March 25, 2025 • 25 mins
In 2015, an anonymous 4chan user claimed to be a serial killer, and posted a series of gruesome images as proof. Was it a hoax? Can we finally get closer to solving this mystery? Theme Music by Matt Glass https://www.glassbrain.com/ Instagram: @astudyofstrange Support the Show! astudyofstrange.substack.com/ Website: www.astudyofstrange.com Hosted by Michael May Email stories, comments, or ideas to astudyofstrange@gmail.com! ©2025 Convergent Content, LLC
Links! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP64AOND_nU https://www.ktnv.com/reports-suspect-arrested-in-long-unsolved-gilgo-beach-killings https://www.reddit.com/r/serialkillers/comments/efmm5i/any_updates_on_that_4chan_serial_killer/ https://www.reddit.com/r/creepyvideos/comments/12lzk76/the_story_behind_the_4chan_serial_killer/ https://www.mayheminthedesert.com/trafficking https://n2.kemono.su/data/f0/14/f01464063ba68717b8acf9729d82ba75383cb9e168fd3758955fc4a0933cfc0a.pdf?f=The%20_b_%20Killer%20%28wip%29.pdf https://uboachan.net/x/res/1887.html https://en.namu.wiki/w/4chan/%EC%82%AC%EA%B1%B4%20%EC%82%AC%EA%B3%A0Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Warning.
This episode contains detailsthat some listeners
may find disturbing.
in 2015.
An anonymous user posteda series of brutal, provocative
images on four Chanclaiming to be a serial killer
even for the image board, notoriousfor conspiracies and controversies.
(00:23):
This was extreme.
the question arose was this a hoaxor a modern day version of Jack
the Ripper mailing taunting lettersand body parts to newspapers in his time?
The fact that this is consideredone of the creepiest things
to ever appear on the internetspeaks volumes.
This is a study of strange.
(01:01):
There's
something about internet subculturethat frightens me on multiple levels.
It's probably this mixtureof the anonymous nature of things
and how that makes people feel emboldenedto be their most terrible selves, along
with a craziness of some of the siteswhere conspiracies gain hold.
In addition to the way that people areeasily influenced by information, a lot of
(01:23):
which is made up, this is all to say thatthis story today scares me.
Even if the person that was posting
these images is not a killerand was just pulling a hoax in poor taste.
But let me begin with four chan.
For the less internetsavvy folks like myself,
four Chan is an image board site and forumwhere anonymous users
(01:45):
can share things, comment, and discusswith other anonymous users.
Most of it is harmless,but a great deal of content on for Chan
is not from Not safe for workcontent, leaked nude photos, Pizzagate,
some of the original QAnon sayings,shootings, hackers and more for Chan,
(02:05):
and similar sites have morethan their fair share of controversies.
But its influence on internetculture is profound.
For Chan itself, launched in 2003and today
has tens of millions of visitorseach month.
There are boardsdedicated to video games, movies,
books, politics, all the typical stuff.
(02:28):
And of course, everything is anonymous.
The year before this four chanserial killer and I'm going to call him
for Chan serial killer,just for simplicity's sake.
It was 2014, and the body of AmberlynnCaplan was discovered
by her 13 year old sonat their home in Washington state.
Shockingly, before the Discovery Picturesof her dead body were being posted
(02:51):
on a forum on four Chanalong with the text quote.
Turns out it's way harder to stranglesomeone to death than it looks
in the movies.
Check the news for Port Orchard,Washington.
In a few hours.
Her son will be home from school soon.
He'll find her, then call the cops.
I just wanted to share the picsbefore they find me
and quote Ambers boyfriendDavid Michael Clarke
(03:15):
was soon apprehended and chargedfor the murder, and the posts from Fort
Chan were cryptic, obviously,but most importantly, they were real.
So when a thread started about a yearlater, on August
21st of 2015 on four Jan with someoneclaiming to be a serial killer,
(03:38):
it should be taken seriously.
The anonymous creator started a threadon the random board
by saying thisI have killed several women for pleasure.
If you can guess a name,I will upload a picture.
If you can guess a nameof any of these women.
I will upload that photono more than ten names per post.
(04:00):
Any more than that will be ignored.
Some are Polaroids and others were takenwith a disposable camera.
I also have pictures of them before deathwhen I was able to do so.
If you guess all the names, I will showyou where I dumped a body in 1999.
The first one is free,as her name is unlikely to be guessed.
the picture posted along with thiscryptic message,
(04:23):
was of seemingly a deceased woman,along with another picture
which was a graduation photo.
The woman in the graduationphoto is assumed to be the same person
as the victim, and written near thispicture was the date August 21st, 2005.
Even though a lot of people suspectedthis post to be fake a hoax,
(04:43):
just something for internet attention,many tried to guess the names.
They played along and someone postedthese four names Shannon, Kelly.
Madison, Tricia.
One of the names was correct.
We don't know which one,
the killer replied.
Wow. Off to a great start.
(05:04):
Then he posted more pictures.
Next was another female victim inthis picture was more graphic, fully nude.
It looks like there's an objectin the woman's genitals.
Her body was also badly beatenor burned in this photo.
Was accompanied by the datethe 21st of August 2015,
implyingthat this murder had just taken place.
(05:25):
Then there was another imageof a woman's body inside a cardboard box,
and this was posted along with the messagethis is from before.
I played with her.
For clarity, these two images are posted.
To make it seem like the person in the boxis the same as that nude victim,
though in all fairness, they may not be.
You can't see her clearly enough to 100%, make the connection.
(05:50):
Then this killer posted it again.
There's a photo of a girlsmiling on a bed alive,
along with a closeup of a facethat's burned or decomposing.
And then not long after this all started,
the image thread was deletedby four channel moderators.
This means that today,the only record we have of this
(06:10):
original posting are screenshotsfrom some users.
And for chain users being for chain users.
They then started more threadssharing these screenshots.
Naturally, there was a curiosity.
The public is intrigued and peopleare trying to figure out if this is real.
If this is just some sort of nasty hoax
(06:32):
and trying to identify the victims.
On September 22nd,
about a month later,there was a new post from the killer.
This time the post said dyeing, dyeing,along with an image of a male victim
who was bloody beaten and his eyes werehidden by what looks like
(06:53):
a white piece of paper over the pictureand the victim looked to be alive.
But then there's another image,and this depicts the same male victim
with the caption dead
in it.
The man did indeed appear deceased.
And finally, the killer posted a pictureof a man wearing a ski
mask and sunglassespointing a gun at the camera.
(07:15):
Many assume this to be a pictureof the person posting the pictures.
The alleged killer.
And these images were accompaniedby a caption
that read I'll be back in a monthto finish our game.
If it is not this exact timestampwith an updated date, it is not me.
but there has been
no further post from this alleged killer.
(07:37):
Before I move on to some updatesfrom this case over the years
and theories, the picturesthemselves should be described.
They are pictures of pictureslike someone used
a phone to take a pictureof a developed photograph.
Maybe because that was easierto upload that way.
The dates are sort of handwritten notesthat are along with the photos.
(07:58):
Honestly, there are
a number of reasons that we can speculatefor this method of posting.
And many have pointed out
that since these photos are developedthey don't look like Polaroids to me.
I know the killer said these arePolaroids, and from a disposable camera,
I don't see any that make me think.
Any other Polaroids.
But many have speculated thatthese could be crime scene photographs.
(08:19):
And I can't imagine taking a roll of film
to the CVSto get images like this developed.
I think the cops would be called.
And someone did ask this question ofhow could you have developed these photos?
And the killer did respondthat he personally developed them.
And I'll add, over the years,there has been some pushback
(08:39):
on the crime scene photography theory,mainly that crime scene photographs
typically have evidence markers,whether it be numbers or
other items,to show perspective and size and labeling.
And that's a very good point.
I will contend, though,doing some of my own research.
I have found that sometimes crimescene photos will not have those markers
because they first take photoswithout them and then with.
(09:03):
And this is because investigatorswant to see a crime scene as it was found.
However,I am getting kind of contradictory
information in my assumption. Totally.
Just an assumption is that itmay depend on where a crime takes place,
or which department or law enforcementagency is running the investigation.
And of course, when the crime took place,if I have any listeners that can clarify
(09:24):
how crime scene photos would be takennot just today
but also potentially in the 90s,send me a message.
can reach me at a study of strangeat gmail.com.
My point,though, is I don't think you can rule out
crime scene photographs just yet.
And if they are crime scene photos,then this is all a hoax,
(09:45):
because this could have been all posted
by someone that has access to crime scenematerials.
They could work for law enforcement,be related to someone that works
in law enforcement or just, you know,have a job in some sort of archives place.
Now, what has been figured out aboutthese quote unquote victims, if anything?
It's been ten years.Surely there's something.
(10:05):
Well, the victim that the killer posted inthe first set of
images was identified as Shawna Maynard.
And to clarify, the womanin the graduation photos of the alive
woman And when Shawna Maynard was 17,
she was found murdered in 1998.
Some posts when you researched this story
(10:26):
claimthat she was found outside of Los Angeles.
This is incorrect.
She was discoveredright outside of Las Vegas.
And here's a quote from an articlefrom eight NewsNow.
In Vegas, the family of 17 year old ShawnaMaynard suspects the person who kills
her was angry because she turned downtheir romantic advances.
Two passersby found the Norco, California,
(10:47):
native's bodyon the morning of April 21st, 1998,
near the intersection of Blue Diamond Roadand Dexter Boulevard.
At that time, a desolate
area of the South Valley along the routebetween Las Vegas and Pahrump.
In December 1997, after Inez Maynard,a mother of four, told her second
eldest daughter that she could not attenda Christmas party, Shawna Maynard decided
(11:10):
she would leave home.
The teenager graduated earlyfrom Buena Vista High School
in Corona, California in May 1997.
By spring 1998,Shawna Maynard was working in a restaurant
and making money babysitting.
But something happened on April 21stthat her family believes
changed their lives and theirs forever.
Around 2 a.m.
that morning,
(11:30):
Shawna Maynard called a friend sayingthere was a problem at the apartment.
Investigators believe Shawna Maynardand another person argued.
End quote.
I will also add there's a podcastnow with, about crime in the Vegas area.
If I can remember what the podcast iscalled,
I will link to thatepisode in the show notes.
I'm sure I will find it.
But in that podcast,they don't talk about the fortune killer.
(11:53):
They talk about Shauna's casebecause it is still unsolved and
I did deem some new things from that,like she had been seen with the man late
that night.
She had spoken to a lot of her roommate.
She lived with another number of women.
Even some kids lived in her apartment,and most of them said everything was fine.
But there was one phone call to a friend.
(12:14):
I think it was around 3 a.m.
and Shauna was scared and asking for help,but the friend couldn't
go pick her up because the friend had kidsand it's the middle of the night.
So she told Shauna,go to the Silver Nugget.
Or maybe it was the Golden NuggetI can't remember but go there and wait.
However, Shauna's body was discoveredsoon at the side of the road.
(12:35):
The case officially remains unsolved
and this is usually where the storyof the four Chan serial killer ends.
Because usually you just find out
that Sean,as the only one that has been identified
and not much else, is knownabout the people in the photographs.
And we're left with questionsand theories and speculation.
(12:56):
But now another of the victims fromthe post is thought
to have been identified.
Before I get to that, though,
There are two very obvious directionsthat this story can go.
Eitherthe guy on fortune is telling the truth
and he's killing peopleand sharing photos, or it's all a hoax.
Well, what I didn'tshare about Shauna Maynard so far
is that she was shot to deaththe night she was killed.
(13:19):
Police actually had heard gunshots, andby the morning they had found her body.
One accountI found says that she was shot 17 times.
This does not line up with the four Chankillers.
Photos where the alleged victim. Sort of.
The woman that looks dead.
That was in the photonext to the graduation photo.
Shauna.She's dressed up to look like Shauna.
(13:42):
There's even a necklacethat kind of matches.
One that Sean is wearing in the graduationphoto.
The hair color.
But the picturethe killer posted is not how Sean.
His body was found.
In fact, they're completely different.
So already we're finding
some discrepancies in the killer's photosbecause they're not the same person.
Now, maybe the woman who looked beatenand bloody is another victim.
(14:04):
And that's also completely terrifying.
But it doesmake you question the set up here.
So what else do we have to consider?
another victim from some of these photos.
Notice the smiling girl or smiley girlwhere she's alive on a bed.
Smiling is now thought to be MargaretHicks.
Between 1994 and 1997,five bodies were found near each other
(14:29):
outside of Las Vegas.
Margaret Hickswas found in January of 1997,
and she was found buried nudeand had died of strangulation.
She worked at a local brotheland all of the bodies
found in this general areaat that time period,
they were all found nudeand strangled to death.
(14:49):
And besides, Margaret and I thinkone other victim has been identified.
The rest are Jane Doe's.
And one of the articles I was readingabout it, investigators pointed out
there are no other linksbetween these victims,
even though
they're considering that one personor the same people could have killed
all these women.
They're open to the fact that they maynot all be related murders, And they did.
(15:11):
It also mentioned that the area is knownfor organized crime and human trafficking,
especially with the womenthat work in brothels.
But that is a that is a deeper,more complex story for another episode
or some sort of docu series
that can dive into that in a more profound way that I can do.
(15:33):
But Margaret Hicks is thought to bethe smiling woman
in the For Chanceserial killer photos based on looks.
In fact, a newspaper article about Hicks
seems to use the same photograph.
And I think that's really importantto realize.
It's.
I could be wrong because the newspaper,it's a closeup of her face.
(15:56):
It's in black and white,
whereas the four chan photos in colorand it's a wide shot.
But personally,I think they're the same photo
and the newspaper just,you know, zoomed in on her face.
That smiling girl photo was accompaniedby the burned, decomposing face photo,
and obviously they were posted togetherto make it seem like
(16:17):
they're the same woman.
However, that decomposing face doesn't fitthe way Margaret
Hicks was found or killed,so it's not the same person.
And in fact, some online sleuthshave noted that the decomposing face shot
is from the former website rotten Dicom,a video and photo sharing gore site.
So between the shot of martyredinconsistencies
(16:40):
and the photos of Margaret Hicks,along with the photo from Root.com,
I have to think that this whole storyis a hoax.
Not to mention that the serial killerposting all of this was like,
let's play a game, and if you get it rightthere, you can be photos.
And then he's stoppedplaying his own game.
He just started sharing photos.
(17:00):
To me, it seems like this was someonethat just wanted a reaction and had access
to some crime scene photos or photoor other weird photos from online.
I will be quick to point outthat some internet sleuths as well,
cannot find other copies of these photosanywhere else online,
but that doesn't mean that they weren'tat some point
(17:21):
in some sort of journalistic endeavorsand projects I've worked on.
You cannot image search the internetas well as you think you can.
I'm actually going to kind of go offscript here
at the end of my episode,just to share some thoughts on this case.
And the first thing I want to add
is that some of the bloody victimphotos look fake to me.
Maybe I've worked in the movie businesstoo long, but the way they're staged,
(17:45):
the way they're lit, the way they're shot,even the makeup and stuff,
which looks real,but that can be achieved relatively
easily without spending a lot of moneyor going crazy on it.
And as an example,the quote unquote dead photo
of Shawna Maynard,Her face is turned away from camera.
There's a necklace
that sort of looks like the necklaceshe's wearing in the graduation photo.
(18:07):
And the way that this shirt is
sort of dirty and bloody and stuff,it's easy to achieve that.
And the man,the man whose. Whose eyes were covered up.
Similarly, there's some, you know,the blood and beaten and it's terrifying.
But just by the natureof using a disposable camera or Polaroid
that adds a creepiness factor to it,you can actually hide
(18:28):
some of the fakery to those kind of thingsby shooting on film like that.
With that kind of lighting,it seems a little staged to me.
And we know that the killer staged photosbecause he
he put on a ski maskand sort of staged his own.
Look at me. I'm so coolbecause I'm a killer kind of photo.
And he was wearing a ski maskthat is similar to the bad guy
(18:49):
in the dirty Harry movies,which was based on the Zodiac Killer.
So there's a number of things hereI could easily see
someone just kind of doing, becausethey think it'll get a reaction online.
Anyway, I'm rambling some of that,but that is.
I definitely have an instinct in methat thinks that some of these photos
may have been staged and faked,but posted along other real photos.
(19:13):
So, like we know Shawna maynard'sgraduation photo is real.
If it is indeed Margaret Hicksin that other photo,
it could be the one from the newspaperand he had a copy of it,
which then ties intohow did someone get the the real photos.
If I'm going to continueto speculate here,
I don't know if any of this is usable.
I'll probably cut it all out.
(19:34):
But there is a connection herewith two women to Las Vegas,
which leads one to thinkthat this could be a hoax
because someone has accessto these old files
he's posting in 2015, it'sbeen almost 20 years.
Maybe those files are moved
into a room that aren't as protectedwith evidence or whatever.
And that'swhere he's getting some of these photos.
(19:57):
The alternate side of that is, wait,if there is a connection to Vegas,
what if this is just a killerin Las Vegas?
One of the many scaryaspects of this story to me
is, is that I could be wrongabout assuming that this is a hoax,
and I wouldn't be surprisedif I was wrong.
There's a lot to this casethat pushes back against my own
(20:18):
speculations and killers like attention.
They like to share what they've done.
They like the notoriety, and maybethere are inconsistencies on the photos,
but maybe that was done
on purpose to make it harderto connect things back to this killer.
And on that thinking,I just found this out last night.
But someone has connected the Long Islandserial killer, aka the Gogo
(20:42):
beach serial killer Rex Housemanto the four channel killer Rex Hourman.
For those that don't know that story,he was charged with multiple murders,
and may have committed many, many, manymore murders, Primarily on the East Coast.
But here's a report from ABC NewsLas Vegas.
Quote.
Grant has been looking for her daughter,Jesse Foster, since March of 2006.
(21:07):
Through tears.
That time can't stop, she said.
You're seeing 17 yearsof coping mechanisms.
The 21 year
old Canadian woman disappeared after hermom says she was sexually trafficked
throughout New York and New Jersey,then ultimately lured to Las Vegas,
where she was last seen alivefollowing several prostitution arrests.
(21:28):
We know that Jesse had been beaten,that Jesse was being forced into it,
said Grant.
Now, 17 years later, the bombshell arrestof suspected Gilgal Beach serial killer
Rick Salomon has brought her daughter'scold case back into focus
as police agencies in three stateshunt for more possible victims.
Foster is one of five escorts in the LasVegas area between the ages of 18 and 25,
(21:51):
who all shared the same fate, discoveredeither dead or missing
between 2003 and 2006 under similarlysuspicious circumstance stances.
Four of them were dumped offremote roadways.
Several were wrapped in cloth, which iswhy detectives have long suspected
they could have been killedby the same person.
(22:11):
end quote.
So it turns out that Rex Ramon
had a timeshare in Las Vegas.
And his victims in LongIsland were strangled.
We know Margaret Hicks was strangled.
Shawna Maynard wasn't.
But there are other women out therethat have been strangled and dumped.
And there's definitely some stretching
to do to make Helamanfit the four chant serial killer.
(22:33):
Like how Ramon only had a timesharein Vegas going back to 2004.
Not the mid 90swhen Hicks and Maynard were killed.
And there's no other tangible connectionbesides our desire
as humans to find patterns
and want to make these storiesfit together nice and easily.
But it is a fascinating theory.
I didn't prepare for an episode about howRamon, so I don't know his online habits.
(22:56):
If he liked attention,
or if he liked using forums and blogsor was a user of our channel.
I don't know any of that, but I'm just
scratching the surface of a rabbit hole,so to speak.
I'll wrap up with a few more comments.
There are so many postsand discussions online about this case
because it is an internet mysteryand it actually makes a case
(23:19):
like this really convoluted,because there's so many amateur
investigatorsthat share their feelings and ideas.
All of themshare these things with confident gusto
and confirmation bias,and they state things that make it seem
really factual when it's just a guess,including there's an article that people
bring up all the time with this casethat talks about local police in Vegas.
(23:42):
Don't think the fortune, serial killer is a valid case or an infant
or a valid investigation.
That news source that's been quotedhundreds of times that I've found,
is fake.
It's a fake article,and people keep sharing it.
I actually don't think the Vegas policehave investigated the four Chan postings
in a really sincere manner at all.
(24:03):
Also, a lot of people point outthat the FBI has looked into the case.
We actually don't know that.
We do know that people onfor Chan shared information with the FBI,
but as far as I can surmise,there's been no formal investigation.
So I think it is anyone's guess
(24:24):
if this person is a killer or not.
I'm leaning towards a very sick minded guywho just wanted online attention,
but that doesn't mean I couldn't be wrong.
And that meansthere could still be a killer out there
yet to be caught.
Thank you for listeningto a study of strange.
(24:46):
Thank you for bearing with meas I went off script there at the end
and just rambled a lot,and left all my notes behind.
But this case makesyou think and speculate a lot.
So I thought that might be interestingto do.
If you enjoy strange contentas much as I do,
please hit that, follow or subscribe,leave a rating and review.
You can also support the showand get additional content episodes
(25:08):
early by joining our Substack,which you can find through the support tab
on our website. A study of strange.com.
Until next time. Thank you and good night.
Warning.
This episode contains detailsthat some listeners
may find disturbing.
in 2015.
An anonymous user posteda series of brutal, provocative
images on four Chanclaiming to be a serial killer
even for the image board, notoriousfor conspiracies and controversies.
(00:23):
This was extreme.
the question arose was this a hoaxor a modern day version of Jack
the Ripper mailing taunting lettersand body parts to newspapers in his time?
The fact that this is consideredone of the creepiest things
to ever appear on the internetspeaks volumes.
This is a study of strange.
(01:01):
There's
something about internet subculturethat frightens me on multiple levels.
It's probably this mixtureof the anonymous nature of things
and how that makes people feel emboldenedto be their most terrible selves, along
with a craziness of some of the siteswhere conspiracies gain hold.
In addition to the way that people areeasily influenced by information, a lot of
(01:23):
which is made up, this is all to say thatthis story today scares me.
Even if the person that was posting
these images is not a killerand was just pulling a hoax in poor taste.
But let me begin with four chan.
For the less internetsavvy folks like myself,
four Chan is an image board site and forumwhere anonymous users
(01:45):
can share things, comment, and discusswith other anonymous users.
Most of it is harmless,but a great deal of content on for Chan
is not from Not safe for workcontent, leaked nude photos, Pizzagate,
some of the original QAnon sayings,shootings, hackers and more for Chan,
(02:05):
and similar sites have morethan their fair share of controversies.
But its influence on internetculture is profound.
For Chan itself, launched in 2003and today
has tens of millions of visitorseach month.
There are boardsdedicated to video games, movies,
books, politics, all the typical stuff.
(02:28):
And of course, everything is anonymous.
The year before this four chanserial killer and I'm going to call him
for Chan serial killer,just for simplicity's sake.
It was 2014, and the body of AmberlynnCaplan was discovered
by her 13 year old sonat their home in Washington state.
Shockingly, before the Discovery Picturesof her dead body were being posted
(02:51):
on a forum on four Chanalong with the text quote.
Turns out it's way harder to stranglesomeone to death than it looks
in the movies.
Check the news for Port Orchard,Washington.
In a few hours.
Her son will be home from school soon.
He'll find her, then call the cops.
I just wanted to share the picsbefore they find me
and quote Ambers boyfriendDavid Michael Clarke
(03:15):
was soon apprehended and chargedfor the murder, and the posts from Fort
Chan were cryptic, obviously,but most importantly, they were real.
So when a thread started about a yearlater, on August
21st of 2015 on four Jan with someoneclaiming to be a serial killer,
(03:38):
it should be taken seriously.
The anonymous creator started a threadon the random board
by saying thisI have killed several women for pleasure.
If you can guess a name,I will upload a picture.
If you can guess a nameof any of these women.
I will upload that photono more than ten names per post.
(04:00):
Any more than that will be ignored.
Some are Polaroids and others were takenwith a disposable camera.
I also have pictures of them before deathwhen I was able to do so.
If you guess all the names, I will showyou where I dumped a body in 1999.
The first one is free,as her name is unlikely to be guessed.
the picture posted along with thiscryptic message,
(04:23):
was of seemingly a deceased woman,along with another picture
which was a graduation photo.
The woman in the graduationphoto is assumed to be the same person
as the victim, and written near thispicture was the date August 21st, 2005.
Even though a lot of people suspectedthis post to be fake a hoax,
(04:43):
just something for internet attention,many tried to guess the names.
They played along and someone postedthese four names Shannon, Kelly.
Madison, Tricia.
One of the names was correct.
We don't know which one,
the killer replied.
Wow. Off to a great start.
(05:04):
Then he posted more pictures.
Next was another female victim inthis picture was more graphic, fully nude.
It looks like there's an objectin the woman's genitals.
Her body was also badly beatenor burned in this photo.
Was accompanied by the datethe 21st of August 2015,
implyingthat this murder had just taken place.
(05:25):
Then there was another imageof a woman's body inside a cardboard box,
and this was posted along with the messagethis is from before.
I played with her.
For clarity, these two images are posted.
To make it seem like the person in the boxis the same as that nude victim,
though in all fairness, they may not be.
You can't see her clearly enough to 100%, make the connection.
(05:50):
Then this killer posted it again.
There's a photo of a girlsmiling on a bed alive,
along with a closeup of a facethat's burned or decomposing.
And then not long after this all started,
the image thread was deletedby four channel moderators.
This means that today,the only record we have of this
(06:10):
original posting are screenshotsfrom some users.
And for chain users being for chain users.
They then started more threadssharing these screenshots.
Naturally, there was a curiosity.
The public is intrigued and peopleare trying to figure out if this is real.
If this is just some sort of nasty hoax
(06:32):
and trying to identify the victims.
On September 22nd,
about a month later,there was a new post from the killer.
This time the post said dyeing, dyeing,along with an image of a male victim
who was bloody beaten and his eyes werehidden by what looks like
(06:53):
a white piece of paper over the pictureand the victim looked to be alive.
But then there's another image,and this depicts the same male victim
with the caption dead
in it.
The man did indeed appear deceased.
And finally, the killer posted a pictureof a man wearing a ski
mask and sunglassespointing a gun at the camera.
(07:15):
Many assume this to be a pictureof the person posting the pictures.
The alleged killer.
And these images were accompaniedby a caption
that read I'll be back in a monthto finish our game.
If it is not this exact timestampwith an updated date, it is not me.
but there has been
no further post from this alleged killer.
(07:37):
Before I move on to some updatesfrom this case over the years
and theories, the picturesthemselves should be described.
They are pictures of pictureslike someone used
a phone to take a pictureof a developed photograph.
Maybe because that was easierto upload that way.
The dates are sort of handwritten notesthat are along with the photos.
(07:58):
Honestly, there are
a number of reasons that we can speculatefor this method of posting.
And many have pointed out
that since these photos are developedthey don't look like Polaroids to me.
I know the killer said these arePolaroids, and from a disposable camera,
I don't see any that make me think.
Any other Polaroids.
But many have speculated thatthese could be crime scene photographs.
(08:19):
And I can't imagine taking a roll of film
to the CVSto get images like this developed.
I think the cops would be called.
And someone did ask this question ofhow could you have developed these photos?
And the killer did respondthat he personally developed them.
And I'll add, over the years,there has been some pushback
(08:39):
on the crime scene photography theory,mainly that crime scene photographs
typically have evidence markers,whether it be numbers or
other items,to show perspective and size and labeling.
And that's a very good point.
I will contend, though,doing some of my own research.
I have found that sometimes crimescene photos will not have those markers
because they first take photoswithout them and then with.
(09:03):
And this is because investigatorswant to see a crime scene as it was found.
However,I am getting kind of contradictory
information in my assumption. Totally.
Just an assumption is that itmay depend on where a crime takes place,
or which department or law enforcementagency is running the investigation.
And of course, when the crime took place,if I have any listeners that can clarify
(09:24):
how crime scene photos would be takennot just today
but also potentially in the 90s,send me a message.
can reach me at a study of strangeat gmail.com.
My point,though, is I don't think you can rule out
crime scene photographs just yet.
And if they are crime scene photos,then this is all a hoax,
(09:45):
because this could have been all posted
by someone that has access to crime scenematerials.
They could work for law enforcement,be related to someone that works
in law enforcement or just, you know,have a job in some sort of archives place.
Now, what has been figured out aboutthese quote unquote victims, if anything?
It's been ten years.Surely there's something.
(10:05):
Well, the victim that the killer posted inthe first set of
images was identified as Shawna Maynard.
And to clarify, the womanin the graduation photos of the alive
woman And when Shawna Maynard was 17,
she was found murdered in 1998.
Some posts when you researched this story
(10:26):
claimthat she was found outside of Los Angeles.
This is incorrect.
She was discoveredright outside of Las Vegas.
And here's a quote from an articlefrom eight NewsNow.
In Vegas, the family of 17 year old ShawnaMaynard suspects the person who kills
her was angry because she turned downtheir romantic advances.
Two passersby found the Norco, California,
(10:47):
native's bodyon the morning of April 21st, 1998,
near the intersection of Blue Diamond Roadand Dexter Boulevard.
At that time, a desolate
area of the South Valley along the routebetween Las Vegas and Pahrump.
In December 1997, after Inez Maynard,a mother of four, told her second
eldest daughter that she could not attenda Christmas party, Shawna Maynard decided
(11:10):
she would leave home.
The teenager graduated earlyfrom Buena Vista High School
in Corona, California in May 1997.
By spring 1998,Shawna Maynard was working in a restaurant
and making money babysitting.
But something happened on April 21stthat her family believes
changed their lives and theirs forever.
Around 2 a.m.
that morning,
(11:30):
Shawna Maynard called a friend sayingthere was a problem at the apartment.
Investigators believe Shawna Maynardand another person argued.
End quote.
I will also add there's a podcastnow with, about crime in the Vegas area.
If I can remember what the podcast iscalled,
I will link to thatepisode in the show notes.
I'm sure I will find it.
But in that podcast,they don't talk about the fortune killer.
(11:53):
They talk about Shauna's casebecause it is still unsolved and
I did deem some new things from that,like she had been seen with the man late
that night.
She had spoken to a lot of her roommate.
She lived with another number of women.
Even some kids lived in her apartment,and most of them said everything was fine.
But there was one phone call to a friend.
(12:14):
I think it was around 3 a.m.
and Shauna was scared and asking for help,but the friend couldn't
go pick her up because the friend had kidsand it's the middle of the night.
So she told Shauna,go to the Silver Nugget.
Or maybe it was the Golden NuggetI can't remember but go there and wait.
However, Shauna's body was discoveredsoon at the side of the road.
(12:35):
The case officially remains unsolved
and this is usually where the storyof the four Chan serial killer ends.
Because usually you just find out
that Sean,as the only one that has been identified
and not much else, is knownabout the people in the photographs.
And we're left with questionsand theories and speculation.
(12:56):
But now another of the victims fromthe post is thought
to have been identified.
Before I get to that, though,
There are two very obvious directionsthat this story can go.
Eitherthe guy on fortune is telling the truth
and he's killing peopleand sharing photos, or it's all a hoax.
Well, what I didn'tshare about Shauna Maynard so far
is that she was shot to deaththe night she was killed.
(13:19):
Police actually had heard gunshots, andby the morning they had found her body.
One accountI found says that she was shot 17 times.
This does not line up with the four Chankillers.
Photos where the alleged victim. Sort of.
The woman that looks dead.
That was in the photonext to the graduation photo.
Shauna.She's dressed up to look like Shauna.
(13:42):
There's even a necklacethat kind of matches.
One that Sean is wearing in the graduationphoto.
The hair color.
But the picturethe killer posted is not how Sean.
His body was found.
In fact, they're completely different.
So already we're finding
some discrepancies in the killer's photosbecause they're not the same person.
Now, maybe the woman who looked beatenand bloody is another victim.
(14:04):
And that's also completely terrifying.
But it doesmake you question the set up here.
So what else do we have to consider?
another victim from some of these photos.
Notice the smiling girl or smiley girlwhere she's alive on a bed.
Smiling is now thought to be MargaretHicks.
Between 1994 and 1997,five bodies were found near each other
(14:29):
outside of Las Vegas.
Margaret Hickswas found in January of 1997,
and she was found buried nudeand had died of strangulation.
She worked at a local brotheland all of the bodies
found in this general areaat that time period,
they were all found nudeand strangled to death.
(14:49):
And besides, Margaret and I thinkone other victim has been identified.
The rest are Jane Doe's.
And one of the articles I was readingabout it, investigators pointed out
there are no other linksbetween these victims,
even though
they're considering that one personor the same people could have killed
all these women.
They're open to the fact that they maynot all be related murders, And they did.
(15:11):
It also mentioned that the area is knownfor organized crime and human trafficking,
especially with the womenthat work in brothels.
But that is a that is a deeper,more complex story for another episode
or some sort of docu series
that can dive into that in a more profound way that I can do.
(15:33):
But Margaret Hicks is thought to bethe smiling woman
in the For Chanceserial killer photos based on looks.
In fact, a newspaper article about Hicks
seems to use the same photograph.
And I think that's really importantto realize.
It's.
I could be wrong because the newspaper,it's a closeup of her face.
(15:56):
It's in black and white,
whereas the four chan photos in colorand it's a wide shot.
But personally,I think they're the same photo
and the newspaper just,you know, zoomed in on her face.
That smiling girl photo was accompaniedby the burned, decomposing face photo,
and obviously they were posted togetherto make it seem like
(16:17):
they're the same woman.
However, that decomposing face doesn't fitthe way Margaret
Hicks was found or killed,so it's not the same person.
And in fact, some online sleuthshave noted that the decomposing face shot
is from the former website rotten Dicom,a video and photo sharing gore site.
So between the shot of martyredinconsistencies
(16:40):
and the photos of Margaret Hicks,along with the photo from Root.com,
I have to think that this whole storyis a hoax.
Not to mention that the serial killerposting all of this was like,
let's play a game, and if you get it rightthere, you can be photos.
And then he's stoppedplaying his own game.
He just started sharing photos.
(17:00):
To me, it seems like this was someonethat just wanted a reaction and had access
to some crime scene photos or photoor other weird photos from online.
I will be quick to point outthat some internet sleuths as well,
cannot find other copies of these photosanywhere else online,
but that doesn't mean that they weren'tat some point
(17:21):
in some sort of journalistic endeavorsand projects I've worked on.
You cannot image search the internetas well as you think you can.
I'm actually going to kind of go offscript here
at the end of my episode,just to share some thoughts on this case.
And the first thing I want to add
is that some of the bloody victimphotos look fake to me.
Maybe I've worked in the movie businesstoo long, but the way they're staged,
(17:45):
the way they're lit, the way they're shot,even the makeup and stuff,
which looks real,but that can be achieved relatively
easily without spending a lot of moneyor going crazy on it.
And as an example,the quote unquote dead photo
of Shawna Maynard,Her face is turned away from camera.
There's a necklace
that sort of looks like the necklaceshe's wearing in the graduation photo.
(18:07):
And the way that this shirt is
sort of dirty and bloody and stuff,it's easy to achieve that.
And the man,the man whose. Whose eyes were covered up.
Similarly, there's some, you know,the blood and beaten and it's terrifying.
But just by the natureof using a disposable camera or Polaroid
that adds a creepiness factor to it,you can actually hide
(18:28):
some of the fakery to those kind of thingsby shooting on film like that.
With that kind of lighting,it seems a little staged to me.
And we know that the killer staged photosbecause he
he put on a ski maskand sort of staged his own.
Look at me. I'm so coolbecause I'm a killer kind of photo.
And he was wearing a ski maskthat is similar to the bad guy
(18:49):
in the dirty Harry movies,which was based on the Zodiac Killer.
So there's a number of things hereI could easily see
someone just kind of doing, becausethey think it'll get a reaction online.
Anyway, I'm rambling some of that,but that is.
I definitely have an instinct in methat thinks that some of these photos
may have been staged and faked,but posted along other real photos.
(19:13):
So, like we know Shawna maynard'sgraduation photo is real.
If it is indeed Margaret Hicksin that other photo,
it could be the one from the newspaperand he had a copy of it,
which then ties intohow did someone get the the real photos.
If I'm going to continueto speculate here,
I don't know if any of this is usable.
I'll probably cut it all out.
(19:34):
But there is a connection herewith two women to Las Vegas,
which leads one to thinkthat this could be a hoax
because someone has accessto these old files
he's posting in 2015, it'sbeen almost 20 years.
Maybe those files are moved
into a room that aren't as protectedwith evidence or whatever.
And that'swhere he's getting some of these photos.
(19:57):
The alternate side of that is, wait,if there is a connection to Vegas,
what if this is just a killerin Las Vegas?
One of the many scaryaspects of this story to me
is, is that I could be wrongabout assuming that this is a hoax,
and I wouldn't be surprisedif I was wrong.
There's a lot to this casethat pushes back against my own
(20:18):
speculations and killers like attention.
They like to share what they've done.
They like the notoriety, and maybethere are inconsistencies on the photos,
but maybe that was done
on purpose to make it harderto connect things back to this killer.
And on that thinking,I just found this out last night.
But someone has connected the Long Islandserial killer, aka the Gogo
(20:42):
beach serial killer Rex Housemanto the four channel killer Rex Hourman.
For those that don't know that story,he was charged with multiple murders,
and may have committed many, many, manymore murders, Primarily on the East Coast.
But here's a report from ABC NewsLas Vegas.
Quote.
Grant has been looking for her daughter,Jesse Foster, since March of 2006.
(21:07):
Through tears.
That time can't stop, she said.
You're seeing 17 yearsof coping mechanisms.
The 21 year
old Canadian woman disappeared after hermom says she was sexually trafficked
throughout New York and New Jersey,then ultimately lured to Las Vegas,
where she was last seen alivefollowing several prostitution arrests.
(21:28):
We know that Jesse had been beaten,that Jesse was being forced into it,
said Grant.
Now, 17 years later, the bombshell arrestof suspected Gilgal Beach serial killer
Rick Salomon has brought her daughter'scold case back into focus
as police agencies in three stateshunt for more possible victims.
Foster is one of five escorts in the LasVegas area between the ages of 18 and 25,
(21:51):
who all shared the same fate, discoveredeither dead or missing
between 2003 and 2006 under similarlysuspicious circumstance stances.
Four of them were dumped offremote roadways.
Several were wrapped in cloth, which iswhy detectives have long suspected
they could have been killedby the same person.
(22:11):
end quote.
So it turns out that Rex Ramon
had a timeshare in Las Vegas.
And his victims in LongIsland were strangled.
We know Margaret Hicks was strangled.
Shawna Maynard wasn't.
But there are other women out therethat have been strangled and dumped.
And there's definitely some stretching
to do to make Helamanfit the four chant serial killer.
(22:33):
Like how Ramon only had a timesharein Vegas going back to 2004.
Not the mid 90swhen Hicks and Maynard were killed.
And there's no other tangible connectionbesides our desire
as humans to find patterns
and want to make these storiesfit together nice and easily.
But it is a fascinating theory.
I didn't prepare for an episode about howRamon, so I don't know his online habits.
(22:56):
If he liked attention,
or if he liked using forums and blogsor was a user of our channel.
I don't know any of that, but I'm just
scratching the surface of a rabbit hole,so to speak.
I'll wrap up with a few more comments.
There are so many postsand discussions online about this case
because it is an internet mysteryand it actually makes a case
(23:19):
like this really convoluted,because there's so many amateur
investigatorsthat share their feelings and ideas.
All of themshare these things with confident gusto
and confirmation bias,and they state things that make it seem
really factual when it's just a guess,including there's an article that people
bring up all the time with this casethat talks about local police in Vegas.
(23:42):
Don't think the fortune, serial killer is a valid case or an infant
or a valid investigation.
That news source that's been quotedhundreds of times that I've found,
is fake.
It's a fake article,and people keep sharing it.
I actually don't think the Vegas policehave investigated the four Chan postings
in a really sincere manner at all.
(24:03):
Also, a lot of people point outthat the FBI has looked into the case.
We actually don't know that.
We do know that people onfor Chan shared information with the FBI,
but as far as I can surmise,there's been no formal investigation.
So I think it is anyone's guess
(24:24):
if this person is a killer or not.
I'm leaning towards a very sick minded guywho just wanted online attention,
but that doesn't mean I couldn't be wrong.
And that meansthere could still be a killer out there
yet to be caught.
Thank you for listeningto a study of strange.
(24:46):
Thank you for bearing with meas I went off script there at the end
and just rambled a lot,and left all my notes behind.
But this case makesyou think and speculate a lot.
So I thought that might be interestingto do.
If you enjoy strange contentas much as I do,
please hit that, follow or subscribe,leave a rating and review.
You can also support the showand get additional content episodes
(25:08):
early by joining our Substack,which you can find through the support tab
on our website. A study of strange.com.
Until next time. Thank you and good night.
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