Dec. 18, 2025

Owen Parfitt's Vanishing: England's Oldest Unsolved Mystery

Owen Parfitt's Vanishing: England's Oldest Unsolved Mystery

The Case of the Vanishing Paralyzed Dude

Like, this one's gonna give you the creeps—and there's not even a guy in a rubber mask at the end!

Picture it: June 1763, a spooky little English town called Shepton Mallet. There's this old timer named Owen Parfitt just chillin' in a chair outside his sister's cottage. And here's the thing—the dude couldn't walk. Like, at all. Hadn't moved those legs in years!

Farm workers were right there in the field, practically close enough to wave. Travelers on the road. Witnesses everywhere!

His sister Mary goes upstairs to change some sheets. Fifteen minutes, tops.

She comes back down and—the chair's still there. His coat's still there. But Owen?

Poof. Gone, baby, gone.

No footprints. No screaming. No nothing!

The whole town searched through a gnarly thunderstorm—woods, ditches, ponds, wells. Everywhere.

They found absolutely zilch.

Now here's where it gets really weird. Mary—his own sister—went to her grave saying Owen got "carried off by the Devil." And the neighbors agreed! See, rumor had it old Owen spent his wild years as a soldier, sailor, pirate, and maybe even dabbled in black magic down in the West Indies.

Fifty years later, some lawyer tried to crack the case. Interviewed witnesses. Nobody could get their stories straight, and the last person to see Owen alive gave super suspicious testimony.

Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called it "one of the most piquant mysteries" in British history.

So what happened? Murder? Kidnapping? Actual demons?

Like... we may never know, man.

📬 Send us a postcard!

The Haunted Bunker

PO Box 690

Wabash, IN 46992

We'd love to hear your thoughts on Owen Parfitt's vanishing—or share your own mysterious encounter with The Bunker.



Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/mystery-inc/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy