Murder happens all over the world, and many get away with committing these despicable crimes. In the United States alone, 250,000 cold cases remain unsolved. Whether it takes place in North Carolina or somewhere else, many of these cold cases remain a mystery; some, however, have garnered more fame than others.
The year 1888, the setting London, a man calling himself Jack the Ripper goes on a killing spree, costing five women their lives. According to History, the man killed the women in a way that required knowledge on human anatomy; he contacted women, willing to pay for sexual intercourse. He would lure them into a secluded street and kill them. Although police and authority figures figured out some sort of pattern, it did not help them find the killer. History wrote, “the police, who lacked modern forensic techniques such as fingerprinting and blood typing, were at a complete loss for suspects.” Towards the end of the killing spree, the police received two similar letters that included facts that could have only been known by the police and the killer; both of them had been signed, “Jack the Ripper.”
Elizabeth Short made headlines all over the country in 1947 when her body was discovered by a woman and her child in Los Angeles, California. She had no drop of blood on her body. According to Time, her body appeared professionally dissected and a body part had been cut off. Elizabeth soon gained the nickname, “Black Dahlia” because of her dark hair and preference for dark clothing. The police had a dozen suspects, but none of them fit the bill. Whoever killed Elizabeth could still be at large, but the case had been identified as closed.
Many people use the word “zodiac” in everyday conversations about issues like astrology, but the word also brings up the history of the infamous Zodiac Killer that terrorized the people of San Francisco, California. According to Time, the killer was unusual in the way that he craved media attention and liked toying with the police. During the span of one year, he murdered five people that had nearly nothing in common, causing the police to think the killings were random. In 1968, he killed two teenagers in a parking lot with a gun, and killed a person seven months later. Although most victims died , one survived simply by chance and luck. After the killer found out that the man he attempted to kill was still alive, coded letters started appearing at both the local newspaper headquarters and the police station.. In one letter, he wrote, “this is the Zodiac speaking. . . I like killing people because it is fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all.” The codes weren't cracked until years after the case had already gone cold, leaving the killer on the loose.
The cases mentioned had been some of the most popular cold cases to have ever existed. No one knows the identities of the killers, and although there have been many suspects, no justice has yet been given to the victims of these crimes.
In the United States, around 6,000 murders had been committed every year and eventually went into the cold case category. If anyone holds information involving any of the people listed at the Project: Cold Case website, money may be rewarded.
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