Unsolved mysteries and True Crimes -

[Twilight Sparkle]

these seem to interest other people on here aswell so I decided to make a thread about it. I personally like learning about the crimes that never have been solved like the "taman shud" case

or the missing girl Tara Calico

the most puzzling to me is what happened to Elisa Lam

 

[For The Internet]

I think the most enjoyable case study I've ever done was one where we had to choose an unsolved case and hypothesise about what had happened. Of the three choices we had only one was a case so old DNA couldn't be a factor and so that's what I chose. It's a really fascinating case where I don't actually think murder occurred at all, but it's considered an unsolved murder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogle–Chandler_case

 

[pickleniggo]

The Elisa Lam case: the elevator video is so strange and how it was ruled there was no foul play doesn't make any sense.

The conviction (and later release) of the West Memphis 3 makes me so angry. The 3 were so clearly innocent and the crime really appears to be committed by one of the children's stepdads. The three convicted were released but still have to live life with a "guilty" admission. The investigators don't want to reopen the botched case because they refuse to admit they were wrong.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

The Elisa Lam case: the elevator video is so strange and how it was ruled there was no foul play doesn't make any sense.

The conviction (and later release) of the West Memphis 3 makes me so angry. The 3 were so clearly innocent and the crime really appears to be committed by one of the children's stepdads. The three convicted were released but still have to live life with a "guilty" admission. The investigators don't want to reopen the botched case because they refuse to admit they were wrong.

there was also grafitti at the crime scene that said "in fact, she was a cunt 2011" in Latin, this is on a roof mind you. Nobody would have seen it otherwise, but because it said "2011" police dismissed it. Also, she was saying in her tumblr I think about being harassed by Hispanic men just before she ended up getting murdered.
also, the elevator footage is slown down so it seems more creepy, but if you speed it up it looks like she is under the influence of drugs. And someone working for the hotel stole the keys to the water tower, so I think it had to be a Hispanic man working at the hotel at that time

 

[Globe]

Dyatlov Pass Incident. Russian mountain climbing team that was trekking around the northern Ural mountains sometime in the fifties. Pretty much the entire team ended up getting slaughtered by some...thing. Nobody's quite sure. The condition of both the bodies and the team's tents and equipment suggests it was something non human. A few of the corpses allegedly looked irradiated though I can't remember if that had ever been verified. From what I can recall there was never actually a conclusion from the official investigation, so obviously you have your pickings from yeti attacks to alien abductions to Soviet sludge-man experimentation conspiracies. Pretty interesting read either way.

Hinterkaifeck Farm murders. Mass murder of a German family that lived on a remote farmstead in the 1920's. Six people (the property's owners, their daughter, two grandchildren and a recently hired maid) ended up dead in the space of about 48 hours and pretty much no one ever had a clue of who did it, or even how. Interesting tidbits

• most of the victims were found in the stead's barn, and didn't appear to be put there after being killed, rather it seemed they'd all somehow been lured there and killed one by one
• shortly before the murders, the farmer that owned the place had allegedly made a remark to a neighbor about finding some footprints in the snow that led from the edge of the surrounding forest into the farm, but none leading out.
• whoever did it appeared to have hung around for at least a day or two after committing the murders
• a maid that quit about six months beforehand claimed the place was haunted

 

[John Titor]

I remembered the Elisa Lam case when /x/ brought it to attention. It was interesting on what we were able to deduce before more information on the case was released.

There was a murder that happened in my area a year ago that had strange circumstances. I was confused to see why there were so many news reporters near my workplace until I watched the news that night; something like this hadn't happen in decades. FYI, my city was one of the ones that was once hit by Richard Ramirez.

 

[SkinExhibit]

Australia seems to have a lot of prominent cold cases. The one I'd heard about (in relation to the Human Centipede) were the three Beaumont kids who disappeared after being seen at the beach with a "strange tall man." Any missing children's reports that go unsolved always have an air of creep to them, but this one particularly struck me as they were seen multiple times by several witnesses, yet no one can account for their whereabouts.

 

[SpessCaptain]

Australia seems to have a lot of prominent cold cases. The one I'd heard about (in relation to the Human Centipede) were the three Beaumont kids who disappeared after being seen at the beach with a "strange tall man." Any missing children's reports that go unsolved always have an air of creep to them, but this one particularly struck me as they were seen multiple times by several witnesses, yet no one can account for their whereabouts.

There was the kid around my old house in QLD that got kidnapped about 7 years ago and we have one day where they have the whole country in mourning. It took nearly ten years to find his murderer and a lot of people had speculations that his rich family was doing it for attention after they made a charity drive for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Daniel_Morcombe

 

[glass_houses]

Australia seems to have a lot of prominent cold cases. The one I'd heard about (in relation to the Human Centipede) were the three Beaumont kids who disappeared after being seen at the beach with a "strange tall man." Any missing children's reports that go unsolved always have an air of creep to them, but this one particularly struck me as they were seen multiple times by several witnesses, yet no one can account for their whereabouts.

It's pretty fucking creepy. There's been several very high profile child killers that have been listed as suspects, but none of them quite 'fit'. It's entirely possible that the murderer/murderers who took the children was someone that was never on the radar. That leads to the inevitable assumption that more children were taken, but it never became public. If that's the case, then it's entirely likely that the children taken before/after the Beaumont case were Aboriginal or from an undesirable immigrant community, as opposed to the Beaumonts who were Caucasian, attractive, and from a moderately well off background. Because there absolutely would have been more. And chances are good that simply no one cared.

One mystery that has always got to me is Taman Shud; that shit's freaky.

The Family. Holy fuck.

The Beast of Gevaudan is fascinating. There's so much that just doesn't add up. Absolutely there are many accounts in Europe where places had been terrorised by wolves for months or even years on end, but the Beast makes no sense. The temptation is to just brush the thousands of loose ends off with a, "The uneducated superstitious peasants were just too stupid to know a wolf when they saw one", but the thing with peasants around then is that while they may indeed have been uneducated and superstitious, they also knew bloody well what a wolf looked like because their lives quite literally depended on it. Multiple wolf or wolf/dog hybrids tend to get the most mainstream support, but Michel Louis suggested that it was in fact a wolf/dog hybrid owned and trained by Jean Chastel, the man ultimately credited with killing the Beast, and thus making him one of the most creative serial killers ever. Dunno if it's true, but it makes for a cool story. What I want for Christmas is the graves of some of the known victims exhumed and the bones examined for teeth marks. Maybe put those pesky Mesonychid theories to sleep once and for all.

Going back to more conventional murder mysteries is the very recent Kehlet case, still under investigation. I'm in no way, shape, manner or form an investigator, but if murder hasn't been done, I'll eat my glasses.

Arguably the most well known true crime mystery, that of Jack the Ripper, has had a comparatively recent new suspect brought forth, that of Charles Allen Lechmere. There's been a quite decent documentary and it was pretty legit.

Lizzie Borden is always interesting.

People keep bringing up Harold Holt's disappearance. Places like the ABC keep saying that he was almost certainly swept out to sea when he went swimming in heavy seas and with a bung shoulder, but everyone knows that's just a guv'ment consperacy 'cause he was really kidernapped by Rusha wh tok im to china in a submerwhatchermercallit an thy jus dunt wanna a'mit it.

 

[Hollywood Hulk Hogan]

Elisa Lam is easily explained. She had a history of schizophrenia, and she was having an attack. The elevator didn't close because, in her panic attack, she hit all of the buttons, including the "keep door open" button. The door up to the roof was rarely locked since employees would smoke up there.

tl;dr: She was having a schizophrenic attack and panicked. It's unfortunate, but it's perfectly normal behavior for a schizophrenic attack.

Now for a real mystery: Who raised the briefcase at King of the Ring 1999? Was it the Big Bossman?!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Elisa Lam is easily explained. She had a history of schizophrenia, and she was having an attack. The elevator didn't close because, in her panic attack, she hit all of the buttons, including the "keep door open" button. The door up to the roof was rarely locked since employees would smoke up there.

tl;dr: She was having a schizophrenic attack and panicked. It's unfortunate, but it's perfectly normal behavior for a schizophrenic attack.

Now for a real mystery: Who raised the briefcase at King of the Ring 1999? Was it the Big Bossman?!

I totally agree with this after a lot of more evidence came out
her released footage was accidently sped up (you can easily find the original) which made it more creepy and mysterious looking than at normal speed
also, the recent court case where someone I know has been to basically said that the parents believe their daughter had a meltdown but still are trying to put the hotel at fault

One mystery that has always got to me is Taman Shud; that shit's freaky

Thankfully there are many people who are currently trying to find out who this man is, they have a few lectures to put it into perspective.

They are definitely worth a watch because they point out other strange bits of facts that most news sources forget

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Elisa Lam is easily explained. She had a history of schizophrenia, and she was having an attack. The elevator didn't close because, in her panic attack, she hit all of the buttons, including the "keep door open" button. The door up to the roof was rarely locked since employees would smoke up there.

tl;dr: She was having a schizophrenic attack and panicked. It's unfortunate, but it's perfectly normal behavior for a schizophrenic attack.

Now for a real mystery: Who raised the briefcase at King of the Ring 1999? Was it the Big Bossman?!

It's the stuff about what happened to her body that really gets me

 

[Hollywood Hulk Hogan]

It's the stuff about what happened to her body that really gets me

What stuff? She climbed into the water tank in her panic and couldn't get out, drowning.

 

[glass_houses]

What stuff? She climbed into the water tank in her panic and couldn't get out, drowning.

The problem is that nobody could explain how she got up to the roof and into the tank. To get to the roof without triggering the security alarms on the doors would mean that either she or someone else had a set of keys, as there was no sign that either the alarms or the doors themselves had been tampered with. Not only that, but each of them had been locked neatly behind her. Then there's the issue of how she got into the tank. The staff needed a ladder to access the top of the tank during maintenance. There was no ladder nearby. In addition to that, there was a very heavy concrete lid on top of the tank, which had been first been moved in order to allow her to get into it and then neatly replaced afterwards. Scrabbling up the side of the tank and moving the cover herself is one thing; it's amazing what the mentally ill or someone in intense distress can accomplish. However, the fact that the cover had been replaced is quite another matter entirely. In order to move it back means that she'd have had to do so without bracing herself against anything first, and somehow not get her fingers trapped against the top of the tank and the cover while she was at it.
I'm not saying that she didn't drown, I'm not saying that she didn't have some form of psychotic break, either from schizophrenia or from bipolar, but someone else put her in that tank.

 

[Hollywood Hulk Hogan]

The problem is that nobody could explain how she got up to the roof and into the tank. To get to the roof without triggering the security alarms on the doors would mean that either she or someone else had a set of keys, as there was no sign that either the alarms or the doors themselves had been tampered with. Not only that, but each of them had been locked neatly behind her. Then there's the issue of how she got into the tank. The staff needed a ladder to access the top of the tank during maintenance. There was no ladder nearby. In addition to that, there was a very heavy concrete lid on top of the tank, which had been first been moved in order to allow her to get into it and then neatly replaced afterwards. Scrabbling up the side of the tank and moving the cover herself is one thing; it's amazing what the mentally ill or someone in intense distress can accomplish. However, the fact that the cover had been replaced is quite another matter entirely. In order to move it back means that she'd have had to do so without bracing herself against anything first, and somehow not get her fingers trapped against the top of the tank and the cover while she was at it.
I'm not saying that she didn't drown, I'm not saying that she didn't have some form of psychotic break, either from schizophrenia or from bipolar, but someone else put her in that tank.

That's not true at all. There was a ladder up against one of the other tanks, which was only 2 feet away from the tank she was found in. So she likely climbed up the ladder to the other tank, moved the lid on the tank she drowned in, went in, and slide it shut. The lids were not too heavy for her to have moved, since they slide. Also, the staff left the door alarms off a lot since they'd go up to the roof to smoke during breaks. There's a lot of myths about the case made up to make it sound more mysterious because of that damn viral Youtube video.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

The problem is that nobody could explain how she got up to the roof and into the tank. To get to the roof without triggering the security alarms on the doors would mean that either she or someone else had a set of keys, as there was no sign that either the alarms or the doors themselves had been tampered with. Not only that, but each of them had been locked neatly behind her. Then there's the issue of how she got into the tank. The staff needed a ladder to access the top of the tank during maintenance. There was no ladder nearby. In addition to that, there was a very heavy concrete lid on top of the tank, which had been first been moved in order to allow her to get into it and then neatly replaced afterwards. Scrabbling up the side of the tank and moving the cover herself is one thing; it's amazing what the mentally ill or someone in intense distress can accomplish. However, the fact that the cover had been replaced is quite another matter entirely. In order to move it back means that she'd have had to do so without bracing herself against anything first, and somehow not get her fingers trapped against the top of the tank and the cover while she was at it.
I'm not saying that she didn't drown, I'm not saying that she didn't have some form of psychotic break, either from schizophrenia or from bipolar, but someone else put her in that tank.

There is a Chinese YouTuber that proved that most of the time you could easily get to the water tank
if I could find it I would show you, but it's literally just a video of them getting a hotel room, going up to the watertowers and one of the tanks being wide open and being completely unattended. It's an infamous motel where people are known to get murdered and commit suicide there, so it's not like they cared about keeping track of the tanks and where the people went.

I recommend watching this, it's essentially a run down of the court hearing

 

[PurpleSquirrel]

Those various Australian cases are interesting. What is it about Oz that lends itself to unsolved murders and enigmatic deaths and disappearances?

California's Zodiac Killer remains my favorite unsolved case. There's even a lolcow connection, since Raymond Huffman of "Shut Up Little Man!" fame has been proposed as a candidate for Zodiac.

Here's a lesser-known but equally creepy unsolved mass-murder from the Golden State that's long intrigued me.

 

[Cosmos]

Holy shit, this stuff is my jam. I started watching Unsolved Mysteries when I was like 8 years old and I've been hooked ever since.

The Elisa Lam case is definitely spooky. The most plausible explanation I've heard has to do with a sudden psychiatric attack (as she suffered from bipolar disorder). It doesn't help that the Cecil Hotel, the place where she died, is well-known for its link to several suicides, criminal activity (including three murders), and even paranormal activity.

Some other mysteries I'm interested in:

• The Black Dahlia: The quintessential unsolved murder mystery.
• The Hinterkaifeck Murders: In the 1920s, a German family was discovered murdered in their barn following a series of creepy, unexplained occurrences.
  
• The M Cave Hiker: A hiking enthusiast discovered an unusual cave. He hasn't been seen since.
• Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?: An unidentified woman was murdered and stuffed into a hollow tree trunk in 1943. Nearly all details regarding the case remain unsolved to this day.
• The Oakville Blobs, aka Star Jelly: On August 7, 1994 during a rainstorm, blobs of a translucent gelatinous substance fell upon the town of Oakville, Washington. Those who came in contact with the blobs soon became very ill. The blobs would rain down a few more times after this incident but have never been identified. However, many believe the U.S. military has something to do with it.
• Tylenol Poisonings: In 1982, some bottles of Tylenol were tampered with, replacing the painkillers with pills laced with potassium cyanide. The tampered bottles were then placed back on store shelves to be sold; a total of 7 people died due to ingesting the poisonous pills. The perpetrator and their motive are still unknown. This incident (and a number of copycat attacks) led to pretty drastic changes in the pharmaceutical industry, including tamper-proof packaging and the abandonment of over-the-counter capsule pills.
• The Overtaun Bridge, aka Dog Suicide Central: In the past 50 years, somewhere close to 600 dogs have reportedly jumped off the bridge from the same point into the same direction. What’s creepier is that the dogs who jumped and survived the first attempt returned to the same spot for another attempt. As a huge dog lover, this one makes me really sad I want them to demolish that fucking bridge already.
  
• The Zodiac Killer: Probably the most infamous unidentified serial killer of all time (although Jack the Ripper might give him a run for his money). Despite his relatively low body count (only 5 confirmed deaths), the Zodiac has continued to baffle investigators and laypeople alike due to his usage of cryptograms, most of which have yet to be cracked.

I'll post more if people are interested!

 

[Big Nasty]

California's Zodiac Killer remains my favorite unsolved case. There's even a lolcow connection, since Raymond Huffman of "Shut Up Little Man!" fame has been proposed as a candidate for Zodiac.

That's pretty rad. "I was a killer before you were born and I will be a killer after you're dead." Got any links about the "Raymond Huffman as Zodiac Killer" theory?

The Family. Holy fuck.

Shiiit. Homicide by blunt force sodomy is no laughing matter.

 

[glass_houses]

Shiiit. Homicide by blunt force sodomy is no laughing matter.

No. No it is not. And the way that only one murderer was brought to justice tends to make me sore and sick in my tum tum.

Those various Australian cases are interesting. What is it about Oz that lends itself to unsolved murders and enigmatic deaths and disappearances?

Comparatively low population density combined with a fuckload of uninhabited and/or unexplored land. Things are rather more compressed now, particularly along the Eastern Seaboard, but there's still a shitload of places to hide a body where it'll never be found, especially if you head towards the interior. There's also a shitload of places to completely disappear in, either by accident or design. This man disappeared and it took three months to locate his body, even though there were many, many people both professional and private looking desperately for him. He'd gotten out of his car (possibly because it'd become stuck in the dry loose sand) and was promptly bitten by a snake. He wrote a brief note saying this, staggered away from the car, and died in very short order. Poor bastard.

Another dramatic cold case is the Gatton Murders. The investigation work was appalling, even by the standards of today. The world will never know if the murderer could have been found if the coppers were properly doing their job.