Unsolved cases
Homicides and other crimes with no one held responsible. Some are a century old. Some are from this year.
Killing of Dot King
On the morning of March 15, 1923, the body of Dorothy King, 29, (born Anna Marie Keenan) was found in her apartment at 144 West 57th Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City, United States. King was a model, actress, and demimondaine whom the press dubbed "The Broadway Butterfly". Her still-unsolved murder was a press sensation at the time it occurred.
1971 · IowaUnsolvedWaverly stranglings
The Waverly stranglings refers to three unsolved murders committed from 1971 to 1976, with the victims being a teenage girl and two young women who lived in Waverly, Iowa. Due to the fact that all victims were killed in similar circumstances, news media has speculated that this possibly was the work of a serial killer. To this day, the murders remain cold cases, with nobody having been arrested or charged in…
2005 · West VirginiaUnsolvedHuntington, West Virginia prom night murders
The Prom Night Murders is an unsolved homicide case that occurred on May 22, 2005, in Huntington, West Virginia, when four teenagers, 16-year-old Megan Poston, 17-year-old Michael Dillon, 18-year-old Eddrick Clark, and 19-year-old Donté Ward, were shot and killed on their prom night, on Charleston Avenue. Despite an extensive investigation, no suspect has been identified, and the case remains unsolved. Police…
2003 · OhioUnsolved2003 Columbus, Ohio arson
On 13 April 2003, a fire was set at a house in the University District of Columbus, Ohio, killing five university students (two from Ohio State University and three from Ohio University). Despite an arrest early on, the murders have remained unsolved.
2003 · South CarolinaUnsolved
Blue Ridge Savings Bank murders
The Blue Ridge Savings Bank murders, also known as the Greer bank murders, is an unsolved armed robbery and triple homicide that occurred on May 16, 2003, at the Blue Ridge Savings Bank in Greer, South Carolina.
1982 · MissouriUnsolvedMissouri River Killer
The Missouri River Killer is an unidentified American serial killer who committed the murders of seven women and girls in the Kansas City metro area between 1982 and 1994. The victims varied in ages between 13 and 36 and all were found floating in the Missouri River, with several of them having had their legs severed by the perpetrator. Beginning in the late 1980s, law enforcement agencies in western Missouri…
1895 · UtahUnsolvedPelican Point Murders
The Pelican Point murders refer to the 1895 killings of three cousins and ranch hands: Albert Enstrom (age 24), Andrew Johnson (22), and Alfred Nelson (15). Their bodies were discovered in Utah Lake near Pelican Point, Utah County, Utah, following an extensive disappearance. Despite a high-profile trial and a subsequent gubernatorial pardon, the case remains one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in Utah's…
1984 · New YorkUnsolvedNassau County serial murders
The Nassau County serial murders were a series of murders of young women committed between 1984 and 1989 in Nassau County, New York. All the victims had been involved in prostitution or had drug addictions, and the perpetrator, a possible serial killer, was never apprehended. These murders were the first possible instance of a serial killer operating in the Long Island area, as in the following decades, at least…
1971 · FloridaUnsolvedGulf Killer
The Gulf Killer is the nickname given to a possible serial killer who was active in the Pasco County and the wider Tampa Bay area of Florida, United States. A group of unsolved murders of fourteen women and two men were committed between 1971 and 1978. While the victims were grouped together differently at various points, nine were attributed, dubiously, to a single killer.
2008 · MassachusettsUnsolvedMain South Woodsman
The Main South Woodsman is an unidentified serial killer who murdered between three and five prostitutes in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 2002 to 2007. His nickname derives from the Main South neighborhood, where he picked up most of his victims. The prime suspect in the murders, Alex Scesny, was identified in 2008, due to the fact he had a history of sexual abuse and was suspected in the murder of a sex worker.
1911UnsolvedBilly the Axeman
Billy the Axeman (also referred to as the Ax-Man, the Midwest Axeman, and the Man from the Train) was the name of a suspected serial killer thought to be responsible for a series of family murders that occurred mainly in the U.S. Midwest between September 1911 and June 1912. Attacks attributed to this killer are characterized by the slaying of a whole family in their beds by crushing their skulls with a blunt…
1983 · WyomingUnsolvedGreat Basin Murders
The Great Basin Murders is the name given to a series of murders of at least nine women committed between 1983 and 1997 across the states of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. It is named after the Great Basin geographical area since most of the victims had their bodies dumped near interstate highways that traverse through it. Most victims were teenage or adult females who were sexually assaulted then murdered –…
1973 · FloridaUnsolvedGold Sock Killer
The Gold Sock Killer is the moniker of an unidentified American serial killer who murdered a woman and two teenage girls in Broward County, Florida, between July and August 1973. His nickname came from how he strangled his victims to death with socks; however, a gold-colored sock was only used in two instances.
1990 · VirginiaUnsolvedGolden Years Murders
The Golden Years Murders is the name given to an unsolved series of murders in the West End of Richmond, Virginia, from 1990 to 1996. During this period, at least thirteen elderly women were murdered in a similar manner, leading local authorities to suspect that they were dealing with a serial killer. Since then, multiple suspects have emerged and one even confessed to several of the killings, although his actual…
1964 · FloridaUnsolvedMiami Strangler
The Miami Strangler is the name attributed to an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least nine women in Miami, Florida, between 1964 and 1970. Despite the nickname, not all victims were strangled, and some died from bludgeoning and smothering. Although no victim was directly sexually assaulted, the murders appear sexually motivated given how the victims were posed.
2000 · HawaiiUnsolvedKauai serial killer
The Kauai serial killer is an unidentified murderer and rapist who murdered two women and injured another on the island of Kauaʻi, Hawaii, between April and August 2000. Despite a composite sketch of the perpetrator and the availability of his DNA, he was never caught, and the murders remain unsolved.
1965 · OhioUnsolved1965–1966 Columbus murders
The Columbus murders are a series of shootings that occurred in Columbus, Ohio, and its surrounding areas between 1965 and 1966, leaving three men dead in a span of four shootings. The male victims were connected to one another via ballistic evidence, but despite one of the victim's survival and a facial composite being drawn of his assailant, no suspect was ever identified and all cases remain cold to this day.
1993 · CaliforniaUnsolved
Harbor City serial shootings
The Harbor City serial shootings were an unsolved series of drive-by shootings committed in the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, during the early months of 1993. A total of four black men were shot within a two-block radius, three of them fatally. Despite a detailed description of the perpetrator and his car given by the surviving victim and witnesses to the murders, he remains…
2011 · TennesseeUnsolvedSouth Memphis prostitute killings
The South Memphis prostitute killings were a series of killings that occurred throughout South Memphis, Tennessee, in early 2011. Within the span of a month, four female sex workers were shot, three of them fatally, by an unidentified assailant. The murder of a fourth woman in the same area in 2015 may also be linked to the case, but no arrests have been made thus far.
1959 · CaliforniaUnsolved
Bouncing Ball Killer
The Bouncing Ball Killer, also known as the Bouncing Ball Slayer, the Bouncing Ball Strangler, and the Rubber Ball Strangler, was an unidentified serial killer who is believed to have raped and murdered at least six women between May 1959 and June 1960 in Los Angeles, California. A majority of the victims were elderly, and all but one were strangled to death. During the investigation, a multitude of suspects were…
1976 · OklahomaUnsolvedOklahoma City Butcher
The Oklahoma City Butcher is an unidentified serial killer who murdered three women between 1976 and 1986 in Oklahoma City. The killer murdered, dismembered, and mutilated young homeless Native American women.
Year unknown · LouisianaUnsolvedStoryville Slayer
The Storyville Slayer is the nickname given to an American serial killer who murdered at least 12 prostitutes in New Orleans, Louisiana. Through the course of the investigation, two separate suspects were considered, one of whom was convicted of one murder, leading investigators to believe that multiple killers are responsible.
1980UnsolvedCastration serial murders
The castration serial murders were a series of murders of young men committed in at least five American states between 1980 and 1986. All the victims were kidnapped, shot in the back of the head and castrated post-mortem, from which the case got its namesake. They were initially considered unrelated due to the crime scenes' geographic remoteness until 1989, when forensic evidence concluded that two of the victims…
1998 · CaliforniaUnsolvedPittsburg serial murders
The Pittsburg serial murders refers to the killings of one man and four women in Pittsburg, California, in late 1998 and early 1999. At the time of the killings, the city had a high crime rate, which coupled with the recent murders of several people, culminated in public outcry from both the public and the media for a resolution to the situation and capture of the supposed serial killer. Despite an investigation by…