# Unsolved mysteries and murders **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443 "2018-03-12T18:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/41 "2018-03-14T13:47:48Z")
[The Oakland County Child Killer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_County_Child_Killer) was one I actually lived through ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/42 "2018-03-14T14:16:17Z")
Perhaps not what the OP is calling for, since we \*kind \*of know what happened; [spontaneous human combustion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Reeser) is a bit of an unsolved mystery in an of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/43 "2018-03-14T14:23:46Z")
Asha Degree, a nine year old who, for some reason, left her house around three in morning in the middle of a thunder storm. People noticed her walking along the highway that morning, but she hasn’t been seen since. Several months later, found her backpack in a plastic bag about 26 miles away. > **[Disappearance of Asha Degree](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Asha_Degree)** > > Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}35°20′47″N 81°30′27″W / 35.34647°N 81.50738°W / 35.34647; -81.50738 > > Asha Jaquilla Degree (AY-shuh; born August 5, 1990) went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of... ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/44 "2018-03-14T15:00:03Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > In 1981 a five year old girl went missing here in Topeka. She was seen walking away from her house, and some say a man was following her. Jackie Hay was never seen again, nor was her body found. It’s been thirty-seven years. Similarly, there is the Randy Leach case in the Kansas City area (rural Leavenworth county). 17 year old disappears from/after a high school party in April 1988, nobody has seen him since. The KC area/northeast Kansas seems to have a lot of these. Precious Doe, which was eventually solved after many years; and the Kara Kopetsky disappearance, which was only recently solved when her remains were found near the remains of another girl who had recently disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/45 "2018-03-14T15:00:07Z")
The Mile Marker 36 Murders. [http://www.milemarker36.com/chapter3a.html](http://www.milemarker36.com/chapter3a.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/46 "2018-03-14T15:28:17Z")
This isn’t quite the same as some of the others that have been posted here, but it’s in the same vein. Locally, there’s the case of Stephanie Condon, a 14 year old girl who disappeared on Halloween night in 1998. She was babysitting a couple of kids while the kids’ mom was at a bar. The mom came home in the wee hours of the morning to find the kids fast asleep and Stephanie gone. She had simply vanished. One guy, a local loser by the name of Dale Hill, was the last person to have seen Stephanie when he visited the house where she was babysitting that evening. There was no evidence of foul play or that Hill had anything to do with the disappearance. The case quickly went cold until 2009 when a guy walking his dogs discovered a skeleton in the woods an hour’s drive from where Stephanie disappeared. [It turned out it was her remains](http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/remains_found_of_oregon_teen_m.html). Hill was arrested and charged with aggravated murder, but was acquitted. Less than a year later her father [committed suicide.](http://kval.com/news/local/community-in-shock-over-another-condon-death) Her mom was a local mail carrier and our family’s house was on her route. Every time I saw that old mail jeep I would have a brief flashback to the media circus that surrounded her disappearance. I can’t imagine what that woman lived through. IIRC Stephanie was an only child, and she lost her daughter and her husband. I can’t even imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/47 "2018-03-14T17:21:46Z")
> **[Teen drove into ditch, vanished as parents searched - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/18/grace.coldcase.swanson/index.html)** > > It was the last day of classes, and Brandon Swanson, a 19-year-old freshman at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, was celebrating with his friends. Brandon Swanson was 19 and had driven his car into a ditch on a county road. He called his parents and was trying to direct his father to where he was when he yelled “OH SHIT!” and the line went dead. Nobody has heard from him since. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/48 "2018-03-14T17:29:37Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > It’s been a while so I don’t know if it was officially solved yet but according to a bunch of 9/11 timelines the morning of 9/11/01 a group of Arabic looking men in a van approached Camp David claiming they were journalists and they wanted to talk to the President and Secret Service turned them away since they had no papers of any kind. I’ve always been curious what the hell their deal was. I didn’t recall that from the time, and I’m not finding any reference to it at the moment. Do you have an example of a report? Not trying to be argumentative, I’m just honestly curious about this. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/49 "2018-03-15T13:26:53Z")
The 1961 disappearance of [Ann Marie Burr](https://owlcation.com/humanities/1961-Disappearance-What-Happened-to-Little-Ann-Marie-Burr). She is believed by many, including Ann Rule, to be the first victim of then 15 year old Ted Bundy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/50 "2018-03-15T20:31:03Z")
> [@Princess\_Perfume](#): > > It’s really sad when places where crimes occurred or victim’s bodies were found are later demolished or paved over when streets and highways are widened. Why? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/51 "2018-03-15T20:44:11Z")
This [local young lady](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Jennifer_Kesse) vanished 12 years ago. All we have is a grainy video of someone dropping off her car at a nearby apartment complex. Not a peep. ---
**Author:** ![Princess\_Perfume](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/princess_perfume/32/16518_2.png) [@Princess\_Perfume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princess_Perfume)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/52 "2018-03-15T23:52:15Z")
The 2006 _ **Crime Investigation Australia** _ episode on the Beaumont Children was hilarious for those of us who like cr\*ppy re-enactments on true crime shows. Whereas the real Beaumont daughters had short hair, the child actresses’s hair was positively flowing, 'Jane" wore a circa 2006 Speedo one-piece, the children visit a 2006 bakery… i could go on ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/53 "2018-03-16T00:05:55Z")
[The “Boy in the Box”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_in_the_Box_(Philadelphia)) is well known, with many interesting theories. [Beverly Potts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Beverly_Potts) is less well known, at least to me. From what I’ve read, I don’t think she has any living family left. I’m not convinced about the conclusion reached in the death of [Mary Jane Barker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Mary_Jane_Barker). Specifically, I don’t see how three days in a closet could kill a child, yet leave a young puppy frisky. I’m also not convinced it was necessary to euthanize the puppy. :mad: If anyone is interested in podcasts, I highly recommend “The Vanished Podcast” and “Already Gone.” Both tend to focus on lesser known cases, with the latter being concerned primarily with cases out of Michigan. “True Crime Garage” is also good, though they do feature some solved cases. ---
**Author:** ![Princess\_Perfume](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/princess_perfume/32/16518_2.png) [@Princess\_Perfume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princess_Perfume)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/54 "2018-03-16T00:10:29Z")
Potts’ sister’s children are still alive, but yeah Beverly’s parents and sister are all dead now. Her sister left instructions that Beverly be buried next to their parents should her body ever be found. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/55 "2018-03-16T01:02:47Z")
Two classics: the Black Dahlia, and Judge Crater. Don’t really care about Jimmy Hoffa. ---
**Author:** ![Princess\_Perfume](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/princess_perfume/32/16518_2.png) [@Princess\_Perfume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princess_Perfume)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/56 "2018-03-16T01:06:18Z")
I feel really sorry for the Elizabeth Shorts in the world once they get old enough to find out they share their name with the Black Dahlia. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/57 "2018-03-16T01:38:13Z")
I was going to mention the Boy in the Box, but someone beat me to it. What about [Little Miss 1565](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartford_circus_fire#Little_Miss_1565)? She was a victim of the Hartford Circus Fire and no one was able to identify her. Years later she was declared to be [Eleanor Cook](http://www.circusfire1944.com/cook-eleanor.html), but Cook’s relatives who had examined the body at the time of the disaster were adamant that the body was NOT Cook. Then there were the [Hinterkaifeck murders](http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/09/the-mysterious-unsolved-murders-of-hinterkaifeck-farm/). The whole thing sounds like something from Stephen King. (And didn’t one of the lawyers from the Manson Family trial disappear in the middle of it?) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/58 "2018-03-16T01:50:06Z")
A slightly lesser known one, but Columbia, MO saw a pretty horrific murder of a 13 year old girl in 1950 that has never been solved. [http://www.columbiatribune.com/9b21294b-9b76-5d00-9bc0-ee43c61ac54e.html](http://www.columbiatribune.com/9b21294b-9b76-5d00-9bc0-ee43c61ac54e.html) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/59 "2018-03-16T02:53:46Z")
[Joan Gay Croft](https://okmysteries.wordpress.com/2017/06/04/mystery-the-disappearance-of-joan-gay-croft/): A little girl survives a terrible tornado. But who took her from the hospital? [J.B. Elwell](http://coolinterestingstuff.com/the-mysterious-locked-room-murder-of-joe-elwell-1920), noted bridge expert and notorious ladies’ man, is found murdered in a real-life unsolved locked room mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/60 "2018-03-16T03:07:04Z")
[Who murdered Isidor Fink? And how?](https://morbidology.com/the-locked-room-murder-mystery/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443.md?page=4)