actres in bikini

This list looks at ten more of the most unusual phobias that afflict people in modern days.

We probably all suffer from a minor phobia or two, but some people’s lives are virtually debilitated by their fears.

Automatonophobia
Fear of a Ventriloquist’s Dummy


I think we can all see the merit in this disorder – the very act of ventriloquism seems particularly nasty to me. It involves a man with his hand up a dolls butt which he then proceeds to talk to. Sufferers of automatonophobia need not seek treatment – it is a perfectly valid reaction to a perfectly revolting concept.

Cathisophobia
Fear of Sitting


Cathisophobia (sometimes spelled with a ‘k’) is a terror of sitting down. This disorder can be sparked off by a particularly nasty case of hemorrhoids but in some serious cases it can be due to physical abuse relating to sitting on sharp or painful objects. Sometimes, the sitting fear is due to some punishment in the school days, or it may be an indication of some other phobia like sitting in front of elite and influential people. Cathisophobia is characterized by sweating, heavy or short breathe, and anxiety.

Arachibutyrophobia
Fear of Peanut Butter Sticking to the Roof of your Mouth


I must say that finding information on this disorder is extremely difficult – which does make me wonder if it is perhaps the figment of an over-active imagination, but it is definitely bizarre and fairly well known so it seems to deserve a place here. This disorder seems to be a fear that is quite easily worked around: don’t buy peanut butter.

However, for a child who is forced to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day, one can see how it might cause severe trauma in later life. Here is the testimony of one alleged sufferer: “Whenever I’m around peanut butter I start to sweat excessively and my body starts convulsing. The roof of my mouth becomes coarse and itchy. I can’t live with this fear anymore. My thirst for peanut butter must be quenched without me going into a full blown panic attack.”

Pentheraphobia
Fear of Mother-in-Law


Of all the phobias on this list, pentheraphobia is probably the most common. It is, as stated above, the fear of one’s mother-in-law. I am sure that most married people have, at one time or another, suffered from this terrible fear. This fear is one that is so common in Western society that it frequently appears in movies and other forms of entertainment. Of the many available therapies for this illness of the mind, divorce seems to be the most popular. A related phobia to pentheraphobia is novercaphobia which is a fear of your stepmother – the most famous sufferer of which is Cinderella.

Demonophobia
Fear of Demons


Demonophobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of evil supernatural beings in persons who believe such beings exist and roam freely to cause harm. Those who suffer from this phobia realize their fear is excessive or irrational. Nevertheless, they become unduly anxious when discussing demons, when venturing alone into woods or a dark house, or when watching films about demonic possession and exorcism. Sufferers are most likely to be recognized by the strings of garlic around their neck, crucifixes, wooden stakes they carry, and gun loaded with silver bullets. Okay – I made that last part up.

Eisoptrophobia
Fear of Mirrors


Eisoptrophobia is a fear of mirrors in the broad sense, or more specifically the fear of being put into contact with the spiritual world through a mirror. Sufferers experience undue anxiety even though they realize their fear is irrational. Because their fear often is grounded in superstitions, they may worry that breaking a mirror will bring bad luck or that looking into a mirror will put them in contact with a supernatural world inside the glass. After writing this list I realized that I suffer from a minor form of this disorder in that I don’t like to look into a mirror in the evening when I am alone for fear of seeing someone (or something) behind me.

Deipnophobia
Fear of Dinner Conversation


Now admittedly some dinner conversations can be very awkward, but some people are so terrified of the idea of speaking to another person over dinner that they avoid dining out situations. In times gone by there were strict rules of etiquette that helped a person to deal with these situations – but they are (sadly) mostly forgotten. In today’s society in which rules and formality are out the window, it is possible that the more controlled nature of a dinner party may lie partly behind this phobia.

Pediophobia
Fear of Dolls


Pediophobia is the irrational fear of dolls. Not just scary dolls – ALL dolls. Strictly speaking, the fear is a horror of a “false representation of sentient beings” so it also usually includes robots and mannequins, which can make it decidedly difficult to go shopping. This phobia should not be confused with pedophobia or pediaphobia which is the fear of children. Sigmund Freud believed the disorder may spring from a fear of the doll coming to life and roboticist Masahiro Mori expanded on that theory by stating that the more human-like something becomes, the more repellent its non-human aspects appear.

Mageirocophobia
Fear of Cooking


The bizarre fear of cooking is called mageirocophobia which comes from the Greek word mageirokos which means a person skilled in cooking. This disorder can be debilitating and potentially lead to unhealthy eating if one lives alone. Sufferers of mageirokos can feel extremely intimidated by people with skills in cooking, and this intimidation and feeling of inadequacy is probably the root cause of the disorder for many.

Agyrophobia
Fear of Crossing the Street


Agyrophobics have a fear of crossing streets, highways and other thoroughfares, or a fear of thoroughfares themselves. This, of course, makes it very difficult to live comfortably in a city. The word comes from the Greek gyrus which means turning or whirling as the phobic avoids the whirl of traffic. The phobia covers several categories, wherein sufferers may fear wide roads specifically down to suburban single lane streets, and can also include fearing jaywalking or crossing anywhere on a street, even a designated intersection. This phobia is considered independent from the fear of cars.

If we were to break it down and rank these women based on their sport then we could come up with a better foundation. We can only pick one. Not three from one sport, just one from each sport.

There are too many angles to examine. For one, how does a beach volleyball star compare to a female softball player by hotness? The odds are in favor of the beach volleyball players.

Leryn Franco
Javelin


Leryn Franco belongs in our world. She should always be around sports lists that talk about hot women. Why not? She is gorgeous.

Her talent is on par with the rest of the javelin tossers in the world, but it is her look that garners all of the attention. Call me crazy, but isn't that why we read these posts?

Kimiko Zakreski
Snowboarding


Kimiko Zakreski is not an active snowboarder—she was not even involved in the Winter X Games on ESPN this year—but she is not retired. She is just taking some time off for herself.

If more athletes would do this, maybe they could last longer and be able to play until they are 45. Right, Peyton?

Tessa Virtue
Figure Skating


In the wonderful world of figure skating, Tessa Virtue goes unnoticed. She gets little media attention and now that I have done extensive research, I find out that she is quite the looker.

I still can not believe I missed her all these times, but no more. She is the hottest female figure skater of today.

Melanie Adams
Pole Vaulting


Melanie Adams is a model/pole vaulter. So once the modeling thing fizzles out, maybe she can make a living jumping over obstacles using poles.

Claudia Toth
Curling


Have you ever attempted curling? Have you even made it onto the ice without tripping and cracking a few vertebrae?

I have. I tried to play a game of curling this past winter and the only thing that happened was my friends laughing as I attempted to stand up long enough to make a play.

It is harder than it looks. Claudia Toth not only makes it look easy, she makes it look good.

Bruna Schmitz
Surfing


I am as shocked as you are. Bruna Schmitz? Who is that?

She is a surfer from Brazil. Oh great, now Brazil is popping out surfers? This is unfair.

Cope Twins
Racing


The Cope Twins. The Paris Hilton wannabes of the 21st century.

They landed on my radar only a few months ago and now I find them to be one of the sexiest twin sister duo in sports. The fact that they race just makes them that much hotter. How many sexy twin sisters get behind the wheel in NASCAR?

Stephanie Rice
Swimming


Why do we love the Summer Olympics? We can watch Stephanie Rice in a bathing suit and not have to explain to our wives or girlfriends about it. Yes sir!

Roberta Mancino
Extreme Sports


I never forgot about you, Roberta. I just needed to find a place to fit you in.

In the future, I will always make sure to find room for you. Even if I do an article about ants, I will find a way to include you. I promise.

Jennie Finch
Softball


Until I find another softball player as beautiful or as talented as Jennie Finch, she shall remain on top.

It will take a big-time player before I even consider anyone but the sexiest blonde to ever put on a softball uniform in this spot. I am always taking applications.

Allison Baver
Speed Skating


Her body looks amazing in the tight elastic body suit the speed skaters have to wear to improve their overall speed. I am not complaining, I just think they should be painted on instead. Right?

Maria Kirilenko
Tennis


If you are a fan of Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchova, Alona Bondarenko, Gisela Dulko or any of the other 342 beautiful female tennis players out there, I am sorry.

Maria Kirilenko is the hottest tennis player on a list that is longer than the number of Republican candidates for President of the United States. She earned this spot and now deserves your attention.

If you did not like her before, well, here she is anyways.

Blair O'Neal
Golf


From Arizona State to the Big Break, Blair O'Neal is the perfect choice to represent all female golfers.

She is not only beautiful, she is also, well, I'm not sure any more is needed. I usually move on from that previous sentence and I will do so again.

Alex Morgan
Soccer


Alex Morgan didn't make soccer popular. She wasn't the first woman to impress us with her beauty on the field. She wasn't the sexiest female soccer player in the world.

Until now.

Alex Morgan has given us another reason to enjoy women's soccer in the U.S. It does not hurt that she is beautiful. That is just a plus.

This is the conclusion reached by an amateur astronomer, a former U.S. government adviser Timothy Hood. He made this statement at an international conference in Amsterdam dedicated to search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Many UFO researchers working on their research in the 1970s and 1980s died under mysterious circumstances, and may have been killed.

This statement is true not so much for the chasers for unidentified flying objects, but the researchers trying to find extraterrestrial life, including professional astrophysics. Hood's conclusion was prompted by a 30-year study of this topic.

Professor Arshad Sharif/Vimal Dazibay


In October of 1986, Professor Arshad Sharif killed himself by tying one end of the rope to a tree, making a loop at the other end, putting his head through it and driving the car away. A few days later another London professor, Vimal Dazibay, jumped head first from the Bristol Bridge. Both of them worked on the development of electronic weapons for the English government program, similar to the American "Star Wars."

William Milton Cooper


On November 5, 2001, William Milton Cooper, a famous UFO researcher who has repeatedly accused the U.S. government of hiding the truth about UFOs, was killed by police in his home. Cooper, who clearly suffered from delusion, lived in Yeager (Arizona). He bought weapons in bulk to create units to fight a secret government led by aliens.

Before the incident the police was told that Cooper threatened harmless residents, believing, apparently, that they were chasing him on the instructions of the authorities. The police surrounded the ranch where he lived. He said that anyone who would dare to cross the threshold of his private property will be killed, but the police ignored him. As a result, one policeman was seriously wounded, and the other one had to shoot the researcher as self-defense.

Morris K. Jessup


Famous American astronomer Morris K. Jessup, whose books about intelligent life beyond Earth have become bestsellers, committed suicide. He ended his life by opening an exhaust pipe in his car, locking his door and turning on the ignition. Professor James Edward McDonald, who for many years served as head of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Earth and studied unidentified aerospace objects, put a bullet in his head.

Series of mysterious deaths


In January of 1987, another scientist, Avtar Singh-Guide, went missing. He was later declared dead. In February of 1987, Peter Pippel was run over by his car in his garage. In March of 1987, David Sands committed suicide by crashing his car into a building. In April of 1987, four developers of space programs died. Mark Wiesner hung himself, Stuart Gooding fell victim of murder, David Greenhalgh fell off the bridge, and Shani Warren drowned. In May of that year, Michael Baker was killed in a car accident.

In a relatively short time, 25 people who worked in the space field died for various reasons, seriously believed that it had to do with aliens.

These deaths were not accidental, but rather, were the work of special services that eliminated the experts because they knew too much.

This ia a tragic cases of missing children. A parent’s love for their children is unparalleled, so when a child goes missing it destroys the lives of those parents who loved and cherished their offspring so dearly, and often captures the undivided attention of a whole country, or even the world.

Madeline McCann


3 year old Madeline McCann went missing from the Algarve holiday resort of Praia da Luz, on 3 May, 2007, and stands as one of the most famous cases of missing children ever in Britain.

McCann’s parents, Kate and Gerry, were enjoying a meal with a group of friends while Madeline and her twin siblings were sleeping in the unlocked apartment approximately 100 meters away. The McCanns reported that the group took turns at checking on the children, and each time nothing untoward was noted, although at the last at 21:30, only the twins were seen through the door.

At 22:00, Kate and Gerry McCann returned to their apartment to find the twins safe in bed but Madeline missing, and the window in her bedroom open. A huge manhunt was launched with the initial suspects being a British/Portuguese national, Robert Murat, and the McCann’s themselves, all of which were given arguido (suspect) status by the police. The investigations of the initial suspects however led to nothing.

The police initially worked under the assumption that McCann had either been kidnapped by a pedophile ring or an adoption ring, and attracted criticism, particularly from the McCann’s, for the way they handled the case. The amount of people allowed in to the apartment from which Madeline went missing, for example, was so uncontrolled as to taint the possibility of finding forensic or DNA evidence leading to the identification of the abductor.

Developments in the McCann case, no matter how small, still garner widespread media coverage.

Edward and Austin Bryant


Most missing children are reported as soon as they are thought to be missing by anguished parents. However, in 2011, authorities in Colorado were notified of the disappearance of Austin Bryant. Upon further investigation, they found that Austin had actually gone missing some time between 2003 and 2005 when he would have been between 5 and 7 years old. To make things worse, his brother had also gone missing in 2001, at the age of 9 but his disappearance had also gone unreported.

Edward and Austin (biological siblings) were fostered, and later adopted, by Edward and Linda Bryant in 1999. The children had adopted 9 children in total, and as Edward and Austin were considered to have ‘special needs’, $1700 a month was awarded to the Bryants for their care. It was one of the other adoptees of the Bryants who came forward with information on the missing children in 2011, adding that they had been physically abused throughout their stay.

The Bryants are currently awaiting trial for continuing to collect the money for the care of the children, but not in connection with their disappearance. Edward and Austin remain missing.

Been Needham


On July 24, 1991, Ben Needham was in the care of his grandparents, while his mum Kerry and her boyfriend Simon went shopping. The family were on holiday from Sheffield, England, to the Greek Island of Kos to visit Kerry’s parents who had emigrated there. According to his grandmother, Ben was playing by the front door of their recently renovated farmhouse, when she took her eyes off him for just a brief moment. However, in that time, Ben had vanished.

Ben’s family frantically searched for the child but to no avail. His mother has stated that she believes he was taken by a pedophile ring, and has criticized the Greek authorities for not working quickly enough to man airports and borders in the hope of stopping someone escaping the island with Ben. In both 2003 and 2007, photographs have been released to the public showing how Ben may look using age-progressing computer technology. However, the efforts have produced nothing of substance.

There have been over 300 reported sightings of Ben over the years, but the family seem no closer to finding him 20 years after he was last seen.

Johnny Gosch


Johnny Gosch was doing his usual paper-round on Sunday, September 5, 1982, when he and his friend were approached by a man in a Ford Fairlane with Iowa plates, who asked them both for directions. Johnny later commented to his friend that the man made him feel uneasy, before heading home, apparently being followed by a different man. The parents John (or Leonard depending on which source you read) and Noreen were first alerted to something amiss when they began receiving phone-calls from disgruntled customers pertaining to their missing newspapers.

After a search of the local area, John Gosch found his son’s paper-wagon two blocks from their home. Over the next couple of years, Johnny’s mother and a private investigator uncovered apparent evidence that Johnny had been sold in to a pedophile ring, something of which police were unsure, but did not immediately dismiss.

In 1997, the case took a strange twist when Noreen was apparently visited at her home by a 27 year old Johnny Gosch, who told her mother about his kidnapping but made her promise that she would not repeat this information as he was still living under danger from his abductors. Johnny’s father, however, is doubtful of the visit.

Again, in 2006, the case took another twist when photographs of a bound boy who Noreen believes to be Johnny began appearing on her doorstep. She is certain of his identity, but unidentified witnesses have come forward to say that the person in the photos is not Johnny.

The case has sparked huge conspiracy theories involving even the White House.

Etan Patz


The case of Etan Patz is famous, not only for the events surrounding his disappearance, but also as he was the first missing child to have his photograph placed on the front of milk cartons across America in the hope of finding him.

On the morning of May 25, 1979, Etan Patz was sent to make his way to school from his parents’ loft apartment in the Soho district of Manhattan. Etan was well behaved, and the neighborhood was considered a safe place where everyone looked out for everyone else, so it was assumed that Patz’ journey to the school bus pick-up point would be an uneventful one. Two eye-witnesses were the last known people to see Etan as he waited at a near-by intersection to cross the road.

The police were informed when Etan did not return home, and over 100 officers scoured the area. Pictures of the boy were posted all over the city and the media jumped on the case and began reporting sightings from all over the country. One of the more credible witnesses was a person who reported seeing Etan talking to a suspicious looking blonde man near where he was last seen heading towards the bus stop.

Three years after the disappearance police got their first solid suspect in Jose Antonio Ramos. Ramos was a known pedophile who had been caught trying to lure children in to a tunnel in New York where they found child pornography containing young boys with light colored hair similar to Etan’s. Although Ramos admitted having seen Etan traveling to school before, there was not enough evidence to charge him with the crime and he was released.

Ramos was, however, rearrested in 1985, when a new prosecutor was assigned to the case. In a new round of interviews, he began to admit more and eventually admitted to attempting to take a boy fitting Etan’s description back to his apartment for sex, but eventually giving up before sending him on a subway train to visit his aunt. Ramos said that he was 90% certain that the boy was Etan after seeing his face on the news following the disappearance the following day.

Ramos is currently still in Jail on unrelated charges, and each year on Patz’ birthday, his father sends Ramos a copy of his son’s original ‘missing child’ poster with a message written on the back: “What did you do with my little boy?”

Megumi Yokota


The story of Megumi Yokota is fascinating for several reasons. It begins with the disappearance of a young girl from Japan in 1977, and develops into a story of international espionage. It was a November day in 1977, when Sachi Yokota said goodbye to her daughter as she left for school and never returned. In the years following, both Sachi and her husband searched tirelessly for clues as to the whereabouts of their daughter, but uncovered absolutely nothing.

A couple of years after the disappearance, Sachi and her husband Shigeru learned that Japanese residents had begun disappearing off the coast facing North Korea, and the Koreans were the prime suspects in the abductions. However, it took until 1997 for a North Korean defector to give the Yokota’s the information they had been searching for. The defector stated that Megumi had, in fact, been taken by abductors working for the North Korean government, and taken across the seas to aid in the training of North Korean spies intent on being able to blend in with the Japanese culture. However, Megumi had been taken by mistake, her real age not being realized until she was already long gone.

The story would seem like the work of someone with a very overactive imagination if it were not for the fact that North Korea admitted, in 2002, to the abduction of 12 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s, Megumi being one of them. They stated that she had committed suicide at the age of 29, and returned what they said were her ashes to Japan, where DNA testing was claimed to prove the remains were not Megumi’s

The missing girl would now be in her 40s and the Yokotas continue to search for the truth of what happened to their daughter, clinging on to the belief that she is still alive, somewhere.

Eloise Worledge


Eloise Worledge was 8 years old when she vanished from her own bedroom on January 12, 1976, in Beaumaris, Victoria, Australia. On that day, at 8.30pm, Eloise’s mother Patsy left the house for her regular ballet class and left the children (Eloise, along with her brother and sister) with their father, Lindsay. Patsy returned home at 10.30pm and went to see each of the children individually before retiring to bed herself, at 11pm.

Lindsay had spent the night drinking in the house and watching television (the couple were currently going through a separation). He went to bed at 11.40pm, not realizing that the front door to the house had been left open. Patsy woke up at 07.30am to find the flywire in the window of her daughter’s bedroom had been cut and their daughter was nowhere to be seen. In a panic, Patsy ran across the road to her neighbors’ house while Lindsay called the police. The police later revealed that Lindsay’s phone call seemed strangely unemotional.

A team of 250 police officers searched for the missing child for 3 weeks but found nothing. Under further investigation it seemed that the flywire cut was not big enough for the child or an abductor to fit through, and so the most likely scenario was that Eloise had been removed through the front door. However, had the flywire cut been an intentional red-herring caused by the perpetrator?

In total, over 200 suspicious incidents were logged on the night that Eloise went missing. These ranged from noises in the neighboring area late at night, to sounds of a car door slamming and a crying child.

The case was reopened more than 20 years after the events but no clues have yet been found to indicate what happened to Eloise Worledge. The father did agree on the day of her disappearance to take a lie-detector test but this was not done until 25 years later. The results were inconclusive.

The Beaumont Children


Jane (aged 9), Arnna (aged 7) and Grant Beaumont lived in Adelaide, Australia in the 1960s. Their house on Harding Street was minutes away from the popular beach resort of Glenelg, a tourist hotspot home to numerous attractions, hotels and restaurants. Like many other Adelaide residents, the children were fond of the beach at Glenelg and, perhaps due to the innocence of the period and the maturity of Jane, their parents had no qualms about them visiting on their own, as long as they took the 5 minute bus ride from their house to the resort. On 26th of January, 1966, the children left the house at 10am and were never seen by their parents again.

Eye witness statements confirmed that the children at least arrived at their destination as they were spotted at the beach with a tall blonde man. The children appeared to be in no distress and were reportedly enjoying themselves in his company. The eldest child, Jane, was also seen buying a meat pie from a beachside shop with a £1 note. This seemed odd, however, as not only had the children never bought such an item in any of their previous trips, their parents had not given them this amount of money upon departing the house earlier on in the day.

The final confirmed sighting of the children was by a postman at 3pm that day. The postman knew the children well and stopped to talk to them. He reported that although they were heading in the general direction of their house, they did not seem to be in any sort of hurry or concerned that they were already 3 hours late. A creepy footnote in the case is the fact that, prior to their disappearance, Arnna had told her mother that Jane had gotten a ‘boyfriend’ down at the beach. The mother, understandably, assumed this to be a young playmate, but in hindsight it supported the theory that the children had encountered their abductor at least once before.

There are numerous suspects for the murder of the Beaumont children, although none have ever been proven guilty. The strongest of these suspects is Bevan Spencer von Einem, an apparent member of a high society gentlemen’s club, who kidnapped and murdered numerous Australian children in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Von Einem is currently serving a life-sentence for the murder of an Adelaide teenager in 1984, and a credible witness (known only as ‘B’ to conceal his identity in the 1984 trial) told the police that he had also admitted to the murders of the Beaumont children. Police have been unable to prove this but von Einem would have fit the eyewitness descriptions in 1966, and was also known to frequent Glenelg.

Fusako Sano


Fusako Sano is a Japanese woman who was kidnapped at age nine by Nobuyuki Satō, and held in captivity for nine years and two months from November 13, 1990 to January 28, 2000. In Japan, the case is also known as the Niigata girl confinement incident. Fusako Sano, then a fourth grade elementary school girl, disappeared on November 13, 1990, at age nine, after watching a school baseball game in her home town of Sanjō, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. A huge police search failed to find the missing girl.

Police even considered the possibility that she had been kidnapped by North Korean intelligence operatives. She had been kidnapped by Nobuyuki Satō, then a 28-year-old mentally disturbed unemployed Japanese man, who forced her into his car, and subsequently held her in the upstairs floor of his apartment in a residential area of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, for 9 years and two months. The house is only 200 meters from a kōban (police substation), and 55 kilometers from the location where she was kidnapped.

While Sano was initially scared, according to her own statements she eventually just gave up and accepted her fate. Allegedly, the kidnapper kept her tied up for several months, and used a stun gun for punishments if she did not videotape the horse racing on TV. Sano was also threatened with a knife and beaten. Her kidnapper shared his men’s clothes with her and gave her food three times per day, either instant food or meals cooked by his mother, who lived downstairs in the apartment. He also cut Sano’s hair.

Since there was no bath or toilet upstairs where Sano was confined, she was only able to take a bath infrequently, when permitted by her captor. She spent most of her time in captivity listening to radio, and reportedly was allowed to watch TV only in the last year of her ordeal. While the door was never locked, Sano did not take a step outside for nine years. She later told the police: “I was too scared to escape and eventually lost the energy to escape.”

The mother of Nobuyuki Satō, then 73 years old, consulted the Kashiwazaki public health center in January 1996, because her son had been acting strangely and was violent to her. She called again on January 12, 2000, and again on January 19, requesting a visit to her home. Officials finally visited the home on Friday, January 28, 2000. Subsequently, Satō caused a disturbance that resulted in police being called to the scene. On this occasion, Sano, by then 19 years old, approached the officers and identified herself.

Steven Stayner


Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 – September 16, 1989) was an American kidnap victim. Stayner was abducted from the Central California city and county of Merced, at the age of seven and held until he was 14, when he escaped and rescued another victim, Timothy White, in 1980. Stayner died in 1989 in a motorcycle accident while driving home from work. On the afternoon of December 4, 1972, Steven Stayner was approached on his way home from school by a man named Ervin Edward Murphy, an acquaintance of Kenneth Parnell.

Murphy, described by those who knew him as a trusting, naïve and simple-minded man, had been enlisted by convicted child rapist Parnell (who had passed himself off as an aspiring minister to Murphy) into helping him abduct a young boy so that Parnell could “raise him in a religious-type deal,” as Murphy later stated.

For years Parnell abused Steven and told him that he had legally adopted him. As Steven entered puberty, Parnell began to look for a younger child to kidnap. On February 14, 1980, Parnell and a teenage friend of Steven’s, named Sean Poolman, kidnapped five-year-old Timmy White in Ukiah, California. Motivated in part by the young boy’s distress, Steven decided to escape with him, intending to return the boy to his parents and then escape himself. The two boys were picked up by the police and Steven told them the whole story. Steven’s life was the basis of the 1989 miniseries “I know my first name is Steven”.

Because you never know what you may find, love makes people do crazy things.

On top of Mount Everest


Finally we have a wedding that was a first ever. A Nepalese couple actually got married on the peak of Mount Everest the first ever in history. Pem Dorjee and Moni Mulepati made it to the top as part of the Rotary Centennial Everest Expedition and kept their plan a secret until the last minute since they didn’t know if they would make it all the way. The couple spent a mere 10 minutes at the peak and briefly took off their oxygen masks to exchange vows while friends took pictures. There have been couples in the past who have tried to make the same trip but none have been able to make it so far until now.

Garbage Dump


Think marriage stinks? It certainly did for this couple who got married at the Bethel Transfer Station where the couple Rockie Graham and Dave Hart first met. Rockie Graham was recycling when she caught a dirty look from Dave and three years later they were married in this garbage dump with 250 of their closest friends. The bride wore a $7000 white dress with the dump as the picture perfect background.

The idea came from Dave who wanted to exchange vows where they originally met. Rockie stated she was “reluctant” at first but eventually gave in to Dave’s idea. Now that is compromise, but I suppose if you are going to start a lifelong relationship in a dump you can only go up from there.

Nudist Wedding


Looking to let your vows hang loose? Then a nudist wedding may be for you. Just think you don’t have to worry about a tux or wedding dress and your wedding pictures will be very popular.

Many people do this every year from Dallas TX, to Australia, but one of the most well known places to have a nude wedding is at the Hedonism III Resort in Runaway Bay, St. Ann. On Valentine’s Day in 2003, 29 couples exchanged vows in the buff making it one of the largest nude weddings ever. The resort provides everything free of charge with a minimum four night stay. No word yet if Viagra is available as party favors.

Underwater Wedding


Ah sometimes marriage can be sink or swim, for some its sink, swim and scuba. But forget just getting married while you scuba dive, how about staying in an underwater hotel.

You can make it all happen at the Jules Undersea Lodge where you can make your underwater adventure come true. For a mere 1750.00 plus tax you can have this lodge all to yourself and even stay there for the honeymoon. Guests scuba dive to the underwater lodge and have plenty of room to relax with two bedrooms, dining area, kitchen and living area. The lodge is located in Key Largo Florida and is 21 feet underwater.

Marriage in Hell


Who says weddings have to be pretty and fancy, how about dark and morbid? This couple took their love of the macabre and the relationship to the next level when they got married at a haunted house where they worked together.

Tina Milhoane 22 and Robert Seifer 24 married at 7 Floors of Hell in the haunted house’s cemetery. Everyone dressed the part with the groom making his entrance in a hearse and coming out of a coffin to his beloved bride. The bride meanwhile still dressed in white with a splash of red added to mimic the character Carrie. The minister also played his part as the Grim Reaper and even read the Lord’s Prayer to the audience.

Wedding on Wheels


In a hurry to get married, then you might want to hit the road and try the hot rod wedding from Reverend Darrell Best.

The reverend turned a 1942-edition American La France fire engine into a mini chapel on wheels. The holy matrimony ride is complete with stained glass windows, pipe organ and even an altar for the special occasion. The fire engine fits everyone you need for the wedding; bride, groom, best man and maid of honor. Reverend Best charges a $200 fee plus $2 per mile for the ride and ceremony; he is located in Shelbyville Illinois. Honeymoons meanwhile are not allowed on the ride.

Mid Air Wedding


Sometimes love makes you feel sky high, apparently that wasn’t enough for this couple that got married in mid air on top of several bi planes!

The activity known as “wing walking” was taken to another level when the British couple, 24-year-old Darren McWalters married his bride Katie Hodgson while the minister stood backwards on another plane and administered the ceremony. In total three bi planes were used, one for each person as they flew close together. All three of the participants were securely strapped complete with full tux and wedding dress. Everything was transmitted wirelessly and broadcast to the guests on the ground via a speaker system.

Clowning Around


This one is kind of creepy but once you get past the makeup it is not so bad, assuming you are not terrified of clowns of course.

Roadkill Raccoon and Reddish Raddish married at the Alberta Street Clown House, their non clown names are Carol Banner and Morgan Nilsen. Naturally the bride and groom love everything clown and decided to share that with everyone. Guests dressed up as clowns and had all kinds of activities that other weddings should have. Such as mud wrestling, mini bike tricks, and of course jousts. The couple ended the ceremony with a bike parade to the reception. A little strange but seems like lots of fun.

Happy Meal or Bean Burrito


We have two contenders for this one and you can decide which is more romantic.

The first comes to us from Fairborn, Ohio were co workers Tyree Henderson and Trisha Lynn Esteppe married at the McDonald’s where they met 3 years prior. The restaurant didn’t skip a beat as the wedding took place and customers came and went placing orders and eating their Big Macs. The lucky bride stated that, “she could not imagine a more romantic setting for their wedding”. Not sure which is worse the fact that she thought that was romantic or that they have worked there for 3 years.

Our second couple decided to tie the knot at their favorite fine dining establishment, Taco Bell. The bride and groom, Paul and Caragh Brooks wedded sitting in a booth while customers looked on. Instead of personalized mints they had hot sauce packets labeled “Will you marry me?” The saucy bride wore a $15 hot pink dress while a friend (who got ordained online) read the vows wearing a nice t-shirt. The two met online and were a step ahead as they already had the same last name. I guess that’s a good enough reason as any to get married at Taco Bell.

Stay classy guys!

Bungee Jump


Some people are just too literal. This couple decided to take the plunge into marriage from 164 feet in the air, and even had the ceremony on a platform with 22 relatives and friends suspended along with them.

The guests were securely strapped to their chairs with tuxedos, dresses and all. The platform was slowly raised as the ceremony went on, until the entire assembly reached 164 feet in the air where Sandra Eens and Jeroen Kippers exchanged rings and took a leap of faith together. The entire wedding was done by Marriage in the Sky the same company that does Dinner in the Sky events.