30 Of The Darkest True Crime Stories You've Probably Never Heard Before
BuzzFeed
·21-min read
We previously asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about a true crime story we haven't already heard a million times before. There were SO many comments and responses to that post and a follow-up post that we decided to do a part three. Here are more intense stories people shared:
Warning: Graphic and disturbing content ahead including mentions of abuse, rape, and murder.
1.The vicious unsolved murder of 16-year-old Beverly Jarosz in Garfield Heights, Ohio in December 1964 that appeared to be so specifically planned that authorities actually called it an "assassination."
2.The inexplicable Chen family killings in Guilderland, New York on Oct. 8, 2014, where Jin Feng Chen, his wife, Hai Yan Li, and their two young boys, Anthony and Eddy, were murdered in their home. It was the first quadruple homicide of a Chinese family in New York's Capital Region, which has a large Asian American community.
3.The 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history, where 22 people (and some dogs) were killed by gunman Gabriel Wortman. Wortman went on a 12-hour rampage through rural communities before being shot and killed by police.
4.The death of Amber Tuccaro, a Canadian First Nations woman who went missing in 2010 and was last seen hitchhiking near Edmonton. In 2012, her remains were found in the same area. Although authorities have claimed to be looking into the murder, the case is still unsolved.
5.The brutal murder of Kimberly Cates, a nurse living in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire in 2009. The killers, 17-year-old Steven Spader and 19-year-old Christopher Gribble, used a machete to hack Cates to death.
6.The "Ripper Crew" or the "Chicago Rippers," a group of four men who terrorized, abducted, mutilated, and murdered many women in the Chicago, Illinois area in the early 1980s.
7.The unsolved and suspicious disappearance of Daniel Robinson, a geologist in Arizona who was reported missing in June 2021. Robinson's Jeep was found, crashed, just a few miles away from his job site.
8.Bob Ward, a Florida millionaire who was convicted, twice, of killing his wife in 2009. Ward's wife, Diane, was shot to death, but exactly what happened is unknown. The prosecution argued that it was an intentional act, while the defense argued that the couple struggled over the gun.
9.The brutal Robison family murders, aka the "Good Hart murders," that happened on June 25, 1968, near Good Hart, Michigan. The Robison family, Richard, his wife Shirley, and their four children; Ritchie, Gary, Randy, and Susan, were shot and killed while on vacation in their Lake Michigan cottage.
10.The 2011 Zanesville, Ohio animal massacre where the owner of an exotic animal farm released the captive animals — including rare tigers, lions, and bears — and then died by suicide. Nearly 50 of the animals were shot and killed as a result.
11.The gruesome and unsolved triple murder of three women, Karen Scarbrough, Sharon Lake, and Deborah Frank, at the site of a housing development in Dale City, Virginia in 1978 that left police "perplexed."
12.The hit-and-run killing of 11-year-old Dierdre Week in Wisconsin on March 24, 1995. Week had been riding home on her bike when she was hit and killed by a vehicle. She was so close to home that her father heard the crash.
13.The disappearance of teenager Mary Lou Bostwick on July 17, 1972, in Waverly, New York, who was last seen just three days before her sixteenth birthday. Before she disappeared, Bostwick's father dropped her off at a friend's home for a babysitting job. According to authorities, foul play was believed to be involved and the case remains unsolved.
14.The disappearance of Jim Thompson, aka the "Silk King," an American businessman who "changed the Thai silk industry" during the 1950s and 1960s, then went missing one day.
15.The murder of Junko Furuta, a Japanese high school student who was abducted, raped, tortured, and then subsequently murdered in 1989 by four teenage boys.
16.The unsolved case of the "Mad Butcher" of West Virginia, a suspected serial killer active in the Fayette County area in the early 1960s who was never identified.
17.The disappearance of 12-year-old Celina Mays, who was also nine months pregnant when she went missing in December 1996. Although there have been hundreds of leads in the decades since, the case remains unsolved.
18.The "Oakland County Child Killer," aka the "Babysitter Killer," who was active in Oakland County, Michigan between 1976 and 1977. The unidentified perpetrator (or perpetrators) is responsible for kidnapping, holding captive, and then violently killing at least four children.
19.The disappearance of 14-year-old Margaret Ellen Fox, who was last seen in Burlington, New Jersey in 1974. Fox went missing under strange circumstances which involved a babysitting job interview with an unknown man.
20.Derrick Todd Lee, aka the "Baton Rouge serial killer," who was suspected of killing seven women between 1998 and 2003 in the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana. Although he was linked to multiple deaths, he was ultimately convicted of two murders.
21.The mysterious and unsolved disappearance of former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, who had a history with organized crime, in July 1975.
22.The kidnapping and murder of Amy Mihaljevic in Bay Village, Ohio in 1989. Her story was featured on the TV show American's Most Wanted but still remains unsolved over 30 years later.
23.The disappearance of 11-year-old Cody Haynes in 2004 from his father's home in Kittitas, Washington. It was reported that his father and his father's girlfriend were the last people to see Cody alive. The case is still an open investigation.
24.Ivan Milat, aka the "Wolf Creek serial killer," who was convicted of killing seven people near Sydney, Australia between 1992 and 1996. Milat's crimes inspired the 2005 horror film, Wolf Creek.
25.The grisly murder of eight-year-old Sandra Cantù in Tracy, California in 2009. After going missing, Cantù's body was found inside a suitcase in an irrigation pond. A former Sunday school teacher was later charged with her brutal murder, which involved poisoning and "homicidal asphyxiation."
26.The disappearance of medical student Brian Shaffer who was last seen in Ohio on CCTV at 2 a.m. on April 1, 2006. The video showed Shaffer going up an escalator to a popular campus bar but never showed him leaving. Foul play has still not been ruled out
27.The strange and unsolved disappearance of Leah Roberts in Bellingham, Washington in March 2000. Roberts had only just left home, in North Carolina, days earlier.
28.Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, a convicted child molester and suspected serial killer who was believed to have engaged in cannibalism. Bar-Jonah was convicted of attacking several young boys in Massachusetts in the '70s but was released in 1991. He later moved to Montana where he was eventually convicted in 2002 of the kidnapping and assault of a 15-year-old boy and his 12-year-old cousin in 1998 and 1999.
29.The Phillip Island murder mystery where 23-year-old Beth Barnard was found brutally murdered on Phillip Island in Australia in September 1986. Beth's body was found with an "A" carved into her chest and she was allegedly having an affair with a man named Fergus Cameron. Not long after, Fergus's wife Vivienne disappeared and has not been seen since.
30.Finally, the killing of Henryk Siwiak, a Polish immigrant who was shot and killed in New York just hours after the two planes struck the Twin Towers on 9/11. Siwiak had been on his way to a new job that night but was given the wrong directions in a neighborhood known for heavy drug use and gang involvement. Siwiak "was engaged by a group" and shot dead.
Note: some submissions were edited for length and/or clarity.
If you or anyone you know has information on a missing person case, call local law enforcement first. You can also contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (THE-LOST) or visit the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System site for regional case assistance.
Do you know about a true crime story no one ever seems to talk about? Tell us in the comments below or submit anonymously using this form.
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