Seventy-five-year-old Alexander Norval was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and trained as a currier in Edinburgh, where he met his wife, Alison, from East Lothian. The couple had eight children, with their first two born in Edinburgh, one in Ireland, and the remaining five in Carlisle, Cumbria, northern England, where Norval had established a successful business … More Alexander Norval

Ten-year-old Amy Margaret Reeves lived with her family at Kitsmead Cottage, a modest home near Chertsey Common in the village of Longcross, Surrey, England, where her father worked as a gardener. Longcross, a little over twenty-one miles west of central London, was a small, hilly village with no central pub or green, known for its … More Amy Reeves

Seventy-one-year-old Evan David Harris lived a modest and reserved life at 21 Lon Draenen in Tycoch, Swansea, Wales with his elder daughter, whose husband had been called up for military service. A widower and retired chemist, Harris had spent nearly two decades working at the English Crown Spelter Works, followed by stints at Pritchard’s Oxalic … More Evan Harris

Forty-five-year-old Albert Welch worked as a railway electrician and lived with his wife and son in a house on Cranborne Crescent in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England. On November 17th, 1947, Albert left a note for his wife reading, “I have gone for a walk. Shan’t be home for tea.” Oddly, he had taken his ID … More Albert Welch

Thirty-three-year-old Norah Bartlett worked in a cafeteria and lived with her widowed mother in a house on Rhydings Park Road in Brynmill, Swansea, Wales. On the night of Thursday, November 18th, 1943, Norah was reportedly seen walking with an American soldier along Rhydings Park Road. Since it was during World War II and German bombing … More Norah Bartlett

Thirty-three-year-old Robert Parrington Jackson was a married father of three and managed the Odeon cinema on Union Street, Bristol, England. The establishment had a single theater auditorium and a restaurant on the premises. At six-twenty-five p.m. on May 29th, 1946, the theater held two thousand people who had come to see a screening of the … More Robert Parrington Jackson

On April 12th, 1946, three people who had been walking on the shore of the Willamette River not far from Oak Grove, Oregon found a burlap sack floating in the water not far from the bank. The bag had been bound tightly with wire and rope. Initially thinking someone had drowned a litter of kittens, … More Oak Grove Jane Doe – The Wisdom Light Murder

The year was 1903. Forty-year-old Edwin Burdick was a wealthy businessman, a part-owner of the successful Buffalo Envelope Company and living in a tasteful mansion at 101 Ashland Avenue in Buffalo, New York with his wife Alicia, the couple’s three children, and Alicia’s mother, Maria Hull. Despite his seemingly carefree life, however, some dark clouds … More Edwin Burdick

Fifty-eight-year-old widow Minnie Lawson was a beloved figure in the small village of Ogle in Northumberland, England. Known by the locals as “Aunt Minnie,” she ran a candy shop out of her home and encouraged young people in the village to use the shop as a gathering place. On August 12th, 1935, a sixteen-year-old neighbor … More Minnie Lawson

It was Monday, February 25th, 1924, and eleven-year-old Vera Hoad was spending time with a friend in the afternoon. She had a music lesson that day, as she did every Monday, so at some point she bid goodbye to her friend and went to keep her appointment. She did her lesson as usual, leaving the … More Vera Hoad