From time to time, we hear stories about someone getting stalked by some rando (or, more often than not, an acquaintance). While for some, most of these incidents might sound like stories that usually don’t happen in real life, actually, they do.
Like for the woman in today’s story. 40 years ago, she joined a band, whose drummer started stalking her for over a year. She managed to run away from him, but almost 4 decades later, he still found her. Sounds like the plot of a movie? Well, if it were a movie you would watch, dive in to read more.
More info: Reddit
Some people might think that stalking doesn't affect common folks, but it actually does
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Like this woman, who joined a band in college 40 years ago and had been stalked by someone anonymous ever since
Image credits: azerbaijan_stockers / Freepik (not the actual photo)
They would call in her the night and just breathe, and then they started leaving unsigned love letters
Image credits: freepic.diller / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Finally, they decided to make themselves known — it was the drummer from the band the woman had already quit
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman eloped with her boyfriend, changed her name and moved away, which cut out the stalker out of her life
Image credits: Low-Tonight-5261
Then, 39 years later, she found a letter once again, which made her heart drop when she realized the stalker was back
Around 40 years ago, when she was a freshman in college, the OP joined a local band. Approximately 6 months later, she started getting calls in the middle of the night, with the caller simply breathing and not saying anything. If the woman would hang up, the number would call again. This led to her having to unplug her phone most nights, or it would cause some quite awkward and scary incidents.
At one point, she even contacted the police, who redirected her to the phone company. They started trying to trace her calls, as back in the day there was no such thing as caller ID (according to Wikipedia, it was only established in 1993). The moment they started doing so, the calls stopped coming in, so the company discontinued the trace.
After some time, the calls started up again, only this time irregularly, but still unnerving. She had a stalker and was pretty sure it was someone relatively close to her. After all, according to Mindy Mechanic, Ph.D. from University of Missouri, most stalking cases occur between people who know each other. So, odds were it was someone the OP knew.
Then, when she left the band, the unsigned love letters started to come. It culminated with flowers and a lengthy note, where the stalker identified themselves – it was the drummer from her former band. Apparently, in his head, he had a story planned out of them getting married and being together forever, even though in real life, there was no indication of her being interested in him in this way.
Plus, she had a boyfriend, with whom she eloped a tad later, changed her name, and moved far away, where the drummer couldn’t find her. There she lived calmly for nearly 40 years. And then the stalker found her again.
He made his presence known by leaving her a padded envelope in the mail without a return address, but postage from the town he’s from. When the OP realized who the letter was from, her heart sank. It also made her rethink the past couple of years and realize she had received a few calls without anyone talking, which she assumed were scammers or robo calls, but now suspects might have been that stalker.
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So, now she is in a complete panic and wonders what she could do to be safer, like installing cameras and similar precautions.
Well, netizens think she should go bigger and go to the police. This man found her after so many years; he’s dedicated, thus dangerous. Contacting local law enforcement authorities isn't only something that folks online suggest, but also the first advice you get when you check articles like "How can I protect myself from being stalked?"
Granted, theoretically, it's not bad advice — police are trained to deal with dangerous individuals, while common folks aren't, which might put them in extreme danger in certain situations. Well, that's in the cases when police take such a case and work on it seriously, which unfortunately doesn't always happen, according to this investigation. Still, it's better to report it than not.
Additionally, some cybercitizens warned her from sharing too many details online, as he might be monitoring not only her house, but social media too. To this, the OP added that she thinks an old Facebook post where she included her maiden name might be the way he was able to find her. This only proves his dedication, which is scary to think about, as nothing seems to stop him — not her husband, time or place, nor anything else.
Well, since so far there's no update, we can only hope that the woman got proper help for this situation and maybe even somehow stopped the devoted stalker and his antics. Even if such hope is naive.
What would you do if you were in the OP’s place? Share with us in the comments!
She asked for advice online, and netizens urged her to prioritize her safety by taking actions like installing cameras, going to the police, and maybe even taking a break from social media
