The Unseen Truth: 5 Shocking Facts About The Eric And Dylan Videos And Their 2025 Status

The "Eric and Dylan Video" is one of the most infamously sought-after pieces of media in modern true crime history. As of December 2025, the vast majority of the footage, known collectively as the "Basement Tapes," remains unreleased to the public, existing only in the form of transcripts and detailed descriptions provided by investigators. The videos, recorded by Columbine High School perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, offer a chilling, first-hand glimpse into their motivations, planning, and final thoughts before the April 20, 1999, massacre. The intense public curiosity surrounding this footage stems from its nature as a direct, unedited manifesto of two mass murderers. While persistent rumors and speculation about their release continue to circulate, a key development occurred years ago that fundamentally changed their status, yet the debate over whether the public should ever see them is still a heated topic in late 2025.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold: A Brief Biographical Profile

The two perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre were high school seniors who planned and executed one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

• Eric David Harris: Born April 9, 1981, in Wichita, Kansas. Harris was the more overtly psychopathic of the two, often described in psychological profiles as having narcissistic traits. He maintained a personal journal detailing his hatred for humanity and his desire for mass murder. He was 18 years old at the time of the attack.
• Dylan Bennet Klebold: Born September 11, 1981, in Lakewood, Colorado. Klebold was often characterized as the more depressed and suicidal of the duo. His journals expressed feelings of loneliness, self-loathing, and a desire to escape his existence. He was 17 years old at the time of the attack.
• The Massacre: On April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher, and injured 24 others, before committing suicide in the school library.
• The Videos: The "Basement Tapes" were recorded over several weeks in Eric Harris's basement, serving as their final testament and a detailed chronicle of their murderous intent.

The True Status of the "Basement Tapes" in 2025: Destruction vs. Rumor

The biggest question surrounding the Eric and Dylan videos is simple: where are they? The answer is complex, involving legal battles, public outcry, and a definitive action taken by law enforcement.

The Official Destruction of the Core Footage

The primary footage, known as the "Basement Tapes," consisted of approximately four hours of video. This material was never released to the public, with only a few select law enforcement officials, investigators, and victims' families being allowed to view them.

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In a move that remains controversial, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office—the agency in possession of the evidence—reportedly destroyed the original "Basement Tapes" in 2011. The destruction was carried out to prevent the videos from ever being leaked or released, thereby denying the perpetrators the celebrity status they sought and protecting the victims' families from further trauma.

This destruction means that the original, unedited videos are no longer physically accessible. Any "leaked" footage claiming to be the full Basement Tapes is fraudulent or consists of edited clips from other, less sensitive videos the pair made.

Addressing the Persistent 2026 Release Rumor

Despite the confirmed destruction, a persistent, unconfirmed rumor has circulated online, particularly within true crime communities, suggesting the "Basement Tapes" are slated for a public release in 2026.

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This rumor often stems from speculation or misinterpretation of legal documents related to evidence retention. Given the confirmed destruction of the core tapes in 2011 by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the claim of a 2026 release is widely considered a myth. The only material that remains are the official transcripts, audio recordings, and detailed investigative reports based on the videos. The destruction was intended to be permanent, making a future release of the original footage impossible.

What the Public Knows: Key Entities and Chilling Details from the Transcripts

While the video itself is gone, the publicly available transcripts and official descriptions provide a horrifying level of detail, which is what fuels the ongoing topical authority and morbid curiosity.

The Final Messages: Reb and Vodka

In the videos, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold do not always refer to themselves by their given names. They adopt the alter egos they used in their journals and online: "Reb" (Harris) and "Vodka" (Klebold). This use of pseudonyms highlights their attempt to craft a persona and an identity separate from their high school selves, framing their upcoming act as a performance or a rebellion.

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The tapes were recorded primarily in Eric Harris's basement, often showing Dylan Klebold sitting in a tan La-Z-Boy recliner. The environment—a seemingly normal suburban basement—contrasts sharply with the violent and hateful rhetoric being recorded, which includes explicit threats and messages to specific students and the world at large.

The Content of the Basement Tapes

The videos are not a single recording but a series of tapes recorded from March to April 1999. They cover several key themes:

• Motivations and Grievances: The duo detail their hatred for humanity and their specific grievances against the students and staff of Columbine High School, often expressing a desire for revenge. Klebold famously states, "You've been giving us shit for years."
• Detailed Planning: The tapes show them discussing their bomb designs, the placement of the explosives, and their plans for the April 20 attack. One segment shows them practicing with firearms in a wooded area six weeks prior to the massacre.
• Final Will and Testament: They leave messages for their families, including apologies and explanations that their actions were a "last resort." They also express their hope that the videos would be released to the public.

The Other Footage: "Radioactive Clothing"

The "Basement Tapes" are often confused with other, less sensitive videos Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold created as part of their high school film class projects. The most notable of these is "Radioactive Clothing."

This video is a surreal, low-budget film about "2 soldiers fight againts the evil radioactive clothes, mutants caused by an atomic bomb." Unlike the Basement Tapes, segments of "Radioactive Clothing" have circulated online, as it was a school project and not considered evidence of the crime itself. This film, along with others like "Hitmen for Hire," provides a disturbing context for their fascination with violence and performance, blurring the line between fantasy and the horrific reality they would later create.

The Lasting Impact and Ethical Dilemma

The ongoing search for the "Eric and Dylan video" highlights a major ethical dilemma in true crime media: the conflict between the public's right to know and the responsibility to prevent the glorification of violence.

The decision to destroy the tapes was based on the premise that releasing them would turn the perpetrators into martyrs, inspiring copycat acts, and causing immeasurable pain to the victims' families. The fact that a victim from the 1999 attack passed away as recently as 2025 due to complications from their injuries underscores the long-term, devastating impact of the event.

Ultimately, the "Eric and Dylan video" is a ghost in the annals of true crime. While the visual evidence is gone, the transcripts and the detailed analysis of the footage continue to be studied by psychologists, criminologists, and law enforcement to better understand the warning signs and motivations behind school violence, ensuring that the lessons learned from the Columbine tragedy—and the chilling words of its perpetrators—are not forgotten.