The Puzzling Case Of Mateusz Kawecki

In 1974, the mummy of pharaoh Ramesses II was issued a valid Egyptian passport (nearly three millennia after his death) so that he could fly to Paris. (Source)

The Magdeburg Unicorn is an alleged Unicorn fossil that is on display at the Museum of Natural History in Magdeburg Germany. The Magdeburg Unicorn is described as bipedal horse-like fossil with little to no body, a horse-like head, a long tail, and a very long horn on its head. The fossil was first discovered in 1663 in Germany and the people that discovered the fossil thought they found a Unicorn however after the reconstruction, they realized that something seemed off. Later, testing was dine on the fossil and it was determined to be the fossil of a Wooly Rhinoceros and not a Unicorn. The Magdeburg Unicorn has been deemed as one of the worst fossil reconstructions of all time but, it still sparks the imagination that Unicorns and other creatures may exist and be out there.

"Chimpanzees are wild animals. Animals that make good pets like dogs and cats, have been domesticated for thousands of years. There has been selection on them against aggression, which is why a dog, unlike a wolf, will not automatically tear you to pieces. Anyone who has a pet chimpanzee for long enough will eventually no longer be able to control them and will either get a body part bitten off or will have to use extreme force to control them. Chimps live to be 50 years old and grow almost as big as a human male. They have extremely powerful muscles and are 5-10 times stronger than a heavy weight boxer." - Sheril Kirshenbaum - Conservationist.

On the 16th of February, 2009, a 200-pound male chimpanzee by the name of Travis, escaped his owner's home in Stamford, Connecticut, and became very irate. The owner, Sandra Herold, called her friend over, 55-year-old Charla Nash, to help her control the 14-year-old primate. When Travis saw Nash holding a Tickle-Me-Elmo toy, one of his favourite toys, he flew into a rage. He lunged at Nash and began to tear apart her face and hands, severely mauling her and eating parts of her while she was screaming in agony. Herold attempted to stab her chimp with a butcher's knife, but this only made him even more angry. Herold immediately phoned 911 and begged for responders to come with a gun, stating "He is eating my friend!".

The police came and ended up shooting and killing Travis. Despite Nash's severe and horrendous wounds, she survived. Nash was rushed to hospital where she underwent a long, 7-hour surgery with 4 teams of surgeons working overtime to save her life. The state of Nash upon arrival was so disturbing, the hospital offered counseling to its staff. Charla has done interviews and made public appearances since the incident, and has stated "I never gave up hope to live."

Saponification is the process of the human body partly or completely turning to soap. The fatty tissue and the liquid from putrefaction gradually form into adipocere, which is also known as grave wax. This process can happen to embalmed and non-embalmed bodies. It is most common with those who are overweight. The photograph above is of “The Soap Lady” who is housed at the Mutter Museum. She is entirely composed of grave wax.

Rokurokubi

Found in Japanese folklore, they appear to look like normal human beings during the day, but at night they gain the ability to stretch their necks to great lengths.

Some legends say that the rokurokubi were once Buddhist who broke various precepts of Buddhism and were transformed into these demons. They are often sinister and feed off the blood of others who broke the precepts or human men.

Unique case of Fake Persian Princess Mummy - Unexplained Mysteries

A "mummy" that duped archaeologists and nearly sparked a diplomatic row between Pakistan and Iran is finally being laid to rest.

The Persian Princess or Persian Mummy is a mummy of an alleged Persian princess who surfaced in Pakistani Baluchistan in October 2000. After considerable attention and further investigation, the mummy proved to be an archaeological forgery and possibly a murder victim.

What is that? Strange figure caught on camera at Amarillo Zoo

The City of Amarillo is asking for help identifying a strange figure seen on surveillance...

KFDA reports security cameras captured the image around 1:25 a.m. on May 21 inside a perimeter fence at the Amarillo Zoo.

City officials said there were no signs of vandalism or attempted entry into the zoo and no animals or people were harmed.

Now, the city is encouraging the public to submit ideas for what the figure could be.

Laurie Dann’s upbringing in an affluent Chicago suburb appeared unremarkable at first glance. However, beneath her seemingly normal exterior lay a complex and troubled individual. 

Known for her insecurities, Laurie resorted to plastic surgery at a young age in an attempt to alter her appearance. Although she attended the University of Arizona for some time, she never completed her degree. It was during her stint as a cocktail waitress at Green Acres Country Club that she crossed paths with Russell Dann, scion of a wealthy family. The pair became inseparable, eventually marrying in September 1982 and fulfilling Laurie’s lifelong dream of residing in a grand mansion.

Yet, as their relationship progressed, Russell began to notice increasingly odd behaviors from his wife. Laurie’s idiosyncrasies included storing makeup in the microwave, randomly tossing money into her car’s backseat, and putting away wet clothes. Her eccentricities gradually worsened, leading to her complete withdrawal from the outside world. She refused to leave the house and neglected basic household chores. 

The once-promising marriage reached a calamitous climax in September 1986 when Russell awoke to the searing pain of an ice pick stabbing him. Convinced Laurie was his assailant, he promptly alerted the police. Adding weight to his claim, a store clerk testified that Laurie had recently purchased an ice pick. However, as Russell had not witnessed the attack while he slept, the charges against Laurie were eventually dropped. The couple divorced shortly thereafter. During the divorce proceedings, Laurie’s ex-boyfriend from five years prior became the target of threatening phone calls in which she falsely claimed to be pregnant with his child. The harassment ceased only when her ex-boyfriend’s lawyer intervened and contacted her parents.

Following her departure from the marital home, Laurie attempted to pursue a career as a babysitter. However, her venture quickly soured as she faced accusations of theft and vandalism, including slashing furniture, rugs, and curtains in clients’ homes. With this business idea in ruins, she sought refuge in a dormitory on a college campus. Unfortunately, her stay there was also fraught with erratic behavior. Laurie hid rotting meat inside furniture and deposited trash in other students’ rooms. 

Seeking a fresh start, she moved to another dorm in Madison, Wisconsin, where her presence earned her the nickname “elevator lady.” Witness accounts painted a disturbing picture of Laurie aimlessly riding the elevator for hours on end. She continued her pattern of leaving decomposing meat around the building and even startled onlookers by appearing naked in communal areas. Just one month after her arrival, a dorm room was set ablaze. Although suspicions were raised about Laurie’s involvement, no concrete evidence was found, and she was never charged.

By this point, Laurie’s mental state had deteriorated to a point of no return. Tragically, appropriate professional intervention was never sought. After threatening a fellow student and slashing his clothing, Laurie turned to a more sinister act. She baked buns laced with arsenic and distributed them to various fraternity houses and local residences. 

In a separate incident, she attempted to take two children from a former babysitting client to a fair, but fortunately, the children refused to consume the poisoned milk she offered them. The diluted arsenic in the treats she had distributed caused no harm. Laurie’s descent into chaos continued as she tried to set fire to a nearby daycare center before returning to the home of her former clients and setting it ablaze. The family managed to escape through a broken window just in time. 

Unfazed, Laurie proceeded to Hubbard Woods Elementary School armed with two handguns. Upon entering the building, she opened fire indiscriminately, killing 8-year-old Nicholas Corwin and critically injuring five others. After shedding her blood-soaked shorts and improvising a makeshift bag around her waist, Laurie fled the school. Her escape came to an abrupt end when she crashed her car into a tree. 

Seeking refuge, she broke into the home of Ruth and Phillip Andrews, holding the terrified family hostage for six harrowing hours. Laurie claimed she had killed her rapist and was now evading the police. In a desperate struggle, Phillip managed to wrestle the gun away from her, sustaining a gunshot wound to his chest in the process. Despite his injury, he staggered into the garden while his family sought safety. Alone in the Andrews’ residence, Laurie turned the gun on herself, ending her tumultuous life.

Tamara Samsonova, known as the “Granny Ripper,” defied the common stereotype of a serial killer, as she was a 68-year-old grandmother. Her arrest in 2015 shocked the world and launched one of the most bizarre true crime cases in history.

Authorities arrested Samsonova on suspicion of murdering 79-year-old Valentina Ulanova, whose dismembered body was found in a pond. Samsonova shared an apartment with Ulanova and was caught on CCTV disposing of her body, which led to her becoming a suspect. When police searched the apartment, they discovered a gruesome diary containing details of not just this murder, but several others.

The diary contained Samsonova’s confession to killing at least 13 people, including her husband, whom she murdered in 2005, and another tenant. She described how she dismembered their bodies with a knife in the bathroom and disposed of the remains in different locations. Shockingly, Samsonova also confessed to cannibalizing her victims and getting rid of unwanted body parts and organs.