SOS signals are often a desperate cry for help, a lifeline thrown into the void. While some SOS stories have happy endings, others remain shrouded in mystery, leaving us with unanswered questions and a lingering sense of unease. Get ready to explore ten of the most chilling, unexplained SOS calls that continue to baffle investigators and haunt our imaginations.
10. Kenji Iwamura
In July 1989, two hikers went missing in Daisetsuzan National Park in Hokkaido. A search party discovered an SOS signal made of birch logs. Strangely, the hikers denied building it. A subsequent search revealed a backpack containing a tape recorder and the ID of Kenji Iwamura, who had disappeared five years prior on a similar hike.
The tape recorder held a chilling recording. Later, human remains identified as Kenji’s were found near the SOS signal. The cause of death was undetermined, and questions linger: How did Kenji, missing for years, construct the SOS? And where did the axe used to fell the trees come from? The mystery surrounding Kenji Iwamura’s final moments continues to perplex.
9. Anthonette Cayedito
In April 1986, Anthonette Cayedito was abducted from her home in Gallup, New Mexico. A year later, police received a brief, chilling phone call from a young girl, confirmed by her mother to be Anthonette.
Years later, in 1991, a waitress in Carson City reported seeing a girl matching Anthonette’s description dining with an unkempt couple. The girl left an SOS scrawled on a napkin: “Help me! Call Police.” Anthonette was never seen again, leaving behind a haunting mystery. The brief phone call and desperate napkin message paint a picture of a young girl trapped in a nightmare.
8. Henry Mccabe
After a night out with friends in September 2015, Henry Mccabe was dropped off near his home in Minnesota. Hours later, his wife received a disturbing voicemail from his phone, filled with unsettling noises.
Henry’s brother also received a call, hearing only sobbing before it cut out. Henry’s phone then pinged from a cell tower four miles away. Two months later, his body was found in a lake. Ruled a possible suicide or accidental drowning, the chilling noises in his final SOS call remain unexplained, adding a layer of mystery to his tragic end. What was Henry trying to communicate in those final, terrifying moments?
7. Brandon Lawson
In August 2013, Brandon Lawson called his father to say he was driving to visit. Later, he called his brother to report running out of gas on Route 277. He also called 911 for help; the recording is disturbing.
His brother arrived to find Brandon’s abandoned car, unaware that Brandon had already called 911. Theories range from drug relapse to a planned disappearance, but his family believes foul play was involved. The 911 call, filled with cryptic statements and a sense of impending danger, fuels the mystery surrounding Brandon’s disappearance.
6. Joanne Pederson
In February 1983, ten-year-old Joanne Pederson was locked out of her house after an argument with her sister. She called her parents from a payphone, asking to be picked up. However, Joanne’s mother then heard a gruff male voice on the phone, threatening to call the police if they didn’t arrive in 30 minutes.
When Joanne’s parents arrived, she was gone. Witnesses reported seeing her with a man in his 30s and in a cream-colored car. Despite investigations, Joanne was never found. The strange phone call and the sightings of a mysterious man leave a lingering question: What happened to Joanne that cold, dark night?
5. Brandon Swanson
In May 2008, Brandon Swanson crashed his car in a ditch on the way home from a party. Uninjured, he called his parents for help, staying on the phone with them as they drove to find him.
Brandon, thinking he was near Lind, Minnesota, started walking towards what he thought were city lights. Forty-seven minutes later, he uttered his last words, “Oh shit!”, before the call disconnected. Cell phone data revealed he was actually near Taunton, 25 miles away. A search ensued, but Brandon and his phone were never found, leaving his fate a haunting mystery.
4. Ruth Price
In 1988, Ruth Price, an elderly woman living alone, called 911 to report a prowler. Moments after stating she was home alone, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the line, followed by muffled thumps. The operator remained silent as Ruth’s cries for help abruptly ended.
The recording, used in 911 operator training, served as a grim reminder of the importance of obtaining an address quickly. Instructors told trainees that Ruth was found battered to death in her home. The call remains a chilling example of a desperate SOS and the horrifying consequences of a delayed response.
5. Japanese City’s Mystery Emergency Calls
In Akita Prefecture, Japan, emergency responders were baffled by a series of mysterious calls originating from landlines. In 2020, there were nine instances where emergency services were dispatched to homes where residents were unaware that their phones had dialed for help.
The calls, described as emitting robot-like noises, were classified as ‘mute emergency calls.’ Firefighters dispatched to the locations found residents perplexed, with over half of the calls occurring when no one was even home. The unexplained nature of these phantom calls sparked an investigation by the local phone company, yet the mystery persists.
2. SS Ourang Medan
The Ourang Medan SOS is a famous and disputed maritime mystery. Sometime between late 1947 and early 1948, two American ships received a chilling message:
“All officers including the Captain are dead. Lying in chartroom and the bridge. Possibly whole crew dead. I die.” The Silver Star located the Ourang Medan and discovered a horrifying scene: the Dutch crew lay dead, their faces contorted in agony, with no visible injuries.
As the Silver Star prepared to tow the Ourang Medan, the ship burst into flames and exploded, sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The cause of the crew’s deaths and the subsequent explosion remain a chilling maritime enigma.
1. 1990 Washington State Bigfoot calls
In 1990, Washington State emergency operators received two bizarre phone calls from a confused and distressed man. While edited, the recordings reveal a sober individual struggling to describe something inexplicable happening in his home.
He attempts to articulate what he’s witnessing in human terms, yet it’s clear he doesn’t understand what he is seeing. Though the calls are often associated with Bigfoot sightings, their true nature remains a chilling and unsolved mystery. What did this man encounter that night, and why does it continue to captivate our imaginations?
