 It has been speculated, including by Snopes founder David Mikkelson, that the legend may have been inspired by a vaguely similar case which took place in 1964, in which an escaped murderer hid in the backseat of a car, only to end up shot by the car's owner, a police detective.Other somewhat similar, though not identical, cases have since been noted, including by folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand.The story is often told with a moral.