Mr. Ballin

One night in March of 2016, two friends sat on a couch in Lunel, France, watching a true crime show on TV.

And the episode really hit close to home, literally, because it was about a missing person who had vanished just miles away from where they lived.

And so they're watching this show, and then all of the sudden, in the middle of it, one of the friends suddenly stood up and began pacing around the room, muttering to themselves.

And when the other friend, who was still sitting on the couch watching this, asked them what was wrong,

they were not ready for the answer.

But before we get into today's story, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right place because that's all we do.

So if that's of interest to you, please offer the follow button a really nice, really expensive steak dinner.

But make sure you first significantly dull their steak knife.

Okay, let's get into today's story.

At 4.30 p.m.

on June 23, 2014, 49-year-old Patrick Izouar hurried out the side door of a hospital in Sète, France, buttoning a fresh-collared shirt as he ran to the parking lot.

He climbed onto a scooter and then quickly checked his watch, and then he lifted the kickstand and sped off into traffic, ignoring honks from all the other drivers as he swerved between the cars.

Patryk did not care who he was annoying right now.

Because he was running late for a date, and then right after the date, he had to rush over to his daughter's dance recital.

And he desperately wanted to make sure he made both of these events, because they were some of the only things he'd had to look forward to in ages.

So things in Patryk's life had not been good for a really long time.

Eight years earlier, he had slipped into a rut of serious binge drinking and gambling.

And

One day when he was drunk, he had actually struck his wife.

Following that, his wife had divorced him and he'd lost custody of his daughter, Alabama, who was now 12 years old.