Jeff Davis 8

8 women found in swamps in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisana.

Possible police/sheriff involvement and cover-up?

Not likely to be serial murder based on victim demographics

Long Island Serial Killer

Victims were likely all sex trade workers, and the killer may have found many of them through Craigslist ads

Bodies were largely dismembered and body parts dumped in two separate areas of New York

Sodder Children

Old case of a house fire, potential cover-up because of Mafia involvement, and either murder of children or potential abduction.

Elisa Lam

Netflix documentary seems to point to a solution, but still unproven

Brandon Swanson

Police ineptitude seems to be a common theme from among the cases students have posted about.
 

Literally the day before this idea was posted in the discussion forum, my friend was telling me all about it.

Harmony Montgomery

Again, this case may be too new to do much research on, but the failures of the MA and NH DYFS systems is horrendous.

Gabby Petito

Police consider this one solved now.

COVID Lab Leak?

This idea, once considered fringe, is now the leading theory among a large portion of experts.

Note: Lab leak doesn't have to mean intentional or weapon testing.

The "Watcher" House

This is a creepy story, right out of Weird NJ.

That said, there are new owners, and the story hasn't resurfaced with the new residents.

Dulce Maria Alavez

As noted by the student who posted this, I also remember receiving the Amber Alert. There's a lot of weirdness to this story.

JonBenet Ramsey

I said it before, but I think her brother killed her and the parents covered it up.

Madeleine McCann

Unlocked rooms, unsupervised children, and a missing child: all while parents were allegedly too engaged in "swinging" to properly parent

Jelani Day

May be too recent to do much research about.

The cause of death was drowning, but the family attorney is disputing that claiming Day's death was a hate crime and murder. I'm confused why they're saying it can't be drowning, because you can drown accidentally or be drowned as murder. The medical examiner didn't classify how the drowning happened, just that Day died from drowning.

Mary Celeste

The most famous "ghost ship"

Dyatlov Pass

Has echoes of the 18th Century US story of the Donner Party

Gardner Museum Heist

Last remaining mob associate tied to the robbery died in 2021

Overtoun Bridge

Bridge in rural Scotland where dogs apparently commit suicide

Probably has a more natural cause than the supernatural ideas presented in pop culture

O.J. Simpson

Although found not guilty in criminal court, there is a lot of evidence of judicial, legal, and prosecutorial misconduct.

OJ was later found culpable in civil court. Also, he wrote a book called "If I Did It" that apparently includes details not released to public eyes...so...

I think OJ is guilty. I am personally about as sure as a human can be without directly witnessing it. I watched* most of the trial live as it was televised.

* It was on when I was in high school, and my girlfriend at the time was into this stuff . . . what teen boys will do to satisfy lust . . . Also, this was one of our first fights because she thought he was innocent. Should've been my first sign.

Lizzie Borden

Lizzie Borden took an axe
and gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
she gave her father forty-one.

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

Mythbusters did this and the results seemed pretty robust.