Major Crimes and True Crime

The Disappearance of Jacob Wetterling Jacob Erwin Wetterling (born February 17, 1978) is a boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota, who was kidnapped from his hometown at the age of 11 on Sunday, October 22, 1989. His whereabouts are unknown Jacob Wetterling, his brother, and a friend were cycling home from a convenience store after 9pm on October 22, 1989, when a masked gunman came out of a driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie face down on the ground. He then asked each boy his age. Jacob's brother was told to run toward a nearby wooded area and not look back or else he would be shot. Subsequently, the gunman asked to view the faces of the two remaining boys. He picked Jacob, and told his friend to run away and not look back otherwise he would shoot. The investigation into Wetterling's abduction continues. In 2004, some new reports appeared in the local press. A long-held belief is that the abductor got away in an abandoned car. It was also r...

On Halloween in 1977, the parents of 19 month old Nima Louise Carter placed their child insider her crib at their home in Lawton, Oklahoma The next morning, Nima's parents were shocked to discover her missing. Since the windows in Nima's room were locked, it is theorised that the abductor hid in the closet and sneaked the child out of the house while her parents were sleeping in another room. A month later, a group of children were playing in an abandoned house four blocks away from the Carter house. When they opened up the refrigerator, they received a horrible shock when the decomposing body of an infant came tumbling out. The child was identified as Nima Louise Carter, who died of suffocation. A similar crime occurred in Lawton during April of 1976 when a pair of three year old twin sisters, Mary and Tina Carpitcher, were lured out of their home by a young woman and forcibly confined inside a refrigerator at another abandoned house. Where the sisters were found two days late...

Little Pauline Picard, aged two, disappeared from her family’s farm in Brittany, France in April 1922. An exhaustive search failed to find her, but several days later, police received news that a little girl who matched Pauline’s description was found wandering in the town of Cherbourg, about 320 kilometers (200 mi) away from the Picard farm. Pauline’s parents arrived to examine the girl and announced that she was indeed their missing Pauline A few unusual facts stood out about the otherwise happy reunion. First, the girl did not seem to recognize her parents. Second, she did not respond to them when they spoke to her in their native Breton. Dismissing these peculiarities, Pauline’s parents took her back to the farm, where the neighbors quickly affirmed that she was Pauline, and the whole ordeal seemed to end on a happy note. About a month later, a neighboring farmer walking near the Picard farm stumbled upon something horrifying: the mutilated and decomposing body of a young ...

Susan Smith was born on September 26, 1971, in Union, S.C., to parents Linda and Harry Vaughan. She was the youngest of three children and the couple's only daughter. Her parents divorced when Susan was seven and five weeks later Harry, age 37, committed suicide. Her parent's tumultuous marriage and the death of her father left Susan a sad, empty and oddly distant child. Within weeks of the Vaughan's divorce Linda married Beverly (Bev) Russell, a successful local businessman. Linda and the children moved from their small modest home into Bev's house located in an exclusive subdivision of Union. As a teen Susan was a good student, well liked and outgoing. In her junior year she was voted president of the Junior Civitan Club, a club which focused on volunteering in the community. In her final year of high school she received the "Friendliest Female" award and was known for her cheerful and fun disposition. But during those years of enjoying her populari...

Gaetana Stimoli, of Aderno, Sicily, was the architect of the killing of 23 children. Her style was to lure the unsuspecting children to her home with the promise of treats, once she had convinced her victims, the innocent children would go to her home and she would give them some wine with traces of undiluted phosphoric acids, which is incredibly poisonous to the human body. The unsuspecting victims would then be sent back home, but just before they would get to their respective homes, they would suffer excruciating bodily pain which led to the inevitability of death. Stimoli was believed to have lost two children of her own and she believed that their deaths was as a result of some sort of bewitchment. Therefore in order to achieve some form of karmic balance in her mind, Stimoli sought to take the lives of other children to avenge hers. This occurred in the late 19th century, when witchcraft was a somewhat prevalent belief in secluded communities. Indeed, when her home was e...

Serial killer Peter Tobin seems to be on his death bed, if so, good riddance. Peter Britton Tobin (born 27 August 1946) is a convicted Scottish serial killer and sex offender who is currently serving three sentences of life imprisonment with a whole life order at HM Prison Edinburgh for three murders committed between 1991 and 2006. Prior to his first murder conviction, Tobin served ten years in prison for a double rape committed in 1993, following which he was released in 2004. In 2007, he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years for the rape and murder of Angelika Kluk in Glasgow in 2006. Skeletal remains of a further two young women who went missing in 1991 were subsequently found at his former home in Margate, Kent. Tobin was convicted of the murder of Vicky Hamilton in December 2008, resulting in his minimum sentence being increased to 30 years, and of the murder of Dinah McNicol in December 2009, resulting in a whole life order. Tobin has been labelled a psychopath by a s...

An unfinished note, blood in her apartment and a missing blanket: Mystery of Australia’s own ‘gone girl’ whose body has never been found  The only traces left behind when Elisabeth Membrey disappeared were bloodstains in her house and a half-finished letter. More than 22 years later the body of the young Melbourne woman has never been found and no-one has been imprisoned for what police believe is a murder. After the night of December 6, 1994, it appeared someone had tried to clean her Ringwood apartment of bloodstains and her doona was missing, The Herald Sun reported.  A partially finished letter to a friend in the United Kingdom made police think she'd been disturbed while writing it.  Police later found blood in her car, the ABC reported.  They believed her body was wrapped in her doona and the car used to dispose of it. According to The Herald Sun, red dirt was found in the tyres of Me Membrey's red Mazda and forensics indicated the car had been driven ...

The Tragic Fate Of Bridget Cleary, Whose Husband Believed She Was A Changeling Bridget Cleary was an unconventional woman in what many considered a confounding marriage. Her home was also built upon what locals called a " fairy fort" so when Bridget fell ill, many,  including her husband michael, believed it was the work of angry entities, and that cleargy had been replaced with a changeling. From there, things only got worse for Bridget, as Michael began putting her through horrifying tests. To prove her identity This children’s rhyme speaks volumes for the effect Bridget Cleary's burning had on Irish folklore and people's perception of fairies. Considered by many historians to be the last of the witches burned in Ireland, Bridget was a 19th-century “It” girl in her rural village, with the looks, education, and means to spark envy in others - the perfect target for accusations of supernatural scheming. Changelings may seem like delightful monsters of the wee...

Cindy James Was Harassed For Years Before Her Death, Then Police Said She Staged It Over six years, Cindy James made over 100 complaints to law enforcement stating she was the victim of arson, home invasion, threats , assault, and property damage. Then, her body was found, tied up behind an abandoned home. She had a lethal dose of morphine in her system and her face nearly unrecognisable. Police claimed that she did everything herself On May 25, 1989, Canadian nurse Cindy James went missing. Her car was found abandoned in a shopping mall parking lot with blood down the driver’s side door. All her belongings were still at the scene, including groceries and a gift she’d just purchased.  Two weeks later on June 8,  a city employee found her bruised and tied-up body in the yard behind an abandoned home. James had a lethal dose of morphine in her system and severe trauma to her face, rendering her almost unrecognizable. Despite the suspicious circumstances, police claimed her death...

More Than 31 Years After Disappearing, A Pittsburgh Woman Was Found In A Puerto Rican Nursing Home Nicknamed " The Sparrow, " Patricia Kopta vanished from Rose Township, Pennsylvania, in 1992. Her family presumed she had died, but in 2023, Kopta turned up in a nursing facility in Puerto Rico. How did she get there  In 1992, Patricia Kopta of Ross Township near Pittsburgh, PA, disappeared. At the time 52 years old, she was known as a “street preacher” nicknamed “The Sparrow," because of her small build, and had a history of mental illness, according to officials and her family. Her family believed she had died, but in 2023, she was found alive, at age 83, at a nursing home in Puerto Rico.  At a news conference, Ross Township Police Chief Brian Kohlhepp said Kopta had been found wandering around northern Puerto Rico before she was taken to an adult day care home in 1999, hinting that she had arrived via cruise ship. Eventually, Kopta, who has dementia, shared info...

The Remains Of A Jane Doe Were Identified As A Woman Missing Since 1987 In November 2008, skeletal human remains were discovered on remote land off-limits to non-tribal citizens within the Yakima Reservation in Washington, and the individual remained a Jane Doe for almost 15 years. In early January 2023, Yakima County coroner Jim Curtice confirmed the remains as those of Daisy Mae Heath, also known as Daisy Tallman. While investigators did attempt a traditional DNA test in 2008, they were unable to develop a useful DNA profile, and the case went cold. In 2002, however, Curtice's office worked with Othram, a private forensic genealogy service devoted to closing long-unsolved cases and identifying unidentified remains. By comparing a comprehensive DNA profile to a DNA reference provided by her family, they were able to confirm that the Jane Doe is, in fact, Heath-Tallman. Daisy Mae Heath was last seen in October 1987 and was reported missing two months later. It was not unus...

A Yelp User Guessed At The Identity Of A Veteran's Killer This is Army Veteran Marbel Ramos with her roommate KC Joy. After Disappearing in May 2013, Ramos's body later turned up in Silverado Canyon. Police had no leads, until an intrepid yelp user noticed strange comments from Joy that seemed to implicate him in his roommate's death. There was a missing person report filed for California resident Maribel Ramos in May 2013, after Ramos failed to show up for several events. The body of the 36-year-old US Army veteran turned up two weeks later in Silverado Canyon. Before investigators found the veteran's body, Ramos's roommate, KC Joy, discussed the case with strangers on a Yelp thread. Yelp user Grant K. noticed how Joy referred to Ramos in the past tense and found the oversight disconcerting, as it implied the roommate was possibly nefariously involved.  Though others online defended Joy, authorities later arrested him and convicted him of murdering Ramos, ...

The disappearance of Lars Mittank in 2014 In June 2014, 28-year-old German tourist Lars Mittank traveled to the popular Golden Sands resort in Varna, Bulgaria, for a holiday with friends. After displaying unusual behaviour on the trip following a suspected beating, he bolted from the airport and was captured by cameras disappearing into a field of tall sunflowers. No trace of him has ever been found. Footage of his final known movements has been viewed over a million times on YouTube, leading to him being named ‘the world’s most famous missing tourist’. Mittank and his friends arrived in Varna, a city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, on 30th June 2014. A week later, while drinking in a bar with friends, Werder Bremen fan Mittank got into an altercation with fans of rival Bundesliga team Bayern Munich. After leaving the bar, Mittank disappeared, with his friends unable to locate him for the rest of the night.  However, he turned up at their resort room the following mornin...

The Disappearance of Brandon Swanson On May 14th, 2008, just before 2 a.m., 19-year-old Brandon Swanson drove his car into a ditch on his way home from a party in Marshall, Minnesota. Unharmed, he decided to call his parents and told them he was near Lynd, since he was unsure of his exact location. His parents Annette and Brian Swanson drove out to find Brandon, while they stayed with him on the phone. Despite his parents intensively searching for him around the area and Brandon signaling them by flashing car lights, they were unable to spot each other. Brandon decided to leave the car and walk towards the lights in the distance which he thought were of a small town of Lynd. They decided that his parents would wait for him at a parking lot of a local bar, but shortly after 2:30 am, 47 minutes into the call, they heard Brandon shout "Oh, shit!", and the connection was lost. At 6:30 am, his parents reported Brandon missing, and later that day a big search began, howeve...

Malaysia has always been known for its beautiful beaches, secluded islands, heritage sites, food and unity. But like every other country and cities in the world, Malaysia also has its own dark tales. Malaysia has its fair share of infamous murders that are downright disturbing, knowing the fact that this vast majority of murder cases could go unsolved for such a long time is indeed difficult to fathom. Here, we revisit five brutal murder cases that have dominated headlines in Malaysia in the past but are still yet to be resolved;  Nurin Jazlin Nurin JazlinSource: Lobak Merah One of the most tragic high-profile kidnapping cases that shook citizens and still remain unsolved to date is the abduction of Nurin Jazlin Binti Jazimin. On the evening of 20 August 2007, 8-year old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin requested her mother’s permission to run down to the neighbourhood’s night market and buy herself some hair clips. Her mother, Norazian Bistaman, was entertaining a guest at that time...