# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/61 "2018-03-16T06:18:21Z")
The 1931 “Wallace murder” in Britain is also a good one. Julia Wallace is murdered; her husband is tried, convicted and sentenced to death as the killer. However, after re-examination if evidence, an appeal was lodged and he ended up acquitted. That murder remains unsolved today. Link: [William Herbert Wallace - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert_Wallace) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/62 "2018-03-16T13:50:35Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > [Teen drove into ditch, vanished as parents searched - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/18/grace.coldcase.swanson/index.html) > > 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. That’s a head scratcher for sure. For those too busy to read, there are podcasts that address most of these cases. My wife and I can’t get enough. Examples: [http://thinkingsidewayspodcast.com/tag/brandon-swanson/](http://thinkingsidewayspodcast.com/tag/brandon-swanson/) > **[The Trail Went Cold – Minisode 30 – Brandon Swanson – The Trail Went Cold](https://www.trailwentcold.com/2017/10/18/the-trail-went-cold-minisode-30-brandon-swanson/)** ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/63 "2018-03-16T14:00:51Z")
Back to the tv show. my favorite is the one on the Loch Ness Monster and two of the leading “experts”, men who have lived on the Loch and been studying this for years, come out and admit their is nothing there. One man admits the early sightings from about 1900-1940, were giant river catfish (which can grow to 15 feet and live 50 years) dumped into the Loch to entice sport fishermen, were the source of earlier “monster” sightings. Yes, I can see a 15 foot fish, about twice the size of the average rowboat, would scare the crap out of anyone! These men, who once were sure nessie existed, have dived into the loch and examined every clue like photos and testimonies and admit, their is no “monster”. Although it has brought in alot of tourists. Now the big question is when will this whole thing be forgotten and people quit looking for it? ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/64 "2018-03-16T14:48:00Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > 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. Yes, I was thinking about that case. It’s really so sad, not only what happened to her, in what should have been happy circumstances (circus !) but add the fact that she was basically forgotten. It’s as if the only people who showed some compassion were the ones who came up with the “Little Miss” moniker ☹ . ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/65 "2018-03-16T15:08:24Z")
[Who put Bella in the wych elm?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_put_Bella_in_the_Wych_Elm%3F) To recommend another podcast: Bella, and some of the other cases mentioned, are discussed on [My Favorite Murder](https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/about). They’ll be doing live shows on a tour of Europe soon. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/66 "2018-03-16T16:01:57Z")
On a micro-level: a few years ago my BIL’S brother, a cop, came home from work and killed his wife, three young children, then himself. He used his service gun. The murder’s identity is a given. The unsolved mystery is why - no note, no indications he was troubled, in a good marriage, and so on. Just came home and killed his family. BILl’s mom, grandpa, brother, and sister (happened last November) are suicides. A mystery I’d like to see solved is nature vs. nurture - is suicide influenced by genetics? ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/67 "2018-03-16T16:52:14Z")
If all dog owners were to unite and, over a designated week, walk their dogs for 96 hours, imagine how many human remains would be found. Seriously, it seems that dog walkers are always finding bodies. One of my fave mysteries is Kaspar Hauser. A lot of evidence points toward his story being a sham, but some mystery remains: > **[Kaspar Hauser](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser)** > > Kaspar Hauser (30 April 1812 – 17 December 1833) was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death from a stab wound to his left breast, sparked much debate and controversy. Theories propounded at the time identified him as a member of the grand ducal House of Baden, hidden away because of royal intrigue. These opinions may or may not have been documented by later investigations. Other theories proposed that Hau ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/68 "2018-03-16T17:43:53Z")
This is sort of side story that is usually ignored, but the suicide of [Edward Cowles Stevenson](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134650996/edward-cowles-stevenson). Either his wife or his daughter came and found him hanging. No note, no obvious motive, zilch. That would not be the end of the tragedy for Mildred Stevenson, though, as some years later her daughter Colette, and their small children, would later fall victim to the infamous [Jeffrey MacDonald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_R._MacDonald). Anyway, MacDonald’s story is so notorious, that Colette’s fathers’ suicide is pretty small potatoes in comparison, but still another head-scratcher. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/69 "2018-03-17T02:30:54Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > If all dog owners were to unite and, over a designated week, walk their dogs for 96 hours, imagine how many human remains would be found. > > Seriously, it seems that dog walkers are always finding bodies. Conspiracy or cult?:eek: ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/70 "2018-03-17T02:45:22Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > 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: I kinda wondered about the puppy euthanasia, too. I would think they would have been able to get the contents of the dog’s stomach out somehow. Maybe other places in the digestive tract wouldn’t be as straightforward. I guess first and foremost, they wanted to establish if the dog had somehow eaten or drank since being in the closet(?) ---
**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 17, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/71 "2018-03-17T02:51:01Z")
Australian child rape-killing - [Murder of Kylie Maybury - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kylie_Maybury) (there was an unrelated British Kylie Maybury who was convicted for pension fraud) ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/72 "2018-03-17T03:11:00Z")
> [@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. Which timelines are these? I’ve never heard of this before, and all my research has turned up nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/73 "2018-03-17T03:13:39Z")
If you are interested in mysteries, and all kinds of crimes from the past, this blog is pretty good reading: [http://strangeco.blogspot.com](http://strangeco.blogspot.com) This disappearance is pretty intriguing - > **[The Strange Disappearance of Dorothy Forstein](http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-strange-disappearance-of-dorothy.html)** > > Philadelphian Dorothy Cooper Forstein appeared to be happily married, comfortably well-to-do, a loving mother, and well-liked. She was,... ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/74 "2018-03-17T19:27:15Z")
Wow, so many compelling mysteries and murders, many of which I was aware, some notable ones I was not…the Oakland County (Babysitter) murders, the sister’s blog is fascinating and haunting, her pain and drive is very apparent…the history of the Cecil Hotel, damn, that is incredibly creepy… Here in the Capital Region of NY, we’ve had several, one of most well known is the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall which occurred right before we moved up here… [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance\_of\_Suzanne\_Lyall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Suzanne_Lyall) [http://cbs6albany.com/news/local/20-years-after-daughters-disappearance-suzanne-lyalls-mother-still-searches-for-answers](http://cbs6albany.com/news/local/20-years-after-daughters-disappearance-suzanne-lyalls-mother-still-searches-for-answers) She disappeared 20 years ago just about two weeks ago, and like so many cases, it’s horribly maddening for the families that someone out there likely knows what happened and where she is… ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/75 "2018-03-18T16:01:24Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > On a micro-level: a few years ago my BIL’S brother, a cop, came home from work and killed his wife, three young children, then himself. He used his service gun. > > The murder’s identity is a given. The unsolved mystery is why - no note, no indications he was troubled, in a good marriage, and so on. Just came home and killed his family. > > BILl’s mom, grandpa, brother, and sister (happened last November) are suicides. A mystery I’d like to see solved is nature vs. nurture - is suicide influenced by genetics? Something very similar happened hear less than two years ago, no public indications of trouble, he just came home, killed his son and wife, set the house on fire and committed suicide, all with his service weapon…there very well could be underlying issues that were never made public, but very similar to the situation you referenced… [https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/State-Police-closes-Israel-Roman-murder-suicide-11285808.php](https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/State-Police-closes-Israel-Roman-murder-suicide-11285808.php) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/76 "2018-03-18T16:58:12Z")
This one is local to me, and we’re coming up on the 30th anniversary: [A Monster in Fort Wayne; The Murder of April Marie Tinsley - TRUECRIMEGUY.COM](http://truecrimeguy.com/april-marie-tinsley/) The killer left notes and DNA in several places. Nothing has ever come of any of it. I was a teenager when April was killed and didn’t live too terribly far away. I remember my friends and myself being scared to go anywhere by ourselves after that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/77 "2018-03-18T21:20:46Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > 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. “Spontaneous human combustion” in general and the Reeser case in particular don’t seem to be genuine mysteries. Much was made of the fact that only Reeser’s body and the chair she was sitting in were heavily damaged by fire (similar to what’s been recorded in other such “mysteries”): _“In fact, the floors and walls of Mrs. Reeser’s apartment were of concrete. When last seen by her physician son, Mrs. Reeser had been sitting in the big chair, wearing flammable nightclothes, and smoking a cigarette-after having taken two Seconal sleeping pills and stating her intention of taking two more. The official police report concluded, “Once the body became ignited, almost complete destruction occurred from the burning of its own fatty tissues.” (Mrs. Reeser was a “plump” woman, and a quantity of “grease”-obviously fatty residue from her body-was left at the spot where the immolation occurred.) As the fat liquefied in the fire, it could have been absorbed into the chair stuffing to fuel still more fire to attack still more of the body"_ [https://www.csicop.org/si/show/not-so-spontaneous\_human\_combustion](https://www.csicop.org/si/show/not-so-spontaneous_human_combustion) Joe Nickell’s articles on SHC are worth a read. ---
**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 20, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/78 "2018-03-20T04:02:19Z")
I wonder how many of us heard the old “hop in, your Mom sent me to pick you up” from pedos trawling for kids near our schools? ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/79 "2018-03-20T15:37:09Z")
In Boston, [back in 1996](http://www.celebrateboston.com/crime/swedish-nanny-murder.htm) there was a Swedish Au Pair, [Karina Holmer.](http://www.fox25boston.com/news/new-englands-unsolved-the-swedish-nanny-in-the-dumpster/359504461) The top half of her body was found in a dumpster. No crime scene or any other part of her has ever been found. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443/80 "2018-03-20T15:41:54Z")
Another case local to Massachusetts is [Molly Bish.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Molly_Bish) She was 16 and working as a lifeguard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-mysteries-and-murders/810443.md?page=5)