I can't tell from the comments if some folks don't know the first story is new or they can tell but still don't like me uploading compilations. Believe it or not, compilations bring new viewers to the channel more than anything else. But if the new story isn't worth knowing it's followed by old ones, should I just consider stopping this monthly program?
Nono i actually enjoy this series because i had never actually come across the last 2 videos despite binge watching your entire channel. Please continue this series its amazing🙏
You create a fine art in what you do. I think the compilations are great for recaps aswel as renewed awareness for cases such as Bryces. My almost favourite storyteller :p keep up the great work!!
The parents should have gone immediately to go check on Bryce. They were told over and over he wasn't acting normally, even by someone who didn't know him.
@@sarahmurphy7838 then again, I feel like the fact that the mechanic went so far to make sure Bryce was okay, surely he must’ve felt something being off as well
100% it was starting to bother me when they kept getting called back by a stranger and then cops and his parents begged him 3 times to leave that little town and come home and every time he stayed put. Obviously something was wrong plus his girlfriend and best friend both called the parents with concern like jeez go get your son. I was starting to get upset.
My parents gave up some do... I overdosed 8 times and somehow was saved and narcaned every time and saved they didn't even cry when I tried after the 4th time. I'm 1 year 2 months sober I don't talk to my parents the same they gave up on me and ruined my life and beat me growing up.
Bryce Parents - 3 hours away and I would've sent my husband to Buttonwherever while I stayed on the phone with Bryce. I would've asked the police to secure the car or tow it and take him to the station ... we are on our way. Hindsight is 20/20. God Bless them all.
I agree with you 100% but unfortunately the police would not have been able to do that with Bryce not exhibiting any actual violence or danger. They probably wanted to do more but aren’t allowed to if the individual is an adult who says they don’t need help. He’d have to be driving under the influence or making clear threats to himself or others for them to do that. But I absolutely agree they should have tried to get to him and maybe get the auto repair guy Christian to stop him leaving somehow, like deflate a tire while he’s stopped there
I was giving them benefit of the doubt until narrator said police found him in the hotel. That is definitely when they should have driven to him because by then there were too many signs that something is not right AND they knew his location exactly. (edit: omg, I spoke too soon!! The repair guy told them he had not left and they still didn't go to him !!!! he was two hours away at that point!!!)
@@sl4teddy1yea, if authorities couldn't help then pay the auto shop guy to look for him till they get there. Heck,if they're so lazy then pay more for someone to drive their son home safely
@@sl4teddy1Yeah you have a point. I THINK if they explained he had BEEN exhibiting MENTAL HEALTH issues, they could have gotten him on a 5150 for 24 hours. He was driving his parent's car so they could have said they didn't feel SAFE with him driving their car. I used to work LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH and it just seems like more could have been done over ALL THOSE HOURS. But hindsight is 20/20
Bryce's story was filled with signs. Giving away his belongings, acting strangely, breaking up with his girlfriend, and driving in strange ways. As friends, siblings, parents, coworkers, and everyone else, we must begin to learn how to recognize these warning signs and take appropriate action. It only takes eight minutes to make someone feel less alone. I am not blaming the parents, but I wish things had turned out differently for Bryce and others with similar stories. I know how it feels to reach that point. Yes, there are times when you can't persuade someone to change their mind. Most of the time, you can.
Yes. So sad. I kept getting the feeling that Bryce had an epiphany and realising that his life needed to change. He left that nowhere life behind and then he took the longest time to go home, delaying telling his parents, dreading it even, wondering to how they will react. Maybe he was gay or something..... been living a lie, conceited with drugs and alcohol and was about to tell some truths that would upset others....then decided to just do away with himself instead and not deal, but survived and hitchec on a truck to start the new life. So sad for his parents. It could be they are better off wondering...than knowing the actual facts. 🤔
I heard Bryce's story a few years ago and felt bad for the parents who kept waiting. Now I have a son, and I'm mad at Bryce's parents because why are you just sitting at home telling your son to just come!!! Go get him!!!! Gooooo omg
That is what I think every time! One of them should have left home to meet him after the first call they had. And to basically blow off what his roommate and girlfriend were saying. I blame them so much!!
I agree. The first time I heard this story I was upset the parents didn’t go. There was something obviously wrong or not normal from the first call they received from his friend and ex.
I agree, if two people said he wasn’t himself before he left the apartment I wouldn’t of told them to give him his keys and the second the police confirmed he was still in the parking lot I would’ve told them to keep an eye on him I’m coming to get him and bring him home myself
Rita 100% knew her son was deceased. It explains why she cut everyone off. She didn’t want anyone else to discover his remains because she would have no choice but to face his demise. Im not claiming she was some evil mother, but rather the passing of her child was an event so traumatic that her mind created an alternate reality as a means of self preservation- a defense mechanism. So sad
Exactly. No way she'd assume he left without even once opening his bedroom door in 20 years. She lived in absolute heartbreak but would rather convince herself he was alive somewhere than face the fact he was gone.
And quite likely he feels a bit guilty for not taking him home all the way... But hope he finds relief at thiking, not even his Own Parents were willing to do that. He did so much more... Poor Chris!
Bryce giving away his possessions, breaking up with his girlfriend, being by himself staring off into space for hours all indicate him wanting to end his life. The hours he was staring off into space was him probably thinking of how he should do it, or if he should do it? Maybe thinking of how he'd fix whatever mess he was in if he didn't go through with ending his life. He was obviously thinking of some very heavy stuff, it's really sad he felt taking his life was the only way out.
I really think his parents should have started driving to him as soon as he had been found still sitting in his car the second time. It was only a 3 hour drive 😢
I am one of those who imagine the worst-case scenarios and would have been on my way the moment Bryce's friend had called. I couldn't sit and do nothing. Especially after he had been sitting in the parking lot after being checked on a 2nd time and he still hadn't moved. Thank God for life360. I'd be staring at that crap like crazy.
Sadly agree, I was in a bad place when I was his age. Likely ran out of fuel just thinking and not paying attention when driving. Clever lad, possibly an issue with his studies in some way mixed with depression coming away from alcohol and any other past drugs he may have taken for a period in the past. That story was very sad as relatable.
The car repair man is the kind of man we need more of in this world. Bless him for caring so much… imagine the momentary peace he gave his poor mom just by being an amazing human.
@@j2da didn’t say they don’t/didn’t care but the tow truck guy physically drove out of his way multiple times to check on Bryce when he didn’t have to. Even followed him for over an hour. Bryce’s parents yelled at him and sat around. The tow truck driver objectively did more to tend to Bryce’s wellbeing than they did. Im not inconsiderate, im just looking at the facts
You won't believe that there are people living more than 7500 miles away from you in the foothills of Himalayas and they too are fans of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format. Lots of love and blessings. Have been Listening to you since you started this channel. May you keep growing.
You write very well in English hailing from that geographical location. If you're not an American expat that relocated abroad I'm assuming English is a 2nd language.
Bryce’s story haunts me. He stayed put for so long and his parents were only 3 hours away. They could have driven to him. He was clearly not okay… thoughts like that probably haunts them too.
I can not believe they didn’t just get in the car, they called the police after 9 hours instead of going to find him, then they told him to sleep instead of going to get him, plus everything in between, it baffles me!!
I remember my sister was being bullied at school and our dad refused to change schools, and to move out of our horrible area. My mum eventually listened to her and she went to home school. If that didn’t change she would have done something upsetting.
Bryce story pissed me off : I am 25 and don’t have children.. but I would drive a day and night to get to anyone I love that showed this much instability
This! I kept waiting for her say just stay there, I’ll come get you. Like they were cool with him stopping on the side of the road to sleep in the middle of the night when he was supposedly very close to home. Couldn’t be bothered to just drive that 30 mins/hour to go get him. They were given several chances and passed up every single one. Very frustrating. I feel like it was Bryce’s last cry for help and he was hoping they would come and get him
If I were his parents, I would have hired someone to follow him 24/7 until I got there personally. It would be a nightmare to not know what's happened to my beloved one.
Kayelyn’s family said they think someone did something to her because she appeared upset and talking to someone we can’t see… but she literally called 911 3 times before that, thinking all kinds of things happened that didn’t actually happen. I wonder why her family didn’t seek psychiatric help for her after that. Being tired or sad doesn’t cause auditory and visual hallucinations like that. Bryce was also showing signs of mental illness, and it’s really too bad he didn’t get someone to insist he go and get checked out.
Agreed. As for "the imaginary person" Kayelynn was talking to, her dog is right there in the screen. She is talking dramatically to her doggy and that is common for pet parents.
Maybe Kayelyns roommate was trying to make her seem crazy. She never said she saw them. She said she heard them.🤔 I wonder if they talked to her neighbors next door?
@ShannonR1969 Onset does happen in early adulthood many times. My first thought was co2 poisoning, but the roommate would experience that, too. That's so crazy. How sad.
Bryce’s parents have got to be some of the most delusional parents ever. Your son had his best of friends telling you he’s acting weird, there were so many red flags, and a stranger was actually more than a parent than they were and actually followed him to make sure he was safe. You could’ve made the drive to make sure he was fine and get him but you stayed home and took “I’ll call you guys later” 4 or 5 times and thought nothing of it.
Hindsight is 20/20. I’m guessing they thought he cheated on his gf or got in some trouble and was avoiding them. My little brother did some odd things around that age and it turned out that he has schizophrenia. My mom and I look back now and it all seems so obvious, but the truth is, there is a lot of denial when someone you love starts struggling seemingly out of nowhere. Your mind makes up a million excuses.
@@cocoleevsure hindsight is 20/20 but when your son says he driving home and is found 11 hours later still sitting in a parking lot just staring out into space…. That’s a humoungous red flag that doesn’t require time travel to see how crazy it is.
@cocoleev that's a weak excuse. We're talking about their son, who's clearly acting depressed. Even if they couldn't fathom self-ending harm, they could fathom he was behaving extremely bizarre. The parents were less than 3 hrs away but continued to play phone pong instead of making a physical effort to fetch him.
Sean, Kim, and Christopher sound like amazing human beings. It takes a considerable amount of strange behavior for a college student to be willing to call their friend's parents and tell them something is wrong. It's obvious they really cared about Bryce for them to do that. And Christopher! To go out multiple times, communicate with his parents, and then follow him all that way! Just wow! He did all that for strangers. That just shows that he is an incrediblely compassionate and respectful person.
Yeah, I had to make that call when my friend was having a psychotic break and I knew she would hate me for it, but I begged her mom to fly into our city because her daughter needed help. She never fully trusted me after that but she also never got better. Had to cut her off because she was causing me so much stress that I started breaking down too
Bryce’s story aggravated me how many signs did his parents need. He should have never gotten his keys back from Kim or put a 5150 hold on him at some point until they could have flown down. SOMETHING !!
I have a hard time believing that Rita did not know that her son was dead in his room for 20 years… She probably knew and that’s why she cut everyone off because most people would recgonize the smell. (I don’t know if she was severly mentally ill and did not want them to take his body, but her sister in law found him pretty quickly.) I doubt a mother who is sad her son left would not check his room. I find her story very hard to believe.
I'd say she def had other issues ... no one, whose child goes to bed one night and doesn't get up the next morning, automatically assumes they up and left during the night. Even someone who's blind would go in their room and check. Def not normal. The smell thing tho, if she was a really bad hoarder, it literally could've just mixed with the rest of the smells she'd gone nose blind to
I’ve heard Bryce’s story before. Years ago. Now I’m a father to a little boy, but I’ll be damned if he is EVER too old for me to come out and drive out to him if he showed these signs. I hate to be harsh on Bryce’s parents, and I can’t say I have ever been in their shoes, but YIKES - all of the bullfighters in the history of the world would not stack up against that amount of red flags!!!
His dad shouldn’t have insisted on the GF giving him his keys back. The mom, GF, and his buddy all knew he was in a bad way. Poor guy has to live with that for the rest of his life.
@@CrayonMuncher8people did. His buddy and GF knew something was off. His mom also sensed something wasn’t right. His dad insisted on the GF giving his son his keys back.
I think maybe the death of her son made her go into a depressive state to the point she cut everyone off and did not want anyone to take him away from her. There is no way she didn’t check his room when he left suddenly. Not to mention when mum’s loose their children in any situation they keep their room like a shrine to go into to be enveloped in their children. She would have gone in at least once in those twenty years.
There has to be something more with Rita's story. If your adult child disappears, the first place you'll check is their room. It's so strange that she never once went in to see if he was on there, it's even stranger that she assumed he left because he hated her when he had never even shown any signs or actions of not liking her, instead shown a ton of love towards her. She seems very mentally ill, or mentally challenged in some way.
I believe she knew he was dead..but was so shocked and hurt she just mentally broke and in her mind he just left her ...maybe that was easier than facing the fact he was dead...
What’s shocking about Bryce’s story is his parents! If my son who’s 25 had shown all these issues n wouldn’t want to come home to me I would become insane. After all those attempts of reaching out and failing all I would get my ass right in the car and get him from wherever he’s at. Even though my car is old I don’t care, all I want is to go get him. These 2 parents just yelled at him every time he talked to them. No wonder he didn’t want to go home!
I'm sure the guilt really gets to them, but they trusted their son to drive home. Everyone is different and they knew their son better than we do just by this story. Maybe think about how you would feel to be judged by strangers when a story gets told about you or your loved one.
Do they really know their son though? Seems like his friends knew him more than them. So many red flags and they took everything he said to them as the truth.
If Kayelyn was in her 20s when this happened, she very well could have had a psychotic episode due to schizophrenia. That's usually when it starts (my uncle was 27), and paranoid delusions and hallucinations are common. And considering what happened with her brother, it's certainly likely there was some kind of underlying mental illness in the family. People don't generally abuse drugs that severely unless they're dealing with some serious trauma or mental illness or both.
@ I said "people don't generally abuse drugs that severely," not "people never abuse drugs." It's well-documented that heavy abuse of alcohol and drugs is much more common in people struggling with mental disorders and/or trauma. Does that mean it never happens in well-adjusted, "normal" folks? No, and I didn't say it doesn't.
Kayelyn Louder’s case gives me such a bad feeling. Yes, I do think there was some mental illness at play. I feel like some other element has to be in play in this case as well, though. Her passing away just doesn’t make any sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that in her panicked state she slipped in the drainage ditch and hit her head. I was going to say maybe she drowned, but professionals seem pretty sure that drowning was not the cause. Maybe she just got a really bad head injury. It’s just very peculiar how this all transpired. That video footage of her talking to herself before she vanished is nothing short of terrifying. Pure nightmare fuel. Her roommate says she was seeing people in the apartment that were not there; that is why I believe there is a mental illness aspect to what happened here. What is very bizarre to me is how she got so far while barefoot and not a single witness said they saw her running at all. She was found many miles away. It was daylight out. The whole case is super eerie. For her to have a mental break, call the police, and pass away all within a few hours is insane. I honestly cannot explain how she passed away other than maybe she slipped and that caused a major head injury. I know it took them just under 10 weeks to find her, but it’s odd to me that they couldn’t find any signs at all as to what happened to her. Everything about this case is bizarre. Every time I think of a theory, some other aspect of the case makes me realize that the theory doesn’t fit. I just don't know what to make of her case.
I wish there were more stories. There's millions of them out there. i understand the need to redo some of your videos, but please make more new ones. The strange dark and mysterious makes my day!
First story, she definitely knew. You can’t convince me during all those years (especially a couple days in) she didn’t check his room. That explains why she cut contact with her family so they wouldn’t take his body away bc then she really would have to accept his death.
Did you not listen, it stated she was almost blind, she would not have seen him. Also, if she hoarded stuff, i.e food that rotted, she would not have smelt his body decomposing.
That's what I think, too. It's pretty obvious that she knew he died or killed himself and left a note for her. She couldn't accept the truth and, like you said, didn't want to be taken away from him or have the police involved or even have anyone know he killed himself. I cannot believe she *never* opened the door. Where's the evidence? How can they prove that she never went in after 20 years have gone by.
Hoarders will live with the dead animals they owned because they can’t see them or smell them. In this case, she’s a hoarder and blind, that’s a hell of a combo
In the first story about Rita, when the EMT's arrived to save her, did they not notice a foul smell and report it to police? The story about Bryce and his parents is so frustrating. All day long his parents knew he had been not truthful with them and yet when he was only 3 hours from home, instead of going to Buttonwillow themselves and getting him, they just allowed the charade to go on involving more people.
I mean it's a 20 year old body that's been laying out in the open and untreated the entire time, there's likly not much material left to produce a smell of it's own. At least not strong enough to break though an entire house of rot @ebayerr
My husband committed s**cide when he was 27 and our son was 6 weeks old. We had been married for a year and a half and had been together for 7 years. I HAD NO IDEA what happened when he disappeared and the idea that he had k**led himself NEVER occurred to me in the 2 weeks it took to find his b*dy. A detailed note was found with him, and it explained it all. I count myself lucky that he was found. You never know what is in someone's mind and heart. My only clue was him just repeatedly saying "I am just tired'. Please hold your loved ones close and stay vigilant.
@@moonspun4evr We are both RNs so it was somewhat medical in nature and the note was addressed to the coroner and to me. He stated that he had been experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations since childhood. He also went on to say that our son was him and to 'teach him to control his gift before he succumbed to it' (whatever that means). He also wrote that the stressors of the job were a huge part of it and how awful the 'old guard' nurses were etc. The irony was that he was so loved by all the staff that following his death all the nurses put money together to install a beautiful painting in the ward as a memorial to him which is still there to this day. My point in sharing this is the hope that it saves someone's life - s**cide is NEVER the answer and if a loved one is acting 'weird' keep the possibility of mental ill-health in your mind regardless of what they say
As a person suffering from depression, time can go by real slow when nothing interests you. But MrBallens uploads makes time pass quick and I enjoy myself again. Thanks MrBallen, you have helped me out a lot.
It's funny you say that because I can measure my level of depression by whether or not MrBallen captures my interest. If I don't want to watch then things are really bad. And unfortunately that happens regularly.
@R.J.MacReady1982 Sometimes when you're depressed, you have to rely on whatever you can to make you feel anything. I'm depressed and I feel a bit better after watching his videos. Makes me feel a bit less alone and gives me something to think about. Of course it helps that he has so many videos lol.
As a person with diagnosed major depressive disorder, i concur that Mr Ballen should be a part of your prescription and treatment 🥰💕🫶 you aren’t alone!
❤❤❤. Thank you for this episode! I woke up at 3am with incredible pain from a pinched nerve in my back and after struggling to make my coffee I climb back in bed to enjoy said coffee and found this video! What a treat, thank you❤
You're a good man, Mr. John B Allen. One day, a video you post will unite a family with a loved one, if not already. Im sure you inspire and help many people outside of the awesome stories we look forward to every week. Thank you so very much. Also, thank you for your service
Christian is a stud. Sir, if you see this, please do not feel bad about any of this. You went so far and beyond that it’s unreal. Sir, you are a good human and I hope you are still out there helping folks. Not all heroes wear capes and not all circumstances turn out happy.
What if he had something to do with his disappearance and was just messing with the parents? Watch the movie Breakdown with Kurt Russell. That's exactly what happen.
This is what confuses me about Bryce. Mom could have stayed home, Dad could have drove to Bryce. Obviously he wasn't leaving and they had ample time to drive to him.
@@ruthtilleard yeah cuz he wanted to end his life clearly, but mom n dad should’ve actually did their job and go get their kid. my mom to this day wouldn’t have waited any longer than an hr and i’m 24
@@0ErikaAir0 it was so annoying. like esp after the first time he chose not to leave. i would’ve left as soon as i got both phone calls of him acting weird from two diff ppl 🤷🏾♂️
@@iamcharles.s 100% agree with you. I’ve read about this case and know a lot about it. I actually think something was going on at home and that’s why he didn’t want to go. There are claims there was some SA going on and that’s what he wanted to talk to his Mum about but he was too scared. I have heard something was going on with the dad last time he visited….
God bless Kim and Shawn for doing the right thing by trying to get Bryce the help that he needed from his parents. Sometimes, it's very difficult to reach out to a friend/ex-boyfriend's parents, especially if they are college age. Christian, you are a wonderful, kind and caring human being. You ALL went above and beyond to try to help Bryce and his parents. ❤
I would love for you to cover a local missing person from Alberta Canada…in which the case is so bizarre… his name is Marshall Iwasa. He went missing in 2018 I believe and the manner in which he went missing is truly weird… plus his family and friends who include my close friends are devastated.
2:43 oh hey. How about that. It’s me! 30yo with Parkinson’s. Save myself daily, I’m alone and they won’t assign a caretaker. You’ve kept me company daily even rewatching stories… is it four years now?
Original comment was salty… so then I left this- Trying to reframe sorry: I am 30 w Parkinson’s and thankful that you’re still here and still doing this. You’ve kept me great company for the last, what’s it going to be, four years now?
Parkinson's at age 30? Wow, I'm sorry, that's rough! My grandpa died from Parkinson's. He was diagnosed in his mid-40s, which is considered early onset. (Average age of diagnosis with Parkinson's is 60). He had a family history; his mom also died from Parkinson's, and my great uncle also has it. They were also exposed to chemicals (they lived next to an orchard growing up), so that might also be a factor. My grandpa was only 64 when he passed away. He fell in the bathroom and was stuck on the floor for several hours (he had a Life Alert necklace, but his hands were pinned behind his back, so he couldn't reach it). He developed rhabdomyolysis which caused kidney failure which in turn caused multi-organ failure, and we decided to take him off of life support. I was 18 when he died, and I miss him every single day. This was back in 2008. They have much, much better treatments nowadays. If he had been diagnosed even a few years later, I think it's possible he would have lived much longer. Anyway, I'm so sorry to hear you are dealing with this condition at such a young age. I'm a nurse, and I know how terrible our healthcare system is for people with chronic conditions, especially young people. Providers are dismissive, insurance won't cover necessary care, you have to fight for every scrap of dignity, and it's not ok.
The internet tea on this one from people who supposedly knew him (reddit so you never know) was his relationship with his family wasn't as nice as it appeared and he disappeared on purpose. Idk it's just what I read when I looked into it a couple years ago.
@@kyradebruin9522This is my belief too. I don't want to say bad things about anyone but it seems his parents were making him miserable and it wasn't a new thing.
I've seen a lot of hoarding shows. Most of them fill up any empty space, even the rooms of children living with them. You'd think she would have started to put hoard in his room. Or, why didn't she go in his room to say 'good morning,' or just check it out at some point. My grown son lived with me and I can't imagine not looking in the room or at least expecting him to come in the kitchen looking for food. It wouldn't take me long to notice he wasn't around.
This is just one of many stories that I've heard about people not being aware that someone was dead in their house. Typically they are indeed hoarder houses. Which smell pretty bad in a plethora of ways. Without even having dead bodies in them.
Having smelled a dead and decaying body before, I can tell you that house must’ve smelled overwhelmingly horrible to not notice. I can’t even imagine. 🤢
Poor Bryce's parents, not knowing what happened must be awful. That is the age many young men develop schizophrenia and it begins to show with the stress of college. My son suffered from extreme depression and anxiety shortly after arriving to college. His Dad and I took turns going to the college 2 to 3 times per week just to lay eyes on him and support him. Bryce had really good friends who saw that he was in trouble, and reached out to his family. I hope his parents find some answers eventually ❤
I know what you mean I mainly listen to him bailey sarian ewu and Christina Randall and when those 4 don't have anything new I binge old stuff. So I get the boring part lol 😂
One of the things that we learned in Suicide Awareness training was that when somebody starts giving their things away it's a big warning sign that they need serious help. The worst thing you can do is deny the possibility of suicide. The logic that if you don't talk about it then they won't think about it is BS. Talking about it will NOT put the idea into their head because it's already in their head. Getting mad at them is not helpful either. You'd be surprised how many suicidal people will be saved just by having somebody let them know that they're not alone.
Honestly, Mr. Ballen, you could re upload every single video you’ve ever made, and I’d still be hooked from start to finish. I’d watch you read the phone book at this point… yes “phone book” im old haha
I remember my family had a phone book when I was little and I used to ask my dad about it and I remember he'd look at the pages with me we never used it tho. I wonder where it went we don't have it anymore idk why but I kinda miss it
Poor Bryce - so many red flags. He was obviously having some sort of breakdown, and the parents were only 3 hours away. There's no way IN HELL I'd want my child driving a car while in that state! I'd have jumped in my car immediately and gone to pick him up. 3 hours is nothing compared to never seeing your child again. Still, I can't imagine the guilt they feel for not going to get him. It's a horrible end to an incredibly difficult situation.
I feel like the story of Bryce is a clear sign a mental or emotional trauma. Something happened to him where it lead him into an existential crisis. Not many people have the ability to see and stare into nothingness for hours, typically individuals that do are going through a major sense of numbness or extreme depression where their minds go blank. The fact that he said he was leaving and continued to lie and then just sit there doesn’t show odd behavior. It was intentional, almost like he was contemplating suicide or some issue it his life. Weirdly enough there is normal behavior for individuals that have something extremely stressful going on in their lives. This also doesn’t seem like something new, but something he’s been hiding for a long time. If he intentionally crashed his car, it could be two things either he wanted to kill himself or disappear. My guess is that he could have taken some substance in that two week period where he has lost his mind and began to go through some level of mental insanity due to the stress or major change in beliefs. Since he never technically died, there could be a very real possibility that he left his family in search for some spiritual purpose hence the removal of all material possessions. Clearly what ever it is a suicide or something else, it clearly had a purpose for him to crash the car. Quite an interesting story.
The first story: Are we sure the mother didn’t say “my boy, he’s gone” or “my son left me”, as in ‘he’s dead.’ But the family always assumed it meant he literally left.. She never talked to anyone for them to get further explanation. It would explain why she cut off contact because ‘they wouldn’t understand.’ 20 years later in isolation- I could see her being shocked to hear he’s dead because who knows what her mind did to eventually block out that pain.
The girl that kept calling 911 was for sure having a psychotic break. The video looks similar to Elisa Lam elevator video. Also the story of Bryce just make me so mad. He’s 2 hours away from home and his parents can’t get in the car and go get him themselves 🤬
They are rich af if they live in Laguna, could have hired a driver to take them there the minute he was in Buttonwillow, or before, but by then they were convinced he was in trouble so go to him and help.
@@amyjs1987 but by the time he was in Buttonwillow he had said he was on his way like 2-3 times, but didn’t go anywhere. That would have been enough for me.
@@amyjs1987He said he would be leaving soon after displaying so many red flags for being suicidal and that didn’t raise a death flag for them? How oblivious can some people be?! He said he would be “leaving soon” as in he was likely still contemplating suicide, he didn’t immediately say “I’ll be home soon” or “see you soon” he was being purposefully evasive (hence why he wouldn’t give them landmarks so they couldn’t retrace his steps and find his body). He knew he wasn’t going back one way or another. He probably decided to hitchhike as far as possible with what little cash (untraceable currency) he had on hand following his failed attempt. My best guess is he owed someone a lot of money, felt he couldn’t ask his parents for help, and the people he owed money to likely threatened to harm him or his loved ones so he purposely cut ties with them to keep them safe.
Sometimes the signs we see of someone who is suicidal aren’t really a cry for help but a person’s sheer determination to leave this would with as small a footprint as possible so that the burden of their passing is not as deep as the those left behind’s desire to cling to hope. If he had given them landmarks and they had retraced his steps and found his body they would have been left with such grief that they hadn’t done enough, had somehow failed their son, and those negative thoughts would have overshadowed his memory and kept them from enjoying life and possibly destroyed them, at least without a body they can still cling to the hope that he’s still out there, maybe he’s started a new life and is happier now than he was before, maybe he will return someday, maybe they’ll be able to find peace sooner without that certainty (in that way he can still be their little boy with a home to come back to rather than a dead addict who they’ve failed) 🥺
I always used to watch yer videos during my lunch break when i worked at a sushi restaurant and now everytime i hear yer voice i start craving steak and rice lol
I'm of work at the moment due to awful mental health and as ive been struggling I've been binge watching your videos they help keep my mind occupied you're such an amazing story teller and theres just something about the videos that keep me coming back, thankyou Mr Ballen you're pretty cool 💛
By the second time the cops stopped him I’d say there was a reasonable suspicion that Bryce was a danger to himself or others. Especially after Christian came back and saw him again. 42:21
As a parent myself, I would have driven over to where Bryce was. I mean, come on, that was only 2 fricking hours away. What horrible lazy parents. 🤬🤬🤬 God bless Christian for the effort he made, effort which Bryce's parents should have exerted themselves. It's sad to think that Christian would partially blame himself for the tragedy for not seeing Bryce home all the way through.
Imagine a house so filthy and smelly that a decaying body doesn’t register! The amount of insects and vermin must have been insane. Kaylynn was definitely mentally ill. I’d bet her family saw early signs they didn’t understand or ignored being in denial. She probably hid in that drainage pipe, not drinking the filthy water until she died of dehydration. Her family is grasping at straws thinking someone was after her. Her three delusions in the previous 24 hours are proof she was mentally ill. It does tend to run in families. As soon as Bryce gave away his stuff and broke up with his girlfriend, I was worried he was suicidal. It’s classic pre-suicidal behaviour. When he was just sitting there phased out, he was debating if he was going to attempt suicide or not. His drug and alcohol abuse was him self-medicating. His parents are just in denial. Christian was an angel to follow Bryce for so long.
idk, i dont really believe that she didnt know, what about the smell? and if she missed her son so much why did she not once in 20 years go into his room
@@marthataterka9364that's what I'm saying there's no way someone doesn't know, the smell after he died would be unbearable... something doesn't add up.
The car repairman is the type of man that the world needs more of. Bless him for caring so much. Imagine the momentary peace he brought his poor mother simply by being an amazing human.
@venusbb9 word for word. I came here to say the same thing. Pitiful desperate people looking for likes for no reason at all...they don't even get paid to put in the work of being so desperate. I don't get it. Maybe it's a bot.
Request: if you haven’t done it already you NEED to do the Brandon Swanson case. Very similar to Bryce’s story and completely unsolved. I have my theories but I want to hear yours
The key takeaway from Bryce's story for me is this: when someone is unstable or acting off, you don't ASK THEM to do things (like calling home, driving, etc). Instead, you just have someone watch over them, keep an eye and make sure they don't do anything stupid, while you DO things for them (if you care about them, by reaching out, thoughtful gestures, caring for them, cooking, driving to get them, etc). There is a subtle difference here than can make a difference: the person who might think of ending everything and is acting erratically might, maybe, rethink their actions once they FEEL CARED FOR, and see how others love them. Of course, if they hate themselves too much, they might not give others a chance to even do this by not showing any 'off signs', but in this case with Bryce, where he was perhaps contemplating whether or not to go ahead with his plan, this simple caring action could have made a difference to his thought process and approach, maybe.
I finally get to see a fresh new video by MrBallen right after he posts. I am currently becoming sober and living in a sober home and watching these videos helps me stay distracted from cravings. ❤
3 years ago, I found this channel while I was detoxing in a hospital. Without this channel and these stories, I would have gone nuts. I am sure right now you may be scared or have doubts, but just know that there are people out there that care about you. You are not alone, and if u ever need a pep talk, I'm here.
Sounded like dissociative fugue to me. Loss of identity (can’t remember her name or important autobiographical information when asked), inability to recognize people and problems with memory (such as the story about the possible intruders with keys), unexplained tendency to wander or travel (abandoning the dog and running off), without any signs of drug abuse or a history of mental illness. I wonder if they checked her brain for a ruptured aneurysm or other abnormalities that could have explained her sudden death and abnormal behavior.
@ She could have died suddenly while walking/running and rolled into the river when she fell over. Shallow doesn’t mean you can’t float or runoff can’t sweep you away if you’re already dead.
Bryce's story irritated me: I am 21 years old and do not have children, but I would drive all day and night to get to anyone I care about who exhibited such instability.
Nah Bryce was just trying to stick up for himself against an over controlling narcissistic family. It's amazing how they even recruited that mechanic to follow him in his car for over an hour. He did need a better plan though but yeah he never intended to go home. Of course they would say he's been behaving erratically to the cops to get them on their side. Poor guy. But at least he got out in the end.
I agree. I have 3 kids and if I know they're going through some big shit to the point of abusing alcohol and drugs and acting strangely, I'm not expecting them to be driving 3 hours to come to me, I'm getting in the car and going
@@MultiChrisjbthere was nothing in the story to indicate any over controlling or narcissistic tendencies. what makes you say that? they told the mechanic not to worry about it but the mechanic went back on his own and followed him on his own from what we know. and they don’t really need the police to be ‘on their side’ for a wellness check. the cops didn’t take him into custody or force him to do anything. how did you arrive at the conclusion that he had to ‘escape’ from his parents?
I feel like I can speak for all of us when I say that it's an honor watching you grow making your videos. Its an honor of watching your old videos and seeing the change in not only your productions but in yourself . We love you Mr Ballen!!! Your #1 savagemonroee 😊
I really, truly enjoy your podcast, Mr. Ballen. It has been quite enjoyable to discover and listen to a modern day storyteller/griot/bard; become so great at their craft! That being said... To all of the people trashing the mom in the first story: I implore you to search deep within yourself and ask yourself, what is lacking in you that the first place you went to, instead of sympathy for a woman that lost their child was to blame. Lines from a movie years ago which stuck with me to this day, goes something like this: "No parent should ever have to live to bury their children..." "Why?" "Because, it is an unnatural thing for a parent to outlive their child." Which leads me to all of the people blaming Bryce's parents. To every one of you; and I do mean every single one of you: I won't say, curse you all to have to live that kind of nightmare only to have strangers on the internet judge you (which has to sting, since it's your loss, not theirs). No, I won't say that... But, I will say, shame on you. Shame on you! You all want to applaud the car repairman (and, indeed he deserves it), but at the same time, demonize the parents. I take it none of you paid attention to the part where the cop also believed Bryce was perfectly fine, believed his stories, and left him there. A cop! As for the repair man caring more... Ever think maybe he had to suffer some type of trauma close to what was about to happen, in order to better able see the signs versus the parents (and, other people involved; not his parents, who also didn't do as you people put it "do more" i.e. the rommate, best friend, girlfriend... I mean as a few hours prior ex-girlfriend) who have no experience with signs of trauma, at all? No... Instead, all of you, armchair psychiatrist sitting here anonymously on the net, saying what is textbook this and textbook that; and none of you have probably even read an actual textbook on the subject. I can say there is something textbook about that... But, I don't think you guys want to hear it. It would be rude of me to say out loud. And, I am not as heartless as some of you. Besides, I was taught, if you can't say something nice, then say nothing at all! Truthfully, Mr. Ballen, sometimes I think the comment section needs a bigger ttigger warning, than the strange dark and mysterious stories you tell... That's not so much a comment on your wonderful page and podcast, as it is a sad commentary on society. I exclude myself not from that dreadful characterization either. As I am not immune to being trauma triggered myself. 🫶🏾
The first story (Rita Wolfensohn's) was absolutely heartbreaking. Years of needless suffering and isolation caused by assumptions, depression, and self-loathing. We often make bad decisions, based on our assumptions that are completely erroneous, and sometimes weren't even ABOUT us. How could it never have occurred to Rita to report her son missing - not even to family? Did she think anyone coming to investigate would judge and blame her? So many things could have happened to him (as fans of MrBallen know better than anyone). Had she forced herself to report he was missing, the mystery could have been solved immediately.
@@lilafeldman8630 Of course. Hoarding itself is a mental disorder, and they usually have other problems tied in. I've seen videos here on YT that would bring you to tears, because the illness and suffering are so extreme. The hoarders and their families suffer.
40:40 (regarding when Bryce’s mom tells the repair man he doesn’t have to go to the parking lot to ensure Bryce left) : A complete STRANGER who, despite Bryce’s MOM telling him that he didn’t have to, went BACK a 2nd time to make sure Bryce left. And then DROVE BEHIND HIM FOR AN HOUR. That man had more intuition than Bryce’s own Mom that something was wrong. How on earth did Bryce’s own Mom believe him when he said was going to leave the rest stop, and yet a complete stranger had the gut feeling that he likely didn’t and went to go check again. My Brother ended his own life, and he gave us NO indication that anything was wrong. Didn’t give anything away, didn’t love bomb any of us, NOTHING… I’d give ANYTHING to have gotten EVEN HALF as many warnings as Bryce gave his parents.
#2 story boils my blood listening to these parents be soooo neglecting especially at the beginning. Even when everyone around their kid is telling them their son is not himself, yet they urge him be alone, drive, while hes consistently showing signs of mental instability. Just wow. Very dumb.
1:02 MrBallen you're an amazing inspiration to me! We go to bed watching you every night. Thank you and I am proud of what you and your family have been able to accomplish with your now business! Great job, great story, great inspiration!!!
Middle of the week upload!?!? Am I dreaming!? And no one ever went into that room for that whole time? Thats truly wild man. Life truly is stranger than fiction sometimes, thats why when I hear insane stories that ppl are so quick to dismiss, I'm not so quick to dismiss myself anymore lol.
Okay, hear me out: Sacramento International Airport is only about 45 minutes from Rocklin. The closest airport to Languna Niguel is John Wayne. The flight from anywhere in LA to Sac is 1.5 hours (if it's non-stop). On weekdays, there's a flight from John Wayne to Sac every 2.5 hours (nonstop) or 1 hour (stopover). His parents *maybe* could have flown to him and gotten there in time, but they would've had to leave immediately. But, it's only 178 miles from Buttonwillow to Laguna Niguel. And the section of I-5 Buttonwillow is located on was 70 mph back then. His parents could've driven UP to Buttonwillow in under three hours, easy. (It's longer driving south than north because southbound traffic over the Grapevine is always slower). And, I'm sorry, but how could anyone miss that giving away your most important stuff and ending close relationships are two very clear indicators of self-eliminating behavior? Whatever happened to Bryce happened before he even went back to Rocklin and he never told anyone and never dealt with it. Poor guy.
That's assuming you can even get on the plane, land, and rent a car and start driving within within a three hour period which I think is highly unlikely. Personally, I would have just started driving with another family member and told my wife to stay home in case he showed up.
25:44 I want to clarify exactly what "Vyvanse" is, as it isn't as well known as other drugs in its class. It is a powerful type of "Amphetamine" that is similar to "Adderall" but it is slower to release and lasts longer. When people with ADHD take these kinds of drugs it only makes them feel normal and balances out their body chemistry to a natural state. But taking these without any medical reason is so much more dangerous than people realize. It's not as ridiculous as crystal meth / Methamphetamine, but it does produce similar problems. One such problem is hallucinations/delusions. When taking amphetamines you don't get tired and ppl often stay up all night. Doing this ONCE is no big deal, but if a person keeps taking more and stays up longer they will begin to hallucinate and it's so dangerous 😢. Even IF they try to sleep they physically cannot enter the phase of sleep that people need and it'll be no different than if they had just stayed up. Ppl tend not to take these drugs seriously, but that's such a mistake. They are DANGEROUS
I personally don't believe Rita didn't know her son was dead and in the bedroom but probably her grief and the fact that it was easier to believe that he Left her so she just never wanted to acknowledge that he was in his bedroom and that's why she never went in there again and kept the door shut for years.
That first story is utterly heartbreaking. As for Bryce, jeez, how much clearer did he have to make it that he was suicidal? The big question is, what sent him into that spin?
I have be a fan for almost three years... the very same 3 years I striked hard to become an A student. I am in my last semester here at my Junior College and use some tips from how you place yourself in presenting to use in my own presentation and it has help me a lot❤... hopefully you'll see this comment... I thank you very much for the strange, dark and mysterious😊🥰
@@BarbJohnson-pl3qd AND??? You saying blind people don't know how to check on their kids???? btw, she was only "legally" blind which means she could still find her way around with limited visibility.
The scariest part of this, is, if you ever were prescribed vyvanse, this all sounds really familiar. He hadn’t slept in days. Time starts to melt away. Sitting and staring at idle is part of the psychosis. I’ve been there
I’ve stayed up for days on that stuff, never once had a psychotic episode, but your brain stops braining after a while. I’d just sit and play RuneScape, not eating and only taking bathroom breaks. Fun times, actually. I kinda miss my old script.
I take Vyvanse (prescribed) and I've never dealt w any of that? I guess maybe if it's a huge dose. But if you're truly prescribed it it shouldn't work that way I don't think?
@@Jules222Byeah if you’re taking far more than prescribed it’s different. Also.. if you actually need the medication prescribed by a doctor.. they most certainly affect your brain differently than someone who doesn’t actually need it
@Jules222B If you take it as prescribed, it won’t do that. Normally you’re started on a low dose and it’s slowly titrated up to the dose that works for you, but taking it every day also causes your body to become tolerant to it so it takes higher doses to achieve the same effect over time which is why your prescriber asks you how it’s working every time you go in for a refill. In someone with little to no tolerance, a 70mg capsule (which is roughly equivalent to 30mg of dextroamphetamine or 35mg of Adderall) will get them pretty amped up. Vyvanse also lasts longer since it’s chemically dextroamphetamine bound to an L-lysine amino acid group, which is enzymatically cleaved in red blood cells essentially creating a biological extended-release effect which theoretically reduces the risk of abuse.
I can't tell from the comments if some folks don't know the first story is new or they can tell but still don't like me uploading compilations. Believe it or not, compilations bring new viewers to the channel more than anything else. But if the new story isn't worth knowing it's followed by old ones, should I just consider stopping this monthly program?
Don't mind them, we love it ❤
nooo its awesome ❤️❤️
Nono i actually enjoy this series because i had never actually come across the last 2 videos despite binge watching your entire channel. Please continue this series its amazing🙏
I like the compilations! It’s how I found your channel a few weeks ago. I’ve been binge watching ever since. 😂
You create a fine art in what you do. I think the compilations are great for recaps aswel as renewed awareness for cases such as Bryces. My almost favourite storyteller :p keep up the great work!!
The parents should have gone immediately to go check on Bryce. They were told over and over he wasn't acting normally, even by someone who didn't know him.
Actually, people who didn't know him said that he acted in a normal way.
@@sarahmurphy7838 then again, I feel like the fact that the mechanic went so far to make sure Bryce was okay, surely he must’ve felt something being off as well
When the parents called the police to check on him they should’ve told them the signs they noticed. They may have noticed more with that information
100% it was starting to bother me when they kept getting called back by a stranger and then cops and his parents begged him 3 times to leave that little town and come home and every time he stayed put. Obviously something was wrong plus his girlfriend and best friend both called the parents with concern like jeez go get your son. I was starting to get upset.
My parents gave up some do... I overdosed 8 times and somehow was saved and narcaned every time and saved they didn't even cry when I tried after the 4th time. I'm 1 year 2 months sober I don't talk to my parents the same they gave up on me and ruined my life and beat me growing up.
Bryce Parents - 3 hours away and I would've sent my husband to Buttonwherever while I stayed on the phone with Bryce. I would've asked the police to secure the car or tow it and take him to the station ... we are on our way. Hindsight is 20/20. God Bless them all.
Buttonwherever 😂😂 but yeah fr
I agree with you 100% but unfortunately the police would not have been able to do that with Bryce not exhibiting any actual violence or danger. They probably wanted to do more but aren’t allowed to if the individual is an adult who says they don’t need help. He’d have to be driving under the influence or making clear threats to himself or others for them to do that. But I absolutely agree they should have tried to get to him and maybe get the auto repair guy Christian to stop him leaving somehow, like deflate a tire while he’s stopped there
I was giving them benefit of the doubt until narrator said police found him in the hotel. That is definitely when they should have driven to him because by then there were too many signs that something is not right AND they knew his location exactly. (edit: omg, I spoke too soon!! The repair guy told them he had not left and they still didn't go to him !!!! he was two hours away at that point!!!)
@@sl4teddy1yea, if authorities couldn't help then pay the auto shop guy to look for him till they get there.
Heck,if they're so lazy then pay more for someone to drive their son home safely
@@sl4teddy1Yeah you have a point. I THINK if they explained he had BEEN exhibiting MENTAL HEALTH issues, they could have gotten him on a 5150 for 24 hours. He was driving his parent's car so they could have said they didn't feel SAFE with him driving their car. I used to work LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH and it just seems like more could have been done over ALL THOSE HOURS. But hindsight is 20/20
Bryce's story was filled with signs. Giving away his belongings, acting strangely, breaking up with his girlfriend, and driving in strange ways. As friends, siblings, parents, coworkers, and everyone else, we must begin to learn how to recognize these warning signs and take appropriate action. It only takes eight minutes to make someone feel less alone. I am not blaming the parents, but I wish things had turned out differently for Bryce and others with similar stories. I know how it feels to reach that point. Yes, there are times when you can't persuade someone to change their mind. Most of the time, you can.
Yes. So sad. I kept getting the feeling that Bryce had an epiphany and realising that his life needed to change. He left that nowhere life behind and then he took the longest time to go home, delaying telling his parents, dreading it even, wondering to how they will react. Maybe he was gay or something..... been living a lie, conceited with drugs and alcohol and was about to tell some truths that would upset others....then decided to just do away with himself instead and not deal, but survived and hitchec on a truck to start the new life. So sad for his parents. It could be they are better off wondering...than knowing the actual facts. 🤔
@@Grace_Ously it is a bot
You are a beautiful woman
@@smug2267 so sweet, thank u
@@smug2267 bro that is a freaking bot. check the bio
I heard Bryce's story a few years ago and felt bad for the parents who kept waiting. Now I have a son, and I'm mad at Bryce's parents because why are you just sitting at home telling your son to just come!!! Go get him!!!! Gooooo omg
That is what I think every time! One of them should have left home to meet him after the first call they had. And to basically blow off what his roommate and girlfriend were saying. I blame them so much!!
This, especially after they got the message that he was still at the lot.
Fr they had a chance to save him@@Streganicha
I agree. The first time I heard this story I was upset the parents didn’t go. There was something obviously wrong or not normal from the first call they received from his friend and ex.
I agree, if two people said he wasn’t himself before he left the apartment I wouldn’t of told them to give him his keys and the second the police confirmed he was still in the parking lot I would’ve told them to keep an eye on him I’m coming to get him and bring him home myself
Rita 100% knew her son was deceased. It explains why she cut everyone off. She didn’t want anyone else to discover his remains because she would have no choice but to face his demise. Im not claiming she was some evil mother, but rather the passing of her child was an event so traumatic that her mind created an alternate reality as a means of self preservation- a defense mechanism. So sad
Same thing I said.
I thought something similar. I wonder since she's a hoarder if she was scared they would take his body because in a weird way he was still with her.
You've never dealt with Alzheimer's
Exactly. No way she'd assume he left without even once opening his bedroom door in 20 years. She lived in absolute heartbreak but would rather convince herself he was alive somewhere than face the fact he was gone.
Yes. That's what I thought. Also the smell afterwards would have been telling.
Christian the auto guy was a real one. Totally above and beyond.
Wassup baby girl
And quite likely he feels a bit guilty for not taking him home all the way... But hope he finds relief at thiking, not even his Own Parents were willing to do that. He did so much more... Poor Chris!
Too good to be real.. i find him to be a bit sus but thats me
hope he's doing alright where ever he is
@@Rizz_guy so sad
Bryce: **acting mega weird 3 hrs away**
Mom & Dad: Stop it. Come home.
Bryce: continues to act weird 9 hrs later.
Mom & Dad:Stop it. Come home.
Bryce: continues to act weird 12 hrs later.
Mom & Dad:Stop it. Come home.
Bryce: continues to act weird 16 hrs later.
Mom & Dad:Stop it. Come home.
Bryce: Vanishes forever.
Mom & Dad: Welp...
driving while on drugs/mental illness is a genius idea
Right?! Like they could have just driven the 3 hours to get him home safe….
Bryce is stupid
That guy Christian was more concerned about Bryce than his own parents
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Most people arent given one opportunity. They were given several with blatant red flags
Bryce giving away his possessions, breaking up with his girlfriend, being by himself staring off into space for hours all indicate him wanting to end his life. The hours he was staring off into space was him probably thinking of how he should do it, or if he should do it? Maybe thinking of how he'd fix whatever mess he was in if he didn't go through with ending his life. He was obviously thinking of some very heavy stuff, it's really sad he felt taking his life was the only way out.
I really think his parents should have started driving to him as soon as he had been found still sitting in his car the second time. It was only a 3 hour drive 😢
I am one of those who imagine the worst-case scenarios and would have been on my way the moment Bryce's friend had called. I couldn't sit and do nothing. Especially after he had been sitting in the parking lot after being checked on a 2nd time and he still hadn't moved. Thank God for life360. I'd be staring at that crap like crazy.
How could he do that to his girlfriend? So selfish
Sadly agree, I was in a bad place when I was his age. Likely ran out of fuel just thinking and not paying attention when driving.
Clever lad, possibly an issue with his studies in some way mixed with depression coming away from alcohol and any other past drugs he may have taken for a period in the past. That story was very sad as relatable.
@@lisapoe888gurl be so fr you're worried about the gf than his disappearance?
The car repair man is the kind of man we need more of in this world. Bless him for caring so much… imagine the momentary peace he gave his poor mom just by being an amazing human.
Cared more than Bryce’s own parents…
If only his parents cared like 5% as much as the mechanic, he might have actually survived.
An angel here on earth, for sure.
@carsonlove531 that's inconsiderate, his parents cared
@@j2da didn’t say they don’t/didn’t care but the tow truck guy physically drove out of his way multiple times to check on Bryce when he didn’t have to. Even followed him for over an hour. Bryce’s parents yelled at him and sat around. The tow truck driver objectively did more to tend to Bryce’s wellbeing than they did. Im not inconsiderate, im just looking at the facts
You won't believe that there are people living more than 7500 miles away from you in the foothills of Himalayas and they too are fans of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format. Lots of love and blessings. Have been Listening to you since you started this channel. May you keep growing.
✌️✌️✌️
Greetings from the Netherlands from another fan!
Aloha nui from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi! 🥰❤️🤙🏽🌈☀️
You write very well in English hailing from that geographical location. If you're not an American expat that relocated abroad I'm assuming English is a 2nd language.
Greetings from Tanzania ❤
Bryce’s story haunts me. He stayed put for so long and his parents were only 3 hours away. They could have driven to him. He was clearly not okay… thoughts like that probably haunts them too.
Terrible parents
I can not believe they didn’t just get in the car, they called the police after 9 hours instead of going to find him, then they told him to sleep instead of going to get him, plus everything in between, it baffles me!!
The whole time I was thinking exactly the same
Seriously, makes me upset
I remember my sister was being bullied at school and our dad refused to change schools, and to move out of our horrible area. My mum eventually listened to her and she went to home school. If that didn’t change she would have done something upsetting.
Bryce story pissed me off : I am 25 and don’t have children.. but I would drive a day and night to get to anyone I love that showed this much instability
100% It’s pissing me off listening to it, why is she yelling at him for 9 hours instead of driving only 3 fkn hours
@@katebridgwater9089or one parent driving there and the other staying home to stay in contact with Bryce
This! I kept waiting for her say just stay there, I’ll come get you. Like they were cool with him stopping on the side of the road to sleep in the middle of the night when he was supposedly very close to home. Couldn’t be bothered to just drive that 30 mins/hour to go get him. They were given several chances and passed up every single one. Very frustrating. I feel like it was Bryce’s last cry for help and he was hoping they would come and get him
Thank goodness we all feel the same way.
Facts. I was expecting to hear Mr. Ballen say that his parents just got fed up and went to get him. But no they just...didn't do anything.
Bryce’s parents have the parental instincts of a rock.
Your description makes me think this is gonna be the chugging oil guy. 😅 smh
Oh, I read a few comments and it's the red haired boy who disappeared? Yeah those parents were also nuts.
Typical parents, eh?
Also the only child, FFs just drive your car to his location and pay the workshop guy to hold him there or ask local LEO help.
It wasn’t their best moment, but now they have to live with their choices forever. 😢
Bryce's story upsets me so much. This is like the 3rd time I've listened to it and it still upsets me.
Me too. I wish there was an update, it's been a long time.
Absolutely. I feel like his parents fumbled by staying home they should’ve personally went out to get him after all of the calls.
Same :( he was his parents only son and so handsome
If I were his parents, I would have hired someone to follow him 24/7 until I got there personally. It would be a nightmare to not know what's happened to my beloved one.
Yeah. Me too
Kayelyn’s family said they think someone did something to her because she appeared upset and talking to someone we can’t see… but she literally called 911 3 times before that, thinking all kinds of things happened that didn’t actually happen. I wonder why her family didn’t seek psychiatric help for her after that. Being tired or sad doesn’t cause auditory and visual hallucinations like that.
Bryce was also showing signs of mental illness, and it’s really too bad he didn’t get someone to insist he go and get checked out.
Agreed. As for "the imaginary person" Kayelynn was talking to, her dog is right there in the screen. She is talking dramatically to her doggy and that is common for pet parents.
Maybe Kayelyns roommate was trying to make her seem crazy. She never said she saw them. She said she heard them.🤔 I wonder if they talked to her neighbors next door?
Mentally ill is a thing you don't want to be in today's society.
@@melangegirl That's what I was thinking. I talk to my pets all of the time. I do wonder if she was experiencing schizophrenia, though.
@ShannonR1969
Onset does happen in early adulthood many times. My first thought was co2 poisoning, but the roommate would experience that, too. That's so crazy. How sad.
Bryce’s parents have got to be some of the most delusional parents ever. Your son had his best of friends telling you he’s acting weird, there were so many red flags, and a stranger was actually more than a parent than they were and actually followed him to make sure he was safe. You could’ve made the drive to make sure he was fine and get him but you stayed home and took “I’ll call you guys later” 4 or 5 times and thought nothing of it.
Hindsight is 20/20. I’m guessing they thought he cheated on his gf or got in some trouble and was avoiding them. My little brother did some odd things around that age and it turned out that he has schizophrenia. My mom and I look back now and it all seems so obvious, but the truth is, there is a lot of denial when someone you love starts struggling seemingly out of nowhere. Your mind makes up a million excuses.
If he was that close and they just wanted. That's bs I wouldn't been up there looking for him at the rest stop myself.
@@cocoleevsure hindsight is 20/20 but when your son says he driving home and is found 11 hours later still sitting in a parking lot just staring out into space…. That’s a humoungous red flag that doesn’t require time travel to see how crazy it is.
@cocoleev that's a weak excuse. We're talking about their son, who's clearly acting depressed. Even if they couldn't fathom self-ending harm, they could fathom he was behaving extremely bizarre. The parents were less than 3 hrs away but continued to play phone pong instead of making a physical effort to fetch him.
Damn mom..put down the wine and go get ur son..
Sean, Kim, and Christopher sound like amazing human beings. It takes a considerable amount of strange behavior for a college student to be willing to call their friend's parents and tell them something is wrong. It's obvious they really cared about Bryce for them to do that. And Christopher! To go out multiple times, communicate with his parents, and then follow him all that way! Just wow! He did all that for strangers. That just shows that he is an incrediblely compassionate and respectful person.
Yeah, I had to make that call when my friend was having a psychotic break and I knew she would hate me for it, but I begged her mom to fly into our city because her daughter needed help. She never fully trusted me after that but she also never got better. Had to cut her off because she was causing me so much stress that I started breaking down too
Damn girl 😍
His name was christian, not christopher
Diddy Kim and Biggie
sorry
@@raymondaranda8716fckin gooner lol, relax pretty woman are everywhere you don’t need to go nuts on an app 😂
Bryce’s story aggravated me how many signs did his parents need. He should have never gotten his keys back from Kim or put a 5150 hold on him at some point until they could have flown down. SOMETHING !!
I feel like you chop wood after recording
That's the likes button job! 🤣
And he still hasn't paid me@@SUPERHULK66
Same lol
😂😂
That's good nobody gets it funny
I have a hard time believing that Rita did not know that her son was dead in his room for 20 years… She probably knew and that’s why she cut everyone off because most people would recgonize the smell. (I don’t know if she was severly mentally ill and did not want them to take his body, but her sister in law found him pretty quickly.) I doubt a mother who is sad her son left would not check his room. I find her story very hard to believe.
Ok
I'd say she def had other issues ... no one, whose child goes to bed one night and doesn't get up the next morning, automatically assumes they up and left during the night. Even someone who's blind would go in their room and check. Def not normal.
The smell thing tho, if she was a really bad hoarder, it literally could've just mixed with the rest of the smells she'd gone nose blind to
Right. He was literally in his bedroom in his bed.
@@jalen63717 You gay or what?
@@Luuskamuikkunen you may be looking for fellow gay men like yourself but no I’m not.
I’ve heard Bryce’s story before. Years ago. Now I’m a father to a little boy, but I’ll be damned if he is EVER too old for me to come out and drive out to him if he showed these signs.
I hate to be harsh on Bryce’s parents, and I can’t say I have ever been in their shoes, but YIKES - all of the bullfighters in the history of the world would not stack up against that amount of red flags!!!
I completely agree with you. COMPLETELY.
I find it hard to believe that no one actually picked up on the signs
His dad shouldn’t have insisted on the GF giving him his keys back. The mom, GF, and his buddy all knew he was in a bad way. Poor guy has to live with that for the rest of his life.
@@CrayonMuncher8people did. His buddy and GF knew something was off. His mom also sensed something wasn’t right. His dad insisted on the GF giving his son his keys back.
Denial can be a strange thing that makes what is obvious to us, not so obvious for those involved
i dont know why people were hating on the compilations.....sigh..... any video of Mr Ballen is such a sweet treat :)
I think maybe the death of her son made her go into a depressive state to the point she cut everyone off and did not want anyone to take him away from her. There is no way she didn’t check his room when he left suddenly. Not to mention when mum’s loose their children in any situation they keep their room like a shrine to go into to be enveloped in their children. She would have gone in at least once in those twenty years.
This makes a lot of sense, I agree with you
Agree
She 100% knew he was in there
I was thinking the same thing 20 years and you haven’t went into his room that’s a damn lie she knew he died
Wasn't she legally blind ?
A new video of MrBallen in the middle of the week? Best gift ever!
Yeah, because he just wants the views, it's pathetic.
@Anita-ej3rp stop watching then
Not new video just old videos compilation
He bck from touring 😊😊😊
@@Anita-ej3rp you really think he needs youtube views anymore lmao? dude has it made now.
Does anyone else remember when he uploaded 3,4, maybe 5 times a week? Such a good story teller. I really enjoy Wartime Stories too.
Miss those days
There has to be something more with Rita's story. If your adult child disappears, the first place you'll check is their room. It's so strange that she never once went in to see if he was on there, it's even stranger that she assumed he left because he hated her when he had never even shown any signs or actions of not liking her, instead shown a ton of love towards her. She seems very mentally ill, or mentally challenged in some way.
I think she did go in, couldn't handle it and everything went down from there.
I believe she knew he was dead..but was so shocked and hurt she just mentally broke and in her mind he just left her ...maybe that was easier than facing the fact he was dead...
What’s shocking about Bryce’s story is his parents! If my son who’s 25 had shown all these issues n wouldn’t want to come home to me I would become insane. After all those attempts of reaching out and failing all I would get my ass right in the car and get him from wherever he’s at. Even though my car is old I don’t care, all I want is to go get him. These 2 parents just yelled at him every time he talked to them. No wonder he didn’t want to go home!
I agree, this story drives me nuts because they had so much time to drive to him!
Ikr?!
Such a frustrating story to listen to..
I'm sure the guilt really gets to them, but they trusted their son to drive home. Everyone is different and they knew their son better than we do just by this story. Maybe think about how you would feel to be judged by strangers when a story gets told about you or your loved one.
That’s what I kept thinking. Why didn’t they drive to him??? I would have!
Do they really know their son though? Seems like his friends knew him more than them. So many red flags and they took everything he said to them as the truth.
If Kayelyn was in her 20s when this happened, she very well could have had a psychotic episode due to schizophrenia. That's usually when it starts (my uncle was 27), and paranoid delusions and hallucinations are common. And considering what happened with her brother, it's certainly likely there was some kind of underlying mental illness in the family. People don't generally abuse drugs that severely unless they're dealing with some serious trauma or mental illness or both.
Yes
Everybody can abuse drugs for no reason
Exactly right.
@ I said "people don't generally abuse drugs that severely," not "people never abuse drugs." It's well-documented that heavy abuse of alcohol and drugs is much more common in people struggling with mental disorders and/or trauma. Does that mean it never happens in well-adjusted, "normal" folks? No, and I didn't say it doesn't.
Yup, happened to my former best friend. She also called 911 3x in 24 hours. I can't talk to her anymore :(
Almost 10 million subscribers! You were at less than 100,000 when I subscribed. I am so happy for your success, Mr. Ballen. You have earned it!
Same!!❤
He had less than 10k when i subscribed
Kayelyn Louder’s case gives me such a bad feeling. Yes, I do think there was some mental illness at play. I feel like some other element has to be in play in this case as well, though. Her passing away just doesn’t make any sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that in her panicked state she slipped in the drainage ditch and hit her head. I was going to say maybe she drowned, but professionals seem pretty sure that drowning was not the cause. Maybe she just got a really bad head injury. It’s just very peculiar how this all transpired. That video footage of her talking to herself before she vanished is nothing short of terrifying. Pure nightmare fuel. Her roommate says she was seeing people in the apartment that were not there; that is why I believe there is a mental illness aspect to what happened here. What is very bizarre to me is how she got so far while barefoot and not a single witness said they saw her running at all. She was found many miles away. It was daylight out. The whole case is super eerie. For her to have a mental break, call the police, and pass away all within a few hours is insane. I honestly cannot explain how she passed away other than maybe she slipped and that caused a major head injury. I know it took them just under 10 weeks to find her, but it’s odd to me that they couldn’t find any signs at all as to what happened to her. Everything about this case is bizarre. Every time I think of a theory, some other aspect of the case makes me realize that the theory doesn’t fit. I just don't know what to make of her case.
I wish there were more stories. There's millions of them out there. i understand the need to redo some of your videos, but please make more new ones. The strange dark and mysterious makes my day!
First story, she definitely knew. You can’t convince me during all those years (especially a couple days in) she didn’t check his room. That explains why she cut contact with her family so they wouldn’t take his body away bc then she really would have to accept his death.
Did you not listen, it stated she was almost blind, she would not have seen him. Also, if she hoarded stuff, i.e food that rotted, she would not have smelt his body decomposing.
That's what I think, too. It's pretty obvious that she knew he died or killed himself and left a note for her. She couldn't accept the truth and, like you said, didn't want to be taken away from him or have the police involved or even have anyone know he killed himself.
I cannot believe she *never* opened the door. Where's the evidence? How can they prove that she never went in after 20 years have gone by.
Hoarders will live with the dead animals they owned because they can’t see them or smell them. In this case, she’s a hoarder and blind, that’s a hell of a combo
@@medic1627why you so rude
I 100% agree with you
In the first story about Rita, when the EMT's arrived to save her, did they not notice a foul smell and report it to police?
The story about Bryce and his parents is so frustrating.
All day long his parents knew he had been not truthful with them and yet when he was only 3 hours from home, instead of going to Buttonwillow themselves and getting him, they just allowed the charade to go on involving more people.
They probably would've assumed it was from all the junk she'd been keeping, most likely a load of rotten food in there.
Most EMTs see and smell lots of things on a daily basis. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary
@@p1nkelephants And yet the siter-in-law immediately thought otherwise.
@ The smell of a dead body is completely different from junk laying around.
It's very distinct.
I mean it's a 20 year old body that's been laying out in the open and untreated the entire time, there's likly not much material left to produce a smell of it's own.
At least not strong enough to break though an entire house of rot @ebayerr
My husband committed s**cide when he was 27 and our son was 6 weeks old. We had been married for a year and a half and had been together for 7 years. I HAD NO IDEA what happened when he disappeared and the idea that he had k**led himself NEVER occurred to me in the 2 weeks it took to find his b*dy. A detailed note was found with him, and it explained it all. I count myself lucky that he was found. You never know what is in someone's mind and heart. My only clue was him just repeatedly saying "I am just tired'. Please hold your loved ones close and stay vigilant.
I'm sorry about your husband. God bless his soul, and God bless you
I'm so sorry for your loss. If I may ask, did he say why in hus note? If that's too much to ask. I'm sorry and disregard .
I am so sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, it is not well known that men can suffer from postpartum too.
Sorry that happened to you, I hope you got to recover in some way and have a happy family, I’m gonna go hug my family ❤
@@moonspun4evr We are both RNs so it was somewhat medical in nature and the note was addressed to the coroner and to me. He stated that he had been experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations since childhood. He also went on to say that our son was him and to 'teach him to control his gift before he succumbed to it' (whatever that means). He also wrote that the stressors of the job were a huge part of it and how awful the 'old guard' nurses were etc. The irony was that he was so loved by all the staff that following his death all the nurses put money together to install a beautiful painting in the ward as a memorial to him which is still there to this day. My point in sharing this is the hope that it saves someone's life - s**cide is NEVER the answer and if a loved one is acting 'weird' keep the possibility of mental ill-health in your mind regardless of what they say
If I were Bryce's parent I would go get him right after the first call. They had so many chances to save him. 🤬😢
Listening to the story is fkn infuriating, frustrated yelling not a fkn ounce of effort
That is so easy to say its the parents mistake
This man could read the ingredients on a shampoo bottle and I'd still listen intently.
Thats funny & I completely agree!
Imagine him teaching someone how to drive
😂😂😂😂 Me too ❤❤❤
That was our reading material before the internet 😂😂
And I'd rinse and repeat!
As a person suffering from depression, time can go by real slow when nothing interests you. But MrBallens uploads makes time pass quick and I enjoy myself again. Thanks MrBallen, you have helped me out a lot.
It's funny you say that because I can measure my level of depression by whether or not MrBallen captures my interest. If I don't want to watch then things are really bad. And unfortunately that happens regularly.
so you watch them 24 hours a day huh? yea....
Try not to rely on this to bring your mood up. How do you feel when the video ends?
@R.J.MacReady1982 Sometimes when you're depressed, you have to rely on whatever you can to make you feel anything. I'm depressed and I feel a bit better after watching his videos. Makes me feel a bit less alone and gives me something to think about. Of course it helps that he has so many videos lol.
As a person with diagnosed major depressive disorder, i concur that Mr Ballen should be a part of your prescription and treatment 🥰💕🫶 you aren’t alone!
❤❤❤. Thank you for this episode! I woke up at 3am with incredible pain from a pinched nerve in my back and after struggling to make my coffee I climb back in bed to enjoy said coffee and found this video! What a treat, thank you❤
Hope you feel better soon
Coffee at 3am 😁
You're a good man, Mr. John B Allen. One day, a video you post will unite a family with a loved one, if not already. Im sure you inspire and help many people outside of the awesome stories we look forward to every week. Thank you so very much. Also, thank you for your service
Christian is a stud. Sir, if you see this, please do not feel bad about any of this. You went so far and beyond that it’s unreal. Sir, you are a good human and I hope you are still out there helping folks. Not all heroes wear capes and not all circumstances turn out happy.
He went above and beyond, seems like he did more than Bryce own parents.
What if he had something to do with his disappearance and was just messing with the parents? Watch the movie Breakdown with Kurt Russell. That's exactly what happen.
This is what confuses me about Bryce. Mom could have stayed home, Dad could have drove to Bryce. Obviously he wasn't leaving and they had ample time to drive to him.
43:31 these gotta be the worst parents ever. how have none of u tried to physically go and find your son after all these hrs???!!
Omfg!! RIGHT!!! I was screaming “JUST GO TO HIM! GO TO HIM 10 FREAKIN’ HOURS ago!?!?
So sad! I mean there is obviously a reason he doesn’t want to go home…
@@ruthtilleard yeah cuz he wanted to end his life clearly, but mom n dad should’ve actually did their job and go get their kid. my mom to this day wouldn’t have waited any longer than an hr and i’m 24
@@0ErikaAir0 it was so annoying. like esp after the first time he chose not to leave. i would’ve left as soon as i got both phone calls of him acting weird from two diff ppl 🤷🏾♂️
@@iamcharles.s 100% agree with you. I’ve read about this case and know a lot about it. I actually think something was going on at home and that’s why he didn’t want to go. There are claims there was some SA going on and that’s what he wanted to talk to his Mum about but he was too scared. I have heard something was going on with the dad last time he visited….
The goat of storytelling has posted once more
Yeah stories we've already heard. Love mr ballen but why the same stories?
He explained quite a few videos ago
@kidsgrove-spider8405 The story about Bryce is literally the original video word for word. I would know, I’ve listened to it like 20 times.
@@G00SE-BUZZYGRIMEno more content reason why he’s touring doing live shows 😂
Mr nightmare
Last time I talk to Bryce I would’ve been headed towards him,ain’t no way I would’ve kept waiting for him to come to me
God bless Kim and Shawn for doing the right thing by trying to get Bryce the help that he needed from his parents.
Sometimes, it's very difficult to reach out to a friend/ex-boyfriend's parents, especially if they are college age.
Christian, you are a wonderful, kind and caring human being.
You ALL went above and beyond to try to help Bryce and his parents. ❤
How does a person go 20 years without ever opening a door to find the rotting corpse of their son just inside? That makes zero sense!
I would love for you to cover a local missing person from Alberta Canada…in which the case is so bizarre… his name is Marshall Iwasa. He went missing in 2018 I believe and the manner in which he went missing is truly weird… plus his family and friends who include my close friends are devastated.
@@sarahturner5791 Maybe send this & info to the part of BALLEN Studios that takes incoming ideas / input . ( sorry for your loss) .
I'm not familiar with Marshall's story but I will check it out
Wednesday surprise uploads are the best
Mr. Ballen helps me stay sober, 2 1/2 years so far!
Congrats. Keep it up. 👍🏼
Congratulations I know your struggle and am very proud of you 😅😂❤
One week and 3 hours here
What about if everybody around you drinks? How do you stay sober in that environment
Pushing 5 hours strong here💪
2:43 oh hey. How about that. It’s me! 30yo with Parkinson’s. Save myself daily, I’m alone and they won’t assign a caretaker. You’ve kept me company daily even rewatching stories… is it four years now?
Original comment was salty… so then I left this- Trying to reframe sorry: I am 30 w Parkinson’s and thankful that you’re still here and still doing this. You’ve kept me great company for the last, what’s it going to be, four years now?
Parkinson's at age 30? Wow, I'm sorry, that's rough!
My grandpa died from Parkinson's. He was diagnosed in his mid-40s, which is considered early onset. (Average age of diagnosis with Parkinson's is 60). He had a family history; his mom also died from Parkinson's, and my great uncle also has it. They were also exposed to chemicals (they lived next to an orchard growing up), so that might also be a factor.
My grandpa was only 64 when he passed away. He fell in the bathroom and was stuck on the floor for several hours (he had a Life Alert necklace, but his hands were pinned behind his back, so he couldn't reach it). He developed rhabdomyolysis which caused kidney failure which in turn caused multi-organ failure, and we decided to take him off of life support. I was 18 when he died, and I miss him every single day.
This was back in 2008. They have much, much better treatments nowadays. If he had been diagnosed even a few years later, I think it's possible he would have lived much longer.
Anyway, I'm so sorry to hear you are dealing with this condition at such a young age. I'm a nurse, and I know how terrible our healthcare system is for people with chronic conditions, especially young people. Providers are dismissive, insurance won't cover necessary care, you have to fight for every scrap of dignity, and it's not ok.
I have a feeling on some level Rita knew her son had died instead of running away, but couldn’t face it.
Bryce's story had me on edge the whole time. 😭
The internet tea on this one from people who supposedly knew him (reddit so you never know) was his relationship with his family wasn't as nice as it appeared and he disappeared on purpose. Idk it's just what I read when I looked into it a couple years ago.
@@kyradebruin9522This is my belief too. I don't want to say bad things about anyone but it seems his parents were making him miserable and it wasn't a new thing.
I studied graphic design at the same school a couple years after Bryce and would love to find out what happened to him 💔
the parents are fckn dumb
it's just a 3 hr drive they could have pick him up instead of waiting for 24fckn hours
My house is rarely “company perfect” as my mom called it growing up. But how bad does a house have to be to not know there is rotting body in a room.
I've seen a lot of hoarding shows. Most of them fill up any empty space, even the rooms of children living with them. You'd think she would have started to put hoard in his room. Or, why didn't she go in his room to say 'good morning,' or just check it out at some point. My grown son lived with me and I can't imagine not looking in the room or at least expecting him to come in the kitchen looking for food. It wouldn't take me long to notice he wasn't around.
@calendarpage Or come out to go to the bathroom. I don’t know why she would assume he just abandoned her.
This is just one of many stories that I've heard about people not being aware that someone was dead in their house. Typically they are indeed hoarder houses. Which smell pretty bad in a plethora of ways. Without even having dead bodies in them.
Having smelled a dead and decaying body before, I can tell you that house must’ve smelled overwhelmingly horrible to not notice. I can’t even imagine. 🤢
Can't believe she didn't think to go check in his room. Something isn't right about her story.
Poor Bryce's parents, not knowing what happened must be awful. That is the age many young men develop schizophrenia and it begins to show with the stress of college. My son suffered from extreme depression and anxiety shortly after arriving to college. His Dad and I took turns going to the college 2 to 3 times per week just to lay eyes on him and support him. Bryce had really good friends who saw that he was in trouble, and reached out to his family. I hope his parents find some answers eventually ❤
What a treat to see a Mr. Ballen notification on a Wednesday and I was just ready to close down cause everything is boring today!
Everything's boring??? TODAY??
I know what you mean I mainly listen to him bailey sarian ewu and Christina Randall and when those 4 don't have anything new I binge old stuff. So I get the boring part lol 😂
@ I listen to the other two I’ll have to check out Bailey Sarian! Thx!
@@Seashoremeg she does makeup and talks about murders and murders and she also has a history one too youll see it's great.
One of the things that we learned in Suicide Awareness training was that when somebody starts giving their things away it's a big warning sign that they need serious help. The worst thing you can do is deny the possibility of suicide. The logic that if you don't talk about it then they won't think about it is BS. Talking about it will NOT put the idea into their head because it's already in their head. Getting mad at them is not helpful either. You'd be surprised how many suicidal people will be saved just by having somebody let them know that they're not alone.
Honestly, Mr. Ballen, you could re upload every single video you’ve ever made, and I’d still be hooked from start to finish. I’d watch you read the phone book at this point… yes “phone book” im old haha
Ha! Remember "let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages".
I remember my family had a phone book when I was little and I used to ask my dad about it and I remember he'd look at the pages with me we never used it tho. I wonder where it went we don't have it anymore idk why but I kinda miss it
Poor Bryce - so many red flags. He was obviously having some sort of breakdown, and the parents were only 3 hours away. There's no way IN HELL I'd want my child driving a car while in that state! I'd have jumped in my car immediately and gone to pick him up. 3 hours is nothing compared to never seeing your child again. Still, I can't imagine the guilt they feel for not going to get him. It's a horrible end to an incredibly difficult situation.
I feel like the story of Bryce is a clear sign a mental or emotional trauma. Something happened to him where it lead him into an existential crisis. Not many people have the ability to see and stare into nothingness for hours, typically individuals that do are going through a major sense of numbness or extreme depression where their minds go blank. The fact that he said he was leaving and continued to lie and then just sit there doesn’t show odd behavior. It was intentional, almost like he was contemplating suicide or some issue it his life. Weirdly enough there is normal behavior for individuals that have something extremely stressful going on in their lives. This also doesn’t seem like something new, but something he’s been hiding for a long time. If he intentionally crashed his car, it could be two things either he wanted to kill himself or disappear. My guess is that he could have taken some substance in that two week period where he has lost his mind and began to go through some level of mental insanity due to the stress or major change in beliefs. Since he never technically died, there could be a very real possibility that he left his family in search for some spiritual purpose hence the removal of all material possessions. Clearly what ever it is a suicide or something else, it clearly had a purpose for him to crash the car. Quite an interesting story.
Giving away his possessions is another sign that he was seriously contemplating suicide
Too much drugs and alcohol messed him up.
The first story: Are we sure the mother didn’t say “my boy, he’s gone” or “my son left me”, as in ‘he’s dead.’ But the family always assumed it meant he literally left.. She never talked to anyone for them to get further explanation. It would explain why she cut off contact because ‘they wouldn’t understand.’ 20 years later in isolation- I could see her being shocked to hear he’s dead because who knows what her mind did to eventually block out that pain.
The girl that kept calling 911 was for sure having a psychotic break. The video looks similar to Elisa Lam elevator video.
Also the story of Bryce just make me so mad. He’s 2 hours away from home and his parents can’t get in the car and go get him themselves 🤬
They are rich af if they live in Laguna, could have hired a driver to take them there the minute he was in Buttonwillow, or before, but by then they were convinced he was in trouble so go to him and help.
He kept saying he was leaving soon though. They probably believed him because he was just fine days before.
@@amyjs1987 but by the time he was in Buttonwillow he had said he was on his way like 2-3 times, but didn’t go anywhere. That would have been enough for me.
@@amyjs1987He said he would be leaving soon after displaying so many red flags for being suicidal and that didn’t raise a death flag for them? How oblivious can some people be?! He said he would be “leaving soon” as in he was likely still contemplating suicide, he didn’t immediately say “I’ll be home soon” or “see you soon” he was being purposefully evasive (hence why he wouldn’t give them landmarks so they couldn’t retrace his steps and find his body). He knew he wasn’t going back one way or another. He probably decided to hitchhike as far as possible with what little cash (untraceable currency) he had on hand following his failed attempt. My best guess is he owed someone a lot of money, felt he couldn’t ask his parents for help, and the people he owed money to likely threatened to harm him or his loved ones so he purposely cut ties with them to keep them safe.
Sometimes the signs we see of someone who is suicidal aren’t really a cry for help but a person’s sheer determination to leave this would with as small a footprint as possible so that the burden of their passing is not as deep as the those left behind’s desire to cling to hope. If he had given them landmarks and they had retraced his steps and found his body they would have been left with such grief that they hadn’t done enough, had somehow failed their son, and those negative thoughts would have overshadowed his memory and kept them from enjoying life and possibly destroyed them, at least without a body they can still cling to the hope that he’s still out there, maybe he’s started a new life and is happier now than he was before, maybe he will return someday, maybe they’ll be able to find peace sooner without that certainty (in that way he can still be their little boy with a home to come back to rather than a dead addict who they’ve failed) 🥺
I always used to watch yer videos during my lunch break when i worked at a sushi restaurant and now everytime i hear yer voice i start craving steak and rice lol
I'm of work at the moment due to awful mental health and as ive been struggling I've been binge watching your videos they help keep my mind occupied you're such an amazing story teller and theres just something about the videos that keep me coming back, thankyou Mr Ballen you're pretty cool 💛
Please take care of yourself. You are valued and bring value to the world.
Through every dark night there’s a brighter day… stay strong and stay strong
@@AislingRea-v6j thankyou 😊
@@ziggymac5813 thankyou 😊
Mr. Balllen delivers more than Amazon!
By the second time the cops stopped him I’d say there was a reasonable suspicion that Bryce was a danger to himself or others. Especially after Christian came back and saw him again. 42:21
As a parent myself, I would have driven over to where Bryce was. I mean, come on, that was only 2 fricking hours away. What horrible lazy parents. 🤬🤬🤬 God bless Christian for the effort he made, effort which Bryce's parents should have exerted themselves. It's sad to think that Christian would partially blame himself for the tragedy for not seeing Bryce home all the way through.
Imagine a house so filthy and smelly that a decaying body doesn’t register! The amount of insects and vermin must have been insane.
Kaylynn was definitely mentally ill. I’d bet her family saw early signs they didn’t understand or ignored being in denial. She probably hid in that drainage pipe, not drinking the filthy water until she died of dehydration. Her family is grasping at straws thinking someone was after her. Her three delusions in the previous 24 hours are proof she was mentally ill. It does tend to run in families.
As soon as Bryce gave away his stuff and broke up with his girlfriend, I was worried he was suicidal. It’s classic pre-suicidal behaviour. When he was just sitting there phased out, he was debating if he was going to attempt suicide or not. His drug and alcohol abuse was him self-medicating. His parents are just in denial. Christian was an angel to follow Bryce for so long.
Also a brother who ended an uncle of a powder dispute.
Parents in a delusion over chasers.
Does sounds like a hereditary problem.
Mr ballen is the best story teller on TH-cam 💪
This is crazy. I had been looking for the Bryce story for a while, and found it last night. Now here's Mrballen with a remake in an early episode! 😮
9:55 That’s the wildest story yet. I’ve watched pretty much everything you’ve put out, but that takes the cake on crazy.
I think Rita knew her son had passed and was in denial. There's no way she didn't EVER step foot in his room
How did she not smell the body?
idk, i dont really believe that she didnt know, what about the smell? and if she missed her son so much why did she not once in 20 years go into his room
@@marthataterka9364that's what I'm saying there's no way someone doesn't know, the smell after he died would be unbearable... something doesn't add up.
She absolutely had to know. It makes me think either this story is fake, or the way it’s told is not the reality.
The car repairman is the type of man that the world needs more of. Bless him for caring so much. Imagine the momentary peace he brought his poor mother simply by being an amazing human.
why did you copy someone else’s comment completely lmao
@venusbb9 broo thats what im saying
Your comment is word for word someone else's that got more likes. U suck at life dude.
@venusbb9 word for word. I came here to say the same thing. Pitiful desperate people looking for likes for no reason at all...they don't even get paid to put in the work of being so desperate. I don't get it. Maybe it's a bot.
It is a bot you dumbasses..
Request: if you haven’t done it already you NEED to do the Brandon Swanson case. Very similar to Bryce’s story and completely unsolved. I have my theories but I want to hear yours
So would I.
He did actually
The key takeaway from Bryce's story for me is this: when someone is unstable or acting off, you don't ASK THEM to do things (like calling home, driving, etc). Instead, you just have someone watch over them, keep an eye and make sure they don't do anything stupid, while you DO things for them (if you care about them, by reaching out, thoughtful gestures, caring for them, cooking, driving to get them, etc).
There is a subtle difference here than can make a difference: the person who might think of ending everything and is acting erratically might, maybe, rethink their actions once they FEEL CARED FOR, and see how others love them. Of course, if they hate themselves too much, they might not give others a chance to even do this by not showing any 'off signs', but in this case with Bryce, where he was perhaps contemplating whether or not to go ahead with his plan, this simple caring action could have made a difference to his thought process and approach, maybe.
I finally get to see a fresh new video by MrBallen right after he posts. I am currently becoming sober and living in a sober home and watching these videos helps me stay distracted from cravings. ❤
How about Jay deserves better as your new @ name. A new mindset is just as important.
May God Bless your new life with abundant peace filled joy💕
Romans 12:2 a renewed mind🙏
I’m not there yet but I do support your decision ❤
I'm in the same situation Jay. Keep going!! ❤
3 years ago, I found this channel while I was detoxing in a hospital. Without this channel and these stories, I would have gone nuts. I am sure right now you may be scared or have doubts, but just know that there are people out there that care about you. You are not alone, and if u ever need a pep talk, I'm here.
44:00 As a mother, Bryce's story scares the absolute sh*t out of me. I don't imagine there is any coping with such a thing.
I have told my mom about my depression multiple times but she shrugged it off, please listen to your children if they ever open up to you
#3 - I'm sure this was a psychotic break. That poor woman...
100% ☹️
Sounded like dissociative fugue to me. Loss of identity (can’t remember her name or important autobiographical information when asked), inability to recognize people and problems with memory (such as the story about the possible intruders with keys), unexplained tendency to wander or travel (abandoning the dog and running off), without any signs of drug abuse or a history of mental illness. I wonder if they checked her brain for a ruptured aneurysm or other abnormalities that could have explained her sudden death and abnormal behavior.
Ok. Well then how did she die and then throw herself into the river?
@ She could have died suddenly while walking/running and rolled into the river when she fell over. Shallow doesn’t mean you can’t float or runoff can’t sweep you away if you’re already dead.
@@deeplyrooted5214 that's bullshit. I don't think so. Sorry
Thank you John! I listen to your stories literally every single night. the missing 411, ufo, and paranormal stories are the absolute best!
Bryce's story irritated me: I am 21 years old and do not have children, but I would drive all day and night to get to anyone I care about who exhibited such instability.
Nah Bryce was just trying to stick up for himself against an over controlling narcissistic family. It's amazing how they even recruited that mechanic to follow him in his car for over an hour. He did need a better plan though but yeah he never intended to go home. Of course they would say he's been behaving erratically to the cops to get them on their side. Poor guy. But at least he got out in the end.
I agree. I have 3 kids and if I know they're going through some big shit to the point of abusing alcohol and drugs and acting strangely, I'm not expecting them to be driving 3 hours to come to me, I'm getting in the car and going
Most people don't understand the seriousness of depression and mental illness.
@@MultiChrisjbthere was nothing in the story to indicate any over controlling or narcissistic tendencies. what makes you say that? they told the mechanic not to worry about it but the mechanic went back on his own and followed him on his own from what we know. and they don’t really need the police to be ‘on their side’ for a wellness check. the cops didn’t take him into custody or force him to do anything. how did you arrive at the conclusion that he had to ‘escape’ from his parents?
My mum and dad did for me when I ws going through some stuff❤❤bless them xx
This is the earliest I've been 😭
Posted 1 min ago?! During my lunch break?! THANK YOU!!
Its almost bedtime in the UK!! 😁
Yeah, im in bed, just need a good old fashioned bedtime story. Greetings from the Netherlands
@@RiRi.1076what time is it
8.30pm Uk time in Manchester @@lyndsay369
I feel like I can speak for all of us when I say that it's an honor watching you grow making your videos. Its an honor of watching your old videos and seeing the change in not only your productions but in yourself . We love you Mr Ballen!!! Your #1 savagemonroee 😊
Best feeling when you first open TH-cam and see a new Mr Ballen video!
"New"
I really, truly enjoy your podcast, Mr. Ballen. It has been quite enjoyable to discover and listen to a modern day storyteller/griot/bard; become so great at their craft!
That being said...
To all of the people trashing the mom in the first story: I implore you to search deep within yourself and ask yourself, what is lacking in you that the first place you went to, instead of sympathy for a woman that lost their child was to blame. Lines from a movie years ago which stuck with me to this day, goes something like this:
"No parent should ever have to live to bury their children..."
"Why?"
"Because, it is an unnatural thing for a parent to outlive their child."
Which leads me to all of the people blaming Bryce's parents. To every one of you; and I do mean every single one of you: I won't say, curse you all to have to live that kind of nightmare only to have strangers on the internet judge you (which has to sting, since it's your loss, not theirs). No, I won't say that... But, I will say, shame on you. Shame on you! You all want to applaud the car repairman (and, indeed he deserves it), but at the same time, demonize the parents. I take it none of you paid attention to the part where the cop also believed Bryce was perfectly fine, believed his stories, and left him there. A cop! As for the repair man caring more... Ever think maybe he had to suffer some type of trauma close to what was about to happen, in order to better able see the signs versus the parents (and, other people involved; not his parents, who also didn't do as you people put it "do more" i.e. the rommate, best friend, girlfriend... I mean as a few hours prior ex-girlfriend) who have no experience with signs of trauma, at all? No... Instead, all of you, armchair psychiatrist sitting here anonymously on the net, saying what is textbook this and textbook that; and none of you have probably even read an actual textbook on the subject. I can say there is something textbook about that... But, I don't think you guys want to hear it. It would be rude of me to say out loud. And, I am not as heartless as some of you. Besides, I was taught, if you can't say something nice, then say nothing at all!
Truthfully, Mr. Ballen, sometimes I think the comment section needs a bigger ttigger warning, than the strange dark and mysterious stories you tell... That's not so much a comment on your wonderful page and podcast, as it is a sad commentary on society. I exclude myself not from that dreadful characterization either. As I am not immune to being trauma triggered myself. 🫶🏾
What a pleasant surprise to see this crop up! Thanks Mr B Allen
Bartholomew Allen mentioned lfg!!!! 😂
The first story (Rita Wolfensohn's) was absolutely heartbreaking. Years of needless suffering and isolation caused by assumptions, depression, and self-loathing. We often make bad decisions, based on our assumptions that are completely erroneous, and sometimes weren't even ABOUT us. How could it never have occurred to Rita to report her son missing - not even to family? Did she think anyone coming to investigate would judge and blame her? So many things could have happened to him (as fans of MrBallen know better than anyone). Had she forced herself to report he was missing, the mystery could have been solved immediately.
That's so bizarre that he was there all those years in that house. Something must have been really wrong in her mind. 😢
@@lilafeldman8630 Of course. Hoarding itself is a mental disorder, and they usually have other problems tied in. I've seen videos here on YT that would bring you to tears, because the illness and suffering are so extreme. The hoarders and their families suffer.
A special video from MR. B on Wednesday!? Hell yeah!
He used to release videos almost every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, sometimes even Saturday and Sunday back during Covid!
And it wasn't a bunch of repeat stories that he's already done@@JohnDoe-qz1ql
40:40 (regarding when Bryce’s mom tells the repair man he doesn’t have to go to the parking lot to ensure Bryce left) : A complete STRANGER who, despite Bryce’s MOM telling him that he didn’t have to, went BACK a 2nd time to make sure Bryce left. And then DROVE BEHIND HIM FOR AN HOUR. That man had more intuition than Bryce’s own Mom that something was wrong. How on earth did Bryce’s own Mom believe him when he said was going to leave the rest stop, and yet a complete stranger had the gut feeling that he likely didn’t and went to go check again.
My Brother ended his own life, and he gave us NO indication that anything was wrong. Didn’t give anything away, didn’t love bomb any of us, NOTHING… I’d give ANYTHING to have gotten EVEN HALF as many warnings as Bryce gave his parents.
#2 story boils my blood listening to these parents be soooo neglecting especially at the beginning. Even when everyone around their kid is telling them their son is not himself, yet they urge him be alone, drive, while hes consistently showing signs of mental instability. Just wow. Very dumb.
I would have demanded someone stay with them whilst I come and get them! It was too weird of a situation
1:02 MrBallen you're an amazing inspiration to me! We go to bed watching you every night. Thank you and I am proud of what you and your family have been able to accomplish with your now business! Great job, great story, great inspiration!!!
YES! I do that as well. His voice is perfect for night listening.
Being alone for years sounds nice until you realise if you mess up you're still on your own 😂😂😂
If you're strong it'll be ok
@@manuelledezma705 trust me as a certified hermit, I already know 😂 but I'd definitely keep one person updated just in case 😂😂
Thank you Mr.Ballen. I've been with you for a while now. so you have been here for good times and bad times. Thanks for that.
Middle of the week upload!?!? Am I dreaming!? And no one ever went into that room for that whole time? Thats truly wild man. Life truly is stranger than fiction sometimes, thats why when I hear insane stories that ppl are so quick to dismiss, I'm not so quick to dismiss myself anymore lol.
Okay, hear me out: Sacramento International Airport is only about 45 minutes from Rocklin. The closest airport to Languna Niguel is John Wayne. The flight from anywhere in LA to Sac is 1.5 hours (if it's non-stop). On weekdays, there's a flight from John Wayne to Sac every 2.5 hours (nonstop) or 1 hour (stopover). His parents *maybe* could have flown to him and gotten there in time, but they would've had to leave immediately.
But, it's only 178 miles from Buttonwillow to Laguna Niguel. And the section of I-5 Buttonwillow is located on was 70 mph back then. His parents could've driven UP to Buttonwillow in under three hours, easy. (It's longer driving south than north because southbound traffic over the Grapevine is always slower).
And, I'm sorry, but how could anyone miss that giving away your most important stuff and ending close relationships are two very clear indicators of self-eliminating behavior?
Whatever happened to Bryce happened before he even went back to Rocklin and he never told anyone and never dealt with it. Poor guy.
That's assuming you can even get on the plane, land, and rent a car and start driving within within a three hour period which I think is highly unlikely. Personally, I would have just started driving with another family member and told my wife to stay home in case he showed up.
25:44 I want to clarify exactly what "Vyvanse" is, as it isn't as well known as other drugs in its class. It is a powerful type of "Amphetamine" that is similar to "Adderall" but it is slower to release and lasts longer. When people with ADHD take these kinds of drugs it only makes them feel normal and balances out their body chemistry to a natural state. But taking these without any medical reason is so much more dangerous than people realize. It's not as ridiculous as crystal meth / Methamphetamine, but it does produce similar problems. One such problem is hallucinations/delusions. When taking amphetamines you don't get tired and ppl often stay up all night. Doing this ONCE is no big deal, but if a person keeps taking more and stays up longer they will begin to hallucinate and it's so dangerous 😢. Even IF they try to sleep they physically cannot enter the phase of sleep that people need and it'll be no different than if they had just stayed up. Ppl tend not to take these drugs seriously, but that's such a mistake. They are DANGEROUS
I personally don't believe Rita didn't know her son was dead and in the bedroom but probably her grief and the fact that it was easier to believe that he Left her so she just never wanted to acknowledge that he was in his bedroom and that's why she never went in there again and kept the door shut for years.
Disagree
That first story is utterly heartbreaking. As for Bryce, jeez, how much clearer did he have to make it that he was suicidal? The big question is, what sent him into that spin?
@Martial-Mat he said he was on pills and drinking. Changed him..
Probably his rich parents
He used heavy drugs and alcohol.
@ I see that as a consequence of some other issue, not the issue itself.
I have be a fan for almost three years... the very same 3 years I striked hard to become an A student. I am in my last semester here at my Junior College and use some tips from how you place yourself in presenting to use in my own presentation and it has help me a lot❤... hopefully you'll see this comment... I thank you very much for the strange, dark and mysterious😊🥰
Rita? How did you NEVER check your son’s room for that long?!!
She was blind.
@@BarbJohnson-pl3qd AND??? You saying blind people don't know how to check on their kids???? btw, she was only "legally" blind which means she could still find her way around with limited visibility.
She did of course, she just didn't want to accept it
Honestly. You got me through cancer, a radical cystectomy and losing my home. You can do no wrong for me.
The scariest part of this, is, if you ever were prescribed vyvanse, this all sounds really familiar. He hadn’t slept in days. Time starts to melt away. Sitting and staring at idle is part of the psychosis. I’ve been there
I’ve stayed up for days on that stuff, never once had a psychotic episode, but your brain stops braining after a while. I’d just sit and play RuneScape, not eating and only taking bathroom breaks. Fun times, actually. I kinda miss my old script.
I take Vyvanse (prescribed) and I've never dealt w any of that? I guess maybe if it's a huge dose. But if you're truly prescribed it it shouldn't work that way I don't think?
@@Jules222Byeah if you’re taking far more than prescribed it’s different. Also.. if you actually need the medication prescribed by a doctor.. they most certainly affect your brain differently than someone who doesn’t actually need it
@Jules222B If you take it as prescribed, it won’t do that. Normally you’re started on a low dose and it’s slowly titrated up to the dose that works for you, but taking it every day also causes your body to become tolerant to it so it takes higher doses to achieve the same effect over time which is why your prescriber asks you how it’s working every time you go in for a refill. In someone with little to no tolerance, a 70mg capsule (which is roughly equivalent to 30mg of dextroamphetamine or 35mg of Adderall) will get them pretty amped up. Vyvanse also lasts longer since it’s chemically dextroamphetamine bound to an L-lysine amino acid group, which is enzymatically cleaved in red blood cells essentially creating a biological extended-release effect which theoretically reduces the risk of abuse.
@@Jules222Byeah, I’m prescribed vyvanse and maybe it’s because I have adhd but I don’t have any of those effects either