20 Crimes That Will Never Be Solved

20 Crimes That Will Never Be Solved

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at 20 Crimes That Will Never Be Solved.

For this list, we’ll be examining the most puzzling, disturbing and elaborate cold criminal cases that will likely never reach a definitive conclusion. We’ll be excluding closed cases where the public and authorities disagree over whether the true culprit was implicated.

Which of these crimes do you hope will get solved one day? Let us know in the comments!

The Mystery of Bob Crane’s Death

After kicking off his career in radio, Bob Crane made a name for himself in the 1960s as the star of CBS’ “Hogan's Heroes”. Less than a decade after the show ended, Crane was found dead in his Scottsdale, Arizona apartment after missing a lunch meeting. The beloved comedy actor was left near unrecognizable by his killer. Following a lengthy investigation, the authorities zeroed in on Crane’s friend John Carpenter and unsuccessfully tried him for the murder. Since Carpenter’s acquittal in 1994, the case has still not been solved and due to the passage of time, it’s highly unlikely that it ever will be. Further complicating matters is Crane’s controversial sexual escapades, which provides a wider pool of suspects with endless motives.

The Keddie Quadruple Homicide

This perplexing case occurred in Keddie, California between the 11th and 12th of April 1981. On the morning of the 12th, the bodies of Sue Sharp, her son John and his friend Dana, were discovered by Sharp’s daughter Sheila. Sharp’s other daughter Tina was reported missing, while her two other sons Rick and Greg were found in another bedroom, alive and well. It would take another three years for Tina’s remains to be discovered about 100 miles away from Keddie. Due to the fact that the crime scene was contaminated and potential leads were overlooked by police, the investigation of the murders was badly compromised. As a result, it still remains a mystery.

The Disappearance of the Beaumonts

This shocking crime remains one of the most infamous missing persons cases in Australian history. On January 26th 1966, three siblings - Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont - took an unsupervised trip from their home in Adelaide to the nearby Glenelg Beach and were never seen again. The matter captured attention around the world and sparked one of Australia’s largest police investigations. There were multiple reported sightings of the children afterwards, some of which placed them with an unknown man in his mid-thirties. Despite extensive efforts by the authorities and a long list of possible suspects, the case slowly grew cold and remained that way. Sadly, the Beaumont parents passed away in 2019 and 2023, without ever knowing what happened to their children.

What Happened to Marilyn Reese Sheppard

In 1945, Marilyn Reese got married to Ohio neurosurgeon Sam Sheppard. The two remained together until July 4th 1954, when Marilyn was murdered in their home by an unknown assailant. Although Sheppard claimed to have wrestled with the killer before being knocked unconscious, he was tried and convicted of his wife’s murder. Sheppard appealed this decision all the way to the Supreme Court, which struck down his conviction citing an unfair trial due to extensive media coverage. A re-trial ended in an acquittal. Since then, an alternate suspect has been linked to the case, but DNA analysis of the evidence came back inconclusive. With many decades having passed, it is increasingly improbable that this mystery will ever be resolved.

The Cleveland Torso Discoveries

Over a span of four years in the 1930s, the city of Cleveland, Ohio was terrorized by a still-unidentified serial killer. Referred to as the Cleveland Torso Murderer, this individual picked his victims from lower class neighborhoods and would typically leave behind only their torsos after taking their lives. This led to the remains of at least 12 people being discovered in and around the city. Most of the victims were drifters, and as such, they were never identified by the authorities. One major suspect in the case was a doctor named Frank Sweeney. But with only circumstantial evidence, authorities couldn’t definitively pin the murders on him. To date, the truth behind these horrific crimes has remained unknown.

The Boy in the Box

On February 25th 1957, the body of a then-unidentified boy was discovered on the roadside in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The corpse was wrapped in a blanket and placed inside a cardboard box. For decades, police were unable to identify who the boy was, let alone what had happened to him. In a bid to overcome this obstacle, posters were made of his postmortem pictures and added to every gas bill in the city of Philadelphia. It wasn’t until December 2022 that police, using genetic testing and investigative genetic genealogy, were able to publicly identify him as Joseph Augustus Zarelli. Regardless, there is still little information about how Zarelli ended up in a box on the side of the road.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist

Many Hollywood movies have depicted elaborate heists of museums and jewelry stores. But sometimes, the simplest plots can be the most intricate. On the 18th of March 1990, two men disguised as police officers gained entry into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and carted away with 13 works of art. These included masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Degas, estimated to be worth around $500 million. Over the years, various suspects and theories have emerged, including one that involved the Boston Mafia. However, none of them have led to a breakthrough in the case. Today, empty frames hang in place of the missing artworks in hopes that they will be returned someday. But we doubt that day will ever come.

The Long Island Serial Killer

Also referred to as the Gilgo Beach Killer, this unidentified individual is thought to be responsible for the deaths of up to 18 people in Long Island, New York. The case first came to light when a woman named Shannan Gilbert disappeared in May of 2010. Police combed the Ocean Parkway area for her, and instead found the remains of four other people. As the months went by, they discovered even more sets of remains, including those of Gilbert. Most of these victims were escorts who had advertised their services on Craigslist, which further complicated the identification of their killer. Even with a detailed profile of the likely perpetrator out in the media, no one has ever been charged with the crimes.

The Infamous Alcatraz Prison Escape

The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, located off the coast of San Francisco, was once considered to be inescapable. In June 1962, however, three inmates would go on to void that statement. The men - Frank Morris, and John and Clarence Anglin - successfully escaped the prison by tricking the guards with papier-mache dummy heads. They made an inflatable raft out of their prison-issued raincoats and vanished into thin air. An extensive manhunt was launched by the FBI, but no concrete trace of the escapees has ever been found. Some speculate that they drowned in the freezing, tidal waters, while others believe they were able to reach the mainland. The FBI took the former position and closed its case in 1979, but questions about the truth still linger.

The Disappearance of the Sodders

Five children from the Sodder family vanished without a trace after their house in Fayetteville, West Virginia caught fire on Christmas Eve, 1945. While the parents, George and Jennie Sodder, were able to escape with four of their children, all attempts to rescue the other five were futile. The family initially believed that they had died in the fire, but a thorough search of the debris yielded no remains. This led to speculation that the children might have survived. Despite reported sightings of the missing children and a host of possible theories, the case turned up no substantial leads and eventually grew cold. As of 2021, all surviving Sodder family members have passed on, with no conclusion ever reached in the case.

D. B. Cooper

It’s not often somebody holds an entire plane for ransom and gets away with it. But that’s exactly what happened in 1971. A man dressed in a suit and sunglasses, identified only by the name “Dan Cooper” on his ticket, boarded a flight from Portland to Seattle. He calmly told the flight attendants he’d brought a bomb on board and demanded four parachutes and $200,000 cash. Not wanting to risk forty innocent lives, the FBI gave Cooper exactly what he wanted. The plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma airport to collect, then took off again, whereupon Cooper parachuted out of the plane and disappeared forever. In the years since, the FBI has yet to conclusively identify him.

The Tylenol Poisonings

Seven people mysteriously passed away from cyanide poisoning in Chicago over a matter of days in 1982. Police found that the victims had one thing in common: they’d all recently purchased and taken Tylenol that had been laced with a large amount of the substance. Although the Tylenol bottles were of the same batch, they were bought from different stores. While suspects emerged, there was almost no evidence thanks to a total lack of CCTV, witnesses, and forensics. There was a massive Tylenol recall. The case led to the implementation of tamper-proof medication packaging to stop this from ever happening again. The strange nature of the crime, seemingly designed to cause mass hysteria and nothing else, has left it unsolved for decades.

The Atlas Vampire

Despite the crime’s sensationalism and violent nature, the culprit behind a gory vampire-like crime in the Atlas area of Stockholm has never been caught. In 1932, a sex worker named Lilly Lindström was found deceased in her own apartment. But she had lost all of her blood. Chillingly, whoever committed the crime seemed to have taken it with them. Investigators also found a ladle with Lindström’s blood. This led the police to believe someone may have consumed it before leaving. It was this aspect of the horrific crime that made the police nickname the culprit “Atlas Vampire”. Although it doesn’t seem they ever struck again, this criminal was never caught.

Jimmy Hoffa’s Final Fate

After disappearing under very suspicious circumstances in 1975, Jimmy Hoffa’s body has never been found. It’s highly likely that the mafia was involved in his untimely demise. Hoffa was a prominent labor leader and Teamster who was once in the mafia’s pocket. But after he got on their bad side, the organization may have come after him. The person who did the deed may have been Frank Sheeran, one of the mafia’s most famous hitmen. He reportedly confessed to the murder, although this is disputed. Regardless, the lack of forensic evidence and a body have made it impossible to put this crime to rest.

The Mystery Around JonBenét Ramsey

In 1996, stories spread throughout the United States of a horribly tragic crime. The body of young beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey had been found in the cellar of her own home. Initially reported missing because of a ransom note found in the house, the discovery of her body changed everything. Suspicion immediately fell on her parents and it was theorized that they could’ve faked the ransom note. However, there’s no evidence to implicate them. And while a few other suspects who had disturbing fixations on Ramsey while she was still alive emerged, the crime scene still had almost nothing by way of forensics. This has left the case with no conclusive suspect.

Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?

During World War II, a group of young boys made a grisly discovery: there were human remains in a forest in rural England. The police soon found that there was an entire skeleton inside of a tree trunk. Although the woman was never officially identified, ominous graffiti asking, “Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?” began to appear nearby. Theories about the woman, who may or may not be named “Bella” vary significantly. There are people that believe she may have been a German spy and cabaret performer who parachuted into the UK and met a grim end. Others believe the fact she was inside a tree means her demise had something to do with witchcraft. Either way, the question the graffiti asked remains unanswered.

Tupac & Biggie

Within a brief time period in 1996 and 1997, hip hop legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, A.K.A. the Notorious B.I.G., were shot in separate incidents in Vegas and LA respectively. They were both incredibly prominent figures in the famous East Coast - West Coast Hip Hop rivalry at the time. This has led people to blame their shootings on everything from gang violence to corruption in the LAPD. And since Biggie was attacked second, some believe his demise was retaliation for Tupac’s. Suspects did emerge in the cases, from Crips member Orlando Anderson, to record executive Suge Knight. But the FBI has been unable to arrest anybody for either crime.

The Zodiac Killer

San Francisco’s most infamous criminal took the lives of at least five people. He claimed to have taken 37 in total. Throughout an investigation that took police all over the San Francisco Bay Area, the only major piece of evidence the authorities had was one sketch. The Zodiac perpetrator is so notorious because he taunted the cops with ominous letters and complex ciphers. And when the texts were decoded, officials got deranged messages that didn’t offer much evidence. Whoever the criminal was, he seemed to disappear in the 70s for a mysterious reason. Authorities still don’t know who it was.

The Black Dahlia

In January 1947, the bisected body of Elizabeth Short, dubbed the “Black Dahlia” in the press soon after, was discovered in Los Angeles. The grisly crime has haunted the city for decades because despite the high-profile nature of the incident nobody was ever charged. The most popular suspect for Short’s demise today is Dr. George Hodel. Not only is he suspected by many, including his living relatives, but he’s also believed to be responsible for more gruesome crimes. The “Black Dahlia” case may have even spawned copycats, like the horrifying “Lipstick murder” of Jeanne French just weeks later. Even if Hodel was responsible, he died in 1999 and could never be brought to justice.

Jack the Ripper

One of the most notorious and gruesome criminals in history was Jack the Ripper. He haunted the streets of London for months during 1888. Jack The Ripper took the lives of at least five women and may have attacked even more people in horrifying ways. All the victims shared the same adult profession. This may have been why the police at the time didn’t do a great job of investigating. Vital pieces of evidence in the case were lost and, since this was the 1800s, forensics science wasn’t ready to help. After the criminal was named “Jack the Ripper”, he later wrote letters to the authorities taunting them for being unable to catch him. He eventually disappeared and left the terrifying case open.