this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2024
295 points (87.0% liked)

Not The Onion

12224 readers
686 users here now

Welcome

We're not The Onion! Not affiliated with them in any way! Not operated by them in any way! All the news here is real!

The Rules

Posts must be:

  1. Links to news stories from...
  2. ...credible sources, with...
  3. ...their original headlines, that...
  4. ...would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”

Comments must abide by the server rules for Lemmy.world and generally abstain from trollish, bigoted, or otherwise disruptive behavior that makes this community less fun for everyone.

And that’s basically it!

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16021003

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16021002

Vasile Gorgos was 63 years old when he left his home in eastern Romania to go on a short business trip.

As a cattle farmer and trader, Vasile often made such excursions and, this time, had bought his train ticket in advance.

The difference here was that on this fateful day in 1991, he didn’t return home.

Knowing that he was due to come back the same day, his family immediately called the police who launched a search effort.

But after days turned into weeks, then months, then years, with neither sight or sign of Vasile, his loved ones were forced to assume the worst.

With no leads or traces to follow, they suspected foul play, but endless questions were left unanswered.

But then, on 29 August, 2021, three decades after Vasile’s disappearance, his family was faced with the ultimate plot twist.

A car stopped in front of their home – the same one they’d had for the past 30 years – and out stepped an old man, looking confused.

That man was none other than 93-year-old Vasile, wearing the same clothes he left in all those years ago. His pocket even contained the same train ticket he was due to travel with.

The car allegedly raced off before anyone had a chance to question the driver, but when asked where he’d been, a baffled Vasile replied that he’d been “at home”, Medium reports.

He subsequently underwent a thorough medical examination but doctors concluded that he was in remarkably good health.

all 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 190 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

This seems to be the earliest article about Vasile Gorgos, and it seems to be missing a lot of details from this retelling. I think this means that a lot of these details (wearing the same clothes, the same train ticket he left with, the mysterious car speeding off) were all added later.

EDIT: In the video, they actually show the train ticket. It's from 2021, from Ploesti to his home village, and his daughter-in-law says a friend of his picked him up from the train station after recognizing him. Also, unlike this version, he didn't say he'd been at home, he said he wanted to go home. He does look and sound very visibly senile.

Also, unlike this version, the original does not give him a clean bill of health. It specifically says he has neurological problems and can no longer recognize his son or his son's wife.

If you'll allow a bit of speculation, my guess is the guy abandoned his family, went off and lived life, the police never really took the missing persons case seriously and never really looked for him. Decades later, he starts becoming senile. A befuddled old man, still with his unchanged ID card, ~~gets picked up by a good samaritan who drops the old man home.~~ gets a train ticket home and gets recognized at the train station.

[–] [email protected] 90 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, but that makes it clearly a case of age-related memory issues and neurological degeneration, instead of vaguely sounding super mysterious and clickbaity

And they've got money to make over at literally every website that keeps retelling the story and puffing it up.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Could this be evidence of TIME TRAVEL??? Click here to find out!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

He clearly just watched the extended cuts of Lord of the rings.

[–] [email protected] 140 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Jail makes the most sense considering he returned with the same ticket in his pocket, but then again, since his family reported him missing you would have thought that they would have found out that he was in jail...

[–] [email protected] 66 points 3 months ago

Jail in another country or in debt to the mob I'd say.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 3 months ago

That's a good point. He went missing in 1991, before the internet boom though. Maybe he got lost in the system? Or maybe he got arrested in different country?

I wonder what shape his clothes and the items he had were in. Were they dirty? Were they exactly how they were?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah also, how would he be able to wear the same clothes for 30 years? Not just because of the smell- I'm pretty good at taking care of my things but don't think I could keep them intact for that long.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

No clothing would last thirty years of daily use.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

If he hadn't been to jail, maybe he put them in storage for 30 years specifically because he didn't want to be recognized in his new life.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

That would explain a lot, but not the lack of contact.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

He doesn't want them knowing about his horrific crimes

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Yeah, that's the most likely explanation to me. He knows, but he isn't saying.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Lack of contact in jail in "some country" doesn't make sense?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yes. Do you really think a nation would incarcerate someone for decades, and not send their family a letter to let them know where they are?

He was a missing person, remember. Surely this is something that would be checked?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Not if it's 1991, depending on the nation, and depending on whether or not this man would be of clear mind to remember he has family. 🤷‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You think he was locked up by the secret police or something?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Sure, let's go with that lol.

[–] [email protected] 71 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Wonder if he was ever really "missing" to begin with. Maybe the family was able to claim life insurance money, or there was some other reason he needed to disappear. Then after 30 years there was no point keeping it up so he was mysteriously found with no explanation.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

Yeah look for the money and you'll find the crime :-)

[–] [email protected] 60 points 3 months ago

news from msn...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/microsoft-ai-publishes-fake-news-on-msn-angers-the/464775

"MSN's editorial AI published stories from low-quality outlets that are patently untrue, […]"

maybe this is also just some cheap msn lies?

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago (1 children)

He was trapped in the Black Lodge

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

See you in 25 years 🫴🤌

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

A car stopped in front of their home – the same one they’d had for the past 30 years

So, he arrived in the car they've had since he disappeared...

The car allegedly raced off before anyone had a chance to question the driver,

... and then someone stole it????

Edit: Ohhhh, it's the same home they had when he disappeared. 🤦

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Compliance!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Same thing.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The car allegedly raced off before anyone had a chance to question the driver, but when asked where he’d been, a baffled Vasile replied that he’d been “at home”

Dude travelled to alternate reality.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Top tier trolling from him or those that took him.

Could have left, raised a family, got dementia and his wife dressed him up with ticket and kicked him out.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Walter White Sr.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I heard this story before. Was this recently? Cause I know I've seen this story before

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Per the article, returned 3 years ago

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

If he now can speak several new languages and is a whiz with a knife, (maybe a bit slower as a 93 year old). It sounds like Bourne Identity or Long Kiss Goodnight.