7 Disturbing Unsolved Crimes
No. 7...
The Anthrax Mailings:
With conspiracy theories abound, ranging from Iraq and Hussein being involved to our own C.I.A. being responsible, this postal terror swept across America and had every news channel on its toes and politicians scrambling from their office desks. In all 22 people were affected and five died.
Most notably the Anthrax Mailings have been linked to World Trade Center bomber Abdul Rahman Yasin. The word "spores" was suddenly synonymous with "terror". How ironic.
No. 6...
The D.B. Cooper Hijacking:
In 1971 Dan Cooper (This was obviously way before they required an I.D. to board a commercial flight in the United States) boarded an airplane and hijacked it by handing a polite note to a flight attendant.
"I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."
The note also contained instructions to have him provided two parachutes and for a ransom to be collected and held at Seattle/Tacoma Airport. D.B. Cooper further directed the pilot to not land until the ransom was ready to exchange hands.
After releasing only the passengers, the hijacker had the pilot take them back into the air with specific instructions not to ascend higher than 10,000 feet and have the wing flaps tilted at a 15% angle, where he jumped to fame somewhere over the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. (Presumably Woodland, Washington) D.B. Cooper remains the perpetrator of the only unsolved American hijacking though most believe he died in his escape attempt. Over 11,000 serious suspects have been investigated by the FBI.
No. 5...
The Chandra Levy Murder:
An intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Chandra Levy was murdered around the first of May in 2001. She was found in a park in Washington D.C. and little evidence has surfaced in the case. While the case was being investigated an affair surfaced between Chandra and U.S. Representative Gary Condit. The revelation of the affair did little to help the case but as a bi-product the Senator lost any credit he had with the voters by not exposing the affair himself after having heard of her disappearance.
No. 4...
Teamster Leader Jimmy Hoffa:
Leading of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters through the 1950' and into the 60's, Jimmy Hoffa was a powerful man in the political landscape of America. He served the better part of a decade for attempted bribery of a grand juror. (His sentence was commuted by Nixon several years early under the condition he not involve himself with the Teamsters. An order he ignored and that many think may have cost him his life.)
Mr.Hoffa was last seen leaving a restaurant on July 30th of 1975 in the company of a carload of men and hasn't be seen since. Many stories have surfaced surrounding his disappearance and the location of his body. One of the most radical is that he lies beneath the N.Y. Giant's stadium.
No. 3...
The Black Dahlia:
Elizabeth Short, nicknamed the Black Dahlia and inspiration for 2006 movie The Black Dahlia, was an aspiring actress who tragically only reached fame through her own gruesome murder.
She could have been labeled "transient" and moved frequently back and forth from California to Florida.
She was found separated in two with the image of a joker-like smile surgically cut into her face. Many believe only a doctor could have performed the mutilation and no blood was found at the scene leading to the assumption she was murdered elsewhere and then dumped. Her murder remains unsolved.
No. 2...
Jon Benet Ramsey:
I was a resident of the Boulder County Jail while this case was in the heights of its media circus. Allegations of a crime scene foul up by Boulder homicide were abundant and the nation cried in hope for the child beauty queen's murderer to be found.
She was found in the basement of her parent's Boulder, Co home strangled and covered in a white blanket only 8 hours after her disappearance had been reported. (She was discovered missing when her mother found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the return of Jon Benet on the kitchen staircase.
Her parents have been implicated in the crime as well as well as many others. Her mother was accused of striking the child after the child had wet the bed the prior night.
In 2006 a man by the name of John Mark Karr was arrested in Thailand by American authorities on a five year old child-pornography case out of the state of California. In an interview he implicated himself in the crime but his DNA was later found not to match that found at the scene. Her death remains unsolved.
No. 1...
Natalie Holloway:
Born in Mississippi but a graduate from Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Al, Natalie disappeared on her senior trip to the island of Aruba.
The island is slightly larger than Washington D.C. and has been searched extensively and repeatedly since her disappearance.
Natalie's father has teamed with some specialists to have the ocean floor mapped surrounding the small island in hope that they may yet find her body.
Three suspects have been at the center of the investigation and have been arrested, released, and rearrested several times over with no beneficial information having been collected.
This story is both tragic and a constant reminder to parents of graduating seniors who have plans on celebrating their achievement on foreign shores. (Click here to subscribe to my feed!)
(This case had a huge break a few days ago where Joran Van Der Sloot confesses to having someone take care of the body.)
"I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."
The note also contained instructions to have him provided two parachutes and for a ransom to be collected and held at Seattle/Tacoma Airport. D.B. Cooper further directed the pilot to not land until the ransom was ready to exchange hands.
After releasing only the passengers, the hijacker had the pilot take them back into the air with specific instructions not to ascend higher than 10,000 feet and have the wing flaps tilted at a 15% angle, where he jumped to fame somewhere over the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. (Presumably Woodland, Washington) D.B. Cooper remains the perpetrator of the only unsolved American hijacking though most believe he died in his escape attempt. Over 11,000 serious suspects have been investigated by the FBI.
No. 5...The Chandra Levy Murder:
An intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Chandra Levy was murdered around the first of May in 2001. She was found in a park in Washington D.C. and little evidence has surfaced in the case. While the case was being investigated an affair surfaced between Chandra and U.S. Representative Gary Condit. The revelation of the affair did little to help the case but as a bi-product the Senator lost any credit he had with the voters by not exposing the affair himself after having heard of her disappearance.
No. 4...Teamster Leader Jimmy Hoffa:
Leading of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters through the 1950' and into the 60's, Jimmy Hoffa was a powerful man in the political landscape of America. He served the better part of a decade for attempted bribery of a grand juror. (His sentence was commuted by Nixon several years early under the condition he not involve himself with the Teamsters. An order he ignored and that many think may have cost him his life.)
Mr.Hoffa was last seen leaving a restaurant on July 30th of 1975 in the company of a carload of men and hasn't be seen since. Many stories have surfaced surrounding his disappearance and the location of his body. One of the most radical is that he lies beneath the N.Y. Giant's stadium.
No. 3...The Black Dahlia:
Elizabeth Short, nicknamed the Black Dahlia and inspiration for 2006 movie The Black Dahlia, was an aspiring actress who tragically only reached fame through her own gruesome murder.
She could have been labeled "transient" and moved frequently back and forth from California to Florida.
She was found separated in two with the image of a joker-like smile surgically cut into her face. Many believe only a doctor could have performed the mutilation and no blood was found at the scene leading to the assumption she was murdered elsewhere and then dumped. Her murder remains unsolved.
No. 2...Jon Benet Ramsey:
I was a resident of the Boulder County Jail while this case was in the heights of its media circus. Allegations of a crime scene foul up by Boulder homicide were abundant and the nation cried in hope for the child beauty queen's murderer to be found.
She was found in the basement of her parent's Boulder, Co home strangled and covered in a white blanket only 8 hours after her disappearance had been reported. (She was discovered missing when her mother found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the return of Jon Benet on the kitchen staircase.
Her parents have been implicated in the crime as well as well as many others. Her mother was accused of striking the child after the child had wet the bed the prior night.
In 2006 a man by the name of John Mark Karr was arrested in Thailand by American authorities on a five year old child-pornography case out of the state of California. In an interview he implicated himself in the crime but his DNA was later found not to match that found at the scene. Her death remains unsolved.
No. 1...Natalie Holloway:
Born in Mississippi but a graduate from Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Al, Natalie disappeared on her senior trip to the island of Aruba.
The island is slightly larger than Washington D.C. and has been searched extensively and repeatedly since her disappearance.
Natalie's father has teamed with some specialists to have the ocean floor mapped surrounding the small island in hope that they may yet find her body.
Three suspects have been at the center of the investigation and have been arrested, released, and rearrested several times over with no beneficial information having been collected.
This story is both tragic and a constant reminder to parents of graduating seniors who have plans on celebrating their achievement on foreign shores. (Click here to subscribe to my feed!)
(This case had a huge break a few days ago where Joran Van Der Sloot confesses to having someone take care of the body.)
