Case # 1- The Vanishing of Lars Mittank-July 8, 2014

Verna, Bulgaria-July 2014

Lars Joachim Mittank was born on February 9, 1986, in Berlin, Germany. He is infamously known as the most “popular” disappearance on YouTube. This refers to surveillance camera footage showing Lars in a panic.

What exactly happened to Lars?

On June 30, 2014, 28-year-old Lars Mittank traveled to Varna, Bulgaria, with five friends. This was Lars’s first time outside of his home country, Germany.

Lars and his friends were staying at Golden Sands, a popular seaside resort.

July 6, 2014: Lars’s Unusual Behavior:

On July 6, 2014, the day before they were supposed to return home, Lars and his friends went to a bar in town. Lars got into a disagreement with some other German nationals over football. Lars, a Werder Bremen fan, clashed with FC Bayern Munich fans. After this, Lars and his friends parted ways.

The next morning, Lars turned up at the resort and told his friends he had been beaten up the previous night by four men. FOUR men. Get this, omg… the men that beat Lars up were HIRED by the group in the bar over football.

Ah, yes. The great ol’ bar fight. But I have to take a moment to laugh at the fact that they hired four men to beat up one man because of a disagreement over sports?

what.

As a result, Lars sustained severe injuries from the fight: an injured jaw and a ruptured eardrum. A physician advised Lars not to fly home that day. He was prescribed the antibiotic Cefprozil (500 mg. Lars ‘ friends wanted to stay with him, but he insisted he would be fine on his own.

Lars checked out of the resort at the same time as his friends and checked into Hotel Color Varna for one night.

A day after his friends departed, Lars began acting paranoid. He called his mother, Sandra Mittank, and told her that people were trying to kill or rob him.

Lars was last seen at Varna Airport on July 8, 2014. There is or was footage of him on the airport’s surveillance. In the video, you can see that Lars was in a distressed state.

I found a short clip, and it was weird. I didn’t see anyone running after him?? Idk, this one is beyond me, because what happened? Is it from his injuries? A ruptured eardrum sounds like freaking hell on earth, ngl.

( Since I do plan on covering this case, I will leave this part as it is)

Case # 2: The Eerie Vanishing Of Joshua Maddux

Now this case has been sitting in my head for months. It surprises me that the circumstances alone surrounding it didn’t make much noise.

For this, we will be heading to Woodland Park, Colorado (May 8, 2008)

On May 8, 2008, 18-year-old Joshua Maddux left his home in Woodland Park for a routine walk. Joshua was free-spirited, adventurous, and spontaneous. When he didn’t come home that night, his family initially thought he was either crashing at a friend’s house or simply enjoying the outdoors.

About a mile from Joshua’s home sat an abandoned cabin owned by a man named Chuck Murphy.

Five days passed without a word or Joshua returning home. His father, Michael, reported Joshua missing. However, law enforcement said that since Joshua was 18, he was an adult. So you know the old run-of-the-mill cop excuse.

His age doesn’t matter. If a family member reports that their child is missing, then you know, get to it.

Eventually, Joshua was deemed as missing. The Maddux family spent several years searching for Joshua, but still no trace.

Fast forward to seven years later….

August, 2015: A Gruesome Discovery

In August 2015, a demolition crew prepared to tear down the abandoned cabin. While construction workers were at the sight, they began to smell a foul odor. The odor was coming from the chimney; inside, they found the skeletal remains of 18-year-old Joshua Maddux.

Joshua was found upside down, curled in the fetal position, wearing only a thermal shirt. He was identified via dental records for the Maddux family; although the outcome was devastating, they were relieved to have finally gotten some closure.

According to coroner Al Born, in Joshua’s autopsy, there were no signs of trauma, such as blunt force trauma, gunshot wounds, knife wounds, etc. It was determined that Joshua’s cause of death is undetermined.

Inside the cabin, Joshua’s clothing was neatly folded inside near the hearth. This detail is baffling: how did Joshua access the chimney? Or, what was he doing there in the first place?

There isn’t much information available on Joshua’s case either. I have only stumbled upon a Reddit post, old articles that say the exact same thing, and pretty much nothing else.

So what does one do? Perhaps I gotta go to the trenches for this one.

I did find some ramblings on Reddit about a guy named Andrew Newman. Andrew and Joshua played in a band together, and supposedly they planned to go to New Mexico.

I need to treat the whole Andrew Newman thing delicately, because I am not certain whether he was involved. I will, however, be following that lead on Reddit. Because of course, I am.

There are many possibilities for what could have happened in Joshua’s case. I find myself going back and forth between foul play and a freak accident.

Another interesting tidbit: the roof had steel mesh over the chimney to keep out animals. If Joshua did enter from the top, how did he bypass the steel mesh?

Inside, there was a breakfast nook in front of the chimney. This angle makes it sound like foul play.

Since there is no given timeline as to when Joshua left his home on May 8 leading up to his death, I’m gonna have to somehow wing it in my notes. Essentially, map out my own timeline, but it is not an “official” one. I do, however, have to base it on something. Wish me luck!

Cause honestly? I really want to know what happened.

(revisit later)

Case # 3: The Vanishing of Brian Shaffer- April 1, 2006

Columbus, Ohio: April 2006-

Brian Randall Shaffer was born on February 11, 1979, in Pickerington, Ohio. He graduated from high school in 1997 and attended Ohio State University as an undergraduate.

In 2004, he began studying at the OSU College of Medicine. During his second year there, Brian’s mother, Renee, died of cancer.

Brian’s friends say that although he appeared to be handling it well, her death was hard for him. During this time, he met and began dating fellow medical student Alexis Waggoner. The couple had planned to go to Miami for Spring break at the beginning of April.

March 31, 2006:

Classes at OSU ended for Spring Break, which began on a Friday night. Brian and his father had dinner together. Brian’s father noted that Brian seemed exhausted from studying through the night earlier in the week to cram for exams.

Brian had plans to go out drinking with a friend named William “Clint” Florence. At 9 p.m. Brian met Clint at the Ugly Tuna Saloona, a bar in the South Campus Getaway complex on High Street in Columbus.

Clint and Brian had visited several bars and had one shot of hard liquor at each one.

After midnight, Brian and Clint met Meredith Reed, a friend of Clint’s. Meredith gave them a ride back to the Ugly Tuna Saloona, where they started that night, and joined them for one last round.

Brian had been separated from his companions while the three were there and was last seen on a security camera outside the bar just before 2 a.m.

Brian was never seen again. That, of course, sparked multiple theories.

In which I will go into greater detail when I cover his case.

Also, I think I will relaunch my “Where The Hell Did They Go-Go Go” Series. Because seriously, where are they?

WHERE are the people?

A little fact before I publish. Take this with a grain of salt, but as I was writing this, the article I was reading mentioned that Brian loved tropical places such as Miami. He loved the relaxed lifestyle. He told his friends that, despite choosing a medical career, his real ambition was to start a band.

So, ya’ll think he is somewhere tropical? Idk fam.

If he is, he should call me because I love tropical places. And this is what mid-semester breakdowns are like. So on that note, I am out of my delusional mind

Thank you for reading! -L.W.