57 Eerie Photos with Even Worse Backstories

Some photos look ordinary, even pleasant, until you learn the history behind them. What seems like a simple snapshot can take on new meaning once the story is revealed.

These historical photos may appear eerie but unremarkable at first, however their backstories make them all the more fascinating.

This is a photo of the KISS nightclub in Brazil, posted on Facebook by one of the DJs. Later that night, 245 people perished and more than 680 were injured after fireworks hit the ceiling, causing the soundproofing in the ceiling to catch fire.

This is one of the final picture of Aaron Joel Mitchell. Aaron ran into the burning structure during the 2017 Burning Man festival. He died because of this. It is unclear why he did this.

A Lithuanian man in shock after accidentally hitting and taking the life of an 8-year-old.

The kid on the right, Bart Whitaker, had paid two of his buddies to end the lives of his family that night. They succeeded with the mother and brother, but the father, who took the photo, survived.

Snowboarder Marco Siffredi moments before he began his descent down Everest on a snowboard in 2002. He was never seen again and his body was never recovered.

Taken inside the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island on February 20, 2003 just as the fire starts. The whole venue eventually went up in flames claiming 100 lives.

Final moments of Andrea Mazzetto, an Italian entrepreneur, before he plunged 650 feet to his death in front of his girlfriend while retrieving his phone.

Christopher McCandless final photo. His body was found by moose hunters in 1992. He lived in an abandoned bus for over 100 days. His cause of death was officially ruled starvation, but the exact cause is still debated.

A fire truck rushing to the scene of 9/11. All of the six firemen in Ladder 118 died saving people in the World Trade Center.

Singer Jenni Rivera posed for this snap on her private jet just hours before it crashed. Everyone including 2 crew members perished. Investigation was unable to find out the cause of the sudden steep descent that led to the aircraft impacting the ground at extremely high speed.

This image was taken just moments before Arthur Emanuel Bitencourt, a 7-year-old kid, passed away from inhaling the limestone powder.

In 2016, Lt. Col. Henry Worsley, a British explorer, tragically lost his life during an Antarctic expedition. Walking 913 miles in 69 days, he called for help just 30 miles shy of his goal. Severe dehydration and exhaustion caused organ failure. This was his final selfie.

MMA fighter Rondel Clark performing a weight cut that will result in his death. He died from severe dehydration and kidney failure after trying to cut weight for a fight.

Rolf Bae and Cecilie Skog kiss before attempting to summit K2. Rolf Bae passed away later that day in an avalanche. K2 is the second most dangerous mountain to climb after Annapurna.

This picture is of a wedding reception in Jerusalem where people can be seen dancing and celebrating. In a few seconds, the floor that they were dancing on collapsed, and they all fell two stories below. 23 people passed away, and another 380 were injured.

Last still photo of “Grizzly Man” Timothy Treadwell and girlfriend Amie Huguenard when they were alive. They died in a bear attack during the night of October 5th, 2003, at Katmai National Park in Alaska, less than 100 yards from where this picture was taken.

In 1937, the German passenger airship called Hindenburg burst into flames and was destroyed in New Jersey. 36 people lost their lives in the accident. This photo shows the airship a little before incident.

Last photo of musician Keith Moon taken on the evening before his death at dinner with Paul and Linda McCartney. On September 7th, 1978, he died of an OD of Heminevrin, which was prescribed to combat alcohol withdrawal.

Heather Price Papayoti is pictured here looking over the Hoover Dam bypass bridge on January 16, 2014. Just moments later, she jumped over the railing and ended her own life.

This Concorde plane was headed from Paris to New York City on 25 July 2000. During takeoff, it ran over some debris that punctured a tire and blew its fuel tank. The plane crashed into a nearby hotel. All 109 people on board and four on the ground lost their lives.

A series of photos captured inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

In 1985, a Colombian girl named Omayra Sánchez was trapped in a volcanic mudflow up to her waist. Knowing she would die, volunteers and rescuers did their best to comfort her. She died after 60 hours.

Photograph of tourists running from tsunami waves on 26th December 2004. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami went on to claim the lives of over 220,000 people.

Last photo of the survivors of HMAS Armidale, which sunk on 1 December 1942 after being torpedoed by Japanese bombers. This photo was taken from a Catalina flying boat on the 8th but was unable to land due to rough seas. The men in the raft would never be seen again.

Photo taken of Air Florida Flight 90 just minutes before taking off from Washington National Airport on January 13, 1982. The plane had not been properly de-iced. After takeoff, the plane experienced difficulty in climbing immediately following rotation and subsequently stalled. The aircraft plunged into the Potomac River, tragically claiming the lives of 78 people.

“That’s the dirty b*stard who killed my brother,” an injured Nick Kuesis said, immediately recognizing and pointing to James Morelli, the man who had ended his brother’s life.

On October 12, groom Tyrek Burton, 37, was fatally shot in front of his new bride just hours after their wedding. This photo was taken shortly before.

This is a photo of Tyler Hadley, the one holding a cup, at a party at his house. Just before this party, he ended the lives of his mother and father with a hammer and hid their bodies in the master bedroom.

Bonnie Haim disappeared in 1993. At the time, her 3-year-old son claimed his father had ended her, but nobody could prove it. 20 years later, the son dug up his mom’s remains in the backyard, while making changes to the home.

In May 1997, schoolboy Jamie Lavis’ life was cut shory by bus driver Darren Vickers. Pretending to help, Vickers moved in with the Lavis family and joined the search, even posing for numerous press photos like the one below.

This is the final photograph taken of Shanann Watts while she was pregnant. Within a few short hours, she and her two young daughters, aged three and four, would have their lives cut short by her husband, Chris Watts.

Photo taken in 2017 at the wedding of Heather and David Mosher. Heather was battling advanced breast cancer but found the strength to marry the love of her life just 18 hours before passing away. Her last words were the vows she recited to her husband.

In 2009, Marie Moore, a mentally ill mother fatally shot her son at firing range in Florida. Marie Moore wrote “I’m so sorry” several times on notes as well as “I had to send my son to heaven and myself to Hell.” She signed the notes as “Failed Queen.”

Lisa Nowak, a former NASA astronaut, drove 900 miles non-stop (wearing adult diapers) to confront her ex’s new girlfriend. Armed with a knife, BB gun, and trash bags, she confronted the woman in a parking lot but was arrested before causing serious harm.

In 2017, Anne Faber snapped this selfie for her boyfriend while biking alone in the rain, just moments before she was abducted .Her body was discovered two weeks later in the woods.

On March 27 1991 3-year-old Megan Garner went inside to get a snack while playing a few feet from her home in Tyler, TX, with her siblings and cousins. Her mom and aunt assumed she returned, but when the other kids came back, they realized Megan hadn’t made it back to the playground. She hasn’t been seen since.

Jan Davis jumped off “El Capitan” in Yosemite on October 23rd 1999 as part of a protest against a proposal to ban the practice at Yosemite National Park. This photo was captured just moments before she realised her parachute wouldn’t open. She didn’t survive.

On August 19, 1992, Laurie Jean Depies vanished after arriving at her boyfriend’s apartment in Appleton, Wisconsin. Her locked car was found in the lot with a cup of soda on the roof, but she never made it inside and has never been seen since.

In May 2017, a jogger on London’s Putney Bridge shoved a woman into the path of a bus. The driver swerved just in time, saving her. The jogger kept running and ignored her when she confronted him later. Despite viral CCTV footage and multiple arrests, he was never identified.

Chilling photo shows Crystal Gonzalez smiling for the camera on her final climb at Mount Baldy in 2023. Just moments later, she tragically fell to her death.

In 2021, this photo was taken of influencer Kubra Dogan moments before she tragically fell 160 feet to her death from a rooftop in Turkey while attempting to capture a sunset selfie.

When Japan executes criminals by hanging, three wall buttons are simultaneously pressed by three different people so non of them know who opened the trap door.

This is believed to be the final photo of the nine Soviet Dyatlov hikers alive, taken during their trek through the Ural Mountains. Soon after, all were found dead, mysteriously scattered outside their campsite, having fled their tents in panic, an event now known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident.

Women and children, deemed unfit for labor. Although they don’t know it yet, the people in this photo are on their way to the gas chambers. May 27, 1944.

In 2013, Florida man Jeff Bush was sleeping when a sinkhole suddenly opened beneath his bed, swallowing him and his entire bedroom. His brother heard his scream but couldn’t reach him in time. Bush’s body was never recovered.

The actual weapon that started WWI, used to end the life of the Austrian heir to the throne.

Photo of Jeff Rader taken just minutes before he passed away in the 2003 Station Nightclub fire that claimed 100 lives. The fire started after a pyrotechnics display ignited acoustic foam.

One of the final photos taken of Rustem Vladimirovich Slobodin before he perished during the Dyatlov pass incident.

In 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay mysteriously vanished in Texas. Three years later, a man claiming to be Nicholas reappeared. He moved back in with his family, who were overjoyed. However, 5 months later, he was exposed as a French conman who was actually 23 years old.

In 2004, Merrian Carver vanished two days into an Alaskan cruise. Despite a staff member raising concerns, no action was taken, and her disappearance went unreported. Her belongings were simply boxed and stored after the cruise. She has never been found.

One final kiss before execution, 1953. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg share one final kiss and sing “The Internationale” as they were being strapped to the electric chair.

Between 1957 and 1971, Edward Paisnel got away with breaking into homes and attacking the owners. He would only strike when he knew they were home alone and he wore a costume with a contorted mask. Because of this, he was able to continue for so long.

Last Image of Kim Bambus at Ponsonby Countdown store in New Zealand on March 24 2017. She vanished later that day, her vehicle was found near the Ahu Ahu Track with her cellphone inside.

Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, a 25 year old supermarket employee, is believed to have fallen into an 18 inch gap between a cooler and a wall and became trapped. His body was not found for nearly 10 whole years. It was only discovered as part of a store revamp.

This image captures the final moment before mother of two, Anna Uskova, jumped into an ice hole cut into a river in Russia, only to be swept away by a powerful current moving at about 10 feet per second.

On December 28th, 1992, 23-year-old Steven Clark took a walk with his mother Doris. According to her, they stopped at the public restrooms before heading home, but when she came out of the women’s room her son was nowhere to be found Steven has never been seen or heard from since.

A soldier shows the helmet that saved his life, 1917.

This is believed to be the last known photograph of Anne Frank, standing with her sister Margot in 1942.

Muhammad Ali after talking a man out of jumping to his death in 1981.

This is the photo Kurt Diemberger took after his companion, the famed alpinist Hermann Buhl, fell into the abyss on the Himalayan mountain Chogolisa. Buhl was walking behind Diemberger and momentarily left the trail after which he fell through an overhanging cornice. He remains in the ice.

In 1931, psychologists Winthrop and Luella Kellogg began an unusual experiment: they raised a chimpanzee named Gua alongside their own infant son to see if the animal could adopt human behaviors such as walking upright, speaking, and socializing.