Reddit is a website that bills itself as the “front page of the internet.” In many ways, it is for those that use it, becoming one of the most popular websites in the entire world.

Like thousands of others, I visit Reddit.com every single day. It’s my favorite place on the internet to hang out, comment with countless others from all across the globe, and learn about interesting things. Reddit allows each user to personalize their viewing experience, meaning that you can subscribe and unsubscribe from individual subreddits; tailoring Reddit into whatever you want to see or read about. This includes everything from sports to gaming to entertainment to politics to true crime.

One of my favorite online communities is the /r/unresolvedmysteries subreddit, which - as you can guess - focuses on unsolved mysteries and other related stories. It’s actually how I got the name for this podcast, and I owe a lot of this show’s success to its awesome and supportive denizens.

However, like almost every collection of human beings in history… Reddit is not a perfect place. It has its fair share of dark spots, which allow those with creepy or unusual tastes to congregate. This can result in subreddits dedicated to drug use, illegal pirating, white nationalists, or even child porn.

Many of these subreddits are hidden, able to be accessed by only select users, but there have been a few open examples that bridge the gap between illegal and immoral behavior. One such example is the /r/jailbait subreddit, which highlighted underage-looking models, actresses, and porn stars - who were not legally minors, but might have been close enough to warrant suspicion. This subreddit included images that got as close to child porn as you can get without breaking any laws, and was rightfully shut down following an Anderson Cooper segment on CNN back in 2012.

Despite this, however, the /u/jailbait subreddit had attracted thousands of followers in the years leading up to this.

One of these users, who went by the username /u/ReligionOfPeace, acted as a moderator of the /r/jailbait subreddit. If you’re unfamiliar, think of moderators as like babysitters: meant to keep the peace between bickering children. This gave /u/ReligionOfPeace a decent amount of control over the subreddit, but also meant that they would have to spend much of their waking time on the internet - which they were more than happy to do. You see, /u/ReligionOfPeace - as he or she was known - was an active participant on Reddit, commenting all throughout the day.

In their comments and posts, /u/ReligionOfPeace seemed to condone marijuana usage, and - in posts on several news and political subreddits - railed against things like the New York Times and socialism. In fact, one of this user’s favorite pastimes was telling spammers to “FUCK OFF AND DIE” - in all caps, of course - in addition to using such other colorful language as:

“You scumsucking spammer. Get the fuck off my internet.”

Basically, this was the equivalent of a grumpy, old, creepy uncle that spent too much time oogling young girls and telling others to get off his digital lawn.

But in addition to this behavior - which, while grimy, wasn’t exactly illegal in any way - /u/ReligionOfPeace seemed to express knowledge in many military subjects. In particular, this user seemed to have a history of violence, at one point expressing intimate knowledge on what kinds of piano wire could kill someone.

Perhaps this user, like many on the internet, was just B.S.'ing, but it’s possible that they were telling the truth. At least, their version of the truth, as they seemed to make sense in their posts, providing as much pertinent information as they did extraneous fluff.

Throughout this user’s two-year Reddit history, they often linked to a website, which was linked under the guise of being “This Old Guy’s Image Host.” With them being the moderator of a creepy /r/jailbait subreddit, it’s easy to understand that many of the images were pornographic in-nature, but the website name - Lake City Quiet Pills - led many to believe that there was more to this unusual user than originally thought. It was such a bizarre, unusual term that was rarely used, and seemed to have very little to do with the dirty images it hosted.

In addition to it being a website operated by this Reddit user, it was also a term they used more than once. In one of the last comments made by this user, /u/ReligionOfPeace, they stated:

“I can think of any number of criminal organizations that would benefit from a dose of lake city quiet pills.”

Eventually, this website - and this expression - would lead armchair investigators and Reddit sleuths through one of the most bizarre mysteries of the internet age.

This is the story of Lake City Quiet Pills.