There are some historical unsolved murders in the United States that received enough attention and were so infamous that they are still remembered, to this day. The four unsolved murders mentioned here all occurred a half a century ago or more, but people continue to speculate as to who committed these crimes and what their motives were. After all, no matter how long ago a murder took place, it is still horrific and people will always seek to explain that which horrifies them.
The Boy in the Box
The Boy in the Box is also known as the “Fox Chase Boy” and “America’s Unknown Child.” These terms refer to the unsolved murder of a young boy whose body was found in a box on Susquehanna Road in Pennsylvania, during the last week of February in 1957. The case was highly publicized and a very sad.
The Boy in the Box was an unidentified boy, who was roughly 4-6 years old at the time of his death. His body was discovered in a box that had once contained a bassinet from J.C. Penney. He was covered in bruises. His hair had been crudely cut shortly before or after his death. His nails were cut and his hands and feet had been cleaned. He had seven scars on his body, some of which appeared to be surgical. Experts determined that he must have been undernourished for some time before his death, as his growth was obviously stunted. He was wrapped in a flannel blanket before being placed in the box. Clumps of his freshly cut hair were still present.
Despite massive law enforcement and civilian efforts to find out the identity of the boy, no one ever came forward to identify him. Flyers were hung with postmortem pictures of the boy, some of which had him dressed and sitting in a “lifelike” pose, so that he may be more easily recognized, but it was to no avail. Without the identity of the boy, it became even more difficult to find his killer. Several leads were followed, but none resulted in charges.
It is often thought that whoever was responsible for the boy in life may have been responsible for his horrific death. Why else would no grieving mother have stepped forward to claim her son’s body? Why else would the poor boy have been so emaciated and obviously mistreated? It would seem as if frequent neglect may have gone too far and resulted in the boy’s death and the subsequent dumping of his body. With so many years having passed by and no person coming forward to identify the boy, it is unlikely that this murder will ever be solved.
Georgette Bauerdorf
Georgette Bauerdorf was a beautiful, young heiress living a charmed life when she was brutally raped and murdered on October 13, 1944. She was a flirtatious girl that had many suitors. She worked at the Los Angeles Times and as a volunteer at the local canteen. She traveled across the country frequently, making friends and romantic interests along the way. She was happy, intelligent, rich and had a great life ahead of her. She was only twenty-years-old when all of that came to an end.
Georgette spent the evening before her murder dancing at a canteen event with soldiers and friends. She went home to her family’s apartment in Los Angeles around 11:30 p.m.. No one else was home. Her family was staying in New York, at the time. Sometime, during the early morning hours, someone attacked Georgette, raped her and murdered her. It is unknown if the assailant was in the home when she arrived or if they entered after her. It is unknown whether she invited the man in or he forced his way in.
She was found the following morning in the bathtub, wearing only a pajama top. The tub was filled with warm water and she was half on her side, with her face down. There was bruising in and around her mouth. She had bruises on her hands and right thigh. Her vagina showed signs of forced entry and contained semen. There had been bleeding in her nose and mouth. The cause of death was strangulation with a piece of cloth that had been shoved deep into her mouth. There were a number of valuables and some cash in the house. Nothing had been stolen.
Georgette was a very social woman, so there were an awful lot of men in her life. There were many suspects in the case, but all leads were dead ends. There were also some false confessions later on, but, again, these led nowhere. Later, her friends would say that she seemed nervous about something the day before her murder. If she was nervous, she never got the chance to say why. It may have had nothing to do with her murder or it could have had everything to do with it. We’ll never know.
Elizabeth Short, or the “Black Dahlia”
The body of aspiring actress, Elizabeth Short, was discovered on the side of a road in Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Her body had been horribly mutilated. She had been cut in half carefully. Her body was displayed in a way that her top half and lower half were separated from each other. Her intestines were carefully stuffed beneath her buttocks. Her legs were wide open. Her wrists and ankles showed signs that she had been tied up during some of whatever ordeal she had gone through. The murderer also made a horror show of the poor woman’s face. He or she had sliced each corner of Elizabeth’s mouth open an additional three inches so that she appeared to have a macabre grin on her face.
Pictures of the mutilated woman were taken at the scene by press. They were publicized along with pictures of the beautiful young woman in life. The story became huge. Police were soon overwhelmed with false confessions and misleading information. There were several leads, but there was never enough evidence to charge anyone. Even today, people come forward claiming that they know who was the killer and/or that they were related to them. The murder remains unsolved and, given the sensational nature of the story and the attention seekers who have muddled the information, it may never be solved.
The Villisca Axe Murders
On June 10, 1912, soon after midnight, in Villisca, Iowa an entire family and their two young guests were slaughtered inside of the family’s home. They all lay asleep while a murderer stalked from room to room, bludgeoning them to death with an axe. There were eight victims in all, Josiah Moore, his wife Sarah and their four young children, Herman (aged 11), Katherine (aged 9), Boyd (aged 7), Paul (aged nine) and the children’s guests, Lena and Ina Stilinger, aged 12 and eight, respectively.
The murderer had killed them in their beds and then pulled their bedclothes up over their mutilated faces. Young Lena’s pajamas were pulled up and she was lacking underwear. There was no sign that she had been raped or molested, but there are theories that the murderer may have committed a sexual act on himself near the girl’s body. A bloody axe was discovered in the sewing room (where Ina and Lena were found). The axe belonged to Josiah.
The crime scene was severely contaminated by the nearly 100 onlookers who walked through the house before authorities could gain control of the crime scene. Nonetheless, the police had several suspects, one of which was a state governor and another a preacher. The police could not prove that any of them committed the crime. There is also a very plausible theory that the murder was the work of a serial killer. Nearly identical killings had occurred around the same time in Illinois, Kansas and Colorado. Committed by a serial killer or not, the murders remained unsolved.
It is likely that, if any of these murders had been investigated using today’s methods, the cases would have been solved, or at least be a little more promising. As it is, it does not appear that any of the above unsolved murders will ever be solved, barring the advent of a time machine. It has just been too long and too many of the people involved have passed away.
