50 Unsolved Murders in 50 States of America | Part 2

50 Unsolved Murders in 50 States Part 2

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at fifty unsolved murders from each of the fifty American states. In part one, we’ll be looking at cases ranging from Montana to Wyoming. For the first 25 states, be sure to check out part 1!

Montana

Dexter Stefonek

Kicking off the second half of our list is a baffling highway mystery from big sky country. In November 1985, Dexter Stefonek was driving back to Wisconsin when his car was found abandoned and engulfed in flames near a remote rest area in Glendive. Dexter was nowhere to be found. For four months, his family waited for answers - until a local farmhand made a grim discovery at a landfill miles away. Dexter was dead, having been fatally shot in the head. Officials have since named one Charles Gary Sullivan as the primary suspect, but there was never enough physical evidence against him to secure a conviction. Technically, the case remains unsolved, but it was officially closed with the agreement of the Stefonek family.

Nebraska

Leah Rowlands

41-year-old Leah Rowlands was working her morning shift at a local Amoco station when a man walked inside. He grabbed a soda and approached the counter, then demanded the money from the register. Rowlands handed him the cash and then lay flat on the floor, answering the man’s demand. Regardless, he then leaned over the counter and shot her three times, killing her instantly. The most frustrating element of this cold case is that the entire horrific encounter was captured on the store’s security camera. The unmasked killer’s face, clothing, and red getaway car were broadcast across the country for all to see. Yet despite this clear video evidence, the ruthless gunman has completely evaded law enforcement for decades.

Nevada

Bobby Wayne Foster

A 47-year-old professional gambler, Bobby Wayne Foster won $50,000 in a competitive poker tournament. To celebrate his payout, he traveled to Las Vegas. Witnesses last saw him at a Vegas bar called The Tender Trap on September 2, 1989. Just a few days later, a snake hunter exploring a remote desert area in neighboring Arizona stumbled across Foster’s decomposing body. He had been shot and murdered. Las Vegas Metro Police handled the investigation, assuming that he was killed in Nevada before being dumped in Arizona. His missing poker winnings suggest a clear robbery motive, but the perpetrators were never apprehended to face trial for this terrible crime.

New Hampshire

David Pickett

The picturesque shores of New Castle Beach became a grim crime scene in February 1993. 59-year-old David Pickett was discovered dead on the freezing sand, having been viciously beaten and nearly decapitated. The sheer brutality of the murder suggested a personal motive rather than a simple robbery. Investigators quickly focused attention on David’s brother Robert, pointing toward an ongoing financial dispute over property taxes. The strong suspicion led to a civil liability trial against Robert, creating a local media spectacle. However, the legal burden of proof for criminal charges was never met. Without concrete forensic evidence to secure a conviction, nobody has ever served prison time for Pickett’s tragic murder.

New Jersey

The Sheridan Murders

On September 28, 2014, prominent political operative John Sheridan and his wife Joyce were found stabbed to death inside their burning Somerset County home. Responding authorities theorized that John killed Joyce, set the house on fire, and then took his own life. However, their adult sons adamantly refused to accept this official narrative. They hired independent forensic experts who uncovered severe flaws in the state’s initial autopsy, prominently noting that the weapon that killed John was never found. Following a relentless public campaign by the grieving family to clear their father’s name, the New Jersey State Medical Examiner officially changed John Sheridan’s manner of death to “undetermined.”

New Mexico

The West Mesa Bone Collector

In 2009, a woman walking her dog across the arid West Mesa of Albuquerque made a discovery that unveiled one of America’s most prolific serial killers. A vast police excavation unearthed the skeletal remains of eleven women and one unborn fetus buried in shallow graves. Investigators determined that the victims had disappeared between 2001 and 2005. Most were young women with ties to the local sex trade, which likely allowed the killer to operate under the radar. Despite gathering thousands of tips, generating multiple persons of interest, and offering substantial rewards, police have never been able to identify the phantom predator responsible. As it is, one of the most famous serial killers in modern American history remains free to this day.

New York

The Alphabet Murders

Between 1971 and 1973, a terrifying pattern emerged within the Rochester area. Three young girls - Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz, and Michelle Maenza - were abducted, sexually assaulted, and strangled. The chilling calling card was strict alliteration: each victim’s first and last name started with the exact same letter. The girls’ bodies were dumped in surrounding towns matching those initials, with Colon found in Churchville, Walkowicz in Webster, and Maenza in Macedon. Detectives thoroughly investigated hundreds of suspects over the decades, including convicted serial killers operating nearby, but DNA tests repeatedly cleared the prime candidates. The highly calculated constraints continue to make this unsolved triple homicide one of the most distinct cold cases in New York history.

North Carolina

Rhonda Hinson

In December 1981, 19-year-old Rhonda Hinson attended a company Christmas party. While driving back to her home in Valdese later that night, a mysterious assailant fired a high powered rifle at her moving vehicle. The bullet pierced both the trunk and the driver seat, striking Hinson directly in the heart. Her car was found in a ditch merely half a mile from her driveway, and Hinson was dead. What truly baffles local investigators is the impossible precision of the fatal shot, fired in complete darkness at a fast moving target. Despite exhaustive investigations, multiple wild theories regarding a secret double life, and decades of relentless campaigning by her grieving parents, the phantom sniper remains in the shadows.

North Dakota

Joel Lovelien

Halloween night brings costumes, chaos, and sometimes, the perfect cover for a crime. In 2007, 38-year-old Joel Lovelien was beaten to death in the busy parking lot of the Broken Drum bar in Grand Forks. Because it was Halloween, the venue was packed with partygoers wearing elaborate disguises. When a fight broke out near a party bus parked outside, Lovelien went out to check the commotion and was later found unresponsive on the pavement. The vast sea of masks and drinking significantly muddied witness statements and made it incredibly difficult to piece together an accurate timeline. A man named Travis Stay was eventually arrested and tried for the violent assault, but a jury fully acquitted him in 2008. Consequently, Lovelien’s tragic murder returned to official cold case status.

Ohio

Amy Mihaljevic

This heartbreaking abduction changed how parents in Ohio viewed suburban safety. In 1989, ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was lured to a local shopping plaza by an unidentified man who called her directly. He claimed that he wanted her help buying a gift for her mother. Her body was discovered months later in a rural field in Ashland County. The devastating case drew national media attention and featured prominently on TV programs, with many seeking public assistance. It was clear that the killer possessed intimate knowledge of Amy’s family life, making the psychological manipulation exceptionally cruel. Despite thousands of leads and extensive DNA profiling attempts, the man on the phone has never been successfully identified or brought to justice, leaving behind one of Ohio’s most frustrating cold cases.

Oklahoma

The Girl Scout Murders

During a stormy summer night at Camp Scott in 1977, three young girls were brutally assaulted and murdered in their canvas tent. The viciousness of this crime - specifically in how it targeted innocent girls at a summer camp - shocked the country. An exhaustive manhunt ensued, eventually leading to the arrest of Gene Leroy Hart, a local prison escapee with a violent history who had been hiding in the nearby woods. However, a jury ultimately acquitted Hart in the resulting trial, citing insufficient forensic evidence. In May 2022, the Mayes County Sheriff announced that advanced DNA testing definitively eliminated all other suspects and pointed exclusively to Hart. However, the case remains officially unsolved, as Hart died back in 1979 and is therefore unable to be convicted.

Oregon

Michael Francke

This killing in Oregon reached the highest levels of state government. In January 1989, Michael Francke, the Director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, was fatally stabbed to death outside his office in Salem. Francke was reportedly uncovering a massive corruption and smuggling ring within the state prison system before he was permanently silenced. A local petty criminal named Frank Gable was eventually convicted of the murder based on highly questionable witness testimonies. However, after spending decades behind bars, Gable was fully exonerated when a federal judge ruled that the original trial was deeply flawed. With Gable’s exoneration and release, the brazen murder of a top state official has officially returned to cold case status.

Pennsylvania

The Boy in the Box

For decades, he was “America’s Unknown Child.” In 1957, the severely malnourished body of a young boy was discovered wrapped in a plaid blanket inside a discarded box in Philadelphia. Despite extensive fingerprinting, national media coverage, and thousands of fliers distributed across the country, no one came forward to claim the boy. Generations of dedicated detectives worked the case throughout the ensuing decades. In 2022, modern genetic genealogy yielded a monumental breakthrough, finally restoring the boy’s true name: Joseph Augustus Zarelli. While giving Joseph his identity back was a massive victory for local law enforcement, the second half of this tragedy remains wide open. Exactly who subjected this innocent child to such horrific abuse remains unknown to this day.

Rhode Island

Christine Cole

In January 1988, ten-year-old Christine Cole left her apartment in Pawtucket to buy a few items for dinner. She never made it back home. An agonizing search gripped the local community until her body was found weeks later, washed ashore several miles away on a snowy beach at Conimicut Point. Autopsy reports confirmed that Cole had been murdered. Investigators meticulously tracked her final movements and interviewed multiple persons of interest, but the physical evidence had been compromised by the ocean water and harsh winter elements. Despite renewed forensic testing and constant pressure from her surviving family members, no definitive suspects have ever been officially charged with Cole’s devastating murder.

South Carolina

Stephen Smith

Sometimes, unraveling one scandal breathes new life into an entirely separate mystery. In 2015, 19-year-old nursing student Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of a rural Hampton County road. His horrific injuries included massive head trauma. Bizarrely, highway patrol investigators ruled the death a hit-and-run, despite finding zero vehicular debris, no skid marks, and noting that Smith’s loosely-tied shoes were perfectly intact on his feet. The case lay dormant until 2021, when the intense public scrutiny surrounding the disgraced Murdaugh family forced state law enforcement to review past investigations. South Carolina authorities officially exhumed Smith’s body and reclassified his death as an intentional homicide. Investigators are currently pursuing new leads, but the actual perpetrators still remain uncharged and at large.

South Dakota

Tammy Haas

An end-of-summer celebration quickly turned into a prolonged nightmare in Yankton, South Dakota. 19-year-old Tammy Haas attended a large local party on the night of September 17, 1992. After leaving the busy gathering, she vanished without a trace. Her frantic family immediately organized search parties, and her body was later discovered across state lines, hidden at the bottom of a steep ravine near a Nebraska golf course. Authorities officially ruled her tragic death a homicide, confirming that she had suffered a broken neck and fractured skull. Numerous rumors have circulated over the years regarding who was at the party and what transpired afterward. A prime suspect was even indicted in 1996 but was swiftly acquitted. Decades later, Tammy’s family is still desperately waiting for justice.

Tennessee

The Redhead Murders

Between 1978 and 1992, the bodies of multiple women were discarded along major interstate highways. They were heavily concentrated in Tennessee, but they also stretched across the surrounding states. All of the victims were young women with distinctive red hair. Many were believed to be vulnerable hitchhikers or transients, making them exceptionally easy targets for a mobile predator. For decades, most of these victims remained unidentified Jane Does. But thanks to recent advancements in genetic genealogy, several have finally been given their real names back. In 2019, DNA evidence linked convicted serial killer Jerry Leon Johns to the 1985 murder of Tina Farmer. However, the entire string of the Redhead Murders remains a complex and unsolved web of murder.

Texas

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders

Texas has no shortage of terrifying true crime, but few cases rival the sheer infamy of the Texarkana Moonlight Murders. In the spring of 1946, a brutal serial killer dubbed the Phantom Killer terrorized the twin cities of Texarkana. Targeting young couples parked in secluded lovers’ lanes, the masked assailant attacked eight people over ten weeks and murdered five. The brutality of the nighttime executions sent the rural community into a panic, prompting residents to heavily arm themselves and enforce strict curfews. Despite a massive deployment of the Texas Rangers and a sprawling investigation involving hundreds of potential suspects, the elusive Phantom Killer vanished into the night - and history. Eight decades later, this legendary series of unsolved murders continues to haunt the Lone Star state and has inspired countless pieces of pop culture.

Utah

Rosie Tapia

Every parent’s worst fear materialized during this horrifying Salt Lake City abduction. In August 1995, an intruder silently slipped through the ground-floor window of a family apartment. They kidnapped six-year-old Rosie Tapia straight from her bedroom while her mother slept just feet away. Hours later, a resident walking their dog found Rosie’s lifeless body submerged in a nearby canal. The little girl had been brutally assaulted and drowned. The sheer brazenness of sneaking into an occupied home to steal a child terrified the Salt Lake City community and resulted in heavy media coverage. Despite massive public campaigns and the formation of a dedicated coalition, detectives have never gathered enough evidence to find and arrest young Rosie’s killer.

Vermont

Brianna Maitland

On the night of March 19, 2004, 17-year-old Brianna Maitland completed her evening shift at Montgomery’s Black Lantern Inn. The next morning, her car was discovered backed into an abandoned farmhouse near the restaurant. Strikingly, her uncashed paychecks, migraine medication, and personal belongings were all left inside the vehicle, suggesting that she had been taken. Unfortunately, initial responding officers assumed that it was simply an abandoned car, and the criminal investigation was tragically delayed. While her body has never been recovered, Vermont State Police strongly believe that Maitland was a victim of foul play. Rumors involving local drug rings have swirled for nearly two decades, yet the exact circumstances of her tragic murder remain completely unresolved.

Virginia

The Colonial Parkway Murders

Lovers’ lanes are supposed to be safe havens, but for several years in Virginia, they were hunting grounds. Between 1986 and 1989, a serial killer targeted innocent couples parked along the scenic Colonial Parkway and the surrounding desolate areas. In total, at least eight but as many as sixteen people were killed in the indiscriminate murder spree. Because the victims were typically found inside their vehicles, many speculated that the perpetrator might have been impersonating a police officer to gain the teenagers’ immediate compliance. A local fisherman named Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. has been conclusively linked to some of the murders, but others remain unsolved. Regardless, Wilmer died in 2017, meaning he will never face justice for the crimes he did commit.

Washington

Thomas C. Wales

It is exceptionally rare for a federal official to be targeted in their own home, making this Washington case truly unprecedented. In 2001, Assistant Attorney Thomas C. Wales was quietly working at a computer in his basement office. Without warning, an assassin standing in his backyard fired multiple shots through the window and killed him. The FBI launched a massive investigation, believing that Wales was explicitly targeted because of his aggressive prosecutorial work. They specifically focused on a bitter airline pilot who had past dealings with Wales. Despite offering millions in reward money and dedicating immense resources to the probe for over twenty years, the government has never gathered enough evidence to indict the trigger man. Sometimes, even the might of the FBI isn’t enough.

West Virginia

Sister Robin Elam

In June 1977, 26-year-old nun Sister Robin Elam spent a quiet afternoon praying on the wooded grounds of Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling, West Virginia. While enjoying the serene solitude, she was viciously assaulted and murdered. The heinous nature of attacking a nun in broad daylight shocked the tight-knit Catholic community. Despite the massive local outrage and the horrific brutality of the attack, physical evidence was relatively scarce, leading to immense difficulty in the investigation. Detectives pursued numerous leads and interrogated a few prime suspects over the years, but all to no avail. The horrific violation of this peaceful sanctuary remains one of West Virginia’s most frustrating unsolved mysteries, and it remains a sore spot for the grieving local community to this day.

Wisconsin

Susan Poupart

The silence of witnesses has stalled justice for this young mother for over three decades. On May 19, 1990, Native American mother Susan Poupart attended a party in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. She was last seen leaving the gathering with several men early the next morning. Six months later, hunters found Poupart’s scattered remains deep within the dense Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Investigators quickly zeroed in on the men she left the party with, but their testimonies were highly evasive and they consistently pointed fingers at one another. This notorious code of silence among the prime suspects effectively paralyzed the investigation. Without a cooperating witness or definitive DNA evidence linking someone to the assault, prosecutors have been unable to secure criminal indictments in this heartbreaking case.

Wyoming

Shelli Wiley

22-year-old University of Wyoming student Shelli Wiley was the victim of a savage attack on October 20, 1985. An intruder violently stabbed her inside her Laramie apartment before setting the building on fire, creating a massive blaze that effectively destroyed most of the physical evidence. The horrific crime haunted the college town for decades. But in a stunning twist in 2016, police uncovered new DNA evidence and arrested a former law enforcement officer named Fred Lamb for her murder. However, in a deeply frustrating move, prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges against Lamb shortly before the trial. Consequently, Wiley’s case has slipped back through the legal cracks of Wyoming, and the charges against Lamb have never been refiled.

Do you think you have the answers? Let us know in the comments below!