[Piano, ominous music] We all love a good mystery, but not all cases are created equal. Some of them capture our attention for just how bizarre, unpredictable, and downright cryptic they are. Well, those are the mysteries will be looking into today. All of the following cases are wild rides full of twists and turns. A couple of them even verge on being surreal, and they all remain unsolved to this day. Maybe you can come up with some theories. Now, without further ado, let's begin our descent down into the rabbit hole of Mystery Number One. This first case has come to be known as the Japanese Hinterkaifeck. All of you real-life horror lovers out there will know what that means. It was December 30th in the year 2000. Just another ordinary day for the ordinary Miyazawa family who lived in the Setagaya district of Tokyo. The father, Mikio, worked for a consulting firm. The mother, Yasuko, was a teacher. Their children, Nina and Rei, were ages 8 and 6, respectively. Little did anyone realize that before the day was up, their lives would be brutally taken away from them. The neighborhood the family lived in was a little spooky in its own right: their street was pretty much abandoned. It was originally a neighborhood popular with young families. But since the skate park in the area started expanding, many of them decided to leave. The youths in the area were far too noisy, and caused too much trouble. By the end of 2000, only four of the households were occupied. The Miyazawas, too, were planning to move away a few months later. We'll get into the details of the family's deaths shortly, but first let's go over the last hours of the Miyazawa family's lives. At 6:00 p.m., they were seen shopping together only an hour away from their home. By 7:00 p.m., they had returned, and Yasuko called her mother, who lived next door to them. Young Nina had also visited her grandmother that evening, and had been watching a show on her computer until 9:38. At around 10:45 p.m., when the whole family was at home, Mikio's computer received an email that required a password to open. That's the latest time we know the family was still alive. At some point after opening that email, their lives would be cut short. To this day the identity of the perp remains unknown. Though, from what you're about to hear, I think you'll agree, he's a truly psychopathic individual. This was the Miyazawa family's house. At the back, you can see the window to the second-floor bathroom. That's how their killer entered the house, likely just before midnight. He climbed the chain-link fence outside and cut through the window screen using a sashimi knife, the same tool he planned to kill them with in the next few minutes. After entering the house, he turned right and quietly made his way into Rei's bedroom. He strangled the young boy in his bunk bed until all of the life in him was snuffed out. That's when Mikio, the boy's father, heard a noise coming from upstairs. He was on the ground floor finishing some paperwork. He walked upstairs to investigate the sound, only to come face-to-face with the intruder at the top of the stairs. They ended up grappling, and Mikio was stabbed with the sashimi knife before he fell backwards. His body was later found at the bottom of the stairs. After finishing off the family patriarch, the intruder turned his attention to the females in the house. He climbed a small ladder that led to the third-floor bedroom. That's where Yasuko and Nina were sleeping. After hearing all of the commotion, they were both lightly awake and terrified. The killer attacked them, but he had broken his sashimi knife while fighting with Mikio. As such, he couldn't finish the job--at least, not in the way he wanted to. So, he casually climbed back down the ladder and went into the family kitchen to grab a new blade. While he did this, Yasuko and Nina tended to their wounds. The family's first aid box was later found beside their remains. It's also speculated that they pulled up the ladder to the third floor and did their best to hide in the bedroom. They may have even tried calling for help, but the intruder had unplugged the phone lines. You can only imagine what was going through their minds. Eventually, the killer finally got back up to the third floor to finish off the last two family members. The way he ended their lives was much more brutal than how he had dispatched of the two males: Both Jessica and Nina were repeatedly slashed and stabbed even after they were both dead. Because of this, psychologists think that it's likely the perp has a problem with women. At some point during his rampage, the intruder himself was also injured: his blood was found on bandages at the scene. Now, as if this wasn't a dark enough case already, it's what the killer did next that gives us an insight into his twisted mind. After he had finished off the family, rather than leave the house, he instead made himself at home. After examining the scene, investigators learned that--likely after bandaging himself--the intruder went to the kitchen and helped himself to what was in the fridge. He had some melon, drank some barley tea, and ate several ice cream cups. He wandered around the house while doing so, tossing wrappers in various bins around the house. He then went down into Mikio's study and got comfy in his chair before logging onto the family computer, probably still with an ice cream spoon hanging from his mouth. At 1:18 am, the man browsed the internet, and even tried to book tickets to see a theatre show. He then proceeded to rifle through the family's documents and information, spreading credit cards, driver's licenses, receipts, and banknotes out on a table. Strangely, he took piles of documents and other items from various parts of the house and threw them in the family's bathtub. Some bizarre symbolic gesture, perhaps. Most brashly, he then used their toilet and didn't flush the chain. He even took a nap on the couch in the living room. By the next morning, he was still in the house. We know this because he again used the family computer at 10:05 a.m.. His fingerprints were also found on the mouse. After he finished, he tore out the computer's power cable. At some point after that, he finally left the scene. The only thing he took with him was an old sweatshirt. Interestingly, before leaving, the suspect left behind several items at the house. At some point in the early hours, he changed his clothes and left his outfit neatly folded for the authorities to find. This included sneakers in Korean sizing, a down jacket, a hat, a handkerchief, a hip bag, winter gloves, and a scarf. From this, they learned that he was 5' 7", and from the DNA evidence he left behind, they were able to work out his genetic makeup. Whoever he was, he was half southern European, and half East Asian. They were also able to identify the cologne he was wearing: Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche--a popular brand among skateboarders. It seemed like the perp wasn't concerned about being caught at all. Either that, or he simply felt untouchable. Now, you'd have thought, with all of this evidence he left behind, the cops would have had him in cuffs in no time, especially in Japan, where around 96% of all homicides are solved. But no. To this day, his identity remains unknown. Now, here's the most bizarre part of the mystery so far, and the part that's led many down a rabbit hole: Inside the hip bag he left at the scene, trace amounts of sand were found. Of course, like anything, sand can be analyzed. Strangely, this sand had come from America. California, to be specific, and not just anywhere in California: It had come from Edwards Air Force Base. That's the part that throws a lot of people. What had the killer been doing at an American air force base? If he'd been in the Army, it would have flagged up on his DNA test, but there were no matches for the man at all. His fingerprints weren't on record, either. Perhaps the man was a traveler. That would explain the shoes from Korea and the sand from America. But, then again, foreign nationals are always fingerprinted when they enter Japan, so surely that would have flagged up if that were the case. On December 31st, six hours after the family's bodies were found by Yasuko's mother next door, a man was treated for a slice he had in his hand at Tobu Nikko Station, 75 miles from where the Miyazawa family lived. The cut was so deep you could see bone. After treatment, the man left without giving his name or an explanation for his injury, and was never seen or heard from again. Today, 20 years later, the authorities are no closer to finding that man than they were back then. [Musical sting] It's rare, but sometimes when I'm researching mysteries for these videos I come across certain baffling cases that don't seem to make any rational sense whatsoever. Ones that, once I'm finished researching them, I'm left with more questions than answers. Well, this is an example of such a case. The last days of Blair Adams. Blair Adams was a Canadian man found dead in a dark Tennessee parking lot under mysterious circumstances. His slaying remains unsolved. Investigators have been able to piece together his suspicious and confusing activity during the last few days of his life. Here's the scoop: July 7th, 1996. 31-year-old Blair Adams, a resident of Surrey, British Columbia, went to his local bank, withdrew all of his savings, and emptied his safety deposit box of all of its cash, jewelry, gold, and platinum. He then attempted to enter the United States via ferry from Victoria into Seattle. He was denied entry due to the large amount of cash that he was carrying. The border guard suspected that he was up to something dodgy. Not to mention, they also found out that he had a record littered with assault charges and illicit substance offenses. On July 9th, he was again caught by officers trying to enter the USA, this time on foot at the Pacific Highway border crossing Strangely, his legs and arms were covered in scratches. The officers stopped him because Adams matched the description of a man suspected of an automobile theft. Despite the stolen vehicle being found abandoned nearby, Adams denied any involvement, and, due to lack of evidence, was allowed to walk free... Just not in the direction of the States. Foiled again. The next day, on July 10th, Adams rented a car, a Nissan Altima, and was finally able to cross the border into the U.S.. He made his way to Seattle and went straight to the airport where he purchased a ticket to Frankfurt, Germany. In his past, Adams had had a relationship with a woman from Frankfurt, though he hadn't contacted her prior to booking this ticket. What his plans were in Germany remain unclear, but, whatever the case. Adams didn't end up catching the flight to Frankfurt. Instead, he changed his plans and traded his flight in for a new one-way ticket to Washington DC. He arrived in Washington DC early in the morning and rented yet another car--this time a Toyota Camry. While driving down U.S. Route 250, he backed his car into another motorist's vehicle. The driver of this car later told detectives that Adams seemed nice, but was in a hurry. Later that evening, Adams would finally end up in the city where he'd meet his untimely end: namely, Knoxville, Tennessee-- 500 miles away from where he started in Washington DC. The first sighting of Adams in Knoxville came at a gas station where he encountered Gerald Sapp, an Interstate Repair Service driver. It was a strange encounter to say the least: Adams told Sapp that he was having trouble getting into his vehicle; said that his key wasn't working. Sapp quickly realized that the key Adams was trying to open his Toyota Camry with was wrong. It was actually the key for the other car he'd rented in Seattle--the Nissan Altima. Sapp tried to explain to him that he was trying to open his car with the wrong key: "I asked him to look into his pockets," said Sapp, "If you drove this thing up here, you've got to have another key in your pockets." "He wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was nuts." "He was bound and determined that he had the key he needed for the car." In the end, Sapp agreed to tow Adams' car to the repair shop, and dropped him off at a hotel called the Fairfield Inn. When Adams entered the hotel, he was captured on CCTV footage just lingering in the lobby for 40 minutes. After all of this loitering, he finally approached the front desk and purchased a room for the night with a 100 dollar bill. The clerk gathered Adams his change, but by the time he looked back up to give it to him, Adams was already across the lobby and walking back outside. It was later determined he never entered his hotel room. What happened next remains a mystery and has perplexed investigators for 24 years. But, whatever business Adams had in Tennessee, it didn't end well for him. The next morning at 7:30 a.m, Blair Adams's body was discovered in the parking lot of an under-construction hotel just outside of Knoxville. Strangely, his pants, socks, and shoes had all been removed and scattered around his body. His shirt was open. It's unknown whether he undressed before or after his life was ended. Also strewn around him were German, Canadian, and US currency totaling about $4,000. Investigators also found a duffel bag nearby, which contained maps and travel receipts, as well as another smaller bag, which had gold bars, platinum coins, jewelry, keys, and sunglasses inside. Whoever had put an end to Adams, they weren't in it for the money, that's for sure. That begs the question what *were* they in it for? Blair Adams' body was covered in cuts and deep slice marks, many of which were determined to be defensive wounds, as if he'd been trying to fend off an attacker. He had also been hit extremely hard in the abdomen--so hard that his stomach had ruptured. There was also a wound on his forehead made by either a crowbar or a club It's also suspected that his attacker may have had his way with Adams after taking his life. Though there's no conclusive DNA evidence of that. In fact, there was only one piece of DNA evidence at the scene at all: A single strand of long hair found gripped in Adams's hand. It didn't match with anyone on record. Adams's mother says that her son was acting very strangely before he crossed the border into the U.S.. He'd been saying things like "Someone's been spreading rumors about me," but refused to give her any more details. He also confided in his friends that someone was trying to kill him. It's important to note that Adams had been clean and sober for more than two years at the time of his demise. So that's the story, but what's the story behind the story? Who was out to get Adams, and why was he so determined to get to Knoxville? Why did he bring all of his cash and assets with him? And why was his slayer not interested in taking any of it? Why was he acting so strangely in the run-up to that fateful final encounter? To this day, authorities say they've yet to receive a credible tip in the case, and confess they have no idea what happened to the man. [Musical sting] The disappearance of Diane Louise Augat is a case filled to the brim with the eerie clues, and certainly a case that'll leave you scratching your head and searching for answers after you hear about it. Well, let's dive in. At the time of her disappearance, Diane was 40 years old and living in Odessa, Florida. She had three children, and was a stay-at-home mom through the 70s and the early 80s. It was in the 1980s that she was diagnosed as bipolar, and according to those that knew her well, she was far from consistent when it came to taking her medication. As a result, she lost custody of her children in 1988, and ended up divorcing from her husband in 1991. These blows to her personal life sent Diane to some pretty dark places, and she ended up becoming a heavy drinker, as well as a frequent user of other... stronger substances, put it like that. She was both arrested and sectioned several times during this period. By 1998, she was living with her sister. Her life was starting to get back on track a little, and things were looking up. Unfortunately, that was all about to change. On April 10th of that year, Diane was seen leaving her residence in Chesapeake Drive at around 11:00 a.m. She was wearing a white tank top, blue shorts, and white tennis shoes. She didn't have her medication with her when she left. The next day, she was again seen by a bartender at the Hayloft Tavern, who cut her off because she was walking in circles. Finally, she was spotted walking north on US 19 near New York Avenue in Hudson, Florida. Where she was going or what she was doing remains unknown, but that was the last time anyone ever saw Diane. At some point after that, she went missing. Notice how I said that was the last time anyone *saw* her. On April 13th, two days after she vanished, Diane's mother returned home to find three missed calls on her phone. Whoever had called had left a message. She pressed play. In the message, she heard Diane's voice saying, "Help, help! Let me out!" as well as scuffling, as if someone was trying to grab the phone away from her. Diane could be heard saying, "Hey, give me that!" before the call was terminated. Diane's mother checked the caller ID. It simply read, "starlight." She tried to return the call, but nobody answered. This call and the caller ID were creepy, sure, but perhaps Diane was just having an episode. Well, two more days later, on April 15th, a gruesome discovery was made: On the roadside of US 19 near New York Avenue in the same area Diane had been spotted walking earlier that week, something was found lying on the dusty ground. It was the severed tip of a human finger. The nail was painted red. This piece of human matter was analyzed, and experts concluded that it was the tip of the middle-right finger. And what's more, the fingerprint revealed that it was Diane's. Seems like the call had been legit after all. A second finger was also reported, though only the first one was ever found. This development, of course, sent her mother into full-blown panic mode. She knew that Diane had a habit of trusting strangers. As bad a sign as all of this was, Diane's family still held out hope that as time went by, she'd be found safe and well. But the passing of time only led to more strange twists in the case. Two weeks after her finger was found, a bag of Diane's clothes was discovered inside a convenience store's outdoor freezer in Odessa. The clothes inside were all neatly folded. Who had left them there and why? Two years passed without incident. Then, in 2000, just one day after a Florida newspaper ran a story about Diane's vanishing, another bag was discovered inside a Circle K store in Pasco. Unbelievably, it just so happened to be discovered by Diane's brother's girlfriend. The clear bag had one word written across it in black marker: "Diane." It contained black eyeliner, Taboo perfume, bright pink lipstick, and a generic tube of toothpaste. Although it's never been categorically proven that these specific items belong to Diane, her mother confirmed that they were all branded items she would've owned. "I'm hoping that she's still alive," said Diane's mother. "I'm hoping that they haven't killed her yet." Diane's case has never been solved, and, for obvious reasons, authorities believe foul play is extremely likely. If she's still alive today, Diane will be 61 years old. She has distinctive tattoos on her back and right shoulder, and a scar on her abdomen. She stands at 5' 4" and has bright blue eyes. If you think you might have information pertaining to whereabouts or well-being, please contact the authorities. Hopefully, her disappearance won't be forgotten like so many other missing person cases. Then, perhaps one day, we'll have some answers. You've probably never heard of Circleville. It's a small town in, Ohio, 25 miles south of Columbus. It's a quiet place that rarely attracts any attention. It's also the setting of a truly strange set of incidents that took place in 1976. The main players? Ron Gillespie, his wife, Mary, Paul Freshour, and a mysterious individual who would come to be known as the Circleville Writer. It all started when Mary, a bus driver from one of the local schools, received a letter in the mail. It was addressed to her specifically. It said, "I know you're having an affair with the school superintendent. It had better stop. I know where you live. I've been observing your house and know you have children. This is no joke, Please take it serious." The letter was postmarked Columbus, Ohio. There was no return address or signature--no clues as to who had sent it. Not sure what to make of it, Mary simply chose to ignore this letter. Then, one week later, she received another with a similar threatening tone. Mary told no one about the letters she was receiving... No one, that is, until her husband, Ron, was also sent one. The letter told him that his wife was having an affair, and that if he didn't stop it, his life would be in grave danger Yeah, someone was threatening *his* life for his *wife's* supposed affair. Not exactly the kind of letter you want to read over breakfast. Well, Mary denied the alleged affair, assuring her husband that he was the only man for her. As such, Ron, too, chose to ignore the letters. Not long after, Ron received a second letter: "You've had two weeks and done nothing. Make her admit the truth and inform the school board. If not, I will broadcast it on posters, signs, and billboards until the truth comes out." Mary and Ron were getting scared now. Ultimately, the couple decided to confide in the three people closest to them: Ron's sister; her husband, Paul Freshour; and Paul's sister. Mary thought she had an idea about who was behind the whole thing, and the group as a whole decided to start sending letters back to that person ordering them to stop their harassment. Well, this tactic seemed to work at first: the ominous letters stopped arriving. Then, one evening, on August 19th, 1977, while at home with the kids, Ron received a fateful call. Nobody knows exactly what was said in the call, or even who was on the other end of the line, but Ron knew. After he hung up the phone, Ron was angry, upset, and in a hurry. He said to his children, "I'm going to confront the letter writer. He said he's watching our house right now." Ron grabbed his pistol rushed outside, got into his pickup truck, and sped off to where he thought the writer was. Minutes later, Ron was found dead behind the wheel of his vehicle. His truck had crashed into a tree. He had perished on impact. The weirdest part? He had fired off a round from his car before it crashed. To this day, nobody knows who he was firing at, or even exactly where he took the shot. Now, obviously, foul play was originally suspected, but Ron's demise was later ruled as an accident by the sheriff. According to him, Ron had been drinking and was one-and-a-half times over the legal driving limit when he fatally crashed his vehicle. That didn't make much sense to anyone, seeing how Ron rarely ever drank and his family, who had just seen him minutes before his supposed accident, said that he hadn't had a drink all day. So, many people in the Circleville community also started receiving anonymous letters accusing the sheriff of a cover-up. So at this point, we have a lot of questions to ask: Was Ron's untimely fate really an accident? Who had he fired the shot at? Why would the sheriff try and cover up the truth, and who was sending these letters accusing him of a cover-up, anyway? Surely if the Circleville Writer was responsible for Ron's death. He'd be more than happy for the truth to be concealed, wouldn't he? Was there perhaps more than one letter writer? Well, brace yourselves, it only gets weirder and darker from here. After Ron had sadly perished, his wife, Mary, continued to receive letters from the writer, and that's when Mary's resolve finally broke. She came clean to everyone, admitting that she and the school superintendent were indeed having an affair, but claimed that it started after she started receiving the letters. Not sure anyone's buying that, but let's roll with it for now. Mary kept her job bus driving for the school, and even though it was too late to save her husband's life, she hoped that now that she'd admitted the truth. Maybe, just maybe, the torment would stop. Of course, things only got worse. Somebody started putting up signs all along her bus route. Signs with threatening messages for all of the community to see. Upon seeing one of those signs one day, Mary became enraged and went to tear it down. Much to her surprise, the sign was booby-trapped. There was a small pistol inside a box with a wire attached to the trigger. It was designed so that when she pulled the sign down, it would shoot her. Luckily, because of the angle Mary tore it down from, it didn't go off. Investigators examined the side of the weapon. Someone had tried to rub off the serial number on the side, but they hadn't done a good enough job. They were able to trace it back to its owner: Mary's brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, who had just split up with his wife, Ron's sister. Confused? I know I am, but let's keep going. According to Paul, the pistol was indeed his, but he said he hadn't seen it in a long time, claiming it had been stolen from him. A likely story, thought the authorities. Despite having a solid alibi, Paul stood trial for attempting to slay his sister-in-law. He was found guilty and sentenced to 7 to 25 years behind bars. Everyone assumed the Circleville Writer had finally been unmasked, and that the letters would stop coming. Well, they didn't. In fact, they started coming more frequently and appearing in many mailboxes across central Ohio. It was impossible for Paul to be sending all of these letters from solitary confinement. All of the letters were postmarked Columbus, even though Paul was locked up in Lima. Even Paul himself was receiving letters. Paul remained a model prisoner for seven years, hoping to get out early for good behavior When his first hearing came around, he was denied parole. They said it was because of all of the letters he was sending, even though it was obvious he wasn't one sending them. After being denied parole, Paul himself received one final letter while in jail. The writer, whoever he was, taunted him: "Now when are you going to believe you aren't gonna get out of there? I told you two years ago, when we set 'em up they stay set up. Don't you listen at all?" These unsettling lines make it sound as if the writer was someone with a lot of power and influence. The writer also used the word "we," suggesting the letters may have been coming from multiple people, or even a group or organization. It later came to light that a vital piece of evidence wasn't mentioned at Paul's trial. On the day Mary went to tear down the booby trap, only 20 minutes before she did so, another bus driver saw a man standing beside the rigged sign. A yellow El Camino, likely the man's car, was parked nearby. When he saw the driver's bus approaching, he turned around to hide his face. His description doesn't match that of Paul Freshour. There was never any attempt to follow up on that lead. Eventually, the letters finally stopped, and Paul was granted parole after serving 10 years of his sentence. He maintained his innocence all the way up until he passed away in 2012. Some of you will certainly remember the popular TV show "Unsolved Mysteries." It had a variety of different faces hosting the show over the years, but the core premise remained the same: they'd do deep dives into some of the most interesting unanswered mysteries the world had to offer. Name says it all, really. Well, back in 1993, when Robert Stack was hosting the show, they planned to do a segment on the Circleville Writer case. Before the segment aired, the Unsolved Mysteries team received a threatening postcard in the mail. It read, "Forget Circleville, Ohio. If you come to Ohio, you el sickos will pay." Signed, "The Circleville Writer." Whoever the writer was, he was, and perhaps is, still out there. Despite the ominous warning, the station went ahead and aired the episode. It resulted in no new leads, and the identity of the Circleville Writer remains unknown. [Ominous music] Hi guys, Lazy here, and thank you very much for listening. Wow, 1 million followers! Uh, what can I say? I never thought I'd make it this far to be honest, um... So, sincerely guys, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you for joining the Lazy Legion, if you are indeed one of the people who subscribed to me so far, and whether you've been with me from the beginning or have just joined recently, thanks a whole bunch, and I hope you're enjoying the spooks. I'd like to give a shoutout to Robin Mikalsen. He not only designed the thumbnail for this video, but also my new profile picture. I think it's really cool. So be sure to check out his stuff by following the links down below in the description. Before the video ends, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to all of my supporters on Patreon, especially my biggest supporters: Miss Ayami Stroud Lucy D Charles Wilson Azrael Warakai Christina N Hunsucker Charlie Grant Silas Gheist Alba Medrono Mystic the Manakete Infamous-senpapi Sieg, Kyle R. Connor Louthan Darius Saffaie Nadine Sloan Crawford Kyle Martin Sarah Ramirez AnimeWimp Crazy MaskParade Martin Vatland Gina Valera ProCupidineNata Philip Westre Alex Greensall Monica Mendoza and Crawford K McDonald. Thank you all so, so much for your continued support. It really helps the channel out. Well, that about wraps things up for this one, guys. I hope you enjoyed the mysteries, and I'll be back again very, very soon. Until the next one, you all stay spooky, and remember: "The best things happen in the dark."
