Mysterious Stories

with Unidentified People

Imagine living an existence but no one knows who you really are. There are strange stories involving unidentified individuals whose true identity is a mystery.

It is amazing to think that a person could be found dead, commit a series of crimes, or even record a few blues albums without anyone uncovering their true identity. However, cases like these are all too common, even in today’s digital world and is mysterious to encounter meeting people who remain completely unidentified.

Below are some mysterious stories involving unknown and unidentified people.

10. San Angelo John Doe


In 2005, an elderly man was in a thrift store in San Angelo when he suddenly had a heart attack and died. His identification named him as 'Roger Smith,' but later it was revealed his ID was fake. He had lived in Texas for years using three different identities. Since the man had deliberately smoothed off his own fingerprints, fingerprint identification was not possible, but some feel he might be hiding some sort of criminal history.

At one point, facial recognition experts believed that he might be the wanted Australian fugitive, Elmer Crawford, who vanished after murdering his wife and three children in 1970. However, DNA testing ruled out this possibility. Until the man can be identified, he will simply be known as the mysterious “San Angelo John Doe.”


9. The Wheaton Bandit


In January 2002, a masked man carrying a semiautomatic handgun committed a series of armed robberies at banks in Wheaton, Illinois, outside of Chicago. Nicknamed the “Wheaton Bandit,” he hit seven banks in the community as well as banks in nearby towns like Glen Ellyn and Winfield. In total, the Wheaton Bandit robbed 16 banks and credit unions and got away with over $100,000.

His last known robbery was on December 7, 2006, before he abruptly stopped. A $50,000 reward was offered for the bandit’s capture, but now the five-year statute of limitations has since run out. So he can no longer be charged for any of his robberies.


8. The Unknown Sailor In The Netherlands


On July 16, 1995, the body of a man was found washed ashore on an uninhabited island on the northern coast of the Netherlands. Weeks earlier, the remains of a wooden yacht had washed up on shore at the same location. It appeared the man sailed his yacht but was swept overboard and drowned, but he carried no identification.

Several items washed up on the island provided intriguing clues. A sail with the initials “HB” was found, leading to speculation that the initials stood for the Herne Bay sailing club in England. The victim also wore a particular brand of Seiko wristwatch sold in Sweden with the number “553978” inscribed on the back. But even though a DNA profile has been extracted, he remains a sailor without identification.


7. Johnny Lee Mills


In 1990, St. Louis police took a teenage boy into custody who gave his name as 'Johnny Lee Mills' who police claimed to be a 13-year-old runaway. Johnny was transferred to a children’s shelter in Maryland Heights, Missouri, but he ran away again on September 21, 1990, before his identity was confirmed. All the information he did provide proved false.

His photograph and vital statistics were provided to the National Crime Information Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. However, it turned out that Johnny Lee Mills was not the boy’s real name and no paper trail for him could be found. No one knows what happened to Johnny Lee Mills.


6. Bo Weavil Jackson


It’s amazing that a musician could appear out of nowhere, record two albums, and then just vanish. But that's what happened in 1926. That year, Paramount Records released a blues album featuring songs by an African-American blues singer-guitarist, named Bo Weavil Jackson. Jackson was discovered while singing on a Birmingham, Alabama street.

Jackson recorded 13 tracks and blues and was one of the earliest country blues performers to be recording for Paramount Records and Vocalion Records. Many musicians praised his musical abilities. But his true identity was never known. After a handful of records he recorded in 1926, Jackson vanished back into obscurity. What happened to him remains a mystery.


5. The Highway 401 Passenger


In 2004, a Toyota Corolla rear-ended a Purolator truck on Highway 401, near Toronto and went up in flames. The driver, Suimi Habteab escaped, but his female passenger was burned beyond recognition. Habteab claimed the passenger was his wife, but he wasn't married.

Investigators found that the Toyota interior had been doused with gasoline and the crash was on purpose. Forensic tests revealed that the female passenger had already died before the crash. Habteab was convicted of arson and indignity to a body. However, the true identity of the woman remains a mystery.


4. The Teardrop Rapist


Luis Lorenzo Vargas breaks down in court as he is exonerated for three sexual assaults that he was convicted of and spent 16 years in jail. Instead the police implicated the notorious “teardrop rapist,” an unidentified assailant linked to more than three dozen sexual assaults spanning nearly two decades.

As the victims identify a teardrop tattoo near his left eye, he was dubbed the “teardrop rapist.” His first known assault began in 1995, then from 2005 to 2010. DNA testing in 2015, linked the three cases to the “Teardrop Rapist,” who remained unidentified but also still on the loose.


3. Oakland County Child Killer


In 1976, in Oakland County, Michigan, an unidentified serial killer abducted and murdered four children. A mysterious man named 'Allen,' contacted psychiatrist, Bruce Danto, and claimed that his roommate, 'Frank,' was the killer and had photographic to prove it. They agreed to meet at a local gay bar.

Danto arrived at the bar wired, and an undercover policeman, Jerry Tobias was staking out the bar. A man offered to buy Tobias a drink. Thinking the man was hitting on him, Tobias told the man to buzz off so the man left. Allen didn't turn up. After much speculation they believed the unidentified man that approached Tobias was Allen, who they never heard from again.


2. Julie Doe


In 1988, a decomposed body of an unidentified female was discovered in a wooded area in Lake County, Florida. The cause of death was unknown but the woman had breast implants, and had given birth. However, In 2015, DNA testing was completed on her remains with a surprising discovery.

The victim had a male DNA and was a transgender. They named her, 'Julie Doe,' although Julie had undergone transgender surgery around the time of her death. Despite this revelation, the victims true identity still remains a mystery.


1. Neil Dovestone


In 2015, an elderly man walked into Clarence Pub in Greenfield, England and asked for directions to 'the mountains.' The following day, his body was found at the top of nearby Saddleworth Moor. In his pocket were: $130, train tickets, which indicated the man had travelled 320 kilometres from London; and an empty bottle of thyroxine sodium, manufactured and distributed in Pakistan.

The man had no identification, and nobody came forward to identify him, so they named him, Neil Dovestone. Although the toxicology stated that the man died after taking a lethal dose of strychnine, there are still mysteries surrounding this case.

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