Mysterious Cold Cases That Are Still Unsolved, part 1 of 2

The Zodiac Killer coded message

Everybody loves a good mystery, but what happens when there isn't a satisfying ending? The moment where those meddling kids of the Scooby Do gang reveal who the culprit is? Probably the most famous cold case is Jack The Ripper, but through modern DNA testing, he was finally identified a few years ago. The following unsolved police cases are strange, creepy, and without a conclusion. There are lists of more famous unsolved cases, some of which I'll look at next week in part 2 of 2, but these are some of the most baffling unsolved police cases and mysteries of our time.

1. THE ZODIAC KILLER

Most people are usually quiet about their crimes, but "Zodiac", as he dubbed himself, was anything but. In 1968-1969, he terrorized San Francisco with his murder spree, taunting the police with coded letters he sent to the local newspaper. He had at least five killings directly connected to him, although he claims to have killed 37 people. The Zodiac Killer continued killing and leaving frustrating evidence for the police—coded letters, anonymous phone calls, the crossed-circle—but the police never found him.

2. THE TARA CALICO CASE

On the morning of September 20th, 1988 in Belen, New Mexico, Tara Calico borrowed her mother's bike to go out for a spin. She never returned. Every lead went to a dead end until a year later, when a photo was found depicting a young woman her age and a missing boy, both gagged. The Polaroid photograph was found in a parking lot outside a Junior Food Store in Florida. The nine-year-old, Michael Henley, went missing in the same area as Calico in April of 1988. In 1990, the boy's body was found in Zuni Mountains where he was last seen, which strongly disconnects the one time theory that the two were abducted and taken to Florida. Calico's parents would eventually die, never finding out who took their daughter.

3. THE SEVERED FEET MYSTERY

In 2007, a girl was roaming a beach in British Columbia when she found a sneaker. To her horror, as she opened up the sock, she found that a human foot was inside. Since then, a number of severed feet had washed ashore. The feet have been connected to five men, one a woman, and three of unknown sex. The Vancouver police managed to identify one foot in 2008, matching its DNA to a man who was described as suicidal. They later were able to match two other feet to a woman who was also believed to have committed suicide. Because of these findings, many speculate that the feet belong to those who jumped off a bridge to their deaths. However, because of the rarity of only feet and no other body parts showing up, some believe that the feet were connected to a plane crash by a nearby island. Other suggest they were those of the victims of the Asian Tsunami in 2004, since the make of the shoes were all manufactured before 2004. Whatever sources these feet are coming from, they have left the world baffled for years.

4. THE DEAD WOMAN WHO NAMED HER KILLER

Although this case has been solved, how it was solved remains a mystery. In 1977, a respiratory therapist in Chicago was murdered in her apartment. Teresita Basa was found under a flaming mattress, a butcher knife buried in her chest. Police attempted to track her stolen jewelry with no luck. They also failed in trying to link any of the suspects to the crime. It seemed impossible to find the perpetrator, that is, until Remy Chua, a co-worker who barely knew the victim, involuntarily became a leading source of information. She began having frequent visions and nightmares about Basa and eventually revealed the solution. Was it really Basa's ghost who named her killer? Whatever led police to the killer remains a mystery.

5. THE BOY IN THE BOX

It was the year 1957 in Philadelphia when a hunter found the bruised body of a boy in a JC Penney box. The boy, around four to six years-old, was nude and wrapped in flannel. He seemed to have died from blows to the head. Fearing his muskrat traps would be confiscated by police, the hunter didn't report the body. It was two days later when a college student found the body, that the police started on the case of "America's Unknown Child." It immediately attracted the media's attention, and flyers of the boy were seen throughout Pennsylvania. Although police received thousands of leads, they were never able to uncover the identity of the young boy. They tried tracing back the JC Penney box and checking the boy's fingerprints, but everything led to a dead end. A medical examiner, who pursued the case until his death, had a psychic lead him to a foster home, where he found a bassinet similar to the one that was sold in the box. Hanging on the clothesline were blankets much like the one wrapped around the boy. He believed the boy belonged to the stepdaughter of the man who ran the home, and she didn't want to be found as an unwed mother. Police interviewed the couple, but closed the investigation. In 2003, they opened the case again when interviewing a woman identified as "M" who claimed her abusive mother bought the child back in 1954. According to "M", her mother killed the boy in a fit of rage. Because "M" was mentally unstable, the investigation was closed, leaving the boy to remain "America's Unknown Child."

6. THE JEANETTE DEPALMA CASE

Usually people connect witches to Salem, MA, but for this particular case, the witches were in Springfield, New Jersey. It all started in 1972 when a dog brought home a decomposed forearm. This prompted a police search and a body was soon found afterwards atop a cliff in Springfield. The body was identified to be that of Jeanette DePalmer, a 16-year-old who had gone missing six weeks earlier. Immediately, rumors began spreading as to the cause of her death. The hill where she was discovered was covered with occult symbols and many believed her body was placed on a makeshift altar. Many locals, even some police members, blame a coven of witches, otherwise known as Satanists, who used DePalma for a human sacrifice. Much of the case details have been destroyed by a flood. However, some reports from local papers mention that police couldn't determine the cause of death due to her badly decomposed body. They had also investigated a local homeless man who was a prime suspect, only to find no connection with the killing. As for the occult theory, many believe that DePalma may have provoked a group of Satan worshipping teens at her high school when she was trying to evangelize them. She was involved with a group who helped drug addicts by finding faith in Christ. The reverend who ran the group theorized that she was selected as a sacrifice to the group because of this. Was she a human sacrifice? Or did these suspicions help hide the real killer? Perhaps no one will ever know

7. THE SS OURANG MEDAN

Ghost ships aren't just portrayed in legends and movies such as The Pirates of the Caribbean. In this true story, the entire crew mysteriously perished. It all started in 1947, when ships traveling the straits of Malacca (located between Sumatra and Malaysia) heard a troubling distress call. An American ship, Silver Star, answered the distress call and found the Ourang Medan, but there were no signs of the crew on the deck, even when they tried to call to them. And so they boarded the ship, only to find themselves in a horror scene. Scattered across the deck were the corpses of the Dutchmen, their faces construed in such a way one would think they had witnessed something ghastly before their demise. The captain's body was found on the bridge, while the communication officer was still at his post. Retreating to their ship again, they decided to tow the Ourang Medan to port. But as soon as they attached the tow line, smoke began billowing out of the ship, it exploded, and sank into a watery grave. Some believe it was the work of the paranormal. Others, have more scientific explanations. Many theorize that the Dutch ship was smuggling hazardous materials such as potassium cyanide and nitroglycerin. Sea water may have interacted with the cargo, causing the toxic gases to be released and poison the crew. The nitroglycerin would later cause the explosion.