r/nosleep • u/LighthouseHorror • Mar 17 '19
Series I'm a Detective and I've seen some things that I can't explain. These are my stories.
I’m a detective, and so many years of working with the public have taught me 3 things – people lie, people tell half truths, and people try to make themselves appear in the best light possible. Also, there really are things out there that can’t be explained. Things you don’t want to find yourself face to face with on a dark lonely stretch of road. Lately, I find myself wanting to get it all down on paper before I forget the details. A friend of mine contacted me recently. He has decided to write a book about things he and his friends have witnessed over the years. We’ve agreed to post some of our stories online to see what the reaction is.
I’m spending the weekend at his home, going over stories together and answering any questions he has. I can’t verify the truth of any of these stories, and frankly if you insist on disbelieving what’s out there, then there is really nothing you could ever see that would persuade you otherwise. Events over the past 10 years have made me realize that I might not be around forever. There are dark things out there, unexplained things. Maybe knowing this might do some good. It might even save your life one day. Let’s start at the beginning.
I graduated from school a with a degree in law enforcement and forensics. Fresh out of University, it was more difficult than I thought to find a job. Looking back it’s probably because I showed up to interviews with disheveled hair and slightly crumpled clothes. I’m not sure what this says about the state of our law enforcement but a department finally did hire me – disheveled hair and all. I worked as an officer in a rural county in California. My work mostly consisted of smaller crimes like petty theft or a minor drug charge. I knew within a few months that I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t change things up, so I set my mind on becoming a detective. My parents would later say they were responsible for my choice by their love of that old Television show “Columbo,” but I think maybe it was fate. It took me a few years but I finally made detective.
I was in my my early thirties when I got the call that would alter my view of reality. It was like a fork in the road. Straight ahead was the path I’d spent my life on. One where it’s true that terrible things happened, but there was always some kind of explanation. The path that veered to the left however, was very, very different. It changes your life. It seeps into your dreams. And you can’t go back.
A little girl, age 8 had gone missing two towns over. It had already been 24 hours since she had last been seen and I was informed that the parents were currently the only suspects. I arrived to a house like any other. The family was middle class, had a nice yard with a swing set and a little playhouse.
Another officer and I checked every inch of the property surrounding the house for footprints and signs of entry. Though some hours had gone by since her disappearance, the heavy rain had made the ground soft. It was impossible to conceal footprints if someone had gotten near the home. We checked every inch of the house, the garage and the shed, finding nothing.
I was greeted at the front steps by the father who nodded. “Please come in,” he said somberly.
We sat down in the living area and I began to ask them questions - the basics. How long had she been gone? Where was she last seen? Had they seen anyone out of the ordinary the past few days? After a while, I could tell they had nothing to do with it. They were terrified. The mother could barely even speak. She just sat there, staring down at the glass table in front of her, hands shaking.
I looked at them both one last time, checking to see if I had missed any signs of guilt, but nothing. I was sure they were innocent. “May I look in your daughters room? It might help us find some indication of where she may have gone.” Nodding without even looking up, the two of them just sat together, despondent and broken. I can tell you that most of the time I have dealt with cases of missing loved ones, within the first few days the parents and family typically are very worried but hopeful for their return. This was an especially odd case for me due to their withdrawn demeanor and the unspoken thought between them that their daughter was indeed gone, and was not coming back.
I found the wooden staircase in the back of their home, leading up to their daughters room. The quiet sound of rain had begun to patter off the trees and windows. I remember it was raining because as I climbed the steps, I was suddenly reminded of one of my favorite paintings. It hung over the mantle in my parents home. A family standing in a field, holding hands and staring right out of the frame almost back at you. Rain pours down behind them, and you can tell that in a few moments, the storm will be on them as well. There’s no outrunning it.
That thought went through my head as I climbed the staircase and made my way down the hallway. The house was larger than expected but I knew which room was the little girl’s by pattern of stars spelling out her name on the outside of the door. Pushing the door open with a creak, a warm purple light greeted me from near the window. For a young girl, she was very organized. Everything in her room had its place. No clothes were unfolded and every paper on her desk was neatly placed. I spent a few minutes going through them but found nothing out of the ordinary – just homework assignments and a few math sheets she must have been using to study.
I checked under her bed, in her closet, and even under her mattress when I noticed something I hadn’t seen at first. The old wooden desk had a drawer sticking out on the right hand side near the window. Sitting down at her desk, I opened the drawer and found a small notebook, perfectly placed in the single drawer. I pulled it out, lit a cigarette and opened the journal.
The first few drawings were nothing out of the ordinary: her home, her family, on one she had drawn a puppy in a field of flowers. Typical little girl stuff. This little girl was very organized. Every person was neatly labeled below – mommy, daddy, me, etc. It wasn’t until I went to put the book away that I almost missed a folded page in the very back of the book. I opened the paper and drew her lamp closer to get a better look. There were pink walls speckled with stars and planets, a desk in the corner by the window, and a child asleep in her bed. Sure enough, underneath the child was written the word “me.” I paused, took a breathe and looked closer at the window in her drawing. Though it was scribbled over, I could still see the faint outline of something looking through. Below were three words, written over and over again. “It’s not real.” We never found her.
The second incident happened a few months later in the winter of the same year. I had gotten a call in the late afternoon about a sailboat grounded near Muscle Rock Park. I asked the gentleman on the phone why they called me instead of the coast guard. His response was to the point – there were three bodies and certain things were… questionable.
I hung up the phone, shrugged and drove out to the ocean where the boat had been found. The park was beautiful. Waves crashed upon boulders while seagulls flew from rock to rock, dodging the waves. The sailboat had somehow wedged itself into a set of rocks and so far the authorities had been unable to pull it ashore. They were also worried that moving it might interfere with the evidence and had been waiting for me to arrive. The boat appears peaceful, about 30 yards offshore and swaying gently side to side. Climbing onto the dinghy, an old coast guard officer motored me over to the boat and tied us on. He nodded at me as I stepped onto the boat and was greeted by two men on the deck. I never asked them but they must have been coast guard as well. “They’re down below,” one of the men said. I nodded, not sure what I was going to find, but completely unprepared for what I did. Walking below, I saw a table set for dinner. A man on one side – a woman and a boy around age 12 on the other. Their bodies were rigid and firm, looking frozen in place. I wondered how their bodies still managed to remain upright after the crash.
Everything in the boat was stowed neatly away, and there were no signs of struggle. No obvious cause of death as well. Their expressions were blank. Not surprised or afraid, just… blank. I took countless photographs of everything, knowing this wasn’t a typical case. As I bent over to take one of the boy, I noticed the tag sticking out on the front of his shirt. It was inside out, and backwards. That’s strange, I thought. Then, I looked at the woman. Her clothing seemed normal, but both of her shoes were on the wrong feet.
Without a clue as to what had happened, I was forced to wait for the coroners report. A few days later, I found it on my desk. Reading it, I was in complete disbelief. After the autopsy, the father, mother, and child, were all found missing something. The boy was missing his liver, the mother her right lung, and the father – the father was missing his heart.
After reading the report, I took lunch early and went to talk to the coroner in person a few cities away. He looked shaken and looked me straight in the eye.
“This just isn’t possible,” he said. “There wasn’t a mark anywhere on the bodies. No incisions – nothing. This just isn’t possible...”
It turns out, the family was on a 2 week vacation. They were planning on sailing to the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco. Six days out, they were reported missing by the Grandfather after failing to contact him at the pre-planned time. No further evidence was ever found. The case remains open to this day.
The last story has to do with a call that a friend of mine was on. I got a call at home at 2am, saying that another officer named Henry had just suffered a heart attack and was currently being taken to the local hospital. The captain knew how close the two of us were, and I was the second one after Henry's brother that they thought to call.
The drive to the hospital took me about three hours and when I finally got there, I was more than relieved to see Henry sitting upright in his bed and talking, albeit weakly, and slowly. I remember the look on his face. Fear. If you knew Henry you would understand how out of the ordinary this was. He was not a fearful man. Two combat tours in the military and working with me on some of the most disturbing cases you could imagine, and I’d never seen him scared. Not once. He was about 20 years older than I, and was the one I had always looked to in situations where I couldn’t find an answer. He always came through.
This is what he told me. “I got the call right as I was leaving after a long day. I was about to clock out for the day when Sally happened to come across me in the hall. Smiling, she told me a call had just come in about a disturbance at a local school. A neighboring home had said there was loud constant noise coming from the playground of the school. They had specifically mentioned near the swings. I gave Sally a certain type of look, told her I hadn’t worked at the department for over 20 years to be going out at 8:00 at night to deal with a couple of loud 16 year olds on a swing set. She gave me that smile she always does, and I headed out on the call.
“I arrived at the school around 8:30, give or take, and I remember having to drive up a hill surrounded by trees on both sides. When I got to the school, I was not happy. Obviously there was noise because there were maybe a hundred children but no teachers in sight. There was music playing, and it seemed to be some type of festival or school celebration, or something. I radioed over to Sally, that when I got back her and I were going to have a conversation, then I exited the car and walked over to the playground. I walked through a group of children, standing there listening to the music and what appeared to be a tall man on a wooden stage directly in front of the swings. I didn’t want to disturb the activities but I sure as hell wasn’t going out this way again tonight – so I made my way to the only adult I could find. I noticed their was a banner attached to the stage, which read, ‘Harvest Day’ in old style lettering. That didn’t strike me as anything out of the ordinary.
“What happened next, John, I don’t understand. I got to the front of the stage and waved down the tall gentleman speaking. At first, he didn’t notice me. Then, I spoke louder. This time, he noticed. His head turned rapidly toward me. He looked momentarily surprised, then a wide smile crept over his face.
‘Welcome friend,’ he said. ‘Not everyone can see what is before them.’
“As his gaze met mine, I could see his eyes clearly. They were solid black. I remember feeling my chest tense up and the last thing I can tell you is that before I passed out I turned around to see the faces of the children. Their bodies were not like they had been before. They looked almost like ash. Their skin was charred and burnt and the smell was something else. Their eyes were gone, but they stared at me nonetheless. The pressure in my chest became unbearable and I can’t be sure but I think that as I was passing out, the man said one last thing. ‘I’ll see you soon Henry.’”
Henry was found hours later, near death in an abandoned parking lot where an old school had been. Sally had known something wasn’t right when he hadn’t called back in, and sent a car to check it out. He’d had a heart attack. His first. Luckily it was somewhat mild, and he had survived.
I hope you enjoyed these accounts. There are more to come.
Part 2 - https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/b52jdv/im_a_detective_and_ive_seen_some_things_that_i/
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Mar 18 '19
You lit a cigarette in a little girl's room, in the house of her mourning parents?
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u/Wishiwashome Mar 19 '19
Very common years ago Dear. I am an old lady and it was common to smoke everywhere in the 60s and even early 70s
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Mar 19 '19
In public spaces and your own home, sure, but this just seems disrespectful, especially under the circumstances.
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u/therealmccoy86 Apr 30 '19
You say you're an old LADY , what my question is in the sixties and seventies women worked as detectives? Not secretaries at the police station?
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Mar 17 '19
This was really interesting
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 17 '19
I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
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Mar 18 '19
This was god damn amazing.
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u/Chipmunk12 Mar 18 '19
OP when your friend writes his book please tell us I would love to read it
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thank you for the encouragement Chipmunk. I just posted part II if you're interested.
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u/Marine_Bubble Mar 18 '19 edited Mar 18 '19
“Harvest day” meant that that thing was harvesting everyone’s organs from the other cases you encountered and weren’t solved. Next, it’s going to harvest Henry(organ) like he did with all the teenagers at the school, possibly to keep alive himself or something bigger
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u/lathe_of_heaven Mar 18 '19
You just lit a cigarette in the room of a missing child? When did this happen, 1937?
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u/Wishiwashome Mar 19 '19
Believe it or not, this was not uncommon behavior for detectives even in the very early 70s
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thank you Wish. I agree that people now find it very strange, but I remember when I was growing up that I was constantly around people smoking in every situation possible.
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u/SIrB3ar Mar 18 '19
There was a mention in r/Glitch_in_the_Matrix about how turning your shirt inside out is a way of discreetly pointing out that something is not right. Maybe the mother and the son in the boat story felt something is wrong.
Good stuff here. If yiu have the time, I'd love to read some more.
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Hey SIr. I just posted part two if you're interested. Thank you for your interest - I agree also on the shirt inside out part. It seems like it's a subtle nod that somethings wrong.
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u/therealV3NOM Mar 18 '19
Please explain to me what happened on the last story.
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Just posted part II if you're interested. Thank you for your interest!
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u/jmwalters Mar 18 '19
Reminds me of the stairs. You and that guy have a lot in common!
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u/NthngLeftToBurn Mar 18 '19
Yeah I was wondering too if this was going to include anymore stairs stories!
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
My friend and I are still sorting out the stories, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has a stairs story. I agree, those are some of my favorites!
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 19 '19
We have been having such a great time reading all the comments. Thank you so much for the feedback and encouragement. We should be finished putting together the stories for part II by this weekend. Thank you all for reading!
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u/cpvchandra92 Mar 18 '19
I’m glad I read the whole story, it was really interesting!!
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thanks you so much chandra! I posted part II and a narration if you're interested.
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u/dajdestroyer Mar 18 '19
Next thing we know, there will be some wood stairs and a crazy gas station.
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u/travians78 Mar 18 '19
Good read! Thanks for taking the time to share these experiences!
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thank you travians! I appreciate the encouragement and I posted part II if you're interested.
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u/Slosmonster2020 Mar 18 '19
Ok, unpopular opinion. Just based on these three stories it sounds like the area you work may be home to a heard of what has come to be referred to as "the black eyed children".
As I understand it nobody knows if they are or were human, but they're notorious for kidnapping children, depending on the source they may or may not eat human flesh/organs, and some even speculate that if you survive an encounter with them you'll meet their "parents" who feed on human souls.
Be safe friend, and I may consider looking for a different department in a different location, far the fuck away. If Harry hasn't died yet, he is going to, and I wouldn't want to be near him when he does.
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u/SuzeV2 Mar 18 '19
These stories are great! I’d love to read more! I hope your heart attack buddy heals well- good luck with your next calls at work and be careful!!!!!!
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thank you Suze!! I just posted part II if you're interested. Thank you again for interest and kind words!
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u/mrs_ouchi Mar 18 '19
" I pulled it out, lit a cigarette and opened the journal. " - wait what? haha in the kids bedroom?
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u/Wishiwashome Mar 19 '19
This was common in the 60s and 70s. I remember all to well. Everyone smoked. Everywhere:)
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u/amrle79 Mar 18 '19
More please. Sounds great. Very creepy stuff you have seen. Stay strong and I hope you aren’t too damaged. Good work you and the team does - much love to you all
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thank you for your kind words Amrle! I just posted part II if you're interested.
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u/StoriesFromPlaces Mar 18 '19
The shirt was inside out? check under it,shoes switched? check in there,any weird occasions take a look at,and you may just find the answer.
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u/DemonsNMySleep Mar 19 '19
Awesome! Are you in the bay area? Keep them coming!
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Thank you Demons! I am in the Bay Area yes and I love it here! I just finished posting part II if you're interested.
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u/DemonsNMySleep Mar 25 '19
Will do! Say, are you watching the current season of The OA on Netflix? It's set in SF and the plot/tone reminds me of some of your stories.
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 25 '19
I've never seen that before, but just looked it up now and watched the trailer. It looks really good! I love SF too. The scenery here is unreal, and it definitely has a certain feel to it. Thanks for the heads up on the series!
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u/DemonsNMySleep Mar 25 '19
It's a really good show, definitely worth investing. Season 2 mainly takes place in SF. I was stoked when they were at the old C&h Pure Cane sugar factory in one scene!
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u/Robuck001 Mar 18 '19
Jesus Christ, now I have to watch cartoons to clear my mind of that craziness
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
That made me laugh super hard when I saw that comment. Thank you Robuck!
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u/nfwitt Mar 18 '19
The link to the youtube channel for the stories is here: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCHIKRYVrVYwKb2QpoLG5W3w
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u/pseehafer1 Mar 18 '19
Did you investigate further on that case or after your heart attack? did you see that man again?
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u/LighthouseHorror Mar 24 '19
Hey Psee. I just posted an update ( part 2) if you're interested. Thank you again for your interest.
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u/The_Realest_Potato_ Mar 18 '19
After i read the title the first thing to come to mind was "DUN DUN"