Behind every innocent photo lies a potential dark secret. Join us as we explore seemingly normal photographs that hide shocking and disturbing stories. From family portraits concealing sinister truths to final moments captured before tragedy struck, these images prove that appearances can be devastatingly deceiving.
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00:00So you could see the horror on this, in its face.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:06for the most unsuspecting photos with the darkest stories behind them.
00:10When the police found that camera and they said,
00:12oh the camera's destroyed, it's been through the washing machine,
00:14but they take that little memory card and they find these photos?
00:21Number 45.
00:22Hikers on the Appalachian Trail.
00:24For centuries, hiking has been enjoyed by many as both a relaxing hobby
00:28and a way to reconnect with nature.
00:30Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it isn't without its own dangers.
00:33In September of 1990, Molly LaRue and Jeff Hood traveled to Perry County
00:37to hike along the Appalachian Trail.
00:39Before embarking on their journey, they took a photo in town,
00:42complete with hiking gear and excited smiles.
00:44They had no idea it would be their last.
00:47During their trip, they were attacked and slain by Paul David Cruz
00:50in a seemingly random act of violence.
00:52He served a life sentence for his crime until his own death in 2022.
00:56It's hard to see the couple's final portrait
00:58without being reminded of their horrific sudden end.
01:01Number 44.
01:03The Ghost of Dundas Peak.
01:04Do you believe in ghosts?
01:05If not, this may convince you otherwise.
01:08Located in Ontario, Canada, Dundas Peak is a beautiful site
01:11that may also be home to a lost spirit.
01:13In 2016, a Reddit user posted about a strange addition to one of their photos.
01:18In the wide angle, everything seems to be normal,
01:20just a man sitting on the peak.
01:22Zoom in closer, however, and you're met with the sight
01:24of a human-like figure in the background.
01:26The spot in the background is reportedly hard to access,
01:29for the living anyway.
01:30It was later revealed that a woman had gone missing
01:32shortly before the pictures were taken.
01:34Whether the figure was a shadow, another hiker,
01:36or her ghost is still unknown to this day.
01:39Number 43.
01:40Jeannie.
01:41Upon first glance, it's easy to assume that this is a child
01:44having her photo taken for the first time.
01:46While that's true, the full story is impossible to fathom.
01:50The girl, named Jeannie by those who saved her,
01:52had been locked in a room for nearly her entire life.
01:56Completely restrained, she was forced to sit alone day after day,
02:00and often through the night.
02:01Her captor was her own father, who neglected her to the point
02:04where she never learned human language.
02:06She barely spoke or made any noises.
02:09After barely surviving for years, she was finally rescued in 1970.
02:13Despite being 13 in her first snapshot, she looks much younger,
02:17a sign of the mistreatment she endured.
02:19A team of doctors was able to teach her some communication skills,
02:22and she's still alive today,
02:23an example of the effects of severe childhood neglect.
02:26Jeannie now lives in an adult care foster home in Southern California.
02:31Number 42.
02:32Regina K. Walters.
02:33Hitchhiking is still a popular practice globally,
02:36but cases like this may have led to its dip in prevalence in the United States.
02:40In February of 1990,
02:42Regina K. Walters and her boyfriend, Ricky Lee Jones,
02:44attempted to get a ride from Texas to Mexico.
02:47Whether she was following the lead for a new teenage boyfriend,
02:50or just testing her independence,
02:53a trucker soon stopped for the pretty young girl.
02:55They were picked up by Robert Ben Rhodes,
02:57otherwise known as the truck stop killer.
03:00He swiftly ended Jones's life and took Regina captive.
03:03After weeks of torture,
03:04he took photos of her before murdering her as well.
03:07When I saw the photos I said,
03:09this is Regina Walters.
03:12One shows her posing in fear,
03:13and if one didn't know the context,
03:15it could be mistaken as staged.
03:17The truth is much more bleak.
03:19Rhodes is serving a life sentence,
03:21but his horrid acts live on in images like these.
03:24Rhodes was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
03:32Some people use social media as a way of updating their loved ones on their lives,
03:36and others use it to cover their tracks.
03:38In 2014,
03:39Alan Ruby was only 19 when he shot his parents and sister
03:42after having been financially cut off.
03:44It's believed that he did so in an attempt to receive
03:47as large of an inheritance as possible.
03:4919-year-old Alan Ruby is charged with murdering his mom, dad, and sister.
03:54In an attempt to create an alibi,
03:56he traveled to Dallas for a college football game,
03:58where he took and posted a now-deleted photo of his supposed best friends.
04:02Those pictured had no idea they were being used in his elaborate ruse.
04:06He was found out and arrested days later,
04:08and is currently serving life in prison.
04:10He utters three critical words police have been waiting for.
04:14Aviation is considered to be one of the safest forms of travel,
04:17but that doesn't stop horrific accidents from occurring.
04:20In 1943, a new glider intended for military use
04:23was to be tested within full view of the public.
04:26A day before the flight,
04:27reporters had asked Mayor Becker about the possible hazards.
04:31He said he didn't think it would be dangerous.
04:33A crowd of thousands gathered around to watch 10 significant St. Louis citizens,
04:37including the mayor at the time, fly over.
04:40A photo documenting their excitement was taken just before takeoff,
04:43and neither they nor the spectators had any idea it would be their last.
04:47Almost instantly, one of the wings moved up into a 45-degree angle.
04:56Mid-flight, an engineering error caused one of the craft's wings to rip off,
05:00sending it into a nosedive.
05:02It started to spiral, and I wasn't thinking about it.
05:06It started to spiral, and I wasn't thinking about the poor people inside.
05:11I was thinking about making a photograph.
05:13Everyone aboard died,
05:14with their last image serving as a haunting reminder of how quickly things can go wrong.
05:21A child's art can potentially reveal much more than what appears on the surface.
05:25David Seymour documented this during his time at a Polish facility for children in 1948.
05:30One of his photos depicts a young girl apparently scribbling on the board.
05:34Though it looks innocent in nature, the reality was much darker.
05:37The child, named Tereska, had been asked to draw her home,
05:41resulting in the unnerving illustration.
05:43She had reportedly lived in a concentration camp throughout the war,
05:46and the trauma bled through into her interpretation of the word home.
05:49What makes her drawing all the more haunting is that other children with the same prompt
05:53drew more traditional pictures,
05:55proving how much she had been affected by her circumstances.
05:59Even supposedly happy events can hide much darker intentions.
06:02Though one may think this photo simply showcases a mother's pride for her two sons,
06:06the truth is much darker.
06:08Throughout his adolescence in the 1990s,
06:10Thomas Bart Whitaker got into plenty of legal trouble.
06:13His misdeeds continued into adulthood when he falsified his attendance at Sam Houston State University.
06:18His family believed his ruse,
06:20with this photo being taken to celebrate his supposed graduation from the university.
06:24Later that night, Bart's accomplices carried him to the hospital.
06:27His accomplices carried out the murder he had planned,
06:29snuffing out both his mother's and his siblings' lives in an instant.
06:33Kevin opens the door, there's this huge loud noise.
06:36Bang!
06:36His father survived the attack,
06:38and even advocated for his son's death sentence to be commuted.
06:41I'll be able to actually hug him, shake his hand.
06:48The crimes committed by Moore's murderer Myra Hindley shocked the nation.
06:52Normally, an owner's connection to their pet would be seen as wholesome.
06:56But when you're a serial killer, all pretense of that goes out the window.
07:00This image appears to depict a young woman hugging her dog close,
07:03but unlike her pup, she was anything but innocent.
07:06The woman pictured is Myra Hindley,
07:07one of the two perpetrators of the Moore's murders that were carried out throughout the early 1960s.
07:12A case like this was unique.
07:15For the first time in British history,
07:17a woman had been implicated in a killing partnership.
07:20She, along with her partner in crime Ian Brady,
07:23had killed five children before they were arrested in 1965.
07:26It's even believed that in this very photo,
07:29she was gazing down at the makeshift graves of one of her victims.
07:32She's got the devil in her.
07:33She's the devil itself.
07:39The combination of sheer tragedy and unflinching resilience
07:42has made this one of the most well-known aviation disasters in history.
07:46In October of 1972,
07:48some of the players on the Uruguayan rugby team were photographed before their flight took off.
07:52It's clear by their calm demeanors that they weren't anticipating any turbulence,
07:56let alone a full-on crash into the Andes Mountains.
07:59The front part of the plane lifting up a little bit,
08:03and then the moment of impact.
08:07Later that night,
08:08the passengers aboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
08:11would be forced to survive on their own for months,
08:13even resorting to cannibalism to do so.
08:16To survive in the frozen wilderness,
08:18they ate the flesh of those who died.
08:21Their pre-flight pic is a stark difference to the more sensationalized one of them
08:25sitting outside the wreckage,
08:26but it serves as a perfect example of how quickly circumstances can change.
08:39What started as an innocent attempt to get a cute picture ended in tragedy.
08:43In 2011, three teenage girls,
08:45Essa Ricker, Kelsey Webster, and her sister Savannah,
08:48had been taking pictures on a set of railroad tracks,
08:50while they appeared to have been aware of one train going by,
08:53they had no idea the one was coming from the opposite direction as well.
08:56Their last selfie,
08:57with the three of them smiling excitedly while the train's headlights shine behind them,
09:01shows the final seconds before the tragic collision.
09:04Essa and Kelsey were both killed on the spot,
09:06and Savannah was left with critical injuries that she succumbed to days later.
09:16One of the most unsettling facts about the Holocaust
09:19is that those perpetrating it did not seem to care about the gravity of their actions.
09:23This was evidenced by a series of photos taken by a Nazi officer named Hacher.
09:27These captured his time working at Auschwitz,
09:29with his work showing an even more unsettling side to the regime.
09:39One in particular showcases a group of young men and women laughing and smiling,
09:43an intense contrast to the pain and suffering they were doling out to their prisoners.
09:50They were interspersed with appearances at more formal military events as well,
09:53showcasing how easily they could disconnect from the war crimes they were committing.
10:01The digital era has completely changed dating, for better and for worse.
10:05When Sidney Loof matched with Bailey Boswell in 2017,
10:08she had no idea what was in store for her.
10:11They had already been on one date and had planned a second,
10:14which Sidney commemorated with a simple Snapchat selfie.
10:19was the last time anyone heard from 24-year-old Sidney Loof.
10:23That self-portrait would ultimately be her last,
10:26as she would be kidnapped by Boswell and her partner Aubrey Trail later that night.
10:29The pair denied their involvement in a Facebook Live video,
10:32but Loof's remains being found miles from where the alleged date occurred
10:36weeks later discounted those claims.
10:38After a series of trials, Boswell was sentenced to life,
10:41while Trail remains on death row.
10:44Aubrey Trail could face the death penalty if the jury finds evidence of aggravating factors.
10:50At first glance, you might not think much of this picture showing a girl
10:54standing at the edge of a cliff and taking a picture of the view.
10:57She appears to be doing what anyone her age would,
10:59capturing a memory that would last a lifetime.
11:02Unfortunately, this would be the last sight Julie Callen would see.
11:05In 2015, she went hiking with her ex-boyfriend Lauren Bunner.
11:09He documented their final trip together with several photos
11:11before shooting her and pushing her body off the very cliff
11:14she had just been standing on and photographing.
11:16While he was nearly tried as a juvenile, despite being 20 at the time,
11:20that that decision was reversed, earning him a 52-year prison sentence instead.
11:30The reality of some events is so unfathomable
11:33that you wish the incorrect yet innocent assumption was the truth.
11:36One perfect example is a photo showing a young girl and man standing beside a stroller.
11:41It's easy to assume that it depicts two siblings with their father,
11:44but the truth is much more stomach-turning.
11:47The girl, Lina Marcela Medina de Horado, is the baby's mother,
11:50and the man is the doctor that delivered him.
11:52In 1939, she became the youngest known mother in human history at just five years old.
11:58While precocious puberty explains how it was scientifically possible,
12:02the implications of how it came to be are horrific at best.
12:05As of 2025, she's still alive and the identity of the father remains unknown.
12:15At first glance, this seems like a normal family photo,
12:18depicting the classic nuclear setup, complete with a baby sitting on her father's lap.
12:22However, the reality is much darker.
12:25The man in the picture is John Edward Robinson,
12:28later exposed as a conman and a serial killer who operated in Kansas City.
12:32In 1985, Robinson cunningly befriended the infant's struggling mom
12:37under the guise of providing them with a better life.
12:39Soon afterwards, he killed the mother and gave her baby to his brother to raise.
12:45To make things worse, Robinson remained in the girl's life,
12:49posing as her uncle, until he was finally arrested over a decade later.
12:53This portrait captured a final moment of peace
12:55before the lives of several people were irreparably changed forever.
13:14While the sight of a cute dog listening to a phonograph seems adorable upon first glance,
13:19the story behind it is much sadder.
13:21According to the original artist,
13:23his inspiration came from watching the pooch listening to his late owner's voice
13:27and seemingly trying to figure out where it was coming from.
13:30That explanation immediately takes the painting from cute to tragic.
13:34The thought of a pet still being alive and well,
13:36and the fact that it's still alive and well,
13:39that explanation immediately takes the painting from cute to tragic.
13:43The thought of a pet still being able to recognize the people who raised them
13:46even long after their deaths is bittersweet at best.
13:50There's no doubt at all just how good of a boy he truly was,
13:53and his unwavering loyalty to his late master has been immortalized forever.
14:01Do you notice anything unusual in this photo of someone climbing a waterfall?
14:05While it looks like a regular landscape,
14:07there's one thing that sticks out, a sudden shock of red hair.
14:11That color saved a young woman who had fallen off the same cliff
14:14in Santa Barbara County in 2014 and been badly hurt.
14:18She blended in with the scenery,
14:20so much so that the photographer had captured their friend's climb
14:22without realizing she was in the background.
14:24Although they eventually noticed her and assisted in her rescue,
14:28it was an extremely close call.
14:30We can only imagine the horror the photographer would have felt
14:33had they not noticed her in time,
14:35and instead found her in the shots when it was too late.
14:42In 2017, teenager Liberty German
14:45innocently posted an image of her friend Abigail Williams
14:47crossing a bridge in Delphi, Indiana.
14:50Looking at it, you wouldn't think anything was amiss,
14:53just a couple of pals having fun.
14:54Later that same day, they were both captured
14:57and subsequently killed by an unknown assailant.
15:00This is the bridge that we've all seen in the images released to the media.
15:03You can see now some flowers left behind in memory of the girls.
15:07A video on German's phone showed an unknown man ordering them down a hill.
15:11This provided police with a lead,
15:13and on October 31st, 2022, they charged a suspect with the murders,
15:18who has since confessed to his wife while in prison,
15:21according to court documents.
15:22It was Libby who managed to take a cell phone picture
15:25of a strange man on the bridge.
15:28He's the prime suspect.
15:29In 2022, Richard Allen was arrested as a suspect
15:33and tried in 2024.
15:35He was found guilty and sentenced to 1,430 years in prison.
15:43Some images highlight just how cruel the world can be.
15:46Upon first glance, seeing a couple of young kids walking hand-in-hand
15:50wouldn't trigger any suspicion.
15:51To many, it would just look like an older and younger sibling.
15:54However, that idea was turned on its head after one horrifying instance.
15:59On February 12th, 1993 in Merseyside, England,
16:02security footage captured two children walking together,
16:05an older boy and a toddler.
16:19Unbeknownst to adults nearby,
16:21the toddler, James Bulger, was being kidnapped.
16:24He lost his life later that day at the hands of the older child and his friend.
16:28Looking at the original footage,
16:30no one would have guessed his true intentions.
16:33Justice was swiftly served,
16:34but the incident shook the nation
16:36and started a larger discourse about punishing minors.
16:43What was supposed to be a fun, peaceful activity
16:45suddenly became a crime scene.
16:47While going scuba diving,
16:49a man took a photo of his wife underwater.
16:51This could have been a cool shot,
16:52but their attention swiftly shifted to a shocking discovery in the background.
16:56Behind his partner was the body of another diver lying on the floor of the reef.
17:01This belonged to Tina Watson,
17:02who had been on her honeymoon in Australia
17:05before her untimely death on October 22nd, 2003.
17:08The news caused immediate speculation
17:11that culminated in her husband being convicted of manslaughter.
17:14They argue he planned to kill his new wife,
17:16all so he could collect on her life insurance policy.
17:19The fact that this was all caused by one seemingly innocent picture is harrowing.
17:24Had it not been taken,
17:25her body may not have been discovered until much later.
17:31Hawaii boasts a plethora of gorgeous scenery,
17:34both natural and human-made.
17:35This includes the captivating Haiku Stairs,
17:38which unfortunately have been closed off to hikers for decades
17:41due to their dangerous state.
17:42Despite this, many adventurers still brave the trek.
17:46In early 2015,
17:48teenage hiker Dalen Pua walked the trail
17:50and posted photos of the view.
17:52After he went missing,
17:53those posts became the only clues.
17:56His parents soon made a chilling discovery,
17:58a hidden figure camouflaged within the greenery,
18:01seemingly stalking their son.
18:03This revelation transformed the case
18:05from a simple disappearance to something more sinister.
18:07While the trail has gone cold,
18:09the family is still determined to identify the man pictured
18:13and get closure on what happened to their son.
18:20What seems like a wholesome portrait of a father and daughter
18:23is actually much more twisted and horrific.
18:26The man in the photo, Franklin Delano Floyd,
18:29abducted Suzanne Sevakis as a young girl and raised her.
18:32As if that wasn't twisted enough,
18:34he ended up marrying her when she grew up,
18:36even forcing her to take on a series of aliases
18:39to keep the police at bay.
18:54He ended up taking her life when she tried escaping as an adult.
18:57When looking at an image of them,
18:59many wouldn't even fathom that so much evil
19:01could be brewing just beneath the surface.
19:03Although he was eventually imprisoned for his crimes,
19:06the chilling snapshot shows how long he had gotten away
19:09with his twisted deeds.
19:14Class photos are not a new concept.
19:16They've been around for decades
19:18and show a glimpse of the graduating cohorts.
19:20This one looks to be completely normal,
19:23until you look at the top left corner.
19:25There, it's easier to notice a few kids
19:27pretending to point guns at the camera.
19:29Those students?
19:30Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris,
19:32the perpetrators of the horrific Columbine massacre.
19:35Kids, grab your friends, hold them tight,
19:39and never be mad at people
19:41because it could happen in a second that they'll be gone.
19:44Their pose served as an early red flag prior to their act,
19:47but the group was so large
19:49that they completely slipped into the background.
19:51Once the shooting had occurred,
19:52the picture was seen in a new light.
19:55Now, it serves as a reminder that monsters can be anywhere,
19:58even hiding in plain sight in the high school gymnasium.
20:06It's interesting how even culturally significant
20:08and controversial moments can have the most banal beginnings.
20:12Before the nuclear bombs were dropped in World War II,
20:14they'd been worked on by top scientists.
20:17During this developmental phase,
20:18they looked nothing like the weapons of mass destruction
20:21they're known to be today.
20:22Actually, we did not witness Hiroshima.
20:25We were busy with our instruments.
20:27In fact, they appeared so innocuous
20:29that when physicist Harold Agnew
20:31was photographed holding one of their cores,
20:33people didn't even realize what it was.
20:35His smile and the seemingly ordinary object in his hand
20:38masked the project's true intentions.
20:41This picture of Agnew holding the plutonium
20:43is a stark reminder of the people behind
20:45some of the most devastatingly powerful objects in human history.
20:52At first glance, this photo might appear romantic.
20:54After all, it shows a couple on a windswept beach.
20:58But look closer, and the woman's distraught expression says it all.
21:02Right before photographer John Elgant took the shot,
21:05the couple's 19-month-old son had been happily playing in their yard,
21:08but he wandered off and disappeared into the waves.
21:11The couple is standing on the shore,
21:13realizing their son is gone.
21:15This photo actually won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize.
21:18And given the backstory,
21:20it's a haunting shot of sudden and unexpected tragedy.
21:27It's unclear where the astronauts in this photo are going,
21:30but they appear excited and optimistic about whatever's on the horizon.
21:33Doing some digging,
21:34you'll find that the crew was walking out of the Operations and Checkout building.
21:38They were headed for Pad 39B,
21:40where the Space Shuttle Challenger was about to take off.
21:43The STS-51L mission was notable for its diverse crew,
21:46although that's sadly not what it's best remembered for.
21:54Only a minute after launching, the Space Shuttle exploded.
21:57While nobody knows precisely when each crew member died,
22:00nobody survived after the spacecraft hit the ocean.
22:03This photo was taken on January 28, 1986,
22:07mere hours before the crew unknowingly embarked on what would be their final mission.
22:13Christopher McCandless
22:15With a grin across his face,
22:16the man in this picture appears to be content and healthy.
22:19This bearded explorer is Christopher McCandless,
22:22the subject of the 2007 biopic, Into the Wild.
22:28Leaving his old life behind,
22:30McCandless decided to fend for himself in Mother Nature's backyard,
22:33eventually seeking refuge in an abandoned Fairbanks bus 142.
22:37In August 1992,
22:38the 24-year-old McCandless died at Stampede Trail, Alaska,
22:42most likely due to starvation.
22:44Based on the last self-photo he took,
22:46it's evident McCandless knew his days were numbered.
22:58While it's hard to make out,
22:59the paper McCandless is holding is his farewell message,
23:02reading, quote,
23:02I have had a happy life and thank the Lord.
23:05Goodbye, and may God bless all.
23:09Lightning Strike
23:10While the numbers vary,
23:12the odds of getting struck by lightning are relatively slim.
23:15That doesn't mean you shouldn't take lightning safety seriously, though.
23:18This photo of 18-year-old Michael McQuilken and his 12-year-old brother, Sean,
23:22has served as a cautionary tale ever since it was taken in 1975.
23:25Posing together at Morrow Rock,
23:27the brothers were goofing around with their hair standing on end.
23:30Their static hair and those storm clouds in the background
23:33were more foreboding than either realized,
23:35as lightning struck them shortly after their sister took the picture.
23:39Another hiker died,
23:40and while the brothers survived,
23:42Sean was left with third-degree burns and took his own life in 1989.
23:46Michael continues to spread awareness about the dangers and warning signs of lightning.
23:52Another Day in Oma
23:54Looking at this photo,
23:55the first thing you're inclined to notice
23:57is the man standing in the street and the child on his shoulders.
24:00Meanwhile, the red car parked on the side of the road appears inconsequential.
24:04What you might not realize is that the photo was taken in Oma,
24:07a Northern Ireland town,
24:09on August 15, 1998,
24:11not long before this car blew up.
24:14The Real Irish Republican Army, a splinter group,
24:17executed this car bombing five days after the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
24:21Although the Real IRA claimed that innocent civilians were not their target,
24:2529 lives were lost in the bombing,
24:28and roughly 220 were injured.
24:34While the man and child thankfully survived the bombing,
24:36the person behind the camera did not.
24:41While not a household name,
24:43David A. Johnston was a revered volcanologist who,
24:46along with the United States Geological Survey,
24:48helped save thousands of people through his on-site work.
24:51Tragically, Johnston lost his own life in the process.
24:54All seems well in this photo,
24:56as Johnston sits in a chair outside looking into the camera.
24:59Little did anyone know that within the next 13 hours,
25:02Johnston would perish in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
25:05The eruption, preceded by seismic activity,
25:08was first reported by Johnston,
25:10who radioed the message,
25:14Within the next seconds,
25:15the signal went out and Johnston was never heard from again.
25:33While his remains were never found,
25:35it's believed that Johnston died at Coldwater II,
25:37a post that wasn't as safe as anticipated.
25:56For diehard sports fans,
25:58you'll recognize the player on this basketball card as Mark Jackson,
26:01who started his NBA career with the New York Knicks
26:04and later coached the Golden State Warriors.
26:06At first glance,
26:07this card would likely blend in with the rest of your collection.
26:10Take a closer look at the lower left-hand corner, though.
26:12You see those two young fans sitting in the front row?
26:15They are Lyle and Eric Menendez,
26:17two wealthy brothers who took the lives
26:19of their allegedly abusive parents on August 20th, 1989.
26:29The brothers weren't arrested for these crimes until March 8th, 1990,
26:33and in between that time,
26:35they spent an extravagant amount of money.
26:46It appears that some of that fortune
26:48went towards Knicks tickets before their apprehension.
26:53If we asked you to name the man in this photo,
26:55you might take a wild guess and say
26:57Christoph Waltz if he had Weird Al's hairdresser.
27:00In reality,
27:01he's Rodney Alcala, the dating game killer.
27:04How did he get such an outlandish nickname?
27:06Because Alcala appeared on the dating game prior to his 1979 arrest.
27:27While his total victim count could be as high as 130,
27:30Alcala was trialed for five murders in 2010,
27:33almost 31 years after his apprehension.
27:36Alcala represented himself in court,
27:38as seen in this picture.
27:40Even more bizarre, Alcala was his own defense witness,
27:43asking himself,
27:44quote,
27:47Alcala ultimately received the death sentence,
27:50but died of natural causes while awaiting execution.
27:56Remember that scene in Superman 2
27:58where a little boy falls over the rail at Niagara Falls?
28:01Well, that sort of thing happens more often than you think,
28:07but Superman sadly isn't around to save the day.
28:10On the surface,
28:11there doesn't seem to be anything particularly special about this photo,
28:14which sees several people gathering at Niagara River.
28:16The woman in the red sweater is Ayano Tokumasu,
28:19an exchange student from Japan.
28:21If you think standing on that pillar seems kind of dangerous,
28:24you'd be right.
28:25Not long after the photo was taken,
28:26she lost her balance and fell over the edge,
28:29ultimately going down Horseshoe Falls.
28:31Tokumasu was swept from the river's Canadian side to its American side,
28:34where her lifeless body was discovered.
28:49The SS Grand Camp may not be a household name like the Titanic,
28:53but it's forever linked to the Texas City disaster,
28:56and this photo captured the vessel just before tragedy spiraled out of control.
29:00On April 16, 1947,
29:03smoke was seen emitting from the docked ship in Texas City.
29:06A fire had broken out with about 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate aboard.
29:11This naturally amounted to an explosion,
29:13but that was only the beginning.
29:19The blast ignited a subsequent explosion on the High Flyer,
29:22another ship carrying ammonium nitrate.
29:27The ensuing chain reaction resulted in a loss of 581 lives,
29:42with only one survivor from the local fire department.
29:49The space pod in the swimming pool is only the second weirdest thing about this photo.
29:53Like, how often do you see astronauts lounging on water floats while wearing their spacesuits?
29:58Surely there must be a humorous story behind such a surreal image.
30:01Unfortunately, it's quite the opposite.
30:03The suited-up astronauts in this photo were Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee.
30:08They were training for the Apollo 1 mission,
30:10which was planned to commence in February of 1967.
30:13On January 27 of that year,
30:15a fire broke out in the cabin during a pre-launch test.
30:18Unable to open the hatch door,
30:20the three men perished in the fire,
30:22which was caused by electrical problems.
30:24Thus, the mission ended before it even started.
30:48There are countless photos of bears out there,
30:50and this one doesn't look much different from all the rest.
30:53Since the picture was taken from a distance and the bear isn't charging,
30:56the photographer seemingly isn't in any immediate danger.
30:59After Darsh Patel snapped this pic using his phone, however,
31:02the bear started to follow him and his friends.
31:04The group split up as the bear began to close in on them,
31:06ultimately pursuing Patel.
31:08His phone was eventually found with animal teeth marks,
31:10while Patel's body was discovered at a nearby ravine.
31:21that looked similar to this one.
31:23The bear was still hanging around the 22-year-old's fatally mauled remains,
31:26and the authorities took the wild animal out.
31:44This photo op came at a steep price for Patel and the bear.
31:50The two men being escorted in this photo are Richard Hickok and Perry Edward Smith.
31:55Although handcuffs are visible,
31:57the jolly smile on Smith's face suggests they're only in for a mild offense.
32:01This couldn't be further from the truth.
32:03Ever hear of a book called In Cold Blood?
32:06Well, Hickok and Smith provided the basis for this best-selling true crime novel.
32:10The two criminals were convicted for the Clutter family murders and sentenced to death.
32:21In this chilling photo,
32:22Hickok and Smith can be seen leaving the courtroom right after receiving the guilty verdict.
32:27Much can be said about Smith's haunting grin.
32:29If there's one takeaway from the image, though,
32:31it's that this crime was indeed cold-blooded.
32:37Dennis Rader was his church's president,
32:39a Cub Scout leader,
32:41and an all-around pillar of the community.
32:43As you can tell from this photo,
32:44Rader was also a family man who seemed quite proud of his daughter Carrie at her college graduation.
32:49This would all be overshadowed, though,
32:51when Rader was exposed as the BTK Strangler,
32:54the letter standing for Bind, Torture, Kill,
32:56his preferred M.O.
33:06Over the course of multiple decades,
33:08this seemingly ordinary guy took 10 lives.
33:10In 2005, the authorities used Carrie Rader's DNA to link her father to a crime scene,
33:15culminating in his arrest.
33:20While there,
33:21had tests at health services,
33:23both a pap smear and a biopsy.
33:25Investigators traveled to Manhattan with a subpoena in hand for those smears.
33:30Her DNA?
33:32A direct match to DNA left at BTK crime scenes.
33:36Rader pled guilty and was subsequently sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences.
33:41About 14 years after her father was captured,
33:43Carrie released a book entitled A Serial Killer's Daughter,
33:46My Story of Faith, Love and Overcoming.
34:06Scrolling through Instagram,
34:08chances are you'll stumble across a number of pleasant photos like these.
34:11Standing against a colorful backdrop with green hills and blue skies,
34:1422-year-old Lysana Froon appears to have a lovely day ahead of her.
34:18Froon was on vacation with 21-year-old Chris Kramers,
34:21a fellow Dutch student seen in another photo at the same spot.
34:24The two set out for a hike in Panama on April 1st, 2014 when these pics were taken.
34:28This was also the day that Froon and Kramers disappeared,
34:31resulting in a grueling search.
34:33Ten weeks down the line,
34:35Froon's backpack was uncovered with her camera inside.
34:37Froon and Kramers' remains were eventually found scattered across the jungle,
34:41with the cause of death still up for debate.
34:44Travis Alexander
34:46Travis Alexander was 30 when this photo was taken of him in the shower.
34:49The person behind the camera was Jodie Arias,
34:52with whom Alexander had a shaky romantic relationship.
34:55This was the last photo ever taken of Alexander alive,
34:58as his friends found his body in the shower a few days later.
35:01It was only a matter of time until the authorities connected the dots
35:04and arrested his ex-girlfriend.
35:06Arias constantly changed her story,
35:08originally pleading innocence,
35:10later claiming that two intruders broke in,
35:12and ultimately testifying that she killed Alexander in self-defense.
35:23In the end, Arias was deemed guilty of first-degree murder,
35:26receiving a life sentence.
35:37Alexander appears off-guard in this photo.
35:39He clearly had no idea what was coming.
35:43Eternal Shadow
35:44At face value,
35:45this dark outline of a person could be chalked up to some harmless graffiti.
35:49While we wish that were the case,
35:51this shadowy figure resulted from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
35:55In August of 1945,
35:57the U.S. dropped two nuclear weapons,
35:59Little Boy and Fat Man,
36:01that resulted in anywhere between 129 and 226,000 deaths.
36:13Whoever this person was,
36:16it appears they were using a walking stick during their final moments when the blast hit.
36:20As a result of the bombing,
36:21an imprint of this unknown soul was left on the steps.
36:24This wasn't an isolated incident,
36:26as numerous shadows can still be found around the bombing sites,
36:30forever immortalizing those horrifying days.
36:36Without any background information,
36:38the wide-eyed kid in this picture probably wouldn't strike you as very threatening.
36:41When you know the whole story, however,
36:43that innocent smile of his will quickly turn into a ghastly grin.
36:47This curly-haired 17-year-old is Jeffrey Franklin,
36:50who killed his parents and attacked his three siblings.
36:53Following a car chase,
36:55the authorities cornered Franklin at a dead end.
36:57The photo shows Franklin in the back of a police vehicle,
37:00not appearing especially distraught over the atrocities he's committed
37:03or his impending future behind bars.
37:05Claiming he felt like a quote,
37:07evil being had taken over him,
37:09Franklin pled guilty and received three consecutive life sentences.
37:20We're all familiar with the music of John Lennon,
37:23as well as his tragic fate.
37:24Photographer Paul Gorish couldn't have predicted it at the time,
37:27but this would reportedly be the last picture anyone took of Lennon.
37:31The image seems innocent enough,
37:32as the former Beatle signs his autograph for an apparent admirer.
37:36Lennon's impending demise was creeping up in the photo's corner, however.
37:39The man standing next to him is none other than Mark David Chapman,
37:43the one responsible for Lennon's untimely demise.
37:59Six hours or so after this photo was taken,
38:02Lennon and Yoko Ono encounter Chapman again
38:04outside of their apartment building, the Dakota.
38:06With Lennon's back turned, Chapman drew his firearm,
38:09and the music world would never be the same again.
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38:48Mere hours before raising his Red Solo Cup in this pic,
38:5117-year-old Tyler Hadley hid his parents' cell phones and shut their dog in a closet.
38:56Hadley proceeded to end his mother's life, and then did the same to his father.
39:01After cleaning up the mess, Hadley shared on Facebook he was throwing a party that very night.
39:05At said party, Hadley told his best friend Michael Mandel all about his heinous actions.
39:25Using his phone, Mandel subsequently took this picture with Hadley,
39:28knowing it would be the last time they ever saw each other.
39:31Leaving the party, Mandel called Crimestoppers.
39:34This led to Hadley's arrest and life sentence without parole.
39:44Which of these deceptively normal photos fooled you the most?
39:47Let us know in the comments below.