This Murder Mystery Still Hasn’t Been Solved More Than 100 Years Later

Cold cases are haunting, terrifying, and also strange enough to capture our attention. Sadly, not all murderers get caught for their crimes. Actually, we still have some cold cases dating back hundreds of years like the most famous of them all, Jack the Ripper. Over a century later, and still no one knows who committed the crimes.

Some cold cases are even linked to supernatural ideas and phenomena. (Click here for 1 2 atmospheric phenomena that seem supernatural .)

Do you know any other famous cold cases? Follow along to discover eight famous cold cases and mysteries.

Jack the Ripper

Starting strong, we have a case that has mystified researchers, historians, and police for over a century – Jack the Ripper. This serial killer terrorized the streets of London, specifically Whitechapel, from 1888 to 1891.

While we may never know how many victims Jack the Ripper killed, experts have connected him with at least five. It’s also believed that the killer was a man specifically targeting women, possibly because of his hatred for them. The names of the victims are Catherine Eddowes, Annie Chapman, Mary Ann Nichols, Mary Jane Kelly, and Elizabeth Stride.

The Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer is another well-known cold case we may never solve, although there have been plenty of suspects. So, who is The Zodiac Killer? This killer killed at least five people in the San Francisco area from December 1968 to October 1969.

While a composite sketch was released, no one could identify the serial killer. He also sent countless letters, terrorizing the public, and in those letters, he claimed to have killed at least 37 people. The only suspect ever named by the police was Arthur Leigh Allen. The evidence was circumstantial. Ultimately, nothing came of it.

Wall Street Bombing

On September 16, 1920, a bomb went off on Wall Street, leading to the deaths of 40 people. This horrendous attack also resulted in about 143 people suffering from serious injuries and even more people with minor injuries.

How exactly did this happen? While we don’t know who or why someone bombed Wall Street, we know the how. On the same day, a horse-drawn carriage stopped on Wall Street. Inside the wagon was about 100 pounds of dynamite, which detonated on a timer.

The Black Dahlia/Elizabeth Short

The Black Dahlia is a gruesome and brutal case that may never be solved. Elizabeth Short nicknamed the Black Dahlia after her death, was found on January 15, 1947, in Los Angeles. She had just returned from a trip.

Short was found severed in half with blood drained from her body. She was posed with her arms up and over her head. Because of the lack of blood, police suspect she was killed elsewhere. The brutality of this crime made national headlines, and yet the killer never came forward. Instead, over five hundred people have confessed to this case but were all deemed false.

Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme

Another famous cold case involves the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. He was a politician who led the Swedish Social Democratic Party. He was assassinated on February 28, 1986, shocking many people.

While walking home from the cinema with his wife, Olof Palme was shot in the back. A second shot went off and grazed his wife, Lizbeth, but she survived. He didn’t have a bodyguard at the time and rarely went out with one. While one suspect was tried for his murder, Christer Pettersson, the trial was overturned. Although considered a cold case and mystery to some still, Swedish prosecutors named Stig Engström as Olof Palme’s assassin.

Jeannette DePalma

Rumors are a powerful thing. When Jeannette DePalma was found, killed, and lying on top of a cliff, the media immediately connected it to the occult. It struck fear across the nation. People feared that teenagers were practicing dark magic and killing each other.

Although police officials have denied occult activity, rumors spread quickly that Jeannette’s body was surrounded by black magic items and symbols. The case was cold almost immediately. The only possible suspect the police had in the beginning was a homeless man known as “Red,” but he was ruled out. Years later, Richard Cottingham, a convicted serial killer, alluded to having killed Jeannette.

The Cleveland Torso Murderer

The Cleveland Torso Murderer is a nauseating cold case. Between September 5, 1934, to August 16, 1938, about twelve victims were found and linked together. However, researchers estimate that the killer may have taken 20 to 30 lives.

The victims were found in Kingsbury Run. They were dismembered and scattered in different areas. While on the search for this mystery serial killer, police officials interrogated over 9,000 people. Still, no one was found to be guilty. Some officials believe there may have been more than one killer.

JonBenét Ramsey ­

Another cold case is the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old child beauty queen. She was found dead in her parent’s home on December 25, 1996, in the basement just hours after being reported missing. Her parents also received a chilling ransom note.

For the longest, her parents were suspected of killing her and staging the scene. However, they received an apology in 2008 as DNA discovered on Ramsey didn’t belong to any family member. The case remains cold and open with no new leads.

The Disappearance of Brian Shaffer

Two decades later, we still know very little about the disappearance of Brian Sh Aerial Viewaffer. Brian Shaffer was a medical student born on February 25, 1979. He attended the Ohio State University College of Medicine. Shaffer’s disappearance is confusing and has left reporters and investigators with more questions than answers.

On March 31, 2006, he went out with friends to celebrate the start of Spring Break. He split with his friends during the night. The last time anyone spoke or saw Shaffer was around 2 a.m. on the first of April. Security cameras caught the medical student briefly talking to two women before leaving the view of the camera. His father reported him missing on Monday after unsuccessfully attempting to get in contact with him. While no one knows what happened to Brian Shaffer, investigators suspect he may still be alive. It’s possible he changed his identity and ran away. However, another possible theory is that he was a victim of the smiley face killings. The FBI doesn’t believe this is a strong possibility.

The Killing of Gordon Sanderson

A local couple discovered a decomposing body on April 13, 1977, in their old septic tank near Tofield, Canada. They first spotted his leg before calling the police. The police then recovered his body. At first, no one knew who the body belonged to, but the original medical examiner believed he was Caucasian. The autopsy took months but found large pieces of evidence that the victim was tortured before he was shot and killed.

Clyde Snow, an incredible forensic anthropologist, created a facial reconstruction of the victim alongside Betty Pat Gatliff. They believed the victim was indigenous and about 35 years old. Incredibly, forty-four years after the discovery of the body, the victim was identified through genetic genealogy. The victim was Gordon Edwin Sanderson, a 26-year-old Indigenous man. No suspects were ever declared. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believe that the killer may already be dead.

The Disappearance of Kyron Horman

It’s hard to fathom how a child can disappear from school. Kyron Horman disappeared on June 4, 2010, while attending a school science fair at Skyline Elementary School. His stepmother, Terri Horman, attended the science fair with him before leaving around 8:45 a.m. Kyron never made it to his classes for the day. At 3:30 p.m., Kyron’s stepmother and father waited for him at his bus stop, but he never got out. When they called the school, the secretary called the police after realizing Kyron was marked absent.

Over 1,300 people from all over the country searched for Kyron for over ten days. While police never found Kyron, they heavily suspected his stepmother. Allegedly, Terri had offered her landscaper a lot of money to kill her husband. No one could prove this. In 2012, Desiree Young even filed a civil lawsuit against Terri, blaming her for Kyron’s disappearance. The lawsuit was quickly dropped to not interfere with the ongoing case. A common theory that doesn’t include Terri is that Kyron may have wandered into the woods near the school. He could have gotten into an accident or been a victim of an opportunistic kidnapping.

The Disappearance of Brandon Swanson

So many questions are left unanswered of Brandon Swanson’s disappearance. He was born on January 30, 1989, in Minnesota and was last heard from on May 14, 2008. Swanson was returning from a party when he accidentally drove into a ditch. Disoriented, he called his parents. He assumed he was near Lynd. Swanson’s parents searched the area he thought he was in, but they couldn’t find him. They stayed on the phone with each other, but after forty-seven minutes, he yelled, “Oh, shit!” and went quiet.

In the morning, his parents called the police, but they dismissed their concerns because of his age. Since he wasn’t a minor, the police didn’t launch an investigation. However, things got strange and serious when the parents figured out the last ping from Brandon’s phone was not in Lynd but near Porter. Even when the police finally got involved, nothing was found. They found no signs of foul play but didn’t rule it out as a possibility. A common theory of what happened to Brandon is that he may have fallen into the Yellow Medicine River and drowned. While police searched the river and nearby areas, his body was never found.

The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders

Another haunting cold case is the Oklahoma Girl Scout murders. On June 13, 1977, in Camp Scott, Mayes County, Oklahoma, three girls, ages 8 to 10, were brutally assaulted and killed. Camp counselors found the three girls, Lori Farmer, 8, Michele Guse, 9, and Denise Milner, near their tent. The three girls were Girl Scouts in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Although evidence was left behind, including a flashlight with a partial imprint, no one’s ever been convicted of the crime.

Instead, Gene Leroy Hart became the prime suspect. Hart was a convicted rapist on the run. He was tried for the murders after a ten-month-long manhunt. However, his team argued that he was framed. With a tip, police officials found a cave with two wedding photos that Hart developed. There wasn’t enough evidence linked to Hunt. The jury found Hart not guilty of the murders. Still, he was sent back to prison to complete his previous sentence and died just two months later of a heart attack. While considered a cold case, Mayes County Sheriff Mike Reed, the current sheriff on the case, is pretty sure it was Hart. Decades after the murders, DNA was tested and ruled out all suspects but Hart. According to Mike Reed, he also fits the example of a textbook rapist with his past crimes.

Are you interested in reading about more murders and strange cases? Check out our article: This new-age cult has been linked to several murders and disappearances .

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