Top 20 Normal Looking Pictures with Disturbing Backstories

At first glance, this photo might appear romantic. After all, it shows a couple on a windswept beach. But look closer, and the woman’s distraught expression says it all. Right before photographer John L. Gaunt took the shot, the couple’s 19 month old son had been happily playing in their yard. But he wandered off and disappeared into the waves. The couple are standing on the shore realizing that their son is gone. This photo actually won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize. Given the backstory, it’s a haunting shot of sudden and unexpected tragedy.

It’s unclear where the astronauts in this photo are going, but they appear excited and optimistic about whatever’s on the horizon. Doing some digging, you’ll find that the crew was walking out of the Operations and Checkout Building. They were headed for Pad 39-B where the Space Shuttle Challenger was about to take off. The STS-51L mission was notable for its diverse crew, although that’s sadly not what it’s best remembered for. Only a minute after launching, the space shuttle exploded. While nobody knows precisely when each crew member died, nobody survived after the spacecraft hit the ocean. This photo was taken on January 28, 1986, mere hours before the crew unknowingly embarked on what would be their final mission.

With a grin across his face, the man in this picture appears to be waving hello, but he was actually waving goodbye. This bearded explorer is Christopher McCandless, the subject of the 2007 biopic “Into the Wild.” Leaving his old life behind, McCandless decided to fend for himself in mother nature’s backyard, eventually seeking refuge in an abandoned Fairbanks Bus 142. In August 1992, the 24-year-old McCandless died at Stampede Trail, Alaska, most likely due to starvation. Based on the last self-photo he took, it’s evident that McCandless knew his days were numbered. While it’s hard to make out, the paper McCandless is holding is his farewell message, reading, “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!”

While the numbers vary, the odds of getting struck by lightning are relatively slim. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take lightning safety seriously, though. This photo of 18-year-old Michael McQuilken and his 12-year-old brother Sean has served as a cautionary tale ever since it was taken in 1975. Posing together at Moro Rock, the brothers were goofing around with their hair standing on end. Their static hair and those storm clouds in the background were more foreboding than either realized, as lightning struck them shortly after their sister took the picture. Another hiker died and while the brothers survived, Sean was left with third-degree burns and took his own life in 1989. Michael continues to spread awareness about the dangers and warning signs of lightning.

Looking at this photo, the first thing you’re inclined to notice is the man standing in the street and the child on his shoulders. Meanwhile, the red car parked on the side of the road appears inconsequential. What you might not realize is that the photo was taken in Omagh, a Northern Ireland town, on August 15, 1998, not long before this car blew up. The Real Irish Republican Army, a splinter group, executed this car bombing five days after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Although the Real IRA claimed that innocent civilians weren’t their target, 29 lives were lost in the bombing and roughly 220 were injured. While the man and child thankfully survived the bombing, the person behind the camera did not.

While not a household name, David A. Johnston was a revered volcanologist who, along with the United States Geological Survey, helped save thousands of people through his on-site work. Tragically, Johnston lost his own life in the process. All seems well in this photo as Johnston sits in a chair outside, looking into the camera. Little did anyone know that within the next 13 hours, Johnston would perish in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The eruption, preceded by seismic activity, was first reported by Johnston, who radioed the message, “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” Within the next seconds, the signal went out and Johnston was never heard from again. While his remains were never found, it’s believed that Johnson died at Coldwater II, a post that wasn’t as safe as anticipated.

For diehard sports fans, you’ll recognize the player on this basketball card as Mark Jackson, who started his NBA career with the New York Knicks and later coached the Golden State Warriors. At first glance, this card would likely blend in with the rest of your collection. Take a closer look at the lower left-hand corner, though. You see those two young fans sitting in the front row? They’re Lyle and Erik Menendez, two wealthy brothers who took the lives of their allegedly abusive parents on August 20, 1989. The brothers weren’t arrested for these crimes until March 8, 1990, and in between that time, they spent an extravagant amount of money. It appears some of that fortune went towards Knicks tickets before their apprehension.

If we asked you to name the man in this photo, you might take a wild guess and say Christoph Waltz if he had Weird Al’s hairdresser. In reality, he’s Rodney Alcala, The Dating Game Killer. How did he get such an outlandish nickname? Because Alcala appeared on “The Dating Game” prior to his 1979 arrest. While his total victim count could be as high as 130, Alcala was trialled for five murders in 2010, almost 31 years after his apprehension. Alcala represented himself in court, as seen in this picture. Even more bizarre, Alcala was his own defense witness, asking himself, “Rodney, would you please tell us about your hair?” Alcala ultimately received the death sentence, although he’s still awaiting execution to this date.

Remember that scene in “Superman II” where a little boy falls over the rail at Niagara Falls? Well, that sort of thing happens more often than you think, but Superman sadly isn’t around to save the day. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly special about this photo, which sees several people gathering at Niagara River. The woman in the red sweater is Ayano Tokumasu, an exchange student from Japan. If you think standing on that pillar seems kind of dangerous, you’d be right. Not long after the photo was taken, she lost her balance and fell over the edge, ultimately going down Horseshoe Falls. Tokumasu was swept from the river’s Canadian side to its American side where her lifeless body was discovered.

The SS Grandcamp may not be a household name like the Titanic. But it’s forever linked to the Texas City disaster, and this photo captured the vessel just before tragedy spiraled out of control. On April 16, 1947, smoke was seen emitting from the docked ship in Texas City. A fire had broken out with about 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate aboard. This naturally amounted to an explosion, but that was only the beginning. The blast ignited a subsequent explosion on the High Flyer, another ship carrying ammonium nitrate. The ensuing chain reaction resulted in a loss of 581 lives with only one survivor from the local fire department.

The space pod in the swimming pool is only the second weirdest thing about this photo. We mean, how often do you see astronauts lounging on water floats while wearing their spacesuits? Surely there must be a humorous story behind such a surreal image? Unfortunately, it’s quite the opposite. The suited-up astronauts in this photo were Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee. They were training for the Apollo 1 mission, which was planned to commence in February of 1967. On January 27 that year, a fire broke out in the cabin during a pre-launch test. Unable to open the hatch door, the three men perished in the fire, which was caused by electrical problems. Thus, the mission ended before it even started.

There are countless photos of bears out there and this one doesn’t look much different from all the rest. Since the picture was taken from a distance and the bear isn’t charging, the photographer seemingly isn’t in any immediate danger. After Darsh Patel snapped this pic using his phone, however, the bear started to follow him and his friends. The group split up as the bear began to close in on them, ultimately pursuing Patel. His phone was eventually found with animal teeth marks while Patel’s body was discovered at a nearby ravine. The bear was still hanging around the 22-year-old’s fatally mauled remains and the authorities took the wild animal out. This photo op came at a steep price for Patel and the bear.

The two men being escorted in this photo are Richard Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. Although handcuffs are visible, the jolly smile on Smith’s face suggests that they’re only in for a mild offense. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Ever hear of a book entitled “In Cold Blood?” Well, Hickok and Smith provided the basis for this best-selling true crime novel. The two criminals were convicted for the Clutter family murders and sentenced to death. In this chilling photo, Hickcock and Smith can be seen leaving the courtroom right after receiving the guilty verdict. Much can be said about Smith’s haunting grin. If there’s one takeaway from the image, though, it’s that this crime was indeed coldblooded.

Dennis Rader was his church’s president, a Club Scout leader, and an all-around pillar of the community. As you can tell from this photo, Rader was also a family man who seemed quite proud of his daughter Kerri at her college graduation. This would all be overshadowed, though, when Rader was exposed as the BTK Strangler, the letters standing for “bind, torture, preferred MO. Over the course of multiple decades, this seemingly ordinary guy took ten lives. In 2005, the authorities used Kerri Rader’s DNA to link her father to a crime scene, amounting to his arrest. Rader pled guilty and was subsequently sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences. About 14 years after her father was captured, Kerri released a book entitled, “A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming.”

Scrolling through Instagram, chances are you’ll stumble across a number of pleasant photos like these. Standing against a colorful backdrop with green hills and blue skies, 22-year-old Lisanne Froon appears to have a lovely day ahead of her. Froon was on vacation with 21-year-old Kris Kremers, a fellow Dutch student seen in another photo at the same spot. The two set out for a hike in Panama on April 1, 2014 when these pics were taken. This was also the day that Froon and Kremers disappeared, resulting in a grueling search. Ten weeks down the line, Froon’s backpack was uncovered with her camera inside. Froon and Kremers’ remains were eventually found scattered across the jungle with the cause of death still up for debate.

Travis Alexander was 30 when this photo was taken of him in the shower. The person behind the camera was Jodi Arias, with whom Alexander had a shaky romantic relationship. This was the last photo ever taken of Alexander alive, as his friends found his body in the shower a few days later. It was only a matter of time until the authorities connected the dots and arrested his ex-girlfriend. Arias constantly changed her story, originally pleading innocence, later claiming that two intruders broke in, and ultimately testifying that she killed Alexander in self-defense. In the end, Arias was deemed guilty of first-degree murder, receiving a life sentence. Alexander appears caught off guard in this photo; he clearly had no idea what was coming.

At face value, this dark outline of a person could be chalked up to some harmless graffiti. While we wish that were the case, this shadowy figure resulted from the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In August of 1945, the U.S. dropped two nuclear weapons, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” that resulted in anywhere between 129,000 and 226,000 deaths. Whoever this person was, it appears they were using a walking stick during their final moments when the blast hit. As a result of the bombing, an imprint of this unknown soul was left on the steps. This wasn’t an isolated incident, as numerous shadows can still be found around the bombing sites, forever immortalizing that horrifying day.

Without any background information, the wide-eyed kid in this picture probably wouldn’t strike you as very threatening. When you know the whole story, however, that innocent smile of his will quickly turn into a ghastly grin. This curly-haired seventeen-year-old is Jeffrey Franklin, who killed his parents and attacked his three siblings. Following a car chase, the authorities cornered Franklin at a dead-end. The photo shows Franklin in the back of a police vehicle, not appearing especially distraught over the atrocities he’s committed or his impending future behind bars. Claiming he felt like an “evil being” had taken over him, Franklin pled guilty and received three consecutive life sentences.

We’re all familiar with the music of John Lennon, as well as his tragic fate. Photographer Paul Goresh couldn’t have predicted it at the time, but this would reportedly be the last picture anyone took of Lennon. The image seems innocent enough as the former Beatle signs his autograph for an apparent admirer. Lennon’s impending demise was creeping up in the photo’s corner, however. The man standing next to him is none other than Mark David Chapman, the one responsible for Lennon’s untimely demise. Six hours or so after the photo was taken, Lennon and Yoko Ono encountered Chapman again outside of their apartment building, the Dakota. With Lennon’s back turned, Chapman drew his firearm and the music world would never be the same again.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Lost at Sea
This Couple’s 19-Month-Old Son Had Just Disappeared into the Water

Haiku Stairs
Mystery Man in the Background

Hiking Tragedy
The Woman in the Photograph Survived, But Her Hiking Friend Didn’t

His Master’s Voice
Logo Was Inspired By A Dog That Heard Its Late Owner’s Voice On a Recording

Mere hours before raising his red solo cup in this pic, seventeen-year-old Tyler Hadley hid his parents’ cell phone and took three ecstasy pills. Hadley proceeded to end his mother's life with a hammer and then did the same to his father. After cleaning up the mess, Hadley shared on Facebook he was throwing a party that very night. At said party, Hadley told his best friend Michael Mandell all about his heinous actions. Using his phone, Mandell subsequently took this picture with Hadley, knowing it’d be the last time they ever saw each other. Leaving the party, Mandell hid the pills Hadley planned to commit suicide with and called Crime Stoppers. This led to Hadley’s arrest and life sentence without parole.