One of the most life changing events, for anybody, is to have a loved one brutally murdered. If the killer is never found, those closest to the victim continue to suffer as justice never prevails. America has had many unsolved crimes over the years, with some of the most publicised including:
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JonBenet Ramsey
In December 1996, the body of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found in her family’s basement in Colorado. After the child’s disappearance, her mother had found a note demanding $118,000 ransom to ensure her safe return. The family never received a call from the kidnapper, and JonBenet’s body was discovered hours later. It was determined that she had been struck on her head and then strangled. While waiting for the call, detectives had allowed family and friends to walk through the entire house. This proved to be detrimental for the entire case, as all possible evidence had been destroyed.
After her death, JonBenet’s parents and nine-year-old brother became the main suspects. DNA evidence was retrieved from her clothing, which caused all three to be cleared, and then stored in the FBI’s system. In 2006, John Mark Karr, a former schoolteacher, gave a confession which stated that he had been with the girl at the time of her death. As his DNA was not a match to the one found on Ramsey’s clothing, no charges were filed against him. Over 20 years later, JonBenet Ramsey’s killer has not been found, and the surviving members of the family continue to hope for justice.
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The Black Dahlia
22-year-old actress Elizabeth Short, also known as The Black Dahlia, was murdered in 1947. Her body was discovered in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, naked and sliced almost in half. Short’s corpse had been completely drained of blood, in a very precise manner. The corners of her mouth had been slashed up to her ears, resulting in a gruesome clown’s smile, and her body posed with hands above her head, elbows bent at right angles. Before being slashed, Short had been hit in the head, resulting in a concussion.
The police managed to arrest a handful of suspects in the case, but the killer has never been found. Those arrested included several people that had confessed, but no charges were filed due to lack of evidence. To keep the story in the newspapers for a while after her death, the Black Dahlia’s killer would contact the press with new information about the case. At one point he mailed an envelope containing her personal belongings to a newspaper to prove his part in the murder. It contained a small book with the name Mark Hansen on the cover, who was the last person believed to have seen Short alive. During the period leading up to Short’s death, she was reportedly frequenting nightclubs and leaving with random men. Her murder became the subject of many books and films, and continues to remain a mystery.
gavinreese.com 