My Brain Is Leaking Gray Matter After Learning These Disturbing, Dark, And Terrible Things

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.

The remains of the teenager, Celeste Rivas Hernanez, were recovered successful September 2025 astatine a Los Angeles tow yard, wherever the car had been impounded aft being near abandoned for weeks successful the Hollywood Hills. Celeste had been reported missing months earlier, and the lawsuit remained unsolved for a agelong play earlier investigators identified D4vd arsenic a suspect.

In a release, District Attorney Nathan Hochman alleged that David Anthony Burke (D4vd's existent name) killed Celeste successful April 2025, aboriginal dismembered her body, and "stuffed her remains" successful 2 bags that were placed successful the trunk of D4vd's Tesla. Prosecutors assertion the sidesplitting whitethorn person been connected to an alleged "relationship" that could person threatened his career, though galore details person not been publically confirmed. Burke is besides accused of engaging successful "repeated lewd and lascivious intersexual relations" with Celeste erstwhile she was nether 14.

D4vd has pleaded not blameworthy and is being held without bail. If convicted, helium could look beingness successful situation oregon the decease penalty.

2. So this week I learned astir Frédéric Bourdin, a serial impostor from France who assumed dozens of identities implicit galore years, often pretending to beryllium missing children. In 1 of his astir disturbing cases, successful 1997, helium convinced a Texas household that helium was their 16-year-old son, Nicholas Barclay, who had vanished 3 years earlier.

There were evident inconsistencies: Bourdin had a antithetic oculus colour and accent, and was respective years older than the lad helium claimed to be. And still…they accepted him. He moved into their home, lived arsenic their son, and became portion of their household for months.

But however did it adjacent happen? Well, Bourdin archetypal claimed to beryllium a susceptible teen astatine a younker structure successful Spain, spinning a communicative astir maltreatment and trafficking to debar scrutiny. Authorities, trying to help, contacted planetary agencies, and someway the lawsuit connected to Nicholas Barclay’s record successful the US.

Bourdin leaned into it. He said his captors had changed his appearance, explaining distant his oculus color, his accent, and adjacent his age. By the clip helium arrived successful Texas, the communicative had already been shaped successful his favor. He past avoided situations that mightiness exposure him, specified arsenic keeping the lights dim, wearing hats oregon sunglasses, and limiting conversations. It wasn’t conscionable a lie; it was a cautiously maintained performance, 1 that relied arsenic overmuch connected different radical filling successful the gaps arsenic it did connected thing helium actively said.

But the prevarication yet unraveled erstwhile investigators questioned those inconsistencies. Bourdin was exposed, arrested, and served clip for fraud — but not for thing connected to Barclay’s disappearance, which remains unsolved.

3. In February 2005, Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr. went retired for a nighttime astatine a barroom successful Philadelphia. It was expected to beryllium uneventful…drinks, conversation, and past heading home. They ne'er made it.

The brace near the barroom astir 11:45 p.m., and they were reportedly heading to Danielle’s location successful Mount Laurel, New Jersey, conscionable a abbreviated thrust away. But neither they nor Richard’s pickup motortruck were ever seen again. No confirmed sightings. No enactment connected their phones oregon slope accounts. No trace.

From the beginning, investigators person felt this wasn’t a voluntary disappearance. Both Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr. had beardown ties to their families, unchangeable lives, and nary denotation they planned to leave. They besides near down things you’d expect them to instrumentality — money, idiosyncratic belongings, responsibilities — which makes the thought of them conscionable disappearing connected intent highly unlikely.

The FBI and section authorities person said they judge the mates apt encountered immoderate benignant of "external event," perchance being targeted oregon intercepted, alternatively than thing accidental. More than 20 years later, their disappearance remains unsolved.

4. The celebrated decease day of TV presenter Jill Dando, who died of a gunshot coiled connected April 26, 1999.

Jill Dando was 1 of the astir recognizable tv presenters successful the UK, champion known for hosting the BBC amusement Crimewatch, which, ironically, was astir the UK's biggest unsolved crimes. She was changeable and killed extracurricular her location successful London, a azygous gunshot to the caput successful wide daylight, conscionable steps from her beforehand door. The execution shocked the state and led to 1 of the astir high-profile investigations successful British history.

In 2001, Barry George, a section antheral with a past of intelligence wellness issues, was arrested and aboriginal convicted of Dando’s murder, mostly based connected a azygous microscopic particle of firearm residue recovered successful his overgarment pocket. The lawsuit against him was arguable from the start. There was nary wide motive, nary weapon, and nary grounds placing him astatine the country astatine the clip of the shooting. After years of appeals and increasing disapproval of the forensic evidence, his condemnation was overturned successful 2007, and helium was formally acquitted successful 2008.

Since then, respective theories person continued to circulate. Some investigators person suggested the sidesplitting whitethorn person been a targeted hit, perchance linked to organized transgression oregon retaliation connected to her enactment connected Crimewatch. Others person explored the thought of a lone, obsessive individual, pointing to the close-range quality of the onslaught and the deficiency of robbery oregon struggle. There person adjacent been speculative links to planetary conflicts astatine the time, though nary person been substantiated. Despite extended reinvestigation and renewed nationalist involvement implicit the years, nary definitive fishy has emerged, leaving the lawsuit unsolved.

5. Finally, the communicative of serial slayer Michael Bruce Ross, aka "The Roadside Strangler."

Ross was an American serial slayer who murdered aggregate young women successful Connecticut and adjacent states during the aboriginal 1980s. His victims were often teenagers oregon young adults, galore of whom helium encountered portion they were hitchhiking oregon successful susceptible situations. Ross would summation their trust, past abduct, sexually assault, and termination them, often leaving their bodies successful wooded oregon roadside areas.

For years, the cases remained unsolved, but investigators began to announcement patterns linking the murders — akin unfortunate profiles, geographic clustering, and forensic similarities. Ross was yet identified done a operation of fibre grounds that connected him to the victims and witnesser accounts that placed him successful cardinal locations. When confronted, helium yet confessed to aggregate killings, providing details that lone the perpetrator would person known.

After his arrest, Ross pleaded blameworthy to respective murders, avoiding a prolonged trial. He was sentenced to decease and spent astir 2 decades connected decease row. What made his lawsuit peculiarly antithetic was his stance successful the years starring up to his execution. Rather than continuing to combat his sentence, Ross chose to waive further appeals, stating that helium accepted work for his crimes and did not privation to hold the inevitable.

He was executed by lethal injection connected May 13, 2005, becoming the archetypal idiosyncratic executed successful Connecticut successful implicit 4 decades.

His past meal: Declined a peculiar petition and alternatively ate the modular situation repast of turkey à la king implicit rice, mixed vegetables, achromatic bread, fruit, and a beverage.