden bad weather and darkness forced for them to set up a makeshift Camp using their ice axes the four Desperados carved a shallow shelter into the glacier they spread space blankets to cover the icy ground their only barrier against the cold in the absence of their tents or sleeping bags which they had left with most of their other equipment at Camp 3 cramped and uncomfortable Janet and Bill eventually moved outside sitting together as they shivered in the freezing cold their soul Mission now was to survive until dawn by morning John Cooper was found partially buried beneath a blanket of snow shivering and utterly drained John announced that he was heading back to Camp 3 his life was more valuable than Glory either due to huus ignorance apathy or oxygen deprivation his three co- climbers decided to let him go It Alone they instead chose to continue on ascending the Polish Glacier and making it to a ridge that led to the summit but as Darkness fell once again again both Bill and Arnold apparently turned to see that Janet had disappeared because they had climbed the glacier un roped the three weren't connected and there was no telling at which point they had lost her bill and Arnold would eventually make it back to base camp where they met up with the rest of their party all having given up reaching the summit but two of their group were still unaccounted for John kooper and Janet Johnson immediately the authorities were called B and Arnold have been the last to see the two missing climbers alive and both men provided detailed accounts to the police though strangely their stories differed quite dramatically according to Arnold once Janet disappeared on the Polish glacia they began calling out her name eventually she called back and they found her sitting in the snow mumbling to herself and acting Delirious don't make me suffer she allegedly told them just let me sit here and die Bel claim that he then wrot himself to Johnson while Arnold instead recalled Bill taking her by the arm Bill stated the three of them became disoriented and spent another night together on the mountain while Arnold asserted that he went ahead of the other two and camped alone they claimed to have fired off a flare gun which nobody saw or heard when the weather led up Arnold attempted to make his way down the mountain solo to get help when he stumbled upon what he thought was a Dead Soldier but that was a hallucination what he had really found was Jon's body according to Arnold John was sitting with his head in his hands and Frozen completely solid Arnold made it back to Camp 3 and decided to rest before continuing on to base camp meanwhile Bill and Janet stumbled down at a far slower Pace at one point taking a serious tumble they too passed Jon's remains and knew they must be close to Camp 3 that's when Bill alleges that he went on ahead leaving Janet to make her own own way down believing her to now be in a good condition a few hours later bill made it back to Camp 3 where he rended with Arnold the two disoriented men slept through the night but by Daybreak there was still no sign of Janet exhausted they decided to stumble back to base camp without her both Bill and Arnold explained the discrepancies in their story Away by saying they' been physically and psychologically drained and suffering from altitude sickness they along with their other survivors immediately returned to their hotel and caught a flight back to America without talking to reporters saying goodbye to their Camp manager and guide or waiting for confirmation on what became of their two missing comrades as they boarded their flight home a reporter approached them on the TAC and asked them to clarify what happened on the mountain but the lawyer leader Ki blocked him when the group made it back to the States Ki held a top secret meeting in his Law Office where the group typed up and published their official Expedition report painting both John and Janet as Fanatics desperate to reach the summit at all costs and saying they died from pulmonary edema an assertion that would soon be death proven later that same year Miguel led a four-man team to search for the two missing climbers as expected when they reached the Polish glacia they discovered some of the Explorers belongings a little further down They Came Upon Jong Cooper's frozen body about 150 M from Camp 3 the condition in which they found him was suspicious to say the least unlike Arnold's account he wasn't found sitting upright but was instead lying outstretched he wore only one crampon a critical traction device for navigating the icy slopes his ice ax was missing and his hands were bare with the gloves nowhere to be found the slope where he was discovered was gentle not the type of terrain where an experienced climber might struggle or fall most bizarre was a deep bloody cylindrical hole in Jon's abdomen that reached his spine and the fact that his face was frozen in an expression of Terror the survivors rationalized the discovery saying that JN must have fallen on his isaacks stumbled down the mountain and then died John's body was recovered and brought him for an autopsy the complete findings of the postmortem were sealed from Public Access but it was revealed that he had sustained skull and brain injuries which were listed as the official cause of death not pulmonary edema or exposure as one might expect he had no broken bones indicating he hadn't taken a major fall either more suspicious was the fact that his abdomen wound was perfectly round and not very wide the report noted that it looked less like he had fallen on an isce ax and more like someone had stabbed him with an ice screw over a year passed before Janet's body was discovered very close to where Johns had been found a trio of experienced climbers stumbled upon her by chance and immediately recognized some unsettling and suspicious details Janet's body was found face up one of her facial bones was exposed the skin having de gloved over time she was wearing only one crampon and her climbing ropes were wrapped around her body like John Cooper she too was missing her eyes sacks and gloves a rock was resting at top her body which was in an otherwise empty field of iice according to those that found her it looked as if someone had set up the scene to make it look like she had had an accidental fall when really she hadd Fallen victim to Foul Play The Coroner and Mendoza agreed and once again documented the cause of death as injuries to the skull and brain in the assistant medical examiner's words they were killed no doubt about it needless to say the authorities began to seriously question whether they were dealing with homicides and the Argentinian press had a field day speculating about possible motives for murder ranging from a heated disagreement to altitude induced hallucinations to Simply John and Janet slowing the others down still with no concrete evidence to work with no charges could be pursued and when Argentina fell victim to a military coup in 1976 the case froze over entirely that is until 2020 almost 50 years after the incid incident when two climers scaling the Polish glacia made an extraordinary find nestled in the snow was an almost perfectly preserved nicat camera with the name Janet Johnson embossed on the holster and amazingly technicians in Canada were able to develop the film the camera contained 24 photos each offering a glimpse into Janet's Final hours she captured images of her fellow climbers and the Serene snow covered landscape surrounding them one photo taken by one of her party shows Janet smiling with her icex in hand this is the last photo of Janet ever taken notably the photo suggests that she continued taking pictures after JN had turned back all of them well composed so if she were suffering from altitude sickness it didn't show in her camera work one of the last images was taken on the Polish Glacier itself and shows one climber ahead of Janet probably bill both Bill and Arnold said that they had climbed the Polish glacia unroped hence how they were able to lose Janet in the first place but this image proves otherwise clearly showing that she was roped up to her fellow climbers what happened after this image was taken remains a mystery though an invaluable piece of evidence the camera provided no concrete answers but it did serve to reignite interest in Janet and Jon's case and five decades after their deaths have people questioning once again whether they were victims of unfortunate accidents or something more Sinister the condition of their bodies is hard to overlook but it is conceivable that the pair Frozen and Confused were killed by akong gaka herself and not their fellow party members but even if that is the case should Bill and Arnold still be held responsible for leaving them to fend for themselves or when up in those cold and Lonesome Heights with a team who knew the risks is it fair enough to look out only for oneself as the base camp manager Roberto Bustos told the New York Times it's a different world at 6,000 M with different laws and rules and the behavior you go down to 5,000 m and think these people are crazy all the other climbers are now gone having passed in accidents more from old age but today 52 years later the mystery of what happened on akanga still lives on and likely will [Music] [Music] Forever on April 20th 1989 at around 8:15 p. m.