10 Famous Cold Cases Recently Solved

1.

For 5 years the mystery behind the disappearance of the McStay family went unsolved. All that was known was that the entire family vanished one day, their abandoned car near the Mexican border. But in 2013, human remains were found and later identified to be those of the family. Charles "Chase" Merritt was arrested a year later. He was the father's business partner, who made a call to him before going to the house, bludgeoning the entire family, and transporting them to the burial site.

2.

In Oklahoma, the Jamison family also disappeared from their home, with their abandoned truck found outside of town. Their dog was even left locked inside, and died of starvation. The same week the McStay family remains were found, the Jamison family remains were uncovered as well. 3 miles from where the truck was found, the Jamison's bodies were located. However, cause of death and a suspect are yet to be determined.

3.

In 1995 a van accident killed a hitchhiker with no identification and only a note from two people addressed to "Jason". The only other clue was the fact he was wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt. "Grateful Doe"'s case was cold until now, when an Imgur user recognized the photo as that of a Dead fan named Jason who went missing one day. Doe was soon identified as Jason Patrick Callahan, whose mother never bothered to file a missing person's report due to her son's "nomadic free-spirit" lifestyle.

4.

In 1979 a girl's shot body was found in Caledonia, NY. She carried no identification and for 35 years, remained "Jane Doe". Just this year she was identified as Tammy Jo Alexander, who had run away from Brooksville, Florida. Tammy usually would run off from home, so it's believed local police ignored her disappearance and refused to file a report, leading this case to go unsolved for over 3 decades. It was only due to the group Websleuths that her picture was matched to forensic sketches, thus confirming who she even was. Her killer is still unknown.

5.

In 2002, Brian Carrick vanished from Val's Foods in Illinois. His blood was found in the store, and a coworker claimed he and the supervisor killed Carrick over drugs. He just recently recanted his confession, claiming neither of them did anything. Furthermore, DNA testing revealed some blood belonging to a different employee, who died of an overdose in 2012. Carrick's body has never been found, but now it's believed this deceased employee committed the crime.

6.

In 1991, a cooler was found along a road in NYC with the sexually abused and asphyxiated remains of a little girl inside. For 20 years, "Baby Hope" went unidentified. Then, DNA matched Baby Hope to mother Margarita Castillo, who claimed her daughter had gone missing long ago. They were a perfect match. Soon Margarita's cousin, Conrado, confessed to sexually abusing the girl before smothering her and dumping the body with his sister's help. Conrado Juarez was indicted and now, Baby Hope is interred as Anjelica Castillo.

7.

A man named Kent Heitholt was murdered in a parking lot in 2001, and soon Ryan Ferguson was in prison with a 40 year sentence for the crime. His friend had testified to his guilt in exchange for a "lenient" 25 year sentence, but then recanted his story, claiming he was harassed by prosecutors and that authorities were eager for a scapegoat, despite his crappy confession. Another witness came forward, saying he too also lied. The court had to overturn the conviction, and Ferguson has filed federal suit. The real killer is still not found.

8.

In 1990, a woman died from a hit and run accident, and authorities could never identify her. She went by several aliases, and was raised by a career criminal she also later married. Fortunately, DNA testing confirmed he was not her real father. She also had a son which testing confirmed was not her husband's. An author writing of her story worked tirelessly on the case, and soon the woman was identified as Suzanne Marie Sevakis. Suzanne's mother lived with the criminal and 4 children until she went to jail. The man then dumped 2 of the kids at Social Services, and lived with Suzanne for 15 years. The fourth child was never found.

9.

Kyle Peterson was in an auto accident in 2014. He seemed fine for a few moments when suddenly, he freaked. He climbed into his SUV, climbed out, ran into the woods, and disappeared. Searches turned up nothing. Two days later, his body was discovered floating in the river 4 miles away. It is suspected he had a concussion and snapped as a result of brain injury.

10.

The origin of the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" was a mystery unsolved for almost 200 years. Clement Clarke Moore claimed he penned it in 1844, but most knew better. Then in 2013 a town had a mock trial to put the issue to rest. This led to a Kickstarter endeavor with pretty interesting results. A larger mock trial was held the next year, and the jury ruled that Henry Livingston Jr. was the true author of the poem.