In the UK in 2010, the bizarre death of a brilliant but intensely private individual would eventually spawn rumors of covert assassination by either the British secret service or a shady foreign power. Gareth Williams, a highly intelligent, Welsh-born mathematician, began working for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham in 2001, not long after receiving … More Gareth Williams
Twenty-three-year-old Kirsty Jones was originally from Tredomen, near Brecon, Powys, Wales. Described by her mother Sue as “bright, intelligent, and independent,” Kirsty had been spending the summer of 2000 backpacking around Singapore and Malaysia, and in August, arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She checked into an inexpensive guesthouse called the Aree and set about hiking … More Kirsty Jones
John Pezzenti Jr. was, by all accounts, a beloved and accomplished man throughout his life. Though born in Connecticut, he was seduced by the breathtaking landscapes of Alaska from an early age, and moved there in 1976, when he was twenty-four years old. He worked on the Valdez pipeline for a time, and even owned … More John Pezzenti Jr.
It was December 2nd, 2005 in Lakewood, Washington, and ten-year-old Adre-Anna Jackson headed out on the three-block walk to school as usual. What neither she nor her mother knew, however, was that school had been cancelled that day because of snow. Had either of them been aware of this fact, it’s possible that tragedy could … More Adre-Anna Jackson
Twenty-one-year-old trainee nurse Frauke Liebs was spending the evening of June 20th, 2006 at a pub in the city center of Paderborn, Germany with a friend; they were watching a World Cup match on the television and having a few drinks. At some point during the night, Frauke noted that the battery in her phone … More Frauke Liebs
Thirty-eight-year-old Patrice Endres was a respected businesswoman in her home town of Cummings, Georgia; she had owned a salon called Tamber’s Trim ‘n Tan for eight years. On the morning of April 15th, 2004, Patrice dropped her son Pistol off at school as she usually did, and then headed to work. Her first appointment was … More Patrice Endres
Forty-five-year old Terri Bevers, much better known by her nickname of Missy, lived in Red Oak, Texas with her husband and three daughters. She worked as a fitness instructor, giving early-morning, boot-camp-style classes at the Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, only about a twenty-minute drive from her home. On the evening of April 17th, … More Missy Bevers
In California, in the spring of 1971, a teenage girl possibly went missing in a mysterious case that may or may not have been the bellwether of a terrifying series of murders of young, hitchhiking women that continued throughout the decade. Seventeen-year-old Lisa Smith was thumbing a ride on Hearn Avenue in Santa Rosa, California … More The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders
It was the spring of 2001, and Peggy Knobloch was nine years old. She lived with her mother, sister, and stepfather in the town of Lichtenberg, Bavaria. Because both of her parents worked, Peggy was in the habit of going to a neighbor’s house after getting off the school bus in the afternoon, to wait … More Peggy Knobloch
Twenty-five-year-old Mario O’Brien Clarke was a soldier, originally from Jamaica but living in Hackney, east London, England with his new bride, Deveen, who was in training to become a nurse. On Boxing Day, December 26th, 2002, Mario was on two weeks’ leave from the Army, and had spent a pleasant day with his wife, brother, … More Mario O’Brien Clarke
