A report by the United Nations found out that 52 people are killed every hour by homicide in the world. While a lot of them are solved, the majority of these true crime cases remain unsolved.
These cold-blooded gruesome murders have showcased how truly immoral humans can be. And the fact that these cases are shrouded in mystery adds another layer of uncertainty and secrecy that leaves one shaken to the core.
Here is a list of 20 chilling true crime cases that remain unsolved to this day and will definitely make you look over your shoulder the next time you step out of the house.. or some cases remain inside even.
1) The Zodiac Murders
One of the most unsettling and sadistic unsolved cases is of 'The Zodiac.' For two decades, the Zodiac Killer haunted and killed in Northern California. Although only 5 were directly linked to him, he has claimed to have killed 37 people. He gained popularity for sending letters to the newspaper - San Francisco Chronicle with ciphers which he claimed would reveal his identity, but none could be deciphered. One of his only codes which could be deciphered revealed the message that he loved killing. The police tried their best, but he always managed to outsmart them. Many books and movies have been based on him, the most popular being the 2007 movie - Zodiac, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo.
2) Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper of London, involves the case of a serial killer, known for killing 5 women. He usually killed during late nights or early mornings and mutilated the bodies with such perfection that his identity was often assumed to be a surgeon. He has often taunted the police for being unable to catch him by sending letters where he referred to himself as ‘Jack the Ripper.’ His identity couldn’t be revealed despite the extensive efforts of the Scotland Yard.
3) DB Cooper Hijacking
D.B. Cooper’s hijacking case is a very interesting unsolved mystery. This man was taking a flight from Portland to Seattle and was carrying a briefcase with him. Mid-flight he gave the air hostess a note saying he had a bomb in his suitcase and demanded 200,000 dollars in cash and four parachutes and that the plane should be immediately refueled as soon as it landed in Seattle.
The passengers were released upon his demands being met but he did not release the flight crew. He asked the pilot to fly at a low altitude towards Mexico and he jumped in between the flight with the money and the parachutes.
The police had noted the serial numbers of the bill given to him and began tracking him but no update was found. Years later, a sum of 5800 was found in Vancouver, decomposing. Who Cooper was? What his motive was? Did he survive the jump? all remain a mystery.
4)The Black Dahlia murder
The infamous case of Black Dahlia is about the murder of a 22-year-old girl - Elizabeth Short. Her body was found in a park, mutilated, cut up, and drained of blood. Even her mouth was cut from ear to ear depicting a sinister smile. A very large-scale operation was conducted to identify her killer. There were about 150 suspects in the case and despite receiving a lot of media attention, her case remains unsolved.
5) Somerton Beach Murder
One morning in December 1948, on Somerton Beach in Australia, a body was found. It was of a man in a well-dressed suit with no identification. In a secret pocket of his clothes, a note was found with the words ‘Tamam Shud.’ The police found the note to be torn from a rare book. They tried locating the book to connect it to the body but were unsuccessful.
Later the book was found with a cryptic message on it that couldn’t be deciphered. What happened, how the man was killed, and who killed him remains unsolved.
One chilling fact about this murder is the note found on the man, reading ‘Tamam Shud’ is a Persian phrase that means ‘It is finished.’
6) Cecil Hotel Murder
The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles is considered one of the most haunted hotels in the world due to its ties to a lot of killings and kidnappings. One such case was of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old girl who was found dead in the rooftop water tank. The cameras have last seen her acting erratically as she pressed button after button on the elevator. It seemed like she was running from somebody. She seemed to have been talking to someone who couldn’t be seen on the camera. Most of the officers assumed it was a suicide but accessing the water tank where her body was found wasn’t a one-person job, especially closing the tank head.
7) Tylenol Murders
Tylenol Murders was a tragic case that took place in Chicago. 6 and more people lost their lives after consuming the medicine Tylenol. It was found that the medicine was laced with cyanide. Since the Tylenol consumed by the victims was manufactured in different factories the only commonality between them was the store they were purchased from. Someone had been buying these capsules and injecting cyanide into them and then placing them back on the shelf. The culprit couldn’t be found but after this case, medicines started coming in a sealed bottle.
8) Hinterkaifeck Murders
The Hinterkaifeck Murder is a very brutal killing of 6 people in a farm in Bavaria, Germany. The 5 family members and their maid were killed with an axe and it was discovered whoever killed them had stayed in the house for 6 days after their death.
Mysterious events were happening in the house much before that. There were mysterious footsteps, a newspaper found which no one had brought, and strange sounds from the attic. It is because of these occurrences that their previous maid had left the job.
What actually happened and who was involved remains unsolved.
9) Murder of Singer Tupac
Tupac was an icon in the music industry. His murder in 1996 was a shock for everyone. After returning from watching a Mike Tyson Fight in Las Vegas, a car parked next to him, fired gun shots which wounded him fatally. The main suspect was Davis D, a gang leader who accepted being in the car that fired the shots but denied killing him. Two decades later, the trial is scheduled for November 2024 and till now the actual killer is not known.
10) 657 Boulevard
657 Boulevard is a chilling case of the Broaddus family who had just bought a new home in New Jersey and were preparing to move in. During this time, they received an anonymous letter written by “The Watcher” who claimed that he had been looking after the house for decades. He knew a lot of personal details about the family, the kids, and their house and claimed to have been stalking them.
The police tried their best but couldn’t reach any conclusion. The letter in their cryptic language began threatening the family and all the details mentioned in it about them were in fact true. The Broaddus family ended up selling the house and it was demolished after that. The identity of ‘The Watcher’ remains a mystery.
11) Sodder Children Disappearance
The Sodder Children's disappearance case in West Virginia was a very horrifying and mysterious case that couldn’t be solved. On Christmas Eve, a fire broke in the Sodder House. The parents escaped with 4 children but 5 were still left in the upper bedroom. The father, Mr. George Sodder went to retrieve the ladder to help the children but it was missing from its place. They tried contacting the fire department but they too were unreachable. The house was ablaze and there was no way in or out.
In the morning when the authorities arrived, the house was in ashes but not one remaining of the 5 children could be found. Later many people reported seeing the children in various locations. The actual fate of the 5 children is yet to be solved.
12) Ricky McCormick Case
Ricky McCormick, a 41-year-old man was found dead lying in a field in Missouri. He had two cryptic notes in his pocket which couldn’t be deciphered. Ricky had connections with drug-related activities so police couldn't be sure whether it was a suicide or a murder. The post-mortem report couldn’t reveal much either.
13) Charles C. Morgan Murder
The murder of Charles Morgan was a very weird and shocking case that took place in Arizona in 1977. Morgan used to work as an escrow agent and after disappearing for a couple of days he returned back home to his wife, claiming he was part of a secret organization.
Later he again disappeared and was found dead in his car with a gunshot on the back of his head. No fingerprints or any other proof was found, but what added to the mystery was a 2 dollar bill with references to the bible, and his tooth wrapped in a handkerchief that were all found in his car. No one knows whether Charles Morgan was really a secret agent, a mental patient, or something else.
14) Walter Collins Murder
Walter Collins case became so popular that a movie starring Angelina Jolie was made on the same. The case was of a 9-year-old boy who disappeared in Los Angeles. Months later, he was found in Illinois. But what gets strange here is, that the mother of Walter Collins started denying that he was her son. He looked and behaved like Walter but the mother kept on insisting that this boy found in Illinois was not her son.
The mother was declared mentally unstable and was put in a psychic ward. Later the boy admitted that he was indeed not Walter but an orphan who read about the case and thought it was his chance of finding home because he resembled Watkins.
The real whereabouts of Walter Collins is a mystery till date.
15) Tara Calcio Case
The Tara Calico case took place in New Mexico in 1988. She was a 19-year-old girl who went out for a bike ride and never returned. She was reported missing but the police found nothing. Until a year later when a polaroid was found in a parking lot in Florida which showed Tara and another missing boy bound in ropes in a van. This was the last update on the case and after this, nothing was found about Tara.
16) Mystery Feet
This mysterious case involved severed human feet in sneakers washing ashore Salish Sea in British Columbia. As many as 20 feet have been found but the reason behind this is yet to be discovered. While the police have assumed that it might be the body parts of people who have attempted suicide by jumping into the Sea or body parts of passengers from an airplane that crashed and plummeted into the ocean, no other body parts apart from the feet in sneakers have been found.
17) Jean Marie Townsend Murder
The murder of Jean Townsend happened when she was walking near South Ruislip Station. Her body was found strangled and her own scarf was used to do that. The police tried their best to solve the case, with various rewards announced for the identification of the killer. Alas, the case couldn’t be solved, especially considering the fact that it was 1954 and the advanced technologies available today weren’t available then.
18) Nicole Brown - O. J. Simpson Case
This unsolved case involves NFL star O.J. Simpson and his ex-wife Nicole Brown. Nicole and Ronald Goldman were stabbed outside her Los Angeles home in 1994. Evidence, including blood traces matching O.J. Simpson’s DNA, was found on the crime scene and he was still acquitted. He won the case on grounds of racial bias for the charges against him.
19) JonBenet Case
JonBenet Ramsey's case was the murder of a 6-year-old girl. She was reported missing and after a ransom note demanding 118000 dollars was found, Police went on a search. Later, she was found dead with severe skull injuries in the basement of her own house. The family was suspected but no solid proof was found against them. To this day the case remains unsolved.
20) Natalie Wood Case
Natalie was one of Hollywood’s successful stars. Acting in West Side Story, Rebel without a Cause, and Miracle of the 34th Street, Natalie Wood was very beloved among audiences. Her death in 1981 shocked everyone and remains unsolved.
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Aboard a yacht with her husband Robert Wagner and co-actor Christopher Walkens, Natalie Woods was found drowned the next morning. People on nearby yachts reported hearing shoutings but dismissed them as nothing serious.
Initially, Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken were considered suspects but were later dismissed and the case was treated as unsolved.
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