If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these disturbing selfies are worth a million. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at seemingly normal self-portraits with surprisingly dark backstories.
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00:00This photo proved instrumental.
00:03It took police on a trail that eventually led to the guilty plea of this young woman.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at seemingly normal self-portraits with surprisingly dark backstories.
00:15Tyler Hadley and Michael Mandel took this picture Saturday night.
00:19It was the last picture Mandel thought he'd ever take with his best friend.
00:25Fan with Kobe Bryant.
00:27Getting a picture with your favorite celebrity is many people's dream,
00:30especially when the celebrity is a legend like Kobe Bryant.
00:38That happiness is captured perfectly in a selfie taken in early 2020
00:42by a young devotee attending California's Mamba Sports Academy,
00:46who's smiling excitedly as the player passes by.
00:49No one, especially not the fan himself, would have guessed it would be one of Bryant's final photos.
00:57Police departments did not fly their own helicopters, but Bryant's took off in heavy fog.
01:02Just a day later, he boarded a helicopter that would tragically crash in Calabasas, California.
01:07In an instant, a slightly blurry image became one of the last recorded moments of an icon's life.
01:13It's hard now to look at it without thinking about what was in store for the legendary athlete.
01:18When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died.
01:21Mother and son on flight MH17.
01:24Millions fly in an airplane every day with no threats to their safety,
01:28and most don't even think about something going wrong.
01:38Certainly, Gary Slock and his mother had no reason to worry
01:41as they embarked on a plane from their native Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur for a family trip in 2014.
01:47The two even snapped a quick picture to show how excited they were.
01:50The initially happy moment was soon destroyed.
01:54As far as the eye can see, an apocalyptic scene.
01:58While traveling over Ukraine, Russian-backed forces shot flight MH17 down,
02:03sealing the fates of everyone aboard.
02:05Seeing the Slock's smiles is now a heart-wrenching reminder
02:09of the innocent civilians that paid the ultimate price for another country's act of aggression.
02:14MH17 did fly over a war zone,
02:18the region below embroiled in conflict between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government.
02:24Mallory Grossman and her mother.
02:26Just because someone is smiling doesn't mean they're actually happy.
02:29Looking at Mallory Grossman and her mother,
02:31most would assume that the former is your average happy preteen.
02:35She's just the all-American little girl.
02:37Unfortunately, the reality was much darker.
02:39The Rockaway Township, New Jersey girl was relentlessly tormented by her peers on a daily basis,
02:45to the point where her school suggested she leave early for her own safety.
02:49During the last school year, Diane and Seth say they began to realize
02:52that Mallory was having problems at her middle school in Rockaway, New Jersey.
02:56We just chalked it up to the usual girls just teasing kind of thing,
03:01and then it escalated and got a little more out of hand.
03:03Unfortunately, that didn't put a stop to the cruel treatment,
03:06eventually leading Mallory to tragically take her own life in 2017.
03:11This self-portrait with her mom is haunting proof that even the most joyful people
03:15can be suffering beneath the surface.
03:17Now it serves as chilling proof of the disastrous effects that can come from unchecked tormenting.
03:22Now all that remains are pictures and memories.
03:26I have this cardboard box, and that's her life. That's all we're left with.
03:31Filippo Bari at Marmalada Glacier.
03:34As beautiful as nature can be, it can be easy to forget its sheer power.
03:38In July of 2022, Filippo Bari and others visited the gorgeous Marmalada Glacier in Italy.
03:44Taken by the sight, Bari captured the moment with a jubilant selfie,
03:48not realizing it would be the last one he ever took.
03:51The higher temperatures caused an ice mass to collapse,
03:54leading to a large chunk of ice plummeting to the trail below.
03:58Eleven perished in the catastrophe, including Bari himself.
04:01Looking at the sheer excitement on his face,
04:03it's clear that he was expecting it to be just another adventure, not his final day.
04:08It's sad evidence of the unpredictability of the great outdoors.
04:11Anne Faber's rainy day selfie.
04:14Not everyone takes photos of themselves smiling.
04:16Some opt for sillier or more dramatic expressions.
04:19In September of 2017, when Anne Faber got caught in some rainy weather in a small town in the Netherlands,
04:25she marked the moment by taking a picture of her jokingly distressed face.
04:29She then sent it to her boyfriend before suddenly ceasing all communication.
04:33It was the last he or anyone would hear from her.
04:36It wasn't until her remains were found weeks later that people learned that she had been assaulted and slain.
04:41Knowing this suddenly recontextualizes her final image,
04:45making her look of faux sadness much more chilling.
04:48While the perpetrator behind her murder was caught, her family was shattered by her death.
04:53Couple at the Eagles of Death Metal concert.
04:56Attending concerts is normally an exciting time, with some becoming the best night of a fan's life.
05:01Paris has paid a heavy price in the face of terrorism,
05:05but we are standing tall and we will stay standing tall.
05:09Gilles Leclerc and Marianne Labanane attended the Eagles of Death Metal concert show in Paris
05:15with the intention of enjoying some heavy metal tunes.
05:18Leclerc snapped a quick picture of the two before the show began,
05:21showing off their drinks as they prepared for a fun night.
05:24However, shortly after the setlist began, chaos struck.
05:28Only minutes later, gunmen opened fire on several bars and restaurants in eastern Paris.
05:33The perpetrators of the November 2015 attacks had targeted the theater,
05:37eventually storming inside and opening fire, taking Leclerc's life among many others.
05:43Labanane survived the horrific event, making their photograph all the more chilling.
05:48It's a permanent heartbreaking memento for their tragic relationship.
05:52Many families who for hours hoped their loved ones were still alive
05:55now have to come to terms with their death.
05:57The crew of the Columbia.
05:59Going into space is a huge privilege and achievement,
06:02with some spending years training for the chance.
06:04At 8.44 a.m., Columbia re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
06:09Houston, you can't catch it.
06:11Still, everything appeared normal.
06:13Those on the space shuttle Columbia clearly felt wonder and excitement,
06:17as evidenced by a photo they took of themselves in zero gravity during their 2003 flight.
06:22It captures their smiling faces, all clearly proud of what they had accomplished so far.
06:2738 miles above ground, the space shuttle had exploded.
06:34All seven on board were killed.
06:38The question was, what had gone wrong?
06:41None had any idea that their vessel was damaged after striking a piece of debris,
06:46ensuring their deaths once they re-entered the atmosphere.
06:49Seeing the group and knowing their time was soon coming to a close
06:52changes the once inspiring moment into something much darker and horrific.
06:57The risk is big to any individual that decides to go into space,
07:02but the benefit to society is really big as well.
07:07It's likely the last crew of Columbia would say the same.
07:11Cheyenne Antoine and Brittany Gargle.
07:14No matter how much you think you know someone,
07:16everything can suddenly change in the blink of an eye.
07:19The night of partying and drinking began with these two friends posing for this Facebook photo.
07:25It ended in tragedy.
07:27It was a normal night in 2015 when friends Cheyenne Antoine and Brittany Gargle
07:32got together for a fun night out in Saskatchewan.
07:35The two even took a cute selfie to commemorate the evening.
07:38It seemed to indicate a normal hangout until things took an unexpectedly dark turn.
07:43My client had some very deep seated personal issues that she was not dealing with
07:48and unfortunately for whatever reason we'll never know,
07:52they turned into a very tragic situation for all involved.
07:57During an argument Antoine attacked Gargle, eventually strangling her to death.
08:02That alone puts their photo into a new grimmer context.
08:05However, there was another aspect that helped bring her to justice.
08:08The belt she had used for the grisly job was in the frame,
08:12providing evidence that exposed her lies and led to her conviction.
08:16Gargle's family is still struggling to come to grips with the teen's death.
08:20She was a fun-loving, committed young woman who had a good life ahead of her, they say.
08:25Three teenagers' final photo.
08:27With selfies, the attention is on the foreground,
08:30making it easy to accidentally ignore the background.
08:33This may be the most haunting photo of all.
08:37Two sisters and their best friend taking selfies on the tracks.
08:41One tragic case of this is the final moments of teenagers' Esa Ricker and Kelsey Webster's lives.
08:47In 2011, they decided to take a quick picture with Kelsey's younger sister on a set of train tracks in Utah.
08:53They didn't realize a train was coming, though the headlights are visible in frame.
08:58What they can't see or hear is that train in the background speeding toward them.
09:03They weren't able to move in time, leading to them being struck.
09:06What makes things sadder is that one of the girls had commented on how cool their experience was just beforehand.
09:12Their final image evokes similar feelings to watching a horror movie,
09:16where you wish you could call out and warn the victims of what's about to happen.
09:20This is absolutely a preventable phenomenon and loss.
09:24My girls did not have to lose their life.
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09:43Tyler Hadley. Plenty of teenagers throw parties without their parents' knowledge, but not many take it to this level.
09:49Well, Michael, it was here inside this Port St. Lucie home that investigators say Tyler Hadley
09:54allegedly murdered both of his parents with a hammer.
09:57Upon looking at a 2011 photo of Michael Mandel and Tyler Hadley,
10:01you'd think the latter looked remorseful over holding an unallowed bash at his Florida family home.
10:07However, the truth was much darker.
10:09Moments before it had been taken, Hadley had shown his friend evidence of a grisly murder he had carried out against his parents.
10:16After he told me, I didn't believe him because he's been my best friend forever.
10:20I would never suspect anything like this.
10:21Perhaps knowing that night might be the last time he saw his friend, Mandel took a selfie to remember him by.
10:27The snapshot highlights just how young they both were,
10:31making many wonder what happened to make Hadley throw his whole life away like this.
10:35After I found his parents, I knew it was going to be the last time I'd seen them.
10:38This is that look on his face. You could see the horror in his face. That's not normal, Tyler.
10:44Have you ever seen a seemingly innocent selfie with a dark backstory?
10:48Let us know in the comments below.
10:50Did you enjoy this video?
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