41 Of The Most Famous 'Unsolved' Mysteries That Actually Have Explanations

The Doodler

As /u/compleat_fool states in his comment here:

“ There is no unknown element to his identity. The police know exactly who the doodler is, and at one point were ready to prosecute, but a large part of their case hinged on these 3 people being willing to testify against him. The police still keep tabs on him now but ever since he realised the police essentially know it’s him he retired from his m*****s. He apparently is in his 70s and still living in the East Bay area.
So everyone in the San Fransisco area I hope you sleep a little better with the knowledge that somewhere amongst you there is a retired serial k****r who k****d between 6-16 men enjoying his golden years and the police know exactly who he is and can do nothing about it.”.

Amber Wilde. She's still missing from 1998 and the prime suspect, her boyfriend, who also had a fiance. She was pregnant. It happened in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Us locals think she's paved into the highway he was working on at the time.

Martha Moxley in 1975.

It was definitely Tommy Skakel despite his brother sitting in prison for it before his conviction was (rightly) overturned. Most likely scenario is that he tried to a*****t her and then had to cover his a*s to keep her from telling anyone. We know from her diary that he made her uncomfortable and had crossed her physical boundaries before, he had a history of extreme violence, and he was the last one seen with her. He retroactively changed his story to say that they had "been intimate" despite her having a boyfriend, but he told this story for the first time years later and after DNA testing became available. It certainly felt like someone who needed an excuse for why his DNA would probably be found on her.

Two similar case here in Australia, William Tyrrell and Gus Lamont. Police originally thought that Williams case was a stranger abduction, but a few years ago they announced they were conducting new searches at the foster grandmother's property (which he disappeared from while playing outside,) and that they believed that William had an accident (likely fell from the balcony) and that the foster mother and now deceased foster grandmother hid his body somewhere to cover it up. In Gus's case he went missing while playing outside the family home on their big cattle station. Initially they thought he'd wandered off, but after many failed searches and no evidence to go on, they announced earlier this year that a person who was present on the property was responsible, later being more specific and saying that one of Gus' grandparents were involved with his disappearance as during the investigation they were no longer cooperating with the police.

So basically back in 2001 actor Robert Blake totally popped his wife Bonnie Lee in his car outside a restaurant and everyone knew it. He even tried to hire stuntmen to do the job beforehand and they snitched on him lol. But his lawyers were absolute beasts and wrecked the case—they painted the stuntmen as shady liars and pointed out there was no gunpowder residue on his hands. Criminal court acquitted him on technicalities, but civil court still put him on the hook and forced him to pay her family millions.

This one's a little off-topic, but there's a pretty famous m****r case in Wales that's *technically* solved, but it's widely agreed that it was a police cover up.

Basically a family of four (Grandmother, mother, two preteen daughter) were found m******d in their house. The man who went down for it (Dai Morris) was convicted on largely circumstantial evidence, but before he was convicted the police investigated Stephen Lewis, his wife Allison, and his identical twin Stuart. All were police officers.

On the night of the m*****s, Stuart was on duty and driving around in an unmarked car, and went AWOL for a period of time around the m*****s. A car matching that description was seen in the vicinity of the house where the bodies were found, as was a man matching his description. At trial, jurors were instructed to disregard this evidence as Stephen had an alibi... but they *weren't* told that Stephen had an identical twin.

Mandy (The mother) was having an affair with Allison, and witnesses claimed to have heard Stephen threatening her life. She told a police informant that her life had been threatened. The threat was logged in the police system, but the file was edited before it went to trial. Stephen would later say that he didn't know about Mandy and Allison's affair until after the m*****s.

Unknown DNA was found on the m****r weapon - a fibreglass pole that only one person - Allison - knew the location of. This was disregarded.

Stuart Lewis was the responding officer when the m****r was discovered, basically in charge of the investigation. He left, delaying vital forensic work.

A man matching Stephen/Stuart's description was seen following the m*****s, walking from the town of the m*****s (Clydach) to the neighbouring town of Pontardawe, where he lived. It's a walkable distance, about three miles - in fact there's a village between the two (A lot of towns in the area bleed into each other) with a straight road between the two. However, the reported sighting was in the far less built up route across hills and farmland.

Dai Morris's lawyer was the same man who'd previously defended the Lewis's, leading to questions about a conflict of interest.

Allison Lewis's DNA was found on Mandy. Understandable, given they were having an affair... except she claimed to have seen Mandy that morning. Mandy had psoriasis and showered multiple times a day, and a family member who saw her at around 6PM claimed she was freshly showered.

The claim was that Dai went to Mandy's house and k****d the family in a d**g-fuelled rage... except it was found that her mother, Doris, had been k****d some hours before the rest of the family, at which point the k****r cut the power in the house and waited for Mandy and her kids to arrive home. The weapon was also unwieldy, but there was no damage to the walls, suggesting a degree of practise and finesse, as well as premeditation rather than a d**g-fuelled crime of passion. The criminal also tried to set fire to the house to hide the evidence.

Now, there *was* evidence linking Dai to Mandy. His DNA was later found on a sock used to hide the fingerprints on the m****r weapon, a gold chain of his was found at the house, and he was sketchy about his location on the night... except he was also having an affair with Mandy, and claimed that he'd left the chain at the house on a previous visit. (I think it was broken and she was going to take it to be repaired). It was found in a pool of blood, but without his DNA.

The common belief in South Wales is that some combination of the Lewis's k****d Mandy and her family, but it was covered up - and Dai made for a handy scapegoat given his own actions that night and relationship with Mandy. This was a time of massive corruption in the South Wales Police, and even with the evidence pointing to Dai it simply doesn't explain all the evidence pointing elsewhere. Why the unknown DNA? Why were jurors not informed that Stuart and Stephen were identical twins? Why was Mandy's report edited? Why was Allison's DNA found on Mandy despite her showering after Allison claimed to have last seen her?

The m****r of Ellen Greenberg. I watched D***h In Apartment 603 and was incredibly shocked when I found out her fiancé was never charged with anything. The story doesn’t add up in the slightest, it’s insane.

I respect her parents for still seeking justice.

Al Capone. All of us know what he did but the police got him on a tax evasion charge.

Most famous d**g dealers/gangsters create systems which they are "removed" from. So you know exactly what they do but can never prove it.

Dennis Wustenhoff. Long Island cop who was blown up in 1990 by another cop.

Problem is, they can’t prove that other cop did it

My mom was at work and heard and felt the explosion.

Natalie Wood. Robert Wagners wife, she mysteriously fell overboard and died. There were only 3 men on the boat.. Wagner, Christopher Walken, and the boats captain. There’s a lot of conflicting theory’s but it definitely makes me raise an eyebrow.

Ana Mendietta. She "fell" out of a window during a fight with her husband. She was afraid of heights, he threw her off the building. He got to remarry and live for the rest of his life as a renowned and wealthy artist.

I don't know if there's an artist I hate more than Carl Andre. His art also s***s.

I was just commenting in another thread about perhaps the most ancient such case in history.

The d***h of King Tutankhamun left his widow, Ankhensenamun, in a precarious situation. We know this because she wrote a letter to the king of the Hittites, another major power at the time, the gist of which was to say “I am being pressured into a marriage to an underling. Please send me a prince, so I can marry him instead. That will make him Pharaoh”. She also said “I am afraid”.

So the king of the Hittites send Prince Zannanza … who died in a “tragic accident” before he arrived.

Next you know, the widow is married to Ai, former head minister to Tut, who becomes Pharaoh. Then she disappears from history.

Everyone knows Ai had the prince m******d. Certainly the Hittites believed it - they attacked Egyptian holdings in what is now Syria.

However, the Egyptians insisted there was no m****r, so it was of course never “solved”.

Here is a hilariously obvious one from my city (Shreveport, LA) that none of y'all have probably ever heard of:

2009 - Shreveport Police Officers report to chief that someone is stealing n******s from the evidence room. Police Chief explains that the matter has been investigated and the claims have no merit.

2010 - Nothing happens

2011 - Nothing happens

2012 (May) - SPD Internal Affairs springs into action and conducts an audit of the evidence room.

2012 (September) - Police Chief declares that "I hold each and every employee of our department to the highest standards and we are not going to tolerate actions that deviate from or operate outside of those policies that dictate how we should conduct our business." The investigation is still underway, but so far it has been discovered that:

1. The security cameras there quit working about 20 years ago and were never fixed

2. The SPD doesn't keep a log of who goes in and out of the evidence room

3. About 14,000 (not a typo- fourteen thousand) pills (mostly hydrocodone) are missing from the police evidence locker.

2013 - Nothing happens because the case is quite obviously d**d on the vine, having been closed and is no longer an active case

2014 - Nothing happens because the case is quite obviously d**d on the vine, having been closed and is no longer an active case

2015 - The Shreveport Police Officers' Association files lawsuit to compel Shreveport Police Department to release results of investigation, but otherwise Nothing happens because the case is quite obviously d**d on the vine, having been closed and is no longer an active case

2016 (February) - A local news station manages to force the DA's office to release part of the internal investigation's report:

1. Sgt. T___ S_______ of the SPD N*******s Unit is found to have gone into the evidence room alone dozens, possibly hundreds, of times over a 10-year period

2. Sgt. S_______ routinely accessed the boxes containing the pills while carrying a black leather gym bag which was never searched

3. Sgt. S_______ is known to have an a*******n

4. Sgt. S_______ offers explanation that yes, he was routinely going into the evidence room and accessing thousands of n*******s seized as evidence and placing the pills into his gym bag, but it was because he was "photographing them for a reverse n*******s sting and/or a n*******s class he was teaching" and he really truly promises that he put them all back when he was done.

5. Sgt. S_______ is informed by IA that neither of those things he just said are real

6. Sgt. S_______ decides that today is a good day to retire

2016 (March) - The District Attorney comments that while he cannot talk about specifics of the case, "It is not d**d on the vine. It has not been closed. It is still an active case."

2016 (May) - Statutes of limitations related to theft of the n*******s expires

2016 (Rest of Year) - Nothing happens because the case is quite obviously d**d on the vine, having been closed

2017 (March) - Lawsuit from 2015 finally goes to trial

1. District Attorney's investigation and an Assistant DA's testimony include:
1. "While at [SPD Evidence Room] I learned from [redacted name] that all evidence related to this case, bottles, evidence bags, and stickers had been destroyed. [name redacted] advised that he had received an order from the SPD administration to destroy the evidence in this case."
2. "With respect to packaging materials, it was quite surprising they were no longer in existence."
3. No one from the SPD was charged for destroying evidence
4. Documents cannot be released as the case "is still open" because there is one more possible charge that hasn't had its statute of limitations expire
5. The reason no one has been charged with the crime is because "the case was not provable beyond a reasonable doubt" and was a "circumstantial case"
6. "[I believe] the case should be held open because additional evidence can come in."

2. It is revealed that there was an actual exchange of communication between the Shreveport Police Officers' Association and the District Attorney's Office that went:
1. SPOA: "Please launch an independent investigation and/or convene a grand jury"
2. DA: "You have no right to tell us what to do! You don't know what is going on in the DA's office!"
3. SPOA: "It was just a request, not an order."
4. DA: "The DA's office does not have to tell SPOA what we are working on in regard to the missing pill investigation!"

3. Shreveport Police lose the case and are ordered to release all results from investigation if no charges are levied by May, when the final, really, actual last possible stature of limitation expires

4. Police chief is asked if there were any orders to destroy evidence. He replies "I have no idea."

2018 - Nothing happens because the case is closed and all statutes of limitations have expired.

2019 - Nothing happens because the case is closed and all statutes of limitations have expired.

2020 - Nothing happens because the case is closed and all statutes of limitations have expired.

2021 (May) - In a neighboring town:

1. A man digging in his backyard finds unlabeled pill bottles containing thousands of pills, calls police

2. Local Sheriff's Department discover over 50 large bottles of n*******s. Report does not give a count, only that it was "over 3.5 pounds"

3. Previous owner of the home is discovered to be Sgt. T___ S_______ (formerly of the SPD N*******s Unit)

4. Local Sheriff's Department opens Special Task Force™ with other area law enforcement agencies to determine:
1. How the pills could have possibly ended up buried in that yard
2. How many overtime hours have been approved for participation with Special Task Force™

5. Local Sheriff's Department's Special Task Force™ tries really, really hard, but is stumped

2021 (June) - Local news station calls Sgt. T___ S_______ (formerly of the SPD N*******s Unit) and asks him if he knows about the massive quantity of n*******s found in his former yard and has he been cooperating with Local Sheriff's Department's Special Task Force™. Sgt. T___ S_______ (formerly of the SPD N*******s Unit) responds that he does not know how a massive quantity of n*******s could have possibly ended up in his former backyard and that he has not been contacted by anyone from Local Sheriff's Department's Special Task Force™.

Cleveland Torso M******r.

They had Elliot Ness on the case, famous for the Al Capone arrest.

Dr. Francis Edward Sweeney, main suspect checked himself into a mental institution then began mailing letters, often taunting ones, to Ness. Incidentally, the m*****s stopped when he checked himself in.

He was also the first cousin of Martin L. Sweeney, and due to the high profile case and the connection, he was never publicly charged. Top it off, the evidence wasnt solid enough for them to feel comfortable doing it.

I dont know how famous her case is, but Christina Murphy. Her cop boyfriend absolutely had something to do with it, and the rest of the local police force acting the way they did both in the initial search and when her car was found in the river feels like they were covering it up to protect a fellow officer.

One of the Chicago area's biggest "cold cases" is the disappearance of Joliet newspaper writer Molly Zelko, in 1958. She "covered" the Joliet branch of the Chicago Outfit and told friends that she knew they were literally gunning for her. On the night she was kidnapped the only clue left for the cops was one of her shoes. The crime is still "officially " unsolved but everybody back then (including my dad who went to school with her) knows it was a mob hit that the cops didn't want to dig too hard into.

I think the Asha Degree disappearance has been whittled down to just one family but we don’t know who specifically, why, or how.

A family was s*********d in upper Michigan in an incident known as the Good Hart m*****s.

It was almost certainly the fathers business associate who had a weapon and shoes matching prints found at the scene but he was never charged.

Not famous but my uncle.

The official story is he slipped and fell into a corn auger in a tragic freak accident. Ask anyone who knew him and his wife definitely did it. She was poisoning his food in the weeks leading up to the accident, had been having an affair with the farmhand, and immediately called the life insurance lawyer to the scene before the cops. The incident was never properly investigated likely due to her father’s influence with the police department as her family was wealthy in the small town.

You can even still call the Antelope County Sheriff’s Department for information on the d***h of Roger Hanneman, and they’ll tell you it’s an ongoing investigation that they can’t release information about. It happened in 1996.

Bell of Batoche... everyone knew who stole it, when it was stolen.. 'returned' is a strong word, it was given to the church in 2013..

There was no 'gentleman's dare' as the claims go. They were drunk... and that's it... after, it was dressed up and egos were stroked.