People are naturally fascinated by mysteries, and that human trait has spawned genres in literature and entertainment, including mysteries and true crime.
Programs like Unsolved Mysteries, Forensic Files, and America's Most Wanted all rely on our obsession with the unknown.
But some cases seem to have such easy solutions, we wonder why they remain a mystery.
Reddit user totsatot0 asked:
"What’s a mystery you can’t believe is still UNsolved?"
Miyazawa Family Murders
"The Setagaya, Japan, family murder, in which the Miyazawa family were murdered in their home in December 2000."
"The killer was so confident they left fingerprints and DNA evidence, as well as the clothes he was wearing, in the house."
" Sand was analyzed from the scene and it had sand from Edward's Air Force Base in California."
"Not only that, but only 120 sweaters of the kind the killer was wearing were sold."
"Somehow, still not solved."
~ sushi-screams
Elizabeth Barraza Murder
"The murder of Elizabeth Barraza."
"It was caught on camera and the getaway vehicle was clearly seen. The murderer was speculated as being a woman or man in a wig."
"Truly bizarre."
~ cparksrun
Amber Hagerman Case
"Amber Hagerman abduction and murder in Arlington, Texas, USA in 1996."
"She was about my same age and was killed in the city where I grew up. The AMBER alert system in the US was named in her honor and has helped safely recover many abducted children."
"However, Amber's murderer was never found and the tip hotline for her case remains open."
~ redsparkypants
Brandon Swanson Disappearance
"Brandon Swanson was on the phone with his father late one night after a car accident, said, 'Oh sh*t!' and was never heard from again."
~ Nermalfan
* Shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson of Marshall, Minnesota, USA, drove his car into a ditch on his way home from an end of spring semester party with fellow students from Minnesota West Community and Technical College's Canby campus.
Uninjured, he got out and called his parents on his cellphone. Unsure of his exact location, he told them he thought he was near Lynd, so they drove to pick him up but were unable to locate him.
Swanson had remained on the phone with his parents until he went silent 47 minutes later after exclaiming "Oh, sh*t!" He has not been seen or heard from since.
Killing Of Molly Bish
"In the summer of 2000, there was a 16-year-old girl named Molly Bish that disappeared from her post as a lifeguard in Warren, Massachusetts, USA."
"Her body was found 3 years later in neighboring Hampden County. 24 years later and her killer has never been found."
~ CalendarAggressive11
Ilene Beth Misheloff Abduction
"The girl I knew who disappeared without a trace in 1989—Ilene Beth Misheloff—when we were 12/13 years old. She was walking home from school in Dublin, California, when she disappeared."
"She was a good kid, not the type to run away or anything; most likely was abducted and murdered, by the same couple who killed a few other girls in the area around that time.
"She was walking home from school and her keys were found later near a wooded area then her backpack was found in a nearby creek."
~ ZoyaZhivago
Zodiac Killer
"Zodiac Killer—mfer went around in a costume and wrote letters taunting the police and all sorts and they still aren’t sure for certain who dunnit."
~ sussyboingus
* The Zodiac Killer murdered five known victims and wounded two others in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 1968 and October 1969. He named himself in a series of taunting letters mailed to local newspapers—he threatened killing sprees and bombings if they were not printed.
Dorothy Kilgallen Death
"How did reporter Dorothy Kilgallen, who was investigating the Kennedy assassination and had interviewed Jack Ruby, end up dead hours after appearing fine on the What’s My Line tv show?"
"She was found sitting up in bed at home, in a room she didn’t normally sleep in, with her makeup still on and her Kennedy case file missing."
"It was never found and her death was never properly investigated."
~ OPMom21
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Heist
"Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist (1990)."
"And they still have the empty frame up from the Rembrandt that was stolen! And little plaques where I believe some drawings from Degas were stolen as well."
"It was pretty cool to see, the heist becomes part of the museum."
~ ihavetoomanyplants
Sneha Philip
"Sneha Philip, the doctor who was last seen shopping at a store near her Lower Manhattan apartment the evening of Sept 10, 2001, but never returned home that night. Obviously, we all know what happened the next morning (September 11, 2001)."
"Her husband and family hired a private detective and fought to have a review of her case done for several years before she was officially named a 9/11 victim, even though there is no solid evidence to prove she was at or in the WTC at the time either plane struck or when the towers collapsed."
"BUT there's also no solid evidence to prove she WASN'T at the WTC either. It's so crazy."
"In a nutshell, there are about 4 or 5 theories on what happened to her and all of them are evenly plausible."
~ CougarWriter74
Austin Yogurt Shop Killings
"The Austin, Texas yogurt shop killings in 1991. Great book about the yogurt shop killings Who Killed These Girls."
"The yogurt shop killings still messes with me. I’ve listened to several podcasts on it and own a book that covers the case."
"Such an awful crime especially taking into account the ages of those poor girls. I really hope that one gets solved someday."
~ j1337y
* An unsolved quadruple homicide from December 6, 1991. The victims were four teenage girls: 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison, and Jennifer's 15-year-old sister Sarah.
Jennifer and Eliza were the shop employees, Sarah and her friend Amy were in the shop to get a ride home with Jennifer.
Missy Bevers Murder
"The Missy Bevers murder should have been solved a long time ago."
"Tons of video footage of the killer and their car."
~ Bigtomhead
*On April 18, 2016, the body of fitness instructor Missy Bevers was found at Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas, USA.
Captured around the time period shortly before Bevers' murder, church surveillance footage shows an as yet unidentified person police believe is Bevers' murderer dressed in tactical gear walking around the church breaking glass and opening doors. Police believe the person in the video is Bevers' murderer.
Tamra Keepness Disappearance
"The disappearance of Tamra Keepness, age five, from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, on July 5, 2004. It's been twenty years since anyone has seen or heard from Tamra."
"Tamra would now be twenty-five years old. If she is still alive, Tamra Keepness will turn twenty-six on September 1, 2024."
~ rosehymnofthemissing
Lane Bryant Mass Shooting
"I learned about the Lane Bryant shooting [in Tinley Park, Illinois in 2008] last year when I was actually working at Lane Bryant and fell into that rabbit hole."
"Can't believe they still haven't found the person that did it."
~ Potential_Pause_2903
"I live in Tinley, and I fully believe the culprit, after committing the murders, got on the expressway (which would've been easy seeing as how there's an entrance ramp behind the plaza the Lane Bryant store was in) and got as far away from here as possible."
"Whatever state/city he ended up in, or even what happened to the culprit himself is obviously unknown."
"I hope one day, the killer is caught. Those families and the woman who lived deserve justice."
~ DragonQueen21
* The Lane Bryant shooting was a mass murder and armed robbery at a Lane Bryant clothing outlet in the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, on February 2, 2008. Four customers, a part-time employee and the store manager were taken to the back of the store and shot.
Victims killed were: store manager Rhoda McFarland, 42; Jennifer L. Bishop, 34; Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33; Sarah T. Szafranski, 22; Connie R. Woolfolk, 37. Police didn't reveal the age or identity of the part-time employee who survived.
Serial Killer Bible John
"Bible John. It's insane that everyone who knew him must have covered for him. That's the only way he could've remained undetected."
"For people who don't know, Bible John was a serial killer in 60s Scotland who is believed to have murdered three young women between 1968 and 1969 in Glasgow, Scotland."
"He had an extremely unique appearance, and it's pretty insane he was never caught."
~ out_for_blood
What unsolved mystery do you think should be solved?
