FYI, There Are A NUMBER Of Terrible, Dark, And Horrifying Things Related To Valentine's Day

Hi, friends! I'm Crystal, and I constitute the That Got Dark newsletter, BuzzFeed's play roundup of each things creepy, macabre, and horrible AF. And if you looooove this benignant of content, you should subscribe!!!!!

Here's what the newsletter is covering this week:

Warning: Graphic contented ahead, including stories of murder.

1. Victorian "love letters"...with hair!

With Valentine’s Day conscionable astir the corner, I thought it’d beryllium a bully clip to stock this acheronian and messed-up fact: “love letters” utilized to include hair…or worse. In the Victorian era, radical would really message their beloved things similar blood-stained notes oregon adjacent teeth. So person amusive reasoning astir that portion you chow down connected immoderate overpriced drugstore cocoa adjacent weekend!

2. The disappearance of Patricia Mann and Jesse McBane aft a Valentine's Day creation successful 1971.

Patricia and Jesse were a young mates from North Carolina who disappeared aft attending a Valentine’s Day creation connected Feb. 12, 1971. They were past seen leaving unneurotic earlier they vanished.

Just days later, connected Feb. 16, their car was recovered astatine a section “lover’s lane,” with 2 coats and Patricia’s pantyhose inside. More than a week aft that, their bodies were discovered successful a wooded area, tied to a tree. They were determined to person died from asphyxiation, with grounds suggesting they were violently tortured for respective hours. Although aggregate constabulary departments and agencies became involved, the lawsuit yet went cold, partially owed to coordination issues betwixt the departments. To this day, it remains unresolved.

Meredith disappeared successful Midwest City, Oklahoma, connected Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1989, astatine the property of 16. She was past seen astatine home, and past she vanished without a trace. What makes her lawsuit particularly unsettling is that her stepmother, Nancy Jean Medina, had besides disappeared 5 years earlier. Nancy was past seen connected Aug. 4, 1984, aft dropping her children disconnected astatine a babysitter’s location to spell ticker movies with friends. Her car, a brownish 1974 Chevrolet Impala, was aboriginal recovered connected Aug. 22. It’s ne'er been confirmed that the 2 cases are connected, but the timing and the information that some women disappeared and were ne'er recovered person fueled years of speculation.

4. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929.

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was a wide shooting that took spot successful Chicago connected Feb. 14, 1929, erstwhile 7 men were lined up wrong a store and changeable to death. Witnesses reported seeing men dressed similar constabulary starring others retired afterward, which helped substance the mentation that the killers utilized disguises to get adjacent and power the scene. The murders were wide linked to the Prohibition-era warfare betwixt Al Capone’s enactment and the North Side Gang, but contempt the notoriety, nary 1 was ever convicted. Nearly a period later, it remains 1 of the astir infamous unsolved crimes successful American history.

Reeva Steenkamp was a South African exemplary and paralegal who was changeable and killed connected Valentine’s Day successful 2013 astatine the location of her boyfriend, Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius.

Pistorius claimed helium mistook her for an intruder, but prosecutors focused heavy connected the information that helium fired aggregate shots done a locked bath door, portion neighbors testified they heard screaming earlier the gunfire — grounds the tribunal recovered inconsistent with his account. He was yet convicted of murder, and the lawsuit drew planetary attention, some for its disturbing details and for the mode it highlighted the world of unit against women. Pistorius was aboriginal sentenced to prison, and aft astir a decennary down bars, helium was yet released connected parole successful 2024.

6. Finally, the communicative of serial slayer Darrell Keith Rich, who was calved connected Valentine's Day successful 1955.

Rich was a serial slayer and serial rapist known arsenic the “Hilltop Rapist.” His victims included 9 women and girls, ages 11 to 27, during a 1978 transgression spree successful Shasta County, California. He raped and killed 4 of them and sexually assaulted the 5 others. Rich was yet identified and arrested aft investigators tied him to the attacks utilizing forensic grounds and subsister descriptions. He was convicted and sentenced to decease successful 1981, past executed by lethal injection connected March 15, 2000.

His past meal: Declined a past repast and drank tea, broth, and Gatorade until his execution.