Have you ever known someone who went missing or was murdered?

[Upintheair83]

When I was a lot younger I used to work at Alton Towers in the guest services department.Guests would come and get the fast pass wrist bands if they had a disability in order to skip the queues. One day this lovely little girl came in with her family, she was full of life and with the biggest smile on her face. She looked up at me, trying to peer up at me and said ‘I know your name, it’s ___’ I said how do you know that?! (Feigning surprise, as we all wore name badges!!) her mum had already given me the paperwork over her head ,which explained her disability (cerebral palsy) and I quickly glanced and said ‘well I know your name, is it April?!’ She was so excited I knew her name! I remember it so clearly to this day, a few weeks later I saw her little face and name on all the newspapers- it was little April Jones.
I don’t think there has been a murder that has touched me so much. I remember them as a lovely family and she was full of life and love- so trusting and just a beautiful little girl. When they were picking up their wristbands we had a small discussion because they lived near Barmouth in Wales and I have gone there since a little girl on holiday. I probably spent all of ten mins talking to them before they went on with their day, but I remember it so clearly.
When I heard the news I felt heartbroken- I couldn’t believe in such a beautiful place could such horrors happen to such a beautiful little girl. It saddens me they never recovered all of her remains just some tiny bone fragments. I think of her every time I pass the turning to the area they lived when I go back to Barmouth, she crosses my thoughts so often.
Rest in peace April. I met you for all of a few moments but I will never forget you.

 

[SoulRebel]

Meredith Kercher was one of my daughters' best friend at school. I still have photos of her at birthday parties in albums here and have never got over the vile press accounts of what happened to her and the subsequent descriptions of Amanda Knox.

 

[JustJules]

Mitchell Quy who chopped up his wife Lindsay in the bath aided by his brother lived two doors from my Mum and Dad. He had all the neighbours feeling sorry for him as they all fell for his story that Lindsay had gone off and left him with the two kids. When everyone found out what he’d done with her body and that it had happened probably while they were all sat watching telly one night, they were horrified. It made my Mum I’ll for a while she was so upset. Evil sod. Never told her parents where her head was after other body parts were found around the area.

 

[Goodchilddiamond5]

Have never spoken about this before but last year in February I went on a date with a guy I met via tinder, anyway he was really weird and creepy when we met up and nothing like his tinder profile, anyway after me trying to be nice and make conservation I asked him about his family, he said his parents died in a car crash when he was 16 and the rest of family lived so far away he lost touch with them all after he said all this he went even weirder and wouldn’t look me in the eye so I made my excuses and left the date, when I got home I decided I’d google his name and I found out he had murdered his mum after his dad had died in a car accident, his mum lost her mind with the grief and he stabbed her one night and hid her body in the shed! He was 15 when it happened and he told the courts his mum had been abusing him so he wasn’t charged with anything! So no wonder the rest of his family have nothing to do with him! Safe to say I deleted tinder after this!!

 

[BigBrenda]

Didn’t know him but one night we was in the front room with my dad. And we heard a man shouting help me he’s killing me, someone fucking help me please. So my dad looked out the window couldn’t see nothing and just closed the window. Next morning there’s a white tent up and a man was found stabbed to death. We heard him begging for help. It still creeps me out now I was only little.
But that estate I grew up on, it was normal to hear things like that at night.
The man who done it was nicked and turned out my mums name was on this list of people he wanted to kill. My mum was selling weed at the time unbeknownst to us we was kids.

 

[Routron]

My father went missing when I was six years old and was found a few days later dead in a hotel room. Autopsy didn't reveal much for a cause of death.

I've spent a long time trying to work out what could have happened and not found any closure. I've never met anyone else who had such a traumatic experience at such a young age and feel very alone in my thoughts and feelings about it. Just writing this down feels like a bit of a weight lifting off me!

 

[Hollie Day]

In my first ever job I worked with a girl who disappeared. We couldn't understand why it wasn't in the media as she was only 17 (she was at college and doing a work experience placement with us).

A few months down the line we found out she had fled to avoid an arranged marriage. She had contacted the police to let them know not to waste any time and resources looking for her as it was a voluntary disappearance and she was being supported by a charity to start a new life under a new name in a different part of the UK.

I often think of her and always hope that she's living the sort of life she desired.

 

[Kiki20]

My dad was murdered last year by his ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend. She had been planning it for a while. Just needed to find the right scumbag to help her.

 

[Be More Pacific]

What makes you think they don't already see the reality and impact?

Exactly. Just because I'm interested in real life crime doesn't mean I'm fucking heartless.

When I follow a trial (probably around 250 a year - 2020 excluded) I never forgot a victim. I may forget a name occasionally but never a face or the details.

 

[SticksAndStones]

My best friend at school moved to Australia when we were 14. A week later she was stabbed to death by a 15 year old boy

 

[CarrieW24]

Not a murder or missing person story, but related.

One of my primary school friends fell to his death, from a climbing frame, while we were all playing. It wasn't that high from what I recall, I have no idea why the fall killed him.

Last year, I met with two of my oldest friends and we were talking about our primary school days. I obliviously asked whatever happened to John, and is anyone still in touch with him. After an awkward silence they reminded me he died. I was shocked.

My younger self must have been so traumatised she blocked it out. It wasn't until weeks after that conversation that I started processing it and remembered (vaguely) the teachers comforting us, his face on a pamphlet on every school wall, and I think I didn't even go school for a while because I remember being home for a long time. My parents were very attentive, I remember really really liking the time I got with them because it was unusual. I remember that, but I don't remember that he actually died!

I'm still processing it. A part of me still can't believe it and I still sincerely question if it really happened. For some reason, even with the memories above, I remember him walking into class after bring back at school... One of them is obviously imagination, and the other memory but they feel exactly the same.

I've tried searching his first name and key words on the internet to see what comes up. I don't remember his surname. Internet has yielded no results. I'm honestly still baffled. If this site wasn't anonymous, I wouldn't be sharing. I feel so many emotions ranging from embarrassment to feeling stupid and crazy for not knowing what happened despite being there. I'm questioning my sanity.

This is very raw for me. If you reply, please be kind.

 

[Shugsyshalone]

When I was younger my flatmate was seeing a guy for a few months. Me and some of her friends became suspicious of him because things he said did not add up. He was a little bit older than us and he said some weird things. Some information came to light and we decided that nobody was going to say anything to the guy. Instead we got together and contacted the police because we were scared and hoped it was all a lie. Within a few hours of contacting the police he had vanished. I recall his flatmate telling us that he did not take a single thing from his room. He even left his wallet and ID behind and his phone number suddenly no longer existed. He was a convicted murderer who had been released and given a new identity. It still makes me feel sick to this day knowing that we all felt something was a little off and we were right all along!

 

[caterday28]

A relative of mine was stabbed to death by her boyfriend.

 

[ponyta]

So I’ve seen this thread on Reddit and thought we could have our own here if anyone would like to share a story

A relative of mine was killed, the guy who was responsible got charged with manslaughter. An incident outside a nightclub with a bouncer and ended up dying of head injuries as a result.

 

[Mrspowell]

Went to Tenerife In 2013 had the best holiday and made friends with a couple of guys from
Manchester, usual story kept in touch on Facebook... he was murdered last year by his girlfriend in Dukinfield Manchester. Was absolutely horrified.

I was also at work one day when a baby who had been murdered was brought in. Never forget watching the consultant I worked with run off to vomit he’s never been the same since.

 

[BirkenheadTranny]

I was dating a man years ago who I knew had kids but only seen then once a week. As we grew closer he confided in me that he had to see his kids at a contact centre under supervision. At first he was hesitant to tell me why but he eventually did... he had been convicted of the manslaughter of his newborn baby. He told me he'd dropped the baby as he fell asleep with her sat up on the sofa but apparently it was said that the baby was shaken and struck. So yeah... that was the end of that

 

[Lavender425]

When I had just left sixth form and was waiting to take up my university place, I got a job at a care home for younger adults with varying disabilities and neurological conditions. We used to have a young man come and access respite care every now and again. He had a great sense of humour and loved a chat! A few years after I had left, I saw his picture on social media, he had been attacked by two teenagers whilst walking to the shop one evening. They had punched him to the ground and continued to kick him as he was at their feet. His condition meant he was quite unstable on his feet and he would have been very vulnerable in that moment. Thankfully, some people passing by stepped in and he was taken to hospital and released soon after with only bruising. However, 10 days later he collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage. There was a huge investigation into whether it was related to the attack but it couldn't be definitively linked and so the boys were not prosecuted. The kick in the teeth for his family though, was when he had died, one of the teenagers changed his Facebook occupation to "full time killer".

 

[Lolly505]

A friend in my primary class was murdered rather brutally by his mum on Christmas Day. He was only 5.
I remember seeing his school photo in the paper as my parents gently explained he'd died. (Only found out what actually happened years later .) Kinda wish I'd asked to keep the photo now since as much as I've tried, I haven't been able to find a copy of that photo anywhere, just to make sure I'm remembering his face right

 

[Thatswhattatsaid]

I often think about people who who in defence and prosecution teams. The evidence they must see must be harrowing and horrific. Is there therapy to be able to overcome what they are having to look at etc? X

I’m a therapist… there is absolutely therapy to overcome this and we often have patients in our service for very similar circumstances but more than anything this post made me think “who looks after us?”. I’ve listened to awful stories over the years and unfortunately the nature of trauma therapy means we have to listen to every last detail which can be difficult to switch off from at times.

I had a patient that took his own life 2 months after being discharged from treatment (appearing to be well and responded well to therapy), to this day, 5 years on I could tell you the date he did it, how he did, what he wore when I first met him, his general appearance, his height and the conversations we had in therapy. Not something I think I’ll ever forget.

 

[Messychaotic - one word]

Someone at my new-ish workplace went missing a couple of years ago. By all accounts it appears that they were happy in life, love and work so it's all very intriguing (they went missing from their home early one night, leaving their keys, phone, car, bag ... everything behind). Their desk is exactly as they left it, and is a bit of a no-go zone for anyone - management apparently get really cross if people borrow the chair or take a pen from that desk, and always make a point of wishing them a happy birthday on the WhatsApp work group.

I think they're keeping the job open in case the person ever does return.