10 Unsolved Crimes That Had a Big Break in 2025

Welcome to MsMojo, and today, we’re discussing the most intriguing discoveries made from previously cold cases in 2025.

1991 Yogurt Shop Murders

In Austin, Texas, in 1991, a quadruple homicide happened at a yogurt shop. Four teenage girls were the victims, and when police arrived, the building was ablaze. An experienced criminal was responsible, who turned out to be serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers. Unfortunately, it took law enforcement 33 years to figure this out. It was done through investigative genetic genealogy, but the criminal was never brought to justice. He had already ended his own life in 1999, during a heated police stand-off. This was after being found with a stolen vehicle, a relatively minor offense, but it seemed to be the end of a pretty horrific crime spree.

Man of Somiedo

Back in 2015, two hikers discovered a corpse outside the Spanish town of Puerto de Somiedo. For years, the body went unidentified, despite having very distinct features. Initially, no malice was suspected; they believed it was caused by a simple heart attack. This turned out to be not the case at all. In 2025, the deceased man’s two brothers admitted to the police that they were responsible. They no longer wanted to care for their brother, but still wanted to claim his disability funds. So, they let him die and managed to hide it for roughly a decade. For years, social workers kept coming to check in on him, but every time, he was suspiciously away from home.

Lee County Body

In 1977, a skeleton was found in Lee County, Arkansas. At the time, they figured out that it belonged to a young man, but they couldn’t identify him despite their efforts. That was until September 2025, when officials revealed that it was a man named Charles Howard Wallace. His family hadn’t spoken to him since 1974, when he was in his late teens. They believe he would have died when he was around 21 years old. It’s a massive discovery, especially when you consider the case is almost half a century old. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding his death, but hopefully, this can also be solved in the near future.

Sheila of Nashville

In 1987, a woman's remains were found in a basement in Nashville, Tennessee. It didn’t take them long to find the culprit, who was the home’s owner, James Mitchell Shaffer. According to him, the woman was a sex worker whose identity remained unknown for decades. He called her Sheila, but we didn’t know who it was until the victim’s daughter talked to the police in 2025. Her mother had vanished back in 1984, and it turned out she was a woman named Sheila Cummings. Sadly, another victim from the same incident is yet to be identified, currently known as “Lil Bit”, but hopefully this mystery can also be solved soon.

1993 Californian Skull

In Trinidad, Northern California, a partial skull washed up mysteriously on the shore in 1993. This was about 6 years after the disappearance of schoolteacher Kay Josephine Medin. At the time, searches failed to find her. A few months later, some of her remains were sent to the local police anonymously. They managed to use dental records to identify the remains, but no one knew how she died or where the rest of her body was. Eventually, the skull that washed up in 1993 was identified as hers using DNA testing in 2025. It’s a massive breakthrough after decades of the case being cold, and hopefully will help police solve the rest of the mystery.

Bear Brook Murders

Bear Brook State Park lies in New Hampshire, and was the location of four connected homicides between 1977 and 81. They believe the man responsible was Terry Rasmussen, who had been known under many names leading him to be called “the Chameleon killer”. Rasmussen, who was convicted of murder in 2002, then died in prison in 2010. Police only named him a suspect in 2017, after DNA analysis revealed he was the father of a victim. Another development, made this year, is related to a victim’s identity. Three of them were first revealed in 2019 by police, but the fourth was finally discovered in 2025. Her name was Rea Russmussen, and she was his own daughter.

Jeanette Ralston

In 2025, Willie Eugene Sims was finally charged with the murder of Jeanette Ralston, almost 50 years after it happened. Ralston was strangled to death by Sims in 1977, but without any leads, the case couldn’t be solved. That was until they found some DNA and fingerprints on a cigarette packet, a discovery made in August 2024. The prints were matched to the criminal, and in 2025, he was finally arrested. This development happened because of major updates in the FBI’s thumbprint database. It’s not the first time Sims has been charged. Back in 1978, he was sentenced to four years in prison for assault to commit murder.

John Lorton Doe

In 1972, the remains of a young boy named Carl Bryant were found in Lorton, Virginia. It took them decades to identify the body, with the result finally happening in July 2025 via genetic genealogy research. Until then, he was referred to as John Lorton Doe. His mother, Vera Bryant, never reported him as missing. The crime was likely perpetrated by James Hedgepeth, his mother’s boyfriend. Both individuals are deceased, so will never be brought to justice. Carl also had a brother, named James Bryant, whose body has still never been discovered. Police think it’s likely that both would have died around the same time, but until they find evidence, we won’t know for certain.

1988 Albany Kidnapping

In Atlanta 2025, Reginald Colwell was given two life sentences with an extra twenty years for a crime he committed back in 1988. The man from Albany was 58 when he was found guilty of kidnapping, sexual assault, and aggravated assault. The evidence was carefully preserved, despite them not having the technology to properly analyse it. Eventually, modern forensic science led them to the culprit. They began trying to match the evidence in 2019, which led them to get a warrant for Colwell’s DNA. After decades of seeking justice, he was finally sentenced in June 2025.

Louisa Dunne

Our final entry comes from Bristol in England. In 1967, a woman named Louisa Dunne was murdered in her own home. It took them 57 years to finish solving the crime, making it one of the longest cases to solve in UK history. After being cold for decades, it was reviewed in 2023. The technology they used was advanced enough to get a full DNA profile of the perpetrator, Ryland Headley. He was put on trial in 2025, despite pleading not guilty, the evidence wasn’t in his favor, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2025. Headley was 92 at the time, and it was actually the second time he had been given a life sentence. The first, from 1977, was later reduced to only seven years, though.

Are there any other cold cases with major developments we failed to mention? Let us know in the comments below!