Top 10 Unsolved Crimes That Can't Be Explained
#10: The Somerton Man
20 Crimes That Will Never Be Solved
So much is unknown about the Somerton Man. What we do know is that a man was found dead on an Australian beach on December 1, 1948. We know that he was found with a torn piece of paper bearing the words “tamám shud”, which is Persian for “it is finished.” We know that something that could be a code was written in the book from which the paper was ripped. But we don’t know the significance of “tamám shud,” and we don’t know what the code - if it’s a code at all - means. The mystery has generated considerable attention, and some - including the pathologist that examined his body - suspect that the man was poisoned. In July 2022, DNA seemingly proved that the mystery man was an electrical engineer named Carl Webb. Unfortunately, many unsolved questions still remain and investigations continue.
#9: The Jamison Family Deaths
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Bobby and Sherilynn Jamison, along with their daughter, Madyson, disappeared in October 2009. Their pickup truck was found containing many belongings, including phones, wallets, and even their still-living dog. Perhaps most intriguing was the $32,000 in cash found inside the vehicle. By scouring home surveillance footage, investigators saw the Jamisons loading their truck in what’s been described as a “trancelike” state, and Sherilynn Jamison can be seen putting a briefcase inside the truck. This briefcase was not recovered at the site. The remains of the Jamison family were only found 4 years later, confirming that they had died near their abandoned vehicle. Some theories have been put forth, but many aspects of this case remain unknown, including the cause of death.
#8: The Hinterkaifeck Attacks
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A tantalizing cold case, the Hinterkaifeck murders is full of spooky details. Before the killings, the inhabitants of the farmhouse in Germany allegedly heard footsteps in the attic, found newspapers on the property, and even saw footprints leading to a smashed lock. However, all of these incidents were dismissed by 63-year-old Andreas Gruber. In the late evening of March 31, 1922, four of the house’s inhabitants, including Gruber, were lured to the barn and killed by an unknown assailant - or perhaps multiple assailants. The perpetrator then made their way into the house proper and killed two others, leaving a body count of six. They then lived with the bodies for three days before fleeing, leaving behind decades’ worth of bewildered investigators.
#7: The Gardner Museum Heist
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This real life art heist would put any movie to shame. It occurred on March 18, 1990, when two men pretending to be cops were let into Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Thirteen works were lifted, reportedly valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Swiped from the museum was Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” Manet’s “Chez Tortoni,” and most notably, Vermeer’s “The Concert,” which alone is worth $250 million. The thieves left behind virtually no clues or pieces of evidence, and the case remains unsolved. Furthermore, none of the thirteen works of art have ever been recovered. Their places in the museum are still honored by empty frames.
#6: Jeannette DePalma
This 16-year-old from New Jersey left her home on August 7, 1972 to visit a friend, but she never arrived. Her remains were found six weeks later, and the state of them has aroused suspicion for decades. Found on a clifftop, her body was surrounded by weird objects that some have linked to the occult. For example, branches surrounded DePalma in the shape of a coffin, and various wooden crosses had been placed inside this makeshift funerary space. Perhaps even more curious is the fact that her autopsy proved inconclusive, finding no direct cause of death. That said, a high amount of lead was found in the body. Unfortunately, the case eventually went cold owing to a lack of leads.
#5: The Atlas Vampire
10 Crimes That Will Never Be Solved
The story of the Atlas Vampire dates back to May 1932, when a deceased woman was found inside her Stockholm apartment. 32-year-old Lilly Lindeström was discovered a few days after she had been killed, and some aspects of the crime scene immediately became notable. Lindeström had been sexually assaulted, and her entire body had seemingly been emptied of blood. Detectives also found a gravy ladle near the body. Investigators put two and two together and surmised that the killer had potentially drunk Lindeström’s blood with the ladle. Various artifacts recovered from the crime scene are now housed at Stockholm's Police Museum, serving as an eerie reminder of the case that was never solved.
#4: Artemus Ogletree
Also known as The Room 1046 Mystery, the killing of Artemus Ogletree has baffled investigators and internet sleuths alike. It occurred on January 5, 1935. For a couple of days prior, Ogletree, going by the name Roland T. Owen, was behaving strangely. He often sat in the dark, seemed agitated, and was corresponding with a man named Don. At 10:30 AM on the morning of January 5, Ogletree was found bound and bloodied in his Hotel President room and later died at the hospital. Following his death, Ogletree’s mother received letters from someone pretending to be her son. His assailant may have been a man named Joseph Martin, who went by the alias Donald Kelso, but this has never been confirmed.
#3: The Isdal Woman
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A family was hiking near the city of Bergen, Norway on November 29, 1970 when they came across a burnt body. All identifying information had been removed from both the crime scene and the belongings that investigators found at a nearby train station. An autopsy proved that the woman had overdosed on sleeping pills, had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, and was initially alive when she was burned. Further investigation proved that she had traveled around Europe with wigs and numerous fake passports. Multiple theories have emerged, like the fact that the Isdal woman was a Cold War spy, that she took her own life, and that she was killed. Unfortunately, we may never know the answers behind the myriad of questions.
#2: JonBenét Ramsey
The fate of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was one of the biggest news stories of the ‘90s. Her body was found in the basement of the family’s Colorado home on December 26, 1996. A ransom note was also found in the house demanding $118,000 for her return. Suspicion immediately fell on the family. Experts believed that the ransom note was written by Ramsey’s mother, Patsy. Both parents refused to answer the police’s questions, and they allegedly attempted to obstruct an investigation of murder in court. Later DNA tests supposedly cleared the family of all suspicion, but some have rejected this exoneration. The case remains open to this day.
#1: The Disappearance of the Sodders
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A devastating fire struck the Sodder household on Christmas Eve of 1945. The parents, George and Jennie Sodder, escaped with four of the nine children who were living there at the time. The other five were never seen again. It’s unclear if remains were found. One account states that they were found but that the parents weren’t notified to spare them further grief. Others claim that the site harbored no human remains, whether by suspicious activity, a faulty search effort, or because they were incinerated in the fire. In 1967 - 22 years after the fire - Jennie Sodder was sent a photo of an adult male she went on to believe to be her missing son, Louis. Some suspect a simple house fire, while others believe that the Sicilian Mafia was involved, as George Sodder had made disparaging remarks about Benito Mussolini.
