All in Cold Case Files
Last week I discussed the case of the Storyville Slayer, a serial killer that operated in New Orleans between 1992 and 1995. Appearing on an episode of ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ in 1992, the elusive killer has still not been caught. However, there have been suspects.
When a segment that originally aired on ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ in 1992 about a serial killer that may have claimed 27 victims is not followed up with an ‘update,’ the next logical step for the viewer is to pause the episode and Google the case to find out more information. But what happens when there really isn’t any more information? This is Part I of the Storyville Slayer case.
The FBI announced on Monday that it would reopen the cold case murder of 26-year-old Diana Ault, who was shot to death in 1994 as she walked into her residence in Independence, MO.
On March 28, 1989, 22-year-old Monique Rivera decided to take her three sons, 7-year-old Thomas, 4-year-old Tim, and 6-week-old Andre on a walk around the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Two days later, her body was found along the shore of City Island in the Bronx. She had been beaten and strangled to death. Broken fingernails and defensive wounds on her body suggest that she fought back against her attacker(s). There was no sign of 6-week-old Andre Bryant, and 32 years later he has still not been located.
Kenneth David Downing, 47, a construction worker living in Spokane, WA was arrested on Thursday after investigators in used genetic genealogy to link him to two home invasions and rapes in 2003 and 2004.
In 1953, the skeletal remains of two boys were found in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. Based on the condition of the remains, investigators believed the boys were bludgeoned to death with a hatchet about five years prior to the discovery. The two John Does were referred to as the ‘Babes in the Woods’ and their identities remained a mystery until Tuesday.
Edward Morgan, 60, was arrested on Friday, Feb. 18 for the 1984 murder and sexual assault of Mary Jane Thompson, 21.
With the increased popularity of websites such as AncestryDNA and GEDmatch by people all over the world hopeful to find long lost family members and information about their genetics, decades-old cold cases are beginning to generate new leads for law enforcement. While these advancements in DNA seem to be a ‘win-win’ for both law enforcement and families of cold case victims, some people are concerned about the ethical issues that may arise.
Police in Nanaimo, British Columbia, have received new tips and information about the 2002 disappearance of Lisa Marie Young which are considered to be “credible and important” to their investigation.
On March 18, 1964, Marise Ann Chiverella was on her way to drop off canned goods at a church before heading to school. Her body was found just hours later, six blocks away from her home in Hazleton, PA. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death, and the case quickly went cold. 57 years later, the case has been solved using genetic genealogy.
On February 3, 1972, the bodies of 51-year-old Bryce Durham; his wife, Virginia, 44; and their 18-year-old son Bobby were discovered strangled to death in their home in Boone, North Carolina. Virginia Durham had been strangled, while Bryce and Bobby Durham had been strangled and then drowned. The case went cold for 50 years until this week, when authorities identified the four perpetrators of the crime: Billy Sunday Birt, Bobby Gene Gaddis, Charles David Reed, and Billy Wayne Davis.
Illinois has many cold cases that have shaken the state, many go unsolved for years while others have quick justice. The murder of Justin Marx is just one of the many cases that have reached the list of cold cases for this state.
The San Francisco Police announced Thursday that they are doubling the reward for any information leading to the arrest of a serial killer who targeted gay men in the mid-1970s. Dubbed as the “Doodler,” the suspect has been connected to the murders of six men. One surviving victim told investigators that the suspect claimed to be a cartoonist and was sketching during a dinner date, giving the elusive killer his moniker. The announcement comes on the 47th anniversary of the first homicide.
On February 26, 1957, the body of a small, unidentified boy was found beaten and nude in a box along Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia. What was the morbid finding of a little boy’s body has led to a mystery that has remained open for nearly sixty-five years.
On October 16, 1988, a boat named “The Patanela” set sail from Freemantle, Australia for a month-long voyage to Airlie Beach, on the other side of the country. On board the 63-foot schooner was Alan Nicol, the wealthy businessman who owned the boat. Nicol was accompanied by an experienced skipper, 52-year-old Ken Jones, as well as Jones’ 50-year-old wife Noreen and their daughter, Ronnalee. Nicol also hired two crew members for the voyage, 21-year-old Michael Calvin and 23-year-old John Blissett. The boat never made it to it’s destination, and was never seen again.
In 1977, Linda LeBeau, 27, disappeared in California after meeting her ex-husband Philip LeBeau, to collect money after he damaged her boyfriend’s vehicle. LeBeau was last seen by witnesses who say she was arguing with a man at a Texaco gas station.
On the evening of March 11, 1985, Harold and Thelma Swain were holding their weekly Bible study class at the Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Waverly, GA when a man walked in and shot them both to death before fleeing. The only clue he left behind that could lead to his identity was a pair of glasses.
It's been over three-and-a-half years since Rachael DelTondo, a well-liked teacher in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, was gunned down outside her home — and there is still no arrest in the case.
There were initially several leads to follow, including the actions of an Aliquippa High School athlete named Sheldon Jeter. The night of DelTondo's murder, texts suggest that Jeter may have been trying to track her movements.
A Hawaii cold-case murder got closer to closure today when a Florida man indicted in June for the 1982 murder of a Delta Air Lines reservation clerk was extradited to Honolulu and arrested.
A silver watch stolen from the dead body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier as a trophy could be the missing piece in solving the long-debated murder case.
