Creepy Unsolved Mysteries - From unsolved murders to unidentified people to unexplained supernatural events, what are some of the creepiest unsolved mysteries you've ever heard of?

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Roger Dennis said:
The Boy in the Box’s name has finally been revealed. I don’t know if there are any photos available of him when he was alive, but he has his name back.

Rest in peace, Joseph Augustus Zarelli (January 13, 1953 - February 1957). Here’s to hoping your killer is identified.
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Please link your sources.

His name is Joseph Augustus Zarelli, and he was believed to be from the western part of Philadelphia. He had just turned four. His parents are both deceased, and their names have not been released as to protect the identities of Joseph's siblings who are still alive. The police still consider this case an active homicide investigation, and taking tips, and there's a $20,000 reward for any that lead to the arrest, and conviction of the person, or persons who killed him.
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Sparkletor 2.0 said:
It was 55 years ago. I am doubtful that the killer is even still alive. Unless there was some sort of deathbed confession, sadly this case will remain unsolved.
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I don't really know anything about this case but based on the descriptions in the article and elsewhere I would bet money it was one / both of the parents. Given that they are both dead I wonder if they will even bother announcing it if they can confirm the parents did the crime.

Something tells me the living sibling has some wild stories about their childhood.
 
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The case of Nora Quoirin
Mentally disabled girl disappeared out of an apartment in Malaysia in nothing but underwear. Her family didn't notice that she disappeared trough a window. She was found unharmed (!) but dead in the jungle and her feet were clean (!!). How did she move barefoot trough the jungle without hurting her feet?? There was also a Shaman who was hired because she couldn't be found and said she was taken by a Jinn. Something very weird happened to this poor girl. Also the place were she was found was searched before and she had been dead for a few days. And she wasn't hidden under a bush or something. She was lying in the open for everyone to see which means she was placed there.


Wtf happened to Noah Donohoe?
Was seen cycling naked trough Belfast and was later found dead (no injuries) in a storm drain which had been accidently left open.
 
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We've had a lot of Does I follow this year identified, not necessarily solved but identified is always such a great thing to see when it happens! El Dorado Jane Doe and Christmas Tree Lady are two I don't see mentioned often but I was just elated to see them finally get their names back.

With all the news about the Boy in the Box finally being identified, one thing that has always confused me in the 13+ years I've known about it. A woman came forward with her account of what happened to him and details known only to police, and they brushed her off because she apparently had a history of mental illness, and were "unable to verify her story". It seems so strange to me that she could know so many details of the case that had not been released to the public and still not be taken seriously.

Another theory was brought forward in February 2002 by a woman identified only as "Martha." Police considered her story to be plausible but were troubled by her testimony, as she had a history of mental illness. "M" claimed that her abusive mother had "purchased" the unknown boy (whose name was Jonathan) from his birth parents in the summer of 1954. Subsequently, the boy was subjected to extreme physical and sexual abuse for two and a half years. One evening at dinner, the boy vomited up his meal of baked beans and was given a severe beating, with his head slammed against the floor until he was semiconscious. He was given a bath, during which he died. These details matched information known only to the police, as the coroner had found that the boy's stomach contained the remains of baked beans and that his fingers were water-wrinkled.

"M"'s mother cut the boy's distinctive long hair (accounting for the unprofessional haircut which police noted in their initial investigation) in an effort to conceal his identity. "M"'s mother forced "M" to assist her in dumping the boy's body in the Fox Chase area. "M" said that as they were preparing to remove the boy's body from the trunk of a car, a passing male motorist pulled alongside to inquire whether they needed help. "M" was ordered to stand in front of the car's license plate to shield it from view while the mother convinced the would-be Good Samaritan that there was no problem. The man eventually drove off. This story corroborated confidential testimony given by a male witness in 1957, who said that the body had been placed in a box previously discarded at the scene.
 
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Honeybee said:
We've had a lot of Does I follow this year identified, not necessarily solved but identified is always such a great thing to see when it happens! El Dorado Jane Doe and Christmas Tree Lady are two I don't see mentioned often but I was just elated to see them finally get their names back.

With all the news about the Boy in the Box finally being identified, one thing that has always confused me in the 13+ years I've known about it. A woman came forward with her account of what happened to him and details known only to police, and they brushed her off because she apparently had a history of mental illness, and were "unable to verify her story". It seems so strange to me that she could know so many details of the case that had not been released to the public and still not be taken seriously.

Another theory was brought forward in February 2002 by a woman identified only as "Martha." Police considered her story to be plausible but were troubled by her testimony, as she had a history of mental illness. "M" claimed that her abusive mother had "purchased" the unknown boy (whose name was Jonathan) from his birth parents in the summer of 1954. Subsequently, the boy was subjected to extreme physical and sexual abuse for two and a half years. One evening at dinner, the boy vomited up his meal of baked beans and was given a severe beating, with his head slammed against the floor until he was semiconscious. He was given a bath, during which he died. These details matched information known only to the police, as the coroner had found that the boy's stomach contained the remains of baked beans and that his fingers were water-wrinkled.

"M"'s mother cut the boy's distinctive long hair (accounting for the unprofessional haircut which police noted in their initial investigation) in an effort to conceal his identity. "M"'s mother forced "M" to assist her in dumping the boy's body in the Fox Chase area. "M" said that as they were preparing to remove the boy's body from the trunk of a car, a passing male motorist pulled alongside to inquire whether they needed help. "M" was ordered to stand in front of the car's license plate to shield it from view while the mother convinced the would-be Good Samaritan that there was no problem. The man eventually drove off. This story corroborated confidential testimony given by a male witness in 1957, who said that the body had been placed in a box previously discarded at the scene.
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That's wild. It's ridiculous the police just because a history of mental illness. As if someone who had to go through that wouldn't go at least a little crazy.
 
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Sparkletor 2.0 said:
How did John Wayne Gacy manage to bury like 30 kids under his house when he was physically too big to even get down there?
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He had two younger men who worked for him for a long time that were often tasked with digging in the crawlspace, and other various other spaces on the property (the bbq pit, etc). Their names escape me at the moment, but in the considered opinion of todays investigators they really should have been pressed harder. They must have known something strange was happening at that house, and one of the men even had sex with Gacy sometimes/might have had sex with Gacy's victims. If I recall correctly, that same man even ended up with a victims car.
 
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AmateurComedicTaxidermist said:
He had two younger men who worked for him for a long time that were often tasked with digging in the crawlspace, and other various other spaces on the property (the bbq pit, etc). Their names escape me at the moment, but in the considered opinion of todays investigators they really should have been pressed harder. They must have known something strange was happening at that house, and one of the men even had sex with Gacy sometimes/might have had sex with Gacy's victims. If I recall correctly, that same man even ended up with a victims car.
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A man who Gacy for some reason released, Jeffrey Rignall, reported waking up briefly to find himself bound to a frame and a man who was not Gacy performing oral sex on him, if memory serves.

Poor Rignall had his life utterly destroyed, and what's worse, despite his obvious wounds and a six day hospital stay, the coppers wouldn't take him seriously. *sigh*
 
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REGENDarySumanai said:
Fairfax Jane Doe has been identified. I complained how hideous the composite sketch was earlier in the thread, so now I'm glad the person has been identified, though most of it's because I never have to see that hideous sketch ever again.
dnasolves.com

After 27 years, Fairfax County Jane Doe (1993) is Identified

Fairfax County Police Department Partners with Othram to Identify 1993 Jane Doe
dnasolves.com dnasolves.com
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Good God that's awful. Gotta wonder if everyone in the "artist's" life are just to polite to tell them that they're terrible? Feel like it might be up to me to track this person down and let them know that they're a failure 🤔
 
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tehpope said:
Timmothy Pitzen's case is strange. His mom took him out of class. They went on a small roadtrip to a waterpark. The Mom is seen checking in with the Kid, but he just disappears. Then the mom killers herself. She wrote in her suicide not that Tim is "with people who would love and care for him" and "You'll never find him". IIRC, some Teen showed up a few years ago saying he was Tim, but his DNA wasn't a match..
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Sounds pretty clear to me. The parents were separated, the mother was distraught enough to commit suicide. She most likely killed Timmothy because she didn't have custody. Saying you'll "never find him" and "he's with people who love him" etc... he's in Heaven. He's dead. Otherwise why would she kill herself? She was joining him.
 
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DavidFerrie said:
Already posted about this story on another thread, but I thought it was perfect for here because it combines a longstanding missing-person case, an almost-certain murder that's still unsolved, and the paranormal: Marie Elizabeth Spannhake.

(There's a good, recent Unsolved Mysteries episode about it if you're not into reading the article above.)
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They might be letting Cameron Hooker out on parole soon. His wife got full immunity in exchange for her testimony and so has never spent a day in jail, despite being involved in at least one murder and two kidnappings.
 
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I keep hoping they'll run DNA on Bella in the Wych Elm just because it would be crazy if the graffiti really was linked to her or if she was involved in German spying or something. In all likelyhood she's just some girl from the next village over who was raped and strangled in war time and stuffed in a tree and some cheeky teenagers did the graffiti just for laughs but still, it's a strange case all around.
 
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Disgruntled Pupper said:
I keep hoping they'll run DNA on Bella in the Wych Elm just because it would be crazy if the graffiti really was linked to her or if she was involved in German spying or something. In all likelyhood she's just some girl from the next village over who was raped and strangled in war time and stuffed in a tree and some cheeky teenagers did the graffiti just for laughs but still, it's a strange case all around.
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It is an extremely freaky case, but it's not going anywhere in a hurry, unfortunately. With the skeleton of the woman missing, there's really nothing anyone can do. And even if it does turn up, how could you prove it really is the remains of the woman in the tree? The last few years have seen some incredible advancements in forensic technology, but I fear that Bella will never have her real name back.

EDIT: In 2018, photographs of her skull were used to make a facial reconstruction.

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Orange Rhymer said:
I have so many questions:
1) Is this the guy? An unfired round from a semi is REALLY shaky evidence. The round wasn't even fired.
Fired round 'Fingerprinting' is voodoo science at best. Mass manufacture leads to thousands of identical 'fingerprints'.
But an unfired round is literally matching scratches that are identical to thousands of units.
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One possibility is that the bullet was a dud. He tried to fire, but since the bullet was a dud, nothing happened. That would leave a mark from the firing pin striking the bullet. That mark would be identical to the marks left on the fired shells, and uniquely identifiable to his gun. That's just a possibility. We'll find out more when the charging documents get dropped.
 
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Orange Rhymer said:
1) Is this the guy? An unfired round from a semi is REALLY shaky evidence. The round wasn't even fired.
Fired round 'Fingerprinting' is voodoo science at best. Mass manufacture leads to thousands of identical 'fingerprints'.
But an unfired round is literally matching scratches that are identical to thousands of units.
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I've watched a lot of true crime TV shows and what gets repeated a lot in regard to bullet fingerprinting is that every time a gun is made, there are imperfections in the manufacturing that causes each bullet to have different striations.

To add to the discussion here's some quotes from the wikipedia page about forensic firearm examination:

You seem to hit the nail on the head with this quote:
Prior to mass production of firearms, each barrel and bullet mold was hand made by gunsmiths making them unique.
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So it used to be unique. Is this even accurate anymore?
Here's a snippet from the 'criticisms' section:
Further criticism came from the 2009 NAS report on the current state of various forensic fields in the United States. The report's section on firearm examination focused on the lack of defined requirements that are necessary in order to determine "matches" between known and unknown striations. The NAS stated that, "sufficient studies have not been done to understand the reliability and repeatability of the methods."[29]: 154  Without defined procedures on what is and what isn't considered "sufficient agreement" the report states that forensic firearm examination contains fundamental problems that need to be addressed by the forensic community through a set of repeatable scientific studies that outline standard operating procedures that should be adopted by all firearm examiners.[29]: 155  Another report issued in 2016 by the United States President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology confirmed the NAS's findings, finding only one appropriately designed study that examined the rate of false positives and reliability amongst firearm examiners.[48]
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Reading further there doesn't seem to be many studies that actually tests the accuracy of this evidence. I guess it gets canned because it may call into question thousands of convictions. If every examiner has different methods of doing this, I can't see it being very reliable as a whole.
This one quote has me confused.
Although bullet striations are individualized unique evidence, microscopic striations in the barrel of the weapon are subject to change slightly, after each round that is fired. For this reason, forensic ballistics examiners may not fire more than five shots from a weapon found at a scene.
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What happens when a murder weapon is shot a bunch of times after it was used in a murder? Does it lead to false negatives?
Could just be bullshit. It's not the first time evidence has been proven to be completely inaccurate and unreliable. Bitemark evidence is pseudoscience and you'd have to have some pretty messed up teeth for it to actually be reliable. Fun fact: Ted Bundy was convicted based on that evidence in regard to the sorority murders, but he did have really crooked teeth.

Since it's related to what I'm talking about, I fucking hate that police still use polygraphs and use the results to either clear or focus on people. Liars can pass and innocent people can fail, pretty frequently too. The inventor of the polygraph was horrified when he learned it was being used by cops and regretted even inventing the thing.
 
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