8 TikTok Mysteries & Crimes
These unsolved mysteries never stood a chance once TikTok entered the chat. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most intriguing mysteries and investigations that were resolved either through TikTok videos or with the help of its immense user community.
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00:00 So in your mind, she was heading on this trip across America with the right kind of guy,
00:06 someone that she was in safe hands with?
00:08 Absolutely, yeah.
00:11 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most intriguing mysteries, solved or
00:17 unsolved, connected to TikTok videos.
00:20 These teens are about to make a gruesome discovery.
00:25 Zachary Latham.
00:26 Zachary Latham, a National Guard private who lived in Wineland, New Jersey with his wife,
00:31 didn't get along with his neighbors, the Durhams.
00:34 The dispute between the two families revolved around Latham's alleged reckless driving in
00:38 the neighborhood.
00:39 Latham would occasionally record these encounters and share them on TikTok, sometimes labeling
00:44 Catherine Durham as a Karen.
00:59 Things came to a head on May 4th, 2020, when according to the Durhams, Latham swerved his
01:04 car toward 17-year-old Gage Durham.
01:07 The Durhams confronted Latham at his house, where Latham fatally stabbed William Durham
01:12 Sr.
01:13 The victim flagged down a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, saying Latham whipped down
01:20 a weapon and tried ramming their car near Meridian Center Parkway, right near Ben Hill
01:25 Griffin.
01:26 Shockingly, the entire incident was filmed and posted on TikTok, later becoming crucial
01:31 evidence in Latham's criminal trial.
01:35 The defendant was not simply just swiping the knife.
01:37 He was not simply swatting at the victim.
01:42 He faced charges including second-degree reckless manslaughter, but was ultimately acquitted
01:49 by a jury on all counts.
01:54 Creepy Men in White Cloaks While exploring Google Earth in 2021, TikTok
01:59 user Jason Klein stumbled upon a pretty unsettling sight.
02:04 Located in the middle of the desert in Nevada was what appeared to be a ghost town.
02:08 What made this particularly creepy was the presence of about a dozen figures wearing
02:12 white cloaks engaged in various activities.
02:27 The clip quickly garnered millions of views, but it didn't take long for the mystery
02:31 to be solved.
02:32 Users in the comment section soon clarified that the figures were part of an art installation
02:36 by Belgian artist Albert Schuchowski, known as Goldwell Open Air Museum.
02:41 The exhibition was first created in 1984 and is nestled in the abandoned mining town of
02:47 Rhyolite.
02:58 Tesla Detects Strange Figures Much like Hailey Jo Osment in the sixth sense,
03:03 Tesla's vision sensor seems to have raised a haunting question.
03:07 Could it be seeing dead people?
03:09 In 2022, a TikTok user shared what he captured on his dashboard while driving slowly through
03:15 a cemetery.
03:16 Despite a glaring absence of pedestrians in the area, the Tesla dashboard kept registering
03:21 strange figures walking through the cemetery.
03:24 Could the vehicle be seeing beings from the afterlife?
03:27 Well, possibly.
03:29 Or like many users pointed out in the comments, it could just be the Tesla sensors mistaking
03:34 flowers and headstones in the graveyard for human beings.
03:38 Whether this is a glimpse into the supernatural or an electronic misinterpretation, it certainly
03:43 makes for some creepy viewing.
03:45 Khaleesia Pinkie Williams On December 26, 2020, Khaleesia Pinkie Williams
03:51 posted a TikTok video of herself dancing in a hotel room.
03:54 In the clip, an unknown individual barges into the room, startling Williams just before
03:59 the video ends abruptly.
04:01 Minutes later, she was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound.
04:04 Williams had been at the Atlanta hotel for a holiday party with her friends when the
04:08 horrifying incident occurred.
04:10 Some believe that the individual who entered Williams' room in the TikTok video might be
04:15 connected to her death.
04:21 Although police arrested one person for the murder, neither his identity nor the outcome
04:26 of the case was released to the public, as he was a minor at the time.
04:30 Alyssa Turney In April 2020, Sarah Turney opened a TikTok
04:34 account dedicated to the case of her missing half-sister, Alyssa.
04:38 Alyssa had vanished from their Phoenix, Arizona home in May 2001, supposedly leaving behind
04:43 a note stating that she was running away to California.
04:46 But as years passed with no signs of Alyssa, it became clear that something mysterious
04:51 had happened.
04:52 In 2008, authorities began focusing on Alyssa's stepfather, Michael, as a prime suspect, but
05:07 lacked solid evidence linking him to her disappearance.
05:29 Through TikTok, Sarah pulled in millions of eyes towards the case and shown a spotlight
05:34 on Michael's apparent obsession with Alyssa.
05:37 A few months later, police arrested Michael on charges related to his stepdaughter's death,
05:41 although he was later acquitted by a judge.
06:09 The murders of Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner probably would have gone unsolved if not for
06:14 three teenagers creating TikTok videos on a Seattle beach.
06:17 In June 2020, while on a scavenger hunt, they stumbled on a black suitcase emitting a foul
06:23 odor.
06:33 After calling the police, the suitcase was found to contain the remains of Lewis and
06:37 Wenner, a couple living in a rented property in Washington.
06:40 Their shocking discovery went viral on TikTok, amassing over 30 million views before it was
06:45 taken down.
06:46 Subsequent investigations led police to the couple's landlord, Michael Dudley, who had
06:51 reportedly clashed with them over unpaid rent.
06:54 Dudley was ultimately convicted of four counts of second-degree murder, facing a possible
06:58 life sentence without parole.
07:12 Back in 2003, just one day before her birthday, Sofia Juarez disappeared from her home in
07:17 Kennewick, Washington.
07:19 Despite an exhaustive investigation by local police and the FBI, which followed up on over
07:23 800 leads, the case eventually grew cold.
07:27 Then in 2021, a TikTok video surfaced from Sinaloa, Mexico.
07:32 It featured a disoriented lady who claimed to have been kidnapped with no recollection
07:35 of where she came from.
07:37 Observant users on the platform pointed out her striking resemblance to the age-progressed
07:41 images of Juarez and informed the authorities.
07:45 While the case is yet to be solved, Kennewick police consider this a crucial lead and have
07:50 initiated efforts to locate the unidentified woman
08:05 we have for Sofia.
08:22 Gabby Petito Gabby Petito embarked on a cross-country trip
08:26 in July 2021 with her fiancé Brian Laundrie, documenting their experiences online.
08:44 But in late August, Petito vanished and Laundrie returned home afterwards, refusing to talk
08:49 about the trip or her whereabouts.
08:52 After she was reported missing, Petito's story ignited a social media storm, with TikTok
08:56 users popularizing her hashtag and sharing tips and theories.
09:01 One lady recalled a strange encounter with Laundrie when she picked him up while hitchhiking.
09:06 Another claimed to have seen his van near the Grand Teton National Park and directed
09:10 the FBI towards where Petito's remains were eventually found.
09:17 It later emerged she had been killed by Laundrie, who ultimately took his own life before he
09:22 could be arrested.
09:23 Now authorities face growing scrutiny over how the sole person of interest in Gabby's
09:27 disappearance was able to vanish himself.
09:33 What other puzzling stories have been resolved by TikTok users?
09:37 Let us know in the comments below.
09:55 For this list, we're looking at the most tantalizing mysteries that were solved, or
09:59 at least partially solved, on Reddit.
10:01 For the purposes of this list, the entirety of the mystery does not need to be solved.
10:06 As long as a portion was solved, or if Reddit gleaned at least an understanding of the specific
10:11 mystery in question, it will be included.
10:15 Cicada 3301 is one of the internet's juiciest mysteries.
10:34 It's seemingly a complex puzzle with the intent of recruiting the intelligent individuals
10:39 who solve its various clues.
10:41 The first puzzle appeared on message boards in 2012, and others appeared again in following
10:46 years.
10:47 The original puzzle focused primarily on aspects of data security and cryptography, leading
10:52 most to speculate that the puzzle was some sort of recruitment tool for a government
10:56 agency or anonymous internet mercenary group.
10:59 Many of its intricate and complex clues have been cracked by collaborating Redditors, and
11:04 some have claimed to have solved the entire puzzle, with a mysterious Reddit URL providing
11:09 crucial clues along the way.
11:17 No, Reddit did not figure out how our ancestors built Stonehenge.
11:21 That mystery might never be solved.
11:23 No, this Stonehenge is entirely digital.
11:26 In July 2011, a Redditor opened a mysterious sub that consisted entirely of nonsensical
11:32 text.
11:33 Redditors quickly assumed it was a code dump, and thousands quickly got to work trying to
11:38 figure out the meaning of the codes.
11:40 One Redditor eventually cracked the code, finding a picture of England's famous Stonehenge
11:45 in ASCII.
11:46 Other smaller fragments of the text were decoded, but the larger meaning behind the sub and
11:50 its various codes remains a mystery.
11:55 Webdriver Torso While mysterious text is one thing, creepy,
12:05 unexplained videos are something else.
12:08 The Webdriver Torso videos started appearing on YouTube in 2013.
12:12 They consisted of a white background, moving blue and red rectangles, and unsettling beeping
12:18 noises.
12:22 The channel quickly gained the attention of the Internet, with many speculating about
12:26 its intended purpose.
12:28 Some theories thrown out included a recruitment tool, spy messages, and, because this is the
12:33 Internet, communication from aliens.
12:37 Redditors quickly got to work, and an Italian blogger traced the account to Google.
12:42 YouTube eventually admitted that they were behind the videos, and that they served as
12:46 a testing mechanism for video quality.
12:50 The Bugged Extension Cord This one is sure to get the paranoid conspiracy
12:54 theorists going.
12:56 A poster by the rather fitting name of ShadyBusiness15 blew a fuse and took apart his extension cord
13:02 to assess the damage.
13:04 He found what looked like a SIM card inside the cord, and posted a picture of the mysterious
13:09 card to Reddit.
13:11 Redditors quickly figured out that the chip was a listening device.
13:13 Yep, ShadyBusiness15 was bugged.
13:22 If you called the SIM card's number, you could listen to what the device was recording.
13:27 ShadyBusiness15 called the number, but found the service closed.
13:31 The mystery of what the device was was solved.
13:34 Why his room was bugged was not.
13:38 The $50 Cipher Ciphers can be fun.
13:41 This one, not so much.
13:43 One Redditor was allegedly given a $50 bill and a secret code while walking the streets.
13:49 He posted the mysterious markings to Reddit, and the users quickly figured out that it
13:53 was something called a "BiFid Cipher."
13:56 The cracked code read, "There's plenty more money to make.
14:00 Figure this out and prepare to meet."
14:02 However, the poster also got another code chastising him for getting help, and he was
14:07 allegedly threatened.
14:09 Theories range about the meaning of the text, including links to the Department of Defense
14:13 planning a Reddit meetup, a hoax drummed up by the poster, and a marketing ploy.
14:22 On June 26, 1995, a hitchhiker was killed in a car crash and quickly earned the moniker
14:29 "Grateful Doe" due to his unconfirmed identity and Grateful Dead tickets.
14:34 Years later, a Redditor opened a Grateful Doe sub and circulated reconstructed images
14:40 of the deceased.
14:41 The image eventually caught the attention of the deceased's mother, who said it was
14:45 her son, Jason Callahan.
14:47 Callahan looked a lot like the reconstructed image and went missing in 1995 while following
14:53 the Grateful Dead on tour.
14:55 An investigation was opened and a DNA test was finally done on the unidentified man.
15:00 After 20 years, Callahan was found.
15:03 #4.
15:04 The Hit and Run
15:05 Hit and runs are the worst, but fear not, Reddit is here to help.
15:13 Reddit user Meatheaded witnessed a hit and run accident and posted a picture of the broken
15:18 off headlight to the sub "r/whatisthisthing".
15:22 Hundreds of car aficionados worked together and traced the headlight to a grey 1990 Cadillac
15:27 Brougham.
15:28 The poster later discovered that a grey Cadillac Brougham had been reported stolen in the area.
15:33 A man was then linked by police to the stolen car and was charged with auto theft and several
15:38 traffic related crimes.
15:42 #3.
15:47 The Strongsville Jane Doe
15:49 And here we have Reddit helping yet another cold case.
15:53 Back in the 70s, a group of kids came across a body.
15:56 The case was cold for 40 long, long years, until a sleuthing Redditor came across the
16:02 body's cemetery records and autopsy report.
16:06 After posting to Reddit, another poster copied the files to the site Websleuths.
16:10 A forensic artist then got involved and reconstructed the victim's face.
16:14 The image bore a striking resemblance to a teenager named Linda Pagano, who had been
16:18 missing since the mid 70s.
16:21 While the bones haven't yet been officially matched to Pagano as of 2018, her siblings
16:26 and Akron Sergeant Jeff Smith strongly believe they will be a match.
16:31 #2.
16:32 Walter Scott and the Taser
16:34 On April 4th, 2015, a man named Walter Scott was stopped for a broken brake light and later
16:40 shot in the back by police officer Michael Slager.
16:43 The case made international headlines and footage from a bystander's cell phone became
16:48 a key piece of evidence.
16:50 Redditor Daniel Voschart stabilized and cleared up the shaky footage.
16:54 He found what looked like Scott obtaining and subsequently throwing Slager's Taser.
16:58 Voschart argues that Slager may not have seen Scott disposing of the Taser.
17:02 Voschart's story and potential discovery was later made into a documentary.
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17:35 #1.
17:37 The Mysterious Post-it Notes
17:39 Sometimes Reddit can save a life.
17:42 Literally.
17:43 A poster by the name of rbradbury1920 posted to r/legaladvice as someone was leaving mysterious
17:50 post-it notes around his apartment.
17:52 He was suitably creeped out and asked the sub what to do.
17:56 One Redditor suggested that he was writing the notes himself and forgetting due to possible
18:00 carbon monoxide poisoning.
18:02 The OP admitted that he'd been having terrible headaches, lived above the parking garage,
18:07 and never plugged in his CO detector.
18:10 After doing so, he found his apartment reading at 100 parts per million, indicating that
18:15 he was indeed suffering from CO poisoning.
18:18 He checked himself into a hospital and user Cockerlock literally saved a life.
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18:30 [Outro]