Unsolved Crime in Each State

Across the United States, there are serial killers who have gotten away with their crimes and missing people who have never been found.

There are cold cases that end up being solved decades later, but, there are always the ones that go unsolved, no matter how much works go into solving it.

Today, we are going to go over 50 famous cases that remain unsolved to this day.

ALABAMA

Sherry Lynn Marler, a 12-year old who lived in Greenville, Alabama, went with her stepfather into town to help him with some errands on June 6th, 1984. Her stepfather went to the bank to sign papers, while he did this, he gave Sherry a dollar to go buy a soda from a vending machine. He instructed her to meet him back at his truck 15 minutes after. But, she never returned and hasn't been seen since. No evidence or trace of Sherry being found since she went to buy that soda.

ALASKA

On September 6th, 1982, eight people, including a man and his pregnant wife and their two children, and teenage deckhands were aboard a fishing boat, sadly, the group was shot to death on the boat. The killer returning to the boat the next afternoon to set it ablaze.

This is the largest mass murder in Alaskan history, it shook the small fishing town of Craig to the core and remains unsolved, nobody having a clue what the killer's motive was.

ARIZONA

Chad Burgett returned to his home in Phoenix, Arizona on March 12th, 1978 after spending a weekend away with his mother. Upon returning home, he discovered his sister, Pauline Robbin, murdered. She had multiple stab wounds.

Police assume that whoever murdered the 16-year old knew her. They have discovered DNA evidence, but, have no source for it. Leaving this crime unsolved to this day.

ARKANSAS

Morgan Nick, 6-years old, was last seen on June 9th, 1995 in Alma, Arkansas at a local ballpark. A man was seen in a red truck driving away from the location around the same time that Morgan went missing, he was deemed a suspect. But, even with having countless leads, authorities have failed to get closer to finding her.

Morgan's family ended up founding the Morgan Nick Foundation to provide assistance to families of missing children and the Arkansas alert system is also named in honor of her.

CALIFORNA

The Zodiac Killer is possibly one of the most known serial killers. Being connected to five murders and two attempted murders between the 60's and 70's, but he claims to have responsibility for at least 37 murders. He sent coded messages to newspapers describing how he killed people. It is still unknown who this infamous killer is to this day.

COLORADO

On December 26th, 1996, JonBenet Ramsey was found deceased in her family's basement. When she was found, she had cords around her wrist and neck, and she was dressed wearing her favorite pageant nightgown. A ransom note was found as well, asking for $118,000.

John and Patsy Ramsey were deemed suspects in the case at first, but, DNA evidence that was processed from JonBenet's underwear in 2003 showed that there was involvement from two unrelated people. John Mark Karr confessed to her murder in 2006, but, it was quickly ruled false, since he was unable to provide any additional details and the DNA didn't match. This case is still active to this day.

CONNECTICUT

Mary Badaracco went missing on August 19th, 1984, her car was found in her driveway with her driver side window smashed in, and her wedding ring and car keys were left on her kitchen counter.

Dominic, her husband, told the authorities that they had been planning to divorce and that Mary took off with $100,000 in exchange for their family home.

But, there was never any evidence of the money, and Dominic never reported her missing. There was a tip in 1985 that Mary's death was a hit by Hell's Angels. But, this case still remains unsolved.

DELAWARE

Jane Marie Prichard was attending the University of Maryland, she was pursuing a master's in botany. She had visited the Blackbird State Forest numerous times for her research. On September 19th, 1986, her notes stopped around 10 AM, and she was found dead the following day, she was partially clothed and shot in the back.

Even though the forest is popular with hunters, her death was ruled a homicide. One suspect was taken into custody and questioned, but, DNA evidence showed that he wasn't the killer.

The case was revived in 2015 when a new cold case unite was developed at the New Castle County Police Department, but, no new developments have been made.

FLORIDA

The Sims family, Robert, Helen and their daughter Joy, were found in their Tallahassee home, bound, gagged, stabbed, and shot on October 22nd, 1966. Even 50 years later, police have no leads or any clue who committed the murder.

GEORGIA

18-year old Vanessa Malone returned home from work in 2012, she told her mother, Flora, that she was going to go out that night. Not long after Vanessa left, Flora overheard shots from a neighboring apartment complex, she called Vanessa quickly after hearing the shots to see if she was okay, but, she failed to pick up.

Vanessa's two friends were renting the apartment where she was found killed, they said that they were victims of an armed robbery, they were tied up and locked in the bathroom during the attack.

Vanessa's family runs a Facebook ground to gain tips from the public, hoping to find out what happened to their daughter. An arrest was made in April, but, there was likely more people involved.

HAWAII

Lisa Au, a 19-year old hairdresser, left her boyfriend's sister's home on January 21st, 1982, after having dinner with them. Hours after this, her car was found parked along a highway in Kailua, and her decomposing body was found 10 days after this.

Witnesses said that they saw a car that was flashing blue lights behind hers. It may have been someone who was impersonating a police officer.

There was never enough evidence to charge someone with the murder.

IDAHO

In Lewiston-Clarkson metropolitan area, there was a series of murders and disappearances between 1979 and 1982 took place. Of five missing people, only Kristina Nelson, Jacqueline Miller, and Kirstin David were found. Steven Pearsall and Christina White remain missing.

ILLINOIS

in 1988, Jaclyn Dowaliby was taken from her bedroom where she slept in Midlothian, Illinois. Someone had broken through the family's basement window. A week following her disappearance, her body was found in Blue Island, a rope from the family's garage was tied around her neck.

Her parents were deemed suspect and brought to trail, but they were quickly acquitted due to the lack of evidence.

INDIANA

On December 1st, 1971, three men were found dead inside 1318 North LaSalle Street. Their killer remains unknown.

Indianapolis Police Department Captian Robert Snow said that there were too many suspects and that was the problem to has why they could never pin the killer. It remains an open case to this day.

IOWA

In 1983, Steven Fisher, 20 years-old, and his girlfriend, Melisa Gregory, 17-years old, were found dead on a ranch northwest of Newton, Iowa. They were bludgeoned to death.

30 years later, Fisher's estranged wife ended up being charged with first-degree murder, only to e found not guilty in 2015.

KANSAS

Kelly Lynn Albright disappeared from her family's home in 1970, four days after she went missing, she was found dead in a field, she had been sexually assaulted and then stabbed 18 times.

Glenn Davis, a family friend, was deemed a suspect in her murder. But, the evidence against him was circumstantial. He was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child that was unrelated to this case in 1995, and he later died in prison before authorities could question him again about Kelly, leaving the case unsolved.

KENTUCKY

19-year old Betty Gail Brown was found in her car in front of Transylvania College's Old Morrison building on October 27th, 1961, she was strangled to death with her own bra.

4 years later, a man confessed to the crime, tell authorities that he had been drunk at the time, but, the jury didn't buy it and the trial ended in a hung jury.

Her mysterious killer became a mythological figure in Lexington, according to Lexington Herald Leader. They also called her murder Lexington's most notorious cold case.

LOUISIANA

Between 2005 and 2009, eight women from the Jefferson David Parish were found dead in canals and swamps.

Authorities lost evidence during the investigation and a detective bought a truck from someone who was acquainted with one of the victims and was seen in it the day she disappeared. Under these circumstances and the overall lack of progress in solving the case led some people to suspect that the police were involved in the deaths or that they were covering them up.

MAINE

The case of Mary Catherine Olenchuk is Maine's oldest unsolved murder case. 13-year old Mary was last seen standing next to a maroon car driven by a man in his 30s on August 9th, 1970. On the 22nd, she was found dead in a barn in Kennebunk with a rope wrapped around her neck.

MARYLAND

Oldest of seven children, 14-year old Carolyn Wasilewski's bloodied remains were found in a Baltimore railyard in 1954. The name "Paul" was written on the girl's thigh in lipstick. This case inspired the movie "Cry-Baby" starring Johnny Depp.

MASSACHUSETTS

"Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks, when she saw what she had done she gave her father 41," Is how an old rhyme goes. But, Lizzie was acquitted with her parents' murder in 1893.

Andrew Jackson Borden and his second wife Abby were killed with an ax on August 4th, 1892. Police couldn't find any evidence of who committed the crime, but, they arrested their daughter Lizzie and charged her with the murder.

The evidence against Lizzie was purely circumstantial, she was acquitted after less than an hour. The townsfolk of Fall River never truly stopped believing that she was guilty and they ostracized her for the rest of her life.

MICHIGAN

A killer, known as The Babysitter Killer, is believed to have abducted and killed four children, and in some cases sexually assaulted them, between 1976 and 1977. After the murder, the killer would clean the kids' clothes and then arrange their bodies in some kind of display on the streets of Metro Detroit for authorities to find.

MINNESOTA

In 1974, Mary Schlais was discovered dead in Spring Brook Township, she was stabbed 15 times. A witness recalled seeing a man in a compact car throw her body in a ditch. He assisted police draw up a sketch of the suspect.

The police suspected that her death may have been the work of Randall Woodfield, a former Green Bay Packer who was deemed the "I-5 Killer." He was linked to 44 murders, but he only confessed to one. He is currently serving a 90-year sentence.

But, Mary's case still remains cold.

MISSISSIPPI

Flynt Lee went missing in August 2009. His body was then found floating in the Strong River, and his truck was discovered riddled with bullet holes, it had been set on fire, and pushed down a ravine. Investigators speculate that he had been killed and thrown off the bridge, this is based on a trail of blood.

Three people ended up being arrested, but, there was lack of evidence and they were released.

MISSOURI

A female body with a missing head was discovered in an abandoned building in St. Louis on February 28th, 1983. Officers originally thought that this body belonged to a sex worker, but, it was discovered that the victim was much younger than that, being around the ages of 8 to 11.

At this time, this was the only decapitation in the United States that involved a person so young.

The victim and her killer still remain unidentified. She is known as "Little Jane Doe" in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's database.

MONTANA

Nels Anderson and his wife Anne were bludgeoned to death with an ax on December 7th, 1924 with an ax they kept in Nels's barber shop. There were no signs of struggle, and the couple's money remained in their pockets. The case remains unsolved.

NEBRASKA

Steven Haataja, a Chadron State math professor, was found tied to a tree and burned in 2006. Steven had attempted suicide previously, so many believed that he had simply taken his own life, and there is no evidence of anyone else at the crime scene.

NEVADA

Tupac Shakur was murdered on September 7th, 1996, he was 25-years old. He was stopped at a red light in Las Vegas when he was shot.

It is suspected that gang rivalries led to his death, but, it spawned many conspiracy theories, and some theories say that he is still alive.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Connecticut River Killer fatally stabbed seven women in New Hampshire between 1978 and 1987, he attempted an eighth murder, but, she survived.

in 1988, a pregnant women named Jan Boroski was approached at a convenience store parking lot and then was stabbed 27 times. She managed to drive herself to a friend's home, and she and her baby ended up surviving the attack. After this, the killings stopped.

Jane gave police a description and a partial license plate that belonged to the man, but, he never was identified.

NEW JERSEY

in 2006, Kim Raffo, Molly Dilts, Barbara Breidor, and Tracy Roberts were discovered dead behind the Golden Key Motel in Atlantic City. They were all strangled or asphyxiated. They were positioned face-down, left barefoot, and their heads faced east. The crime scene was never found.

NEW MEXICO

A woman out on a walk with her dog discovered a human bone in 2009, at the time, she wasn't aware she came across one of the biggest crime scenes in U.S history. She discovered a 100-acre patch of desert in Albuquerque's Southwest Mesa that was the final resting place of 11 women.

The women were all connected to drugs and prostitution, and it took police a year to identify all of the remains. They ended up coming up with a handful of suspects, but no one was ever charged.

NEW YORK

Abe Lebewohl, the owner of the legendary 2ns Ave Deli on the Lower East Side, was murdered in 1996, shocking New York.

He was known as the mayor of of Second Ave, he fed homeless people and high society members alike at his restaurant. While on his way to the bank, he was shot and robbed of $10,000. The gun used in the murder was found in Central Park three days later, and police released a sketch of his killer, but the case is still unsolved.

NORTH CAROLINA

In 1989, Evelyn Williams, 72-years old, was found in her utility room in Pinehurst, North Carolina, he throat was slashed. The killer left behind no clues, leaving the detectives baffled.

Evelyn's pocketbook was the only thing missing, leading officers to rule out robbery as a motive.

"You don't have such a violent death over just 'Give me your pocketbook, lady,'" Said former deputy Jerry Lynn Cooper.

NORTH DAKOTA

Six people were buried in a crawlspace underneath a home in Niagara, North Dakota. Police believe the name of the serial killer is Eugene Butler, who was committed to an insane asylum in 1906. However, 100 years later, the identities of the murder victims remain unknown. And the bodies were only found after Butler's death.

OHIO

The Cleveland Torso Murderer is said to have beheaded and frequently dismembered their victims between 1935 and 1928. Seven men and five women in total. And some of the victims were never identified due to their incomplete remains.

OKLAHOMA

The bodies of young women started to turn up in creeks and streambeds in the Lawton area, the police knew they had a serial killer on their hands.

Each of the women had been involved in sex work and had cocaine residue in each of their systems. this suggested that the killer targeted women that were involved in the underground drug trade along Cache Road.

OREGON

19-year old Terri Jentz and her college roommate Shayna Weiss spent the night at Cline Fallss Park while they were on a cross country bike trip in 1977. The two of them woke up to a truck driving over their tent, the driver exited the truck and attacked them with an ax.

Terri was left with broken bones while Shayna was left blind. Terri returned to the Cline Falls 15 years after her attack to investigate the crime herself, but, the attacker was never found.

PENNSYLVANIA

A small boy was found beaten and disposed of in a box on February 26th, 1957 on Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia. It is estimated that the boy was between 4 and 6 years of age. 60 years later, the boy's identity and his killer's identity remain unknown.

RHODE ISLAND

Joanne Lee Reynolds, 24-years old, was discovered stabbed to death in her apartment on February 16th, 1980. Police found no sign of forced entry, leading them to believe that she knew the attacker.

30 years later, police have reopened the investigation. They created a Facebook page in 2012 in attempts to gather more information.

SOUTH CAROLINA

4-year old Jessica Gutierrez was kidnapped from her bedroom on June 6th, 1989. The following morning, her mother searched her home, Jessica's sister Becky told her that "the man with the magic hat and the beard took her last night."

30 years later, and there still isn't enough evidence to name a suspect.

SOUTH DAKOTA

on September 8th, 1981, LaDonna Mathis, and her two sons aged 2 and 4, were shot dead in their home. john Mathis, the father, was shot in the arm, but he had survived. He told police a masked man carried out the attack, but, he was considered the prime suspect. He was acquitted a year later.

TENNESSEE

The bodies of redheaded women were turning up from the 1970s to the 1990s. They were found in Memphis, Jellico, Ashland City, and Greenville, Tennessee, and Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. The bodies were found along major highways, this suggested the women were hitchhiking or working in prostitution.

The exact number of victims is unknown, but it could be as many as 11 women.

TEXAS

22-year ole Cheryl Henry and 21-year old Andy Atkinson drove up to a secluded patch of woods in Houston that was dubbed "lover's lane" on August 22, 1990. But, they never returned.

Andy was discovered tied to a tree with a slashed throat, while Cheryl was found naked and buried under a stack of boards. She was sexually assaulted and also had her throat slashed.

Police are using new DNA technology to try to pin a suspect, but nobody has been deemed a suspect.

UTAH

29-year old Sonia Mejia, who was six months pregnant at the time, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death on February 9th, 2006 in Taylorsville, Utah. And on February 9th, 2008, Damiana Castillo was found strangled to death in West Valley City.

Since the murders occurred in a similar manner exactly two years apart, indicated that authorities were dealing with a serial killer, and they discovered the same DNA at both crime scenes. But, the killer who is deemed the February 9 Killer has yet to be identified and arrested.

VERMONT

Up to 10 people mysteriously vanished in the woods surrounding Glastenbury Mountain between 1920 and 1920 in southwestern Vermont. Many have reported UFO activity and bigfoot sightings in the area.

VIRGINIA

Between 1986 and 1989, there was a series of murders along Virginia's Colonial Parkway. Eight people were killed, they were aged in their teens to their twenties. The FBI ended up getting involved, asking Russia to view satellite footage of the area, but, no killer was ever arrested.

WASHINGTON

Two couples disappeared in the wooded areas of Pierce and Lewis counties in Washington. Steven Harkins and Ruth Cooper turned up dead while Mike Reimer disappeared and his girlfriend Diana Robertson was found dead. In both cases, the women had tube socks tied around their necks.

Then in 2011, Mike Riemer was announced dead when part of his skull was discovered near Mineral.

WEST VIRGINIA

On Christmas Eve of 1945 a fire broke out in the Sodder Home. Four of the nine children managed to escape. The blaze was finally put out, but, firefighters never found a trace of the other five children.

The Fire Cheif F.J Morris concluded that the fire was hot enough to cremate the bodies, and death certificates were then issued. But, witnesses said they saw the children after the fire and 20 years later, the mother, Jennie, received a photo in the mail, it was labeled Louis Sodder, their son who was 9 at the time of the fire.

It is still unknown if the children really did die in the fire or if the Sodder children are still out there somewhere.

WISCONSIN

Seven women who were affiliated with the Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison were strangled and stabbed to death between 1968 and 1982.

Each of the victims had long hair and lived in Madison, this suggested that the murders were the work of a serial killer or killers. Others on the police force didn't think the killings were connected at all.

WYOMING

A man left an old trunk in his friend Newell Session's shed in 1986. Sessions opened it years later and found human bones.

The remains dated back to as early as the 1900s and the trunk's lock dated back to the 1930s, this ruled out the man as a suspect. Once DNA testing became available, the bones were identified as Joesph Mulvaney.

Joesph's daughter said that her father was shot and killed by his brother. But, police never confirmed this.