Top 10 Unexplained Details in True Crime Cases

Gardner Museum Heist

On March 18, 1990, two thieves entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, bound the security guards with duct tape, and stole artwork worth millions of dollars. The heist is considered one of the most infamous in history, and none of the stolen pieces have been recovered. Early in the investigation, suspicion fell on security guard Richard Abath, who had opened and closed the side door the thieves later used to enter. Many believe this action signaled the robbers parked outside, but Abath claimed it was a routine move. However, a colleague refuted this, saying such behavior would have drawn the attention of their supervisors. Abath passed away in 2024 without clarifying his actions, leaving suspicions about his involvement unresolved.

Murder in Room 1046

On January 2, 1935, a man checked into the Hotel President in Kansas City, Missouri. Three days later, he was dead. During his stay, a maid once found him alone in his room, with the door locked from outside. She also overheard him speaking on the phone to someone he called Don. Other guests reported hearing voices and a possible argument coming from the room. When a bellhop later found the man severely injured, he refused to tell anyone what happened. Even stranger, the name he used at check-in turned out to be fake. It took nearly a year before he was identified as Artemus Ogletree. Who was the mysterious Don, and what transpired in that room? It seems we may never know.

Hinterkaifeck Murders

One of the most chilling murder mysteries in German history unfolded at an isolated farmstead named Hinterkaifeck in 1922. The family that lived there largely kept to themselves, so no one suspected anything was wrong until their mail began to pile up at the post office. When a group went to investigate, they discovered everyone had been murdered. Odd occurrences haunted the farm just before the killings — noises in the attic, missing house keys, and mysterious footprints in the snow. Even more disturbing, the killer clearly remained on the farm for days after the murders. Further complicating this strange case, officials sent the victims’ heads to a clairvoyant for additional examination, but they were eventually lost during the chaos of World War II.

Disappearance of Asha Degree

On the night Asha Degree disappeared from her Shelby, North Carolina home, there were no signs of forced entry and no indications of foul play. It appeared Degree woke up, packed a few belongings in her bookbag, and walked out into the dark. It was stormy that evening, and eyewitnesses spotted Degree walking alone in the rain along the side of a rural road. A truck driver saw her around 4 a.m., but when Degree realized she’d been spotted, she took off into the woods and disappeared. Months later, her bookbag was found miles from where she was last seen. Inside was a library book Asha had not checked out and a shirt that did not belong to her.

The Boy in the Box

On a chilly day in February 1957, a grisly discovery on the side of an isolated Philadelphia road shocked the entire nation. A boy’s body was found tucked away inside a cardboard box. In 2022, after decades without a name, the boy in the box was identified through genetic genealogy as Joseph Augustus Zarelli. But while his identity has finally been uncovered, his murder remains unsolved. Little is known about Zarelli’s life leading up to his tragic demise. Officials have reason to believe he was given away or placed for adoption after he was born. If so, where did he live, and who was responsible for him before his death?

Disappearance of the Springfield Three

On the day of their high school graduation, Suzanne Streeter and Stacy McCall celebrated by attending several parties in their town of Springfield, Missouri. They planned to sleep at Streeter’s house that night before heading to the waterpark with friends the next day. When the pair didn’t show up the following morning, their friends went looking for them, but discovered that McCall, as well as Streeter and her mother, Sherill Levitt, were gone. The only potential clues were a strange message on the answering machine and a series of obscene phone calls made to the house on the day the women were discovered missing. The identity of this caller may provide insight into the disappearances, but sadly, it has never been uncovered.

Disappearance of Maura Murray

It’s been over two decades since college student Maura Murray left her dorm in Amherst, Massachusetts, got into her car, and disappeared. No one knows Murray’s intended destination, but she ended up stranded on a remote road in New Hampshire after crashing her car. A few eyewitnesses saw her there, but by the time police arrived on the scene, Maura was gone. Unanswered questions swirl around the case, generating countless headlines and spawning dozens of theories from amateur sleuths all over the world. Why did Maura travel out of state without telling anyone? Was she meeting someone somewhere? And what happened to her on that desolate stretch of road after she wrecked her car?

The Sodder Children Disappearance

On Christmas Eve 1945, the Sodder family went to bed only to wake up a few hours later to find their house engulfed in flames. George and Jennie Sodder managed to escape the flames with four of their children. However, despite his attempts, George was unable to save his remaining five kids. Officials attributed the incident to faulty wiring, but Jennie recalled hearing a loud thud followed by a rolling sound on the roof, before the fire broke out. This led many to wonder if the flames had been deliberately ignited. Adding to the mystery, the human remains of the five missing children were never recovered at the site. Was the fire actually arson? Your guess is as good as ours.

Disappearance of Brian Shaffer

In 2006, Ohio State University medical student Brian Shaffer went out to celebrate the beginning of spring break. Before the night was over, he got separated from his friends and was assumed to have gone home without telling them. However, he was never seen again. Police reviewed the security footage and saw Shaffer and his friends entering the bar. The footage later showed his friends leaving, but other than a brief interaction between Shaffer and two ladies, there was no record of him exiting. The only unmonitored way out was through a construction area, which investigators believe Shaffer couldn’t have navigated at night. So, how and when did Shaffer leave the bar? And more importantly, where did he go?

D.B. Cooper

Just before Thanksgiving in 1971, a man going by the name Dan Cooper purchased a one-way ticket from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington. Midflight, he threatened to detonate a bomb if he wasn’t given $200,000. Once the ransom money was secured in Seattle, Cooper took it and parachuted from the plane somewhere over southwestern Washington. Decades later, many aspects of the case remain unsolved. Cooper has never been identified, and his fate, along with that of the ransom money, is unknown. While some of the cash was eventually recovered, a sizable portion is still missing. The pressing question that remains today is whether Cooper even survived the jump from the aircraft.


Can you unravel the mystery of these unsolved details? What are your theories? Let us know in the comments!