These killers were never caught. They left behind bodies, cryptic
notes, and a trail of terror, then simply vanished.
No cuffs, no closure, just a lingering question.
What if the monster is still out there?
Tonight we're looking at 4 killers who just evaporated
after murdering in cold blood. No wild theories, no campfire
rumors, just the unsettling facts that keep detectives awake
and small towns locking their doors twice.
Let's start with the case that made every parent in Boulder, Co
hug their kids a little tighter. Jonbenet Ramsay 6 year old
Jonbenet Ramsay went to bed on Christmas night, 1996.
By sunrise she was found lifeless in her own basement,
skull fractured, hands tied with a garage made from her mother's
paintbrush. A three page ransom note written
on paper from the house demanded $118,000, her father's exact
bonus that year. Police searched the home once,
completely missed the wine cellar door, and only found her
body 7 hours later. The DNA under her fingernails
didn't match anyone in the house, and a shoe print near her
body was from a size 10 high tech boot no family member
owned. 28 years, 1500 interviews, and one false
confession later, there's still no arrest.
The case file remains open, with DNA constantly rerun as
technology improves. Somewhere, the person who did
this is living a normal life, maybe even watching videos like
this one. From a basement in Colorado, we
moved to a California coastline where a masked shooter turned
lover's lanes into crime scenes. The Zodiac Killer.
Between December 1968 and October 1969, at least five
people were shot across Vallejo, Napa and San Francisco.
After each attack, chilling letters arrived at Bay Area
newspapers, hand drawn ciphers, bloody swatches of shirt and
taunts like I will not give you my name because you will try to
slow or stop my collecting of slaves.
The final authenticated cipher mailed in 1974 boasted Me 37
SFPD 0. Detectives tallied hundreds of
suspects from escaped convicts to a house painter who owned the
same wing Walker boot seen at 1 scene.
In 2020, the FBI finally cracked one cipher.
It was a sick joke, not a name. The killer's last confirmed
communication was 5 decades ago. But without adna match, the case
is technically still active. Vallejo police still hold on to
two envelopes and stamps, waiting for the day touch DNA
gets sharper. Until then, the Zodiac remains
the ultimate boogeyman, proving you could shoot strangers for
sport and outwit an entire task force.
Now let's jump the continent and dial the clock back even further
because the 1800s had their own vanishing act Lizzie Borden or
whoever it was. August 4th, 1892, Fall River, MA
Andrew Borden was brutally hacked 11 times with a hatchet
while napping on the sofa. 90 minutes later, his wife Abby was
found upstairs, skull split so cleanly the cleaver was still
embedded. Daughter Lizzie claimed she was
in the barn looking for sinkers. Police, however, noted the barn
floor was untouched. No footprints, no disturbed
dust. A week later, they arrested
Lizzie only to hit a wall. The murder weapons handle was
broken off and burned. There was no blood on Lizzie's
dress, and 19th century juries really struggled with the idea
of a woman wielding that much rage.
She walked free after just 68 minutes of deliberation.
No other suspect was ever charged.
The house is now a museum. The guide might tell you the
killer probably hid in the basement coal chute and slipped
out while neighbors flocked to the crime scene.
True or not, the axe wielder never faced justice.
And the rhyme still ends with Lizzie Borden took an axe, even
though legally, nobody knows who took anything.
Fast forward to the era of Cold War spies and zip up sports
bags. Gareth Williams the Spy in the
Bag August 23rd 2010 Pimlico, London Gareth Williams, a 31
year old MI 6 code breaker on loan from GCHQ, missed a
meeting. Concerned colleagues entered his
top floor flat and found a red North Face duffel bag in the
bathtub, padlocked from the outside.
Inside was Williams naked, body curled in a fetal position, the
key placed beneath him. No fingerprints on the rim, no
DNA on the zipper, no signs of forced entry.
A toxicology screen found traces of GHB, but not enough to knock
him out. Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled it an
unlawful killing, noting it would be extremely difficult for
Williams to lock himself in. Yet no suspect has ever been
charged. Surveillance cameras on his
block were mysteriously turned off that week.
Scotland Yard later speculated Williams locked himself in as
part of a solo escapade gone wrong, an explanation his family
flatly rejects. 10 years on, the case sits with Counter Terror
Command, the bag held in an evidence freezer, waiting for
science or a conscience to finally close the loop. 4
crimes, 4 ghosts. Some left ransom notes, some
left ciphers. One left nothing but a locked
bag. All left the same chilling void.
No trial, no conviction, no peace for the people who still
flinch at basement doors, lovers lane shadows, or the creak of an
old family staircase. If you know anything.
Ancestry DNAA stray comment from a grandparent, a neighbor who
moved away too fast. Please call it in.
Cold case units really do answer the phone.
Like this video. If these stories sent a chill
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