It was the evening of Sunday, January 21st, 1962. The Maps family—thirty-nine-year-old artist Edward, his twenty-two-year-old wife Christine, and the couple’s four-month-old daughter Julie Louise—had been visiting with their neighbors since about eight-thirty p.m., eating an apple pie they had brought and having a pleasant chat. They left at a little past nine p.m. so … More The Maps Family Murder
The day before Valentine’s Day of 1965 was a Saturday, and eleven-year-old Mae Rubenstein was alone in her home on South Third Avenue in Highland Park, New Jersey. Her father and brother were both at work, and her mother Anne had gone to the grocery store to pick up a few things. At some point … More Anne & Mae Rubenstein
Fifty-six-year-old van driver Arthur Cope was last seen by coworkers on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 7th, 1964. Presumably, after leaving work that day, he returned to his home, which was in a trailer at the Radcliffe-on-Trent Caravan Park on Wharf Lane in Nottingham, England. Two days later, police discovered Arthur’s body in his residence. … More Arthur Cope
Thirty-seven-year-old Clifton Walker, affectionately nicknamed “Man” by his family, was a veteran of the Korean War, though he had been honorably discharged from the Army after a leg injury. He and his wife Ruby had five children, and lived on their own land in Woodville, Mississippi. In 1964, Clifton was working as a laborer at … More Clifton Walker
Only a few days before 1963 came to a close, a pregnant woman in Canada would apparently wander out into the snow and meet her doom shortly thereafter, at the hands of an unknown assailant. Twenty-year-old Margaret Sheeler lived with her husband Philip in a townhouse in London, Ontario. She had gotten pregnant the previous … More Margaret Sheeler
On July 11th, 1963, a man named Roy Rogers was fishing in the Keene Creek Reservoir, east of Ashland, Oregon, when his hook snagged on something that he at first believed was a blanket roll. Upon closer examination, however, the roll was found to contain the decomposed remains of a little boy. The child had … More Stevie Crawford: Jackson County John Doe
Twenty-year-old Tim McKillop, a lineman for Mountain Bell Telephone, was driving to Scottsdale, Arizona on May 23rd, 1962 to visit his girlfriend Joyce Sterrenberg, also twenty years old and employed at Mountain Bell as an operator. The couple had recently announced their engagement, and planned to marry on April 1st of the following year. Joyce … More Tim McKillop & Joyce Sterrenberg
February 2nd, 1962 was a Friday night, and pretty high school senior Judi (sometimes spelled Judy) Reeder was planning her usual night out with friends in Bend, Oregon. The seventeen-year-old got into her car in the early evening and headed toward town, but she evidently never made it to her destination. The following morning, her … More Judith Reeder
In Great Britain, on Bonfire Night of 2001, a woman would be savagely stabbed to death after setting off fireworks with her family. It was the evening of November 5th, and twenty-five-year-old Michaela Hague was celebrating Guy Fawkes Day at home in Pitsmoor, Sheffield, with her partner of six years, Mick Holmes, and their five-year-old … More Michaela Hague
Thirty-three-year-old Mohammed Basharat had worked as a driver for Little Horton Taxis on Park Lane in Bradford, West Yorkshire for fourteen years. He was an unusually large man, standing six-foot-five, who his workmates affectionately called “Bash.” He was the father of four children, ranging in age from nine to thirteen. On the afternoon of Friday, … More Mohammed Basharat
