David Paulides has worked in law enforcement for over 20 years. He looked at missing people in North America and found strange patterns.
David Paulides
Photo: Courtesy of David Paulides
Local authorities consider each case in isolation, but Paulides tried to put together a single picture, and the picture turned out to be mysterious.
It was reminiscent of the X-Files, Paulides said at the University of Toronto on May 21. He collected 2000 cases with common mystical details.
Disappearances occurred in certain places, more often near reservoirs in parks. When people were found alive, they had blackouts. If they were found dead, the cause of death was difficult to determine. Sometimes people were found in places that could not be reached on foot, or in an area that had already been thoroughly searched.
Paulides cites a case where the body of a young boy was found on the trunk of a fallen tree. This tree lay along the path, which was examined several times.
Promotional video:
Some of the clothes and shoes were often missing in public. The dogs couldn't take the missing person's trail, Paulides says. Some of the bloodhounds introduced themselves strangely: they walked in circles, dodged, and then sat down.
Investigators found no traces. The disappearances of people took place in an area where dangerous wild animals do not live. There were no physical injuries on the bodies found.
The companions of the disappeared repeated the phrase: "For some reason, it so happened that we were divided."
Paulides studied dozens of cases in detail, received official reports, some of which were heavily edited, talked with local investigators, interviewed witnesses, talked to medical examiners. He noted: "This is only about 2% of the 2000 cases that I studied."
He began investigating similar cases in 2009 when he retired from his job at the San Jose police station. He was told by two park rangers that they believed some of the missing persons' cases warrant further investigation.
Since then, Paulides has expanded his research to include urban areas where similar incidents have occurred, and not all of them in our time. He found references to similar disappearances in the 19th century.
Bodies found in unusual places
Paulides spoke about cases when a person was in one place and after a short time - already in another. Particularly mysterious is the disappearance of two small children who could not travel such distances.
On July 13, 1957, 2-year-old David Allen Scott disappeared in the Twin Lakes region of the Sierra Nevada. The father watched the child, then looked into the van for a moment. When he left, the boy was nowhere to be found.
It is not a very large area with good visibility. But the search team found the boy only three days later, when they overcame the neighboring mountain, went down to its foot and then climbed to the top of another mountain.
“The child couldn’t cover that distance on his own,” says Paulides. It is obvious that the boy did not get to this place alone.
Another 2-year-old boy, Keith Parkins, disappeared from his home in Ritter on April 10, 1952. He ran behind the barn and disappeared. He was found 19 hours later, 24 km from the house, lying face down on an ice-covered pond, the child was alive.
Water connection
The bodies of missing people are often found in the water, but it doesn't feel like drowning, Paulides says. Many of the cases studied by the detective occurred in the Great Lakes region, as well as near city canals or reservoirs.
Jelani Brison, a 24-year-old student and soccer player, was found in a pond on a golf course in Anoka, Minnesota. He was last seen at a friend's house on April 17, 2009 at 22:30. Investigators found his cap in one of the courtyards near the field, and his shoes in another yard.
It rained constantly these days and the golf course was splattered with mud, but Brinson's socks were clean. Obviously, he did not come to this place, but was brought and thrown into the pond by someone.
“He didn't drown,” Paulides says. The cause of death could not be determined. This is one of many such cases in the area.
Paulides has written several books, one of them is Missing: Strange Coincidences. It talks about young men who disappear in urban areas by the water. Most cases occur in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Everything happens according to one scenario: young guys are drinking at a bar with friends. Nobody remembers how they left. A few days later, they are found dead in the water. At first glance, the most logical explanation: they drowned due to alcoholic intoxication. But Paulides says it's not that simple.
Often a young person is listed as missing for several days. Then his body is found in water. But, according to the analysis of pathologists, the body was in the water for only a day or two. This often happens in parks or forest areas.
Similar incidents occur not only in North America, but also in other countries of the world, but Paulides did not study in detail foreign affairs.
The Manchester Canal Deaths case has recently attracted attention in the UK. Over the past few years, dozens of bodies, mostly men, have been found in the Manchester canal, according to British newspapers. Journalists suggested that this was the work of a serial killer, who was nicknamed the Dropper.
But, according to Paulides, this is a shallow canal, and it is not clear how men could drown in it.
Hypotheses
Many people give supernatural explanations for Paulides' research, such as abductions by Bigfoot or aliens.
Paulides himself is restrained: “Guys, I never put forward any theories. I'm just describing the facts. What happens if I put forward a hypothesis, and the next day someone proves that this is impossible. The credibility of the study will be undermined."
But he hinted that he was not denying paranormal factors.
In a letter to The Epoch Times, he writes: "Of course, for many cases it is easy to find a rational explanation, but when it comes to hundreds of identical incidents, the perspective changes."