5 Gruesome Unsolved Murders That Armchair Detectives Still Try To Solve Today
So sad.
DedMityay / Shutterstock For me, a good night is a glass of wine, a fuzzy blanket and a never-ending supply of Law & Order: SVU episodes.
This is partly due because the show features plenty of hot detectives and partly because violent crime is interesting when you're on the other side of the television screen. We can't get enough of the stories, the mysteries and the tiny details investigators have to work through to solve the crimes.
And when they don't, the case becomes that much more intense.
While SVU can definitely grab my attention for a solid eight hours, the real unsolved crimes are much more interesting. The famous ones, like Tupac's and The Black Dahlia, have captured the world's attention for decades. But unfortunately, there are many more homicides that have long been forgotten.
We found 5 cold cases, devastating murders, that still remain a mystery. Some of the true crimes have more information and leads than others, but all are still unsolved.
1. The boy in the box.
The naked body of a 4- to 6-year-old boy was found in a cardboard box in Philadelphia in 1957. Tests revealed he suffered from malnourishment, and fresh bruises and surgical scars were found on his body, including his groin.
Police suspected that the boy was a victim of abuse and that his hair was cut after he died in order to conceal his identity. His killer was never found, though people speculated that he belonged to the stepdaughter of a man who ran a foster home near where the body was found. A woman with a history of mental illness claimed he was bought and used as a sex slave before he was murdered.
2. Barbara and Patricia Grimes
Just 15 and 13, the Grimes sisters went missing after going to see a movie after Christmas in Chicago in 1956. Their frozen and naked bodies were found almost a month later along the side of a road.
An autopsy reported that they died of shock and exposure to the cold, but theories say the report ignored bruises and wounds on their bodies, which included holes that could have come from an ice pick. It was also discovered that Barabra had been sexually molested before her death.
Though many people were questioned — and one unstable man even confessed — no one was ever charged.
3. Deanna Cremin
The 17-year-old was found dead behind a senior housing complex in Middlesex, Mass. She had been strangled to death just shortly after her birthday.
Her boyfriend, who had walked her halfway home, was the last person to see her alive. He and two other men were investigated, but charges were never pressed. New forensic evidence could help police solve the case.
4. Amber Hagerman
The 9-year-old who was found dead after she was abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas, is the reason we have AMBER Alerts.
Her throat had been cut, and police believed she had been alive for two days before she was killed. Though hundreds of thousands of tips came in, her killer was never found.
5. The Somerton Man
In Australia in 1948, a man was found on Somerton Beach. He had no identification; only a slip of paper with "Taman Shud" written on it was found in his pants.
That lead police to a collection of poems called The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam, which was found near the scene of the crime. It contained a phone number and jumbled letters that were thought to be a code. But nobody ever cracked it.
Police called the number, and it went to a woman who claimed to not know anything about the man. They never continued to chase that lead. Some theorists believe he was a spy for the Cold War.
He is believed to have died of poison, and his killer was never found.
Emily Blackwood is a writer and editor living in California. She covers all things news, pop culture and true crime.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in July 2017 and was updated with the latest information.