foreign [Music] [Music] experience as a child that I think I should share with you I was also there when it happened but it's my sister who's been affected the most negatively by it it wasn't as if though we could have seen it coming our hometown is small no more than twenty thousand today and it was probably less back then we grew up in a very religious house where the Bible was read every evening and church was attended twice a week and despite no longer being part of the church I enjoyed those days everyone was kind
and loving and it was like having a giant family looking back our home life appears to have been a normal Midwestern one Martina my sister and I never went without anything neither of us ever felt unloved or lacked support when we needed it I'd almost go as far as saying that we had perfect parents or at least as perfect as any could be we still have a very close relationship and I don't hesitate to go to them whenever I need help with my own kids in short I considered myself very fortunate to have them as
parents and I aspire to be just as half as good as they were with us as great as our folks were they couldn't watch over us 24 hours a day they had to work and we had to go to school since first grade Martina and I both had gone to a Christian private school in our city like most regular schools we had a recess period ours happened in the after lunch and it was during one of these times when some stranger decided to make his appearance I was 12 that year and Martina was nine since
the school was small all the grades took their recess at the same time just like any other big sister I've always been protective of Martina even when she was off playing with her friends I made sure to check on her every once in a while on this day I was talking to another girl my age when she brought something to my attention I looked over and saw Martina talking to a man by the fence since I didn't recognize him I got kind of nervous this was the 90s mind you all of us kids were getting
that stranger danger talk drilled into our heads constantly unfortunately Martina had always been friendly to anyone who was nice to her in a perfect world her innocence would have been sweet but our world is far from perfect I ran over to our teacher and told her what was going on she decided to run toward the fence and I followed closely behind the man seemingly fled as soon as he saw us coming Martina was crying when we reached her the poor girl didn't understand why we'd driven her friend away and I tried to explain it to
her before but she was just too naive and kind-hearted I stuck to Martina Like Glue after that she and I would eat lunch together and I would stand near her during recess she didn't like it one bit but I didn't care and for a while her safety was all I thought about and I kind of became so obsessed that I had nightmares of her being abducted it was far too much pressure for someone so young to take on but the fear of losing my sister drove me mad my parents were naturally concerned and did all
they could to explain the dangers but stopped when she looked like she was about to cry and now that I'm a parent myself I understand why there's a fine line between teaching your kids an important lesson and destroying their innocence even at 12 I knew the dangerous strangers pose despite not yet understanding what sick things they actually had planned the mere thought of never seeing my family again was enough to keep me safe up until that incident we had always walked to and from school but had to ride the bus after this made the school
day so much longer and I quickly grew to hate it the school took the dangers seriously and hired a second safety officer to patrol the campus during recess all the necessary measures seemed to work and several months passed and it was looking like the man had moved on eventually the alert level was lowered back to normal and everyone got back to their regular lives even the second officer would be let go we all thought that we'd be able to return to our old lives from all appearances the creepy man had given up this wasn't the
case though he'd taken a liking to Martina all he had to do was be patient and wait we let our defenses down one day and when that day came he would strike and that day did come about nine months later and it wasn't where we expected it had almost been a year since the incident at the school most of us had returned to our old habits I begun letting Martina out of my sight during recess has had the teachers the one remaining safety officers spend most of his time smoking in his car it's safe to
say no one was prepared for what had come next it was a Saturday afternoon the first truly nice and warm weekend of the year Martina and I were at the park with our mom and some friends and I had been pushing Martino on a swing just a few minutes prior and was now getting a drink from the water fountain I guess she was alone when he snatched her I was alerted by her screaming and turned to see the same stranger running away with her in his arms I immediately took after this man screaming from my
mother frantically as I went she and a few of the other mothers were just ahead of me also chasing after him it looked like he was going to get away but just a few yards from the car he stopped and put Martina down he had this weird sour look on his face and was patting his shirt I remember seeing that he was about to pick her back up but noticed my mom was getting close he hesitated for a moment before turning and running for his car again and amazingly he had left Martina behind he made
it to his car and spent away but not before my mom and a few others got his plate number when we finally reached Martine and we saw why the Dirtbag had put her down the poor girl was so terrified that she had wet herself I can't imagine the fear that she must have felt mom scooped her up and held her suffocatingly close and we all cried her eyes out and it was equal parts relief and absolute heartbreak the effects of the trauma showed up almost immediately when the police questioned her Martina wouldn't answer she remained
this way for several months this once vibrant and talkative little girl was now almost catatonic no matter who spoke to her she wouldn't answer a distant an empty gaze stayed fixed on her face and Mom became inconsolable and I was at a loss at what to do and the only bright spot was that we had the man's plate number and while we waited for updates mom did all she could to get Martina to talk she'd see a long series of counselors and psychiatrists but not much was achieved and she would eventually speak again but there
was no going back from that the blind trust that she had once had was completely destroyed and much of her life after that was spent alone in her room the only place that she felt completely safe she rarely dated anyone and if she did it was boys that she had known for quite a long time and against all the odds she did eventually find somebody but the relationship is constantly being tested by these issues and traumas of her past once where it had reached us that the stranger had actually been caught our dad volunteered to
deal with the investigation from there on all I know is that he did go to prison but I'm not sure for how long or where he is now and should he be stupid enough to show his face here again it will not end well for him [Music] I started taking evening walks around campus in my final year of college it wasn't long before I began noticing that it helped me keep my weight down and clear my head after a long day of work after graduation I kept up the practice and continued doing it to this
day well many of those around me had become diabetic and hypertensive causing them to become dependent on multiple medications I have none of those problems in fact my blood pressure is consistently well within the normal range just as my weight and blood sugar are and at present um the only member of my family able to make such a claim actually as I approached my 43rd birthday I see no reason to ever stop those post-inter walks for anyone reading this interested in getting healthier I recommend walking over jogging every time you get all the benefits without
the wear and tear on your body that you often get from running knee problems come to mind specifically anyways like everything in life there will always be a few downsides to any activity though most of those will come from the outside world and those things that you just can't control the story I'm telling today involves one such downside the setting was a nice cool summer evening I just completed a wonderful dinner with my family and set out for my usual Four Mile track around my neighborhood I had made this walk a thousand times and never
encountered anything worse than a dog who'd escaped from its owner in those cases it only took a shoe or a wave with my walking stick to drive them away these walks being one of the rare times of my life I got to myself I'd use it to plan out my future and just enjoy the Beautiful music of nature going on all around me for this reason I generally walked alone although I never stopped anyone from coming along I think my family realized that I preferred the solitude on this night the sun was just beginning to
dip below the Horizon I was coming up to the Midway point where I turned for home my street comes to a dead end exactly two miles from my house at that dead end there's a big oak tree that I walk around I have no particular reason to do it it just became a habit after a while anyway I just made my turn and was heading back when a man's voice boomed out from behind me good evening neighbor I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard it I looked over my shoulder and saw a
man jogging up to me I was so annoyed that I actually barked a curse at him he seemed to come out of nowhere there's a bunch of trees off to the left but I didn't see or hear anyone over there when I passed by something about it just didn't seem right though it was getting dark but from what I could tell I'd never seen the man before and I had no interest in making friends at that moment especially this guy is popping up from behind me had me in a bad mood I'm not usually a
rude person but something about him bothered me and it went beyond his sneaky arrival I attempted to just lose him but he actually eventually caught up now I was sure that I didn't know him it's unseasonably cold for this time of the year isn't it his attempt at Small Talk kind of graded on me and I could feel the scowl on my face all I wanted at that moment was just to get home I fought the urge to tell him to just buzz off I didn't want to be rude despite being clueless he'd done nothing
wrong really we walked another mile or so together before my house showed up and this entire time he'd continued rambling on about nothing important and I didn't really say anything back the relief that I felt seeing my house in the distance was quickly replaced by this sense of dread I wasn't sure if I wanted this annoying man to know where I lived instead of turning onto my street I just kept walking I had no plan of how I was going to shake the guy but I figured that I'd come up with it as I walked
we carried on for about 20 yards or so before he said something that just made my blood run cold hey Nick isn't that your street we just passed this sort of sick feeling washed over me and I actually felt like I broke out into a cold sweat I took another step and everything just kind of went silent an Indescribable rage boiled inside of me I could hear my heart pounding inside my head and finally I blew up on the man in the way I'd never had before on anyone I screamed at him who in the
hell are you I'd never met you before in my life and how do you know my name I know I didn't tell it to you I said a smug smile seemed to kind of spread across his face and it was just beyond spine chilling in that moment well it looks like you got me he was already this rather imposing gentleman but that smile made him just monstrous in my eyes an air of Menace poured off of him like cheap cologne and I grew more nervous the longer I stood there but despite the terror that I
felt my ego prodded me to just assert myself there to some onlooker it might have been like seeing a sardine trying to intimidate a great white I don't know who in the hell you think you are or why you decided to bother me but I can promise you that if you ever bother me again I'll shove my foot so far up your you know what you'll need a surgeon to remove it I actually said that was laughable and it was an empty threat I'm an average sized man but he could have bent me into a
pretzel if he really wanted to by this point I was so scared and angry that it was shaking uncontrollably I'm sure that he could see it and it probably went a long way assuring him that he had the upper hand even after all of my sort of threats and yelling that weird grin that he had never seemed to fade there was another long uncomfortable silence I was almost relieved when that guy finally spoke have a nice night Nick I was at a loss at how to react so I just turned and began walking toward home
every few yards or so I'd look over my shoulder to ensure that he wasn't following each time I have expected him to pop up right behind me and strangle me to death with his massive hands I kept this up until I got inside my house and now that I was you know quote unquote safe the fear overwhelmed me so much that I had to run to the bathroom and I legitimately vomited I'd never done that before but once I heaved up my entire dinner I rinsed out my mouth and washed my face in the sink
and I kind of stared at myself in the reflection wondering why I'd reacted so negatively to that guy never in my life have I ever had an experience like this nor can I fully explain what had happened all I know is that every cell in my body told me to just get away his very presence just felt wrong for some unexplainable reason and this made me hate him had he not acted so strange when I confronted him I may still be questioning my behavior now I know I'm not explaining it very well and most of
you probably reading this probably think I'm crazy but I can only describe how I felt at that moment I briefly thought about calling the police but I had no idea what I would even say if I did making small talk with a neighbor is hardly a crime and if anyone acted suspiciously it was me threatening to assault a stranger didn't sound like a sane reaction to the situation I chose to keep my mouth shut and say nothing and that includes to my wife there was no way she'd even understand and I don't really blame her
after that incident time began carrying my handgun with me in the evenings and changed the route that I took fortunately I would never have another experience like that again but I would see that man one more time it had been five or six months since he and I had spoken I was doing a good job putting the incident behind me one afternoon my wife and I were unloading groceries from the car in a silver four-door sedan slowly drove by the driver waved at us and being the friendly neighbor that I usually end my way back
I barely lowered my hand when I realized that the driver was that same stranger all those awful feelings came flooding back that horrible smile burned into my mind and I'm not sure how long I was really standing there and my wife's voice pulled me back to Earth she asked if I was okay and said that I was white as a sheet rather than dredge up the whole story and risk looking like some insane person I told her that I was probably just dehydrated she accepted the excuse and we went back to unloading the car five
years have gone by and I haven't seen this guy since even though I've had all this time to think about it I still have no idea why he and I crossed paths that day he obviously sought me out but that's all I can be certain of I've had some minor disagreements with a few neighbors but nothing that I could think Justified hiring someone to intimidate her even stalk me he never gave me a message or threatened me like you'd think a person like that would unless he shows up again or someone brings it up I
can only conclude that he chose me at random to just bully and now that I've finally told people about what happened I intend to make this the last time that I talk about it hopefully sharing it here will allow me to let it go once and for all and it can be forgotten about forever [Music] the salmon during the holidays of 2011-2012 I had just turned 18 the previous spring and my mom and sisters and I were traveling from Canada to visit family friends and spend Christmas and New Year's soaking up the Sun and relaxing
on the incredibly gorgeous Seven Mile Beach during the day I'd spend a lot of time with my family doing excursions swimming with dolphins snorkeling paragliding and enjoying the hot sun a far cry from the brutal winner we escaped from at night I was mostly left to myself to find my own fun my sisters were underage so they couldn't go out drinking with me I spent a lot of time wandering around the beach going for late night walks and trying to meet other kids my age it actually worked out pretty well and I met some cool
people I hung out with a brother and sister from Toronto and met a 30 year old woman who had stumbled away from her work party and thought that I was much older than I was an 18 year old I had sort of this fake confidence where I'd outwardly presented myself as someone who seemed like they knew exactly what they wanted excellent at talking to girls Brave and even cocky but inside I definitely couldn't back that up I was shy and nervous and really had to force myself to talk to strangers it was tough but a
bit of liquid courage made my conversations flow far more naturally though the constant anxiety especially when it came to girls never really went away I just pretended it wasn't there one night I stumbled across a group of Americans Jess Amber and Alyssa and her boyfriend Caleb as well as a local guy named Ernest smoking some weed on the beach they were all around 20 years old and they invited me to join them we spent a few hours getting to know each other and telling stupid stories I had a bottle of rum they had weeds so
for a group of dumb kids it was a match made in heaven it was getting late so we all made plans to meet up the next night and do some bar hopping the next night came and I met them at the resort we go to this bar that Ernest suggest it was a sports bar with beer pong tables pool and other games like Buck Hunter and pinball it was attached to a nightclub that had a DubStep Friday event that we plan to hit up after a few drinks we start drinking at the sports bar and
I met all kinds of interesting people including a girl from my hometown who went to school just down the street from my house it was really a blast and I can't remember having more fun at the bar in my entire life at that point usually when you go out to a bar you hang out with your friends and maybe meet the odd person here and there but this was different it was refreshing getting to meet so many people from all over the place after getting demolished by a couple in their 60s at beer pong we
began mingling with another group of kids our age and there was this one girl I'll just call her Amanda who basically became attached to my hip upon meeting and extremely touchy towards me even though it was uncomfortable with this complete stranger I just sort of played it off I didn't want to be rude and I wasn't interested in her advances Not only was she not giving me my personal space but I just simply wasn't attracted to her I kind of had the hots for the aforementioned Amber and I wasn't about to let this girl get
in the way of that I was a bit short with her but still friendly enough to not upset her and some of the other people in her group were pretty cool so I just sort of let it slide our group of six had basically doubled inside so it was at this point we all decided to go to the nightclub we get to the bar top and start ordering drinks and trying to be the cool guy that I thought it was I order a round for the whole group everyone was pretty pumped and I felt good
I passed Amanda her drink and she squeezed my butt and gave me this sort of wink I basically ignored it and down my drink with the rest of the group a good 20 minutes pass and I'm having a good time dancing drinking and chatting with the Americans that I met the previous day when Amanda stumbles over to me and starts touching me again hey cutie she says how about you come dance with me uh no thanks I'm okay I feel so messed up she responds come on it'll be fun I'm really all right I'm just
gonna hang out with these guys she looks dejected and then she does a total 180 on me that completely catches me off guard you know I'm pretty messed up did you put something in my drink uh what are you talking about I reply you definitely put something in my drink didn't you I only had a few and I feel so messed up that's ridiculous I proclaimed why would I ever do something like that no you definitely put something in my drink and I'm I'm gonna tell everyone here that you're trying to drug me I was
totally stunned I didn't even know this chick and I didn't even know what to say I know stuff like this happens to people and you should especially be careful around strangers but I most certainly did not put anything in this person's drink at first I was a bit concerned maybe someone else did the fact that she was using this the threatened me convince me otherwise I swear I didn't put anything in your drink I he didn't put anything in your drink Amber chimed in I hardly even know this guy but I can tell you he
didn't put anything in your drink how do you know that Amanda responded maybe he put something in your drink too I feel fine do you all feel fine she asked her group to a resounding yes leave us alone and find someone else to harass Amanda smiled and winked at me and walked away that was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen said Amber you just stick with us we got your back if she comes around again I spent the rest of the night incredibly anxious with my head on a swivel she was there with her friends
and I would occasionally catch her staring daggers at me scowling it made really hard to enjoy the rest of the evening as the bar was closing I went outside to smoke a cigarette and wait for the others when Amanda came up to me again hey I'm sorry for accusing you of putting something in my drink do you want to come down to the beach with me we can get some alone time and I can give you a proper apology alarm Bells went off in my head what was this girl trying to do she accused me
of drugging her and now she's asking me to be alone with her was this some sadistic way of flirting with me absolutely not I said in the most Stern voice possible this is insane just leave me alone man I didn't even let her respond I threw down my half finished cigarette and ran back into the bar to find the others and tell them what happened they're near the exit the bar with the people from her group and I ask her friends what her deal was telling them about what had just happened and it turns out
she wasn't their friend they had met her that night at the sports bar before we showed up and one of the guys said that she was acting inappropriately towards him as well and when he told her he wasn't interested she became really weird and kept asking him to be alone with her when we left the bar she was nowhere to be found and I didn't see her again for the rest of the trip I have no idea what her motive was or her end goal was and part of me feel like she was just some
weird girl who was trying to flirt and was completely terrible at it but there's another part of me that feels like she had other motives that might have been more sinister I don't know if it was a coincidence or not but Ernest also disappeared after that and I never saw him again so maybe they were colluding to rob people if so it wasn't very well planned either way it was pretty creepy and I'm thankful that I didn't run into her again [Music] there was recently a big hail storm in my area that did a lot
of damage to people's property and as usual a swarm of fly-by-night roofing companies and Mr fixits came crawling out of the woodwork in search of a cut of those juicy Insurance checks we lucked out though while most of my neighbors suffered all kinds of damage around their properties we had little to none I think a lot of it had to do with my solar panels in the angle in which our cars were parked our older Cara 2005 VW Jetta did have a few little dents but nothing worth getting upset about and I couldn't see a
single mark on my truck when you compare this to my neighbors on the side street many whose cars were so bad that they were written off as totaled I can't think of any other reason when it comes to our roof it only had been a couple of years since ours was completely replaced after battling the insurance company for a long time I submitted a claim again and it was finally approved then maybe six months passed before we purchased the panel switch cover close to 85 percent of the roof itself I doubt the shingles had even
had a chance to settle yet a process that usually occurs in the heat of the summer clearly we're not in need of any repairs around my home but this hasn't stopped the dime store repairman from harassing us constantly in the span of the week probably six different individuals and companies came to my door I was nice at first I simply told them my roof was new and I didn't need their services most of them got the hint and went away maybe leaving their car behind but a few tried to convince me that I was wrong
this kind of behavior is what gets on my nerves when I pointed out that the roof couldn't be damaged without also harming the panels too they realized what kind of person they were dealing with and this put an end to the visitors no one was tricking me or so I thought then The Man Who Would prove me wrong showed up two or three days after the storm I just happened to be out and when I returned I found a business card and a flyer stuck in my screen door although the name on the card was
not familiar to me I noticed that he represented my own insurer I wondered why they would send a rep to speak to me they had to have known that they just paid for a roof not that long ago I briefly thought about calling but it didn't seem worth the effort I just mentioned it to the guy if he ever came back and this is about the time the scammers began showing up the next few days were a constant flood of cowboys and independent contractors knocking my door I got really annoyed of the chaos pretty quick
so when the insurance rep returned the next week I wasn't as kind as I should have been in spite of this he was understanding and thanked me for the information and with that I assumed that all of this was settled another few days went by and I ran into a neighbor while walking my dog we got into a discussion and he joked about me changing my mind I ignored it at first this neighbor isn't exactly a genius but my instincts told me that there was more to it I asked him to clarify his meaning and
he told me that he had seen a man with a ladder and clipboard around my property and spoken to him earlier in the day his description of the man sounded very similar to this insurance rep and this made me Furious seeing as he knew the situation and had no reason to be there especially while I was at work I cut the walk shorts and returned home he owed me an explanation and I wanted it right then I called the number on the card and was connected to the main operator when I asked to speak to
him she hesitated a moment before transferring me after briefly being on hold the female voice came on and asked me again who I wanted to talk to I told her the rep's name and she informed me that the man had retired and was no longer with the company I assumed that she'd misheard me so I spelled the man's name out to make sure that she hadn't and she was adamant he had retired over a year ago and could no longer help me but if I needed assistance she could help me instead none of this made
any sense I was getting frustrated why was I being lied to I told her everything that had occurred the card him showing up without notifying me everything and she apologized for all of the issues that I was having but swore that she knew for a fact that he had not been at my home I was losing my cool now it sounded like she was calling me a liar and I demanded that she'd take it back I was prepared to cancel my policy if she didn't and she assured me that that was not her intention and
I could hear the reluctance in her voice and began to sense something strange was really going on I prodded I pushed until she gave in and just told me as it turned out the men on the card could not have been in my house not only had he retired almost two years ago but he had been forced to do so because he had some terminal illness that had killed him not long after even after hearing all of this I had a hard time accepting it I foolishly asked for proof and this is when she raised
her voice he and her had been close friends I guess and she had attended the funeral I could hear her begin to sniffle and realize that okay maybe I gone too far and I apologize and explained my level of confusion and concern after speaking a little while longer we concluded that it had been a man posing as an employee possibly to appear more professional he had probably received some cards from the rep in the past and now that I had finally cooled off the entire situation was clear to me he had used the information gleaned
from a seemingly casual conversation to plan a break-in of my home I had given him all types of information including when I worked he must have been in the course of robbery but was scared off by the sight of my neighbor I never thought that I'd be grateful to anyone for being so nosy but it appeared to have benefited me in this case all of this is just conjecture of course without any proof of forced entry or the like it's gonna have to do but looking back I feel stupid for being so trusting of some
random stranger he must have known that the card would work on some idiot tonight happen to be that exact idiot it also explains why he was so forgiving of my brashness in light of what occurred I no longer speak to strangers coming to my door for obvious reasons I encourage anyone reading this should they be so unfortunate to have severe weather in their area be very wary of the people it attracts I thought that I was wise to all the tricks but they proved me wrong if you didn't contact anyone to come to your home
they shouldn't be trusted there are a lot of underhanded people out there and their numbers will only grow as the economy continues to take some downturn make a plan and follow it otherwise you may not be as lucky as I was [Music] back in 2016 my first husband and I decided to part ways and I found myself homeless as a result now with only my check to rely on anywhere I chose would be a major step down and while I searched I stayed in a Budget Motel this was a huge culture shock itself and motivated
me to find an apartment as soon as I could any free time that I had was spent searching and my determination actually soon paid off less than two weeks pass and I found an old efficiency near downtown there was no application or deposit I simply paid first in last month's rent and moved in considering that I had little more than clothes this process didn't take long the location wasn't ideal but I figured it couldn't be too bad the area had a low crime rate or at least that's what the manager said and even if he
was lying I was too relieved to care well as you can probably guess I wasn't moved in a week before my car was broken into not soon after the family across from me was robbed while they were out crimes such as burglary became common around the complex about two months went by until it was my turn I really didn't have much to steal but I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd been violated my sleep was repeatedly interrupted by nightmares of men with guns and face masks and the lack of rest affected my daily life so
much that I almost had several car accidents if you can believe that after making a giant mistake at work I was finally forced to admit that something had to be done once the unit manager agreed to let me out of my lease I began searching for a new place immediately during this period the burglaries continued and it became such a common occurrence the police stopped coming out to investigate every night I had to remain in that place was a test of my courage and Sanity I was even more motivated than before to find a new
apartment but when I did I was almost declined because of the price in the end I realized that I had to pay more if I wanted security and took it my new complex was more like what I grown up in there was a gate with a code and everyone was friendly and I felt so much better after moving in must have slept like 13 hours the first night things were going so well I was afraid something bad was going to happen and that would mess it all up but nothing did though and I was finally
able to get settled in I wasn't moved in maybe a month when I met my first neighbor she and I began talking at the mailboxes and before I knew it I'd been invited to a BBQ and in spite of some lingering feelings of fear that I picked up at the last place I took a chance and accepted the offer and I'm glad I did this would be the event at which I met my current husband Brad he told me later that he thought it was a snob because I didn't speak to him but he understood
after I shared what I had experienced in my previous apartment it ended well so I don't hold it against him and truthfully I probably was a bit of a smarty pants back then my opinion to myself was still inflated from the way I was raised and this story isn't about my love life though and said I'd rather tell you about a man that will call The Man Without a Name I saw him almost every day for a month and I'm sure I wasn't the only one I check my mail every day after work and would
see him doing the same thing or so I thought at the time my curiosity soon got the best of me though and I tried to strike up a conversation he was always just too fast after talking to a few my neighbors I discovered that they had similar situations other than one woman's young son nobody had ever exchanged a single word with him nobody even knew his name the boy I asked would the strange guy just changed the subject and then rushed off to his apartment seemingly the location of this apartment was about all we knew
the people that lived around him said that they rarely saw or heard him and he really was an enigma to everyone in the complex and any shred of information that became available spread like wildfire from Resident to resident one lady was so desperate that she threw herself at him only to be rejected the entire Saga took on a whole new angle when The Man Without a name disappeared all of a sudden all sorts of theories and ideas were proposed but none could actually be proven obviously we'd almost forgotten about him when the truth came out
and it was far crazier than any of us expected a month had gone by and I was coming back from the mailbox when one of my neighbors stopped me and told me that the man had been arrested I asked her why and she wouldn't tell me all she would say was to check the paper I returned to my apartment and pulled out the local newspaper up on my computer and you'll never guess what it had happened according to the article the police got a call from our complex that uh then unidentified man had been squatting
in one of our abandoned units the squatter was taken into custody with no resistance when the officers searched the unit over five thousand dollars in stolen items were discovered inside the items range from cell phones to laptops more of the story was being released in the coming weeks under the terms of a plea bargain agreement the man admitted burglarizing nearly a hundred apartments and homes across the city one of the apartment complex he admitted to targeting was the place that I had fled from a few months prior and my mind was blown the odds at
handle have been astronomical it appears as if the only place that he hadn't robbed had been the complex that he was actually squatting at I can only guess that he thought it would bring too much attention to him and little did he know his attempt at lying lows what made him stand out the only thing I ever heard was how he was able to stay in the unit so long without being noticed I have a few theories but it's not important enough to include them here and to this day that remains the single most creepy
and astounding time of my life [Music] I'm a 19 year old male currently about to finish my first year at Rice University until just recently my father served in the United States Army our family had to move around a lot as a result and when they reached my teens my mother got tired of Shuffling from Base to Base and we set down roots for the first time my Dad was deployed for much of this time and I only saw him here and there mom and I found a small two-bedroom house in Virginia and got a
little mutt from the pound I was finally able to live like a regular kid and make friends whose parents weren't soldiers our neighbors were very friendly and often had neighborhood cookouts on summer holidays and I kissed my first girl at a July 4th party and met my best friend on my first day of school it was the life I'd always dreamed of and although it was relatively short time I enjoyed every minute despite all of the things my mother had done wrong in my life that one decision makes up for almost all of it I
bring up my rocky relationship with my mother only to lead him to the point of this post we have been living in the house a year when I noticed a man and a young boy had began walking by every day this went on for over a month before I brought it up to my mother I was honestly just curious if she knew anything about the pair rather than say no she gave me a lengthy speech about minding my own business I kept my mouth shut after that even when we'd see the two around town I
wouldn't say anything my mom tried bringing them up once but when I failed to take the bait she never mentioned them again either usually whenever we saw them they were standing around the same busy intersection seemingly begging for money the man held to the sign that said disabled vet can't work me and Son need your help any donations accepted the man would stand by a signal pole while the boy went from car to car with a coffee can I felt bad at first but I soon discovered the truth it was a wet fall evening when
my mom and I were leaving Walmart the lot was so full when we arrived and we had to park around the back of the store I was helping load bags into the back seat when I noticed the man and boy run up to an almost new Dodge truck and get inside I did a double take just to make sure it seems strange that they were begging for change but driving a nicer car than my family had I realized that there may have been circumstances that I wasn't aware of and boy were there but something about
it rubbed me wrong as time went by I'd see the pair around town but only saw that truck twice the second time was where the story began to get scary this occurred a few months later when my mom was working overnight like always she told me to stay home and not open the door for anyone and like most teenagers I ignored her and did what I wanted on this night I was skating with a few friends at a drive-through Bank it was around midnight when a familiar truck pulled up nearby the man asked if we
wanted to go to a party it was supposedly the boy's birthday and he wanted some kids his age to celebrate with everyone declined the offer even after he'd mentioned that there would be party favors available they offered once more before driving off thinking about the situation seemed strange and I must not have been the only one who felt it only later would I discover how wise our choice had been 2019 soon became 2020 and with the new year as you remember some crazy stuff happened I've continued to see the two guys walking down my street
and begging at the intersection until one day they just sort of disappeared I took note of the bit figure that they had moved on just as my family had done so many other times it was a lifestyle and I was very familiar with it lockdown would soon come and my focus would shift onto other things my dad would soon come home for a while and I'd spend all my time with him it wasn't until well after the lockdowns had ended that the two strangers came back to my attention I was browsing through Twitter when I
saw a picture of a man connected to a headline I clicked on the link and got the shock of my life according to the article the young man named withheld because he was a minor had showed up at our local police station and shared an amazing story at first the officers didn't believe him but after a bit of research they were eager to hear more a few years prior to their arrival to our town the adult male I'm not sharing his name that scumbag deserves to be forgotten and abducted the young man from a bus
station in St Louis of the course of several months the man abused the boy until he grew tired of him and rather than dispose of him he began to use the boy to lure other young men into his trap the pair would travel from City to City begging during the day and trolling for prey at night the boy estimated that the man had violated roughly 25 to 30 other boys during his time traveling with him he was adamant that he never took part in any of the actual Acts his purpose was solely to mate the
young men into the truck and although many of the young men were released alive the boy said that he was almost positive the few were not so lucky in one case he said that the old man had blood on his clothes after dumping one young man off alongside the highway when he asked about the blood the old man grew aggressive so he didn't press the matter however without witnessing any of this firsthand he couldn't provide any names or locations and this dark way of life carried on until mid-2020 when the old men had actually contracted
covid and died with nowhere to go the boy figured that he'd just tell his story in hopes that someone may help him find his family at the time of the story it was written the investigation was still in its early phases and I'm not sure how much more had been discovered since if I find out anything more during the summer break I'll post an update the article put me in a State of shock for many days after I read it I have been suspicious of the two from the get-go but realizing how close I had
been to being assaulted and possibly dead was just too much to handle I briefly thought about sharing the story with my mom but quickly changed my mind considering her behavior from the outset and that I had gone out against her wishes it didn't seem smart and as far as I'm aware she still doesn't know anything about it it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for her to miss something so major she's always been very focused on herself the cost of everyone around her and really that's all I know for now there was no information about
what became of the boy and he'd probably be an adult by now and for all I know he could be a fellow student at my school where maybe even yours there's also the chance that he took up his companions habits too they say most of those who abuse were abused themselves somewhere tonight there may be a young man stalking the streets looking for his next victim and if anyone reading this has a young teen son it might be a good idea to share the story with them I could save his innocence and more importantly maybe
his life [Music] ever since I can remember I always wanted to be a nurse and when the time came my parents paid for me to attend the nursing program at my nearby Junior College my last year of high school should have been a sign of what was to come and despite all of my hard work it just really wasn't to be I managed to complete the first year but my grades were so bad that I wasn't allowed to re-enroll from my second year my parents were disappointed to hear this but no one was as sad
as I was I felt like a failure for a long time after a few months I pulled myself together and began planning my next move for the moment I had no real clear path with my life but I was certain of one thing above anything else my parents deserved to be paid back they naturally insisted that it wasn't necessary but I made up my mind already and nobody was going to change it and but without a job this was just not going to be possible and therefore I began to search the following day it wasn't
long until I was hired in a small Diner downtown I never waited tables in my life but it was a paying job and that was all that really mattered to me at that moment I took my new job rather quickly it wasn't as difficult as I really expected the shorthand was the hardest part but once I'd learned that everything else was pretty much gravy I've been at the diner about three months when this guy John first came in for lunch John quote unquote as he asked that I call him was this older guy he was
thin and wiry and always wore a cap with a cross on it that first Sunday he just so happened to be seated in my area and from there on he made it a point to always be seated where I was working I could tell that he was special from the start I felt unusually comfortable speaking to him we'd exchanged names before I even had a chance to get his coffee it was like I was speaking to a family member and despite his reserved manner he was very honest about his life and the mistakes he'd made
on one of those Sundays I mentioned his tattoos and he proceeded to tell me all about him I was shocked when he said that he'd served 20 years in prison earlier in his life my perception of what a criminal looked like changed greatly after meeting him his teens in early 20s were chaotic in his abuse of alcohol and drugs led him into a life of crime one day he found himself neck deep in a plot to actually Rob and Bank the robbery did not go well obviously and after a member of the public was injured
he had to go on the Run he was eventually caught in his reluctance to name the rest of the gang meant that he was given the maximum penalty and after serving the majority of the sentence he was released I guess in the early 2000s but since that time he had been keeping his nose completely clean and most of his life was now spent between work and church and he had just left services that Sunday when he first dropped into the diner if I was a religious person I might think that we were destined to meet
it was during one of his other Sunday visits where my reason for waiting tables was brought up John asked why a girl is intelligent as me was serving food I told him about my dreams of becoming a nurse in my failed attempt at school he talked about regrets and failures in his life on his way out that day he urged me to give it a second try at school before I got too old in his mind all I needed was a little life experience and I do better the next time I knew that he was
just being nice for my sake but I'll admit that his energy was very motivating I thought my dream was in the past but hearing his encouraging words proved me wrong psyched up or not that phase of life was going to have to wait until I paid my parents back and for the present work was my focus and I I continued working every shift available every Sunday John and I would grow more familiar with each other this lasted for roughly three months until he stopped showing up I guess that he was sick or busy or something
and figured that he'd come back the next Sunday but when the next Sunday arrived and he was nowhere to be seen after three weeks of no shows I just gave up hope it was a sad day when I realized that he wasn't coming back he'd kind of become a father figure to me in that brief time and his encouraging words had Lifted Me from the whole of disappointment that I'd been in for the past year unfortunately life is a series of meetings and goodbyes I guess I picked myself up and just carried on with my
work soon I'd all but forgotten about this John guy and five months passed and one afternoon I was doing something the back when the head cook said someone wanted to speak to me I walked out and saw a middle-aged man standing by the cash register he introduced himself as a police officer from our local Department when I asked what he wanted he handed me this manila envelope with my name written on it he proceeded to tell me that John had left it behind for me I was naturally confused and asked what it was he couldn't
tell me and I was beginning to get annoyed with him when I started to press him for it he made it clear that and he couldn't say anything else other than that John was dead I'd suspected that this may have actually been the case but hearing it out loud started to really hurt a lot I didn't have the heart to go on after that and I just simply thanked the detective and he left with the envelope in my hand I went back to open it I now wish that I never had inside was a stack
of money with a bank band wrapped around it and my mouth grew drier as I counted it I recounted it several times and came up with the same amount ten thousand dollars along with the cash note was included and it read if you're reading this I'm dead I'd wanted to give it to you myself but my old life caught up with me take this and pay your parents what you owe them use the rest to go back to school you're too smart to be waiting tables at some greasy spoon life is too short to have
regrets good luck and don't give up on your dreams you got this at the bottom of the page was his full signature a name I'd never gotten the chance to learn and there was a ton of emotions flowing through me in that moment his faith in me was touching beyond belief far more than I ever had in myself my mind drifted from the money for a brief time but a sick feeling quickly came rushing through me a moment later what was all this where had John gotten all this money from he was some ex-con who
drove a 20 year old truck and painted houses for a living I read back through his note and a chilling line got my attention my old life caught up with me what did he mean by this did he rob a bank or steal it from somewhere else my heart began pounding out of my chest and I'm terrified that somebody may be looking for this money and it leads them to me I've also considered the possibility that it's all set up by the police and maybe they think I was part of the theft and are waiting
for me to do something else I'm not a criminal I don't know how these types of things work it's been two weeks since I got the envelope and I still have no idea what to do with it I still go to work every day like normal but I'm always looking around for something to happen I hate to involve other people in this but I think I need advice from you guys what do you think I should do the money would solve all of my problems and set me up for the future but I can't shake
the feeling that something bad is going to happen let me know what you think and I could really use all the help that I can get hey friends thanks for listening click that notification Bell to be alerted of future narrations I release new videos every Monday Wednesday and Friday at 7 pm EST and they're a super fun live streams every Sunday Tuesday and Thursday night and I'd love to see you this coming Sunday as it's my birthday and we get a little wild if you've got a story be sure to submit them to my subreddit
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