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Some cases go cold, but these crimes have never been solved... Join us as we explore chilling unsolved murders from across America, covering cases from Alabama all the way to Missouri! Do you think you have the answers? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00July 10th marks the 43rd year since Ken McElroy was shot in the infamous town of Skidmore.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:08And today, we're looking at 50 unsolved murders from each of the 50 American states.
00:14In part one, we'll be looking at cases ranging from Alabama to Missouri.
00:19I made a promise I would never give up and I won't.
00:28Alabama.
00:30Shannon Nicole Polk.
00:32It was nearly 16 years ago when the city of Prattville was shaken by a tragic crime.
00:37A little girl went missing and later found murdered.
00:40Kickstarting our journey in the heart of Dixie is the heartbreaking 2001 cold case of Shannon Nicole Polk.
00:47The 11-year-old vanished from her Prattville trailer park,
00:51sparking a massive search that ended in tragedy when just a few months later,
00:56her remains were discovered in a nearby field.
00:58Witnesses reported seeing Shannon talking to a man in a car.
01:02But despite widely circulated composite sketches and thousands of leads, the driver has never been identified.
01:09It's possible that the small, tight-knit community likely holds the key.
01:14Yet silence has prevailed for decades.
01:17Indeed, investigators are convinced that someone in the area knows the truth.
01:21But without a sudden confession or a new DNA match, Shannon's killer has continuously evaded justice.
01:28But the morning of August 16th was the last time she was seen alive.
01:3360 days later, her body found in a wooded hunting area about 17 miles from her home.
01:38Her killer still at large today.
01:46Alaska, the investor murders.
01:49Heading north to the last frontier, we encounter Alaska's deadliest mass murder.
01:55In 1982, the fishing vessel Investor was found ablaze off the coast of Craig.
02:00Inside, investigators found eight people, including the captain's young family, had been shot before the boat was torched.
02:08The sheer brutality stunned the small fishing village and launched a complex and expensive investigation.
02:13Police eventually arrested former crew member John Peel.
02:17But two trials failed to secure a conviction, ultimately leading to his acquittal.
02:22To this day, the case is officially unsolved, leaving open the terrifying possibility that a mass murderer walked free.
02:29With forensic evidence largely destroyed by the fire, it's unlikely that this maritime nightmare will ever be definitively closed,
02:37leaving a permanent scar on the state's history.
02:45Arizona, Chuck Morgan
02:47But in 1977, Chuck Morgan had become a potential witness in a state land fraud case involving a known organized
02:55crime boss.
02:57And suddenly, on March 22nd, Morgan disappeared.
03:01The 1977 death of businessman Chuck Morgan plays out like a noir spy thriller.
03:06Morgan went missing and was later found dead near Tucson, Arizona, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a hidden $2
03:14bill scrawled with biblical codes.
03:17Although he had been shot in the back of the head with his own gun, authorities surprisingly claimed that he
03:22had taken his own life.
03:24Family members insist that Morgan was involved in money laundering for the mafia and had been trying to buy his
03:29way out, but was taken out instead.
03:31Unfortunately, the cryptic codes and the vest lead to even weirder questions that the desert has kept hidden for nearly
03:39half a century.
03:40Was Chuck Morgan doing undercover work for the government?
03:43Or the clues he left behind on the $2 bill in an attempt to pass coded messages to the FBI?
03:50Twelve years later, Ruth Morgan is still trying to unravel the strange clues left by her husband.
04:03It was August 23rd, 1987, 25 years ago today.
04:09The time, around 4 a.m. at this set of railroad tracks near Alexander.
04:13Train engineers say they saw the teens stretched over the tracks, a rifle nearby.
04:18They tried to stop, but couldn't.
04:20This 1987 case remains one of Arkansas' most controversial chapters.
04:26Teenagers Kevin Ives and Don Henry were struck by a cargo train in the middle of the night.
04:31A medical examiner initially ruled their deaths an accident induced by marijuana.
04:36However, a relentless crusade by their parents led to a second autopsy,
04:41revealing that the boys had been stabbed and bludgeoned before being placed on the tracks.
04:46The narrative soon evolved into a saga of alleged drug trafficking and high-level political cover-ups,
04:52with several witnesses connected to the inquiry dying under mysterious circumstances.
04:58Despite clear evidence of foul play and decades of private investigation,
05:02no charges have ever been filed.
05:05It remains a disturbing example of how power and corruption can potentially bury the truth.
05:11Nobody knows just how deep this is.
05:15People in Arkansas still want to know about these two boys.
05:20And as I say in the book, many other deaths that happened in that same area at the same time
05:27that went unsolved.
05:34California, the Zodiac Killer.
05:36I also killed those kids last year.
05:42California brings us the most notorious unsolved case in American history.
05:47In the late 1960s, the self-proclaimed Zodiac terrorized the Bay Area,
05:53claiming at least five victims while taunting police and newspapers with complex cryptograms.
05:59Unlike most killers who hide in the shadows, the Zodiac craved the spotlight,
06:04demanding that his ciphers be published and actively begging the police to catch him,
06:08while suspect Arthur Lee Allen was heavily scrutinized,
06:11forensic evidence never yielded a conclusive match,
06:15and the killer eventually stopped his activity altogether.
06:18The case has spawned countless movies and amateur theories,
06:22yet the identity of the man in the executioner's hood remains unknown.
06:26The sheer brazeness of his correspondence and lack of a final resolution
06:30make this the ultimate cold case.
06:33You're welcome to everything I have.
06:39If there's anything else I could do for you, maybe I could write you a check.
06:49Colorado, JonBenet Ramsey.
06:52You will withdraw $118,000 from your account.
06:56If I were kidnapping this guy's daughter, I'd ask for a quarter million, half million, a million dollars.
07:01So the amount of money is just really odd to me.
07:05Few crimes have gripped America quite like the 1996 murder of six-year-old beauty queen,
07:10JonBenet Ramsey.
07:11Found dead in the basement of her family's boulder home just hours after being reported missing,
07:16the crime scene was a labyrinth of contradictions.
07:19A bizarrely long ransom note was written inside the house,
07:23yet the body was never removed.
07:25The investigation was also marred by early police errors
07:29and a media frenzy that split public opinion between an intruder theory and family involvement.
07:35Indeed, many believe that Ramsey's mother may have written the ransom note herself
07:39to deflect blame from a murder or accident.
07:42Despite eventually clearing the parents,
07:44authorities have never found a match for the genetic material left at the scene,
07:49meaning that the killer has seemingly vanished into the Colorado night.
07:54In my mind, it was a bogus note.
07:56This was not really a kidnapping.
08:00I thought to myself, we're going to find this girl's body somewhere.
08:03This is going to turn out to be a murder.
08:09Connecticut, the murder of Suzanne Joven.
08:13Who killed Suzanne Joven?
08:15It's a question that still doesn't have an answer.
08:1827 years after that Yale student was found stabbed to death in New Haven.
08:23In December 1998, the prestigious community of Yale University
08:27was shattered by the brutal slaying of 21-year-old Suzanne Joven.
08:32Found dying on a street corner in a quiet New Haven neighborhood,
08:37Joven had been stabbed 17 times in a frenzy of violence.
08:42Authorities initially fixated on her thesis advisor,
08:45a move that ruined his career before he was ultimately exonerated,
08:49leaving the investigation without a lead.
08:52With robbery ruled out and no DNA match ever found,
08:56the motive remains as elusive as the perpetrator.
08:59Witnesses heard a man and woman arguing just moments before the attack,
09:03yet the identity of the person Suzanne met that night is unknown.
09:08It stands as a terrifying Ivy League mystery,
09:11proving that privilege offers no protection against a determined killer.
09:15We all are in contact.
09:16Even though we are retired, most of us,
09:19we still talk and try to develop new information for the case.
09:32The serene Blackbird State Forest became the setting for a baffling homicide in September of 1986.
09:38Jane Marie Pritchard, a master's student at the University of Maryland,
09:43was conducting botany research when she was shot and killed.
09:46The most baffling aspect of this mystery is that the forest was teeming with campers and hunters that day,
09:52yet nobody reported seeing or hearing the fatal gunshot.
09:56Investigators initially scrutinized hunters, assuming that it might have been an accident,
10:01but evidence suggested the shooting was intentional.
10:05Despite the public nature of the park and slew of potential witnesses,
10:09the trail went cold almost immediately.
10:12Without a motive or a weapon, Pritchard's death remains a senseless tragedy,
10:16haunting the peaceful woods, where she simply wanted to study nature.
10:26Florida. The Walker Family Murders.
10:29It had nothing to do with the clutters.
10:33They never heard me. They just happened to be there.
10:38I thought Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman.
10:44I thought so right after the time I cut his throat.
10:47Long before the modern Florida man headlines,
10:50the state was rocked by the brutal slaughter of the Walker Family.
10:54Back in 1959, Cliff, Christine, and their two young children were shot to death
10:59in their Osprey farmhouse in a crime that shocked the nation.
11:03The murders have long been speculated to be the work of Perry Smith and Richard Hickok,
11:08the famous duo from Truman Capote's In Cold Blood,
11:12who were known to be in Florida at the time.
11:15While polygraph tests were inconclusive,
11:17physical evidence linking them to the scene was never recovered.
11:21Regardless, the theory remains one of the most compelling what-ifs in true crime history.
11:25Without concrete proof, the massacre of this innocent family remains officially unsolved,
11:32casting a long shadow over Sarasota County.
11:36Before we go into court, you give them a trial by newspaper.
11:40When we finally get a conviction,
11:42you want to save them by proving they were crazy in the first place.
11:47All of which adds up to one thing.
11:49You've got to kill us.
11:59From 1979 to 1981, Atlanta, Georgia was terrorized by an unseen menace.
12:06African-American children were disappearing and being found murdered.
12:10Between 1979 and 1981, Atlanta was gripped by a wave of abductions
12:16that claimed the lives of at least 28 children and young adults.
12:19While the police officially attributed most of these crimes to Wayne Williams,
12:24he was only convicted of the murders of two adults
12:26and was never actually tried for the deaths of the youths.
12:30This has left a painful void in the community,
12:32with many parents believing that Williams was a scapegoat
12:36and that the true killer of their children was never caught.
12:39The lack of a trial for the younger victims
12:41means that these cases are technically cleared by police,
12:44but legally and tragically unsolved.
12:47Arguments over evidence and renewed DNA testing
12:50continue to keep this painful chapter of Georgia history in the spotlights.
12:54The evidence does not tie in with the younger ones.
12:58It does not.
12:59I don't believe that Wayne Williams killed all the children.
13:02I know for a fact he did not kill my daughter.
13:12The officer who met Doug Holmes at the abandoned car
13:15noted that there was about two or three inches of water on the floor
13:20and that the seat was soaked and drenched.
13:23But Lisa Au's purse appeared to have been placed on top of the seat,
13:27its contents completely dry.
13:29The Aloha State reared its darker side in 1982
13:33with the disappearance of 19-year-old hairdresser Lisa Au.
13:37Lisa vanished while driving home in a heavy downpour,
13:40leaving her car abandoned on the highway
13:42with the window down and her purse still inside.
13:46Her body was discovered 10 days later,
13:48but advanced decomposition made determining the exact cause of death impossible.
13:53The case gained notoriety due to witness reports
13:55of a car with flashing blue lights driving behind her,
13:59leading to intense speculation that a rogue police officer was responsible.
14:03Despite a huge investigation and the interrogation of numerous officers,
14:07no arrests were ever made.
14:09The blue light theory continues to plague locals,
14:13fueling distrust and leaving Lisa's family without answers
14:16in one of Hawaii's most enduring mysteries.
14:19After the suspected officer's name leaked out,
14:23another woman from the Windward side claimed he also pulled her over
14:27and that he used blue lights on his unmarked car.
14:35Idaho, Christopher Reese.
14:38Police are still searching for answers as a family looks for closure.
14:42Thursday marked the sixth anniversary of a brutal crime that remains unsolved.
14:46The quiet resort town of Sun Valley was jolted by a brutal crime
14:50at a local gas station in 1984.
14:53Christopher Reese, a 27-year-old employee of the station,
14:56was working the night shift when intruders stormed in,
15:00shot him three times, and stole the safe.
15:02Reese managed to call 911 before succumbing to his injuries,
15:06but he couldn't identify his attackers.
15:08The murder clashed violently with the peaceful image of Idaho's resort communities.
15:13Despite the recovery of the stolen safe years later in a river,
15:17no physical evidence ever linked it to a suspect.
15:20The sheer cold-blooded nature of the robbery homicide
15:23suggests professional criminals passing through
15:26and made it incredibly difficult for law enforcement to track them down,
15:30leaving the case frozen in time.
15:33Somebody knows these people.
15:35Somebody knows these two murderers.
15:37That's what they are as murderers, right?
15:39Let's call it the way it is.
15:40And somebody has talked to them.
15:45Somebody knows them.
15:46Somebody's related to them.
15:48And they have talked to somebody.
15:54Illinois, the Lane Bryant Massacre.
15:58I think everyone here is so shocked, Mike.
16:00And I know your family is as well, that this has not been solved.
16:0318 years.
16:05Have there been any significant developments as of late?
16:08In 2008, a robbery turned into a deadly ambush at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois.
16:15An unidentified man forced six women, including customers and employees,
16:19to the back of the store, bound them with duct tape, and opened fire.
16:23Five of the women died, making it one of the deadliest unsolved mass shootings in American history.
16:29The most chilling aspect is that the killer's voice was captured on a 911 call made by one of the
16:35victims.
16:35Yet despite the audio being released to the public, no one has identified him.
16:40Police have followed up on thousands of tips and have even sketched the suspect.
16:44But he remains a phantom.
16:46The lack of a clear motive beyond just simple robbery makes this random act of violence truly terrifying.
17:02A man in Speedway tonight is trying to help his town heal after a tragedy decades ago.
17:07We're talking about the Burger Chef murders.
17:09As we told you last week, he has plans to honor the people who died and their families by planting
17:14trees in their honor.
17:15There's one incident that defined stranger danger for Indiana residents.
17:19And that was the Burger Chef murders of 1978.
17:23Four young employees went missing from a closing shift in Speedway, Indiana, only to be found dead two days later
17:31in the woods.
17:32The scene at the restaurant suggested a botched robbery.
17:36But the brutality of the executions implied something far darker.
17:40Over the years, investigators have looked at everything from drug gangs to serial killers.
17:44But the inquiry was plagued by a compromised crime scene, as the morning cleaners had accidentally wiped away key evidence.
17:52With physical evidence degraded and witnesses passing away, the window for justice has virtually closed.
17:58It remains a tragic reminder of a time when a simple shift at a fast food joint turned into a
18:04nightmare, leaving four families forever waiting for justice.
18:08Plenty of other people have already chipped in, adding their messages to the GoFundMe page.
18:12With the goal raised even higher now, Alex wants to add a fifth tree to honor the victim's family and
18:18friends, and their strength the last few decades.
18:25Iowa. The Villisca Axe Murders.
18:29Villisca, Iowa. The heartland of farming.
18:32Surrounded by miles and miles of cornfields, you'd think that this small, quiet town would be filled with nothing but
18:38happy history.
18:39But this place has a dark side, and that's why we're here.
18:43Turning back the clock to 1912, we find a crime so gruesome that it still sends shivers through the Midwest.
18:49In the small town of Villisca, Iowa, eight people were bludgeoned to death in their sleep with an axe.
18:55The killer covered the mirrors and locked the doors before vanishing before sunrise.
18:59The list of suspects included everything from a traveling minister, a state senator, and transient drifters.
19:06But trials at the time ended in either hung juries or acquittals.
19:10And since this occurred over a century ago, the killer is obviously long dead, sealing the truth forever.
19:17The house still stands as a macabre destination for tourists and ghost hunters.
19:21But the spirits of the eight victims have never received justice, making this a legendary cold case in American lore.
19:29But the weirdest and strangest part is, is this killer didn't want to see himself.
19:35Covered up all the mirrors in the entire house.
19:38Did he not want to see what a true monster looks like?
19:42And who was the killer?
19:44As an unsolved murder case, the suspect was never caught.
19:53Kansas.
19:54Randy Leach.
19:55It's been more than 30 years since Randy's disappearance, and the Leach family is still searching for answers.
20:02In April of 1988, 17-year-old Randy Leach drove his mother's sedan to a graduation party in rural Linwood,
20:10Kansas.
20:10And was never seen again.
20:13What makes this case so perplexing, is that not only did Randy vanish, the whole car did too.
20:19Witnesses at the party gave conflicting accounts, with some claiming that he left early and others saying he seemed groggy
20:26and out of it.
20:28Over the years, rumors of satanic cult activity and police cover-ups have swirled around the investigation.
20:33Fueled by the fact that the party site was immediately cleaned up.
20:37Despite extensive searches in local quarries and rivers, neither Randy nor the vehicle has ever been found.
20:44It's a mystery of complete evaporation that continues to frustrate investigators and torment the Leach family.
20:51I'm going to keep running.
20:53We can't stop.
20:54We've got to keep pushing on.
20:56We're not giving up.
20:58And we've got to find out what happened to Randy.
21:06Kentucky, the murder of Betty Gail Brown.
21:10It's a question that has gone unanswered for more than 50 years.
21:14Who killed Betty Gail Brown?
21:16In October 1961, the hauntingly named Transylvania University became the backdrop for a chilling mystery.
21:2319-year-old student Betty Gail Brown was discovered dead in her car parked on campus, having been strangled with
21:30her own brassiere.
21:32There were no signs of sexual assault or robbery, leaving the motive a complete enigma.
21:37The case went cold in 1965, when a drifter named Alex Arnold confessed to the crime, claiming that he'd killed
21:44her in a panic.
21:45However, his details were inconsistent with the case, and a jury deadlocked, leading to the charges being dropped.
21:52To this day, no one knows if Arnold was just a confused man seeking attention or a killer who got
21:58away with murder.
21:59Regardless, the image of a student killed in the safety of her campus continues to haunt the university community.
22:06As for the big question everyone wants the answer to, in the book, does Lawson explain who killed Betty Gail
22:13Brown?
22:13It's an unsolved case, and it's probably going to stay that way.
22:23Louisiana, the Jeff Davis 8.
22:26So, the I-10 section, where Jennings is located, has almost kind of cartel level of drugs running through it.
22:35Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were found dumped in swamps and canals around Jennings, Louisiana.
22:43Known as the Jeff Davis 8, the victims all knew each other and were involved in the same social circles,
22:50leading to early theories of a serial killer.
22:53However, investigative reporting later revealed disturbing connections to local law enforcement and allegations of evidence tampering.
23:00The case is a tangled web of drug trade involvement, police misconduct, and a community too terrified to speak.
23:07Unlike a traditional serial killer case, the Jeff Davis 8 mystery seems to stem from institutional rot rather than a
23:15single lone wolf.
23:16With no convictions and a cloud of suspicion hanging over the authorities, the families of these women remain without justice.
23:23The theory about this case is that it's definitely not a serial killer.
23:29It is a conspiracy of a small group of people who want to basically take these women out and erase
23:38this milieu of women from the earth.
23:47Maine, the disappearance of Ayla Reynolds.
24:04Maine launched its largest criminal investigation ever when two-year-old Ayla Reynolds disappeared in 2011.
24:11Her father reported her missing from his Waterville home, claiming that she was abducted during the night.
24:17But police found disturbing evidence contradicting his story.
24:21Investigators discovered a significant amount of Ayla's blood in the basement of the house, yet her body has never been
24:27recovered.
24:27Despite the grim forensic findings and the father refusing to cooperate, no murder charges have ever been filed.
24:34A judge officially declared Ayla dead in 2017.
24:37But the specific circumstances of her final moments remain a mystery.
24:42It stands as a maddening case of seemingly knowing the culprit, but lacking the physical proof required to secure a
24:48conviction in court.
24:50We appreciate the fact that the public is still very keen on this investigation.
24:55Ayla has not been forgotten.
24:57And we appreciate the continued effort and interest on the public to help us find her.
25:12I would not ever hear the name Sister Kathy Sesnick until 1994 when the first stories began to emerge.
25:19The case gained global attention through the Netflix documentary The Keepers.
25:24Sister Catherine Sesnick, a beloved nun and teacher in Baltimore, disappeared in November 1969 and was found murdered months later.
25:32The official investigation stalled, but former students eventually came forward alleging that Sister Kathy was killed because she was about
25:39to expose a ring of sexual abuse.
25:42The allegations point to a massive cover-up involving the church and local police, obscuring the facts under layers of
25:49bureaucracy and intimidation.
25:51While the documentary sparked renewed interest in the case, its key players have largely passed away.
25:56The question of who struck the final blow remains legally unanswered, even if the motive seems terrifyingly clear to those
26:04who survived the abuse.
26:06I can still see her laying on the ground, laying on the back.
26:12It stays with it.
26:13You never forget it.
26:21The New Bedford Highway murders terrorized the South Coast back in the 80s, and its chief investigator, Cheryl Fiendak, who
26:31reports one victim's family believes the case is one tip away from being solved.
26:36In the late 1980s, a macabre pattern emerged along the highways of New Bedford, Massachusetts.
26:42Nine women vanished.
26:44Their bodies later discovered along the bustling corridors of Interstate 195.
26:49All the victims had connections to substance abuse or sex work, leading police to believe that a serial killer was
26:55hunting on the margins of society.
26:57Two primary suspects were investigated, including a local attorney, but no charges were ever filed.
27:03The investigation was criticized for its handling of evidence and the slow response to the disappearance of marginalized women.
27:10Today, the highway killer remains a phantom.
27:13The lack of confession or DNA match means that a prolific predator likely operated with impunity and took his secrets
27:20to the grave.
27:22Investigators who worked on this case say with little physical evidence and no video, the best chance of solving this
27:29case will likely come down to a tip and are asking anyone who may have any information to contact state
27:34or New Bedford police.
27:41Michigan, the Oakland County child killer.
27:44The day after Christmas, I was there when the cop came to the door and said, your sister's been shot
27:51in the head and found in the middle of I-75 a big beaver.
27:57Suburban Detroit was gripped by panic in the late 1970s due to the Oakland County child killer.
28:03Four children were abducted and held for days before being killed and left in public locations.
28:08The most disturbing aspect was the killer's ritual.
28:11The children were bathed, fed, and their clothes washed and pressed before their deaths.
28:16This bizarre care earned the killer the nickname, the babysitter.
28:21Despite a massive task force and thousands of tips, the investigation was riddled with jurisdictional infighting and conspiracy theories involving
28:29wealthy sex rings.
28:30The precision and resources required to hold children for days do indeed suggest a sophisticated offender.
28:36Yet, over 40 years later, the families are still waiting for the name of the monster who stole their children.
28:44My family is not very confident about it, but I feel even worse not knowing the answer is the fact
28:55that the people who looked into it after 40 years won't talk about it.
29:07The story of that dreadful night and its connection to Miss Congdon's adopted daughter Marjorie has been told many times.
29:17And it's a story that is not ignored at Glensheen, but neither is it emphasized.
29:23This case is basically a game of Clue in real life.
29:27In 1977, heiress Elizabeth Congdon and her nurse were murdered inside the iconic 39-room Glensheen mansion in Duluth, Minnesota.
29:37Investigators quickly focused on Elizabeth's adopted daughter Marjorie and her husband Roger Caldwell, supposedly motivated by a huge inheritance.
29:45While Roger was initially convicted, he was later released after a plea deal, and Marjorie was acquitted of all charges
29:52despite significant circumstantial evidence against her.
29:55The judicial twist that followed left the public stunned, as no one is currently serving time for the double homicide.
30:02The mansion is now a popular tourist destination, but the shadow of the murders hangs over it like a cloud.
30:08The legal outcomes have left the question of culpability a matter of fierce local debate.
30:13That murder has overshadowed this much greater legacy of what the Congdon family has done for Northeast Minnesota.
30:20And so part of what I feel like my mission here is to have everyone hear that broader story.
30:25So they know that there's more to what this family did than there's just this one-day event.
30:35Mississippi, the burning of Jessica Chambers.
30:49The gruesome murder of 19-year-old Jessica Chambers in Cortland, Mississippi, shocked the nation in 2014.
30:57Found stumbling away from her burning vehicle with severe burns covering her body, Chambers managed to whisper a name to
31:03first responders before perishing.
31:05They said it sounded like Eric or Derek.
31:08However, this did not match the name of prime suspect Quentin Tellis, leading to a confusing legal battle.
31:14Tellis was tried twice for capital murder, but both proceedings ended in hung juries, leaving the case in a frustrating
31:21limbo.
31:22Prosecutors relied on complex cell phone data, while the defense points to the dying declaration as proof of innocence.
31:28So legally, her death remains unpunished.
31:32A horrific tragedy where the justice system stalled despite the victim's final, desperate attempt to identify her killer.
31:39But she did speak to those first responders, and she said it to at least five or six first responders
31:45what had happened.
31:46What they heard was primarily Eric, but some of them heard Derek.
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32:13Missouri, Ken Rex McElroy
32:15After his string of crimes, the residents of Skidmore reportedly got fed up with his actions, and executed an extrajudicial
32:23killing after McElroy exited a bar, which ended with him being shot twice, resulting in his death on July 10th,
32:291981.
32:30Ending part one is the story of a town that enacted a bit of frontier justice.
32:35Ken Rex McElroy was the local villain of Skidmore, Missouri, terrorizing residents for years with assault, arson, and theft, yet
32:44always escaping conviction.
32:45But by 1981, the locals had grown tired of it all.
32:49McElroy was shot to death in broad daylight while sitting in his truck, surrounded by a crowd of nearly 40
32:54townspeople.
32:55When police arrived, not a single person admitted to pulling the trigger, or even seeing who did.
33:01The community took a collective vow of silence, protecting the vigilantes who ended McElroy's reign of terror.
33:07To this day, the case remains unsolved because the witnesses simply refused to talk.
33:12It's a fascinating, if morally complex, example of a community taking matters into their own hands.
33:19And to this day, nobody knows who fired the shot that killed Ken McElroy.
33:24Do you think you have the answers?
33:26Do you think you have the answers?
33:28Let us know in the comments below.
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